After a period of excitement, it's time for the ceremony.
The ceremony began at noon. The ceremony here is the same as the ancient wedding ceremony. A table was set up in the courtyard with a pair of red candles on it, and a large red "double happiness" character was pasted on the wall behind it.
Lin's parents sat on either side. The couple bowed to heaven and earth, then to their parents, and finally to each other. The ceremony was considered complete, but it wasn't over yet. Some of their immediate family elders offered their gifts, so the couple had to bow to each other again on the spot.
The ceremony lasted until 12:30, which was quite fast. There weren't many direct relatives from either the Lin or Chu families. The Lin family had three brothers, with their father being the youngest.
The eldest and second uncles' families weren't particularly close to them, and the sisters-in-law didn't get along well. Since Lin Yuan's grandparents passed away, the three families hadn't had any contact. They only interacted on important occasions like today.
Lin Yuan also introduced Zhao Huanhuan to her eldest uncle and aunt, and the two of them bowed to each other in kinship ceremony.
Both families contributed twenty yuan as a gift, which was recorded in the gift account.
Next up was the Chu family. Lin Yuan had an uncle and an aunt, and both families came today. They exchanged greetings, and both families gave a gift of twenty yuan.
This is in line with the Lin brothers' custom. Twenty yuan is considered a high amount for a gift in those days. This is for immediate family members. Families in other villages usually give one or two yuan. Only a few village officials remember that the gift is five yuan.
When the educated youth came, I remember they also gave me a gift of two yuan.
Next, the other guests paid their respects. The two of them bowed to several more people. After they had finished bowing to the village leaders and elders, the village head waved his hand, telling Lin Yuan and Zhao Huanhuan that they could go inside and rest for a while, and that he would start arranging the banquet.
Lin Yuan escorted Zhao Huanhuan back to her room to rest, and this time a group of female educated youths followed Wen Yan in to keep Zhao Huanhuan company.
Hu Doudou and Yang Man were also there, but they sat quietly to the side without speaking to Zhao Huanhuan after they came in.
"Huanhuan, is this gold bracelet part of your mother's dowry?" Wei Pingping suddenly noticed the gold bracelet on Zhao Huanhuan's wrist and asked.
Upon hearing this, everyone rushed over, even Hu Doudou and Yang Man couldn't believe it and gathered around.
"My uncles' families chipped in to pay for it for me," Zhao Huanhuan said, stretching out her wrist to show them.
She glanced indifferently at the tops of Hu Doudou and Yang Man's heads. She thought the two of them wouldn't come today, but she didn't expect them to actually show up.
The day after that, the two submitted a letter of self-criticism to the brigade leader. According to Wenyan, in the days that followed, the two worked very honestly and no one bothered them anymore.
Zhao Huanhuan could understand why Hu Doudou hated her, but she didn't understand why Yang Man would target her when she had never been familiar with her since she arrived.
As for the possibility that Yang Man might also be a reincarnated person, Zhao Huanhuan had observed that it didn't seem likely, as Yang Man had never paid much attention to Lin Yuan.
This eliminates the possibility that his marriage to Lin Yuan would offend her.
"Huanhuan, your red suitcase is also very nice. Can you show us what clothes Lin Yuan bought for you when you got married?" After looking at Zhao Huanhuan's bracelet, Hu Doudou glanced enviously at the two large red packages and the red suitcase placed on the kang (a heated brick bed) against the front of the kang.
From the first day Zhao Huanhuan arrived, she made it clear to them that she came from an only child family and that her family was probably well-off. Her clothes were all very nice, especially bright colors like red and light blue, which few people had.
Their best-looking clothes are white shirts and floral skirts, and they all like any of Zhao Huanhuan's clothes.
Zhao Huanhuan glanced at them and saw Wen Yan looking curiously at her suitcase and cloth bag. She smiled and said to Wen Yan, "Yan Yan, bring them over and open them for everyone to see. The dress I'm wearing was bought by Lin Yuan."
"The rest were made for me by my aunts and my mom. The colors and styles are similar to your clothes," Zhao Huanhuan said with a faint smile.
Wen Yan nodded in agreement.
She opened the package and saw that it contained clothes she had never seen before, so she knew it was new.
She opened the package, took out Zhao Huanhuan's clothes, and held them up in her hand to show everyone, not wanting anyone to touch Huanhuan's clothes.
"Wow, it's pink! This pink short-sleeved shirt is so pretty. Are your aunts all tailors? Are they also factory workers?" Chen Yan said enviously.
She has always loved pink, but unfortunately, she doesn't own a single pink dress.
Zhao Huanhuan shook her head, "No, my aunts also live in the village. Whether they are skilled in tailoring has nothing to do with whether they live in the village or the city. They just learned it when they were young so that their children could wear suitable clothes."
When she said this, everyone fell silent, and they were filled with envy.
"Wow, this white dress is beautiful, and these flowers are so pretty too, little blue flowers, they look prettier than our kind of blue flowers," Fang Mei said.
Zhao Huanhuan glanced at it and smiled, "My mom made that for me."
"This dress is pretty too! Wow, Zhao Huanhuan, you've changed three dresses this summer!" Hu Doudou, the naive one, looked on with envy.
It's true that you can't live like everyone else. They only brought one dress with them when they came out. They usually don't dare to wear it, but they wore it to someone else's happy occasion like today. It was a dress from two years ago, and it's a bit tight now.
"Sigh, compared to Zhao Huanhuan, we feel like suffering little maids, while she's like a pampered little princess," Ren Fanghua sighed.
Everyone immediately gave a bitter laugh.
"Don't say things like that. Huanhuan is only an only child in her family. Her parents are both working, and her three uncles are all older brothers. She is the only girl in the entire Zhao family, so everyone dotes on her. Her parents only earn enough to support her, so Huanhuan has more and better things."
"You feel you don't have good clothes simply because you have many children in your family. Whether it's food, clothing, or daily necessities, you have to stretch every penny, so it naturally seems like you get less."
Seeing that everyone's gazes towards Huanhuan were increasingly tinged with jealousy, Wenyan quickly spoke up.
“That’s true!” Hu Doudou replied with a pout. “There are five siblings in my family. Whenever there’s something, it’s always the older brothers who get the most. My sister and I are the youngest, and we’re girls, so we get very little. It was only after my two older brothers joined the army that things got a little better for our family. Besides, only my dad has a job in my family.”
After the two of them talked, everyone realized that their situations were basically the same, and that Zhao Huanhuan was an extremely rare case. Suddenly, they felt less upset.
"Let me play you the record Huanhuan bought!" Seeing that everyone had finally stopped verbally ostracizing Huanhuan, Wenyan quickly packed up Zhao Huanhuan's clothes and put them back in the package. She then plugged in the record player, found a more upbeat one, and played it.
The female educated youths then fell silent and began to sit quietly and listen to the music.
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