Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 97 I Can’t Laugh Anymore (Subscribe)

Niu Le's home is in the county town, in Meizi Lane, about two or three miles away from the Gao family mansion.

Meizi Lane lives up to its name, with almost every household planting plum trees. It is already late spring, and green fruits can already be seen on the plum trees. Some greedy children even pick them and eat them, their mouths watering from the sourness.

However, you will be scolded if you pick fruits from other people's houses. Everything is very precious these days. Unlike Chen Xuan's hometown, there are no professional fruit farmers. If someone has a fruit tree, many of the fruits will ripen and fall to the ground, but no one will pick them.

The three tiled houses are Niu Le's home. Compared with his neighbors on both sides, his house is quite good, because most of the families in Yang County live in mud-walled huts, and brick and tile houses are only affordable for well-off families.

Niu Le had a job in the Gao family and had a good income. Compared with his neighbors, his family was quite prosperous, otherwise he would not have been able to marry a daughter-in-law as beautiful as Xiaojuan. Of course, if he wanted, it would be very easy for him to marry a daughter-in-law just by relying on his identity as a guard of the Gao family. However, in the Gao family, he had seen a lot and his standards were high. He did not like the girls of ordinary families at all. Although Xiaojuan was a maid, she could read and write, which was much better than the girls of ordinary families who could not read a single word. In the future, she could also teach her children to read and write, which could save a lot of money.

There are sticks and stone locks in the corner of the courtyard. I guess Niu Le often practices martial arts at home.

Although the guard work is easy, it is also dangerous at times. You have to work in wind and rain, and the money is not easy to earn.

His parents, grandparents, elderly grandfather, two younger brothers and sisters are all alive, three generations living together, and the family is prosperous.

It can be seen that Niu Le's family members all have certain martial arts skills, which should be a family inheritance. His thirteen or fourteen-year-old brother is very sturdy, and his ten-year-old sister has begun to show the style of a tomboy.

Not every girl who practices martial arts has a good figure and good looks. In fact, most women who practice martial arts have big hands and feet, unless they practice advanced martial arts, but how can ordinary people get access to them?

The Gao family has many female bodyguards who look like they can kill a handsome man with one punch. It is rare to find a beauty like Leng Bing.

With the arrival of the wedding procession, Niu Le's family ushered in the most lively moment, and many neighbors came to watch and help.

But the so-called liveliness was only relative. There were only seven or eight tables in the whole yard, with a total of thirty or forty guests. There were only four dishes on the table, and only one plate of meat. This made many people around drool.

Most of them should be relatives of Niu Le's family. Almost all of them are dressed simply. Well, "simple" is just a more literary way of saying it. In fact, their clothes are all patched up. Maybe they are wearing the most decent clothes to congratulate.

These people were naturally curious about the bride, but their eyes were more fixed on the food on the table. They were probably starving just to have this good meal. You must know that ordinary people could only eat meat a few times in a year or two. This was the most true portrayal of ordinary people here.

When the bride arrived, an elderly man who must have been invited temporarily and had some influence acted as the master of ceremonies. He simply said a few nice words and couldn't utter many sour words. Then the process of worshiping heaven and earth and sending her to the bridal chamber began. It was very simple and there wasn't much to watch at all.

Anyway, after witnessing the whole process, Chen Xuan felt that it was "bland" and it was difficult for him to appreciate the festive and noisy atmosphere of a wedding.

But for an ordinary family, marrying such a good wife is enough to make them happy. They don’t have so much money to be particular. Wouldn’t it be better to keep the money for living?

It is worth mentioning that the arrival of Chen Xuan and others made Niu Le's family very proud. Uncle Niu's face was flushed, as if he was drunk. He wanted to shout with all his might, "Young Master Gao, come to my house for the wedding."

Are you kidding? What's Gao Jingming's status? He's the brother-in-law of Prince Qing. He's not even worthy of being invited with a sedan chair carried by eight people. Yet he came here on his own initiative and brought gifts. It's like smoke rising from the ancestral grave. If I tell people that my son Niuzi is getting married, Young Master Gao will come to congratulate him. It's such an honor.

