Chapter 22 – Zhou Muzi Gets Married
unedited
With most people working at home or being busy with farm work in the fields, when Wei Cheng sent Zhou Yuan back to the entrance of Qinghe Village, not many people saw him.
Wei Cheng sent Zhou Yuan to the gate of the village but didn’t enter the Zhou family’s house. If he entered, he would have to delay before leaving. Wei Lei couldn’t handle the breakfast stall alone, so he had to rush back.
Before leaving, he said, “I will pick you up tomorrow.”
Zhou Yuan replied, “Well, I’ll wait for you to pick me up.”
“Say hello to my father-in-law and mother-in-law for me, I won’t go in.”
“Okay, I’ll do so.”
“You can enter the village first, and I’ll watch you enter the village before leaving.” Wei Cheng let Zhou Yuan leave right in front of him, and he didn’t start heading home until Zhou Yuan was nowhere to be seen.
At this time, Mother Zhou was working in the yard at home, his second and third sisters-in-law were also there while his eldest sister-in-law was cooking breakfast in the kitchen, and Father Zhou together with Zhou Yuan’s three older brothers were all working in the fields.
When Zhou Yuan returned to his natal home, he appeared at the door carrying a bundle of things. Mother Zhou was frightened when she saw her ger who came back alone early in the morning carrying a bag.
Could it be that her ger and husband are having conflicts? Mother Zhou’s worried heart instantly rose to her throat.
“Yuan Yuan, why did you come back early in the morning with your bags? Did you quarrel with your husband?” Mother Zhou stepped forward to ask worriedly.
Mother Zhou didn’t expect that her ger returning home while carrying a bag would have something to do with Zhou Muzi’s marriage.
Since it was early in the morning and Zhou Yuan was the only one who came while holding a bag, Mother Zhou would inevitably misunderstand.
Zhou Yuan’s three sister-in-laws also mistakenly thought that Zhou Yuan had been driven back to his natal family, and the faces of the three women suddenly turned ugly. These days, only those who have been driven back to their natal homes will come back with their bags.
If Mother Zhou decides to keep Zhou Yuan, they have made up their minds and their hearts that they won’t agree with him staying, and they will go back to their natal family to enjoy a short vacation until the Zhou family caves. They will not agree. They are also considered part of the Zhou family, and they have the right to disagree with them welcoming a ger back.
Zhou Yuan knew his mother had misunderstood something after hearing her words. Just as he was about to explain, his second sister-in-law yelled, “Yuan-ger, you came back to your mother’s house with your bags, did you quarrel with your husband?”
His third sister-in-law said tightly, “It’s not been long since you got married, why did you quarrel?”
After his first sister-in-law heard the commotion in the kitchen, she immediately came out of the kitchen, saw Zhou Yuan, and yelled, “Oh, why does it look like you’re coming back to your mother’s house after arguing. Yuan-ger, it’s not that your sister-in-law disagrees with you but you finally got married, do you think you can quarrel with your husband at will?”
Seeing Mother Zhou’s worries getting bigger, Zhou Yuan hurriedly said loudly, “I didn’t quarrel with my husband!”
Didn’t quarrel?
Zhou Yuan’s three sister-in-laws were the first to not believe it, and Mother Zhou didn’t believe it either. Although she didn’t like the sarcastic words of the three wives, the most important thing now was to take care of her ger’s affairs.
Zhou Yuan said immediately, “Today is Muzi’s wedding day, I would have to stay there until dark, it’s not easy to walk at night, so I just came back with my luggage to stay for the night.”
“Yuan Yuan, you didn’t quarrel with your husband, why didn’t I see him send you back?” Mother Zhou knew that her ger did plan to come back when Zhou Muzi got married, and she wouldn’t have guessed that they quarrelled if he was an hour or two later, and she was only worried when he came too early .
Zhou Yuan immediately explained, “My husband sent me to the entrance of the village. He wanted to rush back to open our stall, so he didn’t follow me in.”
After hearing this, Mother Zhou was still worried, so she asked, “Did your husband really send you back?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Zhou Yuan: “Really, my husband will come to pick me up tomorrow, mother can ask my husband then.”
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Zhou Yuan said, “Mother, I came here after breakfast, so you don’t need to cook for me.”
Mother Zhou was surprised and said, “Why so early? Does your family get up so early to make breakfast? Isn’t it too early?” It takes more than half an hour to walk towards Qinghe Village from the outskirts of the county. Since he reached Qinghe Village at this hour, they must have left before dawn.
He had to get up even earlier to cook breakfast, that means they woke up even earlier than the country people!
To get up so early, her ger’s life must be worse than when he was at home.
