Chapter 108: Chapter 108: The In-Laws are Troublesome 1
Translator: 549690339
It was the day of Jiang Cheng’s wedding.
Elder Jiang invited everyone from East Village to the wedding banquet, and even invited Aunt Wu Sishi and her family from West Village.
Aunt Wu Sishi didn’t want to come, but her husband decided to use this opportunity to mend relationships with the Jiang family, therefore forcing her to attend.
During the banquet, someone asked her, “Aunt Wu Sishi, did you really see a red birthmark on the wrist of Han family’s daughter?”
Aunt Wu Sishi nodded, “Of course, whoever lies will not end well.”
Someone laughed and asked, “Then why did you believe our little Fairy Child also had a birthmark?”
Wu Sishi coughed awkwardly and replied, “It wasn’t my assumption, it was indeed the Han sisters who tricked me into becoming a witness for them. Who would have thought that those two would be so malicious.”
The crowd laughed, “You can’t claim that our little Fairy Child is from the Chen Family next time, otherwise your oath will come true and even the ghosts will come to get you.”
Hehe, indeed, I know that.” Aunt Wu Sishi laughed awkwardly before burying her face in her food.
At dusk, the bride arrived in a palanquin. Chu He, her uncle and older brother, and her two uncles escorted the bride to her groom’s house.
When the palanquin was settled in the courtyard, the matchmakers helped the new bride out. After crossing over the fire basin and paying respect to heaven, earth and her parents, she entered the bridal chamber.
After the ceremony, Elder Jiang quickly invited his daughter-in-law’s uncles and older brother to sit down, and had his two younger brothers and a few peers from the village to accompany them.
After three rounds of drinks, Chu’s eldest uncle began to criticize Elder Jiang indignantly, “Father-in-law, we had clearly agreed on a dowry of one hundred taels of silver, but when we came to the wedding today, your family only brought eighty taels. If the matchmaker hadn’t buttered us up, I wouldn’t have let my niece board the palanquin.”
Elder Jiang laughed embarrassingly and didn’t know how to respond.
In fact, he had only given Dacheng sixty taels of silver, but Dacheng had apparently added an additional twenty taels to make it eighty.
Yet, the Chu family was still unsatisfied. Sigh.
Chu’s eldest uncle continued, “When we return tomorrow, you can use the Golden Ear Fungus as compensation. We’re all reasonable people here, we don’t need a lot- four hundred pots should be enough.”
The Chu’s matchmaker also chimed in with a laugh, “That’s four hundred pots of fungus, not four hundred individual pieces. How does that sound,
Father-in-law? There’s no problem, is there?”
There was a moment of silence among the crowd.
Four hundred pots of fungus? If they were to be individually grown, that would amount to over a thousand Golden Ear Fungi. The Chu family really dared to ask for a lot.
Jiang Sanlang put down his wine cup and spoke calmly, “We Jiangs are just
poor farmers. When in-laws demanded for a hundred taels of silver, it was a bit outrageous. Brother-in-law, you better go around and ask, among the families around, how many can afford a hundred taels of silver for a dowry? Even the rich townspeople couldn’t afford it.”
Jiang Sanlang was too embarrassed to tell them that even coming up with twenty or thirty taels of silver for a wife would be a stretch for some families.
And now they also wanted four hundred pots of fungus. Even he, Jiang Sanlang, couldn’t produce that much in one go. The Chu family had quite the ambition.
One of the Chu uncles slammed the table and asked, “What do you mean? Are you planning to go back on your word now that the bride is here?”
The Jiang family’s matchmaker hurriedly intervened, “Uncle, please don’t say that. We, as adults, are supposed to discuss these things properly. The children shouldn’t be involved.”
Chu’s uncle replied, “I don’t want to involve my niece either, but you guys from the Jiang family were the ones who started this.”
The eighteen-year-old Chu He even threw his cup on the floor in anger and shouted, “Are you Jiangs trying to bully my Chu family thinking we have no one to protect us?”
Jiang Sanlang’s face fell and he shot a glance at his older brother.
They were marrying a daughter, especially the daughter of his older brother, who would eventually inherit the family business. They should have examined the Chu’s family situation more thoroughly.
With these weird relatives causing chaos, Dacheng’s marriage might not be as blissful as expected.
The Jiang’s matchmaker quickly intervened again, “Let’s calm down and discuss this.”
