Yonghe Road

Chapter 5 Wedding
Seeing Lin Yingying coming to the Zhong family with tears in her eyes to look for someone, and seeing his elder brother worried and not daring to go home, Zhong Ziqi felt so sad.

He had been fatherless since childhood, and it was his eldest brother who left school in his teens to help his widowed mother support the family. He wasn't as clever as the other villagers, or as quick-witted or money-making savvy as they were. He was an honest man, relying only on his youthful strength. He worked whatever he could find, saving money to build a house for his family, to pay for his mother's medical treatment, and to support his and Chunshui's education.

Chunshui wasn't a good student, but he managed to finish vocational school. His grades weren't great either, but he excelled in sports, so he went on to high school and then a sports college. Unfortunately, he wasn't good at exams. After graduating from sports college, while his classmates were admitted to official positions as physical education teachers, he was reduced to a substitute teacher at the village elementary school.

The substitute teacher's salary was very low, just over 2,000 yuan. What good was that to a young man like him? He'd spend it all if he wasted a bit.

It was his turn to give back to his family, but he couldn't come up with a single cent to help his eldest brother pay the bride price. Seeing that his eldest brother's marriage was about to fall through, and Lin Yingying's belly was still pregnant with their Zhong family's child, but was facing the risk of miscarriage, Zhong Ziqi felt like a huge stone was weighing on his heart.

Chunshui was right to scold him. Why did he only think about marrying Chunshui off to get the betrothal money? He could also "get married off" and get the betrothal money for his elder brother.

"Secretary Wang has a wide network of contacts and knows many good families. Could you introduce me to a family with only daughters? I can find a son-in-law for them..."

Wang Zian glanced at Zhong Ziqi, took the teacup from him, and said, "You want to wipe out the whole family? That's a nice thought."

"No," Zhong Ziqi explained anxiously, "Wang Boya, you are my best friend, how can you not understand my feelings? I just want to raise some betrothal money for my eldest brother. Girls get betrothal money when they get married. If I marry into the family, it is equivalent to marrying, so I should also get a betrothal money, right? With the betrothal money, my eldest brother can marry Lin Yingying, and Lin Yingying won't have to abort the baby in her belly. She has already aborted two children for my eldest brother. If she can't keep the third one, she may never be a mother in this life..."

Zhong Ziqi became more and more anxious as he spoke. He grabbed the entire teapot and tilted his head back to pour tea.

Wang Zian waited until he had finished the entire teapot before saying, "I understand how you feel, but don't rush into anything. I'll talk to my dad and see if he can lend you two hundred thousand yuan so that your brother and Yingying can get married smoothly. Then, your brother can earn money and pay him back slowly."

Zhong Ziqi was deeply moved by Wang Zian's words, "Wang Boya, I was wrong to hit you last time."

"That's not wrong. It was indeed me who kidnapped Chunshui." Wang Zian smiled at Zhong Ziqi.

When Zhong Chunshui was mentioned, Zhong Ziqi suddenly became energetic and asked Wang Zian, "An'an, tell me the truth, where did Chunshui go?"

"I'm chasing my dream."

■

Half a month later, Wang Zian transferred 200,000 yuan to Zhong Ziqi's account, and then the Zhong and Lin families began to prepare for the wedding in full swing.

First, the Zhong family invited "Chilang", a highly respected She ethnic group in the village, to go to the Lin family with a betrothal gift to propose marriage.

Chi Lang wore traditional She ethnic costumes, a phoenix crown on his head, and held an exquisite wooden box in his hand, which was filled with gifts such as glutinous rice and red dates that symbolized good luck. He came to the Lin family, bowed to Lin Yingying's parents, and began to propose marriage.

Because Lin Dangdang had already received a betrothal gift of 100,000 yuan from the Zhong family into her bank card the day before, she put on a warm face to welcome Chi Lang. He led relatives and friends to hang big red lanterns in front of the door, set up tables and chairs to welcome guests in the yard, and took out Lin Yingying's engagement letter to exchange it with Zhong Ziwang's engagement letter brought by Chi Lang.

