The next day, the sky was clear, and Yang Ruxin awaited her fifteenth coming-of-age ceremony.
The Xiaohong Building was bustling early in the morning; not only was the courtyard cleaned spotlessly, but even the road leading to the village was swept.
Everyone donned new clothes, their faces adorned with happy smiles.
Those familiar with the Yang Family naturally attended, and even those who weren’t close wanted to take this opportunity to increase their rapport. After all, the main branch of the Yang Family was at the forefront, making envy impossible.
Never mind that it wasn’t the harvesting season yet; even during busy tis, a day or half wouldn’t matter much. Thus, if not the entire village, then close to it, was present.
Du Chengfeng had arranged for people to handle the reception early in the morning, ensuring everything was organized and orderly.
When guests arrived, they all brought thoughtful gifts. Those skilled in embroidery brought insoles or handkerchiefs, and those who weren’t, brought ho-raised chickens or eggs.
The value didn’t matter, only the sentint.
Yang Ruxin knew it would be impossible to stop people from bringing gifts, so she prepared a return gift for each family, a bag of brown sugar.
In this ancient ti, sugar was a luxury, costing dozens of coins per pound.
Regarding these return gifts, so people were happy, naturally, while others felt a pang of jealousy, but as long as they didn’t show it, no one cared.
Of course, besides the villagers, people like Han Baichuan and Wang Zhenggang ca too, and Lu Gao even arrived with a cart of seafood, reportedly setting out before dawn.
Yang Ruxin accepted these guests with ease, for their relationships were built on mutual benefits and compatible tempers.
However, what Yang Ruxin didn’t anticipate was that people from the Wei Family also attended. Even putting aside her private relationship with Wei Yao, the collaboration on those dolls made the Wei Family’s attendance reasonable. However, this ti, not only did Wei Yao and her father co, but the Wei Family head in the Prefectural City also arrived. It was Wei Yao’s uncle, Wei Bingyi, who brought substantial gifts.
Even though the Wei Family held high status in the Prefectural City, with her godfather Fang Dehua around, Yang Ruxin wasn’t concerned about not being able to maintain order. Despite the wealth, rchants were ranked last in status among the scholars, farrs, artisans, and rchants. Still, the visit was peculiar. She didn’t think her village maiden’s birthday was worthy of such a grand gesture from them.
She promptly called Zhou Xiao over and asked him to discreetly observe Wei Bingyi’s words and actions.
Zhou Xiao, being very clever, imdiately understood and hurried off with Xiaofeng to act as little monitors.
The traditional procedures for the coming-of-age ceremony were quite complex, requiring various tools and involving hair-coiling and clothing changes. It was said that three clothing changes were needed, each representing different stages of a maiden’s life...
These procedures were well known to Ye Family’s forr eldest daughter-in-law, and even Yuan ngzhu knew them by heart.
Listening to these, Yang Ruxin’s head was spinning; in such heat, she couldn’t expose arms or legs. Even one outfit seed excessive to her; how could she handle more without feeling overwheld? Thus, she waved her hand decisively, simplifying things since she was just a village girl here.
The procedures were simplified, but none of the participants were left out.
With no father, her uncle Dong Wenming and his wife, Dong Wenxiu, served as hosts, her godmother Yuan ngzhu took the main guest position, while the village headman’s wife, Lin Xiaoling, was the ritual officer. anwhile, Yu Qingge insisted on taking the role of the prompter.
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