Jiang Sanlang stood up and said coldly, “There is nothing to discuss. The Golden Ear Fungus is always supplied by me, Jiang Sanlang. My older brother doesn’t have that many mushrooms.”
Even if he did, he wouldn’t give them to this family.
Having said that, he turned and walked away.
Jiang Erlang also stood up and looked at the in-laws. “If you are dissatisfied, feel free to take the couple back. They haven’t even consummated their marriage yet. Our Jiang family isn’t desperate to climb your Chu family tree.” Saying so, he also left the banquet.
Seeing that the two direct relatives from the groom’s side had left, a few accompanying guests also began to exit.
As they exited the room, they were pulled by Jiang Erlang to sit at another table, where the drinking continued.
This left the people from the Chu family stunned.
Both mediators look at each other in confusion.
This was the first time they had encountered such a situation, but they couldn’t leave either, so they had to continue to entertain the Chu family and Jiang
Dalang.
Seeing the situation at an impasse, another uncle of the Chu family scolded his nephew, “When adults are speaking, it’s not your place to interfere! Apologize to your Uncle Jiang!”
They had also been startled by the rigid attitude of the Jiang family, genuinely scared.
What if the Jiang family doesn’t follow the rules, would they truly have to take their niece back home?
Oh dear, the Chu family just can’t afford this disgrace.
Having grown accustomed to having his way at home, Chu He, for the first time, was meeting someone bold enough to resist him, and it happened to be the newly rich Jiang family, out of rage, he flipped the wine table.
Crash! An entire table of food and drink was spilled all over the floor, narrowly missing the mediators’ feet.
“We won’t marry into your family! I’m taking my sister home!” Having said that, he stormed off towards the bridal chamber.
Jiang Dalang stood unmoved, letting the two mediators approach and pull Chu He.
The uncles of the Chu family, seeing the Jiang family still indifferent, couldn’t help but feel vexed.
In order to prevent the situation from escalating, one of the Chu family’s uncles instantly stepped forward and slapped his nephew, “Look at yourself, acting crazy after a few drinks, just wait until we tell your parents when we get back home.”
After hitting his nephew, he raised his hands to Jiang Dalang in apology, “My apologies, my nephew can’t handle his drink, he becomes disoriented after a few sips.”
“Yes, yes, Chu He is young and can’t hold his liquor. Everything he said just now was nonsense, please don’t take it to heart.” Chu family’s mediator quickly came to mediate.
Jiang Dalang laughed lightly, “Since he’s drunk, let him rest.”
He held himself with dignity, not like his two younger brothers, who chose to walk away with indifference.
Moreover, this was his son’s wedding, no matter what, he had to attend to the few members of the Chu family.
The few attendees from the Chu family were then led to the new room in Jiang Erlang’s house to rest.
Jiang Erlang took the newly made bedding to his room, took out some old blankets and spread them on the bamboo bed in the living room for the guests to rest.
As for his own bedroom, he wouldn’t let people from the Chu family enter.
To prevent guests from recklessly entering and messing with his bamboo shed, Jiang Erlang even sealed all the bamboo sheds, making it impossible for even a rat to get in without some effort.
After the feast, Chunniang and a few village women cleaned up the tables, chairs, pots, pans, and dishes, then gave the leftover food to the helpers and finally went home.
In the bridal chamber, the matchmaker and another old woman fed the newlyweds dumplings, then took two gourd ladles filled with wine and fed them.
After the couple drank the unifying wine, the old woman said a bunch of auspicious words, and finally let the newlyweds rest.
The double happiness candles lit up the bridal chamber brightly. Jiang Cheng, feeling a bit embarrassed, asked his bride if she was hungry.
Of course, Chu Man was hungry.
She hadn’t eaten anything since dawn and had been starving all day.
After putting on the bridal dress, she couldn’t go to the bathroom, and her mother wouldn’t let her drink even a sip of water.
Even though the old woman had just fed her two raw dumplings, it didn’t help at all.
At this moment, she wasn’t just hungry, she was also thirsty and desperately needed to use the bathroom.
In the courtyard of the Jiang family, two large red lanterns adorned with the word “double happiness” were hanging high under the eaves, making the courtyard bright and festive.
In the middle of the silent night, a woman’s scream suddenly came from the bridal chamber in the east, followed by the sound of something breaking..