The next day, the 28th of the lunar calendar, was Ah Zheng’s wedding day, and Ye Yaodong got up early in the morning and went to his house.
His door was bustling with people. His mother, with a red flower on her head, was happily mixing wedding candies, melon seeds, and peanuts into a big bag, which she would later distribute to the neighbors and the children who came to ask for candies.
After looking around, he finally found A Zheng. He was unpacking cigarettes. When he saw him coming, he immediately handed him a pack of cigarettes.
Ye Yaodong took it cheerfully, "How do you feel about being the groom?"
"I don't know what other feelings I have, but it's really satisfying to receive the red envelopes. It's good to have more sisters, hahaha~" He smiled and patted the two pockets of his Zhongshan suit on his chest, which were stuffed with red envelopes and bulged.
"Indeed, why don't I have an older sister? My two younger sisters are still unmarried, what a pity." A Guang was a little envious as he watched from the side.
The red envelope on A Zheng's chest is called a pocket-pressing red envelope. If there are sisters in his family and they are married, in addition to the normal wedding wine red envelope, they also have to give this pocket-pressing red envelope, and the amount of this red envelope will not be small.
"When will the sedan chair and the horses be delivered?"
The marriage custom here is that those who are close will walk, and those who are far will ride in a sedan chair or on a horse. In recent years, many young people have chosen to use tractors to pick up their brides, but the bride's family still chooses to ride in a sedan chair.
"Is it almost time? It's okay, it's still early, you can go in and have two fried eggs for dessert."
"Okay, okay, let's go eat the poached eggs first."
For the relatives and friends who come to help, the host will cook a pair of sugar-water poached eggs with dried longans in them, which are sweet.
The dining table in the house was full of people, so they each took a bowl and stood outside to eat and chat.
It was almost seven o'clock before the sedan chair and horses were delivered.
A Zheng's mother came up happily and gave a red envelope to the horse-leading master and the four sedan bearers, and then gave a red envelope to each of them as a reward for their help in welcoming the bride.
A large amount of red envelopes must be given out on the wedding day, even to the chef, kitchen helpers, bridesmaids, and anyone who helps.
A Zheng's family had already arranged everything yesterday, and now they just had to wait for the time to come and go to pick up the bride.
Ye Yaodong and a few others carried a red cloth bag of firecrackers and waited for the time to come before starting to set them off, and then the wedding procession set out.
The bride's home is in the nearby Ganxi Village, which is a little past Dongqiao Village and not far away.
The bridesmaid walked beside the sedan chair, and the gongs and drums for the wedding were beating as she walked. They set off firecrackers along the way, and if they met people stopping the bride on the road, they would each grab a handful of melon seeds and wedding candies, and everyone would let it go as a token of their appreciation.
But sometimes I feel like my mind is not clear.
At this time, the team had just reached the entrance of the village when they encountered two scoundrels who blocked the way. They refused to move and insisted on having cigarettes. They would not leave without them.
Ye Yaodong was the leader who led the way in setting off firecrackers today. When he saw that it was Xu Laifu again, he was cursing in his heart, but he still had to smile.
"Brother, it's enough to eat a handful of candy to sweeten your mouth and share the joy with your fellow villagers. We are in a hurry to pick up the bride. Can you give me some face and make way?"
"I'm giving you face, but who's giving me face? If you're in a hurry, just give us cigarettes. If you take the cigarettes, we'll let you go."
"That's it. Give each of you a pack of cigarettes and we'll get out of the way."
What is more important than a toy? Ye Yaodong glared at him fiercely.
Xiaoxiao at the side said softly, "Give it to each of you, a pack of friendship cigarettes, just treat it as sending away beggars, don't waste time."
"The cigarettes are all kept at the Fatty's place."
The fat man also glared at the two guys, who were the ones who were the most troublesome. He took out two packs of Friendship cigarettes and threw one pack to each of them, "Okay, get out of the way!"
Xu Laifu weighed the cigarette in his hand and wanted to leave happily, but his friend beside him stopped him, "Wait a minute, you want to get rid of us with a pack of Friendship cigarettes worth four or five cents? No way, get a pack of Chengfeng, give it to Chengfeng and we can leave later."
Xu Laifu's eyes suddenly lit up, "Yes, you are right, if you want to ride on the wind, give it to Chengfeng... I... I... we will leave..."
Seeing the murderous look in their eyes, he spoke softly and cowardly...
