After a night of commotion, things finally quieted down. With the matchmaker's help, the remaining procedures were completed, and Xichun was finally able to remove all the ornaments from her head with a sigh of relief.
“Miss, others would love to wear so many precious things, but you find them too heavy. In our village, if a bride has a new red dress for her wedding, plus a chest and cabinet made by her family, that’s considered a great thing. I saw how envious the girls in the village were when they saw you get married.”
"There's nothing to envy. When Xiaoyue gets married, I'll get you a set of jewelry too." Xichun smiled when she heard her words.
"That would be wonderful! I could be a bride too!" Xiaoyue replied with a grin.
"Xichun, I've already had hot water prepared and placed behind the screen so you can wash up later." Fu Changfeng saw that Xichun was only wearing her inner clothes and her face was flushed, so he was embarrassed to look at her.
"Okay, then I'll go wash up first. Xiaoyue, you can go out now." Xichun wasn't used to having someone serve her, so she sent Xiaoyue out. However, Fu Changfeng didn't leave. He was still sitting on the stool in the room. With the screen blocking the view, nothing could be seen, but the small movements of his hands betrayed him.
The next morning, Xichun woke up to Xiaoyue's knocking. She had dark circles under her eyes. If it weren't for the tea ceremony that day, Xichun would have loved to sleep until noon.
"Quick, get up, we still need to serve tea later." Xichun nudged Fu Changfeng, who was still asleep.
"It's okay, my mother told me yesterday that we should go later, not too early. Go back to sleep." Fu Changfeng pulled her over and continued to sleep.
When the two arrived at the hall, all the elders and relatives of the Fu family had arrived. Upon seeing them enter, an old lady at the head of the table curled her lip and said to Madam Fu beside her, "Third daughter-in-law, you new bride don't know any manners. How can you make the elders wait for the younger generation? You'd better teach her properly in the future. After all, she's from the countryside and doesn't know any manners."
Her harsh voice also caught Xichun's attention. Xichun looked at her seat and guessed that this must be Fu Changfeng's grandmother, the stepmother of Master Fu, Madam Fu.
Before the marriage, Xichun already knew who the Fu family's relatives were, but she was meeting many of them for the first time today. Among them, the old lady of the Fu family was the stepmother of the master of the Fu family. The old master of the Fu family had passed away when the master of the Fu family and his brothers were young, which is why the old lady of the Fu family dismissed him because a son born out of wedlock could not inherit the family business.
Mr. Fu was unwilling to accept this situation and did not want his brothers to laugh at him, so he brought his wife to Weinan County and started this family business. It can be said that if it weren't for this happy event, Mrs. Fu would not have set foot in Weinan County.
"Mother-in-law, this is what I told Changfeng. The young couple are newlyweds, and they finally got a few days off, so it's okay for them to sleep in a little later. Didn't I have someone tell you yesterday that you could come a little later today? I didn't expect you to be in such good spirits and come so early today."
Madam Fu had long been annoyed with her mother-in-law. She had been tormented by her when she was young, and after finally enjoying so many years of peace, her mother-in-law would come and make things difficult for everyone. It was so annoying that she was unwilling to indulge her.
"Take a few days off? I heard that Changfeng's wife is still out there doing business. What kind of woman goes out to do business? When your grandfather passed away, I handed it over directly to your eldest uncle. Women should just take care of things at home. In my opinion, Changfeng's wife should stop doing that business. If she doesn't want to close down, she can ask her fourth uncle to help her manage it."
The old lady hadn't even started doing anything serious all morning, and she was already babbling on and on. Xi Chun wanted to snap back, but before she could say anything, Fu Changfeng couldn't hold back any longer.
“Grandmother is getting old and doesn’t quite understand the ways of the world. Women can certainly do business. As for Fourth Uncle, in my opinion, he should just go back and inherit the direct line of the family business. My wife’s business needs to continue. She can’t just stay at home all day doing nothing and thinking about this and that.”
“Yes, Mother-in-law, Xichun’s business isn’t strenuous. It’s just accounting. We’re bored sitting face-to-face at home every day. Let her do whatever she wants. It’s fine.” Madam Fu retorted with a smile.
It's a joke that even if Xichun didn't want to do it, and she left the shop unopened, it wouldn't be the Fourth Uncle's family's turn to help. It's really this old lady who started the Fu family's habit of coveting their daughter-in-law's dowry.
"Mother, it's getting late. Let's start the tea ceremony quickly. I have to go check on the business, and Changjin and Changfeng have to go to their studies." Master Fu said this at this moment, leaving the old lady, who wanted to speak, speechless.
Xi Chun was happy to see her humiliated. After getting to know all of Fu's relatives, the tea ceremony was considered complete.
Master Fu had five brothers in his generation. Master Fu was the third son. His two eldest brothers and his fourth brother were all legitimate sons born to Madam Fu, so they inherited the family business. The fifth master was also a son born to a concubine, but he and Master Fu were not born of the same mother. After the family was divided, they continued to live in the prefectural city. Their relationship was better than that with the legitimate brothers.
Originally, the Fu family was quite influential in the prefectural city. However, due to the mismanagement of the three direct descendants, the family gradually declined over the years. The fourth master also became addicted to gambling. That's why when Madam Fu learned that Xichun had opened a restaurant, she directly mentioned it in the hall, wanting to find a way out for her youngest son.
This time, only Madam Fu and her fourth son, the direct descendants of the Fu family, came. The other two families declined to come, citing busy family matters as the reason. They only sent some gifts, clearly trying to distance themselves from the Fu family.
Xi Chun only learned about this later. It turned out that the eldest son of the eldest branch had passed the imperial examination and become a scholar last year, just like Fu Changfeng. They had a chance to turn their lives around, so naturally they wouldn't care about the poor relatives in their eyes.
During the meal, Madam Fu was up to her old tricks again. She pointed at Madam Fu and the fifth wife and said that they hadn't eaten together for many years. She wondered if the two of them still remembered her as their legal mother. She and her youngest daughter-in-law then sang in unison, trying to make the two of them stand and serve her.
“Mother, now that you’re a mother-in-law, how can the mother-in-law stand while the daughter-in-law sits to eat? Today, let your granddaughter-in-law be in charge of feeding you.” In their family, men and women eat separately, so the old lady only started acting up after seeing that her daughter-in-law had no one to back her up.
"Xichun, please sit down and eat." Madam Fu was pleased to hear Xichun say this, but she still urged her to sit down.
“It’s alright. I’ll do my filial duty to my mother today, so that people won’t say that you don’t know how to teach your daughter-in-law. Fifth Aunt, it’s fine for Grandmother to have her niece-in-law to take care of her. You and my mother-in-law haven’t seen each other for many days, so please sit down and have a meal together.” Xi Chun pressed her shoulder to sit down before coming to the old lady’s side.
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