Reborn in 1977

Chapter 488: Taking Tea

The convoy stretched into a long line, with the little jeep at the head, going onto the riverbank along the main road, then turning east, passing Teams 12, 11… finally passing Team 6, and further ahead was the town area of the South Lake Commune.

The appearance of the little jeep attracted kestrels and mynas to circle above the convoy, with Little Eight even landing on the roof, squawking loudly, "Little Chen is here, Little Chen is here."

Chen Fan lowered the window and reached out to knock on the roof, "Say a couple of auspicious words."

The myna immediately changed its tune, "Good luck and great profit, Happy New Year."

Chen Fan's old face darkened, "Not that, for a wedding."

The myna, "…"

You're making things difficult for me, Little Eight!

It simply flew up, "Good luck and great profit, may all your wishes come true. Good luck and great profit, may all your wishes come true…"

Chen Fan watched Little Eight fly higher and higher, and couldn't help but twitch his lips slightly, well, that'll do.

In the back seat, the young couple were already laughing so hard they were leaning on each other. Previously, Zhang Wenliang had found it very amazing that Chen Fan was not only powerful himself, but even the myna he trained was like a spirit. Now, seeing this, he realized that there was still room for improvement.

After passing Team 6, and driving a little further, was the ferry dock where the commune connected to the county town. Turning the steering wheel to the right, going down the slope, they soon arrived in town.

The convoy swaggered through the main street of South Lake Town, which was crowded with people watching the fun, and after leaving the town, they returned to Team 5, Lujia Bay, along the village road.

As soon as they entered the village, someone shouted, "They're back!"

A few seconds later, firecrackers went off, and Chen Fan calmly shifted into first gear and stepped on the clutch to pass through.

The people riding bicycles behind him, at this time, all had their jackets open and their hats put away, and everyone was covered in sweat. Although they were still beaming with joy, their faces were obviously a little tired.

Really, they might not have been this tired even if they had walked this far.

With great difficulty, they waited for the smoke to dissipate, and then quickly accelerated to catch up, finally arriving when the newlyweds got out of the car.

The place where they parked now was naturally not the brigade headquarters, but in front of Zhang Wenliang's house. The people watching the fun also consciously avoided this area, mostly crowding on the field two meters above the pond, which was the open space in front of the brigade headquarters.

At this time, the dark crowd filled three sides of the pond, chatting and laughing, very lively.

Chen Fan parked the car steadily, Zhang Wenliang pushed the door open and got out of the car, then without saying a word, he slightly bent his knees and put his hands behind his back.

Yang Xingxiu blushed, moved over along the seat, and climbed onto Zhang Wenliang's back in full view of everyone.

The custom in Yunhu is that from "getting off the bridal sedan chair" to "entering the bridal chamber," the bride's feet cannot touch the ground. Whether the groom carries her on his back or in his arms, he has to rely on himself to bring her into the bridal chamber. In some other places, when the bride leaves her parents' home, her brothers have to carry the "bridal sedan chair" on their backs, and her feet cannot touch the ground either, but Yunhu doesn't have this custom.

Later, in some places, the groom's carrying the bride was replaced by the father-in-law, which was not an early custom, but a later vulgar wedding prank. From ancient times to the present, from south to north, there is no reason for the father-in-law to carry the daughter-in-law into the house, that is nonsense.

As for the "head not seeing the sky, feet not touching the ground" from a long time ago, no one follows it anymore.

Otherwise, if you still cover your head with a red cloth when you get married these days, you're probably going to get beaten.

An old woman stood at the door, and when she saw that the two newlyweds were in position, she immediately shouted, "The new bride is entering the house."

On both sides of the door, a dozen old men, all at least 40 years old, immediately took their positions. The next second, the sound of a suona soared into the sky, followed by the earth-shattering sound of gongs and drums, and a cheerful folk music resounded throughout the village.

Accompanied by the music and firecrackers, Zhang Wenliang carried his wife inside, when suddenly a loud shout came from behind.

