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Chapter 117: The Zhang Family's Wedding Gifts
Chapter 117: The Zhang Family's Wedding Gifts
The next morning.
After the banquet, Deng Changmei, accompanied by her relatives and the matchmaker Deng Shirong, set off for her new home.
Saying goodbye to her parents, Deng Changmei shed tears, and her parents, Deng Yunjin and his wife, also had tears in their eyes.
From Yayecun to Changtiancun, it took nearly an hour and a half on foot. Deng Changmei, under the escort of the matchmaker and the wedding guests, stopped at the fork in the road between Changtiancun and Darenshucun.
The groom's family had sent a "scout" to monitor the bride's progress. Seeing that the bride's party had stopped, the scout rushed back to inform the groom's family.
Soon, the groom, Zhang Kemei, set out with his wedding party. Within ten minutes, they spotted the bride and her entourage.
After exchanging greetings, Zhang Kemei handed Deng Changmei a red envelope he had prepared. Without any intention of making things difficult, Deng Changmei accepted the envelope and, under the escort of the wedding party, continued her journey, not even checking the amount inside.
The wedding ceremony followed a standard procedure, so there's no need to repeat the details.
After paying respects to the ancestors, the Zhang family's relatives and friends gathered around, smiling and urging the bride to open her dowry box to see what treasures and how much money her parents had given her.
Deng Changmei was quite confident and readily opened the box, showing off its contents to the Zhang family's relatives and friends.
"Oh my, there's so much cotton fabric!"
"Wow, the dowry is really generous!"
"Great, there's 280 yuan in the dowry box. It seems the bride was quite beloved in her natal home!"
"..."
After seeing the contents of the dowry and the dowry money, the Zhang family's relatives and friends praised her, making Deng Changmei beam with joy.
The wedding ceremony concluded, and by noon, the Zhang family had started the banquet.
As the matchmaker, Deng Shirong sat at a table with the wedding guests. In those days, the wedding guests and the matchmaker were the most honored guests at the wedding banquet.
Unlike in modern times, where leaders and prominent figures are the most honored guests, the wedding guests and the matchmaker were the ones who received the most respect.
The Zhang family, spanning three generations of carpenters, had a relatively good economic status in the village. They set up eight tables, and the dishes were quite lavish. Besides the essential dishes like meatballs, egg rolls, and braised pork, there were also boiled chicken, stir-fried pork with celery and garlic, bamboo shoots, sweet lotus root, peanut candy, pickled garlic sprouts, stir-fried bamboo shoots, stir-fried yam, and a pork bone and lotus root soup.
While this couldn't compare to the lavish spread at Deng Yuntao and Zhang Xiuping's wedding, it was still a feast to be proud of in those times.
Thus, the Zhang family's relatives and friends praised the food while they ate.
By a little past one in the afternoon, most of the guests, except for a few who were still drinking, had finished their meals and started to bid farewell to the hosts.
Once most of the guests had left, the wedding guests also came to say goodbye to Deng Changmei.
"Ah Mei, it's getting late. We need to head back!"
"Ah Mei, make a good life here. We'll come to pick you up for the return visit in three days."
"Ah Mei, from today onward, you are a daughter-in-law. You can't act as freely as you did in your natal home. You need to learn how to get along with your in-laws and siblings-in-law..."
"Ah Mei..."
With each word of advice from her family, Deng Changmei's eyes slowly welled up with tears.
In those times, a bride would usually cry three times:
The first time was the night before the wedding, when talking about the next day's events with her family, emotions would often run high, leading to tears.
The second time was when she bid farewell to her parents before her wedding, a moment when most brides would shed tears.
The third time was when the wedding guests said their goodbyes.
Deng Shirong, in his role as the matchmaker and a member of the bride's family, waited until Deng Changmei's relatives had said their farewells before stepping forward. "Ah Mei, from now on, this will be your home. Live a good life with your husband. If you ever feel wronged, come back and tell Uncle Jiu, and he'll stand up for you."
Deng Changmei wiped her eyes and smiled. "I understand, Uncle Jiu."
After that, Deng Shirong and the others greeted the Zhang family members one by one and gradually moved away, leaving Deng Changmei with a wistful look in her eyes.
...
By the time Deng Shirong returned home, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon. About half an hour later, the groom's family sent over the thank-you gifts for the matchmaker.
Excluding his own son and daughter-in-law, among the three couples Deng Shirong had matched, the Zhang family was undoubtedly the most well-off.
Earlier, when Deng Shirong was crafting the furniture, he had specially invited three generations of the Zhang family to help and paid them generously. With this gesture of goodwill, and the Zhang family's satisfaction with the marriage, the thank-you gifts they gave were quite generous.
They gave a red envelope containing 38 yuan, a 12-pound pig's hind leg, 20 pounds of braised pork, a 2-pound piece of five-spice meat, two packs of cigarettes, two bottles of wine, two packs of tea, 2 pounds each of sandworms, candy, rice cakes, sticky rice, glutinous rice, wheat, noodles, sesame seeds, peanuts, black beans, yellow beans, red beans, and green beans.
Seeing so many gifts, Zhang Xiuping was amazed.
She roughly calculated that the pig's hind leg and the five-spice meat would cost around 14 yuan, the braised pork about 20 yuan, the sandworms around 7 yuan, and the cigarettes, wine, and tea a few more yuan. The other items, though not very expensive, would add up to around 10 to 12 yuan.
Adding it all up, including the 38 yuan in cash from the red envelope, it came to over 90 yuan. Even if her calculations were a bit off, it wouldn't be less than 90 yuan.
To give such generous thank-you gifts was, in her eyes, simply unbelievable.
After the gift-bearer left, Zhang Xiuping couldn't help but ask, "Dad, do all grooms' families give such generous thank-you gifts?"
Deng Shirong laughed. "Of course not. According to the current matchmaker's market, even half of what the Zhang family gave would be considered very good. I think there are several reasons why the Zhang family gave such a generous thank-you gift."
Deng Yunzhen interjected, "Dad, what are those reasons?"
Deng Shirong speculated, "First, the Zhang family's economic conditions are relatively good.
Second, when I invited three generations of the Zhang family to help me craft the furniture, I paid them generously. So, their generous thank-you gift is probably also a way of returning the favor.
Third, the Zhang family is very satisfied with this marriage.
Fourth, our family is also doing well, and the Zhang family might be trying to strengthen their relationship with us.
These factors combined led to the Zhang family giving such a generous thank-you gift.
Of course, these are just my personal guesses. Only the Zhang family knows for sure."
Zhang Xiuping nodded in agreement. "Dad, I think your guesses make a lot of sense. The Zhang family probably does think that way."
Deng Yunzhen chimed in, "I also think Dad's reasoning is sound."
Deng Shirong laughed. "Whatever the reasons, since they've given us the thank-you gift, we should accept it!"
(End of Chapter)
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