Chapter 106: The Night of the New Marriage
Chapter 106: The Night of the New Marriage
When she saw that Jiang Dage’s wife was stunned, Bu Dafang still felt it wasn’t enough and continued with a smile, "Dage, my uncle’s family has recently turned the mountain slope they were allocated into an orchard. From what Uncle said, they might need to hire someone to help manage the orchard next year, and they’ll be paying a decent wage. My Ah Hu doesn’t have much else to do besides working the fields, so I thought he could help my uncle manage the orchard."
"Big Sister, if Ah Hu isn’t around in the future, you’ll have to help out with things, okay?"
Jiang Dage’s wife suppressed her shock and asked, "Dafang, are you serious about this?"
Bu Dafang nodded, "Of course, why would I joke about something like this?"
Jiang Dage’s wife thought about it and then turned to go inside, returning with a few strips of pickled radish, a common side dish in Baise. She said, "I brought these back from my parents’ house recently. Take a few for your porridge."
Bu Dafang was taken aback. Her sister-in-law was known for being as tight-fisted as a miser. In the three years since she married into the Jiang family, she had never managed to get even a single soybean from her, except for the occasional social obligations.
But today, her sister-in-law had unexpectedly given her a few strips of pickled radish, completely changing Bu Dafang’s perception of her.
Bu Dafang tried to decline, "Big Sister, you keep these for yourself. We have pickled vegetables at home."
Jiang Dage’s wife smiled, "Having pickled vegetables is no reason not to try something different. It’s not like it’s anything valuable. Your dish doesn’t compare to this."
Seeing her sincerity, Bu Dafang accepted the pickled radish, "Big Sister, you’re too kind. There’s no need to compare. I’ll take it home for my porridge. It’s been a while since I had pickled radish, and I’ve been craving it!"
They exchanged a few more pleasantries before Bu Dafang took the pickled radish and returned to her room.
Living under the same roof, Jiang Dahu had overheard the entire conversation. When his wife came in, he lowered his voice and asked, "Dafang, was everything you told Dage true?"
Bu Dafang found a clean, dry bowl and placed the pickled radish inside, "Of course, I’ve already told you about my uncle’s situation, haven’t I?"
"Bu Dafang, that’s not what I’m asking about."
"Are you asking about the job at the orchard?"
Jiang Dahu nodded, "Yes, I want to know if that’s true. Is Uncle really going to hire someone to manage the orchard?"
Bu Dafang replied, "Absolutely. Uncle told me they’ll be planting lychee trees in early spring. After planting the seedlings, they’ll need someone to manage the orchard. The lychee variety my uncle is planting is called Guiwei, which isn’t like those wild lychee trees that can grow on their own. It needs watering, fertilizing, pruning, and other tasks. I don’t know all the details, but Uncle said there’s a lot of work to be done, and they’ll need two people to help."
Jiang Dahu was intrigued, "Dafang, did you mention to Uncle that I could help out at the orchard?"
In this era, there were few opportunities to earn money in the countryside. Although he didn’t know how much he would earn at Uncle’s orchard, any chance to make money was better than staying home and farming, where he earned nothing.
"Not yet. We’ll bring it up when we visit Uncle on the second day of the New Year. Uncle has always been kind to me, so it shouldn’t be a problem."
Seeing the joy on her husband’s face, Bu Dafang quickly warned him, "Jiang Dahu, let me make this clear. When you go to help Uncle next year, you must work hard and never be lazy. If you embarrass me, you won’t get any more opportunities, no matter what good things come from Uncle’s orchard!"
Jiang Dahu quickly assured her, "Dafang, I’m not a lazy person. I know what I need to do."
Bu Dafang finally chuckled, "Well, as long as you understand. I’ll go cook for you now. You wouldn’t believe it, but today’s feast at Uncle’s place really dazzled everyone… the spicy crabs… the steamed mudworms…"
At today’s banquet, all the guests were thoroughly impressed. Bu Dafang hadn’t been able to share much with her sister-in-law earlier, but now, in front of her husband, she could go into more detail.
...
Deng Shirong’s two brothers-in-law, each taking three tables of leftover dishes back home, decided to set aside about a third of the food for their wives to bring to their own families. These were all top-notch dishes, and Deng Yuntao’s mother-in-law and second mother-in-law were naturally overjoyed. Despite the late hour, they hurriedly carried several packages of food back to their respective homes.
Meanwhile.
As the relatives and friends returned home, word of today’s banquet began to spread! In this era, wedding feasts were generally evaluated in three aspects:
1. How much dowry did the bride bring? How much money did she have in her dowry box?
2. How many tables were set up for the feast? Who were the important guests?
3. How many exquisite dishes were served? Were the portions generous? How good did they taste?
Today’s feast at the Deng family’s wedding was a topic of lively discussion in all three areas.
Firstly, the bride’s dowry. Since it was known that Zhang Xiuping had married well, her relatives were exceptionally generous, providing her with a large amount of dowry. Even though the valuable items were few, the sheer quantity was impressive.
The 380 yuan in the dowry box also left the guests in awe. Thanks to Deng Shirong’s excellent discretion, hardly anyone knew that the money was actually from him, not the bride’s parents.
The feast today had a total of fifteen tables, which also caused quite a stir when the news spread.
However, what truly left everyone speechless were the dishes served at the feast. Not only were there many varieties with generous portions, but the taste was indescribable. After the guests spread the word, the Deng family’s feast became the gold standard for rural banquets.
From that day on, whenever people in the surrounding villages mentioned a feast, the Deng family’s banquet was the benchmark they couldn’t avoid.
...
The wedding night revelry was an inevitable part of the marriage ceremony.
In later times, due to some people’s lack of restraint, what was supposed to be a fun tradition turned into a nightmare for the newlyweds, often pushing them to their limits. This led to the once-celebrated custom of wedding night revelry becoming a despised practice.
Worse still, some would take advantage of the situation to harass the bride or the bridesmaids, and there were even cases where the revelry resulted in injury or worse.
In this era, the wedding night revelry still existed, but it was usually the villagers who participated, and they generally knew their limits, avoiding any extreme behavior.
Especially with Deng Yuntao, despite his youth, most of his contemporaries were at least a generation younger, if not two. Who would dare to go overboard?
Therefore, by evening, the young men from the village only came over for a brief play, and seeing it was getting late, they all left tactfully, leaving the newlyweds, Deng Yuntao and Zhang Xiuping, to their precious time together.
(End of Chapter)
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