The two families also invited a fortune teller to match the two and select an auspicious day and time for the wedding.

On the wedding day, the She ethnic minority people of Baile Village spontaneously came to the Zhong family's house to help. The Zhong family's wedding procession set off in a grand procession toward the Lin family. Eight strong young men carried the bridal sedan chair, while musicians played suona, gongs, and drums, providing a lively performance. Along the way, villagers and tourists stopped to watch, and children excitedly ran and jumped behind the procession.

In the wedding procession, Chi Lang said in She language: "Everyone, hurry up and get to the Lin family quickly. Don't miss the auspicious time!"

The travelers all responded in unison: "Okay!"

The trees on both sides of the road were all decorated with red silk, and the wedding-welcoming suona music was played even louder. Joyful She songs accompanied the suona music, spreading all the way, and the joy spread all the way to the Lin family.

If the She ethnic group intermarries with the She ethnic group, the woman's family usually holds two wedding banquets before the man's family goes to pick up the bride.

First there is a lunch, called a settling-in wine, and the wedding procession members are invited to sit at the head of the table.

After lunch, the "Borrowing Pot Ceremony" was held. Chi Lang brought a rice sieve, on which were placed a pair of lit red candles, two pieces of tofu, a piece of meat, a chef's sauce, and a pair of leg wraps. After bowing to the Kitchen God, he recited the "Borrowing Pot" lyrics: "Lang'er lives in the mountains, often sees firewood and forests, and rarely goes to the school. It is difficult to complete the ancient rituals. Please forgive me if I make mistakes. I hope my aunt and uncle will be more tolerant."

The women's representative, Chi Niang, then spoke: "Today we have arrived at Taigong Township. Taigong lives in a beautiful lodge. Qilin and lion stand before the gate, golden rooster and phoenix stand behind the lodge. Dragon and horse meet in the lodge, Guanyin sits in the center. The golden lodge door is open, and my lover has come to borrow a pot."

Next, they recited riddles about cooking utensils. The aunts and sisters-in-law hid all the cooking utensils first. When Chi Lang recited a riddle, the aunts and sisters-in-law took out one of them, such as: "I'll lend you a square wall (stove) with a dragon pond in the center (iron pot), I'll lend you two bronze mirrors facing the moonlight (pot lid), I'll lend you a pair of golden roosters bathing (wooden structure)..."

If there is anything you missed, you have to start over again.

After all thirty or forty kinds of kitchen utensils were read out and borrowed, Chi Lang held the blade of the kitchen knife towards himself and bowed to the chef. The chef took it and bowed again. Then, he gave the red envelope and meat to the chef, and the leg bandage to the woman who was making the fire.

The pot-borrowing ceremony is completed.

After the pot-borrowing ceremony, Chilang slaughtered the chicken. He was required not to let a drop of chicken blood drip outside the bowl, or he would be fined a bowl of wine for every drop. To liven things up, the sisters-in-law would deliberately bump Chilang, causing him to lose his balance and spill chicken blood. If he refused to drink, the sisters-in-law would smear the pot smoke on his face, hold him down, pinch his nose, and force the wine in his mouth. Everyone celebrated, wishing the newlyweds prosperity and good fortune.

In the evening, the man will represent the woman to entertain the guests, and the woman's close relatives will sit at the head of the table.

The bride's side sends a representative, "Chi Niang," who leads the bridesmaids and brings a barrel tray to toast. A pair of red candles and a pair of wine glasses are placed on the tray. The toast begins with the chief uncle. After the bridesmaids tell Chi Niang the title of "uncle," Chi Niang sings a toast song to the uncle: "A pair of wine cups, blooming and red, are brought to the table to toast the uncle. I toast your uncle with double wine, and the feast is perfect and double."

