Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 846 Welcoming the bride
January 9th, the 2rd day of the twelfth lunar month.

As dawn broke, Lujiawan was shrouded in a layer of white mist. Trees with fallen leaves appeared and disappeared in the mist. Black traces of burned straw remained in the harvested rice fields. Several old cows strolled and grazed on the ridges of the fields, occasionally mooing and breaking the tranquility of the winter morning.

In the village, the early-rising dogs took a couple of walks and found their daily lives monotonous and boring. So they stretched and yawned, intending to go home and catch up on their sleep at the door. Before they even got home, they were surprised to find that even the little kids who loved to sleep in were already up, dressed in new clothes, and running around the rice paddies.

The adults were especially cheerful, and they gathered in groups to chat.

In the main drying yards reserved for each team, a group of women soon gathered. Some carried pots, some carried buckets, and they happily built stoves, killed chickens, killed fish, and washed vegetables.

Someone shouted, "Teacher Chen is really generous. He even invited the whole brigade to dinner for his wedding. No one has ever done that before!"

Another person immediately chimed in, saying, "Of course! A few days ago, Huang Laohu's son from Team 7 got married. They had a three-day banquet, and everyone said it was grand. But compared to Teacher Chen, it's a bit lacking."

"Isn't that obvious? Even if he's willing to treat the whole team to a meal, others might not accept. They're not that familiar with him. If they go to the banquet, is it a favor or not? Too much or too little is not good."

"Exactly, even if he, like Teacher Chen, doesn't accept money or favors, I still wouldn't want to go."

"Why are you bringing up Huang Laohu when you're talking about Teacher Chen? Teacher Chen is getting married today, and he's marrying Jiang, that same educated youth from the old educated youth settlement. Tell me, when did they get together?"

"I don't know when they got together, but I heard that Team 6 arranged for two groups of people to live with them, but they still couldn't snatch her away. Hahahaha..."

"What are you laughing at? Even if they didn't manage to snatch it, they still made a huge profit. Look at them, the first three of them all got into universities in Beijing, and they'll probably become cadres in Beijing after graduation."

The next batch: Liu Lu learned tailoring from Teacher Chen and is now a master tailor and manager at a clothing factory; Huang Li learned cooking and is a renowned chef, also managing the Lujiawan Restaurant; Yang Mei learned winemaking, and now when people from other places come to Nanhu, who doesn't take a few pounds of wine with them when they go back? The tavern she manages is always busy.

To be honest, they didn't lose out at all. If I had a daughter, I'd send her there too, but I just don't have the luck to do so.

"We're definitely not losing money, but no matter what, we can't compare to Jiang Zhiqing!"

"That's true. It's just a pity that today each team is holding its own banquet. Only a small number of people can go to Teacher Chen's house for the banquet. Otherwise, they could have seen what Jiang Zhiqing looks like and how she has Teacher Chen so infatuated with her."

……

At the back slope of the sixth team of Lujiawan, at the top of the slope, Chen Fan's house had large red "囍" characters pasted on the windows, and couplets pasted on both sides of the door frame. The couplets were handwritten by Master Lu: "May the phoenix and the dragon sing in harmony to welcome good fortune, and may they be of one heart for a hundred years." The horizontal scroll read: "A perfect match made in heaven."

Under the eaves, Yang Zhijun and Xiao Yimin each stood on one side, hanging a pair of large red lanterns high. They didn't come down immediately, but instead turned their gaze to the girl not far away.

Huang Ying stood on the square in front of the gate, hands on her hips, looking left and right for a while before nodding in satisfaction, "It's ready."

He then took a few steps back, looked at the newly renovated house, and said with a smile, "Now this is what a new home should look like."

Yang Ju walked by carrying a large basket and said irritably, "I renovated the thatched roof a couple of days ago, doesn't it look like a new house? Alright, alright, come and help me out, I'm busy in the kitchen."

Huang Ying pouted and muttered, "What's the point of being unhappy when we're getting married?"

Yang Ju turned around abruptly, "What did you say?"

Huang Ying stared in astonishment, "I said, more than twenty helpers came today, isn't that enough?"

Yang Ju rolled her eyes and sighed, "Don't you even look at how many of these twenty-odd people work in the kitchen?"

Due to limited space, Chen Fan didn't invite many people to his home today, only a few leaders from the brigade headquarters, various squad leaders, Uncle Lu, and a few acquaintances from the town.

For example, there's Officer Zhu from the police station, Chef Zhu from the food station, Chef Zhu from the state-run restaurant, Zhou Guangzhi, the head of the veterinary station, and veterinarian Wang Shiping, Director Sun from the breeding station, Director Qian and saleswoman Wang Xiaoling from the supply and marketing cooperative's store, Director Fang from the waste recycling station, Director Wang from the health center, Driver Meng from the bus station, and Director Wang from the education group.

