Infrastructure masters in the red building

When Jia Fang proposed to hold a blind date meeting, both the aborigines and the new immigrants had some doubts.

The indigenous party, represented by Village Chief Tao, was afraid that the form of blind date in their "song fair" would be "discriminated" by foreigners. However, after the implementation of "education" in other villages, "song fairs" were banned many times, and those girls who sang folk songs were even arrested, their faces painted with black paint, and paraded in the streets of various villages and villages. "Song fair is right" was gradually banned because of this.

In addition, the girls in Taoyuan Village have always been enthusiastic and unrestrained. If the parents of the other party directly "look at each other" during the blind date, these girls will suffer a lot.

As for the new immigrants, they feel that it is "unseemly" for a man and a woman to meet and go on a blind date directly.

Their concerns were also influenced by the legend about the "Song Fair" - it is said that the "Song Fair" here is a place where both men and women "have heavy make-up and beautiful clothes, and cross the fields, where men and women are mixed in deep forests and bamboos, singing together. Baihe"①.It is too hasty to marry independently with only one song without asking parents and relatives.It would be "indecent" and inappropriate if they were taken away immediately after singing to accomplish something good.

But Jia Fang said: "This is actually a compromise. Listen up, everyone——"

He finished talking about the "meeting" method one by one. Although the five village chiefs still had some doubts, they all felt that this plan was acceptable.

In the end, Village Chief Tao made a concluding speech on behalf of everyone: "Since Mr. Jia is so looking forward to the young people in the village getting married and starting a career, then we will listen to Mr. Jia."

Three days later, the preparations for the blind date meeting were completed, and it was held bustlingly.Tian Youming's family, as well as Tian Youming and his younger sister Tian Xiaomei, were married but not yet married. At that moment, the Tian family embraced Tian Youming and Tian Xiaomei to the scene of the blind date meeting.

The blind date conference proposed by Jia Fang was held at a fixed place, accompanied by parents and relatives, and a meeting between married couples and men.When dating, it is recommended that young men and women meet directly, but some of the new immigrants come from rich families, and they don't want the woman to show up and meet too many strange men.

The blind date conference didn't say anything about the "meeting in person" thing. It said that it was really inconvenient for the woman to come forward, and she didn't force it—but if you can't find a suitable partner, you have to bear the consequences yourself.

"Anyway, both the man and the woman must be present in person when registering the marriage." A staff member wearing an armband explained to the parents attending the meeting on the ground below the sign of "Blind Date Meeting Entrance".

"You still have to register to get married?" Parents are stupid, what kind of new rules are these.

"It is to write a marriage letter, three media and six certificates. It is a marriage registration in our Taoyuan Village. Both parties must press their fingerprints. Otherwise, the government will not recognize it and they will not be able to move their hukou." The staff explained casually, and then beckoned Tian Youming Come over here.

The first rule of the blind date meeting is that registration is required to enter.Participants of the conference need to register their names and ages, and receive a number plate on a family basis.This number plate is divided into two colors, blue represents the man and the man's parents, and red represents the woman and the woman's parents.

The staff found out that there were two people participating in the blind date meeting, and immediately registered the names of Tian Youming and Tian Xiaomei, and then issued two number plates, and told them: "If you match, tell the other party's number plate to the staff. Staff, they will help you to ask the other party what they mean, and if the other party agrees, you can sit in the 'meeting room' to discuss in detail."

The blind date pointed by the staff is a row of rebuilt simple activity rooms. There are some gaps between each room, and some privacy can be kept between each other. However, the doors and windows of the activity room are not installed. If you look right If the two parties want to communicate further, they can only sit and talk at most, and can't do any "other" things.

Although Taoist scholars criticize even unmarried men and women when they meet, this kind of "open and aboveboard" sitting and talking is completely acceptable to the villagers of Taoyuan Village.

Tian Youming and Tian Xiaomei both got their number plates soon.One of the staff members, a sharp-talking woman, saw that Tian Xiaomei was handsomely dressed, with some light makeup on her face, she nodded and smiled and said: "This young girl looks handsome and energetic, you will definitely be able to see her in the future." We found a good man at the meeting."

Tian Xiaomei blushed immediately and lowered her head, but she still couldn't hide the joy on her face when she heard the praise from others.

