Chapter 81 The wine is strong and the red curtains are warm
The newlyweds left the house together, their red and green clothes pleasing to the eye. The guests all praised their perfect match. As Madam Xu watched Baozhu leave, the bustling scene outside made her feel a deep sense of emptiness.
The sedan chair bearers received the lucky money before they lifted it up. The bride's escort followed behind the procession. There were sixteen bearers of dowry as they left the Zhen family's house. Pei Yanqing, the bride's bearer, was riding a white horse. He had a straight figure and a handsome appearance. A group of people followed the procession to ask for wedding candies and fruits.
The two houses were not far apart, and she felt nervous as she was swaying all the way, with sweat oozing from her palms. Baorong knew that she was still a little nervous, and they arrived at the Pei family while talking beside her sedan chair at an auspicious time.
The couple held the love knot in their hands and stood side by side in front of the hall, listening to the ceremony master singing words as they bowed to their parents and performed the grand ceremony. They then went to the public banquet together to drink wine. After the outer ceremony was over, Baozhu was led to the bridal chamber by the matchmaker.
Baorong stayed in the room with Baozhu and asked her if she wanted to eat something. She had only eaten two dry cakes the whole day. It would have been fine if she hadn't said it, but now that she mentioned it, she was really hungry.
There were several plates of wedding cakes on the table, both of which were meat-filled wedding cakes and rose flower wedding cakes from Zhen's Restaurant. The two sisters each ate a piece of the rose flower wedding cake, and Baozhu felt her mouth dry after eating it.
Baorong tested the teapot and found the water was cold, so he took it out to pour some hot tea. Baozhu felt her throat was really dry, so she took the wine pot from the table. The wedding wine she had just drunk was sweet wine, and after shaking it, she found that most of it was still there. It was called Plum Blossom Wine, and it tasted sweet and refreshing. She had just wanted to take a sip, but she didn't expect to taste some flavor. She couldn't help but drink it all by herself.
Baozhu thought that this plum blossom wine was just similar to the rice wine she brewed at home. She couldn't drink much to begin with, and she had already drunk four or five glasses of wine outside. If she drank this pot in one gulp, an ordinary person would get dizzy.
The banquet outside was half over, and the music spread to the backyard. Baozhu became more and more sleepy after hearing it. The hairpins on her head pressed down and she couldn't lift her head.
This was Baorong's first time back to the Pei family. She looked around and found the yard very nice. There were osmanthus flowers planted in the front and back yards. There was also a lotus pond in the back yard with a few fat carps in it.
When the Pei family bought the house, although Madam Xu didn't know Pei Yanqing's intentions, she also put a lot of thought into choosing it. The two-story house was not in demand even if it was put on the market. Nowadays, if you want to find a two-story house, you not only need money, but also connections.
It was getting dark, but the road could still be seen clearly. Baorong went to the kitchen to get hot water, and walked back with the kettle. When he was alone, he thought about his elder sister getting married, and he would not be able to sleep and talk with her every day. His mother said that this was a happy event and he should not cry, so she had been holding it in for days.
Looking up at the sky, even the moon seemed dimmer. With no one around, Baorong could no longer hold back her tears and ran to a quiet corner by the small lotus pond. At first, she tried to hold it in silently, but when no one passed by, she simply squatted down, hugged her knees, and cried breathlessly.
After crying for a while, she suddenly heard someone coughing. Baorong thought she had seen a ghost, and even though she stopped crying, she was still frightened and hiccuping. She was afraid that if she looked up, she would see something she shouldn't, so she buried her head in her knees and didn't dare to raise it.
After waiting for a long time, Baorong felt someone handing something over. He took a look and saw that the person's feet were on the ground. It turned out to be a living person, probably someone who came to attend the wedding.
I saw this person handing me a handkerchief. "You scared me. Why are you crying so late at night?"
I don't know who scared whom, Baorong was upset and didn't take his handkerchief. She just sobbed, "This moon...hiccup...why is the moon not round anymore..."
"Today is June 18th, so naturally it's not full." The man was a little surprised. "You're crying for the moon? What's there to cry about?"
She was staying here peacefully by herself, but this man came to disturb her peace and quiet, and he was also so talkative. Baorong was already annoyed, and now she was even more impatient to hear him talk.
"What's it to you?"