Mother Zhou was worried so she didn’t notice that Zhou Yuan’s face was rosy, he didn’t look like a sickly or mistreated person.
Zhou Yuan: “My family is in the catering business, so my husband has to go to the county town early to sell breakfast. I get up at 5 AM every day to work. Today, my husband wanted to send me back, and then he had to go back to open a stall, so I got up earlier than usual.”
It turned out to be like this.
5 AM is also the time when they get up to do farm work.
His husband has no farmland at home, so he relies on selling to make money for food and clothing. She didn’t know if the business was good so Mother Zhou asked: “Yuan Yuan, you said that your husband is in the food business, how is the business?”
“It’s not bad, he can make a lot of money every day.” Zhou Yuan didn’t directly say that the family’s catering business is very good and how much money his husband makes. After all, he can’t say it in front of his sister-in-laws.
Mother Zhou was even more relieved, and only then did she see that her ger’s complexion was rosy after being raised by his husband, his face had more flesh to it, and he was also quite fair. It seemed that they could earn money for living.
Mother Zhou doesn’t care how much her son-in-law earns. It’s always a good thing to make money. Only after earning money can life go smoothly. “It’s a good thing for my son-in-law to be able to make money from business.”
Zhou Yuan’s three sister-in-laws heard that Wei Cheng was doing business, and all three of them wanted to find out what business Wei Cheng was doing, and if he could make money, they would see if they could bring their husbands to do it together.
Zhou Yuan’s first sister-in-law: “Yuan-ger, your sister-in-law was not good, I misunderstood, sister-in-law was also worried that you will be bullied at your husband’s house, so I said those words.”
Zhou Yuan’s second sister-in-law: “That’s right, we are all worried. It’s good that you and your husband are doing fine.”
Zhou Yuan’s third sister-in-law: “Our Yuan-ger would not quarrel with his husband. The couple is doing very nicely, and they even started a business so they might be quite busy. Yuan-ger, if you are too busy, you can tell me and I will go help, let’s all be together, don’t be shy to speak up if you need help.”
Zhou Yuan’s third sister-in-law said this first and the other two didn’t want to be left behind so they hurried to speak as well.
“That’s right, Yuan-ger, if you need help with work, I can let your eldest brother go help you.”
“And your second brother, he is also very willing to help.”
“Okay, you guys, hurry up and cook breakfast, our husbands will be coming back to have breakfast soon.” Mother Zhou sent Zhou Yuan’s three sister-in-laws to work.
What kind of thoughts they have, it was obvious, they wanted to take advantage of Wei Cheng’s business- Mother Zhou can see this clearly.
Her son-in-law only recently started his business- what money can he make? Even if he earns a huge amount, this is not something that her Zhou family should worry about. If the son-in-law mistakenly thinks that her Zhou family is using their identity as in-laws to seek benefits then they would lose face in front of their son-in-law, then her ger’s life might become harder.
Mother Zhou didn’t agree with Zhou Yuan’s sister-in-laws’ thoughts, and she knew that the Zhou family didn’t do that kind of shameless thing.
Zhou Yuan wanted to stay at home for one night. Zhou Yuan’s father and three older brothers were very welcoming of him. Zhou Yuan’s three sister-in-laws would not object since Mother Zhou was there, but there was no place to rest for him at home.
It turned out that the room that Zhou Yuan lived in before became the room of his two nephews. Originally, Mother Zhou was not willing to give her ger’s room to her grandsons not long after her ger just got married. It was her three daughters-in-law who had been lobbying against her, saying that when the children grow up, the little man can no longer share the same room with the little ger and the little girl, so Mother Zhou reluctantly agreed.
Fortunately, Zhou Yuan added an extra bed to the room before, and he slept back on the bed he had before he got married. The two nephews slept separately before but they can still sleep together.
After breakfast, Mother Zhou was helping her ger fix the bed, moving her grandson Shitou’s things to another place while Zhou Yuan was changing the sheets.
Shouts came from outside, and Zhou Yuan’s aunt came rushing through the door.
“Sister-in-law, I heard that Yuan-ger is back, so I came to have a look.”
How could his aunt come to knock on his door? Didn’t she always disdain to come to his house? Zhou Yuan felt strange, so he looked at Zhou Mu.
Mother Zhou put the eldest grandson’s bed on the second grandson’s bed, and said angrily, “It’s about Lan Lan’s marriage. After you got married, your eldest aunt talked about Lan Lan every day and how you found your way into the county. Later on, she liked a man whose family lives in the outer part of the county and has two shops in the outer county. She is very satisfied, she always comes to me to talk about things, and uses you and your husband to compare.”
“I’ll send her away, you stay in the house and rest.”
