Chapter 272 Promise
After Zhang An got the tea seedlings he wanted, he had no other thoughts.
After walking around the village, we returned to Chen Yuan’s yard.
I came back at the right time, dinner was just about to begin.
Here, unlike in later generations or in Changqing Village, there would be three rounds of banquets.
Maybe it was because there were not many guests, so the banquet was only held for ten days in Maomaoqing Village.
But this is not surprising, because there are not many families in Maomaoqing, and if the number of people is small, there will not be many people drinking.
After all, many distant relatives will not be present because they are too far away and the transportation is inconvenient.
Usually only close relatives will take the trouble to come, so there are not many guests and there is no need to set up so many tables.
After the meal, a raging fire was lit in the open space in front of Chen’s house. Many daughters-in-law and even unmarried girls in their village came dressed up and danced around the fire in their unique style. dance.
This is an unwritten custom in their village. It is said that it has been circulated for a long time. No matter whose family marries a daughter or a wife, there will be such a program.
On the one hand, those girls who are waiting for marriage are practicing their dancing skills, and on the other hand, they are showing themselves in such a crowded situation.
After all, most girls and boys in villages now get married and start families, and they basically rely on matchmakers to travel around.
In this case, if you show yourself more, it will be easier to find your husband's family in the future.
Take this opportunity to spread your name, and everyone around you will basically know that so-and-so has a daughter at home, what she looks like, and what kind of person she is. These will be spread by everyone.
When you reach the age, more people will come to visit you, and then you can choose more conditions of the man’s family.
Not to mention, in the cold winter, with such a big fire burning, Zhang An still felt quite warm when he sat down.
There were fires to keep warm and dancing to watch, so many people were not in a hurry to go home, and the scene became very lively for a while.
After all, in today’s life, there shouldn’t be too few entertainment options.
Especially in winter, when you return to your own home, you have to spend more dry wood to light a fire to keep warm, or many people just curl up in bed when they return home.
Zhang An and Su Ying sat aside, watching the beautiful figures singing and dancing beside the fire pit with great interest.
Fortunately, it is not the future, otherwise Zhang An, who is married, dared to stare at other women so blatantly, he would probably have to sleep on the sofa or make a bed on the floor when he returned home.
"This dress is so beautiful, and the dancers are good."
Looking at the dance turning left and right in the middle space, matched with the distinctive costumes of their tribe.
This time, everyone was dressed up to attend. The hand-embroidered cloths and the silver jewelry all over their bodies gave them a unique look under the firelight.
Su Ying is a girl and a literary girl, and she cannot refuse these beautiful things.
"Do you like it? Why don't I get one for you too."
The cost of such a unique outfit today is much higher than that of later generations.
And you have to know people and find someone specifically to do it.
Because now these clothes, whether printed, dyed or embroidered, are sewn stitch by stitch by themselves.
Including the silver jewelry they wear, they are not sold, but made by themselves.
It’s just that most people use Miao silver for these silver jewelry.
Miao silver is a type of silver, but the silver content is not as high as silver, and is relatively low, so the price is cheap.
Although the color looks white, it is not as shiny as silver.
So this thing is usually sold to the Miao people to make silver jewelry for their daughters.
Of course, some families may have better financial backgrounds and better conditions.
For the sake of face, when I was making silver jewelry for my daughter at home, I bought pure silver directly.
In later generations, due to the booming tourism industry, the costumes of these ethnic minorities have become popular among everyone.
Many people saw business opportunities and opened workshops or small factories to produce these clothes and silver jewelry in batches.
At the beginning, many people really liked it and would buy a set to take home when they went out to play.
Because of the intervention of machines and mass production, a lot of labor is saved, and the material selection is relatively poor, so the price is cheaper.
Of course, although others like such a set of clothes, if it is too expensive, not many people will want to buy it.
But later, fewer and fewer people bought them. Most people went to the local area and rented one directly in the scenic spot.
After all, after wearing this thing for a day, the novelty is gone, the photos are taken, and the lag is gone. After experiencing it, I have no interest anymore.
If you buy it at a high price and take it home, it will just eat ashes.
But Su Ying is different. Although she is not a Miao woman, she has always been in the village.