The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became. Baorong wiped his face with his sleeve, picked up the kettle on the ground, stomped on his feet, pulled his face with one hand, made a weird face at people, and trotted away.
Baorong finally breathed a sigh of relief when she heard someone holding their feet and screaming in pain. Thinking that her sister must be thirsty after being out for so long, she quickened her pace and ran all the way.
I came back panting, only to see my sister slumped over the table with drunken eyes, holding the gift list in her arms, muttering something. When I listened carefully, I realized she was counting the bill.
Thinking that she came back late, her sister was so thirsty that she drank the wine on the table. Baorong sniffed and blamed the man for delaying her.
Ajie was sleeping soundly, so Baorong kept watching over her. After the banquet was over, she called everyone to wake her up and helped Ajie put her hairpins and rings back in place and tidied her clothes in front of the mirror.
Outside, lanterns were hung high, the night was getting darker, and the eldest and second brothers had finished their conversation. They were calling Baorong to come home from outside the door. Baozhu was sleeping so soundly that she didn't know what time it was. When she heard the voices, she picked up the conversation.
"Where is this? It's so dark, hurry home, or my mother will start nagging me again..."
After a busy day, Baozhu slept soundly.
Bao Rong started to feel sad again after hearing what she said. Thinking that her elder sister could not go back with them, she shed two tears. Seeing Pei Yanqing coming in, she turned her back and held back her tears. She was even more displeased with Pei Yanqing.
"My elder sister is drunk. Please take good care of her. I usually take care of my elder sister when she gets drunk at home."
Baorong snorted and went out to look for his elder and second brothers.
The plum wine that Baozhu drank was quite strong, and she was still dizzy. Pei Yanqing came in and saw that she was drunk. He helped her sit down and went out to not let these outsiders who came to join in the fun in.
Pei Yanqing, who had been waiting outside to watch the excitement, was blocking the doorway. He stood like a mountain, as if he was going to guard it all night. Seeing that there was nothing exciting to watch, everyone left in boredom.
Pei Yanqing had been busy all day and was already sweating all over. He had drunk a lot at the banquet and still smelled of alcohol. He went to take a shower next door and then got some water for Baozhu to wash.
Baozhu sat at the table with her face in her hands. Her wedding dress was complicated and the weather was hot. The hairpins and clothes on her head made her breathless. There was no one in the room at the moment. She took off her clothes in a daze and was left with only her underwear. After washing, she hugged the ice mirror to cool down.
Pei Yanqing waited outside for a long time, but heard no movement from inside. He called out several times but received no response. He wanted to ask the maid to go in and take a look, but after hesitating for a while, he pushed the door open himself.
He only saw the man dazed and holding the ice mirror, his clothes torn into a mess. He saw Pei Yanqing come in, smiled and put her arms around his neck, tiptoed and whispered in his ear, "There's a fire avoidance map in the box. Mother said if you don't know how, just follow... learn from it."
Pei Yanqing's body was stiff, and he dared not move even though the person was hanging on him. Baozhu's hands were like fire, and they touched wherever they went. He was as tense as a string, but he could endure it in his heart, but not in his body. His nose suddenly felt itchy. Pei Yanqing seemed to have noticed something, and hurriedly supported the person in his arms with one hand, and raised his other hand to wipe it.
He was so angry that he actually had a nosebleed. He found a handkerchief to wash his face, and then saw Baozhu still muttering about opening the box to look for the fire avoidance map. Pei Yanqing stopped her and said sullenly, "No need to look for it——"
"No need for a picture? Then can you?" The person in his arms looked up at him dazedly.
Her eyes were misty and her lips were shining, and Pei Yanqing felt half of his body go limp just by looking at her.
Pei Yanqing's body was so hot. Baozhu just felt hot, and it felt even hotter when she was close to Pei Yanqing. She pushed him away and wanted to go find Bingjian, but Pei Yanqing was not willing to let her go and pulled her to fall on the bed together.
Beneath the curtain, the two stood no more than a finger's breadth apart. Pei Yanqing, at the age of youthful vigor and full of passion, had seen all manner of storms, yet facing Baozhu, he felt helpless. Her clothes were half-undressed, revealing a sea of white. The lingering scent of alcohol made him dizzy. He lowered his head, delicately kissing Baozhu's forehead, eyelashes, and then her shimmering lips.
