Chapter 167: He Sanlai Gets Married

Liang Zhuzi nearly spewed blood upon hearing this. He only asked for a hundred or so catties, yet Old Man He was asking for a few hundred. Who was the greedy one in the end?

Gu Jinli did not care about their squabbling, simply stating: "We already have plans regarding the condiment spices. We’ll talk about this matter later; we cannot agree to your terms now."

Village Chief He and Liang Zhuzi were startled upon hearing this and ceased their arguing. They hastily asked her, "What are your plans? Did you promise the spice business to someone else?"

Gu Jinli replied: "Not yet." However, she didn’t intend to hastily allow them to enter the spice business.

After Village Chief He and Liang Zhuzi heard this, they were somewhat relieved. They knew that although Gu Jinli was smiling, this young lady was resolute and unwavering, so they did not press any further. Instead, they changed their tune: "Alright, we’ll discuss it again once your family prepares more condiment spices."

Liang Zhuzi was in a hurry to sell tofu and did not linger for long. After saying this, he quickly departed.

The village chief was astute and also left.

Today was He Sanlai’s wedding. The lad had invited him to be the witness, and he needed to go back and get ready.

He Sanlai was poor. At the age of twenty-four, he had finally managed to get married, but he didn’t have the money to hold a banquet or even afford a piece of red cloth. He worked as a laborer in town for a few days and with the money earned he could only afford half a jin of wine, two packs of caramel, one jin of old rice, and a palm-sized piece of lean meat. Fatty meat was too expensive for him; thinking it over, he decided to buy a piece of lean meat. He planned to cook a pot of meat porridge in the evening to give Chunyue a nice meal.

These past few days, He Sanlai had been exhausted like a dog, working as a laborer in town until late last night before he made it back home. Yet, early this morning he was up, cleaning the house until it was spotless. He set out a packet of caramel and half a jin of wine, waiting for the auspicious hour to go to Village Chief He’s house to fetch Mo Chunyue.

As the wedding witness, Village Chief He was concerned about He Sanlai’s wedding preparations. After returning home, he sent his eldest daughter-in-law Mrs. He Liu to check on He Sanlai’s preparations.

Mrs. He Liu of the He family visited He Sanlai’s house and found it clean but completely devoid of any festive decorations. She ran to the kitchen, saw the cold stove and bareness, and couldn’t help but say: "The wedding ceremony is just a few hours away. How come you haven’t prepared anything? Not even incense candles or offerings. How are you going to conduct this marriage ceremony?"

He Sanlai, rubbing his hands and smiling apologetically, said: "I haven’t earned much silver coin recently, but I’ve bought some wine, sugar, a jin of old rice, and a piece of meat. When the time comes, I’ll cook these to offer to our ancestors during the ceremony. This way, the wedding can still be carried out properly."

"How can you conduct a proper wedding with so little?" Mrs. He Liu had never seen such a shabby wedding and didn’t care to stay any longer at He Sanlai’s house. She turned around and went back to report the situation at He Sanlai’s place to Village Chief He.

Village Chief He frowned upon hearing this. Thinking that a wedding shouldn’t be so humble, he took some red paper from his house, had He Jinseng write a few ’happiness’ characters on them, and added a pair of incense candles, a basket of sweet potatoes, a jin of tofu, a dish of lard, and six eggs. He asked Mrs. He Liu to take them to He Sanlai’s house.

"It’s a day of great joy for getting married, and as kin, we ought to help out."

Since the family had made some money from the tofu business, life had improved. Seeing that Village Chief He didn’t give too much to He Sanlai, Mrs. He Liu didn’t say anything. She took the items to He Sanlai, instructed him to put up the red ’happiness’ characters, fry the tofu in lard, and steam the sweet potatoes, lean meat, and eggs, assembling a respectable offering for the ceremony.

He Sanlai had never been married before and simply did as Mrs. He Liu told him.

After several hours of bustling about, by the afternoon of the Shenshi hour, He Sanlai changed into clean clothes and made his way to Village Chief He’s house alone.

