As a prominent figure in Foshan, the Woo family's wedding was naturally extravagant. Wu Mancheng was an open-minded gentleman. He usually kept a low profile, but his daughter's marriage couldn't be neglected. Otherwise, he would feel like he was mistreating his daughter, and it would be easy for others to gossip about him. Therefore, the wedding was extravagant. Suona sounded, and firecrackers lit up the sky. Almost all the surrounding villages were alarmed.
From high officials and nobles to porters and beggars, people from all walks of life surrounded the street. Each of them stretched their necks, waiting to catch a glimpse of the Wu family's daughter. If they were lucky, they might even be able to grab a few copper coins.
Famous didn't want to be squeezed with these people. It had to be careful of being caught and used as a stew pot, so it carried Old Time Tea and Xinghai on its back and jumped onto the roof of a two-room building, overlooking the street.
Because Wu Ning was married far away, the wedding ceremony was different from local weddings. In addition, social customs had changed a lot in the early days of the Republic of China. Especially in southern coastal areas like Foshan, the wedding ceremony was not as rigid as before.
Amidst the intense sound of firecrackers, the Suona players puffed up their cheeks, blowing their suona from afar at a steady pace. Twenty-four porters were carrying a dazzling array of dowries through the streets. The leading one was a three-foot-high porcelain duster vase, used for inserting feather dusters. The front of the vase was covered with red paper, and behind the vase was a pair of porcelain caps and pen holders, also covered with red paper. In addition, the dowry also included high-class furniture, beautiful silks and satins, brand-new daily necessities, and even precious antiques in gift boxes. Any one of these items was not something that ordinary people could afford.
"Tsk tsk! They are indeed a rich family. What a luxurious dowry. I can't even see the end of it … "
"Exactly. How much luck did they accumulate in their past lives to be born into such a rich family …"
"Look at that red coral! It's said that a thousand-year-old coral takes ten thousand years to turn red. This red coral is big and red, so red that it's about to bleed. It looks like a blood tree. How much is it worth? "
"Needless to say, it's definitely priceless!"
"Look at that. That's a clock imported from the West. It's very accurate, and it even tells the time on the dot! I heard that Empress Dowager Cixi had a similar clock! "
The commoners by the roadside were both envious and jealous, and some of them were even exaggerating. Some of the onlookers were blocked outside and could not get to the front, so they could only listen to the rumors. The more they spread, the more ridiculous it became. The red coral, which was originally one foot tall, turned into three feet tall, and the western clock was dug out from Empress Dowager Cixi's grave …
"It's nothing more than a bunch of vulgar things. It's laughable that these ignorant people are still chasing after it like ducks!"
Among the onlookers, a group of poor scholars envied Wu Ning to death. They hated the owner of the dowry for not choosing them as her husband. But on the surface, they pretended to be indifferent. They waved the feather fan in their hands and laughed loudly. They didn't care about the treasures that reeked of money. They hoped that their elegant manners could attract Miss Wu's attention. Maybe they could climb up the tree and become a phoenix.
However, the dowry wasn't just filled with such mundane things. The porters at the back were carrying large chests filled with books and paintings.
"What does that mean? Is it because the dowry isn't enough, so they're using these lousy books and paintings to make up for it? "Some people who were illiterate asked.
"What do you know?" The bystanders sneered. "This shows that the Wu family is a family of poetry and books, not a nouveau riche that gambles and lends money. It's said that Miss Wu is also a well-educated lady who is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. Among the lousy paintings you're talking about, there are many proud works of famous calligraphers from the previous dynasty. In terms of value, it's no less than the red coral and the western clock."
"A few lousy words and a few lousy paintings. How much are they worth?" The former was stunned and refused to believe it.
"Forget it if you don't believe it." The latter was too lazy to argue. He stood on his tiptoes to see if Miss Wu's sedan chair had arrived.
Famous stood on the roof of a nearby building, secretly worried as he looked at the mighty wedding procession. Even if it wasn't a China dog, it still knew the principle of not showing off one's wealth. The Wu family had made such a big scene, and it might attract the covetous eyes of thieves. The long road to Binhai Town might not be peaceful.
In a brothel next to it, a few gorgeous and enchanting girls were waving fragrant handkerchiefs in one hand and eating melon seeds in the other.
"Hmph! Sisters, I say, how many women have we seen getting married on this street? There are a lot more extravagant ones than this. So what? Look at those women … it really makes me speechless … "The slightly older girl in the lead spat out a few melon seed shells. Her sarcastic tone contained a deep sense of jealousy. She was confident in her good looks, so she tried to find a balance in this aspect.
The melon seed shells fell on the head of a young man downstairs. He looked up. From this angle, he could vaguely see the skirts of the girls on the second floor. He couldn't help but stare.
"That's right, sister!" Another girl took the opportunity to compliment, "In my opinion, this Miss Wu's appearance is only average. How can she compare to Elder Sister's outstanding beauty? Maybe it's a big fat pig that weighs 300 pounds. These dowries are money for the in-laws to raise pigs … "
"Hahahaha!"
The brothel burst into a burst of fascinating chatter.
In order to get a good omen, there were housekeepers in front of the dowry procession who threw copper coins, causing the people to fight for them.
The Wu family probably knew that the huge dowry would make people jealous, so they recruited many village warriors as escorts. They held sticks in their hands and concealed weapons under their clothes, looking quite impressive.
The mighty dowry procession passed, and behind it was the wedding procession.
The onlookers watched more seriously, wanting to see the elegance of the Wu family's daughter.
In the wedding procession, there were people in cars, some on horseback, and some on foot. Wu Mancheng followed on a tall horse. As the star of the day, Wu Ning wore a coat and a skirt. She wore a gorgeous red dress and sat in the bridal sedan chair. The tassels on the window of the sedan chair fluttered in the wind, covering half of Wu Ning's face.
Although her appearance couldn't be seen clearly, the girls in the brothel could at least confirm that the Wu family's daughter was definitely not a fat pig that weighed 300 pounds. On the contrary, she was slim and had a fair complexion. Even in terms of figure, she was not inferior to them. Not to mention, she was full of knowledge and had a huge dowry.
Other than the night they first met, Wu Ning had basically appeared in front of Famous in men's clothing. When had she ever dressed up like this?
For a moment, Famous couldn't be sure if this was the Wu Ning who often came to the valley to read to them …
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