Chapter 68: The Wedding (Part 1)

  On the thirtieth day, Wang Ling had eaten something early and was pressed into the house by several maids from the Sun Mansion to help with grooming. After half a day of grooming, he came out looking refreshed. Wang Kuang saw that Wang Ling's eyes were red and full of bloodshot, and poked him: "Too excited? Can't sleep?"

  "Go, go, go! Wait till you get married and see if you can sleep or not!"

  Everyone was laughing and joking as they tied a big red silk flower to Wang Ling's horse. When the auspicious time arrived, they set off with a flourish of music. Wang Ling's jujube-red horse had been specially groomed, and even the white spot on its nose had been painted over with red lacquer. A flower was also tied to the horse's head, but it was clearly uncomfortable and kept tossing its head in an attempt to shake off the unfamiliar object. Deng Xiaosan came forward and stroked the horse's cheek, whispering something softly into its ear, which seemed to calm it down. Wang Kuang saw this and decided that Deng Xiaosan should also come along on the journey, rather than staying behind to work in the kitchen. The group of soldiers saw Deng Xiaosan leaving and noisily followed after, claiming that if the bride's family gave them any trouble, they would simply snatch the bride and make a run for it.

  Wang Kuang had also wanted to follow and see the excitement, but after crossing over, he hadn't fully seen what a wedding in this era was like, so he was a bit curious. However, he was pulled back by Sun Han Shi, who said that brothers couldn't go, which made Wang Kuang very depressed. Wang Rong also looked at Sun Jiahan and Sun Jiaying, the two brothers who were helping to carry things in the procession, with a face full of jealousy.

  If he doesn't go, then so be it. Fortunately, there are still many things to attend to at this time, and even if Wang goes, he can only take a look and come back.

  But when Wang Kuang really wanted to help, he found that he couldn't help much. Firstly, he didn't understand the wedding at this time, and secondly, everyone was already used to him being a laid-back boss, so no one called him. As a result, Wang Kuang went back and forth between the new house and the inn several times, but couldn't get involved in anything, except for occasionally asking a few questions with Ah Da and Master Wang, such as "Is this dish cooked well?" or "Is that stir-fry done well?"

  With nothing to do, Wang Kuang went to the new house to take a look. The new house had already been decorated and was just waiting for the bride to arrive. Wang Kuang walked over to the bed and touched it, feeling that something was missing. Now there's something to do, so he pulled Wang Xi back to the inn, grabbed a full bag of things, lifted up the bedding on the bed, and scattered them around. Without saying a word, they just waited for the next day to see the joke.

  At this time, it was already noon. Since Wang Ling had to eat at the bride's home, it was said that he still had to go through many checkpoints before welcoming the new wife back. Therefore, everyone ate something hastily in the middle of the day and began preparing for the evening banquet. At this time, most people only ate two meals a day, so dinner was also relatively early, and the feast started before dark.

  As for the bride's side, Sun Mingqian had arranged for people to help with the preparations long ago, including the new wife's clothes and accessories, which were all prepared by Sun Han. Sun Mingqian thought that the bride's relatives were not many, so he sent some idle people from his home to help out and make the scene more lively. After all, the guest house was closed on New Year's Eve, but 20 or 30 people came from the guest house to help out, making it a sufficient workforce.

  He also invited Chen Shi's original villagers early in the morning and arranged for food and lodging for them among the surrounding neighbors, planning to keep them there until the new wife returned home on the third day of the New Year. As a result, Jianxi was also very lively. Fortunately, the weather was good, and today there wasn't even a breeze, with plenty of sunshine; otherwise, it would have been miserable for those eating at the bride's side, as they were outdoors by the river, and they would probably have frozen to death.

  It was just past noon when the city gate became lively with the sound of firecrackers and gongs. Many children were riding on bamboo horses (what is called a bamboo horse is actually just a bare, thin bamboo stick - Grey Sparrow had played with them when he was young too. In families that were a bit better off, the adults would choose bamboo sticks with nodes for the children, which looked a bit like a horse's head, hence the name "bamboo horse"). They kept shouting: "She's coming, she's coming, the new bride is coming!"

  They blew and beat for half a day, but didn't see the procession coming. On the contrary, the music was getting farther and farther away. From the south city gate, there is only a hundred steps to go, it should have arrived long ago. Wang Kuang was also puzzled, and after asking, he found out that the welcoming procession had to circle around the city before returning. There's a saying that everyone reads together to share the joy, this joy spreads out, but it's even more beautiful. This road of blowing and beating will take about an hour to return to the mansion. If they encounter young men and women who come to ask for blessings on their way to marriage, they may be delayed even longer.

  As the welcoming procession had arrived in the city, Wang Kuang no longer had any worries and could go to watch the excitement. He pulled Wang Xian along to take a look at the commotion. Before they even left the door, the doorman rushed over to report that Lin County Magistrate and Lin Xiaolangjun had arrived. Sighing, he let Wang Xian go to watch the excitement while he himself went out to welcome Lin Ming and his son Lin Quanmiao.

  Lin Ming and his son were not originally going to come so early. Firstly, the Lin family's business had a lot of dealings with the Rich Guest House, secondly, the chili sauce matter had not been settled yet, and thirdly, it was said that even the county magistrate Huang Liang had prepared gifts to go celebrate. As a subordinate, he couldn't be later than his superior, and also Lin Xuanmiao had found out that Wang Erlang had prepared many snacks for the early-arriving guests to eat with their tea. So they came over early.