"Pigsy is carrying his wife!"

The surroundings immediately burst into laughter, and several groups of children scurried through the crowd, "Pigsy is carrying his wife, Pigsy is carrying his wife…"

Zhang Wenliang's legs immediately weakened, and he almost fell to the ground. He turned his head and glared at someone, you wait for me!

Chen Fan smiled cheekily and didn't care at all. Hmph, you're someone who's going to be managed by someone from now on, dare to rebel?!

When the newlyweds entered the house, the people accompanying the wedding party were considered to have completed their work, but the people who came to send off the bride became busy.

Several older sisters and aunts who came with Yang's family jumped off the back seats of their bicycles, staggered for a moment, and after stretching their legs, immediately rushed to the trunk of the little jeep to carry out the dowry quilts.

Chen Fan followed behind them and walked into the Zhang family's gate.

Inside the main room, a sewing machine, a bicycle, and a single-cassette recorder were all decorated with big red flowers and arranged in a row. These were the two appliances and the sound system that Secretary Yang had taken the ticket to buy back earlier, and they had been delivered long ago.

As for the last item, the wristwatch, Yang Xingxiu was wearing it on her wrist.

Zhang Wenliang carried Yang Xingxiu into the bridal chamber, and Yang Xingxiu immediately jumped off his back, ignoring that there were people watching the fun outside the door, and pulled him to wipe the sweat from his forehead, "Are you tired?"

Looking at his new wife, Zhang Wenliang smiled like an idiot, "Not tired, just hot."

There was another burst of laughter outside the door.

At this time, the people who came to send off the bride from Yang's family carried the wedding quilts into the door, and without saying a word, they unpacked the bundles and spread the quilts on the still empty wedding bed.

When people in Yunhu get married, no matter how poor the man's family is, they must prepare a new bed, and no matter how little the woman's dowry is, she must have at least two wedding quilts.

Yang Xingxiu naturally brought more than two wedding quilts, but several.

Two older sisters first spread two layers of cotton batting, then spread the bright red bed sheet, while shouting auspicious words, "Lay the bed, lay the bed, may you have many children and grandchildren, first sons and then daughters, may you have both wealth and honor, and be forever auspicious."

After laying the sheets, they put four more quilts on the bed. These quilts were originally folded, but now they had to be unfolded and refolded, because the folding method was different.

When they were brought, they were folded in the "tofu block" style. Of course, it wasn't that the quilts were folded into tofu blocks, but that was the method of folding the quilts.

Now it had to be changed to horizontal folding.

That is, first spread the quilt flat, then fold a little bit on both horizontal edges, then fold it in half, and then fold it in half again.

These older sisters and aunts were all good at doing housework. They pulled the quilts apart, and then…

"Oh, this red envelope is mine!"

"Haha, I grabbed two!"

"There's still one there, it's mine."

…and so on.

Yes, that's right, red envelopes were stuffed into the dowry!

The amount of money was arbitrary, mainly for good luck.

Accompanied by the lyrics "Lay the bed, lay the bed, full of joy, everything is happy, happiness and auspiciousness," the four quilts were refolded and all piled on the head of the bed. The Zhang family quickly sent a dustpan and put it on the bed, with peanuts, red dates, and candies inside. Everyone knows the meaning of this, so I won't say it.

It's not over yet. When the newlyweds enter the door, they naturally have to wash away the dust, and the method of washing away the dust in Yunhu is for the groom's very young younger brother or sister to bring in a basin of water for the bride to wash her face.

Today, Zhang Cuie was the one who stepped up, who told her that she was the youngest in the Zhang family's generation.

Zhang Cuie was wearing a light yellow mid-length trench coat given by Teacher Chen, and a bow hairpin given by Teacher Chen on her head, making her the most beautiful girl in the audience, almost overshadowing the bride.

Chen Fan: I didn't know you couldn't give these things at that time!

