I am Jia Dongjin in the Siheyuan (Courtyard House)

Chapter 74 Marriage

The sign reads in large characters: "It is strictly forbidden to beat or scold customers without cause."

Times have changed. When Jia Dongjin saw the words written on the sign, he couldn't help but shudder. He quickly took out his self-defense weapon, the marriage certificate, to avoid a possible beating.

"Brother, I just got my marriage certificate today, please forgive me. My younger brother works as a sales clerk at the supply and marketing cooperative. Actually, we are family."

Jia Dongjin smiled ingratiatingly, pointing to the red leather shoes in the corner of the counter, indicating that he wanted to try on another pair.

Despite the risks of trying on shoes, Qin Huairu ultimately bought the reddish-brown pair. Her reasoning was so compelling that Jia Dongjin couldn't refute it.

"Red is festive, but it doesn't get dirty as easily as reddish-brown. I also like this style of shoe."

"Go ahead and pretend, you talk like you've ever owned leather shoes. They're just cheap, aren't they?"

Although Jia Dongjin liked the reddish-brown pair, he was blunt and exposed Qin Huairu's true colors.

Qin Huairu looked radiant, but appeared slightly awkward in front of the dressing mirror. The sales clerk nodded repeatedly, glancing sideways at Jia Dongjin and saying, "Kid, it's not easy to marry a beautiful wife. You're lucky. I don't usually tell this to just anyone. Today we have White Rabbit milk candy. You can buy two pounds with your marriage certificate."

"Okay, thanks for the advice. You're like a brother to me."

Holding the bag of old clothes she had changed out of, Qin Huairu looked distressed. "Dongjin, you spent 88 yuan today, and those leather shoes alone cost 56 yuan. How are we going to explain this to my mother-in-law when we get home?"

"What do you mean 88 yuan? I only spent 38 yuan. The clothes were 18, the shoes were 18, and the candy was 2 yuan. I'm the boss, so you better remember this, or you'll be exposed when you get home."

Jia Dongjin looked "surprised" and then brought up the title of "head of the family" again.

"Today is special; we can't waste money like this in the future."

With the head of the household in charge, Huai Ru dared not compete. The two exchanged sweet words all the way back to the Jia family.

On the back of the bicycle, Qin Huairu ignored the intimidation from the older women and hugged her man's waist tightly with her right hand, acting as if it were an unnatural act.

Just as Qin Huairu had expected, upon seeing Qin Huairu dressed in new clothes and looking radiant, Jia Zhangshi immediately frowned.

Seeing things were going badly, Jia Dongjin immediately smiled ingratiatingly and said, "My son only gets married once in his life, so he doesn't have much experience. He'll get better with time. Today, the clothing store happened to be having a sale, and with the milk candy, it only cost 38 yuan. I'll make up the difference later. Let's keep it low-key."

He said he wanted to keep a low profile, but then he turned around and instructed everyone to immediately change into their new New Year's clothes and go out for a family photo.

"We need to take pictures. I'll seal the stove first, there's still chicken stewing on it, so the soup doesn't boil dry. Then I'll quickly change my clothes and head out."

Upon hearing that photos were being taken, Jia Zhangshi's mood brightened. She hurriedly instructed Qin Jingru to take Bang Geng to change into new clothes, and Jia Dongjin also went back to the main room to change into a Zhongshan suit. After leaving the courtyard, Jia Zhangshi carried Xiao Dang and walked faster than anyone else.

At that time, there were no digital cameras or mobile phones, and taking pictures was a rare thing. The whole family took two pictures in total: a family portrait and a couple's portrait.

When taking the couple's photo, Jia Dongjin didn't feel anything, but after receiving the photo, he realized that he looked like a complete idiot.

After the photos were taken, no one listened to Jia Dongjin anymore. No one was willing to spend money to take solo photos. Even Bang Geng knew to save money to buy candy.

"Mom, since you've come all this way, why don't you and Huai Ru each take a solo photo?"

Even though Jia Dongjin insisted, and patted his pocket loudly, no one heard him.

As the couple walked home together, Qin Huairu secretly pinched Jia Dongjin, twisting him 360 degrees before whispering, "Dongjin, I don't care if you have any experience in your first marriage. Don't even think about getting married again. There will be no more 'after this.' From now on, you only have the present."

"With such an unfathomable level of primary school education, and speaking of 'the future' and 'the present' in such mysterious terms, is this Qin Huairu ruthlessly exploiting the people of the courtyard house?"

Overwhelmed with emotion, Jia Dongjin stood frozen in place, filled with anticipation for his future married life for the first time.

Back in the courtyard house, after the people who had gone to work returned home, Jia Dongjin and Qin Huairu went door to door distributing wedding candies and receiving blessings from their neighbors before returning home to prepare for the wedding banquet.

Of course, Yi Zhonghai wouldn't get any wedding candy. The relationship had already been ruined, so Jia Dongjin didn't need to give him any more face.

