My village can't be like this

Chapter 631 Zhang Ping Gets Married
In the evening, Zhang An came to Zhang Ping's house.

At this time he found that there were quite a few people who had arrived earlier than him, and the yard was full.

But thinking back, this is really nothing strange. Over the past few decades, Zhang Jianwen's family has been so well-connected in the village.

Every time he called people over in the past, it was about village matters.

But this time it was different, it was entirely about their family affairs.

So many of the villagers who came today didn’t need Zhang Jianwen to call them, they just came on their own after they heard the news.

For this kind of thing, wouldn’t people think that it would be too hasty for me to go there on my own without being called?

This kind of idea would never exist in the village, because everyone has problems and needs everyone to work together.

Take weddings and funerals for example. Such big events cannot be handled by the host family alone because they simply do not have enough energy.

But it’s different if the neighbors and other village residents are enthusiastic about helping. They will help consider many details of things and then get them done, so the host can focus on the real business.

This is the most humane place in the village, and the reason why everyone will be eager to help no matter what happens to anyone's family.

After all, every family has old and young, and sooner or later one day your family will need everyone's help.

Just like Zhang Ping's home, so many people came today. Some of them came because of the favors their family had given out in the past, and others came to leave some favors so that it would be easier for them to come and visit in the future.

"Zhang An is here, we were still talking about you."

As soon as Zhang An walked in, Zhang Laosan waved at him.

"Oh? Why are you talking about me? Shouldn't we be talking about Zhang Ping today?"

Zhang An also looked cheerful as he walked towards the group of people including Zhang Laosan.

"Zhang Ping's problem is not that big of a deal. With so many of us here, are you afraid we can't handle it? We are just asking if you have any money-making ideas this year."

Zhang Laosan waved his hand and said, then stared at Zhang An with shining eyes.

He was the first person in the village to grow kiwi fruit, and he was also one of the few villagers in the village who grew kiwi fruit on a relatively large scale.

In the past two years, he has made a lot of money following Zhang An, and his family has gone from being reluctant to eat meat to becoming one of the best-off families in the village.

So if Zhang An talks about ways to make money now, he will definitely trust him unconditionally.

"It's not easy to come up with money-making ideas. Besides, the orchard you're managing is not small. You just need to put your energy into it honestly. The return you get will definitely not be low. Besides, our village is developing so well now. If you follow the pace of the village, you will definitely not have a bad life."

Zhang An was very clear about what Zhang Laosan meant, and the people around him probably had the same idea.

But the village is developing well now, and he doesn't want to bother thinking about these things at all.

Anyway, according to the current situation in the village, as long as everyone keeps up with the pace of the village, life will definitely get better day by day.

"Hehe, that's the truth."

Zhang Laosan didn't think much about what Zhang An said, because the situation in his family was exactly the same as what Zhang An said, and he just had to keep it going.

But it was different for the other people around him. When Zhang An first mentioned kiwi fruit planting, none of them believed it.

Later, after the first group of people tasted the benefits, they joined in and got the upper hand.

But compared with people like Zhang Laosan, there is still a big gap.

So now I’m very disappointed that I haven’t been able to get any benefit from Zhang An.

After a while, the old lady in the kitchen finished her work with the help of several women in the village.

Everyone in the yard stood up and started moving the tables, chairs and benches.

There were four tables from Zhang Ping's main hall to the yard.

They just came here to discuss things in advance, so only a few people came.

If we wait until Zhang Ping's wedding day, it will be extremely lively. The whole village will surely come. Zhang An estimates that even a place as big as the threshing ground will not be able to accommodate them all.

After three rounds of drinks, the fight was quickly over.

Because today we are mainly here to discuss things, not to drink and eat.

"Village Chief, you don't have to worry about buying groceries and the kitchen. Uncle Jianzhong and I will take care of it. We will be able to come up with a menu tomorrow at the latest. With Uncle An here, buying groceries won't take any time at all."

Before Zhang Jianwen opened his mouth, Zhou Yang took the lead in taking charge of all the matters in the kitchen.

Even though he said it so easily, this matter is not easy at all.

After all, everyone knows that the most important thing about holding a banquet in the countryside is eating together.

