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1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests.
2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author.
3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.
The Village Head’s hoped for celebratory banquet hadn’t yet come to pass because the instant that Liu Lin headed back, he needed to quickly arrange for their textile store’s grand opening. It needed to all be organised within a few days. Liu Shu was getting married on the 26th of the sixth month, so they planned to open the textile store on the 28th. The store’s grand opening could also be considered part of Liu Shu’s big day celebrations!
There was also their teacher to consider. They couldn’t delay their visit to him. Thankfully, his teacher wasn’t insistent on having a big meet for them, or on having a banquet and inviting lots of guests. Each of the four of them came back at different times. When each of them visited, they brought him gifts and offered their bows to him as thanks. Although their teacher was lax, he was very pleased and surprised at having four of his students pass the exams.
Feng Town’s county magistrate had also sent messengers to Liu Shu and the rest. With his town gaining four new xiucai at once, they had brought him a lot of glory. Also, there was a particular tradition – every year, the county magistrate would invite all the xiucai for a meal. There were two reasons for it – one was for formality’s sake and the second was to get to know them. People who became xiucai were usually ordinary folk who lived around the region. When they passed the exam, their position in society was elevated, and whenever locals had any issues, they would seek their help. For example, they would go to them for help in writing a complaint or to go with them to the officials. Or if there were any disagreements in the neighbourhood, locals would approach xiucai to mediate. Because of this, there were times the county magistrate would need help from the xiucais.
Because the county magistrate had issued the invitation, the family couldn’t delay. The third day after Liu Lin got back, they met at Shi Cheng’s family restaurant for a meal. Shi Cheng was very quick on the uptake, and refused to accept any payment from the county magistrate.
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Mbl eyu vblu bye vblka xlyz, Nkw Fbw vssj vbl nbydnl vs pwcxkv y nsxrzykdv vs vbl xytkpvayvl.&dcpr;
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Nkw Fbw’p oleekdt eyu bye qkdyzzu yaakhle.&dcpr;
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Xq nswapl, bkp kddla olya bye vs cl xyel cu bkp dlo cakel, cwv vblu vss olal elnldvzu esdl.
Rv oyp pssd vkxl vs zlyhl qsa vbl cakel’p bsxl. Tl pbk oyp pvkzz vkeukdt Nkw Fbw wr, obkzl Nkw Dw’la oyp pvayktbvldkdt wr Nkw Fld’p nzsvblp. Gzz vbl casvblap olal blyekdt shla okvb Nkw Fbw – awxsa bye kv vbyv Vydtoy bye ralryale y plaklp sq saelyzp qsa vblx vs rypp vbaswtb vs alvaklhl vbl cakel. Nkw Fld nzldnble bkp qkpvp kd ralryayvksd, alyeu qsa vbl nbyzzldtl.
Ebld Nkw Fld oyp ralpldvyczl, Nkw Dw’la oldv swv vs zssj qsa Fbk Ubldt. Fbk Ubldt bkxplzq oyp kd y rwarzkpb ale swvqkv. Tkp blye zsolale, bl oyp qkeezkdt okvb y qlo ale rynjlvp. Mseyu, bl bye ralryale shla y bwdeale pxyzz rynjlvp, okvb yxswdvp aydtkdt qasx sdl old vs 10. Mbld vblal olal ydsvbla 20 vs 30 rynjlvp – vblpl olal vbl bktbla hyzwl sdlp yde nsdvykdle pkzhla kdtsvp.&dcpr;
Nkw Dw’la bke bla xswvb yde pxkzle. Fbl oldv shla vs blzr bkx yefwpv bkp blye rklnl clqsal zssjkdt yv vbl rswnb bydtkdt sqq bkp clzv. “Ebyv kp kdpkel vblal? Yyjl pwal usw esd’v zspl vbyv kd vbl nasoe.”
Shi Cheng smiled and looked up at her. “It’s nothing much, it’s just the pouch for these little red packets. If any little children come to block our paths, I will just throw them out to distract them.”
Liu Xu’er smiled. Shi Cheng turned to look at Liu Shu, “Dajiuzi, I am pouring out my heart to help you here. When it’s my turn, you must remember not to make things too difficult for me!”
Liu Shu smiled, but said nothing. Senzi had already jumped up to say, “We will just need to see if jiefu knows what to do when the time comes!”
Liu Xu’er giggled. She turned and smacked Senzi, “I’m still here! How much do you intend to sell your jie for?”
Senzi smiled and hopped backwards. “About that… Jiefu, I leave it to you! In any case, I won’t give in easily!”
He shi smiled and pulled him over, “Enough, enough! Don’t try to behave like a hooligan! You are also a xiucai, why do you still speak without thinking! Be careful you don’t lose your xiucai status!”
Liu Sen exclaimed, “Mum! When will you stop treating me like a little child?”
Everyone laughed. Shi Cheng secretly told him, “Jiefu promises to give you a big red packet on the day! Senzi, you really can’t make things too difficult for me!”
Liu Xu’er pulled him back. Smiling, she asked, “Are you two done yet?”
Liu Lin and Liu Tao had already gone out to wait earlier. After waiting for quite a while, Liu Lin came back in to call them, “Why aren’t you done yet?! Dage, aren’t you anxious?”
Liu Shu’s face was slightly red, he quickly smiled and hurried out.
“Mum, Xu’er, we’re off!” Liu Lin smiled and waved his hand. “We need to bring the bride back!”
A tall horse was waiting for them at the courtyard entrance. The horse had been bought for this very purpose, and in future, they would switch out their donkey cart for a horse drawn carriage.
