Bringing Good Luck to your Husband in the 70s - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Wedding

Li Xiaoqing and the others knew that Su Yue was getting married, so they all felt sad. Wu Xiaoxiao hugged her and started sobbing.

“Yueyue, why are you getting married. I can’t bear to see you go. You are so cruel~”

Su Yue couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. She tapped Wu Xiaoxiao’s forehead and said, “I think you just can’t bear to part with my delicious food, right?”

Being suddenly exposed, Wu Xiaoxiao sniffled, blinked sheepishly, and muttered in a low voice, “I’m just used to eating the food you cook. As the saying goes, it’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go back. If I can’t eat your cooking in the future, I won’t even want to eat ours.”

Su Yue chuckled. “Then you should learn how to cook better and make delicious food yourself. That way, you won’t have anything to worry about.”

Even Li Xiaoqing sighed at that moment. “We can improve our cooking a little, but how can we ever make it taste as good as yours? It’s impossible in this life.”

The other three nodded in agreement. No matter how hard they tried, they still lagged far behind Su Yue’s skills.

Su Yue blinked and teased with a smile, “How about I don’t get married then? I’ll just stay here with you all.”

Wu Xiaoxiao really wanted to nod and agree, but she didn’t dare. “If you don’t get married and Han Aiguo finds out it’s because of us, then we’d be dead. He’s so tall, he could kill us all with one hand.”

Mao Lin sighed. “Exactly, how could we dare stop you from getting married? Forget it, you should go. We can’t afford the consequences of you staying single.”

Su Yue was amused. She hadn’t expected them to be so afraid of Han Aiguo, even though he wasn’t scary at all.

Although everyone was reluctant to see her leave, they still helped Su Yue pack her belongings together. With their help, the luggage was ready quickly, and Han Aiguo carried it straight to the Han household.

Since the wedding day was only two days away, Su Yue stopped going to work and stayed home making sweets.

Even though families were poor in those days, it was customary to prepare melon seeds and candies for weddings to entertain guests. Otherwise, it would look disgraceful. But candies were hard to buy at the time and were both scarce and expensive, so Su Yue decided to make them herself, saving the old lady from any worry.

With plenty of ration stamps in hand, she went to town and bought a large amount of white sugar, brown sugar, and even a tin of milk powder. Back home, she mixed them with corn and peanuts to make corn candy and peanut candy, and even made some toffee. Using oil paper she had purchased, she wrapped each piece in the shape of a little star. Even though there was no fancy candy wrapping paper, the finished sweets looked attractive.

Su Yue set aside some for Wu Xiaoxiao and the others, kept a portion for herself, and asked Han Aiguo to deliver the rest to the old lady for entertaining wedding guests.

Her homemade candies tasted remarkably similar to modern sweets even better than the candies of that era. When Li Xiaoqing and the others tasted them, their eyes practically lit up, and they shamelessly asked for more.

Old Lady Han was delighted when she received Su Yue’s candies. She had finally managed to buy a few pieces herself, but they were so few that she hadn’t dared to distribute them yet. She hadn’t even allowed the children to taste them, fearing there wouldn’t be enough left for guests after all, one couldn’t be stingy on such an occasion. But to her surprise, Su Yue had already thought ahead and prepared plenty, solving a big headache for her.

Beaming with joy, the old lady said to Han Aiguo, “You really are luckier than others. You’ve found yourself the best wife anyone could hope for. Now I don’t have to worry about you anymore. With such a wife, your life will definitely be good.”

Han Aiguo’s eyes softened with a smile.

“Come on, you all should taste the candy your sister-in-law made.” The old lady handed out one piece each.

She herself happily unwrapped a candy and popped it into her mouth. At the very first taste, she froze in shock.

This candy was simply divine.

The old lady couldn’t help but exclaim, “This candy is amazing and so delicious! I’ve never eaten anything this good in my life. It’s even better than the ones Han Aiguo brought home before.”

The third daughter-in-law was the first to stuff the candy into her mouth, and she quickly echoed, “Mother, what kind of candy is this? It’s so delicious.”

Seeing this, Han Lao-er and Han Lao-san, who had been planning to save theirs for the children, suddenly couldn’t resist trying one themselves.

The corners of Han Aiguo’s mouth curved faintly upward. He silently peeled his candy and popped it into his mouth, his eyes narrowing with satisfaction.

After finishing hers, Old Lady Han immediately fetched the jar she kept for special food and carefully poured the candies inside. “No, no, the candy made by the eldest’s wife is too delicious. She must have used a lot of ingredients. We can’t just hand them all out. We’ll give each guest two or three, and the rest we’ll keep for ourselves.”

