Chapter 35: Rural Marriage Customs (Please read on)
The next day, the bride Guan Yongying got up at dawn.
Rural brides of this era only had to comb their hair and change their clothes, unlike brides of later generations who had to get up in the middle of the night to put on makeup, which would take several hours.
After washing and changing into her red wedding dress, Guan Yongying took out twenty yuan and placed it on the stool of the dressing table, covered it with two towels, and then sat down on the towels.
According to the customs and habits of that era, the younger brother would sit on the stool that his sister sat on when she got married when she stood up. The money that his sister put on the stool belonged to his brother. There was no fixed amount of money, usually ten or eight yuan. For example, Guan Yongying directly put twenty yuan, which showed that she loved her younger brother very much.
As for the money pressure, it can be a towel, cloth or something else. No matter what is put, it belongs to my brother.
The women who comb the bride's hair and help her out of the house must be those with "good luck". In rural areas, a good luck means that both parents of the couple must be healthy, the couple must live in harmony, and the first child born must be a son.
After Guan Yongying finished combing her hair, her mother brought her a bowl of rice with some vegetables and a chicken leg on top.
Not to mention other dishes, this chicken leg is a must.
Chicken legs have always been eaten by children in the family. When a bride eats a bite of chicken legs before getting married, it means saying goodbye to the role of "child", because no matter how old a woman is, as long as she stays in her parents' home and is not married, she is still a child in the eyes of her parents.
"Aying, try to eat more. Otherwise, when you get to the man's house, you will be too busy to eat, and you will be very hungry." Guan's mother's eyes were a little red. This was the first time she married off her daughter. She felt very uncomfortable when she thought that her well-behaved and sensible daughter would belong to someone else's family from today.
Guan Yongying felt equally uncomfortable. He had thousands of words he wanted to say to his mother, but when the words came to his lips, he could not utter a word. He just responded with a sob, then took the meal his mother brought and began to eat.
However, as soon as I took a bite of rice, tears began to flow uncontrollably.
"mom……"
"Aying..."
The official's mother had been trying hard not to cry, but now that her daughter had said this, she couldn't stop crying like she was suffering from diabetes.
…
According to the marriage customs of Shuangwang area, the bride must be brought home before noon and cannot be later than this time, otherwise it will be unlucky.
Therefore, in order to coordinate with this time, for those who married wives far away in later generations, it was normal to pick up the bride in the middle of the night. However, for those who married wives across cities or even across provinces, the bride had to arrive in the groom's city one day in advance, otherwise she would not be able to make it in time.
Naye Village and Shenshuitian Village are not far from each other, and it takes less than half an hour to walk there, so it’s okay to leave home a little later, and you will definitely catch the auspicious time.
Of course, the time and date for the bride to leave the house has already been decided by the family's date master, so she just needs to leave on time when the auspicious time comes.
At around eight or nine in the morning, the girl's family started the banquet.
…
In the room, Guan Yongying and her daughter cried for a while before their emotions calmed down.
The official's mother advised, "Aying, the auspicious time is coming soon. You should hurry up and eat something. Otherwise, you will be hungry and suffer."
Guan Yongying shook her head and said, "Mom, I can't eat. I have no appetite."
The official's mother handed the bowl and chopsticks to her daughter again and said, "Eat even if you can't. When we go to the man's house later, there will be no time for you to eat. You will be busy with this and that. When the guests are eating, you have to serve tea. You can only eat after the guests leave. So if you don't eat something now, your stomach will suffer later."
Guan Yongying reluctantly took the bowl and chopsticks and said, "Okay, then I'll eat something."
After Guan Yongying forced herself to eat half a bowl of rice and half a chicken leg, her brother Guan Yongsong walked in and said, "Sister, the auspicious time has come. You have to go and worship your ancestors."
Guan Yongying responded and then stood up.
Guan Yongsong then sat down, and after his sister went out, he stood up and took away the towel, then he saw the two big united faces. He was happy but also a little sad. His sister, who had grown up with him, was getting married, and as a younger brother, he was naturally reluctant to let her go.
It’s just that men should get married when they are old enough and women should get married when they are old enough. This day will eventually come...
…
In later generations, when getting married, the groom would go to the bride's house to pick up the bride, but it is different in this era. The groom does not go to the bride's house to pick her up. Instead, the bride is sent to a certain place by the wedding party, and then the groom and the wedding party go to pick her up.
Therefore, when offering sacrifices to the grandfather, there is only the bride but no groom.
When offering sacrifices to Grandpa, firecrackers must be set off.
After offering sacrifices to her grandfather, Guan Yongying knelt down to pay homage to her parents. It was time for her to leave her mother's home.
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At this moment, Guan Yongying couldn't help crying out loud, and her father and mother were also in tears. Her brothers and sisters, who were reluctant to see their sister get married, also kept crying. The whole family was crying!
Influenced by this atmosphere, some relatives also started crying.
Seeing that the atmosphere was too sad, Deng Shirong comforted her, "Well, today is Yongying's big wedding day, and everyone should be happy. Anyway, the wedding is not far away. From here to Shuangwang Market, you have to pass through our Naye Village. We can see each other every market season. There is no need for everyone to be too sad."
Some other relatives also tried to persuade her, "Yes, if you marry someone close by, you can see him/her whenever you want. It's much better than marrying someone far away and only seeing him/her a few times a year."
With the comfort of the matchmaker and relatives, the crying gradually stopped. The auspicious time had arrived, and the bride went out accompanied by the matchmaker and the wedding guests.
According to local customs, the bride cannot set off firecrackers when she goes out, and aunts cannot be the wedding guests. After all, "gu" and "gu" have the same pronunciation as "gu", so it is naturally taboo.
When getting married in this era, brides could not go out in sedan chairs like before the Republic of China, nor could they go out in cars like in later generations. Most brides just walked directly, and very few brides could go out on bicycles.
To get from Shenshuitian to Naye, one has to pass through Jimapo, Shanying, and Pologen. There is a small river between Shanying and Pologen. When Guan Yongying and his party arrived at the river, they stopped.
In later times, when the groom went to the bride's house to pick her up, he had to give a certain amount of red envelopes before he could pick the bride out. Now, although he doesn't have to go to the bride's house to pick her up, it doesn't mean that he can skip the red envelopes. If the bride arrives halfway and waits for the groom to pick her up, he still has to give the red envelopes.
Because they didn't know where the bride would stop, the groom sent someone out to wait early. When they saw the bride stop by the creek, they quickly went back to tell the groom the news.
So the groom took the red envelope and went to pick up the bride with a group of wedding party members.
Two chapters updated! (End of this chapter)