The world of Chinese style creates a prosperous era for girl groups

"Jingyi has obtained the marriage certificate and is the daughter-in-law that our whole family has recognized. However, our family does have some small rules, one of which is to avoid "conflicting happiness with happiness."

"What is happiness in return?" The person who asked this question was Xia Haoyang.

"When a family holds two weddings in the same year, it is called 'happy clashes of joy'. There is another meaning to happy clashes of joy, which is that newlyweds should not attend other people's wedding banquets within a month before or after the wedding, otherwise there will be conflicts. According to traditional wedding customs, happy clashes of joy are considered unlucky, so try to avoid happy clashes of joy when getting married."

"Oh, I see." Xia Haoyang nodded in understanding.

"So, Jingyi, can we arrange your wedding with the third brother for next year?" Mother Xia asked very gently, her eyes always looking at Zeng Jingyi tenderly.

Zeng Jingyi was very excited when she heard what Xia's mother said. Tears even flashed in her eyes and her teeth were jumping up and down uncontrollably. Zeng Jingyi tried hard to stop her teeth from trembling and said with a choked voice, "Okay."

"Next year? That's too early. We're not in a hurry." Xia Haoyang frowned in what he thought was a profound manner, protesting against his mother's blind command.

"It turns out that none of the men are smart. They are all pigs and their eyes are as blind as before." This was the comment from my sister-in-law.

The second sister-in-law, Sun Na, was much more succinct and clear: "Stupid as a pig!"

"It's roughly settled. We'll look at the specific date later, but the third brother and Jingyi's wedding will be scheduled for next year! Objections are invalid!" Mother Xia announced domineeringly.

Father Xia would not oppose his wife on such a matter, and the eldest and second brothers would not interfere with the third brother's marriage. The eldest sister-in-law Kuang Yurou and the second sister-in-law Sun Na could see that Zeng Jingyi was crazy about getting married, so of course they would only agree with Mother Xia's advice and would not bring bad luck. Only Xia Haoyang muttered a few words to himself, but looking at everyone's expressions, it seemed that one or two of them glanced at him with disdain, and he was embarrassed and had to remain silent.

After returning to the room at night, Xia Haoyang complained: "Mom likes to mess around. We don't even want to hold the wedding right away, why is she in such a hurry?"

Zeng Jingyi was so angry, but she was too embarrassed to show it. She lay on the bed with her back to Xia Haoyang, rolled the quilt around herself, and rejected Xia Haoyang's attempt to get intimate.

Xia Haoyang still didn't know why he had angered Zeng Jingyi. He thought, if you are angry, then you are angry. I won't argue with you. He took the initiative to get a thin blanket from the cupboard to cover himself, and gave the quilt to Zeng Jingyi.

Well, I am a good man and I am generous. Xia Haoyang was still complacent about his tolerance.

When Xia Haoyang fell asleep with his back to Zeng Jingyi, Zeng Jingyi, who had her eyes closed, suddenly turned around and kicked Xia Haoyang. . .

She was still muttering, "Men are just pigs! So stupid."

Xia Haoyang was kicked off the bed and stared at the woman in front of him in a daze. Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

Early the next morning, the new daughter-in-law served tea to her parents-in-law. Xia Haoyang and others also got up early, yawning.

Over there, Sun Na was serving tea to Mr. and Mrs. Xia, while the eldest sister-in-law teased, "Third brother, what happened last night? I heard a loud noise coming from your room, and I also heard you shouting."

Xia Haoyang glanced at Zeng Jingyi, and she looked at him and then looked away.

Xia Haoyang could only awkwardly turn his gaze back to his sister-in-law, "I was not careful when I was sleeping yesterday, and I fell under the bed. Hehe, I guess it was because I drank a few too many glasses at the dinner party."

"How can a grown-up person fall under the bed while sleeping?" Sister-in-law Kuang Yurou obviously didn't believe it.

"Well, I do have a restless sleep at night, and sometimes I toss and turn. It's my own fault for being careless." Xia Haoyang explained further.

"Oh, so that's how it is." The sister-in-law kept smiling, neither saying whether she believed it nor whether she believed it, but her eyes kept looking up and down at Zeng Jingyi.

"Brother, sister-in-law, your sister-in-law will serve you tea." It was the sound of Sun Na serving tea that interrupted the awkward conversation.

"Thank you Nana."

"Third uncle, drink tea."

After paying respects to her parents and her elder brother and his wife, Sun Na also served Xia Haoyang a cup of tea according to etiquette. In such a formal occasion, Sun Na used the traditional way of addressing him - "Third Uncle".

Xia Haoyang is Xia Haoqi's younger brother. According to current custom, Sun Na can just call him the third brother, but in the Sixteen Families that pay attention to tradition, especially when it comes to formal activities such as wedding tea ceremony or sacrifice, the name will pay more attention to tradition.

The earliest and most traceable use of the word "uncle" is in Er Ya, which is known as the ancestor of dictionaries: "The younger brother of father is called uncle, and the wife of father's younger brother is called aunt. Also, the husband's younger brother is uncle." Our simple literal translation here probably means that among father's brothers, the one younger than father should be called uncle, and the wife of father's younger brother, that is, uncle's wife, should be called aunt, so the husband's younger brother is called uncle.

So in ancient times, the word "uncle" initially referred specifically to the husband's younger brothers.

As time passed, the ancients changed the name of their father's younger brother from "uncle" to "uncle", that is, the word "uncle" was equated with "uncle" and became the same meaning.

So how should a woman address her husband's younger brother at this time?

Because the ancients valued boys over girls and put the husband first, women had a low status, so the husband’s younger brother was still called "uncle". Here, the woman was downgraded to the same level as her own children.

For example, after getting married, a woman calls the man's parents "grandfather-in-law and mother-in-law". Here, father-in-law and mother-in-law are not proper nouns. Father-in-law means grandfather and mother-in-law means grandmother. When a woman calls them father-in-law and mother-in-law, it is the same as the way she calls her children. This is another proof that women in ancient times had a low status in the family and were not on the same level as their husbands, but on the same level as their children.

This is the reason why Pan Jinlian, in the well-known "Water Margin", always called Wu Dalang's younger brother Wu Song "Uncle".

Therefore, regardless of the original meaning of the word "uncle" or the later change in traditional customs with historical changes, it is reasonable for Sun Na to call Xia Haoyang "Third Uncle" when serving tea.

Since serving tea is in accordance with traditional customs, Zeng Jingyi, who has registered her marriage but has not held a wedding banquet, is not considered a member of the Xia family, and there is no reason for the "sister-in-law" to serve tea to the "daughter-in-law". Therefore, Zeng Jingyi could only stand aside awkwardly and watch the tea-serving ceremony of the new bride of the Xia family entering the house.