Chapter 46, The Bridal Chamber
"The bride has arrived!"
Someone shouted, and everyone in the Xie family courtyard looked out, with the children running all the way to the intersection.
A short while later, Xie Wei appeared at the intersection riding a bicycle adorned with red flowers. Today, he was wearing a brand-new green military uniform, with the same red flowers pinned to the pockets. Because it was a wedding procession, he didn't ride as fast as usual, sitting upright on the bicycle, a faint smile on his normally expressionless face.
Lin Qingqing sat on the back of the bicycle, but her posture was different from when Xie Wei usually carried her. She usually preferred to sit with her legs apart because it was more comfortable and she didn't have to consciously maintain her balance.
But today she was wearing a dress, a long one, which made her look awkward straddling the back seat, so she sat sideways. Plus, she had a red veil over her head, so to avoid getting too tired and to maintain her balance, she reached out and hugged Xie Wei's waist.
Seeing them appear at the end of the road, Xie Baoshan, who was in the courtyard, went back into the house and brought out a round firecracker. He took it apart, threw it at the other end where Xie Wei had come in, and lit it.
The crackling sound of firecrackers rang out.
People who were near the firecrackers moved forward, partly to avoid getting splashed, and partly to catch a glimpse of the bride.
Surrounded by people, Xie Wei drove his bicycle into the yard and parked it. Li Juan, who was serving as the bridesmaid, stepped forward to help Lin Qingqing, and then helped her and Xie Wei walk into the main room side by side.
Forty years later, Western-style weddings were popular; even if a church wedding wasn't held, vows were exchanged and rings were exchanged in a hotel. But in rural areas during the 1970s, while some old customs were discarded, others remained, such as the wedding ceremony.
As Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei entered the house, the people in the courtyard followed suit, lining up on both sides of the main room with perfect understanding. In the middle of the main room, Li Xingfang sat upright on the right side of the table in front of the long table, smiling as she watched them enter.
Standing next to Li Xingfang was an elderly man in a dark blue Zhongshan suit, with a serious expression. He looked at Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei standing between them and loudly proclaimed, "First bow to Heaven and Earth!"
Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei bowed to the outside.
"Bowing to the parents twice!"
Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei turned around and bowed to Li Xingfang.
"Husband and wife bow to each other!"
This time, they bowed to each other, and because they were so close, their heads bumped slightly. It wasn't a hard bump, just a light one, but the onlookers in the main room laughed.
A smile appeared on the old man's face as he continued to call out, "Send them to the bridal chamber!"
Lin Qingqing, supported by Li Juan, walked towards Xie Wei's room in the backyard. When they passed the threshold of the backyard, Xie Wei reached out and took her hand, and did not let go until they entered the room.
Many people followed her into the new house, men and women, adults and children. Lin Qingqing had just sat down on the bed when she heard someone shout, "Wei Zi, hurry up and lift your veil!"
Someone retorted, "We've only just come in, what's the rush?"
A child shouted, "We want to see the bride!"
Even the usually composed Lin Qingqing blushed as she listened to their words. So when Xie Wei lifted the veil, he saw Lin Qingqing with her eyes lowered and her face flushed, a hint of amazement flashing in his eyes.
Not only Xie Wei was amazed, but everyone else was also struck by Lin Qingqing's beauty.
As the director of the Women's Federation, Lin Qingqing often walked around the brigade, and everyone knew she was good-looking. But even though everyone knew that, when they saw Lin Qingqing's outfit today, they still thought she looked stunning.
Even though she didn't have much powder on her face and her makeup wasn't heavy, she looked more energetic, prettier, and more attractive than usual.
...
During the banquet that evening, Xie Wei kept thinking about Lin Qingqing. Halfway through the meal, he pretended to be drunk and was sent back to the bridal chamber by Xie Baoshan.
At that time, Lin Qingqing was distributing candy to the children who came into the new house. Since there weren't many left, she only gave each child three pieces. Among them was a little girl who was about the same age as Xie Mei. She was beautiful and lovely. After receiving the candy, she didn't eat it. Instead, she just stared at Lin Qingqing with her big eyes wide open.
Lin Qingqing stared at her for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Are all brides as beautiful as you?" the little girl asked in a soft voice, her expression very innocent.
Lin Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "Yes, all the brides are very beautiful."