As she stored them away, the children grew anxious. Xiaolei and Maomao rushed up, hugging her legs and shaking them.

“Grandma, give us more! Just a little more!”

The two boys shook her so hard she nearly toppled over. Annoyed, she smacked each of them on the backside. “You little gluttons! You lose your minds whenever you see something tasty!”

But the boys were too bewitched by the candy to care. Maomao clung tighter, sitting on her feet and refusing to let go. “Give me more, Grandma. If you don’t, I won’t let you go.”

The old lady fumed and shouted at Han Lao-san, “Quick, pull this rascal off me! He’s getting bolder and bolder!”

Han Lao-san hurried forward, grabbed Maomao, and gave him a few hard smacks until the boy burst into tears.

His wife, distressed, snatched the child from his arms and coaxed him while complaining, “Mother, why won’t you give the candy to your own grandchildren, yet you’re willing to hand it to outsiders’ children?”

The old lady spat in irritation but eventually took another handful from the jar. She gave two more candies each to the four children. “That’s all! Whoever dares ask for more will be beaten!”

The children cheered with joy, finally satisfied.

The old lady hid the jar in her cabinet afterward, locking it securely along with all the other food meant for entertaining guests. That way, she didn’t have to worry about the children sneaking in for more.

——

In this way, two days passed quickly, and soon it was the 15^th, the day of Han Aiguo’s wedding.

Early in the morning, Old Lady Han had the whole family busy. The second and third daughters-in-law, along with several aunts who came to help, took charge of the kitchen. Han Lao-er and Han Lao-san handled errands outside, odd jobs, and keeping the children in line. The old lady herself greeted and entertained arriving guests.

Han Aiguo, the groom, had only one duty: picking up his bride.

Dressed in his military uniform, he looked exceptionally tall and imposing. With a bright red paper flower pinned to his chest, his spirit seemed even more vibrant. His appearance earned admiring compliments from several aunts who had come to help.

When the auspicious time arrived, Han Aiguo pushed his bicycle, also decorated with a big red flower on the front to the educated youth spot to collect his bride. Behind him followed his three younger brothers and several young men from the village, creating a lively procession.

That day, Su Yue wore a small floral jacket sewn for her by Old Lady Han and a pair of floral cotton shoes. Her black hair was braided into two plaits that hung neatly across her chest. Wu Xiaoxiao had even applied makeup on her face. Though Su Yue thought the outfit was a bit tacky, she couldn’t deny that her already beautiful features looked even more striking. The villagers who came to watch the fun were stunned.

Han Aiguo had truly married a fairy. What incredible luck!

“Han Aiguo, hurry up and take your wife home! Such a beautiful wife belongs to you now!” an aunt, who was acting as matchmaker, teased with a smile.

Han Aiguo carried Su Yue to the back seat of the bicycle, gripped the handlebars, and with his slight limp, slowly took his bride home.

These days people emphasized “smash the Four Olds and establish the Four News,” so weddings weren’t as elaborate as before. Under the family portrait in the main room, Han Aiguo and Su Yue simply bowed to Old Lady Han and acknowledged their marriage. After Su Yue received the red envelope from the old lady, the ceremony was complete and now was time to eat.

They’d set ten tables in the courtyard. Most weddings offered four main dishes such as braised pork, fried dumplings, steamed salted duck, and cabbage with vermicelli. But Old Lady Han took today very seriously. On top of those four, she added shredded potatoes and stewed tofu, making six dishes total, each portion generous. Guests left with oily lips and constant praise for the Han family’s lavish spread, which made the old lady beam all day.

Su Yue wanted to go help, but Old Lady Han waved her into the bridal room. “You’re the new wife today—rest and put away your things,” she said, not letting her lift a finger.

The second and third daughters-in-law were run ragged in the kitchen, only catching a break after every table was served. They didn’t go out to eat; they’d hidden a bowl for themselves earlier and now split it at the small table.

Peeking out and seeing no one, the third daughter-in-law grumbled, “Wow we were so busy today I thought my waist would break. We’re sweating through winter clothes in here, and the eldest sister-in-law gets to sit in the room and rest. She won’t even come out to help.”

She’d actually liked Su Yue at first and wanted to be friendly, but once she learned Su Yue was marrying in and saw how much the old lady doted on her, even buying a bicycle for her so the bitterness crept in. Compared to how the old lady had treated her, she couldn’t help feeling sour.

The second daughter-in-law’s eyes flickered. “Don’t talk nonsense. Mother didn’t make us help on our wedding days either.”