"That's enough. Don't leave it here to get in the way, otherwise..."
"Otherwise, what? Otherwise, just don't go there. If you can't afford it, then don't get married."
Before Ye Yaodong finished speaking, Xu Laifu's friends beside him took over the conversation nonchalantly, shaking their feet.
Damn it, you can't curse people even on a happy occasion.
Ah Zheng got off his horse in frustration and walked up to him, saying, "That's enough. I'm getting married today and you dare to make trouble for me. I'll make things difficult for you after I'm married!"
"We don't want to cause you any trouble. Just give us the cigarettes and leave naturally."
"Hasn't it been given already?"
"Those Friendship cigarettes are of such low quality, only four or five cents a pack, how can you afford to buy them?"
Holy shit… Seeing that guy looking like he deserves a beating, all the brothers are itching to do something.
Xu Laifu looked at their unfriendly gazes and tugged at his friend's sleeve timidly, "Aqiang, why don't you just forget it?"
"What are you afraid of? They can still beat us on this happy day? Are they going to settle the score later? It's just a pack of cigarettes, is that a big deal?"
"Keep your word. Give each of you a pack of Chengfeng and you will get out of the way."
"Of course, of course."
Ah Zheng impatiently found two packs of Chengfeng cigarettes and threw them over. After the two men took the cigarettes, they happily ran away.
Xiao Xiao stared at their backs and said, "My hands are itching just looking at them. I really want to grab them and beat them up!"
Ah Guang also responded: "Me too, I didn't hit him too lightly last time."
Ye Yaodong was also depressed, "I'll take you to catch ghosts tonight!"
"What the hell?" Everyone looked at him in confusion.
"We'll talk about it later. Let's go first and don't waste time."
Ah Zheng climbed back on his horse. Ah Guang went to the middle of the team to set off firecrackers. Xiao Xiao went to the back of the team to set off firecrackers. The team continued to move forward as usual. Fatty came over curiously and asked, "What did you just say about catching ghosts?"
"My net has been stolen several times recently, and other people's nets have also been stolen. I have a rough idea of who stole the net. I plan to catch him tonight. Do you want to join us?"
"Who is it? Are you going to finish your drink? Do you want to go outside on the pier to enjoy the cool breeze?"
"I must go out for a walk after dinner to see if I can run into him. There's no absolute certainty about this."
"Okay, just follow me out and take a look."
The rest of the journey to the wedding went smoothly, except that when we were picking up the bride, the bridesmaids blocked the door and made things a little difficult. Everyone did a few push-ups, and we were given a red envelope and allowed in. Then we spent half a day looking for the embroidered shoes.
Everyone is very familiar with the whole process, and those who have never been married have seen it many times.
After finally getting the bride into the sedan chair, everyone hurried back.
On the way, they encountered a few scoundrels who tried to stop their team, but compared to Xu Lai Fu and the other two, they were easier to deal with. They gave each of them a handful of wedding candy and a pack of Friendship cigarettes, and they tactfully left.
The local wedding banquet is held at noon. When the bride is picked up, she has to bow in the hall first, and then start the banquet.
The main meal is at noon. After the main meal, when all the guests have left, a long table of wine will be set out in the evening. The long table of wine is for the friends of the bride and groom to drink.
During the period, the bride has to light cigarettes for the groom's friends. As for how to make things difficult, it depends on whether these groomsmen have a conscience...
Ye Yaodong was not interested in this, he just sat back and watched them shaking cigarettes and asking the bride to light them, but they refused to let the bride light them, which made him laugh...
But when it was his turn, he cooperated with the bride and asked her to light her cigarette. He didn't make any trouble and let her pass it directly.
Other friends saw this and shouted, "Dongzi, why are you like this? You let it go so easily, as if we are the worst. It's ok for the bride to scold us, but the bridesmaids must be scolding us in their hearts too."
"This is the only way to remember you and leave a deep impression on you! Aren't you still single?"
“That seems to make sense.”
"Fuck... Dongzi is obviously kind to women!"
Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes. "You haven't read a single day of school yet and you still want to learn how to use idioms. Don't talk nonsense. This is Ah Zheng's bride, and I'm also a married man."
"No wonder you are so fast. You can grind an iron rod into a needle."
“Hahahaha~”
Everyone burst into laughter. Ye Yaodong angrily kicked the friend who was talking and said, "Get lost."