Fortunately, everyone in the village knew that he didn't understand the rules and just treated it as a joke, and no one misunderstood anything, otherwise he wouldn't be able to explain it even with eight mouths.

Zhang Cuie entered the room carrying a small basin of water in an enamel washbasin. She grabbed a towel, wrung it out, and without Yang Xingxiu having to lift a finger, she held the towel and wiped the new sister-in-law's face. Then, she grinned foolishly, "Hello, Xingxiu-jie..."

Zhang Wenliang immediately tapped the back of her head lightly, "Little fool, what should you call her?"

Zhang Cuie immediately reacted and quickly corrected herself, "Hello, Third Sister-in-law! I wish you and Third Brother a happy marriage for a hundred years, eternal love, and may you have a son soon! May your life be sweet and happy."

Yang Xingxiu was so happy that she grabbed her hands, "It's no wonder you learned from Teacher Chen, your words are so sweet."

Then, she took out a large red envelope from her pocket and stuffed it into her hand, "This is from your sister-in-law, take it."

Zhang Cuie smiled so wide that her mouth couldn't close, "Thank you, Sister-in-law."

After the "dusting off," Yang Xingxiu was considered a member of the Zhang family, and things in the new house temporarily settled down.

By this time, it was noon. Outside the house, the Zhang family invited the guests to eat in the courtyard of the brigade headquarters.

According to the rules, each household could only send one person to the feast, so despite the Zhang family's enthusiastic invitations, those who weren't going to eat consciously went home.

The host's invitation was just politeness. If anyone actually went to eat, although no one would say anything to their face, there would definitely be a lot of whispering behind closed doors.

Of course, if the host sent out two or more people to pull people to the table, indicating a sincere invitation, that would be another matter.

Chen Fan had given a gift, and it was the current "highest standard," a whole "1 yuan"!

Even close uncles gave this amount of money, no higher.

However, in a few years, this standard, which had been used for more than ten years, would no longer be enough. It would first rise to two yuan, then to five yuan. By the 1990s, it would already be starting at 50 yuan, and it wouldn't stabilize at 200 yuan until the new millennium.

But don't think that one table could collect two thousand yuan, because at that time, many people brought their families to eat.

And the banquets were also more expensive!

Fortunately, the banquets now are not expensive. Although Luciawan Village has made a fortune this year, it still maintains a style of "hard work and simplicity." Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang set a standard of 6 yuan per table for Liu Jujang.

He had already given the gift money and was also the wedding car driver today, so he naturally had to be at the main table.

However, when Captain Zhang came to invite him, he refused the suggestion to sit at the main table and decisively jumped to the side to sit with Captain Yang.

Looking at the table, in the middle was a pot of braised soft-shelled turtle. Given that the soft-shelled turtles were all caught in the pond, the cost of materials was not counted, only the cost of seasonings.

Chen Fan slightly distinguished and found that this year's soft-shelled turtles were not very big!

Looking at the other dishes, there was braised carp, stir-fried eel segments, stir-fried pig liver, stir-fried kidney, stir-fried pork, stir-fried chicken pieces, preserved vegetable and soybean braised pork, fish cake with three delicacies, fried cabbage with lard residue, fish skin jelly, and finally a bowl of egg drop soup.

A total of 12 dishes, saying it was a standard of 6 yuan, Chen Fan didn't believe it, unless the materials weren't counted!

Not to mention anything else, a plate of stir-fried chicken, made with about half a kilogram of chicken, with some side dishes, would sell for 3 yuan and 60 cents in a restaurant. And that bowl of braised pork, with at least a quarter of a kilogram of meat, was more than a yuan.

Or, calculating the price according to small portions of dishes, shredded stir-fried pork 13 cents, braised crucian carp 13 cents, stir-fried greens 3 cents... Ignoring the portion sizes, the 6-yuan standard for this table of dishes could be justified.

People took their seats, the dishes were all served, and after the host said a few words and the two newlyweds bowed to thank everyone, the wedding banquet officially began.