Finally, there was Secretary Tian and Factory Director Cui from the water transport company.

As for the commune leaders? Sorry, I wasn't familiar with them, so I didn't invite any of them.

However, in addition to the invited guests, all the students from the veterinary class and the girls' cram school who had been enrolled also came, but they were not there as guests; they were there to help out voluntarily.

Confucius said: When the teacher has something to do, the disciples should do the work.

Teacher Chen is getting married, and they're not coming to help at this time. Do they still want to be considered her teacher?

Don't be fooled by the fact that they are all students from top universities, the pride of heaven, and act all high and mighty in public. Compared to being Teacher Chen's student, they are still a little bit lacking.

Others might think they're not qualified yet.

These students are all children who grew up in the countryside. From the age of three, when they could carry small baskets and sickles, they followed their older brothers and sisters to cut pig feed and pick up wheat ears. They were all good at doing chores.

At this point, groups of three or five took over all the work, both inside and outside the house.

Yes, that includes Tang Li and Yang Xingxiu, who were carrying two golden monkeys around. ...Although Yang Xingxiu wasn't a student, she offered to help take care of the monkeys, so who could stop her?
Didn't you see two people feeding bamboo to the pandas in the panda enclosure?

Outside, everyone was busy with their own things, while inside the living room on the first floor of the house, more than thirty guests were gathered together.

Fortunately, the living room is over 100 square meters in size. There are piles of sofas, tea tables, and TVs, but it doesn't feel crowded at all.

A moment later, Chen Fan came downstairs wearing the new clothes that Jiang Lili had made by hand. Zhou Yali immediately got up to greet him, "Brother, put this on."

Chen Fan's eyes widened when he saw it. "A big red flower? No way!"

"Yes, yes, but if you don't wear a big red flower, how will anyone know you're the groom?"

Zhao Wanru left her son in the care of the two girls, then personally came over to put the big red flower on Chen Fan's head. She then took two steps back and nodded with satisfaction, "Well done, truly a handsome man."

Everyone else nodded in agreement, but Zhou Yali gritted her teeth and tried her best to suppress her laughter.

Chen Fan glanced at her, too lazy to pay her any attention, and turned to look at Zhou Zhengdong, "When are we leaving?"

Zhou Zhengdong immediately took out his notebook and said in a serious tone, "The arrangement for today is as follows: at 7:58 a.m., firecrackers will be set off, and the bus will depart on time, taking the land route through the county town to the prefectural committee."

Secretary Yang has made all the arrangements for the journey. If everything goes smoothly, we should arrive at the bride's house around 10 o'clock. The Jiang family has arranged a wedding banquet, including the ceremony, speeches, and meal, which is expected to last 45 to 50 minutes. After the banquet, we'll immediately set off back by water. The others will take the dowry aboard the Luwan No. 2 ferry, while you, the bride, and the wedding party will take the speedboat ahead.”

He put down his notebook and said, "At the speed of your speedboat, you can definitely get back within an hour and won't miss the auspicious time."

The custom at Yunhu weddings is that the bride and groom don't take the same route they came from, so they have to take this detour. They also have to bring the bride into the house before noon, so they have to travel one after the other.

Fortunately, it's all the same road, just with different speeds, so there's no ambiguity about "going down different roads".

Chen Fan rubbed his palms together and sighed, "Going there, we drove by land and had to cross rivers. On the way back, we had to change boats and travel by water. Isn't that a hassle?"

If you ask me, given the distance, there's no need for a wedding procession. Just have the ceremony on both sides, a small talk, and a meal – that would be perfect.

As soon as he finished speaking and looked up, he saw Zhou Zhengdong staring at him with wide eyes, "Do you know what a proper marriage is? What a grand wedding is? You didn't even have a wedding procession, what kind of marriage is that?"

Chen Fan didn't say anything, but just glanced at Zhou Yali.

As expected, the young lady did not disappoint him. The little girl asked curiously, "But I heard Aunt Lan say that you and Mommy had your wedding in a church back then, and there was no wedding procession."

Zhou Zhengdong rolled his eyes. "Your mother and I had a Western-style wedding. Now we're in China, so of course we have to have a Chinese-style wedding to make it seem more grand."

Zhao Wanru just smiled and didn't say anything.

If she's going to stay in the US, then a Western-style wedding is fine.

But when Xiaofan got married this time, she realized that there were so many etiquette and ceremonies involved in getting married.
At that moment, I felt like I had lost three lifetimes.

She even had the urge to remarry!
Zhou Yali had no idea that her mother had dangerous ideas. She pouted, shrugged at Chen Fan, and indicated that she couldn't help her.

Then they happily stood aside and watched the fun.