The little girl seemed to be thinking for a while, and then said, "Then I want to be a bride too."
Lin Qingqing was taken aback by her words, then couldn't help but laugh. She ruffled her hair and said, "Then you have to grow up quickly, because only adults can be brides."
"I will grow up quickly."
The little girl looked serious, which made Lin Qingqing laugh even harder. Xie Wei was brought in by Xie Baoshan at that moment. Hearing her laughter, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, but fearing that his act of being drunk would be exposed, he quickly suppressed his laughter, let go of Xie Baoshan's shoulder, and stumbled towards the bed.
Seeing him staggering in a cross shape from drunkenness, Lin Qingqing quickly got up to support him and asked, "Why are you so drunk?"
"He's the groom, he has to drink every toast offered to him, he'll definitely get very drunk," Xie Baoshan said. "Sister-in-law, please take good care of him."
"I'll go out first." The banquet outside wasn't over yet, and the groom had drunk himself into a stupor. As the eldest brother, he couldn't leave.
Lin Qingqing readily agreed, helped Xie Wei lie down on the bed, and reached out to unbutton his tightly fastened coat.
Xie Wei saw this, waved to the children who had come to see the bride and led them away, closing the door behind them. As soon as they left, Xie Wei opened his eyes and saw Lin Qingqing bowing her head and frowning as she unbuttoned his shirt. He reached out and took her hand.
Lin Qingqing had already unbuttoned the bottom two buttons of his shirt, so her gaze wasn't on his face. It wasn't until her hand was grabbed and she looked up that she saw Xie Wei was awake. Seeing that his eyes were clear, she asked in surprise, "Weren't you drunk?"
"I was just pretending. I wouldn't have come back if I hadn't gotten drunk," Xie Wei explained, but he had indeed drunk quite a bit and was feeling a little dizzy. He held Lin Qingqing's hand to his forehead and closed his eyes slightly.
It was already hot in July, and although the windows were open, there was hardly any wind blowing in.
Xie Wei was already feverish from drinking, and he was still wearing his military uniform jacket, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead. Seeing that he looked like he was about to fall asleep, Lin Qingqing said softly, "Wake up, take off your clothes before you sleep."
Xie Wei opened his eyes, mumbled an "Mmm," propped himself up on his elbows, and took off his coat. Lin Qingqing took his coat and draped it over the bed frame. Turning her head, she saw him staring straight at her. She waved her hand in front of his face, and when she saw his eyes follow her gaze, she laughed and said, "Why are you staring at me? I thought you were really drunk and confused."
"You look beautiful today." Xie Wei took Lin Qingqing's hand and leaned in to kiss her, but before he could get close, she reached out to stop him and whispered, "You reek of alcohol."
Xie Wei was taken aback at first, but after understanding her words, he took a step back and said, "I'll go take a shower first."
"Can you go out now?" Lin Qingqing pointed outside, indicating that the banquet outside had not yet ended.
Hearing the sounds outside, Xie Wei said reluctantly, "Then I'll take a shower later." He leaned against the headboard and talked to Lin Qingqing, asking her if she had eaten enough for dinner.
Lin Qingqing was the bride, so it wasn't appropriate for her to eat at the wedding banquet outside. Therefore, the food was specially brought to her bridal chamber. Xie Wei came into the bridal chamber briefly, but was subsequently grabbed and forced to drink half a bottle of baijiu before being released. Therefore, he didn't know if she had eaten her fill.
"I'm full, how about you?"
Xie Wei smiled wryly: "I've had my fill of drinking."
"Would you like to eat some more?" Lin Qingqing asked.
"Let's talk after everyone's gone." Xie Wei said, then realized something was wrong. Why could he even eat something sneakily at his own wedding? He looked at Lin Qingqing...
She covered her mouth and laughed, unable to stop herself from laughing.
...
It wasn't until 10 p.m. that Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei finished showering and returned to their new house.
Just as they were about to go to bed, Li Xingfang knocked on the door and asked if they had eaten enough for dinner, and if they were hungry, she would heat up some more food for them. Xie Wei had been up all night and wasn't hungry at all, so he asked Lin Qingqing if she was hungry. After receiving a negative answer, he said, "No need, we're not hungry. Mother, you should go to sleep early."
Upon hearing this, Li Xingfang asked again, and only after seeing Lin Qingqing shake her head did she say, "If you're not going to eat, then I'll go back to sleep."