"Aunt Zhang, I did give the wedding money, I did give the wedding money." In these difficult times, Jia Dongjin certainly wouldn't be a sucker and hold a wedding banquet, but unexpectedly He Yuzhu suddenly remembered the debt.

"What did you say? I can't hear you."

Why should He Yuzhu return the money he received as a wedding gift based on his own abilities?

When Jia Zhangshi had no other choice, she simply imitated the deaf old lady, making the deaf old lady in the backyard so angry that she almost fell over.

Yi Zhonghai was beaten like a dead dog by Jia Dongjin. The deaf old lady dared not pretend to be a big shot like in the play, so she could only pretend that she couldn't hear.

"Silly Zhu, you haven't paid back the dried fish you borrowed for your blind date. When you get married, I'll give you double the wedding money. Rain Water, I gave you double the wedding candy just now."

After saying that, Jia Dongjin led Qin Huairu home, leaving He Yushui to eat the wedding candy. In the end, the little girl, with tears in her eyes, went back to her room.

"If you agree to give him 4 yuan as a wedding gift, won't our Jia family suffer a huge loss?" Jia Zhangshi said with a pout.

"Mom, I was just teasing him. Do I look like someone who's being taken advantage of?"

Jia Dongjin couldn't very well say that He Yuzhu was having trouble getting married, so he could only laugh it off.

For dinner, Jia Zhangshi personally prepared the main dishes: stewed chicken, stir-fried dried fish, steamed egg custard, steamed cured meat, stir-fried cabbage, shredded potatoes, and stir-fried peanuts. In the end, when there was no other choice, she also made a cold cabbage heart salad. After much effort, she managed to gather eight dishes. When the dishes were served, Jia Zhangshi even brought out a bottle of cabbage.

Jia Dongjin and Qin Huairu tried to step forward to help, but Jia Zhangshi pushed them away, saying, "Today is your special day. You don't have to do anything. Just wait to eat and drink well. I'll enjoy your good fortune later."

"Grandma, I want a chicken leg."

Madam Jia slapped her head and said with a smile, "You can eat chicken legs again sometime, but not today. You can eat whatever you want today, just no chicken legs."

At this time, the rationing had just been reduced, and every household still had some food in stock. Although the portions were small, such as steamed eggs with only one egg and chicken stewed with only a quarter of a chicken, Jia Zhangshi killed all the old hens in the house to make up eight dishes. It was quite a lot of money, but it was definitely generous to the new couple.

After the wedding banquet and drinks, the couple kowtowed three times to Jia Zhangshi. Jia Dongjin was in a hurry to enter the bridal chamber, but Qin Huairu took out a small bag, knelt down again to Jia Zhangshi, and respectfully kowtowed three more times.

"Mom, these three kowtows are for Dongxu. Your daughter-in-law is unfilial and is remarrying today. The bag contains the money I saved before Dongxu left, which is 98 cents. I didn't save any more after Dongxu left; I spent it all at home. Please accept this money, Mom. Apart from the 10 yuan for my retirement, I will live with Dongjin from now on. He said he would let me manage the money, so I won't have any more savings. From now on, it will all be the Jia family's money."

Qin Huairu knelt on the ground, holding the savings she had painstakingly accumulated over the years, as if she were handing over not money, but her previous marriage and suffering.

"My poor daughter-in-law! I know the Jia family wronged you before, but I couldn't do anything about it! From now on, you'll be with Dongjin, and he'll treat you well. I'll definitely stand up for you! Huairu, go to the bridal chamber. Remember, a good wife needs her brothers."

Holding her meager 98 cents, filled with small bills of one or two cents, the overwhelming pain and hardship she felt cut to the bone, and tears streamed down her face.

She hurriedly covered her face with her left hand, waved her right hand repeatedly, and sobbed as she urged the newlyweds to go to the front yard to sit in the main room.

Banggeng was happily eating chicken, completely unaware that a fundamental change had occurred in his home.

After seeing the young couple to the door, Madam Jia Zhang said, "Xiao Dang was making a fuss last night, and since Guihua had milk, I took him to Aunt Wang's house in the backyard. I also gave him money and food, so you can rest assured."

Sending Xiao Dang to Wang Dama's house to sleep that night was something that Jia Zhangshi and Wang Dama had agreed upon. Qin Huairu knew what was going on, but Jia Dongjin blushed.

He was preoccupied with many things and focused on how to improve himself, so he completely forgot about this matter. He could only offer a perfunctory thank you before hurriedly leading Qin Huairu to the front yard.

Compared to Jia Dongjin, Qin Huairu was much more composed, but she almost twisted her ankle for the first time when passing through the central courtyard's hanging flower gate.

The four great joys in life are: rain after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a foreign land, the wedding night, and passing the imperial examination.

For the first time in two lifetimes, Jia Dongjin celebrated his wedding night.