Gu Jinglian carried Chu He towards the nuptial chamber. A group of people were already gathered outside the door. When they saw Gu Jinglian approaching with Chu He in his arms, they held up the colorful petals and sprinkled them over the couple.
Chu He buried her face in Gu Jinglian’s chest, while the man subconsciously shielded her to prevent the confetti from getting into her eyes. After the two of them entered the nuptial chamber, Gu Jinglian carried Chu He to the bed and sat her there.
The bed had been made one night in advance. It was decorated with red embroidered bed sheets and covers, as well as a Quilt of a Hundred Sons, which was stuffed with dates, peanuts, cinnamon, and lotus seeds, forming the words of an auspicious encouragement for the couple to bear a baby soon.
Chu He glanced at this and blushed furiously as she subconsciously stroked her belly. The babies were already forming within her womb.
Traditionally, a child is selected to get onto the newlyweds’ bed and crawl around it. This act holds a special meaning.
This “heavy responsibility” thus fell on Baby Chu and Linxi. That night, Butler Fu carried Baby Chu and Linxi onto the bed. They rolled and crawled on the bed, and Butler Fu laughed happily by the side. It was obvious how happy he was!
Baby Chu, on the other hand, did not know what all this meant, and pestered Butler Fu, asking why he had been asked to crawl around on the bed.
Butler Fu explained, “This is tradition. You’ll understand when you grow up!”
Baby Chu was annoyed. It would be a long time before he grew up! Wouldn’t that mean it would be a long time before he had an answer?
While Gu Jinglian and Chu He were sitting down, Linxi approached them, carrying a pair of red scissors and a little red pouch. He came up to the couple, smiled shyly and said softly, “Daddy, Mommy, don’t move!”
“Uh huh.” Chu He didn’t know what he was up to, but she obeyed and sat still.
Linxi carefully cut a few strands of hair from her head. He cut it very carefully so that he would not injure her, but also because was also worried that he would not do a good job of it and would mess up her hair. After he had finally cut off a strand of her hair, he circled over to Gu Jinglian and cut a strand of hair from the hairline around his ear.
Gu Jinglian’s hair wasn’t as long as Chu He’s, but it wasn’t very short either. Linxi carefully tied the two strands of hair together and gently placed them into the red pouch.
This symbolized that the two of them were officially “knotted” as man and wife.
Linxi grinned and said a few auspicious words, “I wish you both a blissful marriage. I wish you both a long and blissful marriage and that children will come to you soon!”
Chu He smiled and held his hand, asking curiously, “Who taught you this?”
“This was what Butler Fu taught me! Initially, Butler Fu had planned for Baby Chu to do this, however he was worried that Baby Chu may not be confident with the scissors. Moreover, he kept forgetting the script, so Butler Fu had asked me to do this instead!”
Pfffttt… Chu He burst out laughing!
The people behind her also laughed kindly.
Linxi felt really happy! To him, these things were incomparably divine!
Baby Chu, however, felt wronged!
He had trouble remembering these phrases. On one hand, he was not good at memorizing books. He could not even read properly, did not know what ‘having children come your way soon’ or ‘a hundred years together’ meant.
On top of this, he was extremely nervous. Hence, the task went to Linxi.
That night, Linxi had to coax Baby Chu for a long time before the boy would stop feeling sad.