Three days later, the Mu Mansion was busy early in the morning. Today was the day when Liu Ruyan brought Mu Sishu back home, commonly known as "returning home".
On the third day after a woman gets married, she takes her husband back to her parents' home for the first time to meet them, symbolizing peace. The husband also has to call them father-in-law and mother-in-law, and will be warmly received by her family.
When a couple returns to the parents' home, they must also bring home gifts for their parents, and there are also some rules for home gifts.
Song Wei had already prepared the return gift for her daughter-in-law. When Mu Sishu and Liu Ruyan arrived at the main courtyard, Song Wei was directing the servants to load the car.
"Mother, your daughter-in-law is late. Thank you for your hard work." Liu Ruyan blamed herself very much for letting Mu Sishu act like that. As a result, she got up late and troubled her mother-in-law to prepare these gifts personally.
"Mother is so happy. What's so hard about it? Go and have breakfast with Sishu. Mother is here for you." Song Wei was so happy to see the couple's relationship that she couldn't blame them. She was afraid that they got up in a hurry and didn't have breakfast, so she urged them to have breakfast first.
"Thank you for your hard work, mother." Mu Sishu felt a little embarrassed, but was also grateful for Song Wei's hard work.
"Okay, go quickly, don't smoke on the sly. You can't be late when you go back home today and make your parents-in-law worry."
"I understand, mother." Mu Sishu and Liu Ruyan bowed before going to have breakfast, while Song Wei continued to direct people to move things.
The gifts when returning home are very particular. One will bring a chicken, which symbolizes good luck and prosperity, and also some gifts such as cakes. The most important thing is that the gifts cannot be in odd numbers but in pairs.
These gifts were carefully selected by Song Wei and Rong Qing, and many of them are fine products. The Liu Mansion is not only their son's in-laws' family, but the Mu family and the Liu family are on good terms. Regardless of the reason, they should prepare more expensive gifts, which also shows that the Mu family values Liu Ruyan, the eldest daughter-in-law.
When Mu Sishu and Liu Ruyan finished breakfast and prepared to leave, they were stunned to see several carriages filled with gifts. Wasn't this a bit too much?
"Mom, isn't this too much?" Liu Ruyan asked a little embarrassedly. These were all to be taken to my parents' home, and her mother-in-law had prepared too much.
"It's not too much, mother even thinks it's not enough. I can't let you down on such an important day." Song Wei patted Liu Ruyan's hand and said gently.
"Thank you, mother. We will go early and come back early." Mu Sishu was very happy. He was happy to see that his mother and daughter-in-law had a good relationship. He was just afraid that there would be conflicts between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Now he realized that he was overthinking.
"Don't be so anxious. Take Yan'er back early to talk to your father-in-law and mother-in-law." Song Wei told her son worriedly. After all, she hadn't seen her daughter for three days. She estimated that Minister Liu would cry again when he returned.
"I got it, mother. Shu'er and I will leave first." After saying goodbye to Song Wei, Mu Sishu and Liu Ruyan went back to the yard and packed up before leaving.
At the gate of the mansion, the two of them ran into Murong Shu who had been waiting for a long time. Liu Ruyan happily walked up to Murong Shu, took his hand and asked, "Shu'er, why are you at the gate of the mansion? Didn't you say that the restaurant business is busy these days? We thought you had left early."
"The restaurant has been doing very well recently, and Uncle Zheng has sent over a lot of fresh seafood. People in Beijing love to eat it. I've been staying in the restaurant these days because someone is naturally allergic to seafood, so I have to watch over them."
Murong Shu felt a little embarrassed when she said this. Liu Ruyan had just married into their family, but she went out early and came back late every day. Fortunately, her brother didn't have to go to the military camp recently and could accompany her, otherwise she would really feel guilty towards her good sister.
"Shu'er, what is allergy? Why is it so serious?" Liu Ruyan sounded worried. Although she didn't know what allergy was, it was not a pleasant thing to hear about it.
Murong Shu thought for a moment and described it, "Some people may experience blushing, dizziness, headache, palpitations, panic, chest tightness, shortness of breath, swelling of the face and lips, numbness of the mouth, tongue and limbs, nausea, vomiting, itchy skin and other symptoms after eating seafood. The symptoms may be mild or severe, and timely symptomatic treatment is required."
"Ah, isn't that very dangerous?" Liu Ruyan was very surprised after hearing this, because the seafood was sold by Rong's Restaurant.
"People with allergies can just stop eating it, and people who are not allergic can continue to enjoy the delicious food."
"Shu'er, you still have to be careful about everything." Liu Ruyan was really worried about Murong Shu.
"Don't worry, sister-in-law. I will prescribe medicine for allergies. And to be on the safe side, the Rong family has invited a doctor to stay in the restaurant. If any guest happens to have an allergy, we will provide timely treatment." Murong Shu has been busy with allergies in the restaurant these days. Only by arranging everything can he have no worries.
"Our Shu'er is still the most thoughtful one." Liu Ruyan felt relieved after hearing that Murong Shu had arranged the follow-up matters.
"Oh, sister-in-law, you are bringing brother back home today. Take this. Also take this truckload of seafood back with you. I will also arrange for the cook to go with you so that the Liu family's relatives can also taste these seafood."
When Liu Ruyan saw the allergy medicine handed to her by Murong Shu and the carriage of seafood behind him, she understood why Murong Shu was waiting in front of the mansion so early in the morning.
"Shu'er, how can this be possible? These are all needed for the restaurant's business."
"Consider it my return gift to brother and sister-in-law. Sister-in-law, please don't despise it. I have something else to do in the restaurant, so I'll leave first. It won't delay your return. Goodbye, brother and sister-in-law." Murong Shu said as he happily got into the carriage and left, leaving behind the cook, a cart of seafood, and the coachman.
"This is Shu'er's kindness. Let's accept it. Let's be nice to Shu'er together in the future." Mu Sishu hugged his newlywed wife and advised her. He understood his sister's intentions.
"Don't worry, my husband. I will definitely treat Shu'er well." Liu Ruyan vowed to treat Shu'er better in the future.
The couple did not dare to waste any more time and quickly got in the car to go to the Liu family. After all, today was the third day of the New Year's Eve, which was a very important event for the Liu family.
Liu Mansion.
The front door was opened early in the morning, and the mansion was filled with joy. Minister Liu had been talking non-stop since he got up in the morning, which gave Madam Liu a headache. She complained that the cakes made by the cook were not delicious enough, that her daughter and son-in-law did not like them, and that the yard was not swept clean enough...
On the day of the return visit, the bride's family needs to prepare a return banquet to entertain the new son-in-law. The new son-in-law should also sit at the top seat at the banquet, and the elders from the bride's family should drink with him.
The return banquet is not only a continuation of the celebration of the wedding, but also an important ceremony for the daughter to thank her parents for raising her and the groom to thank his parents-in-law for their support.
Liu Ruyan was very favored in the Liu family, so the return banquet was naturally more grand. In addition to organizing the banquet, Mrs. Liu actually missed her daughter more, so she sent a maid to wait at the door early.
"Master, Madam, Miss and son-in-law are back and have brought a lot of gifts." Madam Liu's maid ran in happily to report.
"My son is finally back. Madam, come on, let's go to the door to greet him."