Chapter 36: Doomed Money
There is no fixed amount in the red envelope for the bride, but usually two red envelopes are given, one with 9.99 yuan in it, which means long-lasting love, and the other one is just to make up the number, it doesn't matter whether there is more or less in it.
Of course, the same red envelope may be given to different brides. Some brides agree to be taken away, while others think the red envelope is too little and will not leave until they are given enough.
Deng Changfu gave the two red envelopes the normal amounts, one containing 9.99 yuan and the other 0.99 yuan.
After receiving the red envelope, the bride Guan Yongying did not act pretentiously anymore and followed the wedding procession to the groom's home.
When crossing the river, Guan Yongying took out two coins that he had prepared long ago and threw them into the river. Both were two-cent coins.
This is also one of the wedding customs. The bride has to throw two coins when crossing the river. Guan Yongying doesn't understand why she has to do this. Anyway, her elders taught her to do so, so she just follows the custom.
Soon, after passing the pineapple roots, we arrived at Naye Village.
When the bride arrives, the groom's family will set off firecrackers to welcome her, and two lucky women will help the bride into the house.
Immediately afterwards, Deng Changfu's sister brought two basins of hot water and towels for washing the faces of the bride and the wedding guests.
The bride must be the first to wash, and she must throw two coins into the basin. The coins will belong to the person who brings the water. In addition to bringing water at the door, the bride will have someone to help her wash her face and take a bath for the first three days. Usually, the groom's sister does this.
The bride also has to toss coins for three consecutive days.
After the bride and the wedding guests washed their faces, the bride and groom went to offer sacrifices to the grandfather together. At this time, everyone came to see how much dowry the bride had.
The bride's dowry usually includes a box. For families with better conditions, the dowry box would be a high-end antique box. Guan Yongying's family was not that well-off, so this dowry box was newly made by a carpenter.
Apart from the locked box, the rest of the dowry was sent by the bride's relatives and friends, such as washbasins, footbaths, teapots, etc., and there were quite a lot of them.
"The dowry is already quite a lot. I don't know how much cloth is in the box, whether there are any quilts, and how much dowry the bride has."
"The bride is worth so much, the dowry given by her family must be quite a lot."
"That's not the case. The bride's value is high because she gave up the land in her parents' home and chose to marry here early to help her husband's family get land. If she doesn't give her a little more compensation, it would be too unreasonable."
“…”
The relatives and friends who came to the wedding to drink discussed the bride's dowry, which was one of the most interesting parts of the wedding banquet.
Soon, the bride and groom came back with their grandfather, and then all the guests started to clamor for the bride to open the box.
Generally speaking, no matter how much dowry is in the bride's dowry box, it must be opened and shown to the guests.
As for whether to show the dowry given by the parents to the guests, it depends on each individual's situation. Generally, if the family is poor and the dowry given is too little, the bride will not show it to others. If the dowry given by the parents is relatively large, the bride will openly show it to the guests, because it is a matter of honor for the parents.
Guan Yongying naturally had an idea in her mind. Seeing the guests making a fuss, she took out the key and opened the box.
What caught the eye were the neatly folded cloths. The guests looked very carefully at the number of pockets of cloth (a pocket of cloth presented by a guest is called a pocket, and generally one pocket of cloth can be made into one piece of clothing for an adult, or two pieces of clothing for a child), and what kind of cloth they were.
Under the cloth were two sheets, which Guan Yongying turned over one by one to show the guests.
After seeing these, the guests clamored to see the dowry money. Guan Yongying did not hide it and openly showed it to them.
After seeing the amount of the bride's dowry, all the guests were shocked. It was 288 yuan, which really broke the record of brides' dowry in Naye Village in the past ten years.
After all, the value of a family in this era is generally around two to three hundred yuan, and some parents even only give their daughters twenty or thirty yuan as a dowry. Not many give more than a hundred yuan, let alone 288 yuan. After all, everyone's living conditions are not very good now, and many families have to save their daughter's value for their sons to marry. A daughter who marries out really cannot give too much dowry.
When the guests saw the dowry, they all praised the bride's parents for their generosity. The bride and the guests who came to see her off felt very proud.
The authority of the mother-in-law in this era is incomparable to that in later generations. Some powerful mothers-in-law would confiscate the bride's dowry and even her dowry money, and then distribute them themselves.
Fortunately, Deng Changfu's parents were both well-known for their good temper in the village, and they respected the newly married eldest daughter-in-law, so they did not touch the bride's dowry.
After looking at the bride’s dowry and dowry, the next step is to sit down and eat the meal as usual.
At this wedding, the man's family set up nearly thirty tables in total.
After the banquet begins, the bride and groom begin to serve tea. After drinking the tea served by the bride and groom, the guests are also required to give red envelopes. This custom has been popular in many places until later generations.
By the time the bride and groom had served tea, the guests had basically eaten and drunk their fill.
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In later times, packing up food is a common practice when attending a wedding. Some people are even very disgusting in this regard. Before other guests even start eating, he (she) will directly pack up the food in a bag, making the people sitting at the same table with him (her) look embarrassed.
Nowadays, no matter where you go to a wedding, no one will pack up the food, as that will make people laugh, and no one can afford to lose face.
However, although the guests will not pack up their meals, the host will not let them go back empty-handed. Each guest will be given a plate of five-flavor dishes. If the guest does not eat the braised pork on his or her table, in addition to the five-flavor dishes, a piece of braised pork and two pieces of fried tofu will be added, strung together with bamboo strips, and given to the guest to take back.
Of course, because there are so many customers, the weight of the five flavors is definitely not around two kilograms, usually one is one kilogram and two or three taels.
This is what the host family gives to ordinary guests. In addition to the above things, the host family also has to give red envelopes to the bride-to-be.
There are also differences in the red envelopes given to the bride's brothers and sisters. The red envelopes given to the bride's brothers and sisters are naturally bigger, usually three to five yuan. The other guests will get one or two yuan. It depends on how the host family gives.
In Shuangwang area, not only the aunt does not send the bride off at the wedding, but the bride's parents also do not send the bride off at the wedding.
As for the thank-you gift to the matchmaker, it is a valuable gift and will not be given in person, but will be delivered personally to the matchmaker's home.
After the guests received the gifts from the host, they began to disperse, and the wedding guests naturally had to leave as well.
Before, the bride Guan Yongying had been busy all the time. She didn't even have time to eat when she was hungry, and naturally she had no time to think about anything else. Now she saw the wedding guests leaving for home, and these familiar relatives were all leaving. From now on, she would have to live alone in this strange environment.
For a moment, Guan Yongying felt more and more upset the more she thought about it. After the wedding guests left, she couldn't help crying again!
(End of this chapter)