As a prominent family in Foshan, the Wu's daughter's wedding was extravagant . Wu Mancheng was an educated gentleman who always acted modestly, but not at his daughter's wedding . They had blaring trumpets and thunderous fireworks . People miles away could hear it .
From government officials to beggars, crowds of people gathered in the street . They waited to catch a glimpse of the Wu's beautiful daughter, a few coins if they were lucky .
Famous didn't want to join the crowd, it had to watch out for people who wanted to eat it . It carried Old Time Tea and Galaxy on its back, and jumped onto the roof of a two-story building to watch the street from above .
As Wu Ning's wedding was in another city, it was a bit different from local weddings . Social customs had changed dramatically from the early days of the Republic . In areas along the south coast, like Foshan, weddings weren't as rigid as the old days .
The trumpet players marched . Two dozen porters carried a dowry of goods through the streets . There was a three-feet tall porcelain vase to place the feather dusters and a pair of porcelain pen holders . The dowry included shiny high-quality furniture, beautiful silk, antiques, and more . None of the items were affordable for ordinary people .
"Such a wealthy family . There's so many things, you can't even see where it ends . "
"How much fortune do they have?"
"Look at that red coral! Apparently, it takes a thousand years for a coral to form, and a hundred thousand years to turn red . The red coral is so tall and red, it looks like it's dripping blood . How much do you think it's worth?"
"That's absolutely priceless!"
"Look at that . It's a bracket clock from overseas . It announces the hours! I heard that Empress Dowager Cixi owned one just like that back in the day . "
The people by the road were envious and jealous, and couldn't help but exaggerate . They had to talk about what they heard, and the stories only got more twisted with each person . The red coral was only one foot tall, by the time it reached the end of the line, it was three feet tall . The bracket clock was even thought to be excavated from the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi .
"That's just stupid stuff, and stupid, materialistic people longing after them!"
Among the crowd of people, there was a snarky scholar pretending he didn't care, but he was also dying of envy . He hated Wu Ning, the owner of the dowry, for not picking him as her husband . He shook the feather fan in his hand, and laughed loudly, as if he couldn't care less about the stupid priceless treasure . He hoped to draw Wu Ning's attention, so that he could end up marrying her and become rich .
The couriers in the back carried large crates, filled with books and paintings .
"Why did they use crappy book and paintings? Did they run out things for the dowry?"
"It's to show that the Wu family is educated, that they aren't a family who just gained a quick fortune," someone sneered . "I heard that Miss Wu is very well educated . She's a real lady who knows about music, chess, calligraphy and painting . The crappy paintings you mentioned, those are some of the most well-known works of previous dynasties . In terms of value, they're just as expensive as the red coral and western bracket clock you saw just . "
"How much money could some stupid paintings and calligraphy possibly be worth?" The first person replied .
The second person was too lazy to argue, he just stood on his toes to see if Miss Wu's sedan chair had arrived .
Famous stood on the rooftop nearby, worried as it watched the long wedding parade . Even if it wasn't a Chinese dog, it still would've known that it was unwise to show your wealth . When the Wu family made such a extravagant parade, they invited the attention of thieves . The long journey to Binhai Town would be dangerous .
In a brothel nearby, a few prostitutes had dressed up and watched from afar with a handkerchief in one hand and sunflower seeds in the other .
An older prostitute spat out sunflower seed shells, and said with jealousy, "Sisters, how many weddings have you seen? I've seen fancier weddings . Do you know how the woman looks?" She thought herself to be good looking, and was just trying to make herself feel better .
The sunflower seed shell fell on a young man's head . He lifted his head, and saw what was under the prostitutes' dress . He didn't look away .
"You're right," another prostitute agreed . "I think this Miss Wu is mediocre-looking, at best . How could she compare to your dazzling beauty? She's probably a fat pig . Her mother-in-law can use the dowry to pay for pig food . "
"Haha!"
There was a burst of laughter in the brothel, which made people's imagination wander .
As a token of good fortune, the housekeepers at the front of the wedding parade gave away coins . People were fighting over them .
Maybe the Wu family knew that the gigantic dowry was going to draw unwanted attention . They recruited a lot of village soldiers to escort the parade . They held sticks and bats, and had blades hidden under their clothes .
The huge dowry parade passed, then came the bride's parade .
The crowd watched more attentively, as everybody wanted to see Miss Wu .
In the bride's parade, there were people in carriages, on horses, and on foot . Wu Mancheng was in a tall house . Wu Ning, the heroine of the day, wore a bright red suit and a skirt, and sat in a sedan chair . The tassels in front of the chair's window blew in the wind, which made Wu Ning's face barely visible .
Although her face couldn't be clearly seen, it was enough for the brothel girls to know that Miss Wu wasn't a fat pig . Her slim figure was by no means inferior to theirs . Not to mention the fact that she was well-educated and had a large dowry .
Apart from the night they first met, Wu Ning always dressed in men's clothing to make her trip into the mountain easier . When had they ever seen her dressed up in such fancy clothes?
For a moment, Famous didn't realize that it was Wu Ning, the girl that used to read them books and newspapers in the valley .
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