Sū dàgū was Father’s Su blood-related sister, two years older than him.

She married into a village in the next town, lived a hard life, and gave birth to two sons and two daughters. The eldest son was married and had a seven-year-old son, the eldest daughter was married, and the younger son and daughter were not yet married.

Her eldest biǎoxiōng ^[1]son of her father’s sister Zhou Dazhuang was taken away during the military conscription two years ago, and now there was no news.

With only two or three acres of land at home, they usually leased land from landlords to farm, but the leftover produce wasn’t enough to sustain the family. Therefore, the eldest uncle often took his youngest son to nearby stone quarries to cut stone slabs and earn some hard-earned money.

Su Qingyu’s wedding gift was delivered to their house early, but no one in the family showed up until Su Qingyu was about to leave. Wang Shi and Su Ergu said a lot of sarcastic words.

As soon as Father Su finished speaking, Mother Su became anxious: Could something really have happened to our eldest sister’s family? She’s always been so caring towards our children. Whenever she has something to eat, she always has it sent over. But when Qingyan got married, not a single person from her family came…”

“Mom, Dad, don’t scare yourselves. Maybe gūfù^[2]husband of paternal aunt is just busy with work at the stone quarry. With dà biǎogē^[3]eldest son of father’s sister older than you not at home, the whole family is busy saving money. Look, didn’t dàgū just have makeup sent over?”

After listening to Su Qingyu’s words, Father Su was still worried when he thought about the extra makeup his eldest sister asked someone to send him.

Su Qingyu glanced at them and consoled them: “On the day I come back, isn’t tánggē ^[4]son of father’s brother older than you going to get married? We’ll see if they come then. If they don’t come, then Dad can ask someone to go and have a look.”

Father Su nodded and said, “Well, if they haven’t come that day, I’ll go and have a look myself.”

As he spoke, many people in the village came to see the bride, and the conversation stopped.

Although the Su family did not hold a wedding banquet today, it was rare to see any happy events in the village. Everyone in the village who had free time came to see the bride. Several little girls who were usually close to Su Qingyu also gathered in the room to tease her.

At the beginning of the day, the sound of happy gongs was heard outside.

Today’s auspicious time was the third quarter of Shen Hour^[5]3 to 5 PM, and since it was still a bit early before heading to town, it was only around the beginning of Si Hour ^[6]9 to 11 AM when the wedding escort arrived.

It seemed that Lu Bocheng got up earlier than her.

The invited village chiefs had not yet arrived, and the table had not even been set. Su Qingyu didn’t even have time to take a bite of the meal when others arrived.

After entering, he was surrounded by people. Lu Bocheng’s face was as red as if he had applied several layers of rouge.

There was no such thing as sitting in a wedding sedan when getting married in the countryside. It was just a matter of leading an ox cart to take the person and the dowry back and that was it. Those who were not financially well had to walk on two legs.

Qiaotou Village was far away from Fengting Town, and it was not practical to take a sedan chair.

Lu Bocheng hired two carriages. The first carriage was made to look like a wedding sedan. The wedding carriage was rented in the town, and the other was used to carry the dowry.

The carriages were all dressed in red and colorful, which was extremely festive.

Xiao Qingyang and Xiao Qingxing took a glance and came back chattering excitedly to Su Qingyan. Before they could even describe what the wedding sedan chair looked like, the two little ones rushed out again to join the commotion.

Until she said goodbye to her family, put on her hijab, and was carried out by Su Siquan, she didn’t even get a clear look at the wedding sedan.

She could only hear her mother’s sobbing voice echoing in her ears, and the sound of the carriage driving across the road as it gradually left Qiaotou Village.

The joyful sound of gongs and drums echoed in the village.

Su Dahu hid in the woods, his mind empty, staring at the wedding team ahead, watching the wedding car drive away from his sight little by little until his vision gradually blurred and they could no longer be seen.

His heart is empty. The car swayed all the way, and every time it passed a village or stepped on a bridge, Lu Bocheng would sit on his horse and light firecrackers himself and throw them out. There was joy on his face. He was teased by Liu Juye and others who came together to pick up the bride.

Listening to the sound of firecrackers, the joyous sound of gongs and drums, and the joking of a group of energetic young men, Su Qingyu finally felt a little bit real in her heart.

She was married.

How fresh.

The welcoming procession entered the town at the beginning of the hour of Shen (between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM), and by the third quarter of the hour of Shen (around 3:45 PM), they had brought the newlyweds into the house.

After passing the brazier, they worshiped heaven and earth in the main hall and were led into the new house.

When Su Qingyu sat on the bed in her new house, she breathed a long sigh of relief.

Sitting upright all the way, her back was sore everywhere.

After picking up the hijab and drinking a glass of wine, Lu Bocheng explained a few words to her and was dragged out.

Su Qingyu sat alone in the wedding room, thinking about Lu Bocheng’s appearance just now. It had only been a few days, but this guy seemed to be different.

He didn’t look as cynical as he did when she first met him. At that time, he was naughty, didn’t care about anything, and didn’t take anything seriously.

He was now… Su Qingyu thought about how he looked when he lifted her hijab…

Well, how should she put it, his whole person seemed to have settled down, and his eyes had content and were no longer so wandering.

Was it true that once a man gets married, his role changes, he becomes an adult, and his temperament also changes?

Su Qingyu was thinking as she took the cakes on the table and ate them, looking at the new house while eating.

The new house was bright red, and the bedding on the bed was also dazzlingly red. There was a wardrobe, trunks, tables, and stools in the room, as well as small items such as the mirror and clothes hangers that her family sent yesterday.

It was larger than the room she and the twins shared. The ceiling was also high.

The bed was also big and the curtains were new.

Su Qingyu looked at it while tidying up the “Zao Shengguizi” ^[7]a custom in Chinese weddings where some red dates, peanuts, longan, and lotus seeds are placed on the wedding bed, which means “to have a baby early” and expresses the best wishes for the … Continue reading and other things on the bed, and put one or two into her mouth.

In the new house, Su Qingnyu was thinking about Lu Bocheng’s transformation. Lu Bocheng, who was being made drunk at the banquet outside, was also thinking about Su Qingyu whom he had just met. She seemed not so dark anymore, and her face seemed to have gained some flesh…

But as soon as he thought about it, he was dragged away by a bunch of bad friends, and made to drink. The image of Su Qingyu in his mind was also blown away by the alcohol.

After Shenshi, Su Qingnao ate the meal sent by the Lu family’s helper, took a short rest, washed up, and waited for Lu Bocheng in the new house.

It wasn’t until night fell and the sounds of people eating and drinking outside gradually subsided that Su Qingyu waited to return to Lu Bocheng.

(End of chapter)