Xie Wei hummed in agreement, waited for Li Xingfang to leave and then closed the door. He then closed the window, drew the curtains, went around to the back of the bed, closed the half-open window there, and drew the curtains as well.
With the windows closed, the sounds outside faded away, and the room became quiet. Lin Qingqing, who had been sitting comfortably on the edge of the bed, suddenly became nervous for no reason. She gripped the bed sheet with one hand and the fabric of her nightgown with the other, not daring to turn her head back.
But she didn't move. Xie Wei walked around from behind the bed to her side. Sensing her nervousness, he didn't say anything, but sat down next to her and said, "Let's talk."
Lin Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What did you talk about?"
"Have you ever had your picture taken?" Xie Wei asked.
"No." Lin Qingqing shook her head. At this time, you needed a ticket to take a picture. Rural families rarely had tickets, so not only the original owner of this body, but even the Lin family had never had a picture taken.
The Xie family did take a family photo once, which was given to Xie Shan by the performing arts troupe because she had done well. They were allowed to take three photos in total. At the time, Li Xingfang originally wanted to wait for Xie Wei to come back so that the whole family could take a photo together, but Xie Wei did not return that year, and the ticket was only valid for one year and would expire after that, so the family photo was ultimately missing one person.
In addition to the family photo, Li Xingfang also took a photo of herself, and Xie Baoshan's family of four also took a separate photo.
Thinking of this, Lin Qingqing asked, "Why are you asking this?"
“Before I came back, a comrade gave me a photo ticket, which can only be used at a photo studio near the base. So I was thinking, when you come back to the base with me, we can go and take a photo together. What do you think?”
Lin Qingqing nodded and said, "Okay."
Starting with this topic, the two chatted slowly. They didn't know how much time had passed, maybe an hour, or maybe two hours. In any case, it was late at night, and there was no more noise from Xie Qingshan's house across the street. Xie Wei asked, "Do you want to sleep inside or outside?"
Lin Qingqing had relaxed quite a bit during the conversation, but she became nervous again when she heard his question, and said after a beat of hesitation, "Anything is fine."
"Then you sleep inside."
"Okay, I'll sleep outside." Xie Wei said, getting up and spreading out the thin blanket. He looked down at Lin Qingqing, "Are you going to bed now?"
Lin Qingqing took a deep breath, hummed in agreement, climbed onto the bed, closed her eyes, and lay stiffly on the bed.
Because of her nervousness, she dared not open her eyes to look at Xie Wei, and could only rely on her senses to confirm when he lifted the covers, when he lay down beside her, and when…
Lin Qingqing suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Xie Wei's hand on her shoulder.
"I'll turn off the light," Xie Wei said, reaching out to pull the light cord from the bedside table.
The room went completely dark in an instant. Lin Qingqing opened her eyes and saw Xie Wei lying down next to her, his body gradually relaxing.
She didn't sleep much last night and was busy all day today. She was sleepy and drowsy, her eyes half-closed.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, Xie Wei's voice rang out: "Actually, you don't need to be so scared."
Lin Qingqing suddenly woke up and explained, "I'm not scared, it's just..." Lying straight on the bed was too stiff, so she turned to her side. As soon as she moved, her hands and feet touched Xie Wei's body. She hesitated for a moment and didn't move. She finished the sentence, "I'm a little nervous."
Feeling her body close to his, Xie Wei took her hand and asked, "Are you still nervous?"
"No, thank you."
"How about this?" Xie Wei turned to the side and put his hand on her shoulder.
Her breath filled her nostrils, but whether she was sleepy or had gotten used to it, Lin Qingqing's body was no longer tense, and she shook her head and said, "I'm not nervous."
"How about this?" Xie Wei wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her into his embrace.
Lin Qingqing continued to shake her head: "I'm not nervous now."
Xie Wei leaned down slightly, his nose almost touching hers, and asked in a low voice, "Do I still smell of alcohol on me?"
Lin Qingqing sniffed, and after taking a shower and brushing her teeth, Xie Wei's smell of alcohol had almost disappeared after sitting for two hours. She shook her head again and said, "It's gone."
"Can I kiss you?" Xie Wei asked in a low voice.
Lin Qingqing's face flushed, and she gave a soft "hmm".
Author's Note: Second update
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