Sun Dali was wearing a bright red wedding robe, which was borrowed because there wasn’t enough ti.
Compared to Mu Xiangxiang, Sun Dali actually had it tougher.
The wedding robe was sowhat small, and Sun Dali looked strained, as though the part around his belly might burst open anyti.
Seeing Mu Xiangxiang, Sun Dali grinned from ear to ear.
The villagers offered their congratulations, and everyone was happy for Sun Dali.
Old Mrs. Mu had a grim face throughout; she never liked Sun Dali, and seeing him without a proper wedding robe now made her feel even more that marrying her daughter to him was a grievance.
As the wedding procession moved away, Old Mrs. Mu chased them quite a distance, clearly worried about marrying her daughter off to Sun Dali.
If it weren’t for Mr. Mu stopping her, she might have blocked the bridal sedan chair.
If that truly happened, Mu Xiangxiang would never get married in her lifeti!
——
The sound of drums and gongs gradually faded into the distance, leaving the Old Mu Family with a crowd of relatives waiting for the midday al.
Mr. Mu, along with Old Mrs. Mu, went inside to make preparations; once the lunch was over and the guests were sent off, the Old Mu Family would finally feel relieved.
At midday, they received quite a few gifts, and there were contributions from various households.
As soon as the last guest left, Old Mrs. Mu rushed into her room, carefully organizing the Copper Coins, and started threading them together.
This ti, Old Mrs. Mu placed the Copper Coins into a cloth bag, rather than stuffing them into various jars around the house as usual, which puzzled Mr. Mu.
He felt deep down that his wife’s temperant had changed; in the past, money was always stored neatly in various containers and jars.
Unable to resist, Mr. Mu asked, "Xiangxiang’s mom, what are you doing? Why aren’t you putting the money into jars?"
"These are Xiangxiang’s money, why should I put them into jars?" Old Mrs. Mu replied, rolling her eyes at Mr. Mu.
"What? You’re giving these contributions to Xiangxiang?" Mr. Mu was stunned.
Because Mu Dade had succeeded in becoming a scholar, the gifts for Mu Xiangxiang’s marriage were vastly more generous than usual, whether from villagers or relatives.
Altogether, they amounted to about one tael and two qian of Silver.
Mu Xiangxiang’s dowry should be considered ample; the eldest son’s wife’s family contributed two taels of Silver, selling land brought in six taels of Silver, plus another tael from dealings with the eldest and Fifth, along with Old Mrs. Mu’s secret stash.
All in all, it added up to around twelve taels of Silver, and if you add the one tael and two qian of Silver from contributions, it was quite a sum!
Other people marrying off a bride wouldn’t spend so much money; and here we are spending so much to marry off a daughter.
Mr. Mu was sowhat displeased.
"What’s wrong with giving it to Xiangxiang? Xiangxiang is my daughter, isn’t my money hers!" Old Mrs. Mu retorted.
"But... but she’s married!"
Mr. Mu thought for a long ti before finally blurting this out.
"She’s still my daughter! Old man, don’t interfere, Xiangxiang’s been pampered since young; if we don’t prepare enough money for her, she’ll be bullied to death by those people from the Sun family?"
Old Mrs. Mu spoke while stuffing the remaining money into the cloth bag.
More than a thousand Copper Coins, all gathered together, filling the bag to the brim, which made Old Mrs. Mu feel quite pleased!
"It’s not that I’m criticizing you, you always claim to have no money, no money; even when Fifth got married, you didn’t want to spend money, but for Xiangxiang’s wedding, you’re willing to co up with so much money. How discouraged would Fifth be if he knew about this?
Back when the third son got married, we didn’t spend a penny; if she found out, what would she think?"
Mr. Mu tried reasoning with Old Mrs. Mu, inwardly hoping to make her co to her senses, at least save the one tael and more silver.
But Old Mrs. Mu was just too stubborn.
Mr. Mu’s kind efforts to dissuade her were instead t with harsh words from her.
"Fifth is a son, getting married is his own business, why should we pay? As for Yu Si Niang, she was the one who fancied the third son herself, insisted on becoming a burden, what’s that got to do with ?
I don’t care, my money is Xiangxiang’s, not even Fifth would expect anything, and even you, I need to think about, think about!"
"You..."
Mr. Mu almost choked till he spat blood, his hands trembling as he struggled to hold onto his pipe.
He watched helplessly as Old Mrs. Mu stored the money away, putting it into her pocket.
It appeared that she planned to give it to Mu Xiangxiang later that evening.
...
The matter of Mu Xiangxiang’s marriage wasn’t just being discussed by Mr. and Old Mrs. Mu.
The other family branches were talking about it too, mainly focusing on Mu Xiangxiang’s dowry.
Second wife Mrs. Lin was cursing in her room.
"Mom is really playing favorites; whether it was when I entered the family or the wife of the fourth son, even the eldest son’s wife didn’t get as much dowry as Xiangxiang!"
More than ten taels of Silver, that could last a lifeti.
You could buy three or four acres of land with that.
"What’s the use of saying this? If you have the ability, you should make mom favor you too!" Mu Dazhong had listened to Mrs. Lin’s complaints for several rounds of tea.
He had grown quite impatient and annoyed.
"Hmph, Mu Dazhong, why are you cross with ? You know your mother only likes the eldest, Zhenzhen, and Xiangxiang. As an outsider wife, you think she’d favor ? Even your eldest brother’s wife isn’t particularly favored!" Mrs. Lin scoffed.
"Hey, don’t bring up Zhenzhen; had she not left, how could mom possibly give all these good things to Xiangxiang?
I wonder if that girl’s doing well with that old man, if good, she might bring back so good things for us, making the care for this sister worthwhile!"
The relationship between Mu Dazhong and Mu Zhenzhen was actually quite good.
Compared to Mu Xiangxiang, Mu Dazhong preferred Mu Zhenzhen more.
At least, his second sister wasn’t like Mu Xiangxiang; his second sister would share her goodies, letting the brothers enjoy, but once it was in Xiangxiang’s hands, don’t even think about getting a taste!
"Who wouldn’t agree, last ti Zhenzhen ca, she even brought sweets for Gou Dan. But Xiangxiang, tsk tsk... the family gave her everything, eats more than a pig, yet stingy! Whatever she wanted to eat, don’t even think about leftovers!"
The couple in the second room moved from initial complaints about Mu Xiangxiang to now reminiscing about Mu Zhenzhen.
"Ah, let’s hope Zhenzhen returns soon, even if not wealthy, at least mom would give Xiangxiang less, I really can’t stand it anymore!" Mu Dazhong sighed.
The two reluctantly began taking their afternoon nap.
At dinner ti, the entire Old Mu Family went to Sun Dali’s household for the evening feast.
Sun Dali’s dinner reception was far superior to that of the Old Mu Family, and the two roast suckling pigs were a spectacle.
The villagers were fixated on those two roast pigs, continuously offering their congratulations.
The wedding ceremony was generally similar, except the Sun family had put in extra effort, making the rituals more elaborate than usual.
After Sun Dali and Mu Xiangxiang completed the ritual, everyone shared one of the suckling pigs!
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