Chen Fan didn't have time to pay attention to her. He raised his hand to check his watch. It was 7:40, and there was still plenty of time. He turned to Secretary Yang and asked, "Will anyone complain about not inviting everyone to our home for dinner?"

Secretary Yang immediately said, "What are you talking about? There are four or five thousand people in the entire Lujiawan area. Can you invite them all to sit down for a meal?"

Captain Zhang also said with a smile, "It's good this way. Each team handles it themselves, and all the materials are on your shoulders. Of course, it's like you're treating everyone to a meal. They're happy to save themselves the trouble of traveling around and have a meal with acquaintances right at their doorstep, which is more relaxing."

Xiao Liewen and Ye Shubao didn't say much, but they both nodded in agreement.

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "That's good."

Inviting the whole village to dinner wouldn't actually cost much. There are over 900 households and more than 4000 people in Lujiawan now. The custom these days is that children don't sit at the table, so that takes up some of the seats. The remaining 400 tables should be more than enough.

Since the village organized the banquet itself, all other expenses could be deducted, except for the cost of buying vegetables.

But what is this place?
I wouldn't dare say it's within a thousand miles, but within a radius of two hundred kilometers, it's almost impossible to find a village richer than Lujiawan. There's no need to go outside to buy anything; all kinds of chicken, duck, fish, meat, vegetables, and grains are abundant here.

Even the wine was brewed by Yang Mei herself through hard work throughout the year.

We only charge the cost price; a banquet costs at most 5 or 6 yuan.

在大白菜一分钱一斤、猪肉7毛钱一斤、鸡蛋5毛、小鱼3毛大鱼5毛、鸡鹅1块、鸭子4毛的时代，真的不能再多了！

The total cost for 400 tables is only 2400 yuan. Even with the wedding cigarettes included, it doesn't reach 3000 yuan, which isn't even a fraction of his share of the profits from Lujiawan.

After greeting the guests, Chen Fan got up to leave when it was almost time.

Wearing a big red flower on his chest, with the thick skin of Teacher Chen, Doctor, Veterinarian, Graduate Student, Writer, Vice Chairman, Real Person, and Fan, even though he was filled with shame inside, he remained outwardly calm.

Accompanied by the wedding party members, including Zhou Zhengdong, Zhao Wanru, Zhou Yali, the middleman Yang Chuanfu, and the groom's matchmaker Yang Kangnian, they boarded the jeep.

There were four cars in the wedding procession today... If Chen Fan hadn't strongly objected, Yang Kangnian would have even prepared to bring twelve Yunhu Guoya sedans to show off Chen Fan's status.

Despite Chen Fan's strong opposition, in the end only his own Jeep and three vans from Lujiawan were used, with a big red flower tied to the front of each vehicle to form a "Peace and Safety in All Seasons" convoy to go to Yunhu to pick up the bride.

After everyone in the wedding procession got into the car, Secretary Yang ran to the roadside, picked up a firecracker in one hand and a cigarette in the other, took a deep drag, lit the fuse, and then forcefully flung the firecracker away.

Amidst the crackling of firecrackers, the gaze of guests, and the watchful eyes of six groups of villagers, the wedding procession slowly set off, then sped up faster and faster, disappearing into the end of Lujiawan Avenue in no time.

Oh, Lujiawan Avenue was originally the main road of the production team running north to south. This year, under the leadership of Secretary Yang and with the support of Captain Zhang, Deputy Captain Xiao, and Deputy Captain Ye, more than one million yuan was spent to pave this main road, as well as the six horizontal branch roads between the 12 production teams and the internal main roads of each production team with cement, ending the history of the Nanhu Commune production team without cement roads!
Actually, the cement road in the commune wasn't very long either; they were still envious of Lujiawan.

The richest dog owners are the most enviable.

The wedding procession drove out of Lujiawan and Nanhu Commune, crossing rivers at breakneck speed, reaching the prefectural committee at a speed far slower than that of a bus.

Zhou Zhengdong's prediction was very accurate.

At 10:00 a.m., the convoy finally drove into the cotton mill's cadre dormitory area and stopped in front of the Jiang family's villa.

Before the car even arrived, Secretary Li, who was acting as the woman's matchmaker, waved his hand and said, "Light the firecrackers."

Chen Fan slowly drove the car over the burning firecrackers and came to a steady stop in front of the Jiang family's house.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief after the firecrackers stopped.

Fortunately, Lao Su's car was durable and didn't get set on fire by the firecrackers, otherwise today would have been truly "explosive".

After glancing at Jiang Heng and Shen Xueyi who were already waiting at the door, Chen Fan let out a soft breath, then got out of the car with a smile on his face and walked towards them under the gaze of many guests.

(End of this chapter)