Lao Li's younger brother is getting married. Early in the morning 1, we drove back to Yimeng Mountain.
The autumn wind blows tightly in the morning. Besides a few thick skirts, you must also bring a thin coat. We put on a pair of jeans, a thin coat and a small yellow hat, and everything is ready.
Not surprisingly, there were many cars on the road and it didn't take long to drive on the expressway. Gaode route suggests getting off the expressway and driving all the way along the provincial and township roads. The Gesanghua flowers along the way attracted the autumn sun to warm up, and the dazzling light shone, scaring the autumn wind to hide from Tibet. The afterglow of the tiger came out, and it ran wildly in October.
Today is my uncle's birthday. It's scheduled for1October 2. 1 arrived home, had a rest and went to my sister's house. I went to my sister's house again the next day, and we chatted in a hollow voice. Everything came to my mind and tears rolled down my eyes.
On the first night, Lao Li held a warm birthday party with us. He personally spent 200 fireworks, which made the whole evening brilliant, suddenly turned black, and then faded quickly. The next morning, Lao Li got up early and left. I stayed, attended a lively birthday party and had a long-lost hometown banquet. There were dishes when I was a child, but the taste was very different. It turns out that the chef has become the son of uncle's family, as big as uncle's brother, which makes people feel surprised and sighed.
On the third night, Lao Li came to pick me up. On the morning of the 4th, I followed him north to Yimeng Mountain to prepare for his brother's wedding.
In Shandong, the scenery on the road has been very different. There are all kinds of big trucks parked on the expressway, and there are no small wild flowers on the roadside. Large tracts of cornfields are golden and endless, and low mountains can be seen in the distance. There are two rows of stalls every other road. Under the simple tent, there are neatly placed fruits, mostly green apples and pink peaches. They are not particularly beautiful, but they have the simple taste of mountains and a simple beauty that Yimeng people will not yield.
When I arrived at Lao Li's house, my parents greeted me and Lao Li's younger brother. The whole family is happy and busy, waiting for the arrival of the bride.
In the living room, huge plastic flowers are decorated with colorful white domes, which is very festive. On the wall of the living room, there are all kinds of festive words and paintings, large and small, or red festive, or dazzling and bright gold, which is particularly beautiful. I also joined the army to decorate the wedding room and made a pair of vases from the next room. Yeah, man.
The wedding of Yimeng Mountain is very grand. Since the morning of the 4th, our relatives and neighbors have come to help. From the choice of hotel, to the arrangement of personnel, to the payment of accounts, the delivery of happy bags, the worship of happy graves, the lifting of vegetables, the burning of paper and the stacking of pieces, people are inseparable. So, Lao Li's father ordered a good dish and bought a box of good wine to entertain his busy relatives and friends these two days.
In the evening, the wedding room was arranged, and Lao Li's mother made the bed for the best man. My brother was not at ease, so he came to clean up again. According to Lao Li, they will get up after five o'clock tomorrow morning and go to their parents' house. Tomorrow morning, the motorcade will go directly out of town and meet there. My parents haven't slept well for tomorrow's wedding. I think their parents are always happy. Lao Li said that they were sad, there were too many things at the wedding, and they were ordinary villagers with little experience. They are worried that they can't do well, and they can't sleep or eat. The old man's mind is so simple that it hurts, but the young man can't stop it. I listened to Lao Li urging his parents to sleep at a distance, and his attitude was overbearing and tough. I wanted to say something, but in the end I didn't say anything.
The fifth wedding, cloudy, no rain. The weather is really cold. My parents have prepared a new suit and are reluctant to wear it. They should finish their guests' meals in the morning and set them before relatives, friends and the bride come. I put on the red dress I bought specially, and Lao Li's mother was very satisfied with logo and went out again to start a busy day.
Breakfast includes rice and mung bean porridge, fried dough sticks, steamed bread, a plate of boiled peanuts, a plate of vinegar soaked peanuts and a plate of pickles. Lao Li's mother made three or four eggs, especially for me and Lao Li. I ate an egg laid by a free-range chicken on the mountain. Although its appearance is beyond doubt, its taste is still unusual. Not long after breakfast, the yard gradually became lively. The people who attended the wedding came and built a festive gatehouse. The red carpet was spread from the road to the yard, and a huge happy word was erected. A table covered with red cloth, two chairs, fruits and peanuts on the table, and two red candles. The yard was crowded with people.
