Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 506 - 478: Wedding Ceremony, Getting Married! (1)
Sister-in-law Chai patted Chai Tianlang’s head, "You’re the big brother, go and cheer up your younger siblings."
"Okay, Mom." Chai Tianlang held onto each of them, "Jingjing, Guoguo, let’s go home. My mom said, in two days, the aunts will come back."
Li Jing wiped his tears with his sleeve, "Really?"
About the aunts getting married and returning, Chai Eying, the Princess Consort, and Sister-in-law Chai had already told Li Jing about it.
But there were too many people at home today, with joyous music playing and the villagers making a commotion, Li Jing’s eyes couldn’t take it all in. Being so young, how could he remember what the adults said?
Now, with the noise dying down and many of the guests having left, only a few people stood chatting on the village path about the Li family’s joyous occasion of marrying off their daughters. Li Jing calmed down and listened to what was being said next to him about the aunts.
"Yes, indeed, my aunt came back home the day after she got married." Chai Tianlang pointed at Chai Eying, "If you don’t believe me, ask my aunt."
Li Jing looked up at Chai Eying, tearfully asking, "Really, Aunt Chai?"
"The aunts are just living in a different place, why wouldn’t they come back? Last time, the little aunt went to the county town for a long time and didn’t she come back?" Chai Eying said with a smile.
Li Jing thought about it, yes, the little aunt went to visit Li Lixing’s mother, she was gone for a long, long time, but she still came home afterward.
"Oh, then I’ll wait for them to come home. They said they would bring me something fun." Li Jing breathed a sigh of relief and was no longer sad.
"Let’s go inside, it’s getting late, and it’s windy outside." Sister-in-law Chai patted the children’s little heads.
Guoguo took one last look in the direction where the Great Princess and Second Princess left before stepping into the house ahead.
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The daughters of the Li family were married off, and all the sons of the Li family went to escort the brides.
The responsibility of managing the Li family’s affairs fell onto Sister-in-law Chai and the Eldest Young Master Chai.
Originally, this task was managed by the eldest daughter-in-law Chai Eying, such as arranging dinner for the helpers, directing them to clean up the firecracker scraps after the welcoming ceremony, and comforting the in-laws. But Chai Eying was pregnant, with just over two months until delivery; it’s a risky period. The Eldest Young Master and his wife were fond of their sister and didn’t want her to handle these miscellaneous tasks.
The couple sent the three children and Chai Eying back to the South Courtyard House. Sister-in-law Chai asked the maid Chuntao to help watch the kids and care for the sister-in-law. One went to the kitchen to arrange dinner, and the other went into the North Courtyard Main House to chat with Prince Luling and his wife.
The kitchen was managed by Nanny Jiang. Besides Madam Chen and her daughter, the rest were people from the village or Qingshui River Village, and they all recognized the Eldest Young Master Chai.
Eldest Young Master Chai made arrangements, and everyone began busily working in an orderly manner.
Washing vegetables, rice, dishes, sweeping the floor, and fetching firewood, all in good order.
After arranging the kitchen affairs, Eldest Young Master Chai went to find Uncle Gui.
Helping with miscellaneous tasks and cleaning were Uncle Gui, Liu Laoda, Chen the Third, and a few government officials brought by Li Lixing, along with Qin Hu.
For the cleaning task, Eldest Young Master Chai let Qin Hu lead the officials to complete it.
Returning the borrowed tables and chairs from the villagers was arranged by Uncle Gui, along with the strong Chen the Third and Liu Laoda.
After the feast, the borrowed tables and chairs needed to be returned.
At the same time as returning them, Eldest Young Master Chai gave a pound of jerky and half a pound of candy to each family that lent their tables and chairs.
These were instructions left by Li Xingmao for Eldest Young Master Chai before he left. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
The jerky was all cut, and the candy was packed.
All stacked in Uncle Gui’s house.
It was just a matter of distributing them when sending the tables and chairs back.
Even though Li Xingmao wasn’t home, with Eldest Young Master Chai arranging things, the house didn’t appear chaotic at all.
Sister-in-law Chai entered the North Courtyard Main House, talking about the things Eldest Young Master Chai arranged in the front courtyard.
Prince Luling and his wife, having sent off their daughters, were sitting silently, staring in the direction of the front courtyard. Seeing Sister-in-law Chai approach with a smiling face, they accompanied her smile and thanked her, repeatedly saying it was hard work for them.
Sister-in-law Chai smiled and said, "It’s not a matter of effort; it’s no trouble at all." Continuing, she said, "For relatives, helping out a bit is nothing."
As a woman in business, Sister-in-law Chai was articulate. She chatted about this and that, all sorts of interesting stories, distracting Prince Luling and his wife from thinking about their daughters.
Without noticing, it was already time for dinner.
Even though the daughters were married, and the sons went to escort them, the household suddenly losing six people felt quite empty. But with Eldest Young Master Chai and Sister-in-law Chai there, along with Liu Laoda and his wife, and some helpers, the meal didn’t seem too lonely.
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Li Yuzhu sat in the wedding sedan brought by Mu Yuanxiu, surrounded by people amidst the sounds of joyful music, and arrived in front of Mu Yuanxiu’s wooden house.
Someone set off a string of firecrackers, crackling noisily. The village children who came to watch laughed merrily.
Li Xing’an carried a basket of wedding candies, handing out sweets to everyone he saw.