“Second sister-in-law, drop the act. You’ve got opinions too,” the third daughter-in-law sniffed. “We had four dishes. The eldest brother’s wedding has six. And look at the candy and melon seeds, it’s far better than ours were. She even has a bicycle. Mother’s biased; she loves the eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law most!”

The second daughter-in-law pressed her lips together and kept eating. She did feel it was unfair, but she wasn’t as foolish as the third sister-in-law, as complaining out loud only offended people and did no good.

Just then Maomao and Xiaolei barreled in, throwing themselves into their mothers’ arms. “Mother, we want candy. Grandma won’t give us any!”

“I don’t have any,” the second daughter-in-law told Xiaolei. “Your grandma’s keeping it.”

“Then ask Grandma! I want candy!” Xiaolei twisted and whined.

Maomao started up too. “Mother, I want candy! I want it!”

The third daughter-in-law rolled her eyes. “We don’t have any, but your eldest aunt does. She’s the bride today. Go to her room, call her ‘auntie,’ and ask for candy, she’ll definitely give you some. If she won’t, make a fuss.”

The boys immediately stopped bawling and ran off hand in hand.

They burst into the bridal room shouting, “Auntie, we want candy!”

Everyone else was outside; Han Aiguo was drinking with the guests. Su Yue had just come back from a quick look around and was arranging her clothes when the shout made her jump.

“Why are you two here?” she asked.

“Auntie, give us candy. We want candy,” the boys said, hands out.

Su Yue wouldn’t refuse her nephews. She happened to have some left in her bag, so she gave them three each.

Seeing the bag wasn’t empty and that she was easy to talk to, Maomao blurted, “Auntie, you still have a lot so give us more!”

Su Yue frowned. “Three each. I still need the rest so I can’t give you more.”

Rejected, the boys looked at each other and plopped down on the floor. Xiaolei stuck his legs out and began thumping and howling, “I want candy! Auntie won’t give me candy!” He’d learned that if he made a scene, his mother scolded his sisters and made them give in. So whenever he didn’t get his way, he went straight to the ground.

Maomao followed suit, rolling and yelling.

Su Yue could practically see the dust flying. “Get up. Your clothes are getting dirty.”

They ignored her and howled louder.

She disliked nothing more than naughty kids, and two at once made her head pound. But she wasn’t about to give in. “If you keep making noise, I’ll go get your grandma and your uncle!”

The boys paused, then remembered how busy the adults were and doubled down, wailing even louder.

Su Yue was about to march over and yank them up when a deep voice cut through the noise. “What are you two doing?”

Han Aiguo came in with a bowl of food, set it on the cabinet, and leveled a calm, hard stare at the boys.

Aside from the rare smile he reserved for Su Yue, he was usually expressionless at home and said little to the children. Tall, imposing, he was actually the person the little ones feared most and that too more than even Old Lady Han.

Their act died instantly. They sat up straight as stakes, eyes wide.

“Stand up,” he said.

They sprang to their feet.

He glanced at Su Yue. “What happened?”

She told him briefly. His face darkened. “Who taught you to ask for things like that?”

Silence. Two shrinking necks.

Su Yue tugged his sleeve; this wasn’t the time to lecture. There were still guests to host.

He knew it too. “Get out. Don’t ever ask people for things that way again.”

The boys fled like their bottoms were on fire.

Su Yue couldn’t help laughing.

He didn’t know what she was laughing at. He squeezed her hand, picked up the bowl, and pressed it into her palm. “You haven’t eaten. Are you hungry?”

She wasn’t, but she didn’t refuse. She took the bowl and started eating, then quietly pushed all the fatty pieces to him, she didn’t like them. He ate every bite without complaint, wiped his mouth, and said, “I’m going back out. If you need anything, tell me or Mother directly.”

“Go on, I’m fine,” she said.

On his way out, he stopped the two troublemakers and warned them not to step inside again. They bobbed their heads obediently.

When Su Yue finished the bowl, she continued tidying the room. Outside, the banquet wound down. Guests left happily with wedding candies in hand.

Seeing the cleanup begin, Su Yue went out to help. The tables, benches, bowls, and chopsticks had all been borrowed from neighbors. The four Han brothers carried everything back, house by house. Old Lady Han and her three daughters-in-law stacked the dishes and hauled them to the well to wash as most were borrowed and had to be returned spotless. Hehua and Taohua helped pick up the trash.

They worked straight through to dusk. Everyone’s backs ached; even standing upright was hard. Old Lady Han reheated the leftover dishes from lunch, and the whole family ate a simple supper. After that, they washed up and turned in for the night, exhausted and content.

Translator’s Food Notes:-

corn candy:-

peanut candy:-