Because from selecting and choosing vegetables to washing, cutting and cooking them, a lot of manpower is required.

Zhou Yang and Zhang Jianzhong are the only two people in the village who can be solely responsible for the kitchen of a banquet, and their coordination ability in this regard is impeccable.

Now that the two of them are taking responsibility together, they can definitely get things done properly, just like when Zhang An got married.

"Okay, then I'll leave this to you. Please work hard."

Zhang Jianwen is not pretentious. This is also the reason why he called Zhou Yang and Zhang Jianzhong over tonight.

"Then we old guys can't come here to drink for nothing. We can't help with other things, so we will be responsible for the cooking."

The old men led by Mr. Huang were unwilling to be left behind. After taking a puff of smoke, they took over the task of cooking.

Cooking here is simply about cooking raw rice into cooked rice.

However, it is not easy to cook for so many people. Not only must the meals be delicious, but every meal must also be similar. Therefore, the person in charge of cooking needs to have rich experience.

The old men like Mr. Huang are the best cooks in the village.

"Then leave the remaining task of serving the guests to us."

Zhang An and Huang Ming looked at each other and took the last job. No one had expected that one day they would have to fight for work.

However, Huang Ming and Zhang An are only in their twenties, so it is absolutely appropriate to let them take on the task of serving dishes.

No matter which village it is, this kind of thing is the task of young men in their twenties, and people over 30 or 40 years old will not participate.

"No, that won't work. You have other tasks to do. You still need to help greet the people from the Forestry Bureau."

Zhang Jianwen shook his head. Since Zhang Ping and Bai Xue were both from the Forestry Bureau, there would definitely be a lot of people from the Forestry Bureau present on the wedding day.

Zhang An is familiar with them, so he is the most suitable person to be in charge of the reception.

"Then leave it to me. Don't worry, Uncle Village Chief, I will definitely bring people to do this beautifully when the time comes."

When Huang Ming heard that Zhang An had other things to do, he quickly offered to take over the task.

In the past, he always followed Zhang An.

Now that Zhang An is not around, he can finally come to the fore.

Although serving dishes also involves other miscellaneous tasks, he still has people under him, so he is still a leader after all. Hearing this, Zhang Jianwen nodded, and he thought so too.

All matters had been arranged, and the only important thing left was picking up the bride.

"As for the bride-picking, I'll trouble you guys."

Zhang Jianwen looked at Li Hongbin, Chen Ze and Ding Yi and said.

Zhang Jianwen attached great importance to this bride-receiving event, because Bai Xue's family was not only from the city, but also not an ordinary family.

He didn't want to neglect the proper ceremony for his future daughter-in-law and in-laws.

So this time when he picked up the bride, he directly hired four or five cars, and they were not ordinary cars.

In fact, at the beginning, Zhang Jianwen was embarrassed to trouble Chen Ze and Ding Yi.

After all, they are not villagers, so it would not be good to speak rashly.

But when they met Zhang Jianwen on the road and heard about this, he came forward to help.

As for Zhang An and Zhang Jianwen, there is no need to mention them by name. As nephews of the family, no one can be missing without him.

"Don't worry, uncle. We will definitely bring your daughter-in-law back intact when the time comes."

The three of them accepted the task very readily, which was why they came here on their own initiative.

In the past two years, because of Zhang An, they have become very familiar with Zhou Yang, Zhang Ping and even Huang Ming.

If you have time, you should definitely help your friends.

Finally, after the matter was settled, everyone went their separate ways, but Zhang Jianzhong, Zhou Yang and Zhang An remained.

Zhang Jianzhong and Zhou Yang are in charge of the main kitchen, and now they have to hurry to get the menu out.

However, the number of tables of dishes to be ordered, the number of dishes to be served on each table, and the standards of the dishes should all be determined according to the host's wishes.

As for Zhang An, he was left behind simply because he wanted to go shopping for groceries.

Soon, Zhang Jianwen and the others decided on the menu.

This time he changed his previous habit of saving and wanted to do better, because he only had one son, Zhang Ping, and now that he had accomplished a big thing, he was naturally willing to spend money.

Pork is the biggest part of the banquet, but there is no need to worry about this because the two big fat pigs left over from the Chinese New Year by Zhang Jianwen will definitely be enough.

