The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

It is November now and the weather has become cooler. Today is Daya's official wedding day.

The hairdresser came over early in the morning, kneaded dough for Daya, put some hair oil on her hair and combed it into a bridal bun, drew her eyebrows, put rouge on her face, and finally sealed her lips with red paper. Against the backdrop of her red wedding dress, Daya looked much more eye-catching than usual.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Daya felt a little shy and dazed. It turned out that this was how she looked when she dressed up.

The yard outside was already bustling with people in the front and back yards. Some of the sisters-in-law and mothers-in-law from the village who came to help had arrived early and were talking and laughing loudly while working.

Xu was also very busy today. She finally found time to come to the room to take a look and said anxiously, "Sister-in-law, has the eldest girl's hair and makeup been done? It's almost time."

The hairdresser's surname was also Zhang. She was the one who basically did the hair for weddings in several nearby villages. Upon hearing this, she said with a smile, "Okay, okay, I've been doing this for a long time. I know the ropes. Look, what a beautiful bride!"

Mrs. Xu looked at her eldest daughter and was a little stunned for a moment. Her usual gloomy look had faded. Today, her eldest daughter seemed to be glowing, with sparkling eyes. Perhaps she was embarrassed, so when she saw her come in, she looked at her with a shy smile. The girl's smile was really more beautiful than a flower.

This made Xu think of her own marriage. At that time, she married into the Zhang family with longing, expectation, and a little reluctance to leave her parents' home. In a blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed, and now her daughter is about to get married.

Xu sighed in her heart. To be honest, she was luckier than Daya. When she got married, Old Man Xu gave her a decent dowry, including jewelry, furniture, and a lot of dowry money. Before she gave birth to a son, he gave her some money from time to time. But when Daya got married, he didn't give her even half of it.

Thinking of this, Xu walked over and sat beside the bed. She reached out and gently stroked her daughter's hair, and said in a soft voice: "Our eldest daughter is so beautiful. She is lucky to be the daughter of that bad boy from the Liu family. You must live a good life in the future, okay? If anything happens, go home and tell your mother. Your father and grandfather are still here, and they will definitely not let their family bully you!"

After saying that, she took out a small cloth bag from her bosom. When she opened it, there was a silver hairpin inside, which was the one that the Liu family had sent when she proposed marriage. Xu picked up the hairpin and helped to insert it into her daughter's bun. After looking at it, she nodded with satisfaction, thought for a while, and took off the silver clove from her ear and helped her daughter put it on.

Daya was stunned for a moment, and then she touched her ears before reacting. She said anxiously, "Mom, what are you doing? This is your dowry, and you only have this pair of earrings!"

Mrs. Xu felt a little melancholy as well. She patted her daughter's hand and comforted her, "You are already so old and don't have the chance to wear it normally. I didn't give you much dowry when you got married. Just consider this as a token of your mother's appreciation. You are still young and you can wear it better than me."

After saying that, she gently wiped the corners of her eyes, stood up, waved her hand and said: "Just stay here and don't say anything more. Mother has to go and be busy"!

Then he hurried to the yard.

Through the window, Daya saw her mother quickly start greeting the guests with a smile again, her voice still as loud as before, without any sign that she had just shed tears of melancholy.

At this moment, Daya felt sad and couldn't describe how she felt. She didn't seem to be so happy about getting married anymore.

The lady combing the bride's hair was an experienced person, so she didn't understand anything. She calmly continued to arrange the bride's clothes and shoes, and said in a gentle voice: "Women, we have all been through this, so there is no need to be sad. I think your in-laws are not bad. Just live a good life in the future!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the sound of suona coming from outside the courtyard. He guessed that the bride's wedding party had arrived. He stopped talking nonsense and quickly covered the bride with the veil.

At the gate of the yard, several boys in the family blocked the way and refused to let him in, shouting for the red envelope for the opening ceremony. Liu Sanlang was wearing a red groom's suit today, with a big red flower on his head, which set off his strong and dark figure. It really hurt Zhang Ping'an's eyes to see him.

When I thought that this man was my brother-in-law, I felt so happy.

It can be seen that the Liu family attaches great importance to and is very particular about their work. They even rented a sedan chair for the wedding today, which was pulled by mules. It cannot be compared with the formal sedan chairs in the city, but it is already very decent in the countryside.

In the countryside, those with better conditions would rent an ox cart or a mule cart, and the bride would ride in the cart when picking up the bride. In those with poor conditions, it is not uncommon for the bride to just walk back with the groom.

Zhang Ping'an heard all this from his cousin Dazhu. Today, he, as the bride's brother, had to carry Daya out of the house. He was very satisfied to see that the groom's family had rented a sedan chair.

Zhang Laoer and Xu were even happier after seeing this. This was not only a matter of face, but also showed that the in-laws attached great importance to this marriage and did not look down on their family.

After hearing what the boys said, Liu Sanlang smiled innocently and gave each of them a red envelope without hesitation. He also grabbed a handful of candies from the wedding plate held by the tribesmen and scattered them out. The children in the village who were standing nearby all rushed to pick them up.

The atmosphere was very lively for a while.

After receiving the red envelopes, several people continued to block the door. Dazhu took the lead and said with a smile: "Everyone in the village knows our Daya. She is sensible, hardworking, and good-looking. To be our brother-in-law, one must be both talented and virtuous. As for your appearance, you are so-so. You pass the test, but if you want us brothers to let you in, you have to show some more skills. In this way, we won't make it difficult for you. We will tell you a riddle. If you guess it right, we will let you in."

After hearing this, Liu Sanlang's smile froze visibly. Isn't this embarrassing?

Among the people who followed Liu Sanlang to welcome the bride, there was a smart one. After whispering something to Liu Sanlang, he replied: "Okay, I'll listen to you. You guys come up with the questions!"

How could Dazhu ask any questions? He just heard from his cousin that he could tell riddles, so he used this to embarrass the groom. If you compare physiques, even two of him combined can't compare to him. This is why he dared to be so presumptuous when welcoming the bride. If he met such people on the street normally, he would just walk around them.

Dazhu couldn't help but look at his cousin.

Zhang Pingan looked at his cousin's gaze and said calmly with his hands behind his back, "Brother-in-law, I'll give you a choice. Listen carefully, those with black hair are young people. Give them a word."

Liu Sanlang continued to smile innocently after hearing this, without saying anything. Another person handed him a red envelope, and the people helping to welcome the bride shouted, "Grow old together!"

After he finished speaking, he squeezed to the front, picked up Zhang Pingan, turned sideways and shouted to Liu Sanlang with a smile: "Hahaha, Sanlang, why don't you go and pick up your wife? Brother, I'm doing you a favor today. Remember to treat me to meat after the wedding."

After hearing this, Liu Sanlang quickly passed through the gap. Due to his huge size, he hit Dazhu and almost knocked him to the ground. Seeing the groom pass by, the wedding party also rushed in and intentionally stopped Dazhu and the others behind.

In fact, Dazhu had already been told that it would be enough to just have some fun, so he didn't really want to stop it. Seeing that he was held back by the Liu family, he just gave up.

Liu Sanlang ran straight to the west wing!