My eldest cousin Xu Hengkai was missing from the restaurant. My eldest aunt said that he had something to do and would not be back. In fact, he could not go home for dinner on normal days in the past. There was nothing he could do about it. That was how work was. When he was busy, he would not be seen for ten days or half a month.

As my aunt spoke, she glanced at Uncle Xu with a slightly resentful look, blaming him for supporting her son to join that department in the first place, but Uncle Xu seemed not to see it.

Xu Hengrui, the third grandson of the Xu family, came back today. He was an 18-year-old boy, tall, handsome, clean and elegant, similar to Xu Yuting. He looked like the handsome young male lead in idol dramas of later generations, but Xu Hengrui was not as outgoing as Xu Yuting. He was a little cold, or shy and reserved. He called Shen Yu "brother", and after Shen Yu introduced them, he just politely said "hello" to Meng Tao, then turned and walked away to tidy up the chairs.

Meng Tao felt his rejection, which was a bit confusing.

Shen Yu said, "Hengrui is a cousin of Deng Linlin and Wu Hong. He must have listened to Deng Linlin's one-sided story. Don't worry, this kid has a brain, he will figure it out soon. When he comes to talk to you, leave him alone for a few days."

Meng Tao found it funny and really ignored Xu Hengrui.

After dinner, the family sat in the living room and talked for half an hour and drank some tea. Grandma Xu urged Shen Yu and Meng Tao to go back to their rooms to rest. Grandpa Xu wanted to talk more with his grandson and his wife, but then he thought about the fact that they did not get enough rest last night, so he asked them to go back as well.

In the next few days, Meng Tao started to get busy: her aunt would take her to the hospital for a pregnancy check-up, and then when she returned home, a group of old sisters from Grandma Xu would come to visit the new daughter-in-law, so she had to entertain them a few times. Shen Yu was busy at work, so he took time out to take her to take wedding photos. There were no wedding photos in that era, but they had to have a proper group photo, and it was not enough to take it by herself; it would take an experienced master in the photo studio to capture that look.

A week later, people from all walks of life who wanted to attend the wedding banquet arrived in the capital one after another.

First, three elders from H Province, Liu Yongsheng, Han Shufang and Wang Cuixi, came from far away and brought two sets of new bedding as dowry. The quilt covers were carefully embroidered with flowers and looked festive. After admiring them, Grandma Xu was full of praise, and kept praising the two grandmothers for their exquisite craftsmanship and their love for Xiao Huahua.

In Province G, Director Shen and Meng Zhehan arrived in Beijing one after another. They were accompanied by Liu Jianxin, Sun Hong and their daughter Mingming, as well as Zhang's father and mother from Xingyang County, Meng Jinniu, Bao Dongmei, Zhou Cuiling and Qian Liang from Linshui Village.

Meng Zhehan also brought Zhang Guoqing with him, which made Zhou Cuiling very happy.

Meng Jinniu and Bao Dongmei saw Meng Tao and happily grabbed her, asking her if she was dreaming. Did they really arrive in the capital? The two were confused and very amused.

Zhang's father and mother smiled and told Meng Tao: Zhang Fu was originally going to come, but the child was filial and gave this opportunity to them, saying that they would attend the wedding of Shen Yu and Taohua and also be able to visit the capital city of Beijing. This is a great honor, so they wanted to let their parents come and enjoy it first, and he will have the chance to come again in the future.

Qian Liang came to send his blessing on behalf of the educated youth. It is said that all the educated youth wanted to come, but the production team had work to do and was very busy. The educated youth's house was considered a family, so only one person could come. They decided by drawing lots. As a result, Qian Liang was lucky and won the prize! Although he was an educated youth from Haishi, it was also his first time to come to Beijing and he was very excited.

Director Shen and seven or eight old friends from Province G came with him. Uncle Su also came with two younger generations of the Su family, who are cousins ​​of Shen Yu.

