The whole mountain is my hunting ground

Yongan Tunmajia.

Ma Dafu, Wang Cuihua, Ma Ling, and Ma Yang, a family of four, were sleeping on the big kang in the east room, but before they could lie down, they were sitting with their legs under the quilt.

Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua were in the middle, separating the Ma Ling siblings. On Wang Cuihua's side was Ma Ling, and on Ma Dafu's side was Ma Yang.

Therefore, from the top of the long kang to the top, there are Ma Ling, Wang Cuihua, Ma Dafu and Ma Yang.

This way of sleeping is unacceptable to some southerners. But in the Northeast forest area at this time, it was a common thing.

Not to mention that this is all my own family, but if there is a guest, if the guest is a man, then Ma Dafu will sleep in the middle, with him as the guest on one side and Wang Cuihua on the other.

If the guest is a woman, let Wang Cuihua sleep in the middle and separate Ma Dafu from the guest.

This is just an example. Ma Dafu's family has two houses, the east and west. When Ma Ling and Ma Yang were young, they lived in the west house with their eldest brother Ma Sheng. Later, Ma Sheng married a daughter-in-law and separated from Ma Dafu and others. Thirteen-year-old Ma Ling took Ma Yang to live in the West House.

Until Ma Ling was fifteen years old, it was not convenient for the siblings to live on the same kang. So Wang Cuihua asked Ma Ling to move to the east room and live with her and Ma Dafu. As for the West Room, Ma Yang was left to himself.

Because he was told a few words by the old lady, Liu Tiezui went to the door of Lao Ma's house just after eight o'clock tonight. He discussed with Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua for a long time before being sent out by the couple as gifts.

After Liu Tiezui left, Wang Cuihua and Ma Ling wrapped themselves in bed according to their usual habits. After the quilt was warmed, the three of them got into their own beds respectively. While the wall of fire was still warm and the room was still hot, the three of them did not lie down immediately, but sat and continued to discuss some things.

At this moment, Ma Yang came from the west room holding his own bedding and pillow, insisting on participating. He also said that this was a lifelong event for his sister, and he had to take care of it himself.

It is only natural that a younger brother cares about his elder sister. Moreover, Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua also felt that there would not be many days for a family of four to be together like this in the future.

So, the family of four lay on the kang and discussed together the information Liu Tiezui revealed to them when he arrived just now.

No matter when it comes, money is always a topic that people can't get around. When Liu Tiezui came, he said that the old Zhao family would give Ma Ling a thousand yuan as a bride price.

This shocked Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua. When Ma Sheng married Xu Xiaoqing, they only gave 400 yuan to the old Xu family.

Just this 400 yuan gift made the villagers talk about it, saying that Lao Ma's family was an open family, and it also made Xu Xiaoqing's natal family look good.

The old Zhao family is not bad, they can get a thousand at a time. Even if Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua are not greedy for money, they still feel a little confused.

But since ancient times, people have only complained about the small amount of betrothal gifts, not too much. Although Ma Dafu and Wang Cuihua had a lot of things to say in their hearts, they couldn't say it to Liu Tiezui.

As for Liu Tiezui's departure, not to mention the date of the ceremony, the gift of one thousand yuan has already been decided!

By the way, there is also a set of silver jewelry!

It's just nothing compared to a thousand yuan and silver jewelry. The most important thing is that Ma Ling has to take the jewelry back, and the bride price belongs to Lao Ma's family.

"Cuihua." At this time, Ma Dafu said, "Do you think it's okay to do this?"

As soon as Ma Dafu said this, Wang Cuihua turned to look at him, while Ma Ling and Ma Yang also turned their attention here.

Ma Dafu said: "Let's make two sets of clothes for Zhao Jun. I'll choose the best wool for him to make."

These days, there are also suits. The best suit fabric is wool, and the best wool is made of wool, and the higher the wool content, the best wool.

Ma Dafu said that he wanted to make two sets of clothes for Zhao Jun because the young couple was getting married and they had to hold one at each party's home.

According to Yongan's rules, it needs to be done at Lao Ma's house first, usually two days in advance.

Then, go to Zhao Jun's house. On this day, Zhao Jun will bring someone to pick up the bride and take Ma Ling from Lao Ma's house to his own home. Even if this daughter-in-law gets married and goes home, Ma Ling is also married.

For a family with average conditions, even though they received a betrothal gift, they only made a set of clothes for my uncle. Some people don't even make suits, but just buy pieces of cloth to make clothes. But even so, the husband's family would not pick this up.

This is also because at this time, every family has many children. Like those three or four girls who got married one after another, their parents' families naturally didn't pay that much attention to them.

"That's for sure!" Wang Cuihua didn't expect that Ma Dafu had to hold back for a long time before he could say such a sentence.