"Oh~ it's so strong!"
"Let you talk nonsense."
"Oh, don't talk about this, that's enough, the rest of you should speed up as well, we will have to make trouble in the bridal chamber later."
"Then learn from Dongzi and hurry up when you need to hurry up!"
In their local area, in the bridal chamber, they tease the bride and groom, not the bridesmaids. Besides, everyone is very conservative at this time, so they don't go too far in making trouble.
In the first round, they directly drank a cup of wedding wine.
"Come on, come on, let's drink the wine first."
"This wedding wine is red in color and sweet in taste. Drinking it makes me happy!"
Everybody started to make a noise and laugh.
The bride was holding the wine glass, feeling shy and at a loss, but Ah Zheng was thick-skinned and simply took her hand and drank the wine, which made her friends unhappy.
"Ah... we have to drink the wedding wine at the same time. How can you drink it first? Come on, come on, fill it up again! We have to drink it together!"
"Yes, we must drink together."
Now, the bride had no choice but to bite the bullet and drink the wedding wine with a red face.
"Okay~" Everyone in the room started to make a noise again.
"It's time for round two."
A Guang took a needle and thread and passed it through a little bit of flesh on the top of the red date, then held the thread and hung it in mid-air.
"Haha, I've eaten red dates. I wish you a baby soon!"
The bride was now even more embarrassed. She looked at the red dates between the two of them and dared not move.
Friends were all cheering and asking them to hurry up...
Ah Zheng was so thick-skinned that he opened his mouth and tried to bite directly. But Ah Guang was very mean. When he was about to touch the red dates, he pulled the string up again, which made Ah Zheng laugh and scold, "Just wait until you get married, and I will kill you."
"Hehe~ May you have a baby soon. Eat these red dates first."
"Yes, yes, everyone has gone through this. Ah Zheng, can you do it? I haven't been able to eat for half a day."
"Of course."
Ah Zheng was almost vomiting blood after being tormented repeatedly. Finally, his relatives and friends saw the opportunity and poked Ah Guang. He turned back without knowing why, and then Ah Zheng quickly bit off the red date and passed it to the bride. The bride then took a bite with a red face.
"Ah, who stabbed me?"
As soon as Ah Zheng bit the red date, he immediately sat up and wanted to kick everyone out, "Alright, alright, it's over, it's over..."
"Wait... It's only two rounds, there's still a third round..."
The relatives and friends who were watching the fun nearby also helped him to drive the people away, "It's almost done, it's almost done, the bride is shy..."
"We all have tricycles... Zheng, you can't be treated specially..."
As everyone was talking, they were pushed out. Ah Zheng quickly closed the door from behind and then locked it, then he breathed a sigh of relief.
A group of people were still talking at the door, lingering and unwilling to leave.
Seeing that it was almost over, Ye Yaodong patted Xiaoxiao and A Guang who were still with the fat man on the shoulders and motioned for them to go out and talk.
Except for the fat man, neither of them knew yet.
As soon as he got out, he mentioned to them what he had discovered about Awei's brother-in-law last night. Aguang reacted quickly and said, "He must have stolen the net!"
Xiao Xiao also agreed, "Yes, in the middle of the night, sneaking around, if they were going to the beach specifically to catch some seafood, why would they turn back halfway?"
Ah Guang asked again in confusion: "What are those people in Linji doing in the middle of the night?"
"I don't know. Don't worry about him for now. It's not even 8 o'clock yet. Let's go to Xu Laifu's house together? Let Fatty knock on the door and see if he's home. If he's home, then forget it. If he's not home, he must have gone there again. He didn't go there yesterday, and I think he should go there again tonight."
No one in the village knew what they were doing at Guanlinji, so he pretended he knew nothing. Anyway, he had only heard about it from hearsay in his previous life.
Xiao Xiao's hands itched as he said, "Let's go. I saw that guy this morning and I wanted to beat him up, but I was worried that I wouldn't get the chance. It would be best if he's not at home. We can go to the dock and wait, or go to the sea and catch him red-handed. Once we catch him, we can beat him up openly."
Hikaru shrugged, "Okay, I have no problem with that. It's nothing to worry about anyway."
Although it is none of his business, his friend’s business is naturally his business.
"Then go take a look first."
After the four of them agreed, they walked straight out, not caring about the people at the door of the bridal chamber who were still making a fuss. They had all been driven out and definitely had no chance of getting back in.