After the singing, the bridesmaid filled two glasses with wine, and Chi Niang raised the glasses to toast her uncle. The uncle put the red envelope into the bucket plate and clinked glasses with Chi Niang to drink it.

They took turns like this and toasted the guests at each table. The red envelopes piled up into a pointed hill on the bridesmaid's bucket plate. Chi Niang's voice was almost hoarse from singing, so she got some of the red envelopes as a salary, and the bridesmaids also got some, which was euphemistically called "sisterly money". The majority of the remaining red envelopes were given to the bride to take to her husband's family. When she gave birth to a child in the future, she would make a hat, a silver medal, etc. for the child.

After dinner, Chi Niang and Chi Lang would sing songs together. All the women in the village who could sing would come and sing with Chi Lang, Xing Lang and others in the wedding procession. They would sing until late at night, or even for the whole night.

On the day of the wedding, when the procession arrives, the bride's family of the She ethnic minority will set off three double-bang firecrackers. They will also have the bride's sisters-in-law hold fir branches and block the road outside the gate, signaling that the groom will sing songs that evening. The Chilang will then break off a small fir branch and throw it above the road, then break off two small branches and throw them below, then set off a large number of firecrackers and hand a red envelope to the bride's sisters-in-law. If the bride's sisters-in-law are welcoming the bride behind closed doors, they will set off a large number of firecrackers outside and then slip a large red envelope through the crack of the door, asking the bride's sisters-in-law to open it from the inside.

But the Lin family is not She people, and the marriage customs of the two ethnic groups are still different.

When the Zhong family's wedding procession arrived at the Lin family's gate, the brother-in-law Lin Dangdang personally participated in the door-blocking ceremony.

The Lin family's front door was tightly shut, a large red padlock hanging from it. Lin Dangdang, along with his family and friends, stood before the gate, riddle cards in hand. He said to Zhong Ziwang, "If you want to marry my sister, you'll have to get past me first! I've asked the secretary-general of the city's lantern riddle association to create a few riddles. If you can guess them all..."

The secretary-general of the city's lantern riddle association was surnamed Lin, a relative of the Lin family. Lin Dangdang had asked him to come up with a few riddles, seemingly a casual task, but now, in front of the wedding procession, he was being flattered as if he had made some impressive connections. Zhong Ziwang, not well educated, immediately blushed and panicked at the thought of playing such a word game. Before he even started to guess the riddle, he was already stuttering and blushing.

Zhong Ziqi spoke up for Zhong Ziwang and said to Lin Cangdang, "When we She people get married, we don't like guessing riddles. We She people have always used songs to express our feelings. Today, let's have a singing competition with my brother-in-law. If he can't sing along with our She songs, we'll force him into this house."

After Zhong Ziqi finished speaking, he didn't care whether Lin Dangdang agreed or not, and started singing at the top of his voice: "From Pangu creating the world to the present day, how many kinds of hearts do people have in the world? Who has a kind heart and speaks the truth, and who has a vicious heart and deceives others..."

As Zhong Ziqi began to sing, a spark of his own sang like a prairie fire. All the She people in the wedding procession joined in the singing, and soon the sound became a unified wave: "From Pangu creating the world to the present day, each mountain has its own people; each river has its own fish; each emperor has his own ministers..."

The Lin family members, led by Lin Dangdang, were immediately dumbfounded. If they had gone to KTV, they could still shout a few lines of "Only those who work hard can win", but in broad daylight, in front of the singing and dancing She people, they did not dare to wield the big axe in front of Lu Ban.

Not to mention singing duets, they didn't understand She language at all and had no idea what the wedding procession was singing. They just saw them singing with great enthusiasm.

The She song, led by Zhong Ziqi, is called "Gao Huang Ge," also known as "Panhu Ge" and "Lin Bao Wang Ge." It is a narrative ancestral song of the She ethnic group and a heroic epic. The lyrics are composed of multiple sections of four lines and seven words, totaling 64 sections, each with four lines, for a total of 4 lines.

