When the warm sun climbed to the top of the old locust tree at the mouth of the alley, Shang Cheng was woken up by the sound of talking in the yard and the collision of pots and pans.

He found his gown and collared shirt on the kang, groped to put them on, and then sat on the edge of the kang again, feeling stunned. His head still hurt terribly, the blood vessels near his temples throbbed suddenly, and the things in front of him were a little swaying and blurry. After staying for a long time, he bent down to get his belt on the ground at his feet, but his mind was dizzy and he almost fell to the ground.

That's when he finally sobered up.

He immediately realized that he must have drunk too much last night! Definitely drunk! Because he can only vaguely remember now that he ended up eating and drinking with Shishan Wazi and a group of offspring of about the same age, and he also dragged open tables and chairs in the courtyard to make an open space to play wrestling, and he also threw several descendants into chaos, so that those guys drank three bowls alone. In the end, he was overturned by a stone, and then he was pressed and filled with a bowl, and then he didn't remember anything......

Remembering these things, he suddenly regretted that he shouldn't have drunk so much, maybe not the "relatives" who came to celebrate his house and settle down would secretly blame himself for not being thorough in his heart; Moreover, a few of these "relatives" came from other counties, and I don't know if there was a place to stay last night, and they all rested.

Just when he was worried about this, he heard a crisp child's voice in the courtyard say, "Auntie, I want to eat candy, you go and get it for me." ”

Then I heard Yue'er say: "You just played with mud, your hands are dirty, and you can't eat candy." You've got to clean your hands first......"

The doll didn't listen, and was still clamoring to eat the fruit, until her father, the mountain baby, whispered two words to her in a very stern tone, and let her calm down. At this time, I heard Yue'er calling the girl on the other side of the yard: "Come and wash your hands, after washing your hands, there are not only candy seeds, but also white-flour meat sandwich buns." Now not only the girl was agreeing, but two or three babies were also agreeing, and they quarreled about who would wash their hands first and who would wash their hands.

He got dressed, put on his shoes, and went out of the hall.

"Wake up?" The mountain baby who was squatting under the eaves said hello, and then turned his face to look at the daughter who was eating fruit next to him. Zhao Shishi squatted on the stone edge outside the kitchen, holding a large thick bowl against the edge of the bowl and sucking loudly; There is also a bowl on the stone grinding plate, and there are two black mixed bread buns in it. The mother-in-law of the mountain baby was busy in the kitchen, and the clattering of dishes and chopsticks was loud. Several dolls surrounded Yue'er by the courtyard wall, scrambling to put dirty ones into the wooden basin she was holding in her hand, and the water splashed everywhere.

Shang Cheng asked, "Have you eaten it?" ”

"Oh." The mountain baby agreed.

Yue'er first took the neighbor's dolls to the kitchen to get food, and when the dolls ran out of the courtyard happily with buns in their hands, they came over and said to Shang Cheng who was washing: "Brother, my father is going to come to you in a while." ”

Shang Cheng hurriedly swallowed saliva and spit out the mouthwash full of green salt, and then asked, "What's the matter?" I'll pack up here and go over. If it's urgent, I'll go now. ”

Shi Hehe said happily: "If you are not in a hurry, then you are not in a hurry." I'm afraid that you are more anxious than anyone else, and one is to tell you about your daughter-in-law. ”

Shang Cheng thought that Shishi's words were just a joke, so he ignored him, just looked at Yue'er and waited for her to say. Shanwazi's daughter-in-law had already spoken in the kitchen: "Brother Merchant, what Brother Shi said is true, Uncle Liu is going to tell you about family affairs......

Shang Cheng didn't say anything, pulled the towel into the basin on the shelf pole under the eaves, rubbed it a few times, picked it up and twisted it, until the towel couldn't get water, and then thought about it and asked Yue'er: "Uncle proposes marriage to me...... Do you know which girl it is? ”

Before Yue'er could speak, Shi picked up the conversation: "Who else could it be?" Whoever twisted the curtains on the pasted windows, he was sure who was it. Mountain baby, did you say it? Shan Wazi stretched out his hand to wipe a few sesame seeds from the corners of her daughter's mouth, and said with a smile: "Well, "The Boy Sends Blessings" must have made a wish in front of the window flower girl: one does not want his family to be wealthy, two does not want his family to be spacious, and three does not want his family to be handsome and pretty, I only wish that I and him, love and love to guard this general......" He was five big and three thick and a man, with a face full of beard, and suddenly pinched his throat to learn the woman's tone, and sang a soft slang song that was originally a little woman's love to cry wolf. The two neighborhood dolls were licking their fingers at the gate of the courtyard, but they were so frightened by him that they squeaked and disappeared.

Although he had already guessed a few points, Shang Cheng still asked Yue'er in a low voice: "Big girl?" ”

Yue'er smiled so hard that her eyes narrowed into slits, and she couldn't say anything except nodding.

It took a long time for her to stop laughing and said, "My father said that if you don't object, you will go to Uncle Seventeen's house tonight to hand over the marriage contract one by one."

"Oh. That's it. Shang Cheng looked at the towel in his hand in confusion, and after waiting for a long time Yue'er didn't speak, he asked confusedly, "Then what is your father still looking for me to do?" Let me take the figure out of the eight? ”

The daughter-in-law of the mountain baby had already laughed at the kitchen door when she heard her man sing, and when she heard Shang Cheng ask like this, she almost slipped to the ground without laughing, grabbing the door frame and covering her waist and panting. A mouthful of noodle soup squirted out. Or the mountain baby could endure it, and said with a smile: "Eight characters? You're still nine miles! Tell me, do you agree or not? ”

"I promise." Shang Cheng put the towel back on the shelf pole and said briefly and imposingly. He immediately ripped off the towel again, and he twisted the towel and held it in his hand for a long time, forgetting to wipe his face.

Yue'er had already seen clearly, her eldest brother didn't know the customs of this side at all, and hurriedly told him that since he wanted to marry this family, and his parents were not there, then he should personally go to Liu's house to invite her father over, cook a good meal and drink to treat her father, and then tell her father to go to Uncle Seventeen for him. Among them, there are also three questions, three answers, and three invitations, and there is a fixed response to each step, and she tells Shang Cheng one by one.

Although the steps that Yue'er said were tedious and old-fashioned, Shang Cheng still listened carefully and attentively, and silently engraved them in his mind. He knew that these were all part of the ethics and codes of conduct of this era, part of the traditions. He knew that the more he knew about these things, the faster he would be able to integrate into the world, and the easier it would be for him to deal with his surroundings. And the more he knows, the more he understands, the more deeply he can appreciate the powerful vitality of this tradition—even if he is still in contact with many things for the first time, and many simple and profound truths are still heard for the first time, he can still find them in his own mind, or find their shadows......

With respect and admiration for tradition, he asked Yue'er to help him carefully take care of his hair, put on a rarely worn cross-collared moon-white shirt and moon-white pants, tied a black cloth belt, and put on a pair of cloth shoes, and then went to Liu's house with two companions, solemnly invited Liu Laozhu over, respectfully invited him to sit at the table and had a lunch with wine, meat and white noodles, and followed the etiquette of "three inquiries, three answers, and three invitations", and completely answered Liu Laozhu's questions about home, parents, and objects of admiration. Then respectfully invited Uncle Zhu to go to Huo's house and propose to Huo Shiqi on his behalf, hoping that Huo Shiqi could marry his eldest daughter Huo Daya to him......