1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 27 Engagement
After Qiao Dajiang went to Aunt Xu's house to meet Xu Cuihua, the Qiao family stayed at home and waited for news.

It wasn't until after 2 p.m. that Qiao Dajiang returned with a big smile on his face.

Seeing this, Qiao Erhe understood and laughed, "Looks like you've taken a liking to him, brother?"

Qiao Dajiang said with satisfaction, "Second brother, this Xu family girl is indeed quite good."

Huang Hongmei asked, "Eldest brother, has the Xu family's daughter taken a liking to you?"

Qiao Dajiang said, "I don't know either, but when I came back, Aunt Xu secretly told me that the Xu family's daughter should have a good impression of me."

Qiao Erhe said, "Then let's wait for Aunt Xu's definite news. If the Xu family's daughter also takes a liking to my brother, then we can arrange the engagement (marriage) next."

Wedding customs vary from era to era and from place to place.

In the Cenhe area, marriage generally involves three steps: matchmaking, engagement, and marriage.

Blind dates—no need to elaborate, everyone in the country understands.

In the past, the first step in betrothal was to "obtain the birth dates and times," which involved the matchmaker going to the girl's family to write down the girl's and boy's birth dates and times on a marriage certificate. This certificate was then taken to the boy's family for safekeeping, and the girl was considered to belong to the boy's family.

When the couple gets engaged, the groom's family is expected to send gifts such as wedding cakes, wine, and meat to the bride's family and the bride's household.

In addition, after the two parties are engaged, in the first few years of their marriage, the man must give the woman fans, steamed buns, and zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) every Dragon Boat Festival; he must give her mooncakes, cigarettes, and alcohol every Mid-Autumn Festival; and he must also pay New Year's visits and give gifts to the woman's parents around the Spring Festival.

When the man and woman reach marriageable age (17 or 18 for men and 15 or 16 for women), the man will ask a matchmaker to go to the woman's family to ask for her hand in marriage. If the woman agrees to give her hand in marriage, the man's and woman's families will begin to prepare for the wedding.

Nowadays, engagements are not as complicated as they used to be. Usually, the woman's sister-in-law or a woman of the same generation from her family will accompany her to the man's house to observe his appearance and family situation. Both parties will express their opinions in person, and if they agree, the engagement is finalized.

Of course, whether in the past or present, it is always customary for the groom to give gifts to the bride and her entourage during the engagement. In the past, they would give wedding cakes, wine, and meat. Nowadays, they usually give clothing, towels, shoes, socks, candy, and the like. Some families with better financial conditions will also give the bride a watch or a bicycle.

The final step is marriage, which needs no further explanation.

Qiao Dajiang rubbed his hands together and said, "Whether or not we can get engaged depends on the woman's attitude."

Qiao Sanduo chimed in, "Big brother, since Aunt Xu said that the Xu family's daughter has a good impression of you, then this marriage is definitely hopeful. I think our family can start preparing the engagement gifts in advance."

Qiao Dajiang said conservatively, "There's no rush for the engagement gift. Let's wait until we receive definite news from Aunt Xu before discussing anything else!"

……

at the same time.

The Xu family was also discussing the same issue.

Upon seeing her daughter return, Xu's mother immediately asked, "Cuihua, did you see that Qiao Dajiang? How was he?"

Xu Cuihua lowered her head shyly and said gently, "I saw him, and he... he looks alright."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Xu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. It seems that Aunt Xu was right. Our daughter has found a good match."

Mr. Xu interjected, "It's too early to say that now. We can't just believe Aunt Xu's side of the story. Since our daughter has already met Qiao Dajiang, if she really intends to marry him, we should send someone to Qiaojiawan to find out about the Qiao family."

Xu Feng nodded and said, "What the old man said makes sense. Leave the matter of finding out about the Qiao family to me. I happen to have a junior high school classmate who is from Qiaojiawan. I'm sure I can find out by asking him."

Xu's father made the decision: "Alright, then this matter is entrusted to you. It concerns your sister's lifelong happiness, so you must find out the details thoroughly." Xu Feng patted his chest and assured him: "Don't worry, I will definitely find out the situation of the Qiao family clearly."

……

a week later.

Qiao Dajiang and Xu Cuihua successfully got engaged.

After seeing the guests off, all the younger siblings came to congratulate Qiao Dajiang, the eldest brother. After all, with the couple engaged, marriage was a done deal.

Qiao Dajiang grinned from ear to ear, patting Qiao Erhe on the shoulder and saying, "Second brother, I really owe it all to your reminder that I was able to find such a satisfactory partner."

Qiao Erhe smiled and said, "We are brothers born of the same mother, so of course I hope that you, my elder brother, can live a happy life."

Qiao Sanduo eagerly asked, "Big brother, when do you plan to marry your sister-in-law?"

Qiao Dajiang said, "Marrying your sister-in-law will definitely be next year. Our family doesn't have the money to prepare for the wedding right now."

Qiao Erhe said, "Anyway, we're already engaged, so my sister-in-law is definitely not going to run away. Besides, so many years have passed, a few more months won't make a difference. It would be most appropriate for my brother to hold the wedding and marry my sister-in-law after our house is built next year."

Qiao Sihai asked, "Second brother, with those 1000 laying hens, when will our family be able to save enough money to build a house?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "Relying on just 1000 laying hens is certainly not enough. Once the laying hens start laying eggs at the end of the year and we have income, we will expand the scale of laying hen farming."

Qiao Dajiang hesitated and said, "Second brother, you're going to expand this too much. Won't there be any problems?"

Qiao Erhe calmly said, "Brother, don't worry. Those large-scale chicken and duck farms raise tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of chickens and ducks. The number we raise is nothing. There won't be any problems."

Qiao Dajiang nodded and said, "Then I'll listen to you."

After discussing her elder brother and sister-in-law's marriage, Qiao Sanduo changed the subject, saying, "Eldest brother, second brother, our two pigs have grown quite fast in the past month. I feel like they're ready to be our pigs for this year's harvest."

"Task pigs" refers to pig farming tasks assigned by the state.

In those days, the country implemented a "buy one, keep one" policy for pig production and sales.

This means that if a rural person raises pigs, no matter how many pigs they raise, if they want to slaughter a pig for their own consumption or sell it at the market price, they must first sell a pig to the state at the listed price, and the pig must weigh more than 120 jin (60 catties). Only after obtaining a slaughtering certificate issued by the state can they slaughter a pig for their own consumption or sell it at the market price.

The pig sold to the state at the listed price is called the "task pig".

Qiao Dajiang asked in surprise, "Are the pigs growing this fast this year?"

Pigs in this era eat things like pig feed and sweet potatoes, so they grow relatively slowly. They usually don't reach 120 pounds until the end of the year. But it's only October now, and my sister says we can deliver this year's pigs. That's really rare.

Qiao Sanduo nodded and said, "These two pigs have indeed had a very good appetite lately, and they've been eating more than before."

Qiao Erhe smiled without saying a word. The fact that the two pigs were growing faster than before was naturally due to his efforts. When he fed the laying hens diluted spiritual spring water, he would also give the two pigs some of it, which is why they were growing so well.

Qiao Sihai quickly said, "Then I'll go and call my second uncle over to take a look. His eyes are like scales; he can tell at a glance whether a pig weighs 120 jin."

(End of this chapter)