"Fairy, the auspicious time is about to begin."
At dawn, when the fog was thick, someone came to pay their respects to Zhengzheng.
An Zhengzheng tidied herself up and followed the crowd to Zhou Yu'er's house.
I hadn't looked closely before, but now that I'm closer, I can see that the Pei family is considered a small household in Qingyang Village, with a neat and tidy courtyard.
The bright red wedding cloth was arranged very well. The villagers valued these people who knew magic and even sent Zhou Yu'er to pick her up.
However, An Zhengzheng said that she should keep a low profile and give the spotlight to the newcomers, so there were far fewer people around her.
As soon as I entered, I heard a commotion coming from the bride's room.
"I won't throw it away, Mom, I don't want to throw it away..."
The bride cried her heart out.
An Zhengzheng asked, "What did the bride mean by throwing?"
Zhou Yu'er shook her head, her voice tinged with a sigh, "It's chopsticks. You haven't been married, so you don't know, but before a bride leaves home, her mother will hand her a pair of chopsticks from her parents' home, which the bride then throws away."
"The implication is that once you leave home, you won't eat at your parents' house, but once you return, you'll be treated as a guest."
An Zhengzheng was taken aback. Looking through the gauze window, she saw that the bride was a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old, crying and struggling.
She had excellent eyesight and could see that the bride was gripping the chopsticks tightly, refusing to let go no matter what.
Finally, a woman pinched her with tears in her eyes, and the chopsticks flew out of her mouth.
"Mom! I don't want to throw the chopsticks..."
"How can you not throw it away, silly girl..."
The woman's voice was choked with sobs.
Seeing An Zhengzheng looking in that direction, Zhou Yu'er whispered, "That's my mother-in-law."
“I’ve been married into the family for five years, and this is the first time I’ve seen her so distraught. Even my father-in-law was heartbroken. It’s really rare.”
"I thought they were all heartless, but it turns out they can feel pain too."
Perhaps because she had been tormented by her mother-in-law and father-in-law, and her sister-in-law was no pushover either, Zhou Yu'er was somewhat indifferent.
An Zhengzheng lowered her eyes slightly, her tone revealing a complex mix of emotions: "They probably know that once they become mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law, their daughters are going to suffer as wives."
Otherwise, why would the groom's family be almost all happy at the wedding, while the bride's family cries as if it were a matter of life and death?
An Zhengzheng's words had a deeper meaning, which suddenly made Zhou Yu'er's nose tingle.
"My Shuang'er..."
"Shuang'er?"
"It's Zhaodi. Zhaodi is the formal name given to me by my mother-in-law and father-in-law, and Shuang'er is the nickname I gave her."
Zhou Yu'er had already started crying.
The woman wasn't crying because of her sister-in-law, but the scene inevitably brought back memories of her own daughter's future wedding...
Before An Zhengzheng could hand her a handkerchief, Zhou Yu'er's sister-in-law called her away: "Didn't Mother-in-law ask Sister-in-law to prepare meat? Where's the meat? And where's the rice?"
"It's in the kitchen." Zhou Yu'er didn't even have time for sentimentality, she wiped her eyes hastily, "I'll go get it."
"Hurry up!" The sister-in-law was also busy and left again.
"I'll go with you."
An Zhengzheng went with her.
"This meat is raw and smells fishy, so you shouldn't hold it while you're cultivating."
Upon arriving in the kitchen, Zhou Yu'er carried a large plate of raw meat with practiced ease, clearly indicating that she was already used to it.
An Zhengzheng brought her a bowl of rice and asked, puzzled, "What do you need raw meat for?"
Zhou Yu'er placed the knife beside the wooden plate and said in a very ordinary tone, "This is called 'Separation Meat.' It involves cutting the ribs and meat apart, with one portion going to the husband's family and the other to the wife's family, symbolizing the separation of flesh and blood."
An Zhengzheng herself was surprised: "This bowl of rice..."
"You'll understand when you see the family division meal."
Zhou Yu'er's eyes were red, clearly because she was thinking of Shuang'er.