  Actually, Wang Kuang didn't prepare much snacks, just fried some small sesame balls, rolled some peanut strings (which are peanuts coated with a layer of sugar after being stir-fried, known as "peanut strings" in northern Fujian), and baked some biscuits. Adding to that were sweet potato strips and roasted pumpkin seeds. These were all relatively simple (most people know the specific methods, so I won't waste words here). Biscuits had already appeared during the Tang Dynasty, with various patterns, some of which remain unchanged to this day, such as the patterns on cookies sold in shopping malls today, which had already emerged during the Tang period. This is evidenced by unearthed artifacts. It can be said that baked goods emerged much earlier than fried foods. These ordinary snacks, which would become common in later generations, were not simple at this time. Many early-arriving guests secretly congratulated themselves on their foresight while eating, and some guests sneaked food into their sleeves while eating, ignoring the maids and servants covering their mouths to stifle their giggles.

  When Wang Kuang came out to welcome Lin Ming and his son, he also saw these small actions. He thought that in the future, it would be possible to open a pastry shop. Unfortunately, he didn't know much about pastries and snacks, but he estimated that what he knew would be enough to make a living. One shouldn't be too greedy, as long as they had enough money to get by. Being rich was great, but the example of Shen Wan San from several hundred years ago was right there. Not to mention Shen Wan San, but also the person who later exchanged grain for an airplane - everyone saw how that turned out.

  They welcomed Lin Ming and his son to a secluded side hall specially prepared for honored guests. Before they could even sit down, Lin Xuan had already reached out to grab the fried dough sticks. In his opinion, these fried dough sticks were beautifully made, but as for the cookies, they weren't as beautiful as those from the Long'an pastry shop, so he didn't bother with them. Lin Ming saw that Lin Xuan was being very rude and glared at him fiercely. However, Lin Xuan didn't care: "Father, don't glare at me. Erlang and I are now like sworn brothers. When we come to his place, do we still need to follow all the rules? The usual etiquette is so tiresome. It's rare for us to relax a bit, so just let it go."

  "Exactly, Master Wang has come to my place, it's just like coming home. You see, I didn't even give you a big gift." Wang Kuang was naturally helping Lin Xuan speak, this guy had already been completely transformed by Wang Kuang into a living treasure, and no longer resembled his former polite and serious demeanor. Wang Kuang didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but if analyzed from the personalities of those who came out of Chibi, perhaps being a living treasure would make it easier to get along with Li Lao'er, whereas those who were usually serious often had no good ending.

  Lin Ming had already gotten impatient, and this time he just let the donkey slide down the slope. He snorted, waved his hand and said: "Second Brother, you go ahead with your own business. Since you said you came to our home, then there's no need for you to take care of us." He still resented Wang Kuang being here getting in the way, making it hard for him to enjoy his meal freely.

  Wang Kuang hadn't left yet when Sun Ming led someone in, and everyone saw that it was actually Huang Cishi. How come he's here so early? Lin Ming was furious in his heart: Why did I have to say a few words? Now look, the food hasn't even been served yet, and Cishi is already here, how can I eat now?

  "What's wrong? Why are you staring blankly?" Huang Liang came in, saw Lin Ming holding a white thing and putting it to his mouth, and stood up stupidly. He walked forward and took a closer look: "Second Brother, is this the peanut string you were talking about?" After finishing speaking, he snatched it from Lin Ming's hand and threw it into his own mouth: "If you're not going to eat it, don't waste it. Second Brother must have put in a lot of thought to make this." In the past two years, Huang Liang, who was also infected by Wang Kuang, occasionally liked to play pranks too.

  Normally, the history books are very serious, when did Lin Ming ever see a historian snatch food from his subordinate's hand and throw it into his own mouth? This is even more terrifying: could it be that the master is angry?

  It turned out that Lin Xiang was very clever and had seen through Huang Liang's thoughts. He stood up, clasped his hands together in greeting, and invited Huang Liang: "Try some of this sesame ball, eh? Its name matches its shape, its color is like gold, take a bite, it's both fragrant and crispy, really, I don't know how Second Brother came up with the recipe."

  "Alas, Master Lin is not as good as your young master." Huang Liang took a sesame seed stick from the fruit plate handed over by Lin Xuan and sat down. "Lin" was Lin Ming's courtesy name. Huang Liang was very satisfied with Lin Xuan's performance. Originally, he didn't want to come today as a historian, he would rather be treated as an elder of the Wang Erlang family.

  Lin Ming was overjoyed when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Isn't it great that Master Wei praises Meng'er more than me? Isn't this a good thing?" At this point, he also came to his senses, and immediately cupped his hands and said: "Master Wei has praised him highly." Then he sat down too, no longer paying attention to official etiquette.

  Afraid that they would be left behind, Wang Kuang pushed his way out. The guests who had arrived early in the hall were already whispering to each other: "Look, even Duke Ming and Ambassador have arrived, we came early just in time."

  "Isn't it? Let those who came late with their gifts regret it, haha." You should know that when the county magistrate and the envoy came in, they smiled and nodded at them. If this gets out, how much face will they gain? Those who had prepared generous gifts thought highly of their own judgment, while some who had only brought ordinary gifts secretly slipped out to instruct their family members to hurry back and bring a more substantial gift. Look at the situation, the relationship between the Rich Guest House and the governor and county magistrate is far deeper than what's being said outside. Why not curry favor with them?"

  Division

  I'll post one chapter first, and another chapter will be finished soon, I'll post it before 12 o'clock.

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