Chapter 1554 Lost an Opportunity (Update 2)
At the end of the first lunar month, Grandma Zhou was taken to the Le family again by a girl. She didn’t have to look at her daughter-in-law’s face, and she didn’t have to worry about her granddaughter’s marriage. She was in a great mood, the food tasted delicious, and she felt great. .
She has been thinking about what her third aunt said about returning to Meicun to visit the tombs during the Qingming Festival. She is afraid that the Song family will come back and see her making excuses at the Le's house and go to the Le's house to take the opportunity to get married, which will bring trouble to the son-in-law and the girl before the Qingming Festival. I went back to my home for three days.
Sister-in-law Zhou signed an agreement for Zhou Chunmei to marry at the Liu family. She was in a good mood. She secretly waited for the girl to become an old lady after she got married. She was also afraid that Zhou Xialong would regret it and did not go to her parents' home. She ran away and guarded Zhou's house, keeping an eye on Zhou Xialong's actions.
When her mother-in-law came back to live at Le's house, she became even more nervous. She was afraid that her mother-in-law would instigate Zhou Xialong to break the agreement and ask Zhou Chunmei to return to Zhou's house to get married. She was always on guard against anything else. With progress, the reconnaissance ability is increasing day by day.
Grandma Zhou has just stayed at home for two days. On the day before Qingming Festival, the Song family came again.
There are four people in the Song family, Zhou Shirley, Song Pengcheng, the old couple and their two sons. The grandchildren want to study. They Without bringing Jiudao back, the four of them went back to Meicun to visit the grave.
It was already afternoon when the Song family arrived at Brother Zhou's house. Brother Zhou was not at home, but Grandma Zhou and Aunt Zhou were at home. Aunt Zhou was a little confused when she saw the Song family and couldn't remember who it was. .
When Zhou Xueli saw Zhou Xialong’s wife, she enthusiastically took the hands of her nephews and daughters-in-law. One niece on the left and the other on the right called her sweetly. Grandma Zhou said in a calm tone:
"Xiao Liu, they are Xia Long’s father’s third sister. The third brother-in-law and his family came back once on the fourth day of the first lunar month this year. It is not convenient to go up the mountain during the first lunar month. They come back to visit the graves during the Qingming Festival. They have a lot of housework. They will be in a hurry to go back after going to the mountain tomorrow. You don’t need to clean up the guest rooms. Let them stay in Chunmei. The room will be enough for one night at dawn."
"Oh, it's the third aunt and the third uncle. You guys go to the main room and sit down first." My mother-in-law explained who the guests were, and Sister-in-law Zhou greeted them and invited the four people into the main room and handed them over to her mother-in-law. To entertain, she looked for melon seed candies that could entertain guests.
On the Qingming Festival in April, the spring cold had not gone, and the main room was a bit cold. Grandma Zhou did not want to wrong herself, so she took her third aunt and her family to sit in the kitchen. The Song family came back the day before the Qingming Festival and made up their mind to stay one night. She took it as a When you keep ordinary friends at home, treat them in a nonchalant manner without being enthusiastic or cold-faced.
Sister-in-law Zhou brought candies to her relatives, and followed her mother-in-law's instructions to go downstairs to tidy up Chunmei and Tianming's rooms on the second floor. The two rooms were fully furnished and needed a little tidying up.
Zhou Shirley was secretly happy that her sister-in-law's face was not as cold as the first month of the year, and she was not in a hurry to ask for gossip. She only talked about trivial and unimportant things about life, such as visiting graves during the Qingming Festival or feeling that the village had changed a lot.
Grandma Zhou didn't give any relatives a cold look, and the atmosphere was good.
After sitting and chatting for a long time, the Zhou family's wife was going to the garden to look for vegetables. Zhou Shirley looked at the opportunity and went for a walk in the garden. When she got to the vegetable garden, she first praised the neatness of the vegetables and praised the vegetable grower for being a good hand, pretending to be careless. Asked: "My niece-in-law, dawn is far away and I can't visit the grave. Why hasn't our grand-niece Chunmei come back yet?" "
You said Chunmei, Chunmei has to go to work and is busy preparing for her wedding. This year I probably won’t have time to come back during the Qingming Festival.” The child’s third aunt’s grandmother was concerned about Chunmei, and Mrs. Zhou was very happy and told the good news that her girl was getting married as if to show off.
