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墨書 Inktalez
On the evening of the twenty-second day of Lunar December, Woodzi and his wife suddenly arrived at Hu Ruoyun's home.
Over the past year, this couple had come to fully understand their situation. The Hu Family was no longer the same family that they could easily manipulate; they had lost the arrogance and condescension they once displayed in front of the Hu brothers. Especially Woodzi's wife, who no longer spoke in a sarcastic manner that belittled the two families.
This unexpected visit was a plea for help, and they came with a humble attitude. Their eldest son, Wu Mingyang, had gotten engaged to a girl from Caogu Village over a year ago, and they were now discussing plans to marry before the Spring Festival.
As the saying goes, customs can vary greatly even within a short distance. With the rapid development of society, the marriage customs between Hu Family Village and Caogu Village had changed significantly despite being only eight miles apart.
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 and carrying a "marriage escort" (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.
As for the bride's dowry and male relatives accompanying her, they would typically be transported back by ox carts provided by the groom's side. However, in Caogu Village, where the economy had been thriving in recent years, weddings had begun to utilize large trucks instead.
The bride and her escort would squeeze into the passenger seat while the dowry filled the truck bed. Additionally, there would need to be a minibus specifically for transporting male relatives attending the wedding. This required at least two vehicles.
In such cases, if there were discrepancies in customs between both sides, it was generally expected to adhere to the bride's standards. Consequently, Woodzi spent a significant amount of money hiring a large truck from the county freight company and renting a minibus from the county passenger transport company.
To their surprise, the bride's family claimed that there was too much dowry for just one large truck to accommodate. Woodzi and his wife were both pleased and troubled—pleased because it meant a substantial dowry but troubled because renting another large truck would be quite expensive! According to Caogu Village customs, using animal-drawn carts for transporting dowries was considered less prestigious and could not keep up with vehicles on the road.
After much deliberation, they decided to settle for using a tractor instead. Although 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. Despite their past grievances with Woodzi and his wife, Hu Qihua and Hu Zhenhua were kind-hearted individuals. Given that their children were decent people as well, they felt compelled to lend a hand during this time of need rather than refuse outright.
Woodzi expressed an abundance of gratitude.
On the twenty-fourth day of Lunar December, a large truck and a minibus set off adorned with bright red flowers. Accompanying them was Hu Zhenhua driving his tractor, carrying one of Wu Mingyang's sisters-in-law and an aunt along with four close uncles and Wu Mingyang’s group of friends—an impressive procession heading out in high spirits.
Upon arriving at the bride's family home, many details had been thoroughly discussed and agreed upon by both families. After the customary rites were completed at the bride's house, 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 "Liberation" vehicle.
Once everything was settled, a long string of firecrackers crackled loudly, signaling the start of the wedding procession as a voice from the car's loudspeaker announced, "The sedan chair is ready!" The wedding party began to turn back towards the groom's home.
However, trouble arose when it was time for the bride's family to disembark at the groom's house. 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 wasn't uncommon for disputes to arise if the groom's side overlooked something or if their accompanying guests failed to communicate properly.
This time, however, it was genuinely the fault of the Woodzi Woman. The families had previously agreed that the bride's eight-year-old brother would carry a "washing basin"—a traditional part of the wedding ceremony where a new enamel basin filled with a large "flower cake" would be carried by either the bride's brother or nephew. If this 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 "washing basin money."
The agreed amount was 100 yuan. But for some reason, the Woodzi Woman decided to change a 100-yuan bill featuring "Four Great Leaders" into a 50-yuan note and handed it to the bride's brother! Upon seeing this, he shouted, "Aunt, she only gave me fifty!"
The bride’s aunt, who had been pacifying everyone with sweet words on behalf of her niece, rushed over upon hearing her nephew’s outcry. When she saw that he indeed held only a 50-yuan bill, her expression darkened immediately. "What does she mean? Does she look down on our girl or our maternal family?"
Wu Mingyang’s second aunt was also taken aback; it seemed their own side had ignited this conflict without any provocation from the bride’s family! Before she could comprehend what was happening, the bride’s aunt snatched the money from her nephew's hand and threw it on the ground. "You sit tight in that car! Hold onto your basin tightly; if you don't get five hundred yuan, don't let go! And don't get out!"
She then hurried back 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 from unloading any more dowry. It was chaos!
Without needing further provocation from the bride’s family, Wu Mingyang’s relatives surrounded the Woodzi Woman and criticized her fiercely. The brother-in-law responsible for handling wedding arrangements was nearly in tears. "Sister-in-law, what were you thinking? I’ve said so many auspicious words for them! After all this effort to bring them here, what are you trying to do? Are you unhappy seeing Mingyang’s wedding go smoothly?"
Onlookers from nearby homes pointed and whispered among themselves. Aunt Kui, being older and more senior in rank, spoke bluntly: "You can't say that their maternal family is unreasonable… Just prepare five hundred yuan honestly!"
If it weren't for all those people watching, Woodzi would have wanted to kick his wife and slap her twice.
The Woodzi Woman felt troubled herself. Most of their savings had already been spent building a house for their eldest child. They had also given 5,000 yuan as a dowry gift before marriage, leaving them nearly broke. Now they still had to cover expenses for hosting a banquet… With plans for building a house for their second child and organizing another wedding ahead of them… Just thinking about it made things difficult; in a moment of madness, she thought saving fifty yuan would help and foolishly exchanged the promised 100 yuan for 50—only to make matters 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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