I'm back in 1990

Chapter 410: Marriage Certificate

Huang Xiaochuan discovered that getting married was actually a difficult task. Of course, Huang Xiaochuan was fully capable of organizing a simple and relaxed wedding, but he had handed over the power to hold the wedding to his elderly mother, Zeng Lijuan, and he could no longer back out.

Early on the morning of the 26th, his elderly mother, Zeng Lijuan, dragged him out of bed. He sat on the edge of the bed, still half asleep. His sister hadn't slept well at all last night, only managing to drift off to sleep in the middle of the night. There were more than a dozen blankets and quilts piled up on the bed, and she wasn't allowed to move them around freely, so Huang Xiaochuan had to curl up at the foot of the bed to sleep last night.

Huang Xiaochuan originally wanted to sleep in a hotel last night, but his elderly mother firmly refused, saying that it was not customary to stay in a hotel instead of at home.

Furthermore, Huang Xiaochuan couldn't understand why his mother needed so many blankets and quilts, since he wouldn't be living at home much in the future. What was the point? Huang Xiaochuan couldn't comprehend his mother's thought process.

"Hurry up and get dressed and have breakfast. The people who will accompany you to pick up your bride will be here soon, so get ready." Zeng Lijuan urged Huang Xiaochuan again when she saw that he hadn't come out of the room.

Huang Xiaochuan glanced at his elderly mother, Zeng Lijuan, who was dressed in new clothes today. Her hair had been permed yesterday, and she was wearing light makeup. She was radiating joy.

Then look at Lao Huang, he's just as good-looking. His wife has dressed him up in a completely new way, making him a handsome old man!

Huang Xiaochuan looked at this person and then at that person, finally saying, "Why do I feel like today is your wedding?"

"This wretched child, how dare he talk like that!" The elderly mother, Zeng Lijuan, angrily slapped her son on the shoulder, not too hard, not too soft.

As per procedure, after a string of firecrackers, Huang Xiaochuan, carrying a bouquet of flowers, walked out of the family compound and strolled around the street led by the so-called matchmaker. Since the distance was not far, there was no need to use a car. However, this resulted in Huang Xiaochuan being surrounded by passersby like a giant panda.

After going around in circles, Huang Xiaochuan felt that it had no practical significance and was a complete waste of time.

However, going out is easy, but going back is difficult. The gate of the family compound was closed, and standing on the other side of the gate were all the aunties and young wives of the family compound, all waiting to rob Huang Xiaochuan, the groom. They would not open the gate unless they gave him enough cigarettes and wedding candy.

However, Huang Xiaochuan didn't need to worry about these things; his elderly mother had already made arrangements. At this time, someone specifically responsible for distributing cigarettes and candy would step forward to negotiate with these older women and young wives, and soon the door would be opened.

There's no other reason than the Huang family's immense power. They gave them cigarettes and candy whenever they wanted, quickly winning over these middle-aged women and young wives.

Unfortunately, this was only the first hurdle. Once inside the residential compound, Huang Xiaochuan discovered that a group of elderly men and women had brought out benches, completely blocking his way home.

Only then did he understand why his elderly mother, Zeng Lijuan, had arranged for him to go for a walk outside. It turned out she was creating an opportunity for these neighbors to rob him on the road!

By the time they finally arrived at their doorstep, it was almost ten o'clock. Huang Xiaochuan had been calling out to people all the way, which had left him parched.

He turned to Zeng Hong, who was watching the commotion from the sidelines, and said, "Big sister, quickly get me a glass of water, I'm dying of thirst!"

After finishing his water, he looked up at the stairs and, damn it! There were several people sitting on benches waiting for him at every turn of the stairs!

Previously, climbing these three floors would take less than a minute, but this time it took Huang Xiaochuan a full ten minutes.

When they arrived at Yu Xiang's house, the door was tightly shut. Inside, a group of Yu Xiang's female high school classmates were blocking the door, threatening not to open it unless they received a red envelope.

I don't know how many red envelopes were slipped under the door before it was finally opened.

When Huang Xiaochuan opened the door, he saw that each of the female classmates was holding several red envelopes, and they were all beaming with joy. Even Yu Min had received quite a few, and she was as happy as could be with her red envelopes.

