The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 170 Xie Family
In later times, when a bride was picked up, there would always be a motorcade, but this era did not have that kind of style.

In rural areas, some people carry their brides on their backs. In county towns, if they don't have bicycles, some people use carts to push their brides home.

Normally the groom picks up the bride, and then the bride's people follow to the groom's house for a banquet.

It was not until the 1990s that the practice of using a truck to bring the bride's family and relatives to the banquet began to emerge.

Jiang Cheng first had breakfast at Zhou's house. He would go there to pick up the bride at around ten o'clock today. He would stay there for a while and then directly pick up the bride's people to the borrowed venue for the banquet.

Jiang Cheng had to get up early today because today was his busiest day. Today Jiang Cheng wanted to satisfy everyone's face and vanity, and he had to pick up many people.

For example, Zhou Lingying's grandparents live with her uncle Zhou Hewang, so Jiang Cheng will pick them up this morning. Zhou Lingying's aunt and uncle also live not far away, so they will pick them up on the way.

In addition, there are people from my mother-in-law's family, such as Zhou Lingying's uncle, who must come. As for the uncle's sons and daughters, that is, Zhou Xingcai's cousins, forget it, there are only six tables in total, both men and women. There are also some special people, so we can't invite so many people.

The special person mentioned here is the leader of Zhou Dongming's unit. When Zhou Dongming asked for leave this time, the leader asked why he wanted leave, and he said his son was getting married.

Then Zhou Dongming seemed to have come to his senses and actually invited the leaders of his unit to attend the banquet, and even said that he would arrange a car to pick up the leaders.

It just so happened that when Zhou Dongming asked for leave yesterday, his boss was also on leave today. When his boss heard that Zhou Dongming could actually arrange a car to pick him up to attend the banquet, he really agreed after thinking about it.

As for Zhou Fanyi, he was not yet qualified to ask Jiang Cheng to pick him up. He had obediently brought his wife and children to help in the morning. They were not guests today.

So after breakfast, Liu Xiaofang boiled water at home and prepared candies and some food for the guests, while Zhou Dongming took his son-in-law to pick them up.

"Let's go, Jiang Cheng, it's time for us to leave." After having breakfast and taking a short rest, Zhou Dongming said to Jiang Cheng.

"Okay, let's move this chair down, okay?" Jiang Cheng asked following the instructions.

"Well, Jiang Cheng, don't do it. Xingcai, quickly move the chair to the back of Jiang Cheng's car."

When Zhou Dongming saw Jiang Cheng was about to move the chair, he immediately stopped him and said to Zhou Xingcai.

Because they were going to pick up Zhou Lingying's grandparents, they were old and it was difficult for them to sit on the rear compartment when picking up people. Jiang Cheng's cab only had one passenger seat, so it would depend on how they wanted to sit. If they could sit together, they could sit in the front, but if they couldn't sit together, they could sit on the chairs in the rear compartment.

~~
Nanjing, Dongting Road, Xie Xiuyun’s home.

Xie Xiuyun is getting married today. She didn’t sleep very well last night, but she is still in good spirits.

Last night, Xie Xiuyun thought about some embarrassing things. If they were not married, she would not allow Zhou Xingcai to have any excessive behavior. But today she was getting married, so she thought about some things after marriage last night.

But it was just wishful thinking. People who had never experienced or seen it didn't know how to think about it. All Xie Xiuyun could think about was what her boyfriend Zhou Xingcai's pee place looked like, and how it was different from those of kids wearing open-crotch pants.

Children, regardless of gender, have all seen it. But when they grow up and have hair, young, unmarried people of this era, without the education of movies and TV shows, really don’t know what it looks like.

But that was what Xie Xiuyun was thinking about last night. Now she was wearing a nice coat and dressing up. According to custom, she could not leave the room today. She could only leave the room when Zhou Xingcai came to pick her up. But that was an old custom. Now that the groom's bride-picking party had arrived, she was not allowed to leave the room. It was allowed before they came.

So often, on the day a woman gets married, a chamber pot is placed in her room. If she needs to pee urgently, she will pee in the room. When children play in the bride's room, they often see the chamber pot filled with urine.

Why is there urine? Because many people want to pee when they are nervous. When women are getting married and are about to be picked up, many people want to pee.

At around 8 or 9 o'clock, Xie Xiuyun's relatives who were going to the banquet came over. Some had asked for leave, and some were unemployed. Some relatives did not come because they had not asked for leave and were coming after get off work. So there would always be one person left here to take the relatives over at noon.

"Xiuyun, your boyfriend doesn't even have a bicycle at home. How is he going to pick you up when you get married today?"

"How can you talk like that? There's no bicycle at home. Do all the relatives have bicycles? We must borrow one to pick up the bride. We can't just carry her on our backs like the rural people do."

In the living room, it was Xie Xiuyun's aunt who spoke first, and her uncle who answered. On the surface, it seemed like concern, but in fact it was a bit of a mockery of Xie Xiuyun's choice of a good partner.

At this time, Xie Xiuyun was not in the room, but came out to entertain relatives. She did not wear her coat because she was afraid of getting it dirty.

The clothes Xie Xiuyun was wearing were made by herself using fabric she bought more than a year ago. There were no patches on them, but some parts had turned white due to washing.

Women are like this, whether they are married or not, the family's cloth coupons are used to buy clothes for men first. This is also why many city girls will ask the man's family to buy a new set of clothes for the bride when they get married.

If Xie Xiuyun had put on her coat, her uncle and aunt might not have spoken to her like that. It was normal for the family to have a few snobbish relatives.

They worry that you will marry badly, and they also worry that you will marry too well. Even if they are your uncles or aunts, there is nothing they can do if they encounter such a situation.

Xie Xiuyun's parents only told their relatives yesterday about the change of the wedding date, and did not say that a car would come to pick up the bride today.

Originally, Xie Xiuyun's parents wanted to give their relatives a surprise, but they didn't expect to be slapped in the face when they delivered it to their doorstep.

Xie Xiuyun's father had many brothers and sisters in his generation. If we don't count those who died young, there would be seven. Now, including her father, there are five brothers and sisters.

Even if they are born from the same mother, no two of them have the same personality. Every relative has some characteristics.

But when Xie Xiuyun's uncle and aunt said this when she was getting married today, the other elders actually agreed with them.

This was in the city, in 1972, not in the 1950s, when the country was first liberated. At that time, people had just started working, and there were not as many bicycles as there are now. It was normal not to have a bicycle.

But nowadays, if you don’t have a bicycle and have to borrow one for your wedding, it would be a bit embarrassing.

This does not mean that Xie Xiuyun's partner must have a bicycle, but it does not matter if his parents have one. Of course, it does not mean that every household in Nanjing has a bicycle, but with Xie Xiuyun's looks and a decent family, it is not difficult to find someone with a bicycle.

　I was a bit busy during the day and didn't write much, sorry, that's all I can say. This is almost over, and a new main line will appear. I hope everyone will accept it by then.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)