Chapter 265 New Year Greetings
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the women of the Gu family had to return to their parents' home to pay New Year's greetings. However, the Gu family also had two married daughters, so not all the family members could go.
In previous years, grandma stayed at home, but this year she couldn't wait to go back and tell my uncle that his children could come to study. And grandma hadn't been back to her parents' home for many years, so she wanted to go back this year.
"I'll stay at home to entertain the two aunts. You can go with peace of mind." Li spoke first.
"How many years has it been since you went back? Let me tell you, there's no such thing as an overnight grudge between father and daughter. If you're a little thick-skinned and keep pestering them, they won't be able to do anything to you." The eldest aunt rolled her eyes at Li and continued, "I won't be going back this year. Chunyan is getting married, so she'll definitely come. I'll stay home to wait for Chunyan, and I can also entertain my aunt."
My eldest sister, Gu Chunyan, got married at the end of the year, so she was definitely going back to her parents' home on the first day of the new year. So my aunt went back on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, bringing the necessary gifts and explaining the situation this year. Her parents expressed understanding.
Besides, although she really disliked her elder sister-in-law, there was nothing she could do. She was the eldest daughter-in-law in the family, and she had to accept some things for the sake of face.
"This..." Li was a little tempted, but she felt a little nervous when she thought about her parents' attitude.
It's not like she hasn't been back in the past few years. For example, the last time Gu Jiayue came back, she brought back the gifts prepared by Jiayue. But before she even entered the door, her father chased her out with a broom.
If I go again now, the result will probably be similar.
Gu Jiayue looked at Li, leaned into her arms and said coquettishly, "Mom, I haven't met my grandparents yet."
My grandparents didn't come when we moved last time. I heard from Li that it was because my grandparents were Miao people, and according to their rules, girls from the tribe could not marry men from outside their ethnic group.
The Miao ethnic group is even divided into several branches. For example, the Miao ethnic group in the southwest is mainly composed of the Bai Miao and Hua Miao. Some closed villages do not even allow intermarriage between different Miao ethnic groups.
Back then, my grandparents chose a young man from the village for my mother and even arranged a marriage for them when she was ten years old. But my mother didn't like the young man and instead fell in love with my father, who was a Han Chinese from outside the village.
That's why my grandparents were so angry and they didn't have any contact for many years.
Gu Jiayue recalled that in her previous life she had taught a student. That child was from an ethnic minority and was only in the first year of high school. One day he came to her to ask for leave, and the reason for asking for leave was to go home and get engaged?
When I, Gu Jiayue, was stunned, what kind of marriage would a fifteen or sixteen-year-old get? After asking, I found out that her parents were afraid that she would not come back after she passed the college entrance examination, so they arranged a marriage for her. Now they are engaged, and they will get married after graduating from high school.
What happens after marriage? Having kids?
University? How could his family let you go to university after you're married?
Later, she reported the matter to the school leaders. The school leaders' first reaction was to sigh and said that this was a national custom and we could only respect it.
But this is a girl's life, and she clearly has a brighter future.
Finally, after her repeated requests, the principal finally agreed to accompany her.
They went to the girl's home together, and when they learned that we were her teacher, they warmly welcomed us. But when we explained our purpose, her parents immediately turned hostile and chased us out with their dogs.
Later, the girl got engaged. After the engagement, she seemed to no longer focus on her studies. She kept holding her phone all day, sending messages and staring out the window in a daze.
Then, during her sophomore year, she dropped out.
Because she was pregnant, the man's family asked for an early marriage, and her parents naturally had no objection.
The last time they met was at a class reunion before the college entrance exam. She came with a child who was less than one year old, and then cried and told Gu Jiayue that she regretted it.
However, the matter was done and she had no chance to start over.
When she looked at Li, she suddenly remembered this incident which happened many years ago. It was still the new society of the 21st century, and the ethnic divide must have been even more serious.
But what the aunt said was right, there was no overnight hatred between father and daughter, Gu Jiayue felt that it was better to talk it out. After all, they couldn't just stop talking to each other forever.
"Mom, let's go. We haven't seen each other for many years and don't know how grandpa and grandma are doing."
"Then, sister-in-law..."
My aunt waved her hand. "Go quickly, leave the house to me." She was busy.
Li happily returned to her room and started packing her things.
Although her parents didn't like her these years, she would prepare something for them whenever she had the chance. In previous years, when the family was in financial difficulty, no matter how frugal they were, they could only make a pair of shoes and socks.
But this year she had a lot more money, so she made a new set of clothes for each of the two elders. They were cotton-padded clothes filled with new cotton, which were very thick and would definitely be warm to wear.
By the way, there are also eggs. My parents are not in good health, so I brought some eggs to give them some nourishment.
I also brought some of the high-yield crops newly planted this year and the salted duck eggs pickled by my sister-in-law for my parents to try.
…
They packed up several bags, and since there was no one in the third room, everyone helped to hold one.
There seemed to be no room for people to sit in the carriage.
The second brother Gu Yuchuan drove the car and headed towards the Diaojiao Miao Village.
As the name suggests, the houses in the Diaojiao Miao Village are mainly stilt houses. The stilt houses in the Miao Village are mainly divided into three floors. The bottom floor is generally used for raising livestock, the middle floor is usually the main room and kitchen for entertaining guests, and the upper floor is mostly bedrooms, mainly used for rest.
The Diaojiao Miao Village is actually not far from Taohua Village, and it takes about an hour for the carriage to arrive there.
When the carriage stopped at the entrance of the Miao village, Li held the children, especially Gu Yuhe's hands, and repeatedly warned them, "Remember, don't eat anything given by the villagers, especially the elderly."
Gu Yuhe was very confused; "Why?"
Li gave him a sidelong glance. "Why so many whys? Just listen to what I'm telling you. I'm telling you, if you dare eat anything else, I'll definitely beat you to death when we get home."
Gu Yuhe covered his butt and nodded reluctantly.
If you don’t want to eat it, then don’t eat it.
Li didn't say it, but Gu Jiayue knew it. That was because the Miao people were good at Gu.
Although with the development of social economy and the integration of ethnic groups in the previous life, the younger generation rarely knows it, the older generation still knows it to some extent.
So when she first went to the village to encourage her to study, the principal also reminded her not to eat anything indiscriminately.
Now that she was in this big country, she thought there must be a lot of people who could raise maggots. She even thought her mother could do it. Otherwise, although they were both raising maggots, the ones raised by her eldest and second aunts would always die, but her mother's were very good. Not only did they not die easily, but they even grew very large and had high nutritional value.
Of course, these were all Gu Jiayue's guesses, his mother never said them.
Li got off the carriage and walked in front to show Gu Yuchuan the way.
But before he could take two steps, he was blocked by two men holding red tasseled spears.
"The Miao village is a strategic location, outsiders are not allowed to enter!"
Hearing the voice, Li subconsciously looked up, and then she was completely stunned. "Brother Yang?"
[The story about a girl who took time off from high school to get engaged is true. It happened to a classmate of mine. We were all shocked at the time. She was also so beautiful. When she got engaged and came back from her engagement, we looked at the pictures, and the guy... he had quite a distinctive look.]
[As for the story about the Miao not being allowed to marry outsiders, I heard it from my mother. Last year, there was a wedding in our village, and none of the bride's family came. My mother said it was because the bride's family didn't agree with her marrying a Han Chinese. I don't know if this is true or not, so let's not discuss it. It's just a plot point, not related to reality.]
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