Tang Yuan was the best; if it weren't for her, and the fact that it would have taken a while to open the door, Huang Xiaochuan quickly made a gesture of thanks to Tang Yuan.

Old Yu and Zheng Aiying were already prepared. Dressed in new clothes, they sat upright in the living room, waiting for their eldest son-in-law to come and pay his respects.

According to custom, Huang Xiaochuan stepped forward to greet the elders and bowed to them. He also received a red envelope from Lao Yu and Zheng Aiying as a token of respect for the elders.

After the ceremony, Zheng Aiying quickly instructed Huang Xiaochuan, "Go pick up Yu Xiang quickly, she's getting impatient waiting in her room, and the auspicious time is almost here, don't be late."

"Why!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Xiaochuan was about to excitedly go into the room to fetch his wife when suddenly someone appeared at the door.

Yu Wei braced himself against the door frame, blocking the doorway with a smug expression.

"Hey hey hey! Don't you know the rules?" He said, stretching out his hand and rubbing his thumb and index and middle fingers back and forth, clearly indicating that he wanted a red envelope.

Huang Xiaochuan didn't waste any words. He had already overcome eighty-one tribulations, so what was one more hurdle? He immediately took out a red envelope that he had prepared in advance and put it in Yu Wei's hand, and then planned to go inside.

"Hey, hey, what's the rush? Wait!" Yu Wei stopped Huang Xiaochuan, then went into the house and carried Yu Xiang out.

Seeing Huang Xiaochuan grinning foolishly at the beautiful bride without making any further moves, Yu Wei, who was carrying Yu Xiang on his back, said angrily, "Lead the way! Are you trying to kill me with exhaustion? Don't you even know how fat your wife has become?"

Yu Xiang was furious at these words, but since it was her wedding day, she couldn't physically punish him. She would find another opportunity to deal with the brat later.

On the first floor, Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei completed the handover and finally brought their wife home. They never expected that such a short distance would take them a whole morning to get there.

Just then, outside, gongs and drums were beating and firecrackers were going off. Yu Xiang sat on the bed and looked at Huang Xiaochuan, who was covered in sweat, with a little heartache: "Come here! Let me wipe your sweat."

Huang Xiaochuan lowered his head as instructed, allowing Yu Xiang to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"Are you tired?" Yu Xiang asked with concern.

"I'm exhausted! Luckily, I'm only getting married once in my life; I never want to go through this again!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiang playfully punched Huang Xiaochuan, saying, "You're talking nonsense!"

The rest of the day proceeded according to procedure. At noon, we met with the new relatives, which was a meal where the relatives from the bride's and groom's families got to know each other. We were already familiar with each other, but we still had to go through the motions.

In Qingjiang, it's customary to hold wedding banquets in the evening.

Zeng Lijuan booked the Qingjiang Hotel, where she held her wedding banquet, four months ago. It is the best hotel in Qingjiang.

For every ordinary person, raising children Watching them get married and start a family felt like completing an important task.

Zeng Lijuan was just an ordinary mother. In her opinion, getting a daughter-in-law was a big deal. Once her youngest son's wedding was over, her task would be complete. Therefore, she attached great importance to this wedding and even brought her future mother-in-law along to discuss it.

Many years later, when the wedding was mentioned, everyone still remembered it vividly.

The wedding banquet dishes weren't particularly extravagant, but there were still quite a few ingredients that are not commonly found in Qingjiang, giving the guests a taste of something new.

Tonight's guests are mainly colleagues and friends of both sets of parents, as well as some of Yu Xiang's close high school classmates.

So the newlyweds quickly ate something and, led by their parents, began toasting at each table. Of course, Yu Xiang's glass contained cooled boiled water, while Huang Xiaochuan's glass contained alcohol.

After the newlyweds finished toasting and left, someone at Yu Xiang's table asked, "Yu Xiang's dress is really beautiful. I wonder where she bought it?"

"Yes, it's so beautiful! That phoenix and peony design is absolutely gorgeous. Do you think that's Suzhou embroidery?"

"Suzhou embroidery is a craft. I think Yu Xiang's looks like embroidery, so it must be very expensive."

How did you know?

"I watched a documentary, and the embroidery in it is quite similar to the embroidery on Yu Xiang's clothes. The documentary explained that it takes more than a dozen people several months to complete these embroideries."