Shen Yumengtao and his relatives and friends gathered together for half a day and arranged accommodation for everyone. In the few days before the wedding, someone would take them around for sightseeing and to get to know the capital city.

Yang Licheng and Zheng Hui drove a truck to Beijing. Xu Yulin and Liu Jianye also came. However, Xu Yuting and Liu Jicheng were busy at school and could not come until the wedding day.

When Grandpa Xu learned about this, he went to the hospital with Liu Yongsheng to visit the two young men. He praised the good father and good son and encouraged them to continue to carry forward the fine traditions and tough style of their predecessors.

After Meng Zhehan helped arrange the personnel coming from Province G, he said goodbye to Shen Yu and Meng Tao and returned to the Meng family first.

As soon as I entered the door, I was surrounded by my grandfather and father, and was pulled directly into the study to talk.

Old Meng wanted to go to the Xu residence these days. If he couldn't recognize his granddaughter, he could just take a look, right? But old man Xu was abominable and refused without any room for negotiation, saying that it would cause trouble to Taotao. Who would be responsible if she was in a bad mood and affected her health? After a dispute between the two old men, Old Meng learned that Taotao was pregnant. He was very happy and didn't insist on going to the Xu residence. Later, the eldest son Meng Shaokang discussed with the eldest son of the Xu family and asked him to make concessions. When Taotao followed Wu Danning out of the house to do business on the street, Meng Shaokang made arrangements so that Old Meng could see his granddaughter not far away.

The old man burst into tears on the spot: This is his granddaughter, no need to explain, her facial features, voice, smile, and even her walking posture are similar to his wife who passed away many years ago. If she were to wear an embroidered cheongsam, she would look exactly like his wife when she was young! Mr. Meng finally waited for his grandson Meng Zhehan to come back today, and he immediately asked: Is it possible that Taotao can let go of her knot on the big day and accept a dowry prepared by the Meng family? Meng Zhehan shook his head and disagreed: "Don't make trouble at this time, she is just my adopted sister, just treat her as a godparent."

Mr. Meng was dejected and sighed deeply.

Meng Shaokang asked his son: "What does Taotao like most? We should give her gifts that she likes."

Meng Zhehan thought of Meng Tao's special hobby and couldn't help but smile: "If I give her a box of gold or ten thousand yuan, she will probably be very happy."

Meng Shaokang scolded Meng Zhehan for talking nonsense, and Old Man Meng glared at his grandson: "My dear granddaughter is elegant and beautiful, with a fairy-like temperament, how could she be interested in these vulgar things!"

Meng Zhehan was helpless. No one believed what he said. He had no other choice.

After discussing for a long time, the three generations of grandparents and grandchildren finally adopted Meng Zhehan's suggestion: as godparents, the Meng family would give a pair of mahogany boxes. Of course, they would not be filled with gold and money, but quilt covers, sheets, blankets, and clothes made of various high-quality fabrics.

Old Meng also gave Meng Zhehan a brocade box, which contained a pair of jade bracelets. They were rich green and shone brightly. These were worn by Old Lady Meng when she was young. Old Meng had treasured them for decades. None of the Meng family's grandchildren had ever even seen them. Now he gave them to Meng Tao as a dowry.

The wedding day arrived in a blink of an eye. The Xu family was bustling with activity the day before the wedding. Uncle Xu and Aunt Xu returned home with a visiting delegation, and two cousins ​​also rushed back from other places.

The second cousin Xu Yingshuang is a painter and designer, and the third cousin Xu Liwen is a film director. With the return of these two people, Shen Yu and Meng Tao's wedding was immediately raised to a higher level.

Meng Tao felt like she was in a movie, but neither she nor Shen Yu objected. Their happiest moment was recorded with a camera, preserving the dynamic images, and it was beautifully filmed. This was a very simple thing in later generations, but it was not easy to do in this era.

(End of this chapter)