She immediately frowned, glared at Ma Dafu, and said, "What do you mean by that? I am just a daughter. My daughter is going out, why don't I make two sets of good clothes for my uncle? Let alone the old Zhao family. If it’s not a loss for us, I’ll be the one to help with the money, and I can’t afford to miss out on this!”

"Hey!" Ma Yang, who was watching the excitement from his side, suddenly put his palms on the mattress, raised his head and looked at Wang Cuihua through Ma Dafu, and asked: "Oh my god, won't my sister be allowed to take the box with her then?"

"Ah!" Wang Cuihua reached out and pulled Ma Dafu's head. As Ma Dafu lowered his head, Wang Cuihua looked at Ma Yang and said, "The boxes have been packed, why don't we put them in the room?"

When a girl gets married, she has to take something with her from her parents’ home, right? These things must be packed neatly in boxes, and cannot be packed in large and small packages as if they were fleeing.

These boxes are the face of my mother's family. Even if there is nothing to pack for the girl, even if the box is not full, you still have to act like that.

Just like the box that Zhao Jun's little lynx lives in now, it is Zhao Jun's mother's dowry.

Because she had a daughter at home, Wang Cuihua had prepared the wood a long time ago.

Anyway, in the forest area, wood is not a valuable thing. Since Ma Ling and Zhao Jun decided to get married, Wang Cuihua asked an old carpenter to pack four large boxes.

These four large boxes were made without nails, and were all jointed together with mortise and tenon joints. And they are all small. The three of them together are no more than one centimeter.

If it is truly exquisite workmanship, it must be done by a fine carpenter. A carpenter like a big saw simply cannot do this job.

It is said that such a fine carpenter knows how to read Luban books. When Ma Ling was a child, she wanted to take the old carpenter as her apprentice. However, due to environmental factors, the old carpenter refused to admit that he knew the skill, and he did not dare to accept Ma Ling as his apprentice.

Although the master-student relationship was not established, the old carpenter had a good impression of Ma Ling. Thinking that the little girl who cried and wanted to become his teacher was now getting married, the old carpenter happily took the job.

Wood like this, which has been stored for many years, is already a dry material. Its wood properties are very stable and it is difficult to crack again.

But even so, Wang Cuihua still used beeswax to beat the box again. Now, the four large boxes are all stacked on the shelves in Lao Ma's warehouse, covered with big fans.

Ma Yang continued: "Mom, on the day my sister goes out, we will pack all the good things in the box. Whatever we can prepare for my sister, we will prepare it for my sister."

At this point, Ma Yang smiled and then said: "When the time comes, I will give my sister ten yuan for each corner of the box!"

As soon as Ma Yang said this, Ma Ling, who was farthest away from him, instantly widened her eyes, Wang Cuihua was startled, and Ma Dafu slammed his head, looked at Ma Yang and asked, "How much?"

Packing boxes is also a custom handed down from ancient times. When a daughter gets married, her family puts some money into the dowry box.

Some people say that by giving this money, my mother-in-law’s family wants to tell her husband’s family that our daughter has her mother-in-law and support, so don’t bully our daughter.

Others said that the money for packing the suitcase was the cross-river money given to the daughter by her mother's family. When something difficult happens one day, use this money to deal with emergencies.

But if you really break it down, this money is more like buyout money. Because in the old society, when a daughter left or entered a family, she became someone else’s family.

Just like the Jia Zhang family and Jiang Liu family, they put their husband's surname in front of their own surname. Even the surname has been changed, isn't it just someone from that family?

Therefore, in the old society, from the time a daughter got married, she was born as a member of her husband's family and died as a ghost of her husband's family. If I can't survive, hanging myself or taking medicine is better than returning to my parents' home.

In this way, this money for packing the box is more like the last friendship between the mother's family and her daughter. If the daughter is not doing well when she is married, her parents’ family will not help her.

According to the rules of the elders, the daughter brought the box to her husband's house. The husband's family saw the amount of money given by her mother's family to press the box, and then took out a sum of money that was more than the money to press the box, and gave it all to the new daughter-in-law, which is regarded as the new daughter-in-law's private money. .

But in the old society, if you marry a chicken, follow the chicken, and if you marry a dog, follow the dog. After getting married, not many new wives can keep this money.

Until now, with new people, new things, and a new country, the rules of the elders have been passed down and changed beyond recognition.

And in every place, local customs are different!

Like Zhao Jun's family, they press money into the four corners of the bottom of the box. When the new daughter-in-law comes in, her husband's family will pay the same amount and give the money to the new daughter-in-law.

The money given by the mother's family to press the box is usually one yuan. Before the daughter gets married, the daughter's brothers and sisters put it in the box.

When Zhao Chun got married the year before last, it was Zhao Jun who pressed a dollar into each corner of the box. The four boxes added up to sixteen dollars.

