Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 168

This coy, hesitant manner is the most touching. Once married and knowing each other inside and out, this shyness will disappear.

Seeing that Xu Huizhen was very opposed, He Yuzhu didn't say anything more about it. Anyway, there were still two days left, and Xu Huizhen would obediently come to his door, so he could pick the fruit at will.

He simply held her in his arms and whispered words that made Xu Huizhen blush with embarrassment.

Chapter 123 He Yuzhu's Wedding Shocks the Beasts

The next day was the day to send the dowry. In the past, the dowry was not sent to the bride's home on the wedding day, but was sent in advance.

Poor families usually carried the goods in twelve or sixteen-bearer loads, though some carried even fewer, consisting of only a few items commonly used by women. They would hire someone to carry the goods on their shoulders, without lifting them themselves.

The Xu family has now escaped poverty and is quite wealthy. They used thirty-two palanquins, and the first item at the top was a house deed for a two-courtyard house in the alley outside the front gate.

Following them were Xu Huizhen's jewelry, furniture, clothing for all seasons, daily necessities, kitchenware, and other items, which were delivered to her residence on Yandaixie Street with great fanfare.

He Daqing led the way, inviting Xu Hui, who was delivering the dowry, in for tea. After a lively gathering, they returned home.

Next, it was He Yuzhu's turn to go to the Xu family to receive her thanksgiving ceremony.

He Yuzhu's parents-in-law, dressed in new clothes, sat on either side of the octagonal table. After He Yuzhu entered the room, a straw mat had been laid on the floor with a cushion on top.

Following the rules, He Yuzhu stepped forward, knelt down, and performed the kowtow ceremony, which was the way of thanking the groom for his help.

Xu Hui quickly helped He Yuzhu up, invited him to sit down at the table for tea, and then took some candy to distribute outside. The children who had come to watch the fun received the candy and left with smiles on their faces.

The Xu family finally had some peace and quiet. He Yuzhu chatted with them for a while, when suddenly he saw a crack appear in the door to the inner room, and Xu Huizhen was hiding behind it, peeking in.

He Yuzhu smiled at him, and Xu Huizhen quickly closed the door, covered her blushing face, and went back to bed to lie down.

When He Yuzhu came in, he saw Xu Huizhen lying on top of him. He reached out and patted her pert buttocks, and asked with a smile, "Huizhen, did you miss me?"

Xu Huizhen was suddenly startled and gasped softly. Then she covered her bottom with her hand, turned around, and said with a red face, "Who told you to hit me here? You bad boy, I don't want you to do that."

Looking at the shy face before him, He Yuzhu laughed and said, "In a couple of days, all your women will be mine. Then I can do whatever I want with them, right?"

"Pah, you big hooligan, you're talking nonsense."

Xu Huizhen sat up, but He Yuzhu teased her a few more times. Unable to bear the vulgar language any longer, Xu Huizhen dragged He Yuzhu out of the room.

The next day wasn't the actual day yet; instead, various preparations needed to be made. A wedding tent was set up in the courtyard, Uncle Gui was hired as the chef, and several fellow apprentices helped out.

He Daqing definitely couldn't do it himself. Originally, the master wanted to do it himself, but He Yuzhu stopped him. How could the master cook for his disciple's wedding?

Seeing that He Yuzhu was determined to do so, Hong Henian gave up and took his wife and children to help in various places.

He Daqing came over and asked, "Do you think we should still invite the neighbors from the courtyard house?"

He Yuzhu thought for a moment and said, "Let's invite them. I didn't give a gift when Jia Dongxu got married, so let's not invite the Jia family this time either."

"That's good, it'll save Jia Dongxu from causing trouble."

He Daqing took some time to go back to the courtyard house. He first told Yan Bugui to help inform the neighbors in the front yard, and then went into Yi Zhonghai's house in the middle yard.

When Aunt Yi saw He Daqing enter, she said with a cold face, "Who let you in?"

"Look at you, it's been over a year, why are you still angry!"

As He Daqing spoke, he walked up to Aunt Yi, reached out and hugged her, and bent down to kiss her, but Aunt Yi shook her head and wouldn't let him.

He Daqing got angry, held her head still, and then kissed her hard.

Aunt Yi resisted at first, but eventually gave in. After they separated, Aunt Yi said angrily, "Aren't you afraid I'll tell Old Yi and he'll come after you?"

"I still have something to settle with him. I supported his woman, Widow Bai, and his child for two years. Shouldn't Lao Yi give me the living expenses for those two years?"

Aunt Yi rolled her eyes in anger after hearing this. The widow Bai was the eternal pain in her heart. She herself could not have children, but Yi Zhonghai had actually kept two sons outside behind her back.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have slept with He Daqing to get revenge on Yi Zhonghai.

But He Daqing was also a heartless man; he turned around and married a twenty-year-old girl.

The two haven't had a chance to meet again in the past two years, and their quarrel has dragged on until now.

"You still have the nerve to ask for living expenses? You slept with Lao Yi's mistress for two years, and you didn't even spare his first wife. What more do you want?"

He Daqing said with a grin, "Thinking about it, that makes sense. So, I actually benefited?"

"Alright, stop being so ungrateful. What did you come here for today? Aren't you going to help?" Aunt Yi was too lazy to argue with him and asked directly.

He Daqing said, "I didn't formally invite you before, but I'm just informing you now that I'm back at the courtyard house."

"Okay, we'll be there tomorrow."

Aunt Yi was still angry and kicked He Daqing out. He Daqing smiled and went to the backyard to inform them.

The first day was for preparations, and the second day was the official day. He Yuzhu got up early and changed into his brand-new auspicious clothes.

He Yuzhu was still somewhat relieved. Although several years had passed since liberation, people were still using the old habits in their daily lives.