Captain Yang raised his glass and clinked it with Chen Fan's, smiling, "Company Commander Zhang's wedding today is really grand. I haven't seen such a lively wedding in many years."

The 7th Squad Leader, Tang Xianjun, was busy picking up food with his right hand and gestured with his left, "15 years, the last time it was so lively was when so-and-so from the 9th Squad got married, it was quite a lively affair."

The 9th Squad Leader, Zhong Zihong, heard his squad mentioned and immediately turned around, smiling, "What does that count as lively? You have to go back further to call it lively."

Chen Fan was very curious about these things and immediately asked, "What were weddings like in the past?"

Someone next to him replied, "No matter what they were like, they certainly weren't as impressive as you driving a jeep as a wedding car today."

Yang Chuanfu first nodded, then smacked his lips, "It's a pity, you didn't put up a '囍' character, otherwise it would be even more festive."

Zhong Zihong smiled, "Take it easy. If it were a year ago, who would dare to hold a wedding like this."

Chen Fan blinked, "So, how were weddings held in the past?"

Yang Chuanfu put down his glass, looked around at everyone, and said with a smile, "Teacher Chen is a writer, I guess he wants to collect some material to write articles in the future."

Hearing this, Tang Xianjun immediately said, "I'm familiar with this, let me tell you."

The others looked at him with smiles and didn't say anything, obviously acknowledging his "familiarity."

Chen Fan also stared at him intently.

Tang Xianjun took a sip of wine and said, "If you want to say when weddings were the most grand, it was in '55. Before that, there weren't the conditions, and after that, it wasn't allowed, so the two years of '54 and '55 were the most particular."

As he spoke, he became excited, put down his chopsticks, and gestured with his hands, "On the wedding day, the matchmaker had to follow from beginning to end, because the liveliness all depended on her.

The bride's family had to dress up their daughter who was getting married early in the morning. There was even a hair-combing song when combing her hair. Then there was a farewell song when saying goodbye to her parents, then the veil, getting on the bridal sedan, the sedan setting off, the journey, getting out of the sedan, crossing the fire, entering the door, carrying the 'descendant bucket,'..."

Speaking of this, he suddenly stopped, looked at Chen Fan, and smiled, "Teacher Chen, do you know what a 'descendant bucket' is?"

As soon as he said this, the people at the table waved their hands.

Yang Chuanfu looked at him with disgust, "We're eating, what are you bringing up that thing for."

Tang Xianjun laughed, "That thing is auspicious too, haven't you used it?"

Chen Fan glanced left and right, thoughtfully, and said, "So it's a chamber pot?"

Tang Xianjun immediately gave a thumbs up and smiled, "That's right, it's a chamber pot."

He gestured and said, "A chamber pot is one type, and there are also foot-washing basins and buckets. The wealthy families back then were very particular. The 'descendant bucket' was made of high-quality wood, and it was carved and painted red, which was incredible."

Yang Chuanfu shook his chopsticks helplessly, "Hurry up and tell us about the next one."

Tang Xianjun laughed and started again from the bride entering the hall, to the wedding ceremony, being sent to the bridal chamber, eating the wedding banquet, and finally holding a grand wedding feast, all of which he told in detail, one set after another.

Chen Fan listened with great interest, thinking that he should ask Fourth Master Lu about it one day, as he must be very familiar with this kind of folk custom.

Before long, the bride and groom came over to toast, and the courtyard was filled with excitement.

After a few rounds of drinks, some guests finished their meal, greeted the host, and left.

But there were still some people sitting still in their seats.

Chen Fan's table was among them.

Chen Fan looked around, "Why have so many people left?"

Yang Chuanfu was already a little drunk. He lit a cigarette, pointed his chin in the direction of the newlyweds, and said, "There's still a tea ceremony later."

After speaking, he turned to look at Chen Fan and smiled, "You're not married yet, so you don't need to participate in the tea ceremony. You can sit aside for a while."