Today is the wedding of Su Wensong and Sun Lanlan. They have booked the largest restaurant in Ancheng County. Lin Chuxia even offered some ideas for the decorations.
Although there are no rainbow gateways or flower baskets like in the future, the entrance still prominently displays Su Wensong and Sun Lanlan’s wedding.
Now, even urban folks rarely host their weddings at the restaurant. Su Wensong has splurged on booking the entire restaurant, and with all the firecrackers at the entrance, the curious are gathering nearby to see what the bride and groom are like.
Li Hongmei, who came to the county for a stroll, saw the crowd from afar and walked over to check out the excitement.
Upon hearing that a family had booked the entire restaurant for their wedding, her face showed immense envy.
Booking the entire restaurant for a wedding?
She’s never even eaten in such a fancy restaurant in her life. How much would one table of food cost?
The urban folks can actually afford to book the entire restaurant for a wedding feast.
Li Hongmei was doted on at home, unlike other families who favor boys over girls; her mother treated her like a treasure. From a young age, she knew she was different from other village girls.
But no matter how different, they were still rural folks, always facing the soil and turning their backs to the sky. She always envied the clean-dressed city people she saw at the factory.
After the economic reforms, Li Hongmei, now a young woman, yearned more and more for the urban lifestyle.
But without a father and with a mother who lacked significant skills, it was impossible for her to get a city job.
The only solution was to marry a city man and move to the city.
Just like what she saw now, wearing the prettiest clothes, surrounded and watched by the whole county, receiving their envious gazes.
As she reflected on this, she looked up and saw Lin Chuxia standing at the entrance.
Li Hongmei knew Lin Chuxia; they were about the same age, with Lin Chuxia just a grade above her.
Xiaoqingshan Village, where she came from, was small with few children, and the local school only went up to third grade. From fourth grade on, children had to go to the neighboring Daqing Mountain Village to continue their studies.
Lin Chuxia was a good student, often used by teachers as an example to encourage others.
When Li Hongmei went to school in Daqing Mountain Village, she often heard teachers praise Lin Chuxia. Although she never spoke to her, she knew her.
Previously, when a matchmaker mentioned Lin Chuxia as a potential match for her brother, Li Hongmei was quite excited.
That praised good student, no matter how scholarly, would still end up as her sister-in-law, right?
If she married into their Li family, she would have to please her, the younger sister-in-law.
She even fantasized numerous times about how to make life difficult for Lin Chuxia, getting more excited the more she thought about it, feeling a surge of triumph.
However, who knew that in the end, it would be Lin Jiayi who married her brother.
Li Hongmei looked at Lin Chuxia, dressed in a sharp ladies’ suit ensemble that she hadn’t even seen in department stores.
She was standing at the entrance, talking to someone nearby.
Though Lin Jiayi and she were sisters, they had very different demeanors.
Every move Lin Chuxia made was elegant and refined, and the people around her seemed to listen intently to her, almost like the big bosses on TV.
As she was thinking, someone suddenly said, “They’re here.”
Then she saw two cars approaching from a distance, the first one a sedan adorned with a big red flower.
In those days, using cars for a wedding procession meant the bride and groom were either significant figures or the children of significant figures.
Li Hongmei sighed, truly a city folk’s wedding.
In their village, for nearby weddings, most people just ride bicycles, and using a tractor is already considered good; some even use ox carts.
She herself was married in an ox cart, as it was too far to go by bicycle, and the Ma family couldn’t find a tractor.
Shaking off these thoughts, Li Hongmei tiptoed and craned her neck to watch the sedan slowly pull up in front of the restaurant.
The rear car door opened, and a groom in a suit got out from one side, standing tall and dignified, clearly not just anybody.
After getting out of the car, the groom first nodded at the people at the restaurant’s entrance, then walked around the front, arriving at the other side of the car, opening the rear door.
There was a commotion among the crowd.
“Look, look, the bride is coming down.”
“The groom looks so spirited; the bride must be very pretty.”
“The bride’s dress is so beautiful, it looks like it’s a new style from the south. I saw it last in the city’s Department Store.”
……
Li Hongmei first saw a white arm extending from the car, a small hand resting on a man’s large hand.
Then a leg came down, along with a corner of her dress, that red dress as beautiful as fire.
When the bride fully emerged, bursts of exclamations arose from the crowd, but Li Hongmei was stunned.
Sun Lanlan? The bride is actually Sun Lanlan? Sun Lanlan from Daqing Mountain Village next door???
That’s right, she seemed to have heard her sister say that Sun Lanlan was getting married.
She didn’t expect Sun Lanlan to marry someone from the city, and with such grand arrangements.
She saw Sun Lanlan and the groom walk to the entrance of the restaurant, first nodding at Lin Chuxia, saying something unknown.
She knew Sun Lanlan and Lin Chuxia were good friends, but that demeanor didn’t look like good friends at all, especially the groom, more like a junior treating an elder or a subordinate treating a leader.
She recalled the rumors she had heard…
Until the crowd at the restaurant’s entrance dispersed, Li Hongmei still stood there, dazed.
Recently, she often returned to her parents’ home and had quite a few conflicts with Lin Jiayi.
She admitted that she brought up the past matter of switching brides to upset Lin Jiayi, who had arranged that marriage for her.
But speaking of which, knowing Lin Chuxia had made a place for herself in the Qin Family, she still felt a bit…
If the bride switch hadn’t happened, if Lin Chuxia had been her sister-in-law, would things have been different?
……
Lin Chuxia watched Su Wensong, dressed brightly and joyously, and beside him, Sun Lanlan with a face full of shy happiness, her lips carrying a smile, her heart filled with emotion.
Sun Lanlan had finally found her happiness, Su Wensong was a man worth entrusting.
Today, the restaurant had been booked by Su Wensong, the hall lively with joy, attended mostly by their colleagues and Su Family’s neighbors.
Granny Su sat in the main seat in the hall, beaming as she watched the couple walk in from outside.
Qin Han acted as the host for today, calling the couple forward.
A bow to heaven and earth, a bow to the parents, the couple bowing to each other…
Although it’s the modern age, with policies loosening over the past two years, these traditions had been picked up again.
Most importantly, today’s guests were all familiar people, everyone comfortable and lively.
After bowing to heaven and parents, and before bowing to the wedding guests, Granny Su suggested that Lin Chuxia sit in her place, allowing Su Wensong and Sun Lanlan to properly bow to Lin Chuxia.
In Granny Su’s view, Lin Chuxia wasn’t only Su Wensong’s colleague and leader but also his benefactor, as well as a benefactor to the Su Family.
Without Lin Chuxia, they wouldn’t enjoy their good days today, nor could they have married such a beautiful and considerate granddaughter-in-law like Sun Lanlan.
With Granny Su’s words, the surrounding people also applauded.
Lin Chuxia was somewhat embarrassed, “There’s really no need for this.”
“It is necessary, it is necessary,” Granny Su repeatedly said.
Su Wensong smiled at Lin Chuxia, and Sun Lanlan was even more straightforward.
“Xiaxia, please sit properly, accept me and Old Su’s bow. Although we are the main characters today, there wouldn’t be a today for me and Old Su without you.”
Lin Chuxia was pushed to the main seat and, no longer demure, sat down to officiate Su Wensong and Sun Lanlan’s wedding, receiving their bow.
After the wedding ceremony concluded, everyone joyously took their seats, just then, three people walked in from outside.