Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 483: The Dowry I Collected, My Old Son Has Become a Success
The room was filled with laughter and joy. Although the three families met for the first time, they did not feel awkward at all. Everyone was smiling, passing cigarettes to each other and calling each other brother, brother, sister-in-law, sister...

With so many people in the east room, it didn't seem crowded, because the east room of old Sun's family was quite large, with enough space for three tables on the floor and two on the kang. Sun Jiwei had already prepared stools, and Er Niang had also prepared two pots of tea and snacks such as peanuts and melon seeds.

When Jun and Xu lifted the door curtain with half a piece of donkey meat and shouted, Er Niang's pupils trembled, and she slapped her thigh and said bluntly: "Oh my God! Why did they bring the donkey here?"

Sun Jiwei, Ye and Third Aunt were also quite surprised. You know, the price of donkey meat has always been higher than that of beef and mutton, and now Junxu is carrying half a donkey on his shoulders. Although this donkey is a small one, it must weigh at least 100 kilograms. How much does it cost?
"There's also a box of jellyfish!" Sun Lianxu said with a grin.

"Oh mom, this really cost my son-in-law a lot of money."

Er Niang clapped her hands and said that she was very happy because Guan Lei was willing to bring good things to his house, which showed that Guan Lei really regarded this place as his own home. Not to mention who paid for it, whoever bought it brought it to Old Sun's house. Guan Lei's family really had this intention!

Guan Lei said with a smile: "I didn't spend much. This box of jellyfish skins was bought by my uncle Wu, this half donkey was bought by my uncle Da, the rooster and goose, and a box of canned food and biscuits were bought by my uncle Xu, and I just bought some cigarettes and alcohol. It didn't cost much."

Sun Jiwei grinned and said, "Oh, my son-in-law is here, and my two brothers and sister-in-law are worried about him!"

Xu Laonian replied, "Second brother, why worry about it? Lei Zi and my old son are brothers. I treat him as my own child. This is what I should do."

Wu Zhouquan didn't finish his words, and said, "It's not that bad. My eldest brother passed away at that time. He pulled my hand and said that I must help take care of him. How could I just stand there and watch! Now that we are talking about this, second brother, although we just sat down and didn't get to know each other well, I can't help but speak out!"

Second Mother and Third Aunt asked Jun and Xu to move half a donkey, a big rooster, a big goose and other things to the west room, spread them on sacks and placed them on the kang, which just took up more than half of the kang. It was enough to show that Guan Lei really took a lot of things this time.

Guan Mei was sitting on the kang holding the child, next to her were Guan Hua, Sun Lianfang, Liu Lizhen, Han Fang, as well as Second Mother and Third Aunt who had just entered the room and were sitting on the edge of the kang. Xu Ning, Wu Hailong, Wang Hu and others were sitting on stools, holding tea cups or smoking, and listening quietly to Wu Zhouquan's chat.

Sun Jiwei waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about whether we are familiar with each other or not. This is all for the sake of the children. If you have anything to say, just say it, brother."

Wu Zhouquan glanced at Han Fang, who took out a cloth bag from her pocket and handed it to him. Wu Zhouquan took it and opened it while saying, "When my eldest brother passed away, he entrusted all the valuables in the family to me. I haven't mentioned it to Shitou over the years, but I mentioned it when he came home this time. He meant for me to hand it over to you personally as a betrothal gift."

"It's not a lot, just over 400 yuan, half a pound of gold sand and two silver ingots. Second brother, I feel a little bad about giving him such a small amount as a betrothal gift. I've discussed it with his aunt and decided to give him another 200 yuan, making it a total of 600 yuan, which is just the right amount for luck."

He had mentioned this to Xu Laonian and Liu Lizhen on the way here, so the two were not surprised at all. However, Xu Ning, who was sitting on a stool drinking tea, stood up and took a look. Among the more than 400 yuan in the cloth bag, there were two banknotes that were quite valuable in later generations, commonly known as the Big Black Ten or the Big White Edge.

Xu Ning had seen these two banknotes before. At that time, Guan Lei showed them off to him, saying that these two big black tens could buy a house. Xu Ning was very arrogant and retorted that they were not even enough for him to play for a night. Guan Lei got angry with him for a long time after hearing this.

But people nowadays don’t know that the Big Black Ten is valuable. They only know that expired coins have collection value. As for how much they are worth? No one knows. They are just gambling on the future.

Sun Jiwei's eyes were a little surprised. Originally, he didn't want a dowry. Where could he get the dowry when Guan Lei's family was so poor? He was ready to pay for the marriage of Sun Lianfang and Guan Lei out of his own pocket, but he didn't expect Wu Zhouquan to actually take out the dowry.

Sun Jiye, Second Mother, Third Aunt, and Sun Lianfang all felt a little moved. There was really nothing wrong with Wu Zhouquan towards Guan Lei's father, and this kind of brotherly friendship was very praiseworthy.

Before Sun Jiwei could say anything, Xu Laonian, who was standing by, took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "I have discussed this with his aunt and decided to give him 200 yuan as a gift. A total of 800 yuan sounds more auspicious!"