The Tian family's parents smiled and bowed to the staff, saying, "Thank you for your good words!"

Tian's mother took a look at Tian Youming and said, "I also hope that we can find a good wife for Youming today."

Tian Youming felt weird when he heard this. He had a vague feeling that the parents' thoughts were all on him. They only hoped to find a suitable wife for themselves, but they didn't care much about the fate of the younger sister.

Even the parents of the Tian family were looking forward to marrying Tian Xiaomei quickly so that they could receive a large gift to prepare for Tian Youming's wedding.

Every family has scriptures that are hard to recite, and it's not that the parents of the Tian family don't like their daughter at all, but the situation of the Tian family is a bit special-the eldest brother of the Tian family, the elder brother of Tian Youming, suffered from bloating before and died in Yujiang up.The sister-in-law remarried immediately, leaving a pair of children in Tian's house.

This pair of children will point to Tian Youming from now on. Although they are nephews and nieces, Tian Youming is equivalent to half a father.This also means that Tian Youming will ask for a wife in the future, and the woman will have two children to raise as soon as she enters the house... To put it bluntly, this means taking on the responsibility of stepmother, but not even the title of stepmother.

Also because of this, the Tian family was very nervous about this blind date meeting, and the strategy they decided was: marry Tian Xiaomei as soon as possible, and then rely on the dowry money recovered to find a hardworking and hardworking person for Tian Youming, regardless of the status of the queen. Mother's good girl, no matter how much dowry money is spent, she will be taken down.

For a while, four members of the Tian family entered the scene of the blind date meeting.Tian's father accompanied Tian Xiaomei, and Tian's mother accompanied Tian Youming. The family was divided into two groups, and they went to the places where the woman and the man were in their respective blind date groups.

As soon as Tian's mother entered the arena, she stared at the girl opposite her with wide eyes, but Tian Youming was a little afraid to look at it.Someone next to him came up and patted Tian Youming on the shoulder.Tian Youming took a look and found that it was none other than Mi Sandao.

"Sandao, you come too..." Tian Youming was about to say "You also come on a blind date", when he found that Mi Sandao did not wear the number plate of the blind date meeting.

"My business has been settled, and I will go to register for marriage on an auspicious day in two days. I am here today for you, brother." Mi Sandao explained to Tian Youming after saying hello to Tian's mother.

Tian Youming immediately congratulated his friend, knowing that the thing that blocked the way to sing last time was over.But... Just go to register and get married?Would this be too slow?

Mi Sandao said lazily: "We are a single household, we have no relatives and no reason, so we can't make a big deal of it. But fortunately, Mr. Jia said that this batch of mutual marriages will wait for everyone to register. After that, we will hold a collective wedding together.”

"Group wedding?" Tian Youming was even more surprised.

"It's not like everyone organizes weddings together, not to mention more lively ones, and all the banquets are done at once, and there is not much money spread to each family." Mi Sandao asked his friends with a smile when he was in good spirits on happy events , "Why, you haven't heard of it yet?"

"Jia Sanye said that group weddings are held every six months, and there will be no such shop in this village. Um... I have to pick one that suits you." Mi Sandao immediately became an adviser to his friend.

Unexpectedly, Tian's mother moved faster than the two of them. At a glance, she had already fallen in love with two girls from Taoyuan Village, and immediately reported the other party's number plate to the staff, and the staff immediately reported back to the woman.

But the woman's side quickly responded, one said that there was already a lover who wanted to meet, and the other tactfully persuaded her that it might not be appropriate.The first time Tian Jianiang made a move for Tian Youming, she failed.

But Mi Sandao asked suspiciously: "Why does Madam want to find you a wife from Taoyuan Village so much? In your situation, I'm afraid a girl from Yujiang is more suitable."

Tian Youming was speechless, of course he knew what his mother was worrying about.Nephews and nieces need money for food and clothing, and Tian Youming's family will have to bear the burden of marrying a wife when they grow up.Money is of course indispensable.

It has been spread in Taoyuan Village that when a girl in Taoyuan Village gets married, she will bring her shiny silverware with her.With such a dowry, what are you afraid of missing in your future life?