"Hey, Chunmei is getting married. This is a big event. When will you get married? You have to have a grand wedding. Should you do it in the village or go to a hotel to hold a banquet? Where is Chunmei's partner from? He must be a promising person." Zhou
Shirley For a moment, they realized that they had not heard about Zhou Chunmei's intention to get married. When did this happen and if it had been agreed upon recently.
"Chunmei's partner is from a neighboring county. The husband's family is a mining boss, and his family is quite good. The two have been dating for a long time. They are scheduled to get married on May Day next month. The husband doesn't care about a small amount of money, so he plans to have a banquet in a hotel. ..."
His girl found a rich man. Sister-in-law Zhou was so proud that she wanted to let the whole village know how good the girl was. Naturally, she took the opportunity to brag about it, almost leaving the husband's family alone. Compliment the girl to the heavens.
Zhou Xueli was stunned for a while. She remembered that her son once said that Zhou Chunmei was similar to most rural girls. She had a family spirit and did not look like a lucky person. From what her niece said, Zhou Chunmei was married to a senior citizen. Could it be that she was an old woman? The ancestors of the Zhou family opened their eyes, so the girl from the Zhou family was blessed to have great luck if she stepped on dog poop and was favored by a wealthy family?
She was surprised in her heart, but without showing anything on the surface, she praised her again, saying that she was blessed, that she was smart and generous, that rich people had good taste, and that they had fallen in love with a girl from the Zhou family. The grandniece praises her like a flower.
That meal of ecstasy soup also made Mrs. Zhou dizzy, unable to tell the difference between east, west and north. Naturally, she asked questions and answered questions. The relationship between the two instantly became closer, like a close aunt and nephew.
Zhou Chunmei's wedding was a good opportunity to get closer. Zhou Shirley was naturally interested in it and asked a lot of questions, focusing on the specific date of Zhou Chunmei's wedding, the main banquet on that day, and where the hotel would be. She and her sons were also coming back. Ask for a cup of wedding wine and a little joy.
Asked where the hotel where Zhou Chunmei held her wedding reception was, Sister-in-law Zhou blurted out: "The husband's family is from the neighboring county of Zhu County, and the hotel is also in Zhu County." Zhou Shirley paused: "The husband's hotel is in their county
. It's normal. It's impossible for the Zhou family's hotel to be booked there. There's no reason for the Zhou family's family to go to the neighboring county to have a drink." "
Chunmei got married at my grandma's house, so the hotel will naturally be located in Zhuxian County. ." Sister-in-law Zhou hadn't thought of that much yet, so she answered casually.
"What?" Zhou Xueli suspected that her ears were prematurely deaf, and her voice rose an octave: "Chunmei got married at my grandma's house? Where does this come from? Zhou Chunmei's surname is Zhou, and Chunmei's grandma and father are living well. How can I be with my grandma? What does it mean to get married at home? What does the man mean? What does grandma's family mean? Maybe she thought that the Zhou family was dead and no one could talk to her, so she did such a shameless thing." Auntie's voice was sharp, Sister-in-law Zhou
said The head that was dizzy with excitement suddenly sobered up, and the skin on the back was tense. She explained in a nonchalant manner: "Third aunt, my grandma's house is close to the husband's house, so it is convenient for marriage. Your nephew Xia Long also agreed to Chunmei's marriage to my grandma's house." .”
Zhou Shirley stared at her niece-in-law suspiciously for several times. She intuitively felt that there was a story in it, so she didn’t ask any more questions. When she had picked the vegetables and returned to Zhou’s house, Xia Long’s wife went to wash the vegetables. She went back to the kitchen and said a few words about the vegetables in the garden. It's great. He seemed to ask casually: "Afu's wife, I heard from my niece that Chunmei is getting married. When will she post to inform her relatives and friends?" "That's what happened," my aunt specially picked
. Asking about the topic, Grandma Zhou did not avoid it: "Xia Long's wife and her family have agreed to let Chunmei get married at her grandma's house. Chunmei actually got married at her grandma's house, and the banquet and invitations were all from her grandma's house. The Zhou family doesn't care about anything."