Guessing riddles is not good, but as a She ethnic group, they are good at singing She songs. After Zhong Ziqi led the wedding procession to sing the entire "Gao Huang Song", Zhong Ziwang also opened his throat and sang "Jiao Lian".

This is a mountain song popular in the She villages and between the towering mountains. In the past, when the She people were working in the mountains, they would sing "Jiao Lian" to cheer themselves up when they were tired, and to celebrate a good harvest. The lyrics are very unique. Unlike the four-line seven-word form of "Gao Huang Ge", both are single-sentence five-line seven-word forms:
"The man is from one mountain and the woman is from another, just like the lotus and the peony; the man is like Liang Shanbo and the woman is like Zhu Yingtai; the two are destined to be together..."

"Jiao Lian" has a free rhythm from beginning to end. You can only hear Zhong Ziwang dragging his voice freely. Every note is full of strong mountain colors, and it also expresses his confidence as a She ethnic man.

At this moment, Zhong Ziwang was wearing a red gown and a mandarin jacket decorated with gorgeous dragon and phoenix patterns. He was dressed like a groom of the She ethnic group. He exuded a rare confidence from head to toe, and he looked dazzling.

Zhong Ziwang's She song completely stunned the people who were coming to the Lin family to stop the door. They forgot to stop the door, forgot to ask for red envelopes, and forgot to speak.

At this moment, a She song was also heard from inside the gate. It was a melodious female voice singing: "Yesterday I heard that Chi Lang was coming. Sisters stood shoulder to shoulder behind the gate. Sisters built a long road together, just for Chi Lang to visit."

Lin Dangdang stretched out her little finger and dug her ear.

This singing voice is very similar to that of her younger sister Lin Yingying. When did she learn to sing She songs? She must have learned it from Zhong Ziwang when they were dating. It is true that when you marry a chicken, you follow the chicken; when you marry a dog, you follow the dog. When you marry a She people, the whole mountain roars.

Unfortunately, the Zhong family has already paid enough for the bride price, and his sister will soon marry a member of the She ethnic group. As her brother, he no longer has the right to interfere with what songs his sister sings.

Lin Dangdang felt a little unhappy, as if she had sold her sister for 100,000 yuan. Lin Dangdang then remembered that she had accepted the betrothal money from the Zhong family but had not prepared any dowry for Lin Yingying. Her parents suggested that they use half of the 100,000 yuan betrothal money to buy a dowry for Lin Yingying, but Lin Dangdang rejected the idea, saying that they would help Lin Yingying manage the dowry money first. In case Lin Yingying married into the Zhong family and the Zhong family treated her badly, she would still have a dowry to rely on.

Only Lin Dangdang himself knew that the money had gone into his pocket, so how could he possibly return it to Lin Yingying?

Although no money was given, Lin Dangdang prepared rice, peanuts, corn and other seeds as a dowry for Lin Yingying in accordance with She ethnic customs, implying that after marrying into the Zhong family, Lin Dangdang felt that he had fulfilled his brotherly love for Lin Yingying.

When Lin Dangdang was feeling moved by herself, Chi Lang's singing brought her back to her chaotic thoughts. She only heard him singing: "I left the dormitory this morning, carrying a lot of southern goods, cakes, tea and noodles as gifts, and carried them to my mother's cave..."

Someone inside the door shook vigorously, and the large red lock on the outside loosened, the door opened, and Lin Yingying, wearing a gorgeous She ethnic wedding dress, walked out, surrounded by bridesmaids. The people who were blocking the door to greet her hurriedly made way, and Lin Dangdang was also squeezed aside by the crowd.

The people in the wedding procession pushed Zhong Ziwang forward, and the newlyweds were squeezed in the center of the crowd. They were a perfect match, both handsome and beautiful.

The She song sounded again, and Zhong Ziwang carried Lin Yingying on his back on the bridal sedan and went to the Zhong family to get married.

