The Lucky Farmgirl

Old Madam Liu stood up excitedly, then sat back down, her eyes sparkling.

When she saw Bai Shan and Zhou Man holding the red silk as they entered, Old Madam Liu’s eyes were full of comfort. The matchmaker and Bai Dalang guided them to the front, and Bai Dalang stood beside Old Madam Liu smiling broadly and shouted loudly, "Here come the newlyweds—"

Today he was the attendant.

The auspicious words had been written down earlier, and he just had to read them. Bai Dalang had practiced privately many times, so now he read them fluently, shouting, "The bride and groom pay respects to their elders, kneel—"

Manbao and Bai Shan knelt down holding the red silk, and Bai Dalang shouted, "Bow your heads—"

The two bowed to Old Madam Liu, who nodded repeatedly and extended her hand, saying, "Quickly rise..."

Bai Dalang shouted, "Bow again—"

The two changed position slightly and bowed to Ms.Zheng, who was also very excited, nodding repeatedly and raising her hand to let them rise.

Bai Dalang then shouted loudly, "Mutual bow between husband and wife—"

The matchmaker supported them to turn and face each other, Bai Dalang excitedly shouted, "Kneel—"

Then he shouted, "Bow your heads—"

Everyone was watching closely to see who would bow first.

Manbao and Bai Shan followed orders and bowed simultaneously, and the crowd sighed in disappointment. But when Bai Dalang shouted "Ceremony completed—"

Everyone rushed up to surround the couple, playfully sending them to the bridal chamber.

Bai Erlang, Yin Huo, and Liu Huan also joined the fun, surrounding them to head to the bridal chamber. Zhou SiLang squeezed in and pulled Bai Erlang and Yin Huo out, Liu Huan rushed to another side, Zhou SiLang’s hands were limited, he didn’t catch him, so he dragged the two shouting, "Why are you stirring things up, you’re supposed to hold the fort..."

Bai Erlang and Yin Huo remembered their duty and quickly apologized, "Bai Da has taken the attendant role, we didn’t react in time."

Bai Dalang came over, confidently said, "I have experience with this, let’s go, let’s go, each of us grabs a few people later, the more people left in the bridal chamber the more chaotic it gets, later we clear them out."

So everyone headed towards the bridal chamber.

The wedding isn’t over yet, everyone squeezed into the bridal chamber because there were too many people, even the screen dividing the inner and outer rooms was put away.

Manbao stepped onto the footrest, her face blushing, sitting on the bed. Feeling something poking underneath, she discreetly touched down and grabbed a handful of red dates.

She held them in her hand without moving, quietly wiped them under her wide sleeves, Bai Shan moved closer to her, ignored the sudden burst of laughter from everyone, his wide sleeves intertwined with Manbao’s sleeves, using them to cover, he grabbed her hand.

Manbao looked into his eyes, with a sparkle like water in her eyes, Bai Shan hooked her finger, preventing her from eating, then glanced at the others in the room.

In Zhao Liulang, Feng Zongping, and the others’ eyes, it clearly was the couple exchanging flirtatious glances openly, shamelessly.

Is it impressive to know each other before marriage?

Is childhood companionship impressive?

Who hasn’t been married yet!

The matchmaker carried a tray filled with gifts, smilingly parted the crowd and approached, Madam Tang and other ladies took the opportunity to follow behind and walk to the front.

The young masters in attendance dared not provoke these ladies, so they squeezed to the side.

Manbao saw them and remained still, her fingers entwined with Bai Shan’s inside the sleeves.

The matchmaker handed the tray to Jiu Lan beside her, smiled and said, "Congratulations to the groom, congratulations to the bride, the groom and bride are a perfect match, a pair made in heaven."

The auspicious words flowed as if they were free, she reached out for the wine pot, pouring wine into silver cups, and laughed, "Today, after drinking the wine of unity, the bride and groom will share both joys and hardships, sustenance each other’s sorrows..."

Manbao raised a hand to take the wine cup, her finger was hooked, she instinctively looked at Bai Shan, Bai Shan was also holding a cup looking at her, the two exchanged a smile, Bai Shan then took her hand out, received the wine cup, and they drank the unity wine together.

Everyone saw the couple’s smiles, felt a pang of jealousy, most present had already been married, since it was rare to be unmarried at nineteen or twenty.

They all had experienced a wedding, but whose wedding had their understandings and sweetness?

Often, a honeymoon meant exploring life with a complete stranger, there were joys, but anxiety, unfamiliarity were dominant.

So jealousy transforms faces, including Bai Dalang, everyone thought, later they must properly stir up the bridal chamber.

After drinking the unity wine, the matchmaker joyfully cut a strand of their hair with scissors, then bound the strands together tightly.

She put the tied hair into a box, then placed it under the head of the bed, and stepped back announcing happily, "Ceremony complete, congratulations to the groom and bride, newlyweds rejoice."

As soon as she announced this, the room erupted in cheers, someone brought up two cups and a pot of wine, calling, "Let’s skip the chatter, we ask the groom and bride to first drink three cups then talk."

Jiu Lan and May Yue immediately pulled aside the matchmaker, handed her two red envelopes, whispered, "Our Old Madam said, our Young Master and bride have many friends, too many people would easily cause chaos in the bridal chamber, we still ask you to help keep things in check."

The matchmaker understood, took the red envelopes and tucked them in her sleeves, patting her chest, assured, "Rest assured, little ladies, I’ll watch over things, not allowing too many mishaps."

This was a warning shot, Zhao Liulang and Feng Zongping leading, everyone followed, first drinking three cups before discussing anything else.

Bai Shan glanced at the two, both already married, especially Zhao Liulang, who married so early, Bai Shan regretted not being able to attend.

He reached out, took the wine cup, drank down three cups consecutively, his already red face reddened further.

Manbao also drank two cups, was about to drink the third when Zhao Liulang stopped her, smilingly said, "How can the bride drink alone? The groom should lend a hand too, how about this, bride drinks half a cup, groom drinks the other half."

Manbao glanced deeply at him, drank half a cup, then handed it to Bai Shan.

Bai Shan reached for it and drank.

Hmph, not mouth-to-mouth, who’s afraid, they not only ate from the same pot as kids, even took nap on the same mat.

Everyone saw the couple’s faces turned red, unsure if it was from shyness or drinking, mainly because their expressions were too calm.

This was boring, should have let them feed mouth-to-mouth, no, no, that would be inappropriate, this isn’t the Imperial Music Bureau, nor the Spring Breeze Pavilion.

Everyone made eye signals at each other, then pushed Zhao Liulang up front, he snapped open his fan, shook it, winked at Bai Shan, said, "Editor Bai, you’ve seen a lot, can you explain why it’s called the bridal chamber?"

Bai Shan hadn’t spoken yet, Manbao had already raised her hand, said, "I know!"

Everyone was stunned, looking at Zhou Man, this, isn’t proper, though you’re a physician, isn’t jumping to answer such questions inappropriate?

Manbao said earnestly, "Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor defeated the Chi You tribe. To integrate the Chi You tribe into the Huaxia tribe alliance, the Yellow Emperor decreed that the Chi You tribe could no longer acquire women through raids. If anyone in the tribe developed feelings, the families would prepare a cave dwelling for the couple. Over time, newlyweds developed deep feelings and could live together permanently."

Zhao Liulang froze, the young people behind him also froze.

Madam Tang couldn’t help but cover her mouth in laughter, trying hard to hold it in, tears almost leaked out.