"Not that great. Eight hundred sounds auspicious." Liu Lizhen smiled.

Xu Liu and Wu Han had a meeting of their minds. This was the result of discussion, otherwise they would not have been so tacitly aligned.

But Xu Ning was a little surprised, for he didn't know in advance that his parents were going to give money to Guan Lei as a betrothal gift. Although two hundred yuan was not much for the Xu family, it was more than 40 days' salary for Xu Laonian, Xu Long and Xu Ning combined.

Xu Laonian and Liu Lizhen's consideration was that since Xu Ning and Guan Lei had become sworn brothers, Guan Lei would have to help manage the field and go hiking with Xu Ning in the future. No matter what the reason, the 200 yuan had to be paid. If not now, when?

At this time, Sun Lianfang glanced at Guan Lei with raised eyebrows, and seeing that he was full of confusion, she pouting her lips and grinned at Liu Lizhen.

Why was Guan Lei confused? He was not a fool. He knew from what Xu Laonian and Wu Zhouquan said that they had discussed it. As for when they discussed it, he thought it should be on the way here. At that time, Xu Laonian drove Wang Hu to Wu Hailong's car, Han Fang went to his car, and Wu Zhouquan drove the car and chatted with Xu Laonian and Liu Lizhen for more than half an hour...

After figuring out the key point, Guan Lei stood up quickly. He smiled and said, "My uncle and aunt have been very concerned about Lianfang and me. When we have dinner later, I must offer you a few more glasses of wine!"

Xu Laonian clapped his hands and said, "Good! There is nothing wrong with what you said. Otherwise, you have to toast me with wine. My son doesn't drink..."

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Dad, I don't usually drink, but today is my brother's big day, so I have to drink a little."

"What?" Xu Laonian thought he had misheard and tilted his head and pricked up his ears.

Liu Lizhen heard it very clearly and asked in surprise, "Ah? My son wants to drink?"

Sun Lianfang raised her hand and said, "Auntie, my brother went into the mountains to hunt black bears the night before last. He got soaked halfway through the journey. He drank a few sips to ward off the cold, but that still counts as breaking the rules!"

"Oh my god! My son has become a successful person. He used to refuse to drink even when I offered him the drink..."

Liu Lizhen was not like others. Her first reaction upon hearing the news was to complain or worry. She had wanted Xu Ning to drink for a long time, because if he didn't drink, how would he be able to have twins in the future?

Xu Laonian squinted at Xu Ning and said sternly, "Why do you still support him drinking? If he becomes like before, I'll see what you'll do!"

The room was full of people, but Liu Lizhen didn't give him face and said bluntly: "He is my son no matter what he is like, why do you care?"

"It's all because of you!"

"Hahaha……"

Everyone in the room burst into laughter.

After laughing, Sun Jiwei grinned and said, "I've heard that the way brothers and sisters get along is quite joyful. Today I see that it's really funny. Hey, I'm not laughing at you, I'm just envious..."

"Second brother, why are you envious of this? My sister-in-law seems to be very sensible."

"Her? Oh my god, last time I was thinking about what to do, I forgot what she told me to do, and she scolded me all afternoon. This girl scolded me so much that my ears turned red."

Wu Zhouquan laughed: "Hahaha, second brother, then we are almost the same. We are family members and we don't pretend. Your sister-in-law scolded me all night last time. I gnashed my teeth in my dreams."

"This is perfectly normal. As gentlemen, we should give way when we should..."

Liu Lizhen, Han Fang, Er Niang and San Shen didn't say anything, just smiled silently. They all had different personalities, but they definitely had the final say at home. In the words of the old ladies: You have to eat whatever I cook. If you don't want to eat, get out of here. It's yours. After serving the young ones, you have to serve the old ones. After serving the old ones, you have to serve you, an old bitch.

At this time, the noise in the house did not prevent Wu Jinbao from sleeping. He fell asleep in Guan Mei's arms, but it was too tiring to hold the child like this, so Guan Mei moved her buttocks off the ground and went to the west room with Aunt San, spread a mattress and a pillow made of cotton clothes, and put Wu Jinbao on it. When they returned to the east room, the gentlemen started talking about the betrothal gift again. This is how they chatted. They tended to go off topic, and then they would get back to the topic when they remembered.

"Eight hundred is a lot of betrothal gifts. I didn't even think about asking for it. Now that you've given it to me, I can't refuse. Wait until they're done with their affairs, and then let Lianfang take it back and let the young couple use it for their daily life!"

Er Niang glanced at Sun Jiwei and nodded, saying, "That's right, give the gift money to them as well."

"Now is the right time to renovate the house. I'll pay 1,000 yuan to renovate the house, make furniture, and buy home appliances..."

Xu Laonian waved his hand and said, "Why buy home appliances? They will be unused after they are sold. Let them eat at my place."

"Oh, how can I rely on you guys forever? They have to learn how to cook. To put it bluntly, if they don't have you guys, they won't be able to do anything. How can they eat out every day? Wouldn't that be a joke?"

