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墨書 Inktalez
On the evening of December 22, the day before the "Kitchen God Festival," all primary and secondary schools in Annan County were closed for the holiday.
Since the autumn harvest, Hu Qihua and his Second Uncle, Hu Zhenhua, had been working tirelessly, delivering goods to the Brick Factory in Township. With the Tractor pulling heavy loads quickly, the two brothers were efficient in loading and unloading. The Brick Factory later settled with them at five yuan per truckload, and after three months, they had earned nearly three thousand yuan. Adding to this was the income from plowing fields in the autumn; without deducting expenses like diesel and labor, they estimated that the Tractor had almost paid for itself.
Money gave people confidence and strength. After living cautiously for half their lives, the two brothers now felt bold enough to stand tall on the street and speak loudly.
That night, Woodzi and his wife unexpectedly visited Hu Ruoyun's home. Over the past year, this couple had come to fully understand their situation. The Hu Family was no longer a production team that they could manipulate at will. They had lost their previous arrogance in front of the Hu brothers, especially Woodzi's wife, who no longer spoke condescendingly or made veiled insults in front of these two families.
Their sudden visit was a plea for help, and they came with a humble attitude. Woodzi's eldest son, Wu Mingyang, had gotten engaged to a girl from Caogu Village over a year ago, and they were now discussing marriage before the Spring Festival.
As the saying goes, customs can vary greatly even within ten miles. Who knew that with society developing so rapidly, the marriage customs between Hu Family Village and Caogu Village would differ significantly? In Hu Family Village, it was customary for the groom to gather a group of young men of similar age, each riding a new bicycle while carrying a "bride-fetching woman" (usually the groom's sister-in-law or aunt) to the bride's home. After exchanging greetings, they would return with the bride and female relatives to hold the ceremony.
The bride's dowry and male relatives accompanying her would be transported back by ox carts sent by the groom's side. However, in recent years, Caogu Village had developed economically, and weddings were now conducted using large trucks.
The bride and her accompanying sister-in-law or aunt would squeeze into the passenger seat while the truck bed was filled with dowries. Additionally, there would need to be a minibus specifically for transporting male relatives accompanying the bride. This meant at least two vehicles were required.
In such cases where customs differed between families, it was usually expected to follow the bride's standards. Thus, Woodzi spent a significant amount of money hiring a large truck from a county freight company and rented a minibus from a local passenger transport company.
However, when they approached the bride’s family about this arrangement, they were told that there was too much dowry to fit in one large truck. Woodzi and his wife felt both happy and troubled—happy because it meant a generous dowry but troubled because renting another large truck would be costly! According to Caogu Village’s customs, using an ox cart for transporting dowries was seen as lacking grandeur and wouldn’t keep pace with vehicles on the road.
After much deliberation, they decided to settle for using a Tractor instead. While several Tractors had been added to the village over time, only Hu Qihua’s family owned one with a large trailer.
Thus, this couple came seeking help. Remembering past grievances with these two individuals made Hu Qihua and Hu Zhenhua feel uneasy; however, both brothers were kind-hearted men. Given that their children got along well with each other during such times of need, it was only right to lend assistance rather than refuse them outright.
Woodzi expressed his gratitude profusely.
On December 24th, a large truck and a minibus were decorated with bright red flowers as they set off with Hu Zhenhua driving his Tractor. They carried Wu Mingyang’s sister-in-law and aunt along with four close uncles and Wu Mingyang’s group of friends in high spirits.
Upon arriving at the bride's family home, many details had been meticulously discussed and agreed upon by both families. After the customary ceremonies were completed, the young men began loading the dowry into the car. With the support of the groom's sister-in-law and aunt, the bride climbed into the "driver's cabin" of the Great Liberation vehicle.
Once everything was settled, a loud burst of firecrackers filled the air, signaling the start of the wedding procession. As the loudspeaker played a line from the movie "Carrying the Flower Palanquin," the wedding party began to turn back.
However, when they reached the groom's family home and attempted to help the bride's family out of the car, trouble arose.
In rural areas at that time, weddings and funerals were significant events, and every detail mattered. The groom's side had to be particularly cautious, treating every guest from the bride's family as an esteemed visitor. It was not uncommon for disputes to arise if the groom's side overlooked something or if an accompanying guest failed to communicate properly.
But this time, it was indeed a peculiar situation caused by a woman from the the Wu Family.
Originally, it had been agreed that the bride's eight-year-old brother would carry a basin for washing faces—a part of their wedding ceremony where a large "flower cake" is placed in a brand-new enamel basin. The bride’s brother or nephew would carry it, and if the basin did not leave the car, the ceremony could not proceed. The groom’s side typically gave a red envelope to the child carrying the basin, known as "basin money."
If there had been any dissatisfaction from the bride's side during previous interactions, they might suddenly increase this amount—perhaps from 100 yuan to 200 or more—or demand additional gifts from the groom.
For Wu Mingyang’s wedding, both families had previously agreed on a sum: 100 yuan for "basin money." However, for reasons unknown, Woodzi’s wife decided on her own to exchange a one-hundred-yuan bill featuring "Four Great Leaders" for a fifty-yuan note and handed it to the bride’s brother.
The boy immediately shouted, “Auntie, she only gave me fifty!”
The bride’s aunt, who had been pacifying everyone with sweet words on behalf of her family, rushed over upon hearing her nephew’s outcry. When she saw that he was indeed holding only a fifty-yuan bill, her face fell immediately. “What’s going on here? Does she look down on our girl or our maternal family?”
Wu Mingyang’s second aunt was also taken aback; it seemed that while no one from the bride's side had caused trouble, their own relatives had ignited a fire!
Before she could fully comprehend what was happening, the bride’s aunt snatched the money from her nephew’s hand and threw it onto the ground. “You sit tight in that car! Hold onto that basin! If you don’t get five hundred yuan, don’t you dare let go of it or get out!”
She then returned to ensure her niece was seated properly in the driver’s cabin and slammed the door shut behind her, locking everyone outside.
The men escorting the bride were also displeased and blocked those from the groom's side who were trying to unload more dowry.
What a mess!
Without needing further provocation from the bride's side, relatives from the groom's family began criticizing Woodzi’s wife vehemently. The sister-in-law responsible for handling wedding arrangements was nearly in tears. “Sister-in-law, what were you thinking? I’ve said so many good things about them! We finally got them here; what are you trying to do? Are you unhappy seeing Mingyang’s wedding go so smoothly?”
Onlookers from nearby homes pointed and whispered among themselves.
Aunt Kui, being older and more senior in rank, spoke directly: “You can’t say that our maternal family isn’t being reasonable… Just prepare five hundred yuan for them!”
If it weren’t for all these people watching, Woodzi would have liked to kick his wife and slap her twice.
Woodzi felt bitter inside.
To build a house for their eldest child, they had already spent most of their savings. They had also given five thousand yuan as dowry before marriage—essentially emptying their pockets—and now they still faced expenses for hosting a banquet… Not to mention future costs for building a house for their second child and organizing another wedding… Just thinking about it made him anxious. In a moment of desperation to save fifty yuan, he foolishly exchanged what was supposed to be one hundred yuan for fifty without realizing he was making things worse!
This is the case of missing out on a big watermelon while missing a sesame seed. Amidst the accusations from everyone, she regretted it so much that she wanted to slap herself twice.
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