Reborn in 1966

Chapter 103 The Wedding

When Qi Xiangnan saw Secretary Tian arrive, he quickly stood up to receive him. Secretary Tian said, "You all go about your business. I'm here to deliver something to Li Lei."

The four of them found a place to sit down and were somewhat surprised to see Secretary Tian, ​​who was sitting on the only chair in the room, take out two large red enamel washbasins and a large red blanket from a woven bag.

Secretary Tian said proudly, "Li Lei, you're not only an advanced educated youth in our Red Flag Commune, but also an advanced youth in Xiping County. This time, not only the commune is rewarding you, but the county is too. This is the commune's reward, and I've arranged for some grain for you from the county. Our village will also reward you. I'll discuss it with a few people at the brigade headquarters to see how much we can give you. Don't mind if it's less; it's all just a small token of our appreciation. After you get married, you'll be staying at your mother-in-law's house. You're their only male laborer, so having more grain will give them peace of mind."

Li Lei said gratefully to Secretary Tian, ​​"Secretary Tian, ​​thank you so much, thank you so much."

Party Secretary Tian said, "Li Lei, I have to thank you. You came from a big city, but you didn't look down on our village. After marrying Shen Lan, you settled down in our Shenjia Village. Your actions are an affirmation of my work."

When the other two educated youths saw these things, as well as the grain that hadn't been collected, they jokingly said to Secretary Tian, ​​"Secretary Tian, ​​will we get the same reward standard when we get married?"

Secretary Tian said, "Yes, yes, they're just like Li Lei." But in his heart, Secretary Tian thought, "You two aren't as reliable as Li Lei. If you both find wives in this village and they run away, the girls in our village will be devastated."

Because of her previous attention to Li Lei, Pei Yin offered more blessings to Li Lei and Er Ya's marriage. As for her grandmother's concern about Li Lei returning to the city, Pei Yin felt that Li Lei probably really didn't want to go back. Considering how many educated youth stayed in the places where they were sent to work in the countryside, the possibility of Li Lei staying was very high.

Mr. and Mrs. Shen discussed what to send as a gift. According to the Shen family's generational order, Er Ya should call Mr. and Mrs. Shen "Grandpa" and "Grandma," and even herself, despite her young age, should be called "Aunt." However, now that the Four Olds have been destroyed, the Shen family's genealogy is probably hidden somewhere, so it's best not to mention these things.

Time seems to move slowly to some, but to others it seems to be rushing by, and they feel there isn't enough time. It's only been a few days, and it's already time for Li Lei and Shen Lan to get married.

In this new era, new methods were implemented. Because of Li Lei's status as an educated youth sent to the countryside, leaders from the commune came to officiate at his wedding, and the couple's wedding was held in the courtyard of the brigade headquarters.

It was a rare warm winter day. Early in the morning, the villagers, led by several leaders from the brigade headquarters, began setting up the wedding venue.

Several desks were placed in front of the brigade headquarters office, and a few chairs were placed behind them. The desks were covered with red velvet, creating a festive atmosphere. The courtyard had been swept clean because the commune leaders were coming, and many villagers had come to help. Several educated youths were stringing red ribbons in the courtyard. The red ribbons were made from red quilt covers that Secretary Tian had found from several households in the village. With a few skillful hands, the young women in the village had turned them into large red ribbon flowers. Several young people used ropes to hang these red ribbon flowers on the door of the brigade headquarters office, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Hearing the commotion, the adults and children of the village all came to watch. It was the off-season for farming, and there was not much work to be done in the fields. Moreover, after entering the twelfth lunar month, everyone was preparing for the New Year, and no one had the mood to work in the fields anymore. It was cold, and even if they wanted to earn money and produce food, it wasn't something to do right now.

The courtyard of the brigade headquarters was bustling with noise. Grandma brought Peiyin and Peijing, one in each hand, to join in the fun. When she saw Uncle Shengquan's mother standing in the corner of the courtyard waving at her, Grandma quickly led the children over. There were quite a few people in the courtyard, so it was better to find a corner to stay in. It wouldn't be good if these two little ones with short legs got squeezed by others.

When Grandma from the Sheng family arrived, she said enviously, "Look at them, their wedding has attracted so many people, and I heard that the commune cadres even came to officiate the wedding. If you ask me, Pei Hong's little girl is a lucky person."

Grandma said, "Who says we're not coming? Isn't getting married all about who makes the biggest fuss and who has the biggest entourage?"

Around 9 a.m., Pei Yin saw the commune's jeep arrive at Shenjia Village.

Because Hongqi Commune was the seat of Xiping County, it was equipped with high-end features in all aspects. It was one of the few communes in Xiping County that owned jeeps. In that era, jeeps were considered very high-class driving tools. You should know that there were only a few in the entire Xiping County.

Jeeps were a rare sight. As soon as the car came to a stop in front of the brigade headquarters, the children immediately surrounded it. Some of the slightly bolder ones reached out and cautiously touched the car. The driver leaned out of the driver's seat and said, "Kids, what are you doing?" The group of children scattered and ran to the side, still cautiously looking at the two strange vehicles.