Zhou Yuan was obedient and didn’t go out- he didn’t know how his mother sent his aunt away but this was a matter for the elders so Zhou Yuan didn’t bother to ask.
It’s just that in the room, he still heard his aunt’s yelling, Mother Zhou stopped her vigorously and said a lot of things that pleased her, so Zhou Yuan’s aunt was satisfied and left.
Zhou Qiu came to find Zhou Yuan, and the two went to Zhou Muzi’s house together.
Zhou Muzi’s family is in the lower part of Qinghe Village, and there is still a small road they needed to travel before arriving at the lower part of the village. There are several dilapidated wooden houses at the foot of the hillside, where the poorest households in the village live, and Zhou Mu’s family lives here.
Zhou Yuan and Zhou Qiu came over, and Zhou Muzi’s parents were very happy that their ger had friends over. The originally deserted house became warm, so it resembles a bit of what a home of someone getting married was like.
Zhou Muzi’s family has few relatives, and Zhou Muzi’s family is poor, so they don’t want to see each other anymore. When Zhou Muzi got married, besides his parents, he only had his two friends.
Zhou Muzi’s wedding dress was made with a reddish-brown coarse cloth as the family didn’t have any extra money to make a new wedding dress, and his hair was tied with a red string.
Zhou Muzi’s lover Li Hu originally wanted to give him money to buy new fabrics for his wedding clothes, but Zhou Muzi did not agree to buying a new one in order to save money. After all, he was not ignorant of the situation of their two families.
Li Hu’s family background is good. There are several acres of paddy fields in his family. Li Hu is also a capable man, and he is not bad in appearance. He often went hunting with the hunters in the village and learned hunting skills. During the hunting season, wild animals such as pheasants and rabbits can be hunted every now and then. They can be sold to restaurants in the county to earn some silver taels, and the silver taels sold are handed over to Li Hu’s mother.
Li Hu was very kind to Zhou Muzi, and he was very filial to Zhou Muzi’s parents. He gave a lot of good things to Zhou Muzi’s family. Li Hu’s savings were used to subsidise Zhou Muzi’s family when the two fell in love with each other. Zhou Muzi’s younger brother was malnourished, and when the seasons changed, he fell ill and had to take medicine. The family had no money to buy medicine so the money for the medicine was all given by Li Hu.
All of this was done without telling Li Hu’s family, because Li Hu’s mother is someone not easy to get along with, and is known as a hot-blooded person in the village.
Li Hu also has girls in the village who like him, but Li Hu only sees Zhou Muzi. Li Hu’s family initially disagreed with their marriage because Zhou Muzi’s family is a well-known poor household in the village.
The Li family could easily agree to the marriage between Li Hu and Zhou Muzi, but on the condition that they should not spend any money. Li Hu could marry whoever he wanted, and Li Hu wanted to marry Muzi but didn’t want him to be treated that way. In the end, Li Hu’s father gave two taels of silver as the dowry for the sake of the eldest son and nothing else.
In fact, there is another reason why the Li family suddenly agreed. Li Hu’s second brother, Li Zhi, has a crush on a girl, and the date of marriage has been settled. But Li Hu was not yet married, so Li Zhi couldn’t get married before his elder brother. In the countryside, there are still some families who pay attention to these rules.
Li Hu was determined to marry Zhou Muzi, and it was not good for Li Zhi’s marriage to be delayed, so the Li family let him go, anyway, Zhou Muzi would work for them when he got married.
Zhou Muzi doesn’t care about other things, he is already very satisfied that he can marry Li Hu.
Zhou Qiu took out a flower ornament made out of red beads, which was her wedding present to Zhou Muzhi, and she put it in Zhou Muzi’s hair bun. “This is for our newly married ger.”
Zhou Yuan gave Zhou Muzi a red lucky bag as his wedding gift, which contained a tael of silver. He didn’t give the silver to Zhou Muzi directly. He knew that Muzi would refuse, so he made this lucky bag, “The lucky bag is my gift to you. It can only be opened after getting married.”
Zhou Qiu: “If the Li family treats you badly, I will beat Li Hu up.”
Zhou Yuan: “Muzi, you can come to me for help if you have anything you need, don’t hide it like before, we are friends, don’t be shy to speak up.”
Zhou Muzi accepted his friend’s kindness, and smiled brightly, “Thank you!”
It is a great blessing for Zhou Muzi to have friends who care about him.
Li Hu came to pick up the bride. Li Hu knew a lot of friends in the village. When he got married, a few friends followed him to pick up his bride.
After returning to the Li family’s house, Zhou Muzi and Li Hu paid homage and formally became family.