If she likes it, then prepare a suit for her. If there are any activities in the village in the future, she can also join the team of those young wives and big girls and join in the fun with everyone. Anyway, she will not be left to gather dust.
“Can I still buy this? I heard people say that a Miao woman will only make one set of clothes in her life, and that’s the one she wears.”
After listening to Zhang An’s suggestion , Su Ying felt a little excited.
Although she is from the city and is not very clear about other people's customs, she is still a native.
Even if she didn't know many things, she had heard them told by others.
"Of course it is possible. After Zhou Yang gets married, we will start looking for someone to do it."
The saying that Miao women only make one set of clothes in their lifetime does exist, but it does not mean that they will make it for their whole life. Only one set can be made.
First, because this suit is purely handmade, whether it is cutting, printing, dyeing or embroidering, it is very labor-intensive.
And their entire set of clothes consists of at least a dozen pieces. To finish them all, according to the current speed of handicrafts, it will take three to five years.
The other thing is that these clothes are made by myself and worn by myself, so naturally I have to choose the best materials.
In addition, you don’t need to wear it when you are working or during your free time on weekdays. You usually dress up for festivals or other events.
So if you wear it less often, the material is strong, and you put it properly, it will last a lifetime, isn’t it?
Zhang An has even seen many old people in the village. When they get older, they pass on the clothes they made when they were young to their daughters or wives.
After all, as they get older, they don’t often wear that kind of clothes, and they can’t hold them up.
Zhang An wanted to get one for his wife, but he didn't want to get a complete set.
What he wanted was to cut some unnecessary small parts together like the scenic spots of later generations.
If he really wanted to make eighteen pieces, firstly, it would take time, and secondly, he would not be willing to let Su Ying carry such heavy clothes.
After all, I feel sorry for my daughter-in-law. Su Ying is not a real Miao woman. She just dresses well and does not have to follow the same rules as them.
In the middle of the night, the woman’s family began to look for a place for Zhang An and other guests who came to welcome the bride to rest.
After all, it was after five o'clock in the middle of the night to pick up the new daughter-in-law. At that time, all the procedures were completed and it was dawn when she was picked up in Changqing.
So for the rest of the night, the host family naturally wanted to entertain these guests. After all, they were all here to welcome their daughter.
Because there are not many places to rest, a few men are crowded together and a few women are crowded together. Maybe everyone was tired during the day, so they found a place to rest and fell asleep on the bed one by one. Suddenly, the earth-shattering snoring sounded like a war.
Especially Huang Ming, Zhang An discovered that this guy's snoring problem was quite serious.
Looking at such a thin man, Zhang An, who was snoring, was worried that he might not be able to catch his breath accidentally.
In the past, Zhang An would have been unable to sleep due to this snoring.
But now, this is not a problem.
Close his eyes and sink his mind into the space. After a while, Zhang An also began to fall asleep.
A little after five o'clock in the morning, Zhang An woke up on time and woke up all the guys who were still dreaming.
At this time, everyone in the woman’s family had already gotten up, and some of them might not have slept.
Although it was night, the two pairs of high wax candles lit in the main room illuminated the entire main room very brightly.
Before preparing to bring out the New Year, the man needs to sing a song with the woman’s family.
This song has a name, it’s called the Flower Song.
The woman’s family sings about how difficult it is to raise a daughter, and the man’s family sings about how wonderful it is to have girls in the woman’s family.
Generally speaking, the husband's family says they are sincere, and the mother's family says they feel distressed.
At this point, Zhang An was glad that he had omitted these things when he got married.
Don’t think this is just a simple antiphonal song. If you don’t sing it well, people outside will laugh at it for many years to come.
In some places, the song for asking for flowers will even start when the wedding team arrives at the bride’s house.
When I was preparing to pick up my new daughter-in-law in the early hours of the next morning, I still had to continue singing. It was not easy at all.
Looking at the time, everything was ready in the main room, and Zhou Yang also entered the state.
Zhou Yang's mother-in-law took the bride out of the room, and the bride knelt three times and kowtowed nine times in her parents' hall to bid farewell to the ancestors of the Chen family.
According to their custom, after walking out of this door later, she will no longer be considered a member of the Chen family.
This is not just her, but every Miao woman is like this.