An Zhengzheng wisely refrained from asking further questions.
They went back to the bride's room.
The small boudoir was filled with many women. The bride's makeup was ruined by tears, and she would have to touch it up before leaving the room.
Zhou Yu'er's mother-in-law was also crying uncontrollably, and her slightly harsh face seemed less harsh now.
"Daughter, oh daughter... cut the meat, come on..."
An Zhengzheng witnessed the scene of the bride separating her flesh and blood with trembling hands.
Zhou Yu'er's sister-in-law took the food from An Zhengzheng's hands, and then the bride's mother personally served it to her.
"Mother, what kind of food is this?"
Perhaps recalling the scene of throwing away her chopsticks, the bride's eyes were filled with expectation as the food was brought to her lips.
She can still rely on her parents' home for meals, right?
All that could be heard was a choked sob: "It's a meal for separating from the family. I can still eat it before I even leave my mother's house."
The bride took a bite with tears in her eyes.
Soon after, Zhou Yu'er's father-in-law brought the bride's brothers to share the bowl of rice.
"..."
The wedding soon reached the stage where the groom had to come and pick up the bride.
With a complicated expression, An Zhengzheng followed the crowd out the door, while the bride bid farewell to her parents and walked out of the courtyard.
"Wait a minute!"
Someone called out to the bride and handed her mother a broom.
Zhou Yu'er's mother-in-law knew the rules. She swept the floor, then threw the broom away forcefully and shouted a message.
"Get out!"
A few meters away, the groom and his entourage were all smiles, their joy at marrying their bride evident.
But that wasn't all. The moment the bride stepped out of her parents' house, water was splashed at the door.
Zhou Yu'er knew An Zhengzheng didn't understand, so she explained to her, "It's a metaphor..."
"A married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl?"
Zhou Yu'er nodded.
An Zhengzheng's mood plummeted to rock bottom at this moment.
To be honest, An Zhengzheng has had a very smooth life over the past century, especially after An Yirou took over and gradually became proficient in the business of Bai Nu Ge.
She thought she had achieved inner peace through her spiritual practice.
It turns out that her heart can still be touched, just like all the injustices she witnessed a hundred years ago.
Zhou Yu'er immediately sensed An Zhengzheng's displeasure.
Thinking of An Zhengzheng's style of doing things, she whispered, "All newlyweds in the world are pretty much the same."
An Zhengzheng remained silent.
After reciting the calming mantra for a while, my mind calmed down considerably, and I went with the bridal sedan chair.
The groom was overjoyed. He was so happy to have a wife at home, and his mother could finally rest.
The bride takes over from the mother, according to the old family tradition.
An Zhengzheng left with a calm expression.
She was curious to see what kind of follow-up this humiliating celebration of a woman would have.
The groom dismounted and welcomed the bride into his home.
The groom's parents and brothers were all on the second floor, looking down at the bride as she entered from the first floor.
An Zhengzheng asked Zhou Yu'er, "...Why didn't they come down to greet us?"
That's ridiculous!
Zhou Yu'er: "This is meant to ward off evil spirits and keep the bride in check."
An Zhengzheng sneered.
Zhou Yu'er added, "That's a small matter; I still have to sit on the winnowing basket later."
An Zhengzheng listened to her explanation with a furrowed brow.
The so-called "sitting on a winnowing basket" means that the bride sits on a winnowing basket for several hours without moving.
This is to temper the bride's temper and give her a hard time, so that she won't be as impatient as an unmarried girl.
The bride, as the bride's mother, needs to be more mature so that she can take good care of her husband, in-laws, and father-in-law, and raise the children well.
Seeing the young girl dressed in red, sitting upright in a winnowing basket, her head veiled in red, surrounded by onlookers...
An Zhengzheng's face turned cold.
She sneered, "No wonder..."
No wonder so-called Chinese horror is either about ghost brides or long-haired women in red.
I think everyone understands all too well how heavy the resentment of women in ancient times was.
Everyone knows! Everyone knows!
But they all pretended not to know anything.
(The above wedding customs are all based on real-life examples from the 21st century.)
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