Wu Zhouquan said: "Second brother, what you said is true. Little Shitou didn't have a good physique before, but I think his brother has trained him now, so he should work."

Han Fang said, "Oh, I was afraid that Shitou would get sick before, but I didn't expect that the more I protected him, the more it hurt him. This is my fault."

"Auntie, why should I blame you for this? You are doing this for my own good."

Sun Jiwei nodded and said, "As for the dowry, I asked his uncle to fix a tractor. The tractor will definitely be in place before they get married!"

"Are you really going to buy a tractor? Oh my god, how much will it cost?" Han Fang said.

"It won't cost much to buy an old tractor. He has to work with Erning, so it would be more convenient to have a tractor. No matter if it's good or bad, it's still a machine after all."

Xu Laonian smiled and said, "Okay, second brother, then it's settled! I'll make the decision for my nephew, second brother Wu?"

Wu Zhouquan nodded: "That's it! I'm actually quite happy. I didn't expect Shitou to find such a good father-in-law. This child has a hard life... Hey, why am I talking about this."

Sun Jiye said, "Brother Wu, let's talk about it later while we drink! It will be served as a snack."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about Lei Zi's childhood before, you can talk about it later."

"to make!"

Second Mother and Third Aunt went to the outer room and opened the pot, and then hurriedly put the food in the pot onto the plate. Sun Lianfang lifted the door curtain to greet Jun and Xu, and signaled them to go to the west room to get bowls and chopsticks...

Wu Jinbao was still sleeping. Children sleep a lot, and fifteen hours a day is not too much. Guan Mei carried him back to the east room, while Sun Jiwei, Xu Laonian and others also went to the west room.

There were ten dishes on the big round table and the kang table. According to the standards of the old Sun family, ten dishes seemed a little few, but these ten dishes were prepared by Second Mother and Third Aunt, Wei, Ye, Jun, Xu and Lianfang themselves. What could three kids prepare?

They could just help out. Apart from adding firewood to the fire and cleaning fish and cow hooves, the two old men didn't know how to cook. That's why it was all done by Second Aunt and Third Aunt. It wasn't a small amount.

Hot dishes include stewed ox and deer trotters, braised salmon, braised pork elbow, sweet and sour spare ribs, Feilong soup, beef stew with potatoes, and stir-fried venison. Cold dishes include a platter of red sausage and pine sausage, cucumber with jellyfish skin, and a platter of beef shank and pork head.

"Brothers, please sit down! What kind of wine do you want to drink? Moutai, Wuliangye, Daqu..."

Xu Laonian turned around and said, "I've been a little confused after drinking Wuliangye these days. I'm still more fond of Daqu. Angkor Wu?"

"Daqu is good. This wine tastes good."

Sun Jiwei smiled and said, "Then our tastes are similar. I also like to drink Daqu. This wine tastes smooth and not so strong. It won't hurt my head after drinking it."

"Not good!"

Sun Jiye looked at Xu Ning and said, "Can you be a little more careful? I haven't even had a drink with you yet."

"It's okay to have less, but you can't drink more. Just two cups."

"Okay! I'm giving you face today, Erning, would you like to try Moutai?" Sun Jiwei asked.

"No, I'd also like to drink Daqu."

"Oh my god, we are quite compatible. We can definitely drink together."

All the dishes were served, and the old women took off their shoes and sat on the kang. Since Guan Mei was still breastfeeding, she definitely couldn't drink. The rest of the people, Liu Lizhen, Han Fang, Er Niang, San Shen, Sun Lianfang, and even Guan Hua, all had wine glasses in front of them. They drank homemade low-alcohol fruit wine.

After Guan Lei filled everyone's glasses with wine, Sun Jiwei sat in the main seat, picked up the wine glass, and said, "Today, our three families finally met, and the matter of the two children has been settled. I am also at peace with it. Then let's not say anything. Let's take a sip first, then eat some food and drink!"

"It's done!"

Everyone raised their glasses at the same time, then tilted their heads back and took small sips. One should not drink too much on an empty stomach, as drinking too quickly can easily make one drunk.

Xu Ning stopped Guan Lei for a moment, otherwise he would have to drink half the cup. Sun Jiye said with a smile: "Brother, how much did Er Ning drink in the past?"

Xu Laonian glanced at the little guy and said, "It shouldn't be a problem for him to drink half a catty. He doesn't usually drink with me. He goes out to drink with his drinking buddies. That guy was drunk..."

Liu Lizhen sat on the kang and said, "That's better than crawling under the table."

"Hahaha……"

After everyone finished laughing, Sun Jiwei asked, "Why are you still drinking under the table?"

"Oh my god, he..."

Liu Lizhen was talking about Xu Laonian's glorious past deeds, and Xu Ning added some details, including Xu Laonian's night flirting with Diao Chan and the incident of him standing upside down with stove ash stuck on his head, which made everyone laugh.

But Xu Laonian didn't feel embarrassed. Instead, he smiled and said, "These are all trivial matters. Who hasn't done a few ridiculous things?"

(End of this chapter)