There were red flowers decorating the five horses present, making them look very festive. When the brothers mounted their horses, four others lifted the red bridal palanquin and prepared to follow them. Immediately, the sound of the suona and other instruments started to ring out loudly.
He shi and Liu Xu’er watched as the party left. Then He shi quickly turned back and said, “Xu’er! Let me go and check if your father has already dressed. You should also hurry to prepare. See if there’s anything else that your brother’s room needs?”
Liu Xu’er agreed. She first headed to her dage’s courtyard. When Liu Shu was planning his wedding, He shi was grateful they decided on this particular house! Now, she even felt that it was a little too small!
That was because even though there were quite a few rooms in the house, there weren’t a lot of courtyards. There were only three – the main courtyard and the two smaller side courtyards. All the boys had stayed in one side courtyard, while Liu Xu’er had taken the other.
In each side courtyard, there were three main rooms, with two side wings of three rooms each. As such, there were plenty of rooms to go around – each of the boys still had two to three rooms to themselves.
But now that Liu Shu was getting married, everyone in the family had to discuss the matter of where to stay. Although the wings were separate from the main rooms, it still wasn’t appropriate for the other boys to still stay there after Liu Shu got married. It was such a strange quandary – after all, in the village, it was common for everyone to stay together in a single courtyard. But now, they felt it was inappropriate for them to mingle together in this way.
Thankfully Liu Changgeng and He shi’s courtyard had a similar layout, so the unmarried brothers all moved to the main house’s side wings instead.
The original side courtyard would now be given over to Liu Shu and Shao Rong to stay in. Liu Xu’er didn’t have to move either – she continued to stay by herself in her little courtyard. Next year, when she got married, this courtyard would be given to Liu Lin and his future wife.
Liu Sen would continue to stay with his parents in the main house. Liu Tao was also getting older and was making his own plans. In time, he would discuss his considerations with the family.
Liu Xu’er first ran over to her dage’s courtyard to check it over. She went to the prepared rooms and saw that everything was covered in bright red! These were all things that she and her mother had personally prepared for her dage. Liu Xu’er glanced around, nodding her head in satisfaction – everything was in order.
After closing the door, she hurried back to her own courtyard and took out her planned outfit. She wore a peony embroidered, silk brocade little blouse. On her waist was a five colored, embroidered pleated skirt. Over this was a lotus coloured flower embroidered little vest.
Liu Xu’er seldom dressed so luxuriously. She looked at herself in the mirror for a while – she could scarcely recognise herself, she looked so fine! Then she took out the butterfly hair pin that Shi Cheng had given her before – this was the first time she was wearing it. She smiled and admired herself for a while. Then she turned to leave her room.
When she had gotten to the main house, her parents had already sorted everything out. Both of them were dressed in bright red, looking very excited and festive. He shi was still pacing about anxiously, muttering under her breath the things she needed to prepare…..
Sishu was in the courtyard instructing Xiaobei, Xiaoxi and Xiaodong in their tasks. Tian Yu was arranging pots of flowers in the courtyard when dabo arrived, head covered in sweat, “Am I late?! Dad and mum kept worrying at home!”
Liu Changgeng smiled and said, “Not at all. They’ve just left to escort the bride over!”
Guests had started to arrive at their home. As previously agreed, the male guests were ushered to the main courtyard, while female guests were escorted to Xu’er’s courtyard. Although most of the people here were villagers, and weren’t too picky about such segregation, since their family had the means, they would definitely try to respect these customs. When the bride came over, they would all head out to greet her.
It was another two hours before the bridal party came back. Liu Changgeng and He shi were already seated in front. Seeing the two of them come over to offer their bows, the two of them were overjoyed. Quite a few guests started to call out, “Double blessings! Double blessings!”
“What double blessings, it is clearly… Quintuple blessings, sextuple blessings!”
Everyone started to laugh. The band continued to play their songs, while the bridal couple exchanged bows and entered their wedding chamber. They hadn’t entered long when Liu Shu was pestered into coming out by the relentless catcalls. It was only then that Liu Xu’er entered the room to accompany the new bride. This also served the purpose of preventing those older aunties from entering the room and teasing the bride.
Those old aunties would dare to say anything, but a new bride is easily embarrassed! Liu Xu’er needed to be there to serve as a barrier – after all, she was unmarried, and those older aunties would be careful what they said in front of her.
After entering the room, she saw that Shao Rong’s red veil had already been lifted. She sat, face red on the kang, both feet placed squarely on the step. When she heard someone enter, she didn’t dare to raise her head to look. Her wedding dress had been made by herself – although there was no gold thread sewn into it to give it some glitter, it was clear that she had put a lot of effort into making it.
“Dasao?” Liu Xu’er called
Shao Rong visibly relaxed. It was only then that she turned to look at her. Embarrassed, she smiled, “Xu’er is here…”
Liu Xu’er also smiled, “That’s right. Mum sent me to help shield dasao!”
Shao Rong’s face was red. She smiled and said, “Thanks…. Have a seat!” Her feet couldn’t touch the ground, so she quickly waved Liu Xu’er over.
Liu Xu’er shook her head, “It’s alright, there’s no need to be so courteous. Dasao, you probably haven’t had anything to eat today right? Do you want me to bring you something?””
Shao Rong hesitated for a moment. It was clear that she hadn’t had anything. Liu Xu’er smiled and went to the table. She picked up some of the snacks and fruits in the little bowl and passed it to her, “Have a little. Otherwise, you would only be able to eat at noon tomorrow.”
Everything is happening so fast. . . Our eldest child is married now 🤭
Hehehe, everything has to be wrapped up by chapter 235!