The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 162 The Zhou Family Talks About Plates

At around ten o'clock in the morning, Xie Xiuyun's parents came to the door.

"Dear relatives, please come into the room and sit down." Liu Xiaofang immediately greeted them when she saw them coming.

"Mother-in-law, you're welcome." Xie Xiuyun's mother said with a smile.

Although she said she was welcome, Liu Xiaofang still wanted to entertain them warmly. This time Zhou Dongming also went back to the room to get tea to entertain them, but his tea was not good tea, but some broken tea leaves.

Even broken tea leaves are good things in this era. Tea has always been an important commodity for export. Tea is produced in many places in Jiangxi Province, but people can only buy a few taels of tea during the Spring Festival, and most of them are broken tea leaves.

This is why even in restaurants, there is only boiled water and no tea at all.

"My dear parents-in-law, we see that the two children are getting along well. It's only a matter of time before they get married. The sooner they get married, the sooner they can have grandchildren, and you can become their grandparents. So we invited you here this time because we want to arrange the marriage between my Xingcai and your Xiuyun." Liu Xiaofang said.

In fact, Xie Xiuyun's parents came here knowing that they wanted to discuss this matter, so Xie Xiuyun's father nodded, but generally speaking, it is the mother who initiates the conversation about their children's marriage.

If there is a problem, the father will speak up to discuss it.

In later times, this kind of discussion usually takes place at the woman's home. In Changcheng, it is called "negotiating the price and conditions".

But now the discussion is done at the man's side, the reason is very simple, when the man goes to the woman's side to discuss, the woman has to treat the man's family to a meal. Marrying a daughter is already a loss, and having to treat them is even more of a loss.

"Since you want to settle the marriage, I'll just say it straight. Eight yuan as the betrothal gift and a new set of clothes for my daughter Xiuyun. That's no problem, right?" said Xie Xiuyun's mother.

"That's no problem." Zhou Dongming nodded in response.

Eight yuan was a small matter, it was the same amount in Nanjing, it was just a lucky draw. And a new set of clothes was also what he deserved, at most he could ask the boss Zhou Fanyi to bring the cloth coupons he had saved.

In the past two years, because Zhou Fanyi got married and had a child, all the cloth coupons in the family were donated there. When Zhou Lingying went to the countryside, she was also given a piece of clothing.

It can be said that Zhou Lingying's parents and Zhou Xingcai have not worn a new piece of clothing for two years, but this is what parents do. This is just the beginning. If Xie Xiuyun gets pregnant soon after Zhou Xingcai gets married, their cloth coupons will have to be given to the second son's family next year.

"Then let's go to Xingcai's room again." Xie Xiuyun's mother said again.

Hearing this, Zhou Dongming frowned, knowing that the real difficulty was coming. Liu Xiaofang also understood something, but could only stand up and invite them to see her son Zhou Xingcai's room.

Zhou Xingcai still lives with his parents now, which is normal. When he gets married in the future, the company will give priority to the married couple if there are houses to allocate.

After Liu Xiaofang opened Zhou Xingcai's door, Xie Xiuyun's parents looked at it, and then Xie Xiuyun's mother said, "This bed is too small, we need a big bed. There is no wardrobe, we need to get a wardrobe before getting married. Also, although there is a table and stool in the living room, there must be two stools in this room."

Now Zhou Lingying's parents looked embarrassed. It was not a matter of money, but that wood was hard to come by in those days. In the 1950s and 1960s, families with 36 legs were generally well off.

At that time, these were not required for marriage. At most, people asked for things like thermos and washbasins. Dowry and new clothes were always provided.

But now many people in big cities have taken thirty-six legs as a relatively rigid standard when getting married. And Xie Xiuyun's parents did not force Zhou Xingcai to have a set of furniture when marrying their daughter, but they could change the bed, add a wardrobe and two stools, which was not too much.

The problem is that Zhou Lingying's parents also know that this request is not excessive, but their eldest son has bought a lot of furniture within two years of marriage.

