Chapter 50: Wedding Gifts

Mother Gu responded indifferently, “I’m old now, not like you young people who can run around everywhere.”

How could a mother-in-law shamelessly go to her daughter-in-law’s home for a banquet?

Ridiculous!

Gu Cheng: “…”

Father Gu sighed. “Forget it, if she doesn’t want to go, we’ll go without her.”

Coincidentally, Gu Cheng’s sister-in-law had taken her child back to her maternal home that day. Since Mother Gu refused to go, only Father Gu and Gu Cheng’s elder brother would be attending.

Gu Cheng rode his bicycle, giving Father Gu a ride.

As for his elder brother, he had to walk. As long as he arrived before noon, it would be fine.

Seeing them all leave, Mother Gu grumbled, “What’s the use of having sons? They marry wives and forget their mothers—none of them can be relied on!”

Leaving their old mother alone at home while they went off to enjoy good food—how shameless of them!

The Liu family was busy with preparations.

Jiang Cuihua was cooking, while Liu Yinyin and her sister-in-law were washing and chopping vegetables.

The rest of the Liu family members were out borrowing tables and benches from the village.

Liu Yinyin also had to take care of her child while helping with the preparations, making her busier than ever.

The borrowed tables and benches were set up in the courtyard.

The weather was good today, so eating outside wouldn’t be a problem.

When Gu Cheng arrived home with Father Gu, Liu Yinyin was in the bedroom nursing the baby.

With so many people coming and going in the house, she locked the door while feeding the child.

Hearing Gu Cheng knock, Liu Yinyin called out in response, only opening the door after she finished nursing and wrapped the baby up.

“Father.”

Seeing Father Gu, she greeted him politely.

“Ah!” Father Gu responded, slightly emotional. “I came to see the child.”

He had been worried before—Gu Cheng was already twenty-eight, and in the village, most men his age had children running around everywhere.

Fortunately, he was finally a father now.

Liu Yinyin handed the baby to Gu Cheng with a smile. “Father, come inside and have a seat. I’ll go help in the kitchen.”

Since Gu Cheng could take care of the baby, she focused entirely on preparing food.

Jiang Cuihua whispered to her daughter, “Yinyin, your father-in-law is here, but where’s your mother-in-law and the others?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t had a chance to ask yet,” Liu Yinyin frowned slightly.

This was her home—if it weren’t for Gu Cheng’s sake, she wouldn’t even have allowed the Gu family to step in.

Although Father Gu hadn’t done anything wrong, doing nothing at all was a mistake in itself.

He knew his family was in the wrong but always turned a blind eye and never intervened.

“Well, that old woman not coming is actually a good thing,” Jiang Cuihua sighed in relief. She had been bracing herself for a tough confrontation

Once most of the work was done, Liu Yinyin went out to entertain the guests.

They were all relatives and friends from the Liu family, so she was familiar with them. She led Gu Cheng around to introduce him.

Since there were too many people to all squeeze inside, Gu Cheng wrapped the baby in a small blanket and carried him into the courtyard to show everyone.

The weather was warm today, so taking the baby outside for a short while was fine.

By noon, the dishes were being served.

There were five tables in total, nearly full, with only two empty seats remaining.

Father Gu and Gu Cheng’s elder brother sat with the Liu family men, while the Liu family’s children were moved to other tables, filling all the seats.

Although there were lingering tensions between the two families, no one would embarrass each other in front of a large crowd.

Especially Father Gu and Liu Laifu—the two men were carefree and didn’t dwell on past conflicts. They got along well and even shared a drink together.

There were twelve dishes—half meat, half vegetarian.

For a countryside banquet, this was considered quite a feast.

The guests enjoyed the meal thoroughly. During the winter, with little else to do, everyone chatted while eating, making the courtyard lively and bustling.

As the banquet was coming to an end, the couple distributed red-dyed eggs and brown sugar sponge cakes to the guests.

It wasn’t until after 2 PM that the last of the guests finally left the courtyard.

Now, only the Gu and Liu families remained.

Father Gu and Gu Cheng’s elder brother needed to head back. The days were short in winter, and if they didn’t leave soon, they would have to travel in the dark.

Liu Yinyin glanced at Gu Cheng and asked, “Are you taking Father back?”

“No need. We can walk home,” Father Gu refused. His son had been drinking quite a bit today, and he wasn’t confident that Gu Cheng could even ride his bicycle steadily. Better to avoid any accidents.

Finally, the courtyard quieted down.

The Liu family members stayed behind to clean up the dishes, tables, and stools.

Since most of the tables and stools were borrowed, they had to be tidied up and returned. Some of the dishes had also been borrowed.

During these times, supplies were scarce. Families would engrave their names on their belongings, so there was no worry about mixing things up.

Liu Yinyin wanted to help clean up, but Jiang Cuihua gently pushed her aside and said with concern, “You just finished your postpartum recovery. You shouldn’t overwork yourself. Go back inside and rest. Your sister-in-law and I can handle everything. Just take care of the baby.”

After working all morning, Liu Yinyin was indeed exhausted.

“Thank you, Mother.” She smiled, not bothering to be polite. Then, turning to her sisters-in-law, she said, “I really appreciate all your hard work today.”

“Go on, get some rest. Doing housework isn’t a big deal,” her eldest sister-in-law responded, though she found Liu Yinyin’s refined speech a little odd.

Her younger sister-in-law, however, had no complaints. With a relative like Liu Yinyin, anyone who didn’t try to stay on good terms with her would be a fool.

Back in her room, Liu Yinyin lay down for a while. She hadn’t been asleep long before the baby’s cries woke her up. Resigned, she got up to nurse him.

The courtyard was quiet now—the Liu family members had apparently gone home.

After a short while, Gu Cheng pushed the door open and walked in.

“All finished?” Liu Yinyin, feeling a bit awkward, pulled the blanket up higher. She still wasn’t used to breastfeeding in front of her husband.

Gu Cheng glanced at their son, who was nursing noisily, and couldn’t help but steal a couple more glances. After a moment, he replied, “Just finished. They’ve all gone home. Mother said she won’t be coming over tonight.”

Liu Yinyin acknowledged with a simple “Oh” and, looking for something to do, said, “Then go and organize all the gifts from today. The room is a mess.”

The guests who came to the full moon banquet hadn’t arrived empty-handed. Most had brought gifts like eggs, millet, soybeans, and peanuts—things meant to help Liu Yinyin recover.

Then, of course, there were the red envelopes.

Only close relatives, like the Liu and Gu families, were expected to give cash gifts.

Liu Yinyin took out two red envelopes from Gu Yanyan’s swaddling cloth and opened them to count the money.

Jiang Cuihua had given a full ten-yuan bill—a significant amount. Her mother had been quite generous.

As for the red envelope from Father Gu, it contained just one yuan, all in small change—dimes and pennies.

He must have painstakingly saved up this little private stash.

Liu Yinyin said nothing. She simply tucked the red envelopes under her pillow, keeping them safe.