At the east side of the village, outside the Yao family’s low courtyard gate, the wedding procession that had originally arrived in high spirits to fetch the bride was now blocked at the entrance. The air was thick with humiliation and tension.
Almost all the villagers of Wankou Village had come. Even old men and women leaning on walking sticks were there. More than a hundred people crowded together noisily.
Qiu Yinong had only been standing at the edge listening for a short while. She still couldn’t clearly hear the argument, but seeing everyone stretching their necks and standing on tiptoe to look ahead, she instinctively knew this was worth watching.
Her eyes immediately locked onto a large sturdy tree.
With the agility of a monkey, she climbed onto a thick branch and sat there to watch the excitement.
“You…”
The young married woman standing below the tree stared at her in surprise, looking her up and down with curiosity.
“You’re not from our village, are you?”
Qiu Yinong flashed her a bright smile and introduced herself in crisp standard Mandarin:
“Sister-in-law, I’m from out of town. My aunt is Qiu Mengyuan. Since my aunt isn’t home and I had nothing to do, I came to watch the fun.”
“Oh, oh, so you’re Aunt Qiu’s niece.”
The woman had already heard about her from family members. Qiu Yinong had arrived at Wankou Village only yesterday evening, so most of the villagers still hadn’t met her yet.
Wanting to learn the whole story behind this commotion, Qiu Yinong noticed there was enough space beside her on the branch and smiled kindly.
“Sister-in-law, want to come up and sit? I can pull you up.”
“Sure. It’s easier to watch from up there.”
Qiu Yinong pulled her onto the branch, and the two sat side by side.
“Sister-in-law, what’s your name?”
“My surname’s Yuan. Yuan Yi.”
Yuan Yi was a married daughter-in-law who had moved into Wankou Village. She was four or five years older than Qiu Yinong. Smiling at the beautiful girl beside her, she asked:
“Little sister, what’s your name?”
“My name is Qiu Yinong. ‘Yi’ as in meaning, and ‘Nong’ as in rich or deep.”
She smiled brightly.
“What a lovely name.”
Yuan Yi had heard from her mother-in-law that the Qiu family came from deep in the inland mountains. Most people assumed they were poor farmers, but Qiu Yinong’s face and temperament completely outshone the girls in the fishing village.
When she smiled, she looked lively and radiant. Across all the nearby villages, there probably wasn’t another girl prettier than her.
Qiu Yinong had an outgoing personality and naturally got along easily with people. She immediately began chatting with her.
“Sister Yuan Yi, what exactly is happening up there? The groom already came to fetch the bride, so why won’t the bride come out? It’s supposed to be a joyous wedding day — why are both families arguing?”
Yuan Yi pointed toward the Yao family courtyard and curled her lips disdainfully.
“The Yao family suddenly raised the bride price at the last minute. They’re demanding an outrageous amount and refusing to let the bride leave unless the groom pays more.”
Qiu Yinong had seen this kind of drama back in her hometown before.
“How much is the usual bride price around here?”
“For ordinary families, around three to four hundred yuan in cash, plus the ‘Three Turns and One Sound,’ a load of rice grain, and a pork leg.”
“The groom works in the military. He’s an officer — a deputy battalion commander. When the two families discussed the marriage before, they agreed on a five-hundred-yuan bride price. But now the Yao family suddenly raised it to eight hundred, plus thirty-two legs.”
Qiu Yinong raised an eyebrow.
“What are ‘thirty-two legs’?”
“It means a full set of furniture. A wardrobe has four legs, a bed has four, bedside cabinets have four, a dining table has four, a chest of drawers has four, a dressing table has four, plus chairs and stools. Altogether it adds up to thirty-two legs.”
“In the county, wealthy or powerful families prepare ‘thirty-two legs’ when marrying off a bride. Two whole tractor carts are needed to haul everything. It symbolizes pairs and stability. Families that can afford it are all officials or influential people. Ordinary villagers simply can’t.”
“A full furniture set is extremely expensive. More importantly, the Yao family wants it immediately. Even hiring a carpenter after the wedding isn’t acceptable to them. They’re deliberately making things difficult for the Cheng family.”
The young woman explained everything in detail, her tone full of obvious disdain for the Yao family.
“This groom is a military officer. He should be able to afford eight hundred yuan, right? As for the furniture, couldn’t they just pay cash first?”
Qiu Yinong stretched her neck to look ahead.
From her angle, she could only see the groom dressed in a slightly old but neatly pressed military uniform. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with sharp facial features and tanned skin. A small red flower was pinned to his chest. Leaning on a single crutch, he stood steadily at the courtyard gate.
“If this had happened before, the Cheng family could’ve managed eight hundred yuan. Maybe even two sets of it if they scraped things together. But something terrible recently happened to their family, and now they’re buried in debt. Even the five hundred they brought today was borrowed money. Forget an extra three hundred — they’d have to borrow even thirty more.”
The young woman didn’t elaborate on what happened to the Cheng family. Instead, she craned her neck eagerly, listening to the argument ahead.
At the Yao family gate, bride Yao Yulan’s parents and three brothers stood shoulder to shoulder blocking the entrance.
There was not the slightest trace of joy on their faces at marrying off a daughter.
Only naked hostility and deliberate humiliation.
Mother Yao crossed her arms. Her cheekbones were high, and she wore a fake smile.
“Yuanche, it’s not that our Yao family is unreasonable. It’s just that Yulan is our only precious daughter. She’s never suffered hardship since childhood. And look at your leg…”
Her eyes deliberately swept toward Cheng Yuanche’s crutch.
“If something goes wrong with your recovery in the future, wouldn’t our Yulan be jumping into a pit of fire by marrying you?”
Cheng Yuanche’s jaw tightened.
His voice was calm but icy.
“Auntie Yao, my leg was injured during a mission. The military doctors already said that with proper rest, it’ll recover. It won’t affect my future life.”
“Well, doctors aren’t always right.”
Father Yao chimed in beside her, rubbing his hands with a troubled expression.
“As parents, we naturally have to think more carefully for our daughter.”
“You want to think about your daughter, but this isn’t the way to do it! The bride price we agreed on was already above average. Raising it by another three hundred at the last minute is outright robbery!”
Mother Cheng was furious, her eyes red as she held back tears.
“How is this robbery? Our Yulan has a respectable job at the supply and marketing cooperative. She’s not some woman stuck cooking around the stove unable to earn money. Forget eight hundred yuan — if we asked for one thousand, city men would line up to marry her.”
“Your Cheng Yuanche has a broken leg now. Who knows if he’ll recover? Maybe he’ll end up crippled for life.”
“We only added three hundred yuan and thirty-two legs out of consideration for being neighbors. We’ve already given your family enough face.”
At this point, everyone understood the Yao family’s true intentions.
Yao Yulan was considered pretty in the village. After graduating middle school, she’d lucked into a job at the supply cooperative, securing the famous “iron rice bowl.” Since then, she considered herself practically a city person, always acting arrogant whenever she returned to the village and constantly looking down on others.
Today’s stunt made it obvious.
The Yao family no longer thought Cheng Yuanche was worthy of her. They wanted her to marry into the city and become an official’s wife instead.
But they didn’t dare openly cancel the engagement themselves.
And since the Cheng family had recently fallen into hardship and lacked money, they intentionally blocked the wedding procession, raised the bride price, and demanded the impossible “thirty-two legs,” forcing the Cheng family to back out voluntarily.
That way, Yao Yulan’s reputation would remain untouched.