After leaving the educated youth commune, the wedding car did not take the same route back. Instead, it circled the village and returned to the Li family’s new home via a different road.
It wasn’t that Li Yi was trying to show off; it was simply a local custom—never retrace your steps!
No matter what mode of transportation was used to fetch the bride, one could only move forward; retracing one’s steps was forbidden.
Although Li Yi didn’t really care about this, customs are customs, and it’s best to follow them when possible.
The car came to a stop at the courtyard gate!
At that moment, the courtyard gate was tightly shut, and the entrance, the courtyard, and even the walls were packed with people.
This was also a custom, similar to the female educated youth blocking the door—it was meant to tell the bride that her in-laws’ home was not an easy place to enter, and that once inside, she must live a good life.
My brother-in-law got out of the car first, then walked over to the side and began setting off firecrackers.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!!!”
Loud double-barreled firecrackers exploded one after another in the air, followed by the crackling sound of string firecrackers.
Once the fireworks had died down, Li Yi finally opened the car door and stepped out, then spread his arms wide to lift Tang Xue out of the car.
According to local custom, the groom must carry the bride into the house; carrying her on his back is also acceptable.
In short, the bride’s feet must not touch the ground—she must not get her feet dirty!
Arriving at the courtyard gate, Li Yi held Tang Xue in one arm and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Father, Mother, I’ve brought my bride home!”
From inside the courtyard, Li Shankui and Zhang Yuehong responded loudly, “Great! Come on in!”
Of course, just because his parents said to come in didn’t mean it was over—he still had to get past the relatives, friends, and villagers.
Li Yi was straightforward and immediately said, “Uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters, today I, Li Yi, have brought my bride home. Please be kind enough to let us enter as soon as possible. I’ve prepared cigarettes and candies for everyone—please help yourselves!”
Right then, Yang Wenguang took the cigarettes and candies from his pocket and handed them out to the crowd blocking the entrance.
Everyone was just there for the excitement, and once they received their treats, they naturally stopped blocking the way and immediately cleared a path.
Li Yi immediately picked up Tang Xue and walked right in!
The new house had already been decorated. A bright red wedding quilt covered the bed in the main room. As soon as Li Yi entered, he laid Tang Xue down on the bed and helped her take off her shoes.
After Tang Xue sat down, Second Sister Li Lan, holding her eldest nephew Zhang Ning, brought over a half-filled basin of water. A bright red towel was draped over the rim of the basin, and the water was sprinkled with numerous coins—all one-fen, two-fen, and five-fen pieces.
According to local custom, it is the younger generation’s duty to bring the washing water and assist the elders in washing their faces.
The Li family had no younger relatives, and Zhang Ning was the youngest, so this task fell to him.
Li Yi had already told Tang Xue about this, so Tang Xue simply wiped her face and handed Zhang Ning a one-yuan bill she had prepared in advance.
Although the little one wasn’t even two years old and didn’t understand the concept of money, he happily took it when he saw someone giving him something, grinning from ear to ear.
This immediately set off a burst of laughter from everyone in the room…
Actually, at this point, the wedding ceremony was essentially over; what followed was the exchange of gifts and the banquet!
According to local custom, the banquet usually begins at exactly twelve o’clock!
Before the banquet began, the Li family placed a plate of sunflower seeds, a plate of candies, a plate of fruit, and two packs of cigarettes on each table.
This generosity immediately stunned everyone!
Sunflower seeds aren’t expensive; people usually have them at home, so they’re nothing special.
But the candy, fruit, and cigarettes are all quite expensive; these items alone are worth at least two yuan.
With over forty tables in the courtyard, that came to 80 yuan—enough to cover the dowry for an average family’s wedding!
At noon, as Feng Kai—who was serving as the temporary master of ceremonies—delivered his speech, the wedding banquet officially began.
Immediately afterward, the kitchen helpers brought by Chef Liu quickly began serving the dishes to the guests!
Four cold dishes: cold bean sprouts, sliced cucumber, cold glass noodles, and cold pork jowl!
Eight hot dishes: braised pork strips, braised lamb in red sauce, braised carp, braised meatballs, braised chicken, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, braised tofu, and stir-fried soybean sprouts!
Plus one soup: tomato and egg soup!
Staples: Fried rice cakes and dumplings!
This feast once again left the villagers speechless. These days, no one is well-off, and even for major events like weddings, people try to keep costs as low as possible.
Usually, when other families in the village celebrated weddings, they would simply prepare a few vegetarian dishes, along with a fish and a meat dish—that was usually enough.
Some families, worried that guests might not have enough to eat, would occasionally prepare a large pot of stewed vegetables in a big cast-iron pot.
A table as lavishly set with fine dishes as the Li family’s was truly one of a kind.
In addition to the fine dishes, the Li family also served their guests fine liquor.
Though it wasn’t Moutai, it was still a fine local liquor, costing one yuan a bottle.
Li Yi had set aside 120 yuan just for the liquor, which truly made Li Shankui and his wife wince for days.
With fine wine, delicious food, and a lively atmosphere, as the wedding banquet reached its peak, Li Yi took Tang Xue’s hand and stepped out of the bridal chamber, then began toasting the guests.
Unlike the later generations with all their cumbersome rituals—speeches by the couple, recounting their love story, or the “changing of titles” tea ceremony—none of that existed here.
The only thing on the agenda was the bride and groom toasting everyone!
Tang Xue held a tray in her hands, bearing two wine cups and a bottle of liquor.
At each table, Li Yi would pour the wine first, and then the guests would either take a cup of wine or a cup of tea to accept the toast from the newlyweds.
By the time they had finished toasting all forty-plus tables, it was nearly one o’clock.
At this point, some guests had plans for the afternoon and immediately took their leave, including their friends from the county seat.
Li Yi and Tang Xue were busy once again…
Only after seeing off their parents, who were cleaning up the mess, and settling the final payment with Master Liu did the wedding finally come to a complete end.
Li Yi glanced at his watch and realized it was already 4:30 p.m.!
Good grief, from the moment they woke up until now, neither he nor Tang Xue had had a single hot meal.
Fortunately, his mother had been thoughtful enough to set aside plenty of delicious food for them in the pot earlier.
Once everyone had left, Li Yi immediately set a table on the heated bed and brought out the food his mother had set aside from the pot.
Seeing that there were braised pork strips, braised lamb, braised carp, and meatballs, along with a small bowl of soup and a large plate of dumplings, Li Yi was deeply touched.
After setting the food on the table, Li Yi handed Tang Xue a bowl and chopsticks and said with a smile, “You must be starving. Go ahead and eat!”
But Tang Xue just smiled and said, “Go get a bottle of wine. Let’s have a drink!”
Li Yi paused for a moment, then asked, “Just the two of us?”
“Yeah, wine brought us together, so of course we have to have a drink now that we’re married!” Tang Xue said.
Li Yi was a little worried about the baby in her belly. She didn’t know about it, but he did!
He immediately replied, “Let’s skip it. I’ve already had more than enough to drink earlier!”
Tang Xue smiled and said, “Don’t act like I don’t know—when you were toasting everyone, the bottle was filled with water!”
“How did you know?”
Li Yi hadn’t let her drink just now; when they were toasting, he’d downed Tang Xue’s share as well.
“Hehe, I had Sister Na switch it out for me!” Tang Xue said.
Li Yi felt a little touched and immediately said, “We can have a drink, but not too much—just one small glass each!”
Tang Xue thought he was worried about having things to do later that night, so she nodded right away and said, “Okay!”
Then, Li Yi brought out the bottle and glasses, and the couple sat facing each other to drink.