Chapter 372 Marrying a Daughter
"That's natural."
Erni doesn't want to get married.
She earns around 200 taels of income every year by cultivating mushrooms. Even though she spends some money, she still saves a lot in a few years.
She also wanted to buy a house for herself and her mother in the county, but she was afraid that her father and stepmother would find out, so she didn't buy it.
"Okay, okay, go out and see if your brother-in-law's sedan chair is here." Seeing that the two little girls were talking more and more outrageously, Chun Niang kicked them out.
It was just dawn and Uncle Jiang's kitchen was already busy.
Relatives who came to congratulate me yesterday also came out in twos and threes to wash up and prepare to sit down for dinner.
This time Jiang Dalang paid for two cooks to cook, and each cook also had two apprentices, so his aunt Zhou didn't have to worry about it at all.
But the ingredients are all prepared by the Jiang family, such as mutton, pork, chicken, duck, fish, etc. They are all ordered and delivered yesterday. The cook gets up before dawn to cook, mince meat fillings, mince meat fillings, etc. I was very busy cutting meat.
The wedding banquet is very grand, almost all meat dishes, such as red meat and white meat, steamed chicken and fish, Sixi dumplings, fish dumplings, water dumplings, steamed pork with rice flour, plus two stir-fried dishes and two cold dishes, which are good for drinking.
During this period, a bowl of soap locust, rice and snow fungus sweet soup and a bowl of three fresh tofu soup were also presented, so that the table was complete.
Yingbao and Erni climbed onto the wall, moved a bench and sat down to look towards the entrance of the village.
From a distance, a drummer came towards this direction, followed by a four-person sedan chair.
The leaders were Zhang Shaodong, the groom's official, and two matchmakers, a man and a woman.
Behind the sedan chair is the bride price, and each person carries a load, a total of more than ten loads.
"Come on, come on! The sedan chair is here!" Erni called to her uncle's house.
When Uncle Jiang heard this, he immediately asked his two sons to go out to greet him.
Many children in the village followed the groom and looked at him curiously.
The shameless woman stopped the horse's head and asked for wedding candy.
Zhang Shaodong smiled gently and asked the matchmaker to give him candy.
The matchmaker held a small bamboo basket, uncovered the red cloth, grabbed a handful of wedding candies and copper coins, and sprinkled them on the roadside.
Everyone happily scrambled for it, while Zhang Shaodong quickly led the sedan forward.
When they arrived at the door of Jiang's house, the matchmaker took out firecrackers and lit them.
Amidst the crackling fireworks, Zhang Shaodong dismounted and held his hands toward his two brothers-in-law standing at the door.
Jiang Cheng led his brother-in-law into the house, sat down on the seat, and introduced his relatives to him.
Jiang Quan asked the bride price to be carried into a room, where the two matchmakers counted the gift list and the bride price.
In the yard, Zhike arranged for the sedan bearers and the bride price pickers to sit at a table, and also asked a few village children to guard the sedan and horses at the gate.
For a time, the courtyard of Uncle Jiang's house was full of people. Those who were sitting in the seats and those who were not seated were sitting aside to wait for the next round.
Li Dao and Li He were responsible for serving the dishes. Every time they served the dishes, they would shout: "The oil stains are coming!" to warn everyone to be careful not to get burned.
In the house, Dani has already put on makeup, so she can't eat or drink. She is sitting upright on the kang covered with new quilts.
Her mother, Mrs. Zhou, sat with her and told her what to pay attention to after going to her husband's house.
Tell her to be filial to her parents-in-law, respect her elders, and be friendly to her uncles and aunts.
Furthermore, if you are in love with your husband, you should not lose your temper.
Dani nodded.
Zhou turned her head, quietly wiped away her tears, and pretended to check the jewelry and clothes sent by the Zhang family.
On the wedding day, all the clothes and shoes from her mother's family are not allowed to be worn on the upper body. What Dani wears must be the new clothes sent by the Zhang family.