After all the rules were followed, Chen Wenwen's mother finally picked up a pair of chopsticks on the table and moved them back and forth on Chen Wenwen's body several times.
Finally, let Chen Wenwen face the door, then pick up the chopsticks and throw them back behind him.
The time was neither too early nor too late, exactly six o'clock in the morning, when Mr. Zhu opened his mouth to sing lyrics.
With the sound of "The auspicious time has come, the master's family has made a marriage announcement." Chen Yuan stepped forward. As his brother-in-law, he had to carry his sister on his back and send her out in person.
Zhou Yang's aunt had been waiting at the door for a long time. When she saw Chen Yuan carrying the bride out of the door, she quickly opened the big red umbrella in his hand, held it on the bride's head, and accompanied her all the way out.
At this time, Zhang Ping had already brought the carriage over, and it was at the gate of Chen Yuan's courtyard.
After Chen Yuan carried his sister onto the carriage, Zhou Yang also wanted to join her.
At this point, the bride is considered a member of the Zhou family.
The golden boys Zhou Yang’s family is looking for are Zhang Yan and Li Yao.
The two men had been waiting on the carriage for a long time, sitting on the left and right sides of Zhang Ping respectively.
Then the bride’s family also brought out two carriages, which were used to carry the dowry and the bride’s belongings. The accompanying people had to follow them to her husband’s house as a farewell ceremony.
After all preparations were completed, the old people lit the golden boy's torch.
Then the wedding team that came from Chang Qing also lit the torches in their hands one by one.
As a burst of firecrackers sounded, Zhang Ping gently waved the reins and the carriage started to move slowly, with the bride reluctant to leave and her eyes dim with tears.
Fortunately, there is no custom of crying in marriage in this area of Hongyan Town, otherwise it would be really torture.
In some places, people cry when they get married, starting three days before the wedding.
When the bride arrived at her husband’s house, her eyes were swollen, which made people feel distressed.
Although it is said that weeping in marriage, weeping in marriage means crying.
But when the bride is getting married, looking at those scenes, she will really cry very sadly.
Although it was dark along the way, there were still cars passing by occasionally.
Most of them were locals. When they saw the wedding team holding torches, they looked like a fire dragon.
So many drivers turned on their headlights and honked their horns several times to express congratulations when passing by.
When the bride was brought to the village, no matter how early or late, it happened to be at the door of Zhou Yang's house, it was dawn.
“Here comes the bride~”
As soon as Zhou Yang got off the carriage with the bride on his back, a bunch of children started shouting at the door.
In the past, they would have all been sleeping, but today they were drinking and picking up a new wife, so they all got up early.
Because you can ask for wedding candies and wedding cards later, and if you are lucky, you can also see red envelopes.
When Zhou Yang carried the bride to the door, the second uncle of the Zhou family picked up a big rooster and threw it towards the young couple.
This is the Hui Shen Chicken. It was thrown very high and kept passing over the red umbrella.
Finally it fell to the ground, and both adults and children were grabbing it.
Whoever picks up the chicken will receive a red envelope later. The adults are here to join in the fun, but the children are very serious about grabbing it.
Before they entered, there was a red bed sheet at the gate. Zhou Yang put the bride down, and Zhou Yang's uncles tied the new red bed sheet for the two of them.
Originally, it was meant to be tied with a quilt or blanket, but it was too thick and difficult to tie, so it was simplified into a bed sheet, which means a lifetime.
After entering the door, the old gentleman began to sing congratulations, and the newlyweds began to worship heaven and earth.
After entering the bridal chamber, the person rolling on the bed was Zhou Yang’s brother Zhou Song.
Although he is a teenager, it is actually the most appropriate thing for him to come and go.
But Zhou Song was a bit bored and there were probably more people watching, so he rolled around on the bed a few times shyly.
Finally, the army of children from the village entered the new house and began to bite the flower handkerchief. This step is indispensable no matter who is getting married.
After sending away the children, the eldest girls and daughters-in-law in the village stayed with the bride in the new house, talking and relaxing until dinner.
As for the other aunts and sisters, all of them are helping out. After all, a lot of people will have to eat later.
They prepare all the meals and finally cook them for the kitchen.
Therefore, when hosting banquets in rural areas, the women in the village can be said to be the biggest contributors.
(End of this chapter)