Bai Erlang noticed she seed eager to throw sothing, so he rummaged through his sleeves and handed her a dozen red packets. "Here, distribute them."
Mingda held the red packets in shock and asked, "Why did you bring so many red packets?"
Bai Erlang chuckled, "I grabbed them; how else could I knock on doors without red packets?"
Anyway, the money in the red packets isn’t much, either one penny or two, scattered easily, anyone can grab them.
Of course, Bai Erlang didn’t mind this small amount of money, but Old Zhou cared.
In Qili Village, there isn’t a custom of scattering so many red packets, but they follow the local customs since Sixth Brother is getting married in the capital.
Holding the red packets made Mingda considered part of the groom’s side, and Bai Erlang took her forward, handing out red packets all the way until they reached the main hall and t the Qiu couple.
Zhou Liulang was ushered forward by the crowd. Overwheld with excitent, he repeatedly bowed to the couple but couldn’t say a word.
Seeing this, Zhou Silang and Zhou Wulang, who had accompanied him to greet the bride, finally felt that Sixth Brother was starting to understand. The brothers imdiately helped him speak, coaching him, "Quickly call them father-in-law and mother-in-law."
Zhou Liulang bowed deeply and called out, "Father-in-law, Mother-in-law..."
Zhou Wulang added, "Call them dad and mom again."
Zhou Liulang bowed once more, "Dad, Mom—"
The Qiu couple, equally nervous because it was their first ti marrying off a daughter, nodded repeatedly and responded favorably, then turned to the nearby relatives, saying, "Quickly, bring the eldest daughter out."
Qiu Pei was waiting in the boudoir, and upon hearing this, the hired matron and her cousin imdiately helped her out.
Upon entering, she imdiately t Zhou Liulang’s gaze. Seeing that Zhou Liulang was even more handso today than usual, her face reddened.
Zhou Liulang also flushed as he looked at Qiu Pei, dazed for a mont.
Seeing this, Zhou Wulang chuckled with satisfaction and nudged him, signaling him to co back to his senses.
Zhou Liulang, blushing, turned back to his senses and knelt with Qiu Pei to salute the Qiu couple.
Mingda and Changyu finally finished distributing all the red packets, squeezed in from outside to join in the fun, and listened as Mother Qiu held Qiu Pei’s hand, offering much advice and saying so words to Zhou Liulang about being considerate in the future, before accepting the tea they offered.
After drinking the tea and giving the red packets, Zhou Liulang got up and helped Qiu Pei to turn around together.
Qiu Pei didn’t have brothers; originally, her cousins were supposed to carry her out, but the Jia family’s demands were too high, and Old Man Qiu couldn’t reach an agreent with them.
When Old Zhou and Ms. Qian visited the Qiu Family to discuss the wedding, Old Man Qiu was anxious and ntioned the Jia family’s conditions.
Hearing the Jia family’s exorbitant demands for a silver tael for just carrying her a short distance, Old Zhou imdiately refused.
Even if the money would co from the future in-laws, it was still unacceptable.
The Qiu Family had only one daughter, and eventually, all the money would be for his grandchildren, wouldn’t it?
So he gave Old Man Qiu a sly suggestion, "Our two families are in different situations, your daughter is considered married, yet not really married, in the future, their second child will carry the Qiu surna, so I say why not let her walk out on her own and board the bridal sedan herself."
Old Man Qiu was taken aback by this, and Mother Qiu felt it was unreasonable.
Old Zhou, however, felt increasingly confident about his idea, insisting, "Should the sixth son-in-law be carried out by his brothers when he leaves? Absolutely not. Since the marriage is unique for both, there’s no need to adhere to these outdated customs."
The bride being carried out by her brothers symbolizes that her natal family supports her, but since Qiu Pei doesn’t have siblings, why spend money creating this illusion?
Old Man Qiu was convinced, so he gritted his teeth and decided on this course of action.
At this mont, the veil over Qiu Pei’s head was lowered, and she was led outside by Zhou Liulang and the matron.
The crowd jeered and moved aside, allowing Qiu Pei to step through the main hall’s threshold. Unexpectedly, soone had thrown a ragged garnt outside the door, and no one paid attention, causing her to almost trip.
The matron, supporting one of her arms, noticed it after stepping out and kicked it aside, but the bride still stepped on it.
The matron frowned, contemplating whether to crouch down to pull the rag out from under the bride’s foot when Manbao, who was joining the fun, already shouted, "Sixth Brother, carry the bride out..."
Bai Shan followed suit, "Carry her out, carry her out; from now on, Sixth Brother is Sixth Sister-in-law’s support, quickly carry her."
Bai Er and Zhou Lixue also chid in, "Quickly carry her, quickly carry her..."
Mingda and Changyu thought this was a Luojiang County custom and found it amusing, so they joined in, "Quickly carry her, quickly carry her."
Zhou Liulang glanced at his fourth and fifth brothers, saw they didn’t object, and walked to Qiu Pei, blushing, and picked her up.
The onlookers didn’t know what happened, but everyone started cheering wildly. Anyway, following the fun was the right thing to do.
Everyone ushered the newlyweds through the courtyard and out the main gate, joyfully watching the groom and bride board the bridal sedan, throwing good wishes like confetti: "May you live a long and happy life together, may you be blessed with many children, congratulations on your wealth..."
Every possible blessing was spoken.
Qiu Family’s relatives lit firecrackers to send off the wedding procession.
After Zhou Liulang mounted his horse, Manbao and the others also jumped onto their horses, with Mingda and Changyu following closely in front.
Since the road only allowed two horses to ride side by side, Manbao and Bai Shan rode together, so Mingda took her horse ahead to ride alongside Bai Erlang, turning to ask him, "In Luojiang County, do grooms carry the bride out?"
Bai Erlang shook his head but didn’t want to reveal the true situation in front of so many people to avoid embarrassing the bride, so he vaguely replied, "This way is also acceptable."
Mingda laughed, "It’s really fun."
Everyone clattered back to the Zhou Residence, where the Zhou Family opened the gates to receive the bride.
The invited guests were mostly arrived; Zhao Liulang and several others were there, just in ti to witness the groom and bride bowing to the elders.
Mingda finally saw a complete folk wedding. It’s worth ntioning that her sister’s marriage and her brothers taking brides involved complicated rituals, often too tireso for her health to endure the entire process.
She thought folk weddings were quite amusing.
Manbao led a group of close friends to escort the bride to the bridal chamber, even wanting to tease Sixth Sister-in-law, but Fifth Sister-in-law, guarding there, chased them out, "Hurry to the front to eat, don’t disturb the bride here."
The crowd reluctantly left.
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