The sun had risen high in the sky by the time Li Xiu returned to their room. He gazed at his wife's rosy little face as she slept, reluctant to wake her. He rubbed his hands together until they were warm, then gently stroked her hair and whispered for her to get up.
"Sweetheart, time to get up. I made you something delicious," Li Xiu said, kissing her again before getting her clothes to help her dress. "Get up and have a bite. I have to take you out for a walk later."
Zhou Lian watched with a sense of helplessness as the man before her dressed her and put on her shoes as if she were a child. He then picked up a comb, ready to do her hair. She took the comb from his hand, seeing the look of disappointment on his face.
"It's getting late," she said, a bit exasperated. "You make the bed. I'm going to wash up." As she spoke, she braided her hair and coiled it into a bun on her head.
Li Xiu finished tidying up and turned around. He walked over to the dressing table, opened a drawer, took out a pearl flower hairpin, and tucked it into his wife's hair.
Zhou Lian reached up and touched it. "Isn't it a bit too eye-catching?" she asked. Li Xiu gently turned her around, gave her a kiss, and said, "It's fine. We'll just say your mother prepared it as part of your dowry."
Zhou Lian rolled her eyes at him. 'He's getting good at telling these little lies.' Li Xiu grinned, took her hand, and led her to the kitchen. It was too cold now, so they washed up there.
He waited until Zhou Lian was brushing her teeth, then carried the breakfast he had made from the pot to the table in the inner room.
After Zhou Lian finished washing up and entered the room, she saw a small pot of millet porridge, a steamer basket of white steamed buns, a plate of pickled side dishes—including mountain bamboo shoots, small mountain peppers, and radish strips—a plate of stir-fried fiddlehead ferns, and two hard-boiled eggs.
"Sweetheart, eat up. You must be starving," Li Xiu said, handing her a bun. He ladled out some porridge, peeled an egg, and placed it all in front of her. Only after seeing her start to eat did he pick up his own chopsticks. He put some fiddlehead ferns on her plate and grabbed a bun for himself. "Try it," he said as he ate. "It's filled with young luffa."
Zhou Lian glanced at the wooden rack behind Li Xiu, where fresh, tender luffas and small cucumbers were growing. Chewing on the bun, she found it was truly delicious. The filling, made of pork and young luffa, was savory and tender. She picked up a piece of mountain bamboo shoot; it was sweet and crisp. The fiddlehead ferns were fragrant and tender, and the small mountain peppers were crispy and spicy...
Zhou Lian ate three buns, one egg, and a bowl of porridge. She rubbed her stomach, feeling completely full—the side dishes were just too appetizing. When Li Xiu saw her put down her chopsticks, he knew she was done; his wife didn't have a large appetite. Seeing her rub her stomach, he smiled. 'She must have really enjoyed it.' In a few quick bites, he finished off the rest of the food, then took the dishes to the kitchen and washed everything. He turned back and chuckled. His wife was still rubbing her stomach. She had definitely overeaten!
He rubbed his hands until they were warm, pulled his wife into his arms, and started rubbing her stomach for her. Zhou Lian swatted his hand away and stood up. "Let's go, it's getting late."
Li Xiu smiled. "Alright, wait a second." He went to the cabinet on the platform bed, took out a pair of gloves, then wrapped the scarf from the bed around Zhou Lian and had her put on the gloves. Only then did he take her hand and lead her outside.
He locked the main gate, and they headed straight for Eldest Li's house. It was cold now, so there was no work to be done in the fields, and the villagers all got up late. They didn't meet many people along the way. If they came across children or women, Li Xiu would take two pieces of candy from Zhou Lian's pocket—which he had put there in advance. For the men, Li Xiu would offer a cigarette. Soon, they arrived at Eldest Li's house.
"Grandma, Uncle, Aunt, my wife and I are here!" Li Xiu called out as soon as they entered the main gate.
The words had barely left his mouth when the door to the west wing opened. Li Bo ran up to Zhou Lian and said, "Sister-in-law, I'll give you all my candy! Please don't leave, okay?"
'What's going on?' Zhou Lian was stunned. This young brother-in-law of hers was only four years old. In her past life, he had been close to her husband, but this scene had never played out.
Li Xiu was laughing so hard on the side he could barely breathe. 'Grandma and Aunt must have been talking, and Li Bo overheard them.' "You little rascal, what nonsense are you spouting!" Aunt Li said with a scolding laugh as she walked over. She took Zhou Lian's hand and led her into the house. "Don't listen to that little rascal's nonsense."
"I'm not talking nonsense! It was you and Grandma! You said Second Aunt is mean and will make Sister-in-law angry and leave!" shouted Li Bo, who was now being held by Li Xiu.