But Tian Youming felt that his soft temper should not suit the preferences of the girls in Taoyuan Village.Someone like Mi Sandao, who has a bold temperament, wants to have a body and a good appearance, even if there is no one else in the family and is a single household, he is still sought after by others.

Besides, he had heard people say that the silverware worn by the girls in Taoyuan Village would only be passed on to their own daughters, and would never be sold to help their husband's family.That's why his mother was so impatient, she was afraid that the bamboo basket would be a waste of water in the end.

Just as he was thinking, Tian Youming suddenly noticed a gentle gaze staring at him silently. He looked intently, and saw a girl from Yu Jiang, quite familiar.Seeing Tian Youming's gaze turn, the girl lowered her head shyly, stretched out her hand to play with the corner of her clothes, but silently revealed the number plate pinned to her body.

"Which village is that girl?" Mi Sandao also noticed the spark between the young couple, scratching his head and thinking, "From Xinyu? From Ercun?"

"Ham, don't think about it so much, let's talk about it after meeting!" Mi Sandao took the initiative and helped his friend find a staff member. After a while, the other party came back, saying that the other party was also willing, and immediately arranged a "meeting" room", the Tian family sat down with the other party in this simple activity room.

The two sides briefly exchanged names. The other party's surname was Ju, and her nickname was Sanniang. She met the Tian family once on the way from Yujiang, and Sanniang even helped the Tian family take care of their nephews and nieces once.When Ju Sanniang mentioned it, both families remembered it.Immediately, Tian's mother was full of affection for this girl - she is beautiful and kind-hearted, and she is also a good hand at taking care of children.

But when she asked about the specific situation of the Ju family, Tian's mother immediately frowned.

It turned out that the economic conditions of the Ju family were not very good, not to mention the elders and the younger ones, and Ju Sanniang had two younger brothers, who were not married either, and it took only a year or two to talk about marriage.

Speaking of this, Tian's mother's face was already a little ugly, and then she asked the other party how much dowry she wanted.

The Ju family reported a number, and the Tian family's mother and son, including Mi Sandao, lowered their heads and did not make a sound.

——This is the end of the talk!

When he came out of the "meeting room", Tian Youming felt that his feet weighed a thousand catties. It happened that Ju Sanniang walked in front of him when he went out. Tian Youming seemed to be able to feel her soft hair brushing against his face. To the faint scent of the pomade on her hair.

Before Ju Sanniang walked away, she also looked back at Tian Youming, with resentment in her eyes.Tian Youming felt that his heart was about to break at that moment.

Tian's mother let out a long sigh after the other party left, and said to her son, "Young lady is a good girl, but she is going to sell her daughter! Youming, let's just stop thinking about it!"

Unexpectedly, the next moment, Tian's father brought Tian Xiaomei out of another meeting room, the little girl stood beside her brother with tears in her eyes, and when she lowered her head, the tears fell on the shoe surface, making Tian Youming feel distressed broken.

"Little sister, whoever bullies you, I'll beat him up!" Tian Youming is about to roll up his sleeves. He has a rather cowardly personality, but he won't be a coward to anyone who bullies his sister.Unexpectedly, Tian Xiaomei took off the number plate pinned to her body, stuffed it into her brother's hand, turned her head and ran, and even ran out of the venue.

"Father, what's going on?" Tian Youming hurriedly asked Tian's father.Tian's father shook his head, sighed and said: "No, I fell in love with a young man from Taoyuan Village, but he just couldn't afford a bride price."

It turned out that Tian Xiaomei met Zhao Wuguang, the current inspection captain of Taoyuan Village, at the blind date meeting.Zhao Wuguang walks in Taoyuan Village, as majestic as he wants. He is a person who "eats the emperor's food" according to the rumors. He receives various allowances every month, and he will never worry about food and clothing.

However, people just can't afford a bride price!Not only can't afford it, but in Taoyuan Village, there is no custom of asking the man for a bride price.

In Taoyuan Village, the status of women seems to be higher. Women can keep their own property, and they can take it away when they get married, and they can pass it on to their daughters.In contrast, although men already have the right to adopt a surname at this stage, their property rights are inferior to those of the opposite sex.

This became an endless loop: Tian Youming finally found a suitable Ju Sanniang, but the Ju family asked for a large gift.The Tian family pointed out that Tian Xiaomei's marriage could help her brother a bit, but Tian Xiaomei chose someone who couldn't afford a bride price.This is what the Tian family does.