Nowadays, people in big cities are collecting wood, bartering, or collecting some packing boxes from work units. They also go to some second-hand markets to see if there are any cheap wood products. But wood is really hard to collect. However, Xie Xiuyun's parents made this request, and Zhou Dongming and Liu Xiaofang discussed it.

Now, for the sake of their son's marriage, they as parents are willing to take out the wardrobe in their room and renovate it to help their second son Zhou Xingcai get married.

For the bed, I need to find a way to get some wood to make it bigger, and for the stool, I need to ask my eldest brother if he has any tickets for the stool. Anyway, I need to find a way to get my son married.

This is basically the case for weddings in Nanjing now, and these things are for the son and daughter-in-law, not Xie Xiuyun's parents.

The only thing Xie Xiuyun's parents could get was eight yuan as a betrothal gift, and these days marrying off a daughter also requires a dowry.

In this era, it is not popular to marry a wife with gold or silver jewelry, such as giving the woman gold jewelry. But for dowry, if the woman's parents have gold and silver jewelry, they will give it away.

But even if parents give their daughters jewelry as dowry, it is not something that can be put on the table, and it is given privately. If there is jewelry, then give it, if there is none, forget it.

As for the dowry from Xie Xiuyun's parents, Xie Xiuyun's parents said that it was a quilt. This quilt was not a small amount of dowry. A family of several people could only save up the fabric for a quilt in a year. A family with fewer people could not save up that much.

Anyway, the deal was done, and Xie Xiuyun's parents didn't have high requirements. If it was a few years ago, it would be OK, and you could find many undemanding women, such as those unemployed women of marriageable age.

But these days, women who don’t have jobs are either not well educated or are sent to the countryside.

Xie Xiuyun has a job, so it's not too much for her parents to ask for something. You have to know that Xie Xiuyun is not married yet, and most of her salary is handed over to her parents.

The deal was done, so they had to decide on a date. They simply checked the calendar to see if there was an auspicious day. The Zhou family planned to do it as soon as possible. If they didn't have to prepare something, they would have preferred three days later.

But considering various factors, Zhou Dongming said September 10th, but Xie Xiuyun's father changed it to the 16th.

Most companies pay wages on the 12th or 13th, and they pay the dowry when marrying off their daughters. But if she gets married on the 10th, Xie Xiuyun's August wages will all go to the Zhou family.

If No. 16 remarries, at least Xie Xiuyun will have to hand over a large portion of her salary. Her parents don't have to pay out of their own pocket to help them get married.

Anyway, after talking for a long time, Zhou Xingcai and Xie Xiuyun got off work at noon, and Zhou Xingcai took Xie Xiuyun home. Then the parents of both parties told them that the marriage was settled and the date was set. They could tell some of their close friends about the marriage in advance.

When getting married, Liu Xiaofang had to pay the matchmaker a fee and invite the matchmaker to dinner.

Anyway, the Zhou family is relatively happy and worried today, even though there is still half a month left. It is not easy for people of this era to prepare for the banquet and buy furniture for the wedding.

People in later generations often joke that it was easy for people in the 1970s and 1980s to get married. The bride price was less than half a month's salary, and they only needed to prepare some washbasins and thermoses to marry a wife. Then they would give her a new dress and marry her into the family.

But getting married in any era is not easy, but the corresponding price is completely a transaction in many places in later generations. It is indeed relatively easy in the 1970s. At least the parents of both sides negotiated the plan together, and no matter how much they fought for, it was really for their children.

Even if they later asked for three turns and one ring, it was all for their children. The man’s parents were willing to sell everything they had, but later the betrothal gift was given to the woman’s parents, and it really became a business.

(It's the last day of the month. Thank you all for your support. No matter how much I update every day, I have persisted in not stopping for a single day. The next day will be a new day. Your monthly tickets will be reset every month, but you can still keep them until the next month. If you can, keep them until the 1st.)

(End of this chapter)