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墨書 Inktalez
On the evening of December 22, the day before the "Kitchen God Festival," all primary and secondary schools in Annan County were closed for the holiday.
Since the autumn harvest, Hu Qihua and his brother, Second Uncle Hu Zhenhua, had been working tirelessly to deliver goods to the Brick Factory in Township. With the Tractor pulling heavy loads quickly, the two brothers efficiently loaded and unloaded their deliveries. The Brick Factory later paid them five yuan per truckload, and after three months of hard work, they had earned nearly three thousand yuan. Adding to this was their income from plowing fields in the autumn; without deducting expenses like diesel and labor, it seemed that the Tractor had almost paid for itself.
Money gave people confidence and strength. After living cautiously for half their lives, the two brothers now felt bold enough to stand tall and speak loudly in the streets.
That night, Woodzi and his wife unexpectedly visited Hu Ruoyun's home. Over the past year, this couple had come to realize their situation had changed drastically. The Hu family was no longer the one they could manipulate as they pleased; gone were the days when Woodzi's wife would speak condescendingly in front of Hu's brothers.
Their sudden visit was a plea for help, marked by a tone of humility. Woodzi's eldest son, Wu Mingyang, had gotten engaged to a girl from Caogu Village over a year ago, and they were now discussing plans to marry before the Spring Festival.
As the saying goes, customs can vary greatly even over short distances. Despite Hu Family Village being only eight kilometers from Caogu Village, wedding traditions differed significantly. In Hu Family Village, it was customary for the groom to gather a group of young men of similar age, each riding a new bicycle while carrying a "bride-fetching lady" (usually the groom's sister-in-law or aunt) to the bride's home. After exchanging greetings, they would return with the bride and her female relatives to hold the ceremony.
The bride's dowry and male relatives accompanying her would typically be transported back by a mule cart. However, in recent years, Caogu Village had seen economic growth, leading to weddings being celebrated with large trucks instead.
The bride and her accompanying relatives would squeeze into the passenger seat of a truck while dowries filled the cargo area. Additionally, there would be another minibus specifically for transporting male relatives attending the wedding. This required at least two vehicles.
In such cases where customs differed between families, it was usually expected to adhere to the bride's standards. Thus, Woodzi had spent a considerable amount hiring a large truck from a county freight company and renting a minibus from a local transport company.
To his dismay, the bride's family insisted that there was too much dowry for just one large truck to carry. Woodzi and his wife felt both happy about the generous dowry but troubled by the expense of renting another truck. According to Caogu Village customs, using animal-drawn carts for dowries was considered lacking in prestige and could not keep up with vehicle speeds on the road.
After much deliberation, they decided to settle for using a Tractor instead. While several tractors had been added to their village over time, only Hu Qihua owned one with a large trailer.
Thus, this couple came seeking assistance. Remembering past grievances with them still lingered in Hu Qihua and Hu Zhenhua's hearts; however, both brothers were kind-hearted individuals whose children were well-regarded. In such times of need, it was only right to lend support rather than refuse them outright.
Woodzi expressed his gratitude profusely. On December 24th, a large truck and a minibus set out adorned with bright red flowers, along with Hu Zhenhua driving his Tractor. They carried Wu Mingyang’s sister-in-law and aunt along with four close uncles and Wu Mingyang’s group of friends in a grand procession heading off to celebrate the wedding.
Upon arriving at the bride's family home, many details had been meticulously discussed between both families. After the customary rituals were completed, the young men began loading the dowry into the vehicle. The bride, with the support of her brother-in-law and Aunt, climbed into the driver's seat of the "Liberation" vehicle.
Once everything was settled and a loud burst of firecrackers echoed through the air, the wedding procession began to turn back as the loudspeaker played a line from the movie "Carrying the Flower Palanquin."
However, trouble arose when they reached the groom's family home and attempted to help the bride's family disembark. In rural areas at that time, weddings and funerals were major events, and every detail was crucial. The groom's side had to be particularly cautious; any guest from the bride's family was treated like royalty.
It was not uncommon for disputes to arise if the groom's side overlooked something or if the accompanying guests failed to communicate properly, leading to confrontations where tables were flipped in anger. But this time, it was genuinely the fault of Woodzi's wife.
Originally, it had been agreed that the bride’s eight-year-old brother would carry a washbasin—a significant part of their wedding ceremony where a large "flower cake" is placed in a brand-new enamel basin. The basin must not be taken out of the vehicle until certain rituals are completed. Typically, the groom's side would give a red envelope to the child carrying the basin, known as "washbasin money."
If at any point during this process something displeased the bride’s family, they might demand more money unexpectedly—perhaps increasing the washbasin money from 100 to 200 or more—or they could raise demands for additional gifts from the groom.
For Wu Mingyang's wedding, both families had previously agreed on a sum: 100 yuan for the washbasin money. However, Woodzi’s wife inexplicably decided to exchange a 100-yuan bill featuring "Four Great Leaders" for a 50-yuan bill and handed it to the bride’s brother.
The boy immediately shouted, "Aunt, she only gave me fifty!"
The bride's aunt, who had been sweet-talking with the groom’s family alongside their sister-in-law, rushed over upon hearing her nephew’s outcry. Seeing that he indeed held only a 50-yuan note, her expression darkened. "What does she mean? Does she look down on our girl or our maternal family?"
Wu Mingyang’s second aunt was taken aback; it seemed that no one from the bride’s side had caused trouble—yet their own sister-in-law had ignited this fire!
Before she could comprehend what was happening, the bride’s aunt snatched the money from her nephew’s hand and threw it on the ground. "You sit tight in that car! Hold onto your basin! If you don’t get five hundred yuan, don’t you dare let go of that basin! And don’t get out!"
She then returned to push her niece back into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut, locking everyone outside.
The men accompanying the bride were also displeased and blocked anyone from unloading more dowry from the vehicle.
What a mess!
Without needing further provocation from the bride's side, all of Wu Mingyang's relatives began criticizing Woodzi’s wife fiercely. The sister-in-law responsible for handling wedding arrangements was nearly in tears. "Sister-in-law, what were you thinking? I’ve said so many good things about them; we finally made it here! Are you trying to ruin Mingyang's wedding because you’re unhappy with how smoothly it’s going?"
Onlookers from nearby homes pointed and whispered among themselves.
Aunt Kui, being older and straightforward in her speech, remarked bluntly, "You can’t say that their maternal family isn’t making an issue of this… Just prepare five hundred yuan for them!"
If it weren’t for all these witnesses around them, Woodzi would have kicked his wife and slapped her in frustration.
Woodzi felt bitter inside as well. They had already spent most of their savings building a house for their eldest son and had given 5000 yuan as a dowry before marriage—essentially draining their finances. Now they still faced expenses for hosting a banquet... Not to mention future costs for building a house for their second son and organizing his wedding... Just thinking about it was overwhelming. In a moment of desperation to save fifty yuan, he foolishly exchanged what should have been 100 yuan for 50—only to make matters worse!
This is the case of missing out on a big watermelon while missing a sesame seed. Amidst the accusations from everyone, she regretted it so much that she wanted to slap herself twice.
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