Pei Yin has seen all kinds of cars. Back then, her father's car was a Mercedes-Benz. He said that only men with substance drive such cars. After hearing that, she almost spat tea in his face. She really wanted to ask, do men with substance all cheat on their partners?

The area outside the brigade headquarters was not as lively as the courtyard inside. All the village officials, big and small, came to the courtyard gate to greet the commune leaders. Shenjia Village really made a name for itself this time. It is said that because of this, the county leaders were praised at the regional leadership meeting.

Once the leaders were seated in front of the stage, the newlyweds, dressed in matching outfits, were escorted to the stage.

The wedding was officiated by the village accountant. Under his leadership, everyone first recited Chairman Mao's quotations and sang revolutionary songs before the wedding officially began.

The first to speak was a leader from the commune. This leader first offered his blessings to the newlyweds, hoping that they would participate well in the team's production and live a happy and fulfilling life under the leadership of the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao.

Then a group of young people from the village started to celebrate the wedding. They asked to sing revolutionary songs and also wanted Li Lei to accompany Shen Lan. Pei Yin was worried that Li Lei wouldn't know any instruments and would be laughed at, but to her surprise, he took out a bamboo flute and played it beautifully. Pei Yin saw admiration on Er Ya Shen Lan's flushed face. Moreover, the flute playing surprised the leaders on the stage. The flute is a very common instrument, and apart from Shen Shengqin, no one in Shenjia Village could play the flute so well.

After the wedding, the commune leaders politely declined Secretary Tian's invitation to stay for dinner and went straight back to the commune. This time, it wasn't the commune's top leader who came; they had to go back and report on their work after the wedding.

After seeing off the commune leaders, most of the people from the brigade headquarters also left one after another. At noon, Shen Peihong's family prepared a banquet. Shen Peihong's family had no sons, and no banquet was held when her eldest daughter got married. Now that her youngest daughter was getting married, and her husband was still living at home, it was only right and proper to set up a few tables. This would also make it convenient for villagers to give gifts. Otherwise, Shen Peihong's family had been giving gifts in previous years, and it wouldn't be right not to take this opportunity to recoup their gift money. Of course, this is not the same as the current practice of blocking classmates after getting married and then setting up a separate table for classmates who did not attend the wedding or forgot to give gifts for various reasons. In rural families, it is important to reciprocate gifts. If you have something to do, I will support you by giving money and social support. When I have something to do, those who helped me or gave me money will automatically come to help or give gifts.

Since everyone was poor, villagers generally didn't bring their children to banquets. The Shen family's grandfather went with the family's gift money and brought back a bag of fruit candies, which he distributed to the family's children.

The New Year is just around the corner, and every household is busy preparing for it. After a year of hard work, everyone wants to save the best food and clothes for the New Year, hoping for a fresh start and a new beginning. They hope that if they eat well and dress well during the New Year, they can eat well and dress warmly in the coming year.

Shen's mother's belly was already showing, and the school winter break was just a few days away. These past few days, Shen's mother had been very careful going to and from school. It was really cold, and there was a snowfall every few days, making the roads very slippery. Pei Yin was worried about her mother, so she followed behind Shen's father and escorted her to the school gate. She would then go to the school gate to pick her up when it was time for school to end. Pei Tian, ​​who was in the fifth grade of elementary school, also followed behind Shen's mother, afraid that something might happen to her. For a while, Shen's mother became the focus of the whole family's protection.

That noon, it was almost time for school to let out. Pei Yin went to the school gate early to wait. Today, Shen's father had gone to the fields with the production team leader, Fourth Grandfather, to check the composting fertilizer and wouldn't be able to come over. Pei Yin thought it wouldn't hurt for her to go home with her third brother and sister and Shen's mother.

Pei-Yin now feels that she is becoming more and more like a housekeeper. She wants to take care of everything in the family. Because she is the youngest in the family, everyone loves her very much. They will do whatever she asks them to do. Pei-Yin says she enjoys this very much.

It was cold and windy, and Pei Yin huddled in a corner by the school gate. This corner was blocked by a low wall, so it was sheltered from the wind at the back and shaded from the sun at the front. From a distance, you couldn't see the little person hiding there unless you looked closely.

There were some people going to the market in Xujia Village near the school gate. Two women from the village met and chatted for a few minutes. For some reason, they held hands and came to a sheltered spot near the school gate. Peiyin thought it best not to let anyone see them, otherwise they might think she was eavesdropping.

One of the women, Pei Yin, knew that she was the wife of a family surnamed Tian at the north end of the village. Pei Yin knew that their eldest son was about the same age as Pei Hua, but he was not as capable as Pei Hua. He had already been engaged to a girl from Zhao Village. Pei Yin knew this because her aunt had mentioned it when she came to the house. She said that the girl surnamed Zhao was very capable and feisty, and was a well-known hot girl in Zhao Village.