The people of Da Feng Village all knew that it was He Sanlai’s wedding day. Many came to watch the excitement, and seeing his tattered wedding attire, they mocked: "Yo, He Sanlai, which rat hole did you fish that outfit from? How come it’s got so many holes?"

He Sanlai, looking at the person who spoke, retorted sharply: "That’s none of your business where I found it. If you’re capable, you go find one yourself, and while you’re at it, fetch a wife back home, you old bachelor!"

The person he insulted, although not married, was a few years younger than him. Angered by being called an old bachelor, he hurled back an insult. However, he got a few cutting words back from He Sanlai.

He Sanlai used to be a good-for-nothing, and his cursing was endless; the other person was no match for him and soon fell silent after being scolded for a while.

A crowd of onlookers followed the raucous He Sanlai to Village Chief He’s house, wanting to get a look at the new bride.

Village Chief He saw that they were without manners and scolded them, "What are you doing? Is all the work in the fields done? You all come here to gawk, stirring up trouble? Want to watch the excitement, did you bring any wedding gifts? If not, then roll back to the fields and work, don’t come here making a fool of yourselves!"

Village Chief He had beaten He Family People twice, and now the He Family People were afraid of him. Seeing him scolding others, they didn’t dare to crowd around and watch the commotion, dispersing one by one to go home.

After the crowd left, Mo Chunyue was helped out by Mrs. He Liu.

Mo Chunyue was dressed in a semi-old red dress, and over her head was a semi-old red cloth head cover, which were given by Village Chief He’s old wife.

During the days Mo Chunyue stayed at Village Chief He’s house, she had been taking care of Granny He. Granny He heard about her situation and, being long bed-ridden and someone who cared about goodness and karma, felt somewhat kindly towards Mo Chunyue, giving her some old red cloth from the bottom of her chest, letting her make a bridal gown, and also a bolt of cotton fabric, a fully equipped sewing basket, and an old trunk as a dowry, so she could marry with dignity.

He Sanlai, seeing Mo Chunyue, became so nervous that he was rubbing his hands and couldn’t speak, just grinning foolishly.

Village Chief He urged him, "Don’t just stand there like an idiot, hurry up and take the Mo girl home for the wedding ceremony. It’s inauspicious if we miss the auspicious time."

"Right, right, right, going now," He Sanlai responded; he went over to support Mo Chunyue. Mo Chunyue, being sensible, pulled him down to kneel together and kowtow to Village Chief He, "Chunyue thanks the village chief for his grace, without him, San Lai and I could not possibly have gotten married."

Seeing this, He Sanlai also thanked Village Chief He.

Mo Chunyue then took He Sanlai to Granny He’s room to kowtow three times, and only after that did she follow He Sanlai back to his house for the wedding ceremony.

The wedding was thus completed.

Knowing that He Sanlai was poor and needed to save food for living, Village Chief He did not dine at their house. He only took half a bag of caramel, drank a glass of water wine, and after completing the formalities, he turned and went home.

After Village Chief He left, Mo Chunyue lifted her bridal veil and asked He Sanlai, "Have you found work?"

The matter of seeking work at the Gu Family was suggested by Mo Chunyue, but several days had passed and He Sanlai had not discussed the outcome with her.

On this matter, He Sanlai’s face turned sour.

Seeing this, Mo Chunyue asked, "What’s wrong? Didn’t find work? Then you should ask a few more times. The Gu Family People are kind-hearted; if you ask a few more times, they are sure to agree."

He Sanlai had been a good-for-nothing before, notorious, and it was natural that initially, the Gu Family was wary of employing him.

He Sanlai was greatly distressed and said to Mo Chunyue, "You don’t know about Gu Xiaoyu’s temper; she is very determined."

"What does that mean? Don’t tell me she has already rejected us?" Mo Chunyue was very anxious, "We still have debts; if we can’t find work, how will we pay them back? What exactly did she say? Tell me in detail."

He Sanlai had no choice but to reveal the matter of Gu Jinli asking them to sign a ten-year long servitude contract.

After listening, Mo Chunyue was stunned, yet she greatly admired Gu Jinli, "This young lady is very smart."