"Wow"

Everyone was amazed.

Then another person asked, "Have you seen the ring Yu Xiang was wearing?"

"I didn't notice. What's wrong?"

The speaker gestured exaggeratedly, exclaiming, "That diamond was so big, it made me dizzy!"

"Really? Dujuan, weren't you Yu Xiang's bridesmaid? Is what Ye Xuefen said true?"

Du Juan nodded: "It really was given to her by Yu Xiang's boyfriend."

"Wow, how much does such a big diamond cost? What does Yu Xiang's boyfriend do?"

"You weren't listening carefully, were you? Yu Xiang's boyfriend is a university professor."

"Could a university professor afford a ring like that?"

Many people are confused. What's going on?

Look at this banquet! It's not exactly extravagant, but it's the first of its kind in Qingjiang. And I've never seen Wuliangye used as a wedding liquor before. Nowadays, wedding banquets in Qingjiang usually use Damingbo, Yanghe for a slightly higher level, and Luzhou Laojiao for an even higher level. This is the first time I've seen Wuliangye at a wedding banquet.

The same goes for cigarettes. Usually, it's Hongtashan, with two packs per table. But this person went a step further and gave everyone a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, one for each person, even the baby in their arms. That's quite a generous gesture.

That's not all; the cigarettes on the table were still there as usual, a stack of them tied with a red ribbon, all of them premium brands.

However, to their surprise, the grand finale was at the very end.

Generally, guests who give a monetary gift at a wedding will receive a candy as a wedding favor.

However, the Huang family's approach this time is somewhat different from others.

The guests received a red gift box, which was also placed in a red tote bag, making it easy to carry. The box was about the same size as a box of mooncakes, but it was quite thick.

After Yu Xiang's table received the gift, some people couldn't wait to open it and see what was inside.

You won't believe it until you see it, and you'll be shocked when you do.

There will definitely be wedding candy, in an imported chocolate gift box, but what's with the skincare products? And there's a set for the man and a set for the woman, plus a red envelope inside the box.

Upon opening it, I found two brand-new blue 100-yuan bills and a red letter inside.

Upon opening it, I found that the letter was actually a marriage certificate, which read:

In strict accordance with ancient rites, this marriage certificate is hereby established:

Mr. Huang Xiaochuan, whose ancestral home is Suzhou, was born in the auspicious month of the year Renzi (1622) at an auspicious time. He is a teacher at the Imperial Academy. With utmost sincerity, I hereby propose to marry him.

Ms. Yu, a native of Hunan, was born in the lotus month of the year Yi-You (1955). She is a skilled healer and comes from a distinguished family.

The marriage between these two families is like a perfect match made in heaven. Mr. Huang, with his scholarly pursuits, seeks enlightenment in the medical field; Ms. Yu, with her benevolent arts, heals the masses. Though their professions differ, their principles are the same. This union is truly a match made in heaven.

We have chosen this auspicious day and time on the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month of the year Yi Hai to perform the wedding ceremony. From this day forward, may our love be harmonious and peaceful. May we emulate the virtues of mutual respect and cooperation, and work together to fulfill our duties. This covenant is hereby solemnly established as our eternal bond.

Witness: Heaven and Earth bear witness, the sun and moon shine together.

Officiant: May your family be blessed with both prosperity and happiness.

Established in December 1995.

Everyone was so surprised they couldn't close their mouths. Look at the marriage certificate, and then look at the two hundred-yuan bills.

Everyone was deeply shocked, and their expressions were incredibly varied.

Holy crap, I didn't know weddings could be done like this?

Nowadays, the wedding gift money in Qingjiang is generally no more than fifty yuan, but I didn't expect the host family to give back two hundred yuan? This doesn't even include the two sets of skin care products. Although I don't know how much they cost, it's obviously not cheap.

I've really seen something new today. I never knew weddings could be done like this! How much does it cost?

Huang Xiaochuan had originally discussed with his elderly mother that they wouldn't accept any money as gifts, but his mother insisted on accepting it, saying that it was the custom, and since she had given gifts to other families, they should naturally give her gifts in return; it was only right to give and receive gifts.

In the end, the mother and son compromised. The mother would accept the money as a gift, but Huang Xiaochuan would give the guests a generous gift in return as a thank you for attending his and Yu Xiang's wedding.