Song Pengcheng originally heard from his wife that Zhou Chunmei was getting married, and secretly thought that this was an opportunity to get closer to the Zhou family. He was thinking about how many gifts he would prepare to earn face for his family. How could he listen to his sister-in-law? When it was said that Zhou Chunmei got married at her grandma's house, everyone was confused. What, what? Zhou Chunmei got married at her grandma's house?
To be honest, if his girl had proposed returning to her grandmother's house to get married while he and his close relatives from the Song family were still alive, he would have kicked her out immediately, as if he had never given birth to such an unfilial daughter.
He couldn't afford to let the girl get married at her grandma's house.
However, now the girl from the Zhou family is going to get married at her grandmother's house. Does it seem like the Zhou family has agreed to his wife's sister-in-law's marriage?
Song Pengcheng asked in disbelief: "His aunt, is it inappropriate for a girl from the Zhou family to marry into her grandma's house? It's not in line with etiquette, and someone will stab her in the spine.
" Stay, Zhou Chunmei and her mother think it is better to marry into her grandma's house, let them leave it to them, the married girl will throw away the water. After the girl is married and has a family of her own, the quality of her life has little to do with her natal family. , so Chunmei can get married wherever she wants."
Grandma Zhou is very calm. If a girl from the Zhou family gets married at her grandma's house, she and Xia Long will not be the ones who get poked in the back in the future. If others want to scold them, they will also scold the Liu family. She understands etiquette, so she doesn't have to worry about it, let alone get angry because of it.
The sister-in-law of her mother's family made a pun, and Song Pengcheng also understood. The sister-in-law doesn't care where Zhou Chunmei gets married, because the married girl throws water on her. The married girl is the daughter-in-law of another family, and her honor and disgrace belong to her husband's family and are not much different from her natal family. relation.
Similarly, Zhou Shirley is also a girl from the Zhou family, and she is like water thrown away. Whether her life is good or bad after marrying into the Song family has nothing to do with the Zhou family.
It has to be said that the older the sister-in-law is, the more powerful she becomes. Song Pengcheng thought of the phrase "Three days after a separation, you should look at each other with admiration." Nowadays, the sister-in-law of the mother's family should not be underestimated. She can no longer be regarded as the ignorant country woman she used to be. People treat it in general.
Zhou Shirley also heard some clues and had a plan in her mind. It seemed that her nephew's daughter-in-law was not liked by her sister-in-law, and Zhou Chunmei was not liked by her grandma and her father because she wanted to marry at her grandma's house, so their family could not do the same. By working hard on Zhou Chunmei and Xia Long's wife, Zhou Chunmei doesn't need to prepare any big gifts for her wedding.
Song Deyang and Song Dexu were not stupid either. They figured out some clues from their aunt's tone and knew how to deal with it. They never mentioned Zhou Chunmei's marriage.
Sister-in-law Zhou was washing vegetables when she heard Third Gu running to tell her mother-in-law about Chunmei getting married at her grandmother's house. She was very nervous at first, fearing that Third Gu would instigate her mother-in-law to cause trouble, but she was relieved when her mother-in-law didn't care. I also made a note of the third aunt in my mind. What does an aunt who is married to another woman do to take care of her mother's family affairs?
Especially since the third aunt has been married for so many years and is separated from her girl by two generations, how can she have the nerve to instigate the mother-in-law to control where her granddaughter gets married
? My aunt is troublesome, and Sister-in-law Zhou doesn't really like the Song family, so naturally she can't show any enthusiasm, and her attitude is much colder.
The old lady of the Zhou family didn't talk about Zhou Chunmei's marriage, and the Song family was smart enough to pretend that they didn't know about it. No one mentioned it, they only talked about insignificant things, and the conversation became more and more speculative.
Someone was building a house in a village across Jiudao Street. Brother Zhou and a few buddies in the village went to work. He and his companions left early in the morning and came home late in the evening. They didn't finish work until the evening and went home.
