In any case, he had to finish the heavy cannon he had ordered, even if he had to cry.
Steve obediently raised the manul. Fortunately, the manul did not pester him. He did not have to ask for its opinion when he went out the next day, unlike Li Du, who still had to fool the six little ones into staying with him.
Li Du did not understand what kind of bazaar there was in this small polar city, but he saw Steve and the others smiling and looking forward to it. It seemed that the bazaar was really interesting.
When they drove to a street in the city, he knew what kind of bazaar it was.
The street was crowded, and Li Du was still wondering why there were not many people in the city with a population of 200,000. It turned out that they were all crowded here.
The middle of the road was crowded with people, and there were people on both sides of the road, all dressed up and dressed in bright clothes.
Steve got out of the car and smiled. "Welcome to the Vorkuta Bride Bazaar!"
Li Du suddenly understood. "No wonder you had to go to Severnaya Zemlya from Vorkuta. So it was to participate in the bride bazaar here?"
Steve said, "Yes, don't you think this custom is very novel?"
It was a tradition in the far north of Russia, said to have originated in Bulgaria, that was, the bride market to buy and sell brides.
It sounded a little scary. What was the difference between buying and selling brides and human trafficking? There was indeed a difference. The latter was illegal, while the former was a tradition and a legal existence.
Every year at the beginning of May, Vorkuta held this annual festival, attended not only by local residents but also by people from surrounding towns.
Li Du had seen an introduction to this tradition when he was learning about Vorkuta on the plane, but he did not expect to come across it, so he just glanced at it and did not know much about it.
Steve knew that he did not know, so he explained, "You don't know? This is the local annual carnival, and it's their oldest surviving tradition. "
Li Du glanced at him and said, "Does this city have an ancient history?"
Steve laughed. "Anyway, it's something that has been passed down from the past."
Vorkuta used to be a penal colony. Law and order were bad, families were poor, and it was difficult for people to have enough to eat. It was even more difficult to get a wife and support a family.
In this case, the bride market came into being.
Every year the local families would send their daughters of marriageable age to the market, where they would dress up and stand like animals, waiting to be bought at a good price.
Now, this tradition had changed a lot. The girls were no longer passively chosen. They also had the right to choose. If a young man fancied them, they would get to know them first. They would have a short chat with them. Only if they got along well could they move on to the next step.
Speaking of which, this was a bit like a blind date, but one that progressed very quickly. Both parties only had a few minutes to get to know each other. After that, if they felt that the girl was reliable, the man would have to pay.
This was similar to a blind date and a marriage. The money paid by the man was the betrothal gift, but the woman's family would not give her a dowry. This was really selling their daughter.
Because they had the right to choose from each other, the local government didn't care about this tradition and let it continue.
Vorkuta was still quite cold in May, but most of the brides were dressed in revealing clothes. They wore low-cut skirts, black silk high heels, or tight-fitting clothes, and heavy makeup.
Steve and the others squeezed in. Young Ford laughed and said, "Take a look around. If we see something we like, we can buy it. Anyway, the trip to the Arctic is lonely and cold. It's more comfortable to have a hot girl with us."
Li Du shook his head and said, "You guys choose. I'm just looking around. If Sophie knew I was here for this kind of thing, she wouldn't let me go out."
The Ford brothers hissed at him. "Yo, good man!"
Li Du looked around. It was like an ordinary market, with people chatting and bargaining.
Soon after he arrived, a blonde girl next to him chatted with a tall young man. The young man was accompanied by several brothers. They took money out of their pockets and handed it to the girl's parents. The marriage was considered a success.
Li Du was speechless. This was really a bit of a joke.
In fact, in addition to following the tradition, some of the people who came to the bride market really did so because their families were poor and their lives were too hard. They had to rely on "selling their daughters" to make a living. The price of their daughters was their source of income in the future.
However, there was no legal protection for the sale of daughters, so it was sometimes unfair to the men. Some girls would get the money and run away, and the men would lose both.
This kind of thing was not uncommon. Some men formed groups and squeezed through the crowd. Li Du was pushed and frowned. "Slow down."
The men's faces darkened and they pointed their middle fingers at him. "Go eat dog sh * t!"
Steve stopped the angry Li Du and said, "They are the victims of the defected bride. They paid for the bride but ran away. They are here to find her."
Li Du said, "Ha, that's too bad."
Steve said, "So, we have to take the opportunity to come and visit. Maybe in a few years, this traditional activity will be canceled."
Li Du felt that it would be canceled sooner or later. Now that women's rights were becoming more important, how could women be willing to be selected like animals?
Young Ford said, "It's not only about women's rights, but also about public security. Now this market is gradually being controlled by gangs, and it's a cover for prostitution."
He showed Li Du that some of the girls were obviously prostitutes. The men went up and asked for the price directly. After a few words, the man paid and the woman took his hand and left.
After a while, the woman who had been taken away would come back and wait for the next client to choose.
There were also people who really came to choose their wives. They often came here accompanied by their parents. Just like people choosing livestock, the elders would check the girl's teeth, physical condition, and even some questions to test the girl's intelligence.
Some girls resisted this kind of thing. They could refuse, and the man could only leave.
However, there were also some men who were like dogskin plaster. Li Du saw a tall lady being stared at by a burly man who did not look like a good person. The lady shook her head and waved her hands, but the burly man continued to pester her and even tug at her.
Li Du felt that this was not normal, so he stared at them. The strong man turned around and saw him. He shouted angrily, "Hey, yellow dog, get out of my way. I don't have a bone here!"
When he came to Russia, Li Du found that the problem of racial discrimination was also very serious, and the Russians' attitude toward the Chinese was worse than that of the Americans.
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