At the yard gate of the fence, hung a pair of bright red lanterns bearing the double happiness character.
A red carpet was laid all the way from the yard gate to the house’s main entrance.
The wooden house’s walls had recently been refreshed with a coat of varnish, and the wooden roof had also been replaced.
The old fence of the yard was entirely removed, replaced with new bamboo, and the path extending from outside the yard to the foot of the mountain was paved with stones.
Inside the house, everything was brand new.
All tables and chairs were new, and so were the bed and cabinets in the bedroom.
The room was decorated with festive red silk, and the bed was adorned with celebratory quilts and pillows.
Two talkative wedding maids sang joyful songs as Mu Yuanxiu lifted the sedan chair curtain and helped Li Yuzhu out.
Mu Yuanxiu had no elders, so he invited the village chief couple to preside over the wedding.
The village chief and Mrs. Li Zheng, dressed in new clothes, stood smiling at the entrance of the main house to welcome them. They also carried a basket, handing out candies and peanuts to everyone they met.
Mu Yuanxiu held Li Yuzhu’s hand as they stepped over the fire basin and entered the main house.
Li Xing’an and Li Lixing also followed them in.
The children and villagers, eager for a lively scene, all crowded into the house with laughter.
Everyone was familiar with each other, and they chatted and laughed as they congratulated the newlyweds.
First, they bowed to the heavens and earth, then to the parents.
There were no parents, only Grandpa Mu’s incense table.
The two newlyweds bowed to the incense table.
The third bow was between the husband and wife, and amidst the children’s playful teasing, the couple knocked their heads together in a bow.
Traditionally, next would be the bridal chamber ceremony.
But with Li Xing’an present, he changed the rules.
He had Mu Yuanxiu use a balance beam to lift Li Yuzhu’s veil right then and there.
The newlyweds sat at the head of the main house, receiving everyone’s congratulations.
Mu Yuanxiu brought out a basket filled with celebratory coins, which Mrs. Li Zheng received, handing out a handful each.
A handful was just over ten coins; the money wasn’t much, but it was for celebratory purposes, and everyone accepted it with smiles.
After the three bows, since they weren’t going into the bridal chamber, the wedding maids had no more role to play.
It was almost evening, and these two wedding maids from the village still had to walk back.
Mu Yuanxiu gave them crimson cloth pouches, and the two left happily.
Upon leaving, the wedding maids immediately opened the pouches to check the amount of money inside.
There were several small strings of coins inside.
The wedding maids counted; nine strings, nine hundred coins, symbolizing eternal longevity.
They were very surprised, not expecting the orphan Mr. Mu, who lived on the mountain, to be so wealthy.
One wedding maid said, "He knows how to hunt, of course he’s wealthy."
The other said, "The Li family patriarch is rich; he wouldn’t marry his daughter to someone unsuitable. This shows that Mr. Mu is a hidden little rich man."
When other families hired them as wedding maids, they often only received two hundred coins and two pieces of inexpensive fabric at most.
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At Mu Yuanxiu’s home, under Mrs. Li Zheng’s arrangement, everyone had celebratory tea and received celebratory money, leaving when the sun was about to set.
With few family members, Mu Yuanxiu didn’t host a banquet. If they wanted to feast, they had to go to the Li family at the foot of the mountain.
The village chief and Mrs. Li Zheng offered their blessings to the couple and led the others down the mountain.
Li Xing’an and Li Lixing did not leave.
Li Yuzhu smiled and said, "Yuanxiu said there’s not much rice and vegetables at home, so Third Brother and Lixing, you should go home to eat instead."
Li Xing’an glared at Mu Yuanxiu, "On such a joyful day, didn’t you prepare more rice?"
Mu Yuanxiu was not embarrassed at all, "I was busy preparing the bridal room and forgot."
Li Xing’an wanted to say, why didn’t you forget getting married?
He turned to Li Lixing, "Go home and bring some food." Even if Mu Yuanxiu’s house had rice, on such a joyful day, he couldn’t let his sister cook. He didn’t mind Mu Yuanxiu cooking, but he couldn’t guarantee how good the food would be.
Li Lixing looked at the darkening forest outside, a bit timid, "I... I’m afraid to go down the mountain alone."
Mu Yuanxiu smiled, "Lixing, you can go down the mountain with a torch."
"No, what if a wild beast comes? I can’t run fast." Li Lixing shook his head vigorously, refusing to go.
"Third Brother, you accompany Li Lixing down the mountain." Li Yuzhu glanced at Mu Yuanxiu, smiling sweetly.
"If we both go, who will accompany you two?" Who will keep an eye on you? Li Xing’an did not agree to both he and Li Lixing leaving.
Li Yuzhu was young; Princess Consort Luling had instructed both Mu Yuanxiu and Li Yuzhu that although they were married, they couldn’t consummate the marriage until three years later.
Li Xing’an felt that his own sister was an innocent little rabbit, easily tricked by the cunning Mu Yuanxiu. Now that she was in his house and even in the same room, who knew what he might do?
Therefore, he insisted on supervising them personally, resolute in not letting them be alone together.
But it was infuriating that Li Lixing, this useless boy, couldn’t even go down the mountain to fetch a meal without needing company.
Li Xing’an looked disapprovingly at Li Lixing, "What wild beasts are there on this mountain? I come to the mountain every few days and never see any beasts. You coward!"
