Chapter 14: Lin Baoni and Gu Ye’s Wedding

Gu Ze had prepared three rounds of gifts and one loud sound. Initially, he intended to present them all to the Lin family, but Grandpa Lin did not agree.

“Little Gu, I know what you mean. You want to give Baoni some justice, but sometimes, too much is as bad as not enough.” Grandpa Lin understood well the saying that “the nail that sticks out gets hammered.” and how the first person to stand out often bears the brunt.

“Our island is full of fishermen, and for several generations, we’ve all shared the same hardships. For over a hundred years, we’ve weathered the storms together to survive.”

Grandpa Lin knew that while there were occasional conflicts, when real help was needed, the people on the island never left anyone behind.

“The reason why this gossip has spread so widely is mainly because of Baoni’s method of saving people. It’s something that no one has seen before. For the conservative islanders, it was a huge shock, otherwise, it wouldn’t have blown up like this.”

“As for Baoni’s marriage, just following our local customs is fine. A baozi (bun) looks best not because of its folds.” Grandpa Lin spoke frankly, and Gu Ze greatly admired him.

This was an elderly man with deep life wisdom—truly, a treasure to have an elder in the family!

In the end, it was Lin Baoni who made the final decision.

The sewing machine would be kept at her natal home as a betrothal gift.

She couldn’t use it herself, and it would only gather dust, so it was better for her mother to learn how to use it and make clothes for her.

Big Brother Gu also thought this was the best solution. The Lin family had to keep at least one betrothal gift.

The dowry was set according to local customs and amounted to 88 yuan.

This was the outcome of the discussions between Big Brother Gu and Grandpa Lin yesterday.

So today, when Gu Ye and the others arrived with the matchmaker, pushing the sewing machine, although everyone was curious, it didn’t cause too much of a stir.

In the past, when a girl married off the island, the betrothal gift was a sewing machine, so no one found it particularly surprising.

“Lin Family, this is the brazi my wife bought for me in Beijing. She said it’s the latest trend for weddings. What do you think…” Gu Ze took out the red brazi his wife had bought and handed it to Mother Lin.

“Brazi? Is this the kind the city girls wear?” Mother Lin had actually seen it before, and it looked quite nice.

Sister-in-law Lin also walked over and, along with Mother Lin, opened the paper wrapper. “Oh, the color is really vibrant, so bright!” Sister-in-law Lin thought that just the color alone looked better than the red blouse her mother-in-law had bought.

“The texture is really good. Mom, you should take a look.”

Mother Lin gently touched it and quickly called over Grandma Lin to take a look.

“This is good stuff. Our Baoni is really lucky!” Grandma Lin touched it, feeling the texture, and thought it was no less luxurious than the materials worn by the wealthy ladies of old.

Baoni was attracted by their exclamations and came over, wondering what all the fuss was about.

“What is it? Let me see.” She reached out to take it, and with a shake, the brazi was unfolded.

It was indeed beautiful, a classic design.

The long skirt had a slight waistline, with a bit of puff in the sleeves and a white rounded collar that turned outward.

“Ah, it’s beautiful, really beautiful. Baoni will look so pretty in it, but her face is a bit dark.” said the aunt who had just entered, speaking loudly.

“You really know how to talk. Our Baoni is healthy, what do you know?” Grandma Lin glared at the aunt.

“Haha… right, healthy, healthy, see, I didn’t mean any harm.” the aunt shrugged, unbothered by the comment and laughing it off.

“Alright, stop talking, put the clothes away and go help in the kitchen with the cooking.” Grandma Lin directed her daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law to get moving, as there were guests.

Everyone laughed and went into the kitchen, while Baoni took the items back to her bedroom.

After a lively lunch, Gu Ye was shocked by how many people were in the Lin family—there were so many. 

Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and even more distant relatives, and Gu Ye, thinking he had a good memory, ended up dizzy trying to remember who was who. 

Honestly, even without counting the younger generations, there were dozens of people, and it was said that not everyone had arrived yet.