Put two silver hairpins on the girl, put a pair of gold bracelets on her, and put a silver lock on her neck.
Looking at her daughter in the mirror, Mrs. Zhou still shed tears.
From then on, the daughter is a member of someone else's family, and when she comes back, she is already a guest.
Dani couldn't help crying when she saw her mother crying.
When the eldest aunt Jiang Yunniang and Chun Niang saw this, they quickly persuaded her to touch up Dani's makeup.
Outside, the groom was having a good time, and the matchmaker lit a firecracker to urge the newlyweds to get on the sedan chair.
People in the boudoir heard this and started adding makeup to Dani one after another.
Chun Niang gave her a pair of thick silver bracelets, and so did Yan Ru.
Zhou's sister-in-law and sister-in-law each also presented silver hairpin rings.
Grandma Jiang Liu gave her granddaughter a red envelope containing twenty taels of silver ingots.
Other relatives and women also sent home-woven cotton cloth, etc. An and Mrs. Wen and Mrs. Wang also sent boxes of silver.
At this time, the urging firecrackers sounded again.
Dani hugged her mother-in-law and cried bitterly, and Mrs. Zhou couldn't help crying.
Chun Niang and Yan Ru looked at it, thinking of their own daughter, and cried more sadly than Zhou.
Seeing this, Xi Po angrily asked people to pull them out of the boudoir.
When the third firecracker went off, Jiang Cheng entered the room.
Xipo reapplied Dani's makeup, then asked her to stand up and lie on her eldest brother's back.
Jiang Cheng carried his sister on his back, and Xi Po covered the bride's head.
Mrs. Zhou burst into tears when she saw her daughter being carried away.
Everyone expressed their condolences.
Jiang Cheng carried his sister to the sedan chair, and the sedan bearers all stood in their respective positions. Xi Po helped Dani down and walked into the sedan chair on the red carpet on the ground.
"Getting up the sedan!" As the matchmaker shouted, the sedan curtain was lowered and the sedan was lifted.
The groom bowed deeply to his father-in-law, turned around and got on the horse.
Jiang Cheng and his uncle's two cousins went to see off their bride, and they all rode horses.
This time, Dani’s dowry box was in the front and the sedan chair was in the back.
Yingbao and Erni stood on the wall and counted. There were thirty-six dowries in total, carried by eighteen people.
A toilet is actually the same thing. For example, a pair of toilets counts as one, and a makeup box and a mirror also count as one. As for what is contained in the makeup box, it is a matter of opinion.
The rich ones have their makeup boxes filled with gold and silver jewelry. If you don’t have money, maybe just a few pairs of silk flowers.
Anyway, the dowry from the mother's family is all on the bright side, such as cloth and satin, valuable utensils, various basins for washing, spittoons, incense burners, tents, etc.
There are also quilts. Mrs. Zhou made four quilts for her daughter, all eight pounds each.
The mother's family will not accompany the mattress, the mother-in-law's family must prepare it.
Of course, Yingbao and Erni also sent boxes to Sister Dani. Yingbao gave four bolts of silk cloth, and Erni gave her a pair of silver combs to wish her happiness as a married couple.
The wedding team went farther and farther, and Ying Bao and Er Ni also came down from the wall.
Er Ni said sadly: "Ying Bao, I really don't want to get married. You see, Sister Dani won't be able to go home often in the future, and we won't have the chance to play with her."
Yingbao thought so too and couldn't help but feel sad.
"But if you don't get married, people will talk about you in the future." Erni said sadly: "People will poke my father and mother in the back, saying that they have no way to teach their daughter."
This was said by my mother-in-law Leng.
Because her daughter had not talked about her husband's family for a long time, Mrs. Leng was also a little anxious. She did not dare to say something bad about Jiang Erlang and Yan Ru in front of her daughter, so she could only mention Erni in a subtle way.
Ying Bao frowned.
Indeed, if a woman does not marry, outsiders will not only talk about her, but also scold her parents, which is very difficult to handle.