The Zhong family's home was decorated with lanterns and colorful lights, a festive atmosphere abounding. In the center of the hall stood an altar, upon which were placed ancestral tablets and incense sticks. Red silk curtains hung on either side, and the floor was covered with flowers and colored paper.

Only Huifang was sitting in the hall. She was wearing festive She ethnic costumes, looking like a grandma, with a smile she had never worn before on her face.

The master of ceremonies called out, "The auspicious time has arrived. Please invite the bride and groom to enter!"

Zhong Ziwang walked slowly into the lobby holding Lin Yingying's hand, both of them smiling and looking at each other in amorous glances.

After paying homage to heaven and earth, ancestors and parents, everything settled down. Amidst firecrackers, joy and the laughter of guests, the bride and groom were sent to the bridal chamber, the guests took their seats and the wedding banquet began.

No matter who gets married in Baile Village, Secretary Wang Kai is invited to attend the wedding banquet. As the head of the Baile Village, Secretary Wang Kai naturally has to give him the honor. Seeing Zhong Ziwang and Lin Yingying finally get married, Secretary Wang Kai is happy for the widow Huifang from the bottom of his heart. This orphan and widowed family has had a very difficult life for decades.

When Zhong Ziwang and Lin Yingying came over to toast Secretary Wang Kai, Secretary Wang Kai not only gave them a pair of big red envelopes in front of everyone, but also presented them with a poem: "I wish you two a happy marriage, a long life together, and a bright future with a united heart!"

"Good!" Everyone cheered and applauded.

Secretary Wang Kai drank the wine offered by the newlyweds, his face flushed. He smiled and said to Huifang and her son, as well as everyone else, "Today, the village committee has two important guests waiting for me to greet them. I have to leave first. Everyone, enjoy yourselves and share in Ziwang and Yingying's joy."

"Secretary Wang, thank you for your hard work." Everyone stood up and wanted to see Secretary Wang Kai out, but Secretary Wang Kai stopped them. Only Zhong Ziqi was left as the representative of the host family to see him out.

Zhong Ziqi escorted Secretary Wang Kai all the way to the door of his house. He looked around and saw that the guests were all having a banquet in the house and no one was paying attention to this place. Clerk Xiaoliang was also standing by the car on the roadside, far away, not getting close. He took out a note from his pocket mysteriously and handed it reverently to Secretary Wang.

"What?" Secretary Wang Kai was puzzled.

"IOU," Zhong Ziqi explained, "I checked online. IOUs are different. With an IOU, you can't sue me after three years. But with an IOU, if I don't pay you back, you can sue me after twenty years."

"What a mess!" Secretary Wang Kai scolded Zhong Ziqi and opened the IOU. It showed that Zhong Ziqi had borrowed 200,000 yuan from Secretary Wang Kai a month and a half ago. "When did you borrow the money from me?"

Secretary Wang Kai was bewildered, and Zhong Ziqi was also bewildered. Hadn't it been Secretary Wang Kai who lent them the money that allowed their eldest brother, Zhong Ziwang, to successfully marry his eldest sister-in-law, Lin Yingying? After deducting the betrothal gifts and wedding expenses, there was still enough money left over for his eldest sister-in-law's childbirth and confinement. Secretary Wang Kai's loan of 200,000 yuan was truly thoughtful.

"Seeing your eldest brother getting married, you're jealous and want to borrow money from me to get married? When did you start dating someone? Is he from Baile Village?"

When asked by Secretary Wang Kai, Zhong Ziqi replied blankly: "I don't have a partner yet."

"Then why do you want to borrow money? Wait until you find a girlfriend. Even if you find a girlfriend, I won't lend you money. If you want to get married, you should earn the money yourself." Secretary Wang Kai said, stuffing the IOU back into Zhong Ziqi's hand in a bad mood, took big strides, and followed the clerk Xiaoliang away.

(End of this chapter)