This money is not given too much. One dollar is the highest amount, and there are also those who give fifty cents, two cents, or even one cent or five cents.

That's why Ma Dafu was so surprised when he heard Ma Yang say that he wanted to press ten dollars into the corner of a box for Ma Ling.

You know, a box has four corners, and four boxes have sixteen corners.

A dime costs ten dollars, and sixteen dimes equals one hundred and sixty!

If someone presses one corner, four boxes are sixteen, but Lao Ma's family wants to press one hundred and sixty. How scary is this!

"Stand aside!" Ma Dafu waved his hand at Ma Yang and said, "How can there be so much pressure?"

As soon as Ma Dafu said this, the smile on Ma Yang's face froze instantly, while Ma Ling over there felt a little disappointed.

Ma Ling didn't just want to transfer money to her husband's family before she got married. Money was very real these days, but serious people valued face more.

The old Zhao family paid a thousand yuan as a gift. Not only did the Zhao family gain face, but so did the old Ma family.

But facing such a wealthy husband's family, Ma Ling still felt psychological pressure. At this time, she really needed her parents' support. Therefore, when Ma Yang said that he would use Unity to press it into the box, Ma Ling was very happy.

But at this time, Ma Ling didn't say a word.

Ma Yang was scolded by Ma Dafu, and his face fell instantly. He was young and not as knowledgeable as Li Ruhai, but he had a good relationship with Ma Ling.

Even though the two siblings were often noisy, they were siblings after all. He had grown up with Ma Ling since he was a child. When he thought of his sister marrying into someone else's family, he was also worried that the Zhao family would bully his sister.

If Ma Yang had money, he would want to put more money into the box for Ma Ling. But he had no money, so he proposed such an idea and asked Ma Dafu to reject it.

At this time, Wang Cuihua suddenly raised her hand and slapped Ma Dafu on the back of his neck.

"Snapped!"

There was a crisp sound, which made Ma Dafu jump.

Wang Cuihua didn't put much effort into it, but the slap on the back of her neck was particularly refreshing, especially when it happened so suddenly.

Ma Dafu trembled, turned to Wang Cuihua and shouted: "What are you doing?"

"You just dodge!" This time it was Wang Cuihua who waved her hand at Ma Dafu. Then Wang Cuihua raised her chin to Ma Yang and said, "Son, what you just said seems to be true!"

After saying that, Wang Cuihua returned her hand and slapped Ma Dafu on the shoulder again, saying, "They give you so many colorful gifts, do we really want them all?"

After saying that, Wang Cuihua gave Ma Dafu a rolling look, and then said: "Let my daughter take him over there!"

Ma Dafu is not a person who is greedy for money, he just didn't react just now. At this moment, the taste came to him. Ma Dafu's eyes widened and he nodded: "Don't say it, it's okay."

"That's right!" After hearing my mother's support and my father's surrender, Ma Yang suddenly became energetic and continued: "If their family is not in trouble, our family can't be in trouble either! We can't let the people in the village be picky about us. If anything happens, Did they say that we and Lao Zhaojia's in-laws are here to get their betrothal gifts?"

"Pah!" As soon as Ma Yang finished speaking, Ma Dafu received another slap on the shoulder from Wang Cuihua.

Wang Cuihua's attack wasn't too heavy this time, but she attacked suddenly and the blow didn't hurt, but it shocked Ma Dafu.

Ma Dafu twisted around again and shouted to Wang Cuihua: "What are you doing again?"

Wang Cuihua raised her finger and pointed at Ma Yang, but looked at Ma Dafu and said to him: "Listen to what your son said, it makes sense!"

"I'm listening!" Ma Dafu replied in a bad tone.

At this time, Wang Cuihua ignored Ma Dafu and stretched her right hand back toward Ma Ling. Ma Ling hurriedly took Wang Cuihua's hand and moved closer to her.

At the same time, Wang Cuihua stretched out her other hand to Ma Yang. Seeing this, Ma Yang hurriedly squeezed in front of Ma Dafu and held Wang Cuihua's hand across Ma Dafu's body.

Wang Cuihua held her two children with both hands and said to Ma Ling: "Daughter, just do as your brother said. When the time comes..."

At this point, Wang Cuihua turned to Ma Yang and continued: "Son, mom will give you the money when the time comes, and you can put it in the box for your sister."

"Mom!" Ma Ling was touched and sad at the same time. She was touched because she was touched by her family's love for her, and sad because she was about to get married. Although they would all live in the same village in the future, she would not be able to live with her parents again if she wanted to. Easy.

Thinking of this, Ma Ling couldn't help hugging Wang Cuihua.

"Mom!" Ma Yang also rushed over, but there was Ma Dafu between him and Wang Cuihua. He pushed Ma Dafu away and staggered to the side.

Ma Dafu: "..."

Looking at the three people hugging each other, why does Ma Dafu feel like he is superfluous?