Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family - Chapter 275
Chapter 275: Chapter 273: Everyone Celebrates the Joyful Occasion of Naj’s Wedding, and the Guests Come to the Door
As the firecrackers sounded, many fellow villagers flocked over.
Today is the Winter Solstice, everyone is staying at home, and as they gathered around, the Di Family’s courtyard was packed.
Since the Di Family’s courtyard had its fence repaired and planted with thorny hedges, outsiders could not see the situation inside. Liu Sisi and her husband left early and returned late every day, so there was little time for visiting.
It was not until now that everyone discovered the significant changes at the Di Family’s home.
As soon as they stepped through the main entrance, the two fierce hunting dogs Ah-Huang and Ah-Hua in the doghouses on both sides whimpered softly. Looking toward the corner of the wall on the left was a spacious stable where a jujube red horse was continually swinging its tail. Next to the stable was a chicken coop with dozens of chickens fluttering inside, seemingly frightened by the large crowd, constantly sticking their heads out. Further on was a rabbit cage with a handful of grey hares inside, but it was too dark for outsiders to see how many rabbits were there.
Further on was the firewood room, and beyond that was a path. Adjacent to the firewood room was Di Family’s kitchen, and a row of four rooms ran alongside it. There were two big trees next to the room, and on that side, a large patch of green vegetables was thriving!
In the middle of where everyone stood was a courtyard, which was exceptionally neat.
A curious person peeked at the path and immediately shouted with surprise, “Hey! There’s a well here!”
The well water slowly spread through the hole at the bottom of the well and flowed out of a not-so-large pond. The water was clear and misty with white fog. The well water was warm in winter and cool in summer, never freezing throughout the year.
Upon seeing this well water, everyone couldn’t help but scoop up a handful to feel the temperature.
“This water temperature is good! No need to heat the water – it’s already warm. No wonder we haven’t seen Sisi at the river washing clothes lately. If my family had such a well, we wouldn’t know how much firewood we would save!”
“Is there a shortage of firewood in these mountains? Isn’t it just your laziness! Look at the firewood in their house; it’s piled up!”
“Haha! That’s right! If your home had this much firewood, would you still worry about the lack of firewood to burn?” Everyone laughed heartily.
That woman sneered, “You know so much! Let’s go! Let’s have some wedding candies today! We’re going to eat to our heart’s content!”
With that, everyone crowded noisily into the house.
In the center of the hall, in accordance with tradition, the engagement gifts from the Zhang Family were placed together. Heavy, less valuable items were placed at the bottom, and the delicate, valuable items such as jewelry and colored incense candles were placed on top, while the ceremonial cake was opened and distributed to everyone to celebrate!
Liu Sisi had prepared many things early, such as cakes, desserts, snacks, wedding pastries, osmanthus cakes, crisp filling candies, white gourd candies, maltose, sweet potato chips, peas, broad beans, peas, peanuts… Every kind of snack was available, and Zhang Yun, Di Xuan, and Di Cheng took turns distributing them.
Liu Sisi led the women to the bedroom area, which had been tidied up early to make as much space as possible, but it was still packed with people.
Today’s protagonist, Di Ying, was dressed beautifully in a red peony-patterned brocade long coat with a floor-length skirt adorned with embroidered birds. Her bangs and double buns on her head made her look adorable no matter how you looked at her.
Seeing all these people staring at her, she shrank shyly into Liu Sisi’s arms, unwilling to raise her head.
“Ayo! Is YingEr shy? This is a great celebration!”
“The hairpin on YingEr’s head is so beautiful! What is it made of? Agate? Or coral? I remember seeing one on Young Madam Shen’s head initially, but it only had six petals. It’s nowhere like the two on YingEr’s head. How much silver would this be worth? Tsk, Tsk!”
This scared YingEr into hurriedly tucking her little feet into Liu Sisi’s arms.
“It’s not that much, you’ve got the wrong idea.”
Liu Sisi hurriedly patted YingEr’s back lightly: “Don’t be afraid! Everyone is just joking around. Actually, these things didn’t cost that much silver.”
The two hairpins and pearls worn by YingEr were sent over by Nan Tianzong later via Di Cheng.
Nan Tianzong said that one of the two shops he and Liu Sisi had partnered to open was a Silver Pavilion.
It really scared Liu Sisi a lot!
As for the two hairpins, according to Nan Tianzong, they were naturally priced at cost and deducted directly from Liu Sisi’s future share of the income!
The cost of these two hairpins and two pearls was only 70 taels of silver, which was within her means. Liu Sisi thought of YingEr’s only engagement party in her lifetime, so she discussed with Di Ye Lei and decided to keep them.
“It really didn’t cost much silver? To me, it doesn’t seem so.” the married woman still looked perplexed.
Liu Sisi didn’t explain further, just smiled.
Granny Xu, who was standing by, finally warmed up and looked deeply into Liu Sisi’s eyes as she examined the ornaments in YingEr’s hair, but said nothing.
She reached out, took YingEr’s hand, and touched it carefully, smiling kindly: “This child has fallen into a life of good fortune! Her appearance and bone structure indicate a future full of good days.”
Granny Xu was not like other matchmakers who boasted extravagantly, but her every move was marked by a touch of elegance that made people respect her from the bottom of their hearts.
The onlookers, after listening, naturally had a carry basket full of praises overflowing.
Words like a hundred years of happiness, wealth and auspiciousness, and flying wing-to-wing filled the air, delighting Liu Sisi to no end.
Not long after, Madam Gan Senior surprisingly brought Gan Miaoruo to their door! This immediately attracted everyone’s attention! After all, everyone knew Liu Sisi was Gan Miaoruo’s female tutor, and when they saw Gan Miaoruo holding the teacher-student ritual, it caused another round of excitement.
Liu Sisi and Di Ye Lei hurriedly welcomed Madam Gan Senior and Gan Miaoruo into the hall, and naturally, there was another round of greetings and congratulations, which need not be detailed.
As Liu Sisi and others were still having fun, word came that Heir Luo and Prefecture Princess Luo had arrived!
With Heir Luo and Prefecture Princess Luo at his side, Nan Tianzong also looked happy and courteous, bowing his hands and offering congratulations to everyone.
Seeing the pale face of Nan Tianzong, Di Ye Lei knew it was not a good day, but in consideration of today being a good day, he naturally bowed his hands repeatedly in return.
Apart from these several people, County Magistrate Su had also come.
Di Ye Lei and Liu Sisi quickly invited the distinguished guests to the hall and seated them. Everyone settled down, greeted each other, and discussed various topics.
