Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 167 Welcoming the bride
The two Chen brothers chatted with Qu Shaoyang for the whole morning, and only left after the three of them finished discussing.

Qu Shaoyang was too lazy to make breakfast for himself, so he simply went to his master's place for a meal.

The wedding is on the sixth day of the winter month. It's already the third day, and there are many things to do.

After breakfast, Qu Shaoyang led a few men and drove a horse-drawn carriage to quickly bring back some things needed for the wedding.

Qu Shaoyang's marriage was a big event, and Liu Dongshan attached great importance to it. He ordered a lot of fish from several fishermen on the river in advance.

I also ordered some pork elbows, hearts, livers, etc. from the butcher.

In addition, there are the bridal sedan chair, the red felt for spreading on the floor, the red silk for decorating everywhere, the bowls, plates and cups for the banquet, etc.

These are generally not available for borrowing, and it is not cost-effective to buy them yourself, so you have to rent them specifically.

In addition, a master chef was needed to prepare the meal for the wedding banquet. Although Liu Dongshan had already made arrangements with him in advance, Qu Shaoyang still had to go and invite him in person.

They agreed on when to come, how many apprentices they would take, how much wages and rewards they would pay, etc.

I was busy all day, but it seemed like I didn't do anything and it was already dark.

On the fourth day of the winter month, after breakfast, Qu Shaoyang led his men into the pigpen, caught two pigs, tied them up on a long bench and killed them directly.

These two pigs were caught in the early spring. After being raised for half a year, they only weigh about 170 to 180 kilograms.

Liu Dongshan had said a long time ago that his apprentice's wedding must be a grand ceremony, and one pig would not be enough for the banquet, so he would just kill two.

The blood from the slaughtered pig is collected and prepared to make blood sausage. The pig is plucked, the stomach is cut open, and the pig's offal is washed directly. The small intestine is cleaned and prepared to make blood sausage.

At this time, the chef who was invited to prepare the banquet also came with his apprentices.

The pork was chopped and prepared according to the chef's requirements.

When holding a wedding banquet, chicken, fish and pork elbows are all indispensable.

At the beginning of spring, Lin Ruolan learned how to hatch chicks from others. After destroying dozens of eggs, she finally hatched two nests of chicks, with a total of about fifty chicks.

After raising them for a while, a few died and about forty of them grew up.

This time, Liu Dongshan said to keep the two most beautiful roosters and kill the remaining ten or so.

The daughters-in-law who came to help were laughing as they killed chickens, washed pork offal, stuffed blood sausage, cut sauerkraut, and steamed buns in the afternoon, and they were busy until very late.

On the fifth day of the winter month, it is time for the master chef to show off his skills.

A shed had been set up in the yard in advance, and a row of stoves had been built.

The master chef led his apprentices to fry meat slices, crispy white meat, meatballs, stewed pork elbows, braised pork belly, pork offal, etc. in the shed. The aroma spread from far away.

Many neighbors came to help. Some helped to borrow tables and chairs, some helped to pick and wash vegetables. Everyone was busy and happy and did not rest until midnight.

When he woke up, it was the sixth day of the winter month, the day Qu Shaoyang was going to marry Chen Xiuyun.

People who wanted to help arrived early in the morning, and everyone worked together to assemble the rented sedan chair.

In fact, this thing is very simple. The bottom of the sedan chair, the four pillars on the side surround the sedan chair fence, and then the sedan chair roof is buckled on top.

Some families simply use a square kang table, turning it upside down, as the base of the sedan chair.

Tie four pillars on top, and then rent a sedan chair cover and a sedan chair top, and put them together to make a bridal sedan.

The sedan chair was assembled and carried by four strong young men.

The musicians hired in advance also arrived, and the music was very lively.

The servants in the family, all dressed neatly in new clothes, carried the wedding gifts and stood behind the bridal sedan.

Qu Shaoyang was wearing a navy blue satin cotton jacket with a waistcoat of the same color satin and sable fur lining, a large red silk flower tied on his chest, and he was riding a chestnut horse with a big smile on his face.

There was also a big red silk flower tied on the forehead of the chestnut horse, which just covered the tuft of white hair, making it look particularly festive. Old Zhou's wife was invited to be the matchmaker, wearing red and green, with a red flower on her head, and walked happily in front of the team.

When the auspicious time arrived, the wedding procession set out carrying their belongings.

The Qu family and the Chen family are too close to each other, so we can’t go there directly. We have to go around half a circle in the town.

The drummers played music all the way, and many naughty children followed the team to watch the fun.

After finally completing this half circle, I finally arrived at Chen's house.

At this time, the door of the Chen family was closed. Chen Yunhan, Chen Yunzhe, and a few young men who came to help lit a large string of firecrackers.

Amid the crackling sound of firecrackers, Qu Shaoyang led the wedding procession to the gate. Qu Shaoyang dismounted, walked forward, and bowed to his two uncles.

"Big brother, second brother, I'm here to marry Xiuyun. Please be gracious and don't make things difficult for me."

These two brothers, one is a scholar and the other is a warrior, if they want to make things difficult for others, Qu Shaoyang will really have to put in some effort.

Therefore, Qu Shaoyang was very sensible. He greeted them politely when they met and directly asked someone to give them a red envelope, just hoping that his two uncles would not make things difficult for him and let him in smoothly.

Fortunately, the Chen brothers had no intention of making things difficult for Qu Shaoyang.

And this time, the relatives of the Chen family did not notify them at all.

So, the two brothers accepted the red envelopes and made way, allowing the wedding procession to enter the house smoothly.

I entered the front door smoothly, but the door was closed.

In the room, several girls who got along well with Chen Xiuyun were laughing.

"Groom, if you want to marry Xiuyun successfully, you have to say something heartfelt.

Otherwise, we won’t let you in so easily today.”

Qu Shaoyang saw that this level was not easy to pass, so he straightened his clothes and walked to the door.

"Xiuyun, I, Qu Shaoyang, don't have much ability, so I can't say how much wealth and glory I can give you in the future.

But I promise here that you and I will share the joys and sorrows together from now on.

Whatever I have is yours, and whatever you want, I will do my best to do it for you."

Although these words are not as beautiful as a pledge of eternal love, they are true.

Inside the house, Doctor Chen and his wife, as well as the neighbors who came to help, were all laughing.

"Okay, girl, let him in. He'll get frozen if he's left standing outside in this cold weather."

Li felt sorry for her son-in-law and spoke quickly.

Those girls were all neighbors, not Chen Xiuyun's sisters. Given their status, it was naturally not appropriate to make things too difficult for the groom.

Besides, the bride's mother had spoken, so how could they block the door and not let him in? So they opened the door and let Qu Shaoyang in.

Qu Shaoyang hurriedly bowed to the girls and then stepped into the house.

Old Zhou's wife directed the young men who were carrying the wedding gifts at the back to carry all the things into the main room.

Qu Shaoyang was alone in the Northeast. His parents were in his hometown in Shandong. It was too far away and it was inconvenient to go back, and he couldn't send any letters back.

So when Qu Shaoyang got married, his hometown didn't know about it, and naturally no relatives or friends came.

Those who came to welcome the bride today are all neighbors.

(End of this chapter)