A few ambiguous sounds between lips and teeth make people blush and heartbeat, and soft lips conquer cities and ponds all the way.
Baozhu trembled slightly, and she seemed to be a little more sober. When she saw Pei Yanqing's face clearly, she simply followed her heart and sank into the depths together with him.
This man seemed to want to tear her apart and swallow her into his stomach. He was grinding her bit by bit, making her feel uncomfortable. The faint fragrance of plum blossoms lingered in the tent, and Baozhu trembled.
With her eyes tightly closed, her hands unconsciously grasped the wedding blanket used for mandarin ducks playing in the water. Her chest was tickled by the hanging black hair. Baozhu closed her eyes and suddenly heard a muffled groan from the person on her body.
Covered in mud, the two of them were silent.
Baozhu was now completely awake, and she pulled the quilt to cover herself. Her voice was already a little hoarse,
"I want some water—"
The cold tea relieved some of her dryness. Baozhu saw that the people around her seemed to be getting drunk again, and her drunkenness disappeared completely. Thinking of his unruly appearance just now, she shrank her head and stood up to put the teacup on the table. She felt a pair of eyes staring at her through the curtain from behind.
Pei Yanqing coughed dryly, "Um...which box is the painting in?"
Baozhu's hand trembled, nearly breaking the teacup in her hand. Pei Yanqing saw her glance at the box beside the bed and knew it was there. He opened the box and took out the six pictures. He sat at the table to study them in the flickering candlelight. Baozhu came over curiously to take a look, and her face started to heat up at the first glance.
Pei Yanqing said seriously, "Standing, sitting, lying down, there are so many postures, I really need to learn them."
Baozhu's legs went weak and she wanted to hide. Seeing that Baozhu wanted to hide, he pulled her over. Baozhu sat on him unsteadily and felt the heat under her body. Several paintings fell to the ground and she didn't bother to pick them up. Baozhu felt that she had been lifted off the ground.
"This time you'll have to take a closer look—"
The next moment, Pei Yanqing undressed and the two rolled around on the bed.
The moon hung high in the sky, and at first, she felt a slight pang, but eventually, it sank in. Baozhu moaned softly at the teasing, her nails painted with red paint climbing up his shoulder, stroking the rough old wound. Her heart felt empty, as if she had climbed up to the sky and couldn't find a place to rest. She needed something to hold onto to feel stable, and so a few new scratches appeared on the old wound.
The person seemed to have found the right place and just worked hard over and over again.
The red tent was warm, and the ice in the ice jar had long since melted into water by the scorching heat of the room. The candlelight flickered until late at night. Pei Yanqing got up contentedly to fetch water, but when she returned, she was already asleep. Simply wiping her body only made her feel dry again, so she went outside to pour two buckets of water before she could rest.
When he lay back on the bed and saw Baozhu, he became impatient again.
Baozhu was so tired that she didn't even have a dream. When she woke up in the morning, it was already bright outside. She didn't know where Pei Yanqing had gone. After all the trouble last night, she didn't know when she fell asleep. She didn't even have time to clean up the house. Now the house seemed to be clean, but she didn't know whether it was Pei Yanqing who cleaned it or the maid at home.
Seeing Pei Yanqing coming back, he asked nervously, "Why didn't you wake me up? Did you clean the room or who did it? Where's that... that painting from last night?"
Seeing her like this, Pei Yanqing couldn't help but tease her, "Don't worry, I'm the one who cleaned the room. As for the painting... I've put it away. Let's study together tonight."
Baozhu thought about how she blushed last night and punched him, but he was like a piece of iron and didn't feel anything at all. Baozhu's hand started to hurt. Pei Yanqing heard her cry out in pain and held her hand to look at it. Baozhu lowered her head and saw that this guy was being shameless again since early morning.
The aroma of rice can be smelled from the kitchen. Today I have to offer tea to Grandma Pei. I don’t want to chat with Pei Yanqing. After washing and dressing, Pei Yanqing will take me to offer tea to Grandma Pei.
From now on, you should call her grandma.
Grandma Pei smiled and handed over three thick red envelopes. "Yanqing's parents are not here, so grandma gave these to them."
The old man's eyes welled up with tears when he saw the young couple getting along so well.
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