After finishing their bowls of congee, the men sat in the courtyard, smoking and chatting.
The main topic of conversation was still the Bahaba fish that Wang Chu'an had caught yesterday. After all, it had sold for nearly a whole year's wages of an ordinary person!
Everyone was full of envy and thought about asking Wang Chu'an to take them fishing next time so they could share in his good luck.
Wang Chu'an naturally agreed without hesitation, thinking he could just use "Scan" to help them find a few good fishing spots when the time came.
At that moment, the sound of a car horn echoed from outside, and they knew the wedding cars for fetching the bride had arrived.
Wang Chu'an stood up and walked toward the gate, seeing his first and second older cousins walking over with their wives and children.
He hurried forward to greet them, saying, "Big Cousin, Second Cousin, and you two as well, you're here."
The first older cousin smiled and said to him, "Haha, with an event as big as your wedding, of course we all had to come."
The second older cousin, Wang Chu'he, chimed in, "Exactly! How could we possibly not come to our own younger brother's wedding?"
Wang Chu'an handed out cigarettes and chuckled, "Haha, if you dare not show up, I'll move into your houses next time and eat and sleep at your expense!"
"Haha, you brat, you can come whenever you want. As if we'd let you starve."
"Haha, look at him today—totally different from usual. He's got so much more spirit."
"Yeah, he really looks much livelier."
"All right, stop praising me. Any more compliments and I'll blush. Let's go inside first. You guys came all the way here early in the morning and probably haven't eaten yet. Go get some food!"
"Haha, you actually know how to blush? I really couldn't tell," the second cousin teased with a laugh.
"Fine, we'll go eat first then."
...
After the first cousin and the others finished breakfast and rested for a bit, it was approaching eight o'clock. Urged on by the matchmaker, firecrackers were set off, and the group boarded the cars to set off and fetch the bride.
The bride, Fang Shiyu, lived in a small fishing village in the neighboring town. It wasn't very far—it was just that the roads were in poor condition right now, otherwise it would only take twenty minutes by bicycle.
After about forty minutes, the convoy finally arrived at the bride's home.
After going through some door-blocking games, Wang Chu'an finally got to see the bride. The moment he laid eyes on her at home, he was completely stunned, standing there with a goofy grin on his face.
The bride wore light makeup, making her look every bit as youthful and radiant as any modern celebrity.
Compared to those stars, her skin was perhaps slightly darker, but that was only natural since she grew up in a fishing village.
Seeing him stand there staring at her with a silly smile, Fang Shiyu became too embarrassed to look. Her face turned beet red as she lowered her head and stayed silent.
Urged on by the matchmaker, Wang Chu'an first served tea to his parents-in-law, and then Fang Shiyu's older brother carried her onto the vehicle on his back.
Sitting in the car, Fang Shiyu couldn't stop her tears from falling. Her mother's eyes were red from crying, and her father's eyes welled up with unshed tears.
Sitting inside the car, Wang Chu'an didn't know what to do; after all, this was his first time getting married in two lifetimes, and he had no experience.
He could only hold Fang Shiyu's hand, gently patting it as he said, "It's not far. You can come back and visit whenever you want."
Fang Shiyu didn't reply, keeping her head down as she wiped away her tears.
Under the matchmaker's arrangement, the bride-escorting party boarded the large bus together.
For some reason, remembering a video he had seen in his past life, Wang Chu'an opened the car door and stepped out before the vehicle pulled away, walking back toward the Fang family's house.
No one knew what he was about to do, assuming he had forgotten something. Those who hadn't yet boarded the bus followed along.
Seeing Wang Chu'an step out of the car and walk up to the entrance of the Fang family's main hall, he stood before his parents-in-law and, without a single word, bowed deeply to them.
Seeing this, Father Fang and Mother Fang hurriedly stepped forward to help Wang Chu'an up, saying, "What is the child doing this for!"
Once they helped him up, he looked at them with a resolute expression, grasped their hands, and promised, "Dad, Mom, don't worry. I will definitely treat Xiaoyu well in the future and give her a good life!"
Mother Fang patted his hand, her eyes filled with tears as she smiled and said, "Good, good. We believe you. You two must live a good life together."