Uncle Niu was in good health. He walked quickly to Gao Jingming and bowed, then personally invited him to sit at the main seat. He looked like he wanted to worship Gao Jingming, and in fact, he almost did that.

It was probably because Mr. Yushan taught him well that Gao Jingming was still very polite at this time and did not put on airs. Otherwise, if he was a little more dissolute and set the house on fire on the Niu family's wedding day, people would probably help him pass the torches. If he did that, the Gao family would have to be treated better. But since it was a good thing, relatives and friends would probably give them a thumbs up and congratulate them. This is called prosperity.

After taking his seat, Gao Jingming kept looking towards the bridal chamber, clearly he had nothing good to say.

Chen Xuan naturally sat at the same table with Gao Jingming. Xiao Cai and Xiao Ye served Gao Jingming on both sides, but they were not qualified to sit down. There were only Gao Jingming and Chen Xuan at the table. The others did not dare to get close. The few guards who followed them were not just for show.

People also knew that Gao Jingming was a noble man, so naturally they would not come to bring bad luck upon themselves.

This made the whole thing seem a bit out of place. Chen Xuan didn't feel any sense of participation at all, and instead felt very bored.

It is worth mentioning that after Gao Jingming took his seat, the table had extra dishes added temporarily. A fat chicken and a pot of stewed fish were soon served. These were probably the best things the Niu family had at the moment, and they were used to entertain Gao Jingming.

In fact, it was a waste. Chen Xuan and his two children could not eat much at all, but they would not waste it. Afterwards, many people would clean the bones.

Perhaps it was because small families did not have so many requirements. After the bride was sent to the bridal chamber, she did not wait until dark. Instead, she changed her clothes and came out to kowtow to the elders together with Niu Le. At this time, the elders would give some kowtow money. If both the man and the woman were present, it would be called "double blessing", and if only one person was present, it would be called "ten thousand blessings".

After bowing to the few elders, he began to toast to relatives and friends. The first to be toasted was of course Chen Xuan and his table, because Gao Jingming had the most powerful status.

Gao Jingming's arrival moved Xiao Juan and Niu Le almost to tears. The couple raised their glasses and bowed, saying, "Thank you for coming to congratulate us, Master. I hope you enjoy your meal and drinks. Please forgive me for the poor hospitality. We'll drink to you, Master. Please feel free to do as you please."

Xiao Cai and the others poured tea for Gao Jingming, using it instead of wine. This guy stood up pretentiously and said, "Well, this, that, you two should live a good life in the future. I wish you a happy marriage and a son soon."

"Thank you, young master. We will definitely live up to your expectations. Please take a seat, young master," Niu Le and Xiao Juan bowed again after finishing a glass of wine.

Niu Le was fine. Xiao Juan was a girl after all, and after drinking a full glass of cheap wine, her cheeks flushed slightly. On her wedding day, she looked more beautiful than a flower. Then they toasted Chen Xuan, thanking him for coming to congratulate them and wishing him a good meal, drink, and have fun. Chen Xuan also drank a glass with tea instead of wine.

During this time, he noticed the wine prepared by the Niu family. They were all turbid and inferior wines that needed to be filtered through a wine sieve.

This made him wonder whether distilled liquor would have a future in this world. It was hard to say. People were used to low-alcohol, low-quality liquor. What if they couldn't drink distilled liquor?

Then he put the thought aside. What was the point of pondering it? With his current status, even if he succeeded, he still wouldn't belong to the Gao family. No matter how much money he made, at most they would give him a small reward. Could it be that Chen Xuan was still qualified to work on his own? Even if he could work on his own, it would be difficult. The rules of the market can't be manipulated by just jumping in. Who knows, he might be taken advantage of.

"Why are you thinking so much about useless things? I'm Gao Jingming's personal secretary now. I don't have to worry about food and clothing. If I just give up, I can just lie down and rise to prominence in the future. Why bother with all that effort?"

After Niu Le and his wife said goodbye and went to toast other relatives and friends, Gao Jingming took a few sips without thinking about the intention of others to treat him with the best things. He wiped his mouth and whispered to Chen Xuan: "Come on, Xuan, follow me."

