Chapter 147 Sister's Marriage 5
A red rope was also tied around the neck of the ox cart. The eldest son of the production team leader helped drive the cart. After everyone moved the cabinets, wardrobes and boxes onto the ox cart, there was no more room. The rest was put in baskets, carried on a shoulder pole and sat on the back seat of a bicycle. The people riding the bicycles carried these people carrying the baskets. After all the preparations were done, the introducer began to say goodbye. The ox cart was in the front, followed by the people carrying baskets, then the groom carrying the bride, and finally the bride's family. At the same time, firecrackers also "crackled".
The bride's family members who come to send off the bride do not have to go in large numbers like in modern weddings, but rather a pair of elders, the kind with both sons and daughters; two brothers and sisters-in-law, there is no particular requirement for this, if the brother is not married, it can also be a brother and sister, or a cousin and his wife; the boy who sends the bride off is preferably young, around ten years old, and is usually a nephew.
Usually many people would rush to be the bride's escort boy, because he has the most power and can gain the most. When the bride is about to reach the door of the groom's house, the boy who is escorting the bride will stop her, commonly known as the boy who is reluctant to let his girl get married. At this time, the man will send someone to give money to coax the bride, and then walk a distance, stop the bride again, and give money to coax her again. Generally, three times will be enough.
But if the man gives too little money, they will not just stop him three times, but sometimes seven or eight times. There are even cases where the man refuses to pay, and the mother-in-law will ask the grown men to carry the wedding boy aside and let the bride and groom pass. At this time, the happy event will turn into a noisy and unhappy event. Generally, both parties to a marriage will discuss in advance how much money to give to avoid this situation from happening and making both parties unhappy.
Ma Youcai's home was not far from the city, and everyone rode bicycles, so they arrived at the entrance of Ma Youcai's village at 10:30. The ox cart stopped at the entrance of the village, and the cyclist also stopped. Why not take it into the village? To put it bluntly, it is to show off the dowry, and it is also a time to give the bride face.
Two wooden boxes, two square cabinets, a high-legged wardrobe, a dressing table, and a square table. Each of these boxes, cabinets, and tables requires two people to carry. Two cotton mattresses are placed in two winnowing baskets respectively, which is one load; sheets are placed in winnowing baskets with pillows on top, which is another load. Small items such as washbasins, bowls and chopsticks, and thermoses were loaded into two baskets. There were four sets of clothes prepared by the bridegroom, three sets of clothes as a betrothal gift, and one set given by the bridegroom's mother, which made a total of eight sets of clothes as a dowry. One winnowing basket can only hold two sets of clothes, so eight sets of clothes fill four winnowing baskets, which is just enough for two loads. Each winnowing basket was not empty, but was filled with rice, noodles, beans and other grains. In the end, there were twelve loads of dowry, including the loads on the shoulders and poles. In that era, that was more than even the girls in the city could match.
The people carrying the dowry and shouldering the dowry walked through the village in a mighty procession. All the villagers were shocked by the scene and all ran to watch the fun. At first, some members didn't want to come to give gifts or eat at the wedding, but now they changed their minds and came to the wedding. Those who planned to give 10 or 20 cents as gifts should hurry home to save up 50 cents to give as gifts.
No one expected that an orphan could marry a girl from such a wealthy family, and those who looked down on the groom began to look at him again. This is the main reason for showing off the dowry. Not only does the bride gain face and not be looked down upon by others, but the groom also benefits from it.
When they were almost at the groom's house, the boy escorting the bride stopped. At this time, an aunt came out from the groom's house, took out a one-yuan bill and handed it to the boy, so the boy started walking forward again. After walking less than ten steps, the boy stopped again, and the aunt quickly handed over another yuan. The boy escorting the bride continued to move forward, and when he was about ten meters away from the door of the groom's house, he stopped again. The aunt hurriedly handed over the money again, this time it was not one yuan, but ten yuan. The people watching the fun nearby let out "Wow!" sounds, and the boy accompanying the bride looked at the old lady in surprise, and was hesitant to reach out to take it. Because this is already half a month's salary for people working in the unit, it is too much.
"Hey, you'd better take it, otherwise I would put it in my pocket." The aunt said with a smile.
The boy escorting the bride took the money without hesitation, and then waved to the bride and groom behind them, which meant that they could go in and the boy would not stop them anymore. So the groom waved his hand, and the young man who set off firecrackers lit the firecrackers, and the joyous wedding was a complete success. The bride's dowry had already been carried into the bridal chamber and placed there when the first wedding boy stopped the way. When the bride and groom arrived at the gate, there were only the elders at the door to greet them. The groom Ma Youcai is an orphan, but he asked the highest elder in the clan, an old man whom he calls uncle, to come forward to represent his parents. Now that the oldest uncle has come forward, those with lower generations will have to come and help. It was the aunt who brought the money to the bride's groom who lit the brazier in front of the gate and asked the bride to step over it. The groom carefully protected the bride as she stepped over the brazier and entered the main room.
In the main hall, a portrait of the leader was hung on the wall in the middle of the hall, and the groom's uncle and aunt were sitting upright on both sides of the portrait. The production team leader presided over the wedding. The bride and groom first bowed three times to the leader, and then bowed three times to their parents - uncles and aunts. Then the bride and groom bowed to each other, and finally saluted the people from her natal family and the guests present. Finally, the bride took out the wedding candies from the dowry cabinet and distributed them with the groom.
Yike went to buy the wedding candies. These hard fruit candies were only 96 cents per pound, which was too cheap in Yike's eyes. So she bought 30 pounds of them. The dowry box contained 5 pounds each, and the square cabinets also contained 5 pounds each. The rest was distributed to the onlookers on the morning of the wedding.
Because there were so many wedding candies, the bride was very generous in distributing them. Almost everyone had at least seven or eight, and each child had ten. Everyone happily said words of blessing:
"I wish the bride and groom a happy marriage."
"May the bride and groom love each other."
"May the bride and groom live in harmony with each other."
"May the bride and groom have a baby soon."
"May the bride and groom live happily ever after."
"Congratulations to the bride and groom for having a son."
…
All kinds of blessings are pouring out like crazy. After eating the bride's candy, you have to say a few words to express your feelings.
After distributing the wedding candies, the bride has to stay in the bridal chamber and wait for the banquet to start before she can go out to eat. First, as a relative who is sending the bride off, and since she is a woman, it is natural for her to accompany the bride.
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