Thebanquet consisted of a few plates of stir-fried vegetables and steamed buns, without too much extravagance.
During the banquet, an unpleasant incident happened. Li Hu’s mother was cursing at the side. She didn’t like Zhou Muzi very much, because Zhou Muzi’s family was too poor.
“It’s okay to marry a ger but how could there be no dowry, just a few rags. Our family couldn’t afford to have a good meal, and now we have one more person who eats for free. My Li family is really unfortunate.”
Li Hu’s mother also pointed at them and scolded Muzi, “It’s fine to marry someone and raise them for nothing, but he even brings two people along to eat for nothing.”
Zhou Yuan and Zhou Qiu’s expressions darkened. If they hadn’t wanted to give Zhou Muzi some face, they would have left directly. Why would they let Mother Li trample on their face?
Just because they were afraid that Li’s mother would make more irresponsible remarks, they came to the banquet and gave a ten-wen filled red envelope.
Li Hu’s sister, Li Damei: “Mom, that’s Zhou Yuan, who married in the suburbs of the county.” A ger can marry the county, but she, Li Damei, a girl, can only hope she can marry to the county in the future.
Li Damei is rough-skinned, has big bones, does things with rough hands and feet, and speaks loudly, but she feels that she is a very pretty girl and she can’t be compared with the girls in the village, and she is also better than the gers in the village. Ever since she heard that Zhou Yuan would marry to the county, she has dreamed every day that she would marry to the county as well.
Li Damei said to Zhou Yuan, “Yuan-ger, you are really well dressed. If I marry in the county town, I will definitely dress better than you.” A girl with broad bones like a man, with heroic features, twitching and talking, that appearance is really unsightly.
Li Hu inherited his father’s features and was a rough man, and Li Zhi inherited his mother’s features, he looked a bit gentle and was popular. In the Li family, Mother Li treats Li Zhi the best. Li Damei looks like Father Li, but her personality is like her mother’s- narcissistic and self-righteous.
Mother Li has also heard about Zhou Yuan’s incident and it seemed that there was such a thing. It turns out that Zhou Muzi and Zhou Yuan are friends. Her face changed instantly, and a smile climbed onto her yellow face.
“Here’s a seat, sit down.”
Zhou Yuan and Zhou Qiu: “…”
Who are these people?
Zhou Yuan and Zhou Qiu only had a few mouthfuls of this banquet as they were not in the mood to eat, so they bid farewell to Zhou Muzi and went home.
Zhou Muzi opened the lucky bag given by Zhou Yuan that night, only to find that it contained a tael of silver. Zhou Muzi wanted to return it to Zhou Yuan but Li Hu said that since it was Zhou Yuan’s wish, they would keep it for emergencies.
Zhou Yuan didn’t eat enough so he was hungry in the middle of the night.
Zhou Yuan went to bed hungry and woke up from time to time. He had also been hungry before but since he got married, he ate well at home and was cared for by Wei Cheng, so he never suffered, and it was the first time in a long time that he felt hungry.
Thinking about Wei Cheng- if Wei Cheng was here, he would definitely not let him go to bed hungry… Thinking about him, he missed Wei Cheng, and he couldn’t sleep well all night.
Wei Cheng was at home, but he didn’t have a wife by his side, so he couldn’t sleep well either.
When people are separated, only then they’ll know the depth of missing.
Bonus chapter available at Ko-fi.
Need to give all these villagers a major face slap!!! (`皿´＃)
tht woman is asking for my beating isn’t she.
Uggh, just separete from this family, Muzi and Li Hu, run!!!
Thanks for the chapter! The honeymooners are like sticky rice, lol
Wow, even though I’m not Chinese nor from China, our country also has the same culture of letting the older siblings marry first before the younger ones! It was an amazing thing to know for today!
Wei Cheng, come pick your wife ah. I think he’s suffering from grievances and homesickness (but the home now is you ;)).
Why is it that “almost” everyone around Yuan Yuan and Wei Cheng are scums and judgmental people?!? THEY ONLY THINK OF MONEY QAQ
Welcome to the village where people have too much time other than farming and working at home. Seriously I had seen people like this a lot. Even in cities you will find narrow-minded people but they know how to hide it
Hypocrites ugh (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
Thanks for the chapters!
ok i get the sister in laws but how could his own mother not belive him when he says he didn’t have a fight with his husband?
Well I mean, in that time period women, and in this case, ger, didn’t really have equal grounds in marriage. When your recently married child arrives on your doorstep, alone, with a bag of clothes in a society where they can easily be beaten or thrown away, it’s understandable to assume the worse!
Oh wow, more terrible people I see….
Thank You for the new chapter ♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ )
So many people in need of a good face slapping!!!