Chapter 458 - 458: Gift and Receive
Su Binglan looked at her lantern-making tools and said, “Can we bring all these branches into the room, Grandma?”
Old Madam Su answered smilingly, “Since we have several rooms now, I told your grandfather to warm up the brick bed in the inner room. The brick bed is big enough for you to make your lanterns on. Just put your things on it.”
She carried Su Xuerui into the house before returning to the courtyard to help her granddaughter gather her things. Su Xuexuan and Su Xuehai were sensible enough to help Su Binglan carry her things.
Su Binglan noticed the little ones taking the initiative to help and gave each of them a piece of red Xuan paper, telling them to bring it to the room. The two brothers felt like they were helping as their faces revealed excitement.
Old Madam Su could not stop smiling when she saw the whole family’s happiness.
After moving to the inner room, Su Binglan put the children on the heated brick bed to continue making lanterns. When she and Su Wenwu finished making the lantern frames, they made the lanterns’ bodies.
Su Binglan used red Xuan paper to cut the length and width of the lantern to fit the frame. She used Xuan paper because she wanted to draw simple patterns on them to fit the era.
After some thought, she drew the word “happy” on them. She also drew the young couple growing old together on the rest. Then she added some colors to make them look lovelier.
“Aunt Binglan, these are pretty!” The children exclaimed excitedly.
Afterward, she pasted the paper onto the lantern frames but left an opening for candles or oil lamps. She planned to make a small oil lamp cover inside to make it more stable.
When it got dark at night, she would put the small oil lamp inside and hang the lanterns on both sides of the house entrance. The lanterns would then illuminate red and look incredibly festive.
When she finished making the lanterns, everyone who saw them said they looked perfect. They mainly liked the pictures Su Binglan drew on them and felt they looked lifelike.
“The house decorations look so festive and beautiful because of Binglan.”
Su Binglan had cut out the window grilles, hung up the red curtains she had made, and placed many red cloth toys on a brick platform as decorations. At that moment, the other Su family members came bearing gifts.
Everyone was there to give and receive gifts.
Although Old Madam Su did not intend the wedding to be so high-profile, many villagers, including people from surrounding villages, bought gifts and sent them over.
These people were grateful for the Su family’s kindness and volunteered to attend the wedding. They either worked for Su’s Tofu or received the Su family’s help in the past.
Everyone came one after another, and the courtyard looked lively as there were many gifts. Old Madam Su could not bother with anything else and could only entertain her guests.
Everyone knew the Su family did not intend to be too high-profile and that it was a busy time. Still, they only came to send their gifts and say a few congratulatory words.
Every family in Su Teng Village also shared words of gratitude to the Su family. They were sincerely thankful to the family.
Some offered thanks because the Su family had helped improve their lives, while others showed gratitude because their health had improved with Su Binglan and Su Wenxiu’s medical skills.
All in all, every household in Su Teng Village was developing in a better direction. Everyone’s eyes brimmed with hope, and they would be generous with their gifts.
However, everyone knew Old Madam Su could never accept expensive things, so most people gave eggs as gifts. Old Madam Su then gave everyone sweets, slices of wedding cake, desserts, and red eggs as gifts to show her thanks.
She would not allow the villagers to suffer losses and gave them gifts in return.
Old Madam Su would be more generous now that her family’s lives were good. Nonetheless, she felt touched when the villagers came bearing gifts.
Meanwhile, Su Fengchen also helped entertain the guests and gave them gifts in return. He knew everyone visited because of his family. His heart felt warm when he saw everyone’s graciousness.
Even Liu Yinyin’s parents from Willow Village had come to congratulate the young couple. Old Madam Su looked at Mrs. Liu, saying, “You came all this
Mrs. Liu smiled. “What are you talking about, Old Madam Su? Fengchen is getting married, so we must come and congratulate him. We know you won’t accept anything expensive, so we brought eggs from chickens we raise at home.
“Also, we made these from sweet potato flour to make them easier to put away.
You can reheat them whenever you want to eat them.”
Mr. and Mrs. Liu bought the duck blood they needed for their shop from Old Madam Su because Su Fengchen used many ducks and chickens to make his dishes. Naturally, he had a lot of duck blood.
Initially, Old Madam Su thought of giving the duck blood to them for free since they were relatives. However, Mr. and Mrs. Liu insisted on buying the duck blood, so Old Madam Su sold it to them cheaply.
Mr. and Mrs. Liu understood how well the Su family cared for their daughter Liu Yinyin because she had become a part of their family. Mr. and Mrs. Liu knew they had to show their gratitude no matter what, so they brought many gifts this time.
Old Madam Su returned their favor with knick-knacks and invited them to eat together, but Mr. and Mrs. Liu declined. They did not want to trouble the Su family.
If Old Madam Su invited them in for dinner, the Su family would be too busy as there were too many guests to handle. Even the Taos from Willow Village visited. They had nothing to give, so they made some bacon and sent them over.
The Taos’ lives were much better, whole family was happy. The person they were most grateful to was Su Binglan. Therefore, they had to visit the Su family on this joyous occasion. The Taos also did not want others to think they were ungrateful.
Many more people showed up, and Old Madam Su’s smile froze. Still, she was genuinely happy to see everyone.
In the evening, Chief Su and Su Zhengde arrived with their families. Then everyone happily ate and drank together. Tons of laughter and chatter sounded from the house.
When the women drank the fruit wine, they tasted its sweetness and were stunned.
“This fruit wine is delicious.’
“It is, huh? It turns out that we women can also drink wine.
“It’s delicious, and we won’t get drunk. Binglan said there’s no alcohol content.” “That’s good. Also, these dumplings are delicious. They’re full of meat.”
Everyone drank wine and ate dumplings with vegetables. They were all full of praise as they chatted and laughed while eating and drinking. It was an eventful night, and everyone only returned home when it was late.
They went home and quickly went to bed as they had to wake up early the following day, especially Su Binglan. She had to do Miao Zhizhi’s makeup, after all.
Su Binglan did not feel exhausted the next day because she had slept early the previous night. She got excited when she thought about her youngest uncle getting married.
She thought she had woken up earlier than everyone else, but she did not expect her parents and the others to be awake, too. Everyone had already cleaned up and put on fresh clothes..