"Where are you going?" Chen Xuan asked knowingly, probably knowing what this kid was up to.

"Just come," he urged.

Then he said to Xiao Cai, Geng Hong and the others: "Don't follow me, just do what you need to do."

After saying that, he dragged Chen Xuan away, not caring whether Chen Xuan wanted to eat or not. Chen Xuan almost rolled his eyes and said, "Just go with him. Just treat it as playing with a child. After all, playing with others is part of his job as a servant."

Geng Hong and the others knew what Gao Jingming wanted to do, so they could only let him do it and just protect the surroundings from any danger.

Gao Jingming took Chen Xuan and walked around to avoid other people's sight, then came to the back of Niu Le's house, quietly pushed open the window of the bridal chamber, and then the two children sneaked in and closed the window.

This kid, it seems like he was scouting the area by rolling his eyes before.

"Young Master, why are we going to someone else's bridal chamber when there's no bride to see?" Chen Xuan asked knowingly, and took a look around. The room was not big, and the furnishings were simple, but the bed and wardrobe were new, and there were red candles and wedding characters on the wall. It was quite festive, and there was finally a sense of joy.

Gao Jingming lowered his voice and said, "It's a wedding night, Ah Xuan, you don't understand this?"

Chen Xuan almost retorted to him, "Little brother, why don't you take a look at the time now? Isn't it too early to make a fuss in the bridal chamber?"
Gao Jingming took a quick look and dragged Chen Xuan under the bed, not afraid of the dust under the bed. He said proudly: "Xuan, we will hide here and give Niu Le and the others a scare."

Helpless, Chen Xuan joined in his antics. What if Niu Le frightened him to death, leaving Xiaojuan a widow? Besides, Niu Le was a martial artist. If he got stressed out, wouldn't he stab you to death? Probably not. He could already guess what he was doing, so how could Niu Le and Xiaojuan not know? They'd probably just turn a blind eye and go along with his act, just to keep the young master amused.

The two children were not crowded under the bed, but they were too bored. They waited and waited, and before they knew it, Gao Jingming fell asleep.

After waiting for a long time until it was dark, Chen Xuan wanted to beat Gao Jingming up. Why was he looking for trouble for no reason?

The guests of the Niu family gradually dispersed, and Niu Le and Xiaojuan returned to the bridal chamber. The two first looked around, and finally their eyes fixed on under the bed. They smiled at each other and pretended not to notice.

After they arrived, Chen Xuan quietly woke Gao Jingming up. The guy was stunned for a moment before he realized what he was going to do, and his face immediately became full of anticipation.

Probably because of the atmosphere, Niu Le, pretending not to know Chen Xuan and the others, looked at Xiao Juan and scratched his head and said, "My lady, you are so beautiful."

This sentence made Xiao Juan feel embarrassed, and she blushed and said, "It's not like we haven't seen each other before, husband, we should drink the wedding wine."

"Oh, yes, yes," Niu Le hurriedly went to pour the wine, and then the two of them drank the wedding wine with eyes wide open. There was no affectionate expression between them, as they didn't know each other for love.

When they were drinking the wedding wine, Gao Jingming came to the bedside and stared with wide eyes, with an expression as if to know how this was done.

After drinking the wedding wine, Niu Le was at a loss and said, "My wife, should we go to the bridal chamber?"

Xiaojuan blushed and lowered her head and hummed softly.

Niu Le was obviously a young boy, unlike the kids in Chen Xuan's hometown who knew everything. He was at a loss as to what to do, "Should I pull down your pants next?"

Gao Jingming burst out laughing on the spot. Seeing that he had been 'exposed', he simply crawled out and pointed at Niu Le and said breathlessly: "Hahaha, you're killing me with laughter. Should I pull down your pants next? Hahaha, ouch, I can't laugh anymore."

Chen Xuan was speechless and amused, which made him laugh along, and then he crawled out.

Then Niu Le Xiaojuan pretended to have just discovered them, and matched Gao Jingming's performance with surprise and said, "Master, why are you here..."

(End of this chapter)