Ping An finished dinner at his mother-in-law's house and went home. Tomorrow is the big day, and there are still many things to do.
Liu Pengfei and his wife, Liu Jianguo and his family of three, and Shi Tou with Chen Xi also returned.
Er Lengzi and his wife also returned, but they stayed at their own homes. Of course, everyone on the mountain also came down.
The younger brothers surrounded Ping An, chatting and laughing. The house was so lively, and all the family members were home; Li Cuihua was overjoyed.
It's rare to see the whole family gathered together like this since the children have grown up. Last time, Shi Tou couldn't come back for Pengfei's wedding because of other commitments.
Li Cuihua held Chenxi tightly, not letting go. She hadn't seen the child for several years since he stayed in the capital. This was her grandson, and she couldn't get enough of him.
"Ping An, who are the people you'll be marrying tomorrow?" Er Ya asked her son.
“Chongyu, Qihong, Zhiyuan, Liu Qiang, Xiangting, and Xiangdong, the six of them.”
"Aren't Xiao Wu and the other two going?"
"Xiao Wu and the other two said they'll wait at home."
“Okay, as long as you make the arrangements, that's fine. Since we don't have any girls in our family, let Chaoyang, Xiangbei, Zhiming, Yuhui, and Chenxi go too.”
“Sure, there are eight wedding cars, that’s more than enough. The Hu family has no relatives, except for Xiao Zhen’s childhood friends.”
Er Ya hurriedly went out to make the arrangements.
Zhang Jia's fifth son and his friends kept calling; their younger brothers from the mountain had come down. It was getting late, so they couldn't meet, but they missed each other terribly, so they had to call.
"Wife, am I going to officiate the wedding tomorrow?" Zhang Shouyi asked.
"No need for you, you're too serious, otherwise it'll turn into a meeting. The emcee is Brother Jingze."
"Is Liu Jingze more humorous than me?"
"Actually, he's not suitable either. Song Zigan is okay, but he's Ping An's uncle and has a lot of things to do, so we chose Brother Jingze."
Zhang Shouyi was dissatisfied. How could Liu Jingze be better than him? Humph! He really has no taste.
The sons and daughters-in-law sat on the side listening without saying a word; they really couldn't get involved in their parents' conversation.
Xiao Qi led Rui Yang and the other nine people in. "What's wrong?"
Zhang Zhenye glanced at him and immediately fell silent.
"Grandma, Uncle Ping'an is getting married tomorrow, can we go?" Ruiyang asked.
"Of course, our whole family is going."
Yu Chen leaned against Zhang Shouyi's leg. "Grandpa, you have time too?"
Zhang Shouyi picked up his grandson and said, "Yes, Grandpa will have time tomorrow, so you and your five older brothers can stay with Grandpa."
The five of them didn't care; they were fine with whoever they followed, as long as they could see their grandmother at night.
"Grandma, are Grandpa and Great-Grandpa going too?"
“They will go too. Your Uncle Ping An was raised by your great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather, of course he will go.”
Because Xiao Wu and the other two played with them, the nine younger children didn't want to sleep at all. However, Zhang Zhenye only glanced at them, and they all obediently let the nanny take them back to sleep.
The Zhang family wasn't in a hurry the next day; everything had been arranged beforehand, so they didn't need to do anything.
The men continued working in the study until 9:30 when they could leave.
Cheng Guangxu and Er Ya were so busy they barely had time to breathe.
Everyone in the family pitched in, because the new bride was being brought here, so all the family's friends and relatives were there.
Shi Tou, Song Zigan, and Liu Jianguo were in charge of entertaining the guests.
Er Lengzi and his group arrived early and were busy with various tasks.
The women were preparing a fruit tea feast for a while.
Cheng Guangxu had many friends, as did Er Ya, but they all went directly to the restaurant. There were also more than twenty of Ping An's classmates and colleagues.
Li Cuihua and Liu Maocai, a married couple, sat and waited.
Ping An rode in the wedding car to pick up Hu Peizhen. His younger brothers were in all eight cars, which he found quite interesting.
The Hu family had known all along that so many people would be coming, and all of Guan Qiumei's friends came to help, since they couldn't manage with fewer people.
There were three tables full of fruit tea, all prepared by Ping An with fruit and snacks.
Hu Peizhen has five childhood friends and three college classmates. They are all in the room keeping her company.
"Xiao Zhen, your dress is so beautiful! Where was it made?" Gan Ping touched Hu Peizhen's dress with envy.
“This was brought back from abroad. My husband’s sister prepared it for me. I didn’t know about it.”
"Yes, Gan Ping is right, it really is so beautiful. When I get married in the future, I'll make one like this too." Tian Ling was also very envious.
These eight girls are discussing this dress.
"Xiao Zhen, is your husband's family very wealthy?" Wu Hui, Hu Peizhen's college classmate, asked.
“An ordinary family.” Hu Peizhen doesn’t like to discuss these things.
"But your clothes alone are worth a lot of money."
"I don't know."
Wu Hui could tell that Hu Peizhen didn't want to discuss this issue, so he stopped the conversation.
Today, many of Hu Jinlong's subordinates and his comrades' children came over. Knowing that the Hu family was small, they all helped with the work.
Firecrackers went off outside. "Xiao Zhen, we're here to pick you up. Hurry up, we still need to put the veil on."
When Ping An and his group of twelve entered, they attracted the attention of many middle-aged women. "These young men are really good-looking."
A group of eleven people came over, and the host invited them to have fruit tea and even asked the driver to come in as well.
The eleven young men sat down with smiles and ate a token amount. Ping An also stood up and went into his wife's room, followed by the other eleven.
The room, which was originally quite spacious, now feels cramped.
Ping An looked at his wife, dressed in red and wearing a veil, sitting on the bed, and smiled.
Although we've entered a period of reform and opening up, there are still limits to teasing the groom. Especially since they're all young women and men, they usually just symbolically ask Ping An to find his shoes.
The girls were embarrassed when they saw the handsome young men coming in, so they all acted quite reservedly.
When the time came, someone outside called out that it was time to pay respects to the bride's family.
Ping An hugged Hu Peizhen. The two arrived at the front hall, where Hu Jinlong and Guan Qiumei were both sitting in the living room.
Ping An put Hu Peizhen down, and the two knelt down and kowtowed three times to the old man. "Grandpa, I'm taking Xiao Zhen away today. I promise I will treat Xiao Zhen well from now on."
Hu Jinlong said "good" three times in a row and gave Ping An a large red envelope.
Ping An took the daughter and kowtowed to Guan Qiumei, saying, "Mom, please feel at ease entrusting your daughter to me. I promise to treat her well for the rest of my life."
Guan Qiumei wiped away her tears and gave Ping An a red envelope. "Ping An, Mom just hopes that you and Xiao Zhen can be happy for the rest of your lives, with many children and grandchildren."
Hearing her mother's words, Hu Peizhen burst into tears, which stained her red dress but remained unnoticed. However, Ping An, kneeling beside her, noticed. He grabbed her hand, offering her silent comfort.
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