Of course, some open-minded people opted for Western-style weddings, wearing suits and red ties, and riding bicycles to pick up their brides.

However, most people still follow the ancient tradition and hold Chinese-style weddings.

Having seen too many modern weddings, He Yuzhu decided to stick to the old-fashioned style and bring Xu Huizhen home in a sedan chair.

Soon the auspicious time for the wedding arrived, and the wedding procession set off immediately. The one at the very front was called the "leading horse," followed by the avoidance sign, the musicians, the gong, the lanterns, the banners, and so on.

Besides them, there are two people with the heaviest responsibility to protect the bride from evil spirits. Each of them carries a red felt and accompanies the bridal sedan chair on both sides. When they encounter wells, springs, or temples along the way, they must spread out the red felt to cover the bride's sedan chair to prevent evil spirits from causing trouble.

In addition, there were two wives and two guests accompanying the bride.

According to custom, a sedan chair must be used to fetch the bride for the formal wedding. The bride's sedan chair cannot be empty; a young child with both parents alive must sit inside to "press down" the chair and carry a teapot, commonly known as a "teapot carrier."

The teapot contained some water, and a piece of tofu was adorned with a red velvet flower shaped like a bat, symbolizing lifelong happiness.

He Yuzhu, dressed in red silk with a large red flower, rode a tall horse, bowing and greeting everyone along the way, extremely happy. He secretly mocked himself, thinking that he really looked like a rural landlord getting married in a TV drama.

The two families were not far apart, and they soon arrived at the Xu family's house. The gate of the courtyard was already closed. The wedding officiant went up to knock on the door, and then people inside started asking for red envelopes.

The matchmaker handed over the prepared red envelope, and only then was the gate opened. This was only the first gate of the courtyard, and then the moon gate and the main gate of the Xu family were opened in the same way.

Next, the bride's wife and the master of ceremonies appeared and handed over the red velvet flowers and square red silk ribbons she brought to the bride's wedding attendants.

The Xu family invited two female relatives and friends. The four women entered the inner room and each held one of the four corners of a red veil. They passed the veil around in front of Xu Huizhen, saying, "May you have peace in all four seasons, a long and happy marriage, grow old together, and have good fortune."

Then, the red velvet flower was put on Xu Huizhen's head, and the red veil was placed over her head. In this way, the task of marrying the bride was completed.

Before the bridal sedan chair arrived, a member of the Xu family had already taken a strand of hair from Xu Huizhen's head and tied it into a bun, symbolizing a marriage of convenience.

At this time, all the preparations for the wedding were completed. Xu Hui laid a red carpet on the ground so that Xu Hui's feet could not touch the ground. Two women helped her into the sedan chair.

He Yuzhu was like a gorilla in a zoo, receiving everyone's approval and praise; he was the center of attention wherever he stood.

After going through the whole process, He Yuzhu was drenched in sweat, but fortunately Xu Huizhen was finally helped into the sedan chair.

After the sedan chair was lifted, Xu Hui and his cousin accompanied it on both sides. They also invited the bride's wife and the officials who accompanied the bride to join them in escorting the bride to He Yuzhu's house.

At this time, the gate was also tightly closed. At this moment, one of Xu Huizhen's uncles, who was the wedding escort, also went forward to knock on the gate, said some kind words, and after repeated requests, the gate was finally opened.

The bridal sedan chair was carried from the front gate into the courtyard, first passing over a brazier, and then carried to the entrance of the main hall.

At this time, the attendants performed their respective duties, preparing for the bride to alight from the sedan chair.

At this moment, He Yuzhu bowed three times to the sedan chair door. The bride's wife opened the sedan chair door, and Xu Huizhen's sister-in-law helped the bride down.

Then my sister-in-law handed me a small porcelain bottle containing grains and a yellow and white ring, which she called a treasure bottle.

Xu Huizhen held the precious bottle in her arms, supported by her sister-in-law and the bride's wife as she walked slowly.

In addition, two other people laid red felt in front and behind to keep Xu Huizhen's feet off the ground.

He Yuzhu stood before the altar of the gods of heaven and earth, holding a bow and arrow, and lightly shot three arrows at Xu Huizhen, symbolizing the expulsion of evil spirits.

When shooting arrows, one arrow is shot and one step is taken back. Then Xu Huizhen straddles the saddle horse and walks across the fire basin. After passing these steps, Xu Huizhen arrives in front of the offering table. Now, she has finally reached the step of bowing to heaven and earth.

After the creation of heaven and earth, someone led Xu Huizhen into the bridal chamber.

Two people with good fortune had been invited to make the new bed beforehand. Xu Suizhen entered and sat cross-legged in the tent, a custom known as "sitting in the tent" or "sitting in good fortune."

"Lifting the red veil!"

"Zhu Zi, hurry up and lift the red veil so we can see if the bride is pretty or not!" someone jeered.

"Yes, let's lift it up quickly."

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "I'm not in a hurry, why are you all in such a hurry?"

As he spoke, He Yuzhu slowly lifted the red veil with the scale rod, revealing a handsome and shy face.

"The bride is so beautiful."

"Kiss me!"

He Yuzhu turned his head and saw that it was his distant cousin making a fuss.

He laughed and said, "If you keep making a fuss, I'll find someone to introduce you to an ugly wife tomorrow."

"You rascal, don't try to scare me."

The group teased them for a bit, but He Yuzhu wouldn't kiss Xu Huizhen in front of them. After a while, they moved on to the next activity.

After "sitting in the tent," the next activity is eating "descendant buns."

This is an old tradition in Beijing. The "offspring buns" are brought from the bride's family by the bride's wife. Each bride's wife takes a bowl and gives one to the newlyweds to share.

After eating the "descendant buns," they ate longevity noodles.