"That's right, living a good life matters more than anything else. Hurry up and go now, don't miss the auspicious hour," Father Fang added, his eyes also glistening with tears.
"Mm-mm..."
...
After picking up the bride, the return journey took another forty minutes, and they arrived home at around twelve noon.
Amidst the sound of firecrackers, Wang Chu'an stepped out of the vehicle first, and Fang Shiyu descended with the support of his younger sister, Wang Xiuxiu.
Following the matchmaker's arrangements, they first performed the wedding bow ceremony at the old house before escorting the bride into the new bridal chamber.
The bride-escorting guests were invited to sit and rest for a while in the bridal chamber with Fang Shiyu.
Before long, someone came by to invite the escorts to lunch.
Seeing that the guests from the bride's side had all gone to eat, and fearing that Fang Shiyu would be bored staying there all by herself, Wang Chu'an planned to ask his two sisters to keep her company.
After searching everywhere without finding them, he asked his mother, Chen Hong, and learned that everything had already been arranged.
Indeed, for his parents, this was already their third time handling a wedding; with their wealth of experience, he truly didn't need to worry about these details and simply had to follow instructions.
Once the bride's family finished eating, they all returned to the new house to keep Fang Shiyu company again.
In the middle of all this, Wang Chu'an made a trip back, and Fang Shiyu's elders all took turns telling him to treat her well, showering him with praise about all her good qualities.
Wang Chu'an listened obediently with lowered head, repeatedly promising that he would never bully Fang Shiyu.
...
Around three o'clock in the afternoon, the matchmaker arranged for the first cousin and the others to drive the bride-escorting guests back home.
By this point, the wedding rituals were almost entirely complete, leaving only the most important event of the night: the consummation of the marriage...
When the cousins returned, it was time for dinner.
Fang Shiyu changed into a fresh set of outfits and accompanied Wang Chu'an to the ancestral home for the evening meal.
There were four tables of guests that evening, consisting of his own family, his uncle's family, and relatives and friends who had come to help out.
During dinner, Wang Chu'an took Fang Shiyu around to make a toast at every single table.
After making a full round, Wang Chu'an felt he had already drank enough and couldn't take any more.
However, there was no way his group of childhood friends was going to let him off easily.
At the same time, Wang Chu'an had no intention of sparing them either; if he got them all drunk, no one would be left to tease the newlyweds in the bridal chamber.
And so, he resorted to the standard cheating technique of urban fiction protagonists: taking a mouthful of liquor and storing it away into his Space.
Relying on this trick, Wang Chu'an drank about a catty and a half before finally knocking all of them flat.
In the end, it took Wang Chu'an's older brothers to help carry each of the friends back to their respective homes.
Seeing that everyone had left, Mother Chen Hong boiled a bowl of hangover soup for Wang Chu'an to drink.
After he finished it, a group of people followed them over to the new bridal chamber, ready to tease the newlyweds.
Since these people were either elders, older brothers, sisters-in-law, or younger siblings, none of them dared to go too wild. They simply had the bride light cigarettes for them and joked around for a little while.
Seeing that it was getting late, everyone headed back—after all, there was still farm work to do tomorrow!
Before leaving, Mother Chen Hong had already heated up some water. Seeing that everyone had finally gone, Wang Chu'an carried the bathwater into the room.
He had Fang Shiyu wash up inside the room, while he went outside to bathe.
Once both of them finished washing and cleaned up the house a bit, they prepared to go to bed.
Lying in bed next to Fang Shiyu, Wang Chu'an felt his entire body trembling, his heart racing as if he were dreaming. He couldn't believe he had actually managed to marry such a beautiful bride.
Feeling Wang Chu'an's gaze upon her, Fang Shiyu shyly turned her head to the other side.
Seeing her bashful appearance, he could no longer hold back and reached out toward her.
Sensing his hand moving closer, Fang Shiyu whispered, "Turn off the lamp first!"
Realizing she was feeling shy, he turned off the light.
In the darkness, he pulled Fang Shiyu into his arms and kissed her.
The initial sounds of distress gradually turned into hurried breathing, and soft, lingering sounds of intimacy drifted faintly in the air, stirring the imagination.