When Brother Zhou came home and saw the Song family, he was neither surprised nor surprised. He treated them as ordinary guests and never took the initiative to talk about the affairs of his brother-in-law's family when chatting with his cousins.
The two Song brothers whispered for a while while sleeping and exchanged opinions. They all agreed. They felt that their cousin and aunt did not value Zhou Chunmei. Zhou Chunmei did not have much say in the Zhou family. There was no need for them to spend time with Zhou Chunmei, so they drank wedding wine. Nothing, absolutely unnecessary.
Zhou Chunmei won't get married in the Zhou family, and the Zhou family won't hold a wedding banquet. They don't have to come back for the wedding banquet, and they also lose an opportunity to get close to the Zhou family. So, now that everyone knows that Zhou Chunmei is getting married, do you want to give her a red envelope?
The two brothers thought about it over and over, and finally reached an agreement that they should skip the red envelopes. The old cousin was not willing to marry them in the first place, so if they gave them red envelopes, it would not be a favor to their grandma. The old cousin might think that they I don’t have any eyesight, and I don’t like it even more.
The next day is Qingming Festival, the day for sweeping tombs and worshiping ancestors.
Brother Zhou and his companions also had three days off to visit their ancestors' graves or manage the crops at home. Therefore, he did not go out to work that day and went up the mountain to sweep the graves with his Zhou family members.
The four members of the Song family came back to sweep the tomb, and they also brought the papyrus used for sweeping the tomb, and brought back the meat cut on the street. They had dinner on the morning of Qingming Festival, and they cooked the meat with the Zhou family's mother and son, and took small pots, bowls and cups. Such supplies are packed in backpacks.
On Tomb Sweeping Day, God was lucky, it didn’t rain and it was a cloudy day.
At around eight o'clock in the morning, Village Chief Zhou Bapi and others packed up, set off, and went to Zhou Xialong's house to call Grandma Zhou and her family to accompany them.
This time, Brother Zhou agreed with his sister and brother-in-law in advance that sweeping the grave would not be possible, so as not to let the Song family take advantage of the situation. Therefore, Brother Zhou waited until his cousins arrived and set off immediately.
A team of dozens of members of the Zhou family headed towards the mountains. Song Pengcheng wondered why Zhou Qiufeng and the Le family were not traveling together.
The Song brothers were also puzzled. The information they found out said that the Le family and the Zhou family usually went together to visit graves in the past. Why didn't they go together this year?
They wanted to find out the reason, but were afraid of being noticed by others, so they refrained from asking, walked all the way to the foot of the mountain, and climbed the mountain.
Le's father, Zhou Qiufeng, waited until the Zhou family had set off for about half an hour before setting off with incense and paper for ancestor worship, Leshan and the wolf dog, and Hua Lao also accompanied them.
The youngest of the ants, he naturally abides by the "family customs" and avoids the day before Qingming Festival. He stays in the south building of Lejia to eat cold food, and naturally does not show up on the day of Qingming Festival.
The old man just didn't go out and wander around, and didn't avoid Huayan and Leshan. He still supervised Leshan's reading and horse walking every day, and he didn't relax his teachings to his little disciple.
Leshan's father, Zhou Qiufeng, took Leshan on a mountain climb accompanied by Mr. Hua's heavyweight bodyguard. He visited the graves of the first two generations of the Le family, then went to visit the graves of the ancestors of his maternal grandfather, the Chen family, and then paid homage to Leshan. Grandpa went down the mountain to go home.
They didn't know when the Zhou family would return, and they didn't want to meet the Song family who were at the Zhou family. They didn't make any other delays on the way to sweep the tomb. They didn't dig bamboo shoots or wild vegetables. They left after sweeping the tomb and it wasn't even noon when they got home.
Brother Zhou and others paid homage to the ancestors of the Zhou family and did not return home until mid-afternoon. It was quite late after dinner, so the Song family naturally stayed and stayed overnight.
The next day, because the Song brothers had their own affairs, they naturally had to go back to Changshi. Song Pengcheng and Zhou Shirley wanted to stay a few more days, but the Zhou family's mother and son did not accept guests, so they had no choice but to go home with their sons.
(End of chapter)