After getting married, the young couple broke away from their original families and started a new life.
But there is another very important old rule, that is, the bride must return to her parents’ home on the third day of her wedding.
Of course, behind any old rules lies the wisdom and experience of the ancients.
The same goes for ‘returning to the door in three days’.
In ancient times, marriage between men and women was done by "the matchmaker and the order of the parents."
The young couple had never met before they got married.
The man doesn’t even know the woman’s family situation.
That's why some women take their husbands back to their parents' homes to recognize them.
There is another important reason for "returning to the door".
In ancient times, women usually got married when they were teenagers.
There are many things that I don’t quite understand, and even conservative-minded adults won’t explain them clearly.
After a woman returns to her natal family, she can also take the opportunity to get close to her natal family.
My natal sister-in-law will also ask about the new daughter-in-law at this time.
If I don’t understand something, my sister-in-law will teach me.
...
‘Returning home’ is an important wedding ceremony, and Li Donglai and Ding Qiunan naturally attach great importance to it.
Early in the morning, I rode my bicycle and ran to Ding's house.
There is a big rooster hanging on one side of the handlebar of Li Donglai's bicycle, a duck hanging on the other side, and a cardboard box tied on the back seat.
Ding Qiunan's bicycle had two large carps hanging on the handlebars, and Li Xiaomei was sitting on the back seat.
Originally, today was not the occasion for Li Xiaomei to attend, but Ding's mother and Ding's father had not seen her for several days. They were really panicking and asked Ding Qiunan to bring her with him.
Li Donglai naturally nodded in agreement.
After all, it’s a new-style wedding, so why should the rules be followed? It’s not me who has the final say?
Along the way, Li Xiaomei's little mouth was never idle.
"Sister-in-law, have you heard that song?"
"What song is it?"
"One, two, three, four, five, go up the mountain and hunt the tiger. The tiger doesn't eat people, it only eats Truman."
"...This is a children's song. Your sister-in-law is now an adult."
"Then why don't you hurry up and give birth to a fat baby and teach him to sing children's songs?"
"...."
Dare to be waiting here!
Ding Qiunan was riding a bicycle, pursed her lips and almost laughed out loud.
Before getting married, she often heard from the neighbor's aunt that her sister-in-law would be the most difficult to take care of after getting married.
She was still a little nervous.
After getting married, she discovered that Li Xiaomei was actually a pure-hearted person.
They are also very diligent and always come to help me every time I cook.
Ding Qiunan saw that she was young and was afraid that she would touch the stove and would not let her come near. She still pouted and refused.
Ding Qiunan feels very lucky to have such a good sister-in-law.
The only thing I felt a little uncomfortable with was that this sister-in-law always tried different ways to urge them to have children.
On the first day after the wedding, I didn’t know where I got a big red envelope with a lot of money in it, saying it was for my future nephews and nieces.
Such a young child, just like Ding's mother, really makes Ding Qiunan laugh.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but look at Li Donglai, who was riding a bicycle with two long legs in front of her.
Under the faint sunshine, the rough man's whole body was covered with a layer of golden light.
Maybe it would be a good choice to have more children, at least the children's appearance would not be bad.
...
When Li Donglai, Ding Qiunan and Li Xiaomei arrived at Ding's alley, the entrance to the alley was already surrounded.
These people are all neighbors of the Ding family. The Ding family does not have many relatives in the capital, so these neighbors naturally want to come to support them.
When they saw the bicycle, someone shouted: "My aunt is back, let's fire up the cannon."
A half-grown boy held a cigarette butt and lit firecrackers hanging on a walnut tree.
"Crackling"
After a burst of lightning and thunder, the air was filled with a thick smell of gunpowder smoke.
The children didn't care about picking up the cannons and rushed forward to surround Li Donglai.
"New uncle, new wife, sugar, sugar!"
Ding Qiunan smiled and took out a large bag of toffee from the cardboard box at the back, opened it, and sprinkled it on the children.
Seeing Toffee, the aunt and daughter-in-law next to her couldn't stand anymore and squeezed into the crowd.
These people had watched him grow up, so Ding Qiunan didn't care about feeling sorry for him anymore and grabbed a lot of candies and gave them to them.
When buying toffee the day before yesterday, Ding Qiunan was still complaining about why Li Donglai bought so many.
Now that I think about it, she is too small.
Li Donglai took out a few packs of cigarettes from the front door and gave them to the neighbor's uncles and brothers one by one. When he met an older man, he lit cigarettes for him under the introduction of Ding Boren.
"This is Uncle Wang in the front yard. He is an old cart driver. When Sijiu City was liberated, he drove a donkey cart and braved the hail of bullets to deliver food to the army."
Li Donglai was in awe of such an old-timer.
He bent over, struck a match, and lit a cigarette for the old man with white hair and years etched on his face.
"Old man, thanks to your efforts back then, we are now happy today."
"Xiao Ding, I think this kid is good. He is much sweeter than you. He is a person who does big things. You have a good vision." The old man looked at Li Donglai with satisfaction, his voice was hoarse.
"This is Qiunan's idea. We parents can't stand in the way." Ding Boren, who is in his fifties, was so happy that he opened his mouth from ear to ear, like a child.
After one lap, two kilograms of White Rabbit candies and a large carton of Qianmen cigarettes were all gone.
But Li Donglai doesn't feel bad at all. Getting married is a major event in life, and neighbors can come to give you face.
You are so petty, no one will dare to interact with you in the future.
His generosity also won praise from his neighbors.
"This uncle from the Ding family is pretty good."
"Of course, we gave out so many candies when we welcomed the bride last time."
"The key is to be kind and not show any airs of being a big director."
"The eldest girl of the Ding family is really lucky."
...
Amidst the blessings of everyone, the two pushed their bicycles into the Ding's yard.
A square table has been set up in the yard.
Sitting in front of the square table were a middle-aged woman and two young men, one a girl of thirteen or fourteen years old.
A middle-aged woman with short ear-length hair, wearing a gray coat, black pants, and small leather shoes, she looks like a unit leader.
The two young men were probably in their twenties and looked somewhat similar. They were probably brothers.
The girl is wearing a sea soul shirt, dark green pants, two ponytails, and pink skin. Her appearance is very similar to that of high school students of this era.
Li Donglai knew that the Ding family had few relatives, but he did not expect that there would only be so few.
When those people saw a group of people coming in, they hurriedly stood up and came over to greet them.
Ding Boren pointed to the woman with short hair and a gray gown and introduced: "This is Ding Qiunan's cousin."
"Hello, cousin." Li Donglai said hello obediently.
Aunt Ding's cousin nodded with satisfaction: "He is a good boy. Qiunan will be lucky in the future."
While talking, he took out a big red envelope from his pocket and stuffed it into Li Donglai's hand.
"I have watched Qiunan grow up as a child. She likes to have a little temper. If she doesn't do something right in the future, you can just go to your cousin and she will make the decision for you."
"No, how can we?" Li Donglai had the unique humility of a new uncle on his face.