Gu Ye understood: this was Lin family’s way of showing their support for Lin Baoni, telling him that they would not let anyone bully their girl.

After the lively lunch, Gu Ye and the others left, promising to come back tomorrow to pick up the bride.

Meanwhile, at the Lin family’s house, everyone pitched in, and soon everything was tidied up.

That evening, Mother Lin pushed open the door to Baoni’s bedroom.

“Baoni, why aren’t you asleep yet?” After such a busy day, you should get some rest.

“I still have something to tell you. Here, take this first.” Mother Lin handed Baoni a red envelope wrapped in red paper.

“This is for you to keep. It’s not much. Your father and I added a little more to the dowry and made it 150 yuan. Don’t think it’s too little.” Mother Lin said.

She couldn’t do much—over the years, with a few children in school, the family had very little money left.

“I don’t want it. You should keep it. The family needs money for emergencies. I already have enough, you know that.” Baoni said, trying to push the money back to her mother. She knew how little they had at home.

“Your money is yours, but these years, you’ve been sending a lot of your earnings back to help the family. The savings must be kept. Otherwise, your father and I won’t feel at ease.” Mother Lin knew that Baoni had chosen not to join the army and instead married nearby, or else she wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

“Alright, I’ll take it.” Baoni accepted the red envelope. It was her parents’ heartfelt gift, and she couldn’t let them down.

Later, she thought, she would be able to contribute more. As someone trained by Old Jiang, she was an excellent role model and surely could earn a little extra money.

Mother Lin then gave Baoni some advice about sleeping. It was brief, just one sentence: “Listen to your husband.” 

Baoni really didn’t know how to respond—there seemed to be no difference between saying it and not saying it.

Looking at the several large bags she had packed, Lin Baoni realized that tomorrow, this place would be her parental home no longer. She now had her own home, and her identity had changed.

She was sleepily woken before the sun had fully risen. Baoni was quickly helped to wash her face, changed into new clothes, and her hair was braided into two neat twists, with red ribbons tied at the ends.

She refused to have her cheeks painted red and only applied a light layer of snowflake cream. She preferred to look fresh and clean.

Gu Ye came to pick her up in a jeep. This was specially approved by Colonel Yang, as Baoni had suffered some grievances, and the Military Unit was compensating her.

Baoni got into the jeep amid the envy and reluctance of everyone, and they drove directly to the canteen, where the wedding ceremony was held.

There were no lavish banquets, just a table with some sunflower seeds and wedding candy.

Gu Ze was in a position where he could already sense the shift in the atmosphere and tried to stay as low-key as possible.

Colonel Yang presided over the ceremony, read from the red booklet, shouted the slogan, and bowed. That was the end of the formalities.

It had been communicated in advance that no gift money would be accepted, and there were no other tasks to be done afterward, so Baoni returned to the Family Residential Compound first.

When she opened the gate, there was already some liveliness in the courtyard.

The living room had some new additions, which should have been brought over by Brother Gu.

In the bedroom, there was a red bedsheet with peony flowers, which was particularly eye-catching. This had been her mother’s dowry, kept at the bottom of the box for many years.

Her bag was placed at one end of the bed. Baoni began putting her things into the wardrobe and changed out of the flashy braji she had been wearing, which had attracted countless eyes.

It really was eye-catching. Baoni thought that the reason people had been staring at her was because of the braji, not because of her. In the end, she was overshadowed by a piece of clothing.

Sighing, she changed into more comfortable clothes and lay down on the soft bedding, thinking about the events of the evening. She was both excited and a little nervous.

Although she knew what was going to happen, she had never experienced it herself, so she wasn’t sure how it would feel.

Gu Ye didn’t seem like someone with experience; both of them were novices. Would they even manage to do this?

When Gu Ye entered, the first thing he saw was the woman lying on the red bedsheet, which made her look even more beautiful against the large flowers beneath her.

He unconsciously swallowed and felt pretty nervous!