Tian’s father here sighed, but Tian’s mother on the other side complained to Tian Xiaomei, Tian Youming stomped his foot and said to his mother: “Mom, you pointed at Miss Ju’s place and said that she sold her daughter. Are you pointing at selling your daughter?"

The Tian family's mother was choked by her own son's accusation, she was speechless for a moment, and after a while, she poked her son's forehead fiercely with her finger, and cursed: "You heartless brat! Mom, this is not for the sake of You...you have two nephews and nieces to raise, and you've been thinking about borrowing money to build a sugar factory for your family—it's not too much gift money, which girl in the world would dare to marry you..."

Tian Youming became angry, and talked back to his mother: "Then you can't sell my sister..."

He was already close to his younger sister, and when he heard that his younger sister had fallen in love with Zhao Wuguang, the inspector captain in the village, Tian Youming was actually a little happy in his heart, thinking that after the sugar workshop opened, he might be able to borrow more from his sister-in-law.He thought that anyway, he had the entrepreneurial loan borrowed by Mr. Jia, and he had worked hard for a few years, and he was destined to earn a family business.

Who would have thought that this marriage would be like a series of plots, one after another, one after another.

Why is it so difficult, so difficult, so difficult to marry a favorite daughter-in-law/marry a favorite husband?

The Tian family was making a fuss here, and the organizing committee of the blind date meeting suddenly gathered all the people who participated in the blind date meeting today.Among the staff, the sharp-spoken eldest sister held something like a tin trumpet in her hand, stood in front of the folks, and said loudly: "Everyone, I think everyone has met the person they want to see today. Whether you succeed or not, you are in your heart." There are roughly a number..."

"However, as someone who has experienced it, I would like to remind everyone that life-long events are important, so don't rush to draw conclusions!"

This eldest sister is the "Old Xing's" from the Sancun canteen. She speaks funny, and the villagers below burst into laughter.

"The other thing is that Mr. Jia asked me to announce a few new rules here... It can't be regarded as a rule. In the words of Mr. Jia, it is a new fashion. He hopes that the young people in the village will listen to these few rules. , can be less troublesome."

"The first one, all the young children and daughters who are in love with each other, after you decide to get married, you must go to the archives office to register together and get a 'marriage certificate'. Parents can't get it on their behalf!"

"After all, it's the two of you who get married and live together. No one else can make the decision for you. It's right to listen to the opinions of the elders, but you still have to make the decision yourself."

Tian Youming immediately clenched his fists. He had an impulse to go directly to Ju Sanniang and talk to her family. If it didn't make sense, he would go to Sanniang's boudoir in the middle of the night... to elope with someone!

Here, Tian Youming even thought of the word "elope", and the old Xing family changed the subject and said a very important thing: "Second, Mr. Jia said that when you come to Taoyuan Village, it is Taoyuan Village For those who are old, change the customs, don’t cling to the old rules of the old town—Taoyuan Village, it’s not acceptable to accept large gifts, let alone take advantage of the opportunity to marry a daughter and sell it under the guise of a girl!”

There was a gasp from the bottom row.

This betrothal gift is hired, and it has been a rule for hundreds of years. I didn't expect that in this Taoyuan village, if you don't agree, you won't allow it.

When Tian Youming heard the news, his heart was shocked, his eyes searched in the crowd, and he found Ju Sanniang.The girl looked at him resentfully, and Tian Youming felt as if countless knives were being stabbed back and forth in his heart.

Can the third master Jia really marry Ju Sanniang if he doesn't allow anyone to accept the bride price?

Unexpectedly, at this time, the old Xing's family said something even more earth-shattering: "Article [-], encourage newly married couples to move out of the house, and the young couple will live alone."

"Isn't this separation of families?" The villagers couldn't accept it even more. "There is no separation of families with parents. This has been the truth since ancient times!"

Unexpectedly, the old Xing's family smiled and added: "The young couple who moved out will be given a homestead in the stockade."

This time, the scene of the blind date meeting was completely blown up.

"Wait a minute, I haven't finished talking yet, those families who insist on accepting large betrothal gifts won't be able to get homesteads!"