Inside the room, Aunt Li pulled Zhou Lian directly over to sit on the kang. Grandma Li and the other women were already sitting on it, while Uncle Li and Li Xiu sat on chairs below.
"Have you eaten?" Grandma Li asked, taking Zhou Lian's hand. "Grandma, we've eaten. Have you?"
Grandma Li smiled and nodded. "We've eaten. Don't listen to Li Bo's nonsense. That was me telling your aunt to keep a close eye on your mother-in-law, to stop her from causing trouble and scaring you away. Don't worry. Your mother-in-law is terrified of your aunt. With us watching, she won't dare to act up. In a bit, your aunt will go with you over to Second Brother's place. Get the visit over with quickly so you can go back and rest. Tomorrow you'll visit your own family, and the day after, have your younger sisters help out and invite the matchmaker and the village chief's family over."
Zhou Lian smiled and agreed. Li Xiu pulled a large handful of candy from Zhou Lian's pocket and placed it on the kang. He also set Li Bo down on the kang and said, "Your sister-in-law's candy for you." Everyone laughed, remembering the story from last year when Li Bo had demanded Li Xiu find him a sister-in-law just so he could give her all his candy.
"Sister-in-law, your pearl hairpin is so beautiful," Li Fen said, looking with envy at the hairpin in Zhou Lian's hair. "That's your sister-in-law's dowry. Don't worry, when you get married, your big brother will get you a beautiful pearl hairpin for your dowry too!" Li Xiu chimed in, teasing her.
"Big Brother, what about me?" Li Yun asked with a grin.
"You'll all get one. When you sisters get married, Big Brother has it all prepared," Li Xiu said with a smile. He had already prepared more than ten jewelry boxes made of red sandalwood, just to add to his sisters' dowries. Putting a couple of pearl hairpins inside would be both generous and practical!
"Alright, it's getting late. Mom, I'll take them to make their rounds," Aunt Li said, tidying herself up and tying her scarf as she spoke.
On the second day of a marriage, it was supposed to be the mother-in-law who led her son and new daughter-in-law to be formally introduced to the clan. However, Grandma Li and the others didn't trust Ge Er Ya. Aunt Li was the wife of the Li family's eldest son, and she had also managed Li Xiu's wedding, so there was nothing wrong with her leading them.
Soon they arrived at the old family house. As soon as they entered the gate, Aunt Li called out, "Second Brother, Sister-in-law, the new bride is here for introductions!" With that, she took Zhou Lian's hand and went into the house.
Everyone was there, but they didn't look happy. Li Xiu strolled in with his hands in his pockets. "Dad, Mom, did you not sleep well, or are you just not satisfied with my wife? If you're not satisfied, I'll just take her and go home!"
Li Xiu wasn't giving them any face at all. After all, when a son gets married, even though Grandma Li had told them not to interfere, the wedding sweets still needed to be made. The wedding sweets were supposed to be made by the mother-in-law's own hands. As for his mother... he didn't even know what to say. With only three days until the wedding, the sweets still hadn't been delivered.
His aunt had sent Li Hua to ask, and his mother had replied, "Didn't they tell me not to interfere? So I didn't make them." This made Li Hua so angry she cried. In the end, it was Grandma, his aunt, and his third aunt who stayed up all night to make them, because the sweets needed a full day to dry and set.
He only found out about this because Li Yuan and Li Miao let it slip. Grandma and the others had hidden it from him, afraid it would ruin his mood. In truth, he never had any expectations for his parents or his younger siblings. But after this, he had truly given up on them completely.
Seeing Aunt Li's expressionless face, Ge Er Ya quickly said, "We just didn't sleep well. We got up too early."
Li Xiu scoffed. 'Is she complaining that we're late, or that we didn't come to see them first?'
Li Xiu took a step forward, placed a hand on Zhou Lian's shoulder, and said, "Wife, follow my lead and greet them."
He pointed to Second Brother Li. "Wife, this is my father, your father-in-law. Call him 'Father-in-law'."
Then he pointed to Ge Er Ya. "This is my mother, your mother-in-law. Call her 'Mother-in-law'."
Zhou Lian obediently greeted them. "Come, wife, that's four younger brothers and one younger sister: your second, third, fourth, and fifth brothers-in-law, and your sister-in-law."
Zhou Lian looked at the row of young brothers-in-law and the sister-in-law sitting on the kang where he was pointing. Before she could even speak, Li Xiu was already guiding her out the door. He turned back to help Aunt Li and, without a backward glance, said, "Dad, Mom, introductions are done. We have to go to Third Uncle's house now. We're leaving!"