Chapter 50: Then I Won’t Get Married When I Grow Up
Due to Fourth Brother Yun Chenbei’s somewhat socially anxious personality, and with no one else at home to help, Yun Jiao’s money-making plan was temporarily shelved.
The plan to go to sea the next day also failed.
Due to bad weather, the plan to go to sea was postponed.
It’s like this by the sea; whether you can go to sea depends entirely on the weather, and whether you can catch good things depends entirely on luck.
But how many people have good luck?
For people like them, discovering abalone and prawns on a small island during their first time at sea is already heaven-defying luck.
“Why is the village so lively today?”
Even if they don’t go to sea, there are still a pile of chores waiting at home, so there’s no time to be idle.
Shen Yunlian and the others sat at home weaving nets and making fish traps.
The men continued to be busy at the new house.
Yun Jiao also helped at home.
The sound of gongs and drums came from outside, and Granny Yun suddenly remembered.
“It’s Cai Jinhua’s eldest daughter getting married.”
Yun Xiaowu ran in: “Jiaojiao, the groom outside is giving out wedding candy, let’s go join the fun.”
Marriages nowadays are very simple. Some poor people just hold a few tables of banquet food and invite close relatives and friends for a meal.
“Grandma, are you going to the banquet?”
Granny Yun: “I am going.”
Yun Jiao then followed her fifth brother. She was curious. It wasn’t that no one in the village had gotten married before, but she was too young to have gone before.
Outside Cai Jinhua’s courtyard, Yun Jiao saw a man of ordinary appearance, slightly short, who limped when he walked. He had a smile on his face and was handing out candy to the children surrounding him.
That candy was the cheapest kind. Who would be willing to buy expensive candy to give to other people’s children these days.
It was just for the festive atmosphere.
But the children didn’t care; they were happy to have candy.
Yun Xiaowu pulled her hand and ran over.
“Groom, please give me and my sister a candy too.”
The groom looked at the two of them, especially lingering for a few seconds when his gaze fell on Yun Jiao.
It couldn’t be helped; among the children, Yun Jiao, who was fair-skinned and had delicate features like a porcelain doll, was too conspicuous.
The groom gave Yun Jiao two more candies.
Yun Jiao held the candy in her small hand and thanked him in a soft voice.
“Thank you, I wish you a hundred years of happiness.”
After receiving the gift, she was happy to say a few kind words.
As for this being the brother-in-law of that annoying ghost Yun Zhuangzhuang? Yun Jiao felt that Yun Zhuangzhuang was Yun Zhuangzhuang, and his sister was his sister.
Yun Da Ya, Yun Jiao actually had a good impression of.
She was skinny and a bit malnourished. It was strange if she could grow well being raised like a servant by Cai Jinhua.
But she was a very responsible and gentle elder sister.
She worked tirelessly, not only having to work all day but also having to take care of the entire family, old and young.
She hoped she would have an easier time after getting married.
“The bride is coming out~”
Cai Da Ya came out, wearing red clothes that were a bit ill-fitting. The makeup on her face, painted by someone, looked like a ghost.
Her entire face was painted very white, with particularly prominent blush. Seeing this, Yun Jiao, who had normal aesthetics, felt her vision darken repeatedly.
Yun Jiao grabbed her fifth brother’s hand.
“Brother, do all brides get painted like that?”
She asked Yun Xiaowu in a nervous, hushed tone.
Yun Xiaowu scratched his head: “I suppose so. I’ve seen several brides who looked like this.”
Yun Jiao’s young voice suddenly turned serious: “Then I won’t get married when I grow up.”
Whoever wants to marry this ugly sight can have it.
Yun Xiaowu was happy: “No problem, brother can support you for a lifetime!”
He patted his chest to promise.
Yun Jiao: “I can support myself.”
The banquet at Cai Jinhua’s house… it’s better not to eat it!
Yun Jiao didn’t expect that for such a happy occasion, their banquet could be more meager than what they usually ate at home!
There was only one meat dish, and it was in a clear broth, with so little meat that you had to search around to find a small piece.
The rest were all vegetarian dishes, as bland as boiled vegetables, and they didn’t taste good either.
Yun Jiao wanted to go home after just one glance.
She heard many people complaining.
“Didn’t they say the betrothal gift was over a hundred? Why are the dishes like this? They’re too stingy, how can we eat this?”
“It’s bland and also so little.”
“Who did Cai Jinhua hire to cook?”
“Someone from her maternal family, they didn’t charge money and just gave some food.”
After this meal, everyone’s faces looked increasingly grim. Yun Jiao could even see that the groom could no longer maintain his expression.
Yun Jiao: “Grandma, let’s go home.”
Granny Yun felt heartache for the three mao she had given as a gift.
This meal wasn’t even worth three mao!
Yun Jiao pulled Granny Yun’s hand and ran home. It was better not to eat this meal; she was afraid her grandmother might have some health issues at her age.
When they returned home and ate, Granny Yun sighed.
“My three mao.”
She felt heartbroken.
Yun Xiaowu shoveled rice: “Grandma, don’t feel bad about the money anymore. I saw a big bug in the food at the table in front, and the vegetables weren’t even washed clean!”
Granny Yun shook her head: “Da Na’s family went too far. On such a joyous day, making the groom’s side unhappy, and the diners unhappy. Da Ya won’t be able to hold her head up in her husband’s family later.”
Wang Mei snorted: “Cai Jinhua and them don’t care. Making them pay from their own pockets for a better banquet is like taking their lives. That whole family is shameless.”
After eating, Yun Jiao, as usual, strolled with her grandmother and mother to the large locust tree at the village entrance, holding a small stool to listen to gossip.
A large yellow dog also wagged its tail and came over. Upon seeing Yun Jiao, its eyes lit up, and it wagged its tail and hindquarters, settling at her feet.
Yun Jiao also petted its head.
The soft, fluffy texture, she liked it.
But compared to dogs, Yun Jiao preferred cats.
Cats’ fur was even softer, especially the big, fat orange cat in the village.
When they move to the new house, she would also get a dog and a cat.
Unsurprisingly, the topic of the day was Cai Jinhua’s family.
Seeing Granny Yun and the others arrive, the first question the group of elderly women and aunties busy with their hands asked was:
“Did you go to Cai Jinhua’s house for the banquet?”
Granny Yun: “We went, but we didn’t eat.”
The others immediately began to talk enthusiastically.
“Who holds a wedding banquet like this? Even the poorest Er Gouzi’s family in our village had three meat dishes when they got married. Even if they wanted to be perfunctory, we have plenty of those small mixed fish that cost a few cents a jin. They couldn’t even afford to buy those. And the groom’s family gave over a hundred yuan in betrothal gifts! Isn’t this embarrassing for Da Ya and the groom’s family? It’s also embarrassing for our village.”
In the future, when people talk about Cai Jinhua’s family being stingy and embarrassing, they might even mention so-and-so’s family from Bailong Village.
“That groom seemed like a decent person. Although he’s a bit short and has a limp, he’s their only son, otherwise, his parents wouldn’t have given so much money as a betrothal gift.”
“Do you think Cai Jinhua will go to her eldest daughter’s in-laws to sponge off them later?”
“Given Cai Jinhua’s family’s temperament, it’s quite possible!”