But other things are indispensable, because this time they are going to have dozens of tables, and there are many things that need to be bought.

"Uncle, you don't have to buy fish, chickens, or ducks. Just come to my place and catch as many as you need and I'll pay you the normal market price."

These things all need to be bought, but if you buy them in advance they won’t last too long.

So Zhang An asked them to go directly to his home to get it, so that they wouldn't have to worry about the animals dying prematurely if they were kept for too long.

"No, the things you have are not worth buying at normal prices. I can't let you lose money."

Zhang Jianwen refused without even thinking about it. Others might not know this, but he knew that none of the things Zhang An's family raised were cheap.

"Don't worry, uncle. I will definitely not lose money. Just give me the normal market price. At most, I won't make any money. You are not outsiders."

According to the market price of chickens and ducks, Zhang An really does not lose money. After all, his family has always raised them in the wild, and the investment cost is not high.

As for the fish, there is even less cost. If he wasn't afraid that Zhang Jianwen would think too much, he would have wanted to provide it for free.

Finally, Zhang Jianwen and Zhang Ping were persuaded, but they wanted to find a way to repay such a big favor in the future.

On the eighth and ninth days of the first lunar month, businesses were already open in both the town and the city.

As soon as Zhang An got up, Zhang Ping called him to have breakfast, and then drove a pickup truck to take Zhou Yang, Zhang Jianzhong and Huang Ming to buy groceries.

"Why don't we go to the city? I don't think we can buy any vegetables in this town."

When they arrived at Hongyan Town and saw the sparse stalls in the vegetable market, Zhang An didn't even get out of the car.

"Then go ahead. Who would have thought that after the market opened this year, there would be so few people setting up stalls."

The business in Hongyan Town was already open on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, but Zhang Jianzhong never expected that there would be so few people setting up stalls here, and even fewer shops. It might be that they were still celebrating the New Year.

So they had to turn around and go to the city to have a look.

Arriving in the city, Zhang An drove straight to the farmers' market.

This place is incomparable to Hongyan Town. The stalls in the farmer's market are packed to the brim, with not a single one empty.

The surrounding stores were all opened and displayed their own goods.

Afterwards, Zhang An and Zhang Ping followed Zhang Jianzhong and Zhou Yang like followers.

Along the way, Zhou Yang and Zhang Jianzhong were responsible for purchasing, while Zhang An and Huang Ming were just porters.

Of course, in addition to the role of carrying, Zhang An also has to act as a tool to pay the bill.

As the day was getting closer, Zhang Ping's family was too busy to get away, so they gave the money for buying groceries to Zhang An.

The bride-picking day is the eleventh day of the first lunar month, so the man's banquet has already started on the tenth day.

Early in the morning of the eleventh day of the first lunar month, the villagers were already helping to move things to the threshing ground.

The Chinese New Year is already a very lively day, and now there is a banquet in the threshing ground, which makes it twice as lively.

In just one morning, the kitchen was set up and everything was on track.

Before dawn the next morning, the people in charge of welcoming the bride had already gathered at the entrance of the village.

Because it takes quite a while to get to the city, we have to set off more than two hours in advance.

At this time, several cars were all hung with big red flowers made of red cloth, which looked very festive.

When we arrived in the city, the sky was no longer dark, but gloomy. It was not until we arrived downstairs of Bai Xue's house that it became dawn.

It was also very lively at Bai Xue's house, and the relatives had been waiting for a long time.

Although Bai Xue's parents had already said that there was no need to make a big fuss, but when the four cars came to pick up the bride, the relatives of the bride were all smiling and very satisfied.

During the subsequent bride-receiving process, there was no evil custom of making trouble at a wedding, nor were there any complicated customs of ethnic minorities, so when the auspicious time arrived, they accompanied the groom Zhang Ping to receive the bride.

"To be honest, when I saw you two before, I never thought that this day would come."

Zhang An was the driver for the two newcomers today. On the way, he couldn't help but sigh and say to them.

"Hehe, this might be fate, it's indescribable."

Although Zhang Ping was not as shy as usual, he did not say a word. Bai Xue, on the other hand, was much more open. It was probably because they were both too familiar with Zhang An.

(End of this chapter)