After a while, I saw a man in red in the crowd from a distance, and that was the best man. Not long after, I heard that the bride was coming. Before I finished combing menstruation's hair, my sister-in-law called me away to pick up the bride. Behind my eldest sister-in-law, I went out and stepped on the red carpet, surrounded by a vast crowd, judging me because my voice was too low or because of my local accent, I couldn't hear clearly. I followed my sister-in-law to the front of the wedding car. Before I could have a closer look at how many wedding cars there were, I took the red luggage from my sister-in-law and hurried back. When I put those two heavy bags into the wedding room, there were already a bunch of busy people standing in the wedding room. The early-born children with dried fruits on the bed are all ready, waiting for the couple with big eyes. After completing this task, Lao Li's mother called me away again and asked my sister-in-law and aunt to meet me at the door.
I hurried to the door, and all the relatives of the woman's family got off. I smiled at people, took her aunt's hand, bent down, greeted them warmly, settled them down, served tea, and handed melon seeds, peanuts and candy.
The bride is about to get off with the help of two other ladies. A pair of red shoes first extended from the car door and stepped heavily on the red wedding cake. The bride in the golden red He Xiu got off the bus and was a perfect match for the groom in the red Tang suit. She entered the door under the crowd with a smile. The wedding candle is lit, the couple worships heaven and earth, and under the call of being sent to the bridal chamber, they enter the new house. This is another lively and festive ceremony.
Then, a quilt was carried in, along with a red gift box and a huge hard wedding cake. The most surprising thing is the password box. Everyone was so surprised that it was just a scene.
The bride is excellent, has a good job and a high income. At noon, the banquet was held in the only hotel in town with a ceremony platform. Lighting, camera, video, follow-up and host are all available, and the layout is also very warm and atmospheric. The host warmed up the scene with songs and dolls' red envelopes, and the couple's true confession was touching. These processes and marriages in cities are safe, so they are not shown here.
The highlight is to visit Shang Xiling the next day, which is a different culture from many places. Lao Li said that this is the cultural heritage of Qilu's unique etiquette state.
There are many things to worship ancestors, such as a piece of tofu, a whole plucked and scalded rooster, a fresh fish to be scalded, and two bowls of big meat, all decorated with bean sprouts, neatly cut carrots and coriander, red and green. Besides vegetables, there are fruits, apples, bananas and oranges. Of course, the most important thing is not to lose white flour steamed bread and a pot of good wine. All these preparations have been completed and put in a huge wooden lunch box. Two men with big arms and round waist were carried up the mountain, together with six cans of fireworks and one or two firecrackers.
The old graves are all halfway up the mountain. Because the mountain roads along the way have been neglected for many years, they have been pitted by rain, and large and small stones are rampant. There are wild weeds blocking the way from time to time on the road, which is really difficult to walk.
When they arrived, they were properly arranged. An aunt of the elders in her hometown is now muttering to herself at the grave, probably talking about today's purpose, who has a happy event and who brought her daughter-in-law to report the good news. Then, the ground in front of the grave was covered with a red carpet. A couple knelt down, both picked up the wine glasses in front of the grave and spilled them on the ground. Then they picked up vegetables with red chopsticks and sprinkled them on the ground, and broke off some steamed buns and fruits, indicating that the deceased ancestors accepted this rich wedding banquet. Finally, they solemnly kowtowed four times, even if the ceremony was completed. Then, the whole family knelt down neatly, bowed down to their ancestors, kowtowed four times, and lit fireworks, even if the ceremony of the man's family's grave was completed, the ceremony of the woman's grave was also completed.
At the end of the visit to the West Tomb, as usual, it was a big meal, full of hard dishes such as chicken, duck and fish, as well as distinctive and refreshing cold radish seedlings, which looked like moss. It tastes like radish, which reminds me of seeing the couple calling their parents at noon, and tears unconsciously stayed. Because the bride's three fathers also remind me of my old father who is far away from home. Think of his daughter, who is very precious to him, but she got married hastily without giving him a chance to attend the wedding. I'm afraid it's a lifelong regret.