Years: Salted fish life since going to the countryside.

Chapter 984 Dowry
When Han Li and his companions returned from the Yun family, they discovered that the men under Cook Liang had already built a wedding tent, which directly blocked more than half of Cotton Alley. People could pass by on foot or by bicycle, but carts, cars, etc. could forget about it.

But this is the case for all weddings and funerals, and it only lasts two days, so no one will jump out and say anything.

Even so, Han's mother didn't want any flaws in her son's wedding. What if a toad jumped out? Although it wouldn't bite people, it would be disgusting.

So Han Ma greeted her colleagues in the street office early on and asked them to stand by while the wedding tent was being built. Han Ma's original greeting became an order after the leaders of the street office arrived today, and several department heads were sitting by the stove next to the wedding tent.

Han Li parked his car far away and walked towards his home, greeting the neighbors and his mother's colleagues, smoking cigarettes, and being teased along the way until he arrived in front of his own door.

Hou Huidong and his team had also set up their tents, and all the things in the Han sisters' rooms had been moved in. The original big tent was already full of people.

Is it full? Yes, it is full, but even so, there are still many people who can't sit down and gather under the wall to chat in the sun.

Among them were Han Li's neighbors, childhood friends, junior and high school classmates, companions when he went to the countryside to work, college classmates, students who had received training at a hotel in Beijing, and friends he had met at a competition at Beijing International Studies University. These people were all selected by Han Li and notified specifically.

However, there were some uninvited people. These people were students Han Li met when he was teaching in the lecture hall, and some students in the German class for whom he was substituting.

There are also some children of leaders in the father or mother’s unit. These people used to be friends just by saying hello when they met, but now they all come to help as old friends.

But no matter what, Han Li had to go over and say hello to them.

Han Li smoked a cigarette outside the street gate and walked into the yard with a sour smile on his face.

At this time, three stoves, two large and one small, were built under the south wall of the yard. Meatballs were being cooked in a large pot on one of the stoves, and there were tofu and carp waiting to be fried next to it.

On top of another large pot are layers of steaming steamers, in which steamed buns are steamed. The small stove is used to stir-fry hot dishes and has not been used yet.

The Han sisters' rooms have become a very busy kitchen preparation center, one of which is filled with various ingredients and materials used during the wedding banquet.

These ingredients have been counted by both parties, and are now controlled and allocated by Chef Liang and his trusted apprentice. During this period, if the boss increases the number of dishes, the quantity of food, or the size of the table, it will not be counted. On the contrary, if there is a shortage, even if the boss does not care, the people helping around will blame the chef.

In this era where everything has to be calculated carefully, especially during the most difficult years, even factory canteens with tens of thousands of employees were accustomed to only being able to produce a few servings of food from a pound of cabbage or potatoes.

If there is a shortage, no matter it is due to miscalculation by the kitchen industry or negligence of internal staff, it will be a very embarrassing thing for the kitchen industry, so the key to this room cannot be held by anyone other than a confidant.

In the other room, there were two groups of people. One group was cutting meat and vegetables, preparing for today's lunch.

Another group of people were kneading dough and making steamed buns in order to meet the demand for the next two days. The steamed buns in the layers of steamers outside were simply not enough.

My parents' room was mostly filled with elderly women with children. Han Li walked in, said hello, and left Ding Yulan behind.

There were more people in Han Li's room, including the leaders of the street office, the leaders of the bus company, and President Wen, Teacher Niu, Teacher Zhang, etc. Han Li stayed here with them until the people outside called for dinner, and at noon they would cook a big pot of food.

Everyone held their bowls to the pot and the cooks served them the food. They then took steamed buns from the side. Some found a place to sit down to eat, while others squatted outside by the wall with their bowls to eat. However, most people just gathered together in the sun to eat and chat.

Because according to the customs of the old city and the agreement of the parents of both sides, the bride's side would come over to deliver the dowry (casket) this afternoon, so after lunch, everyone got busy at the urging of the steward.

This is the custom in the old city. On the first day after a woman gets married, she sends her dowry and invites four to eight male guests to deliver the dowry from her parents' home to the groom's home.

This situation can be said to be quite grand in the old city. It is not only an opportunity to prove the strength of the girl's family, but also a chance to put pressure on the boy's family and surrounding neighbors.

At this time, the neighbors will come out to watch. If the gifts the woman brings do not keep up with the trend of the time, the neighbors will gossip about it behind their backs, and the man will lose face.

But if the gifts given by the bride's family are quite outstanding, not only will the groom be proud, but the neighbors will also look up to the bride, and it will be easier to deal with her in the future.

Although this custom has existed since ancient times, it was expanded countless times during the former pseudo-dynasty period due to the influence of the Manchu custom of attaching importance to "aunts".

At that time, many families with the means would start preparing dowries for their daughters as soon as they were born. Gold-leather cabinets, silver-leather trunks, tiger-skin chairs, and ivory beds were nothing in their estimation. Their land, shops, and number of servants were what they showed off.

What would an ordinary family do? Just leave it alone. A hard-hearted family would give the girl away as soon as she was born, throw her into the fields, or even into the river. There was always a place to send her.

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

Those kind-hearted families will grit their teeth and raise the children, and sell them for some money and food when they encounter a lean period. If this is not the case, most of them will increase the bride price to make up a dowry for their daughters. However, bride price is very unreliable, which is the origin of the term "money-losing goods".

However, this situation has improved a lot after liberation, especially after the most difficult years, the custom of competing for dowry is no longer common.

However, the quality of life of people in Beijing has improved in recent years. No one dares to talk about things like land and shops, but the girl's parents will try to give as much as possible to make their daughter live a better life. It is better than anything else to be looked up to by the in-laws and neighbors.

This is also the reason why two families who were marrying off their daughters in Mianhua Hutong this year gave away six sets of bedding, as well as large items such as televisions and electric fans.
-
Around two o'clock in the afternoon, the Yun family, led by Yun Chengpeng and two middle-aged men, as well as several relatives and neighbors, a total of eight people, set out from home in a jeep and three gasoline tricycles produced in Sijiucheng.

Before their convoy turned into Mianhua Hutong, they were discovered by Shu Yongjie and Mai Zhijun who were sent here to keep watch. The two men ran into the alley, shouting as they ran.

"The people from my sister-in-law's family are here to deliver the dowry."

"The people from my sister-in-law's family are here to deliver the dowry. They will soon enter the alley."

The shouts of Shu Yongjie, Mai Zhijun and others immediately made the managers in the wedding tent start to get busy. They notified and prepared the people in the courtyard, and sent people with cigarettes to welcome them.

At this time, the neighbors in the alley also came out of their warm homes, because Han Li could be said to be the most promising person in the alley in recent years, and everyone wanted to know what his wife's family had given as a gift.
(End of this chapter)