Chapter 1: The Newlyweds

  The natural environment of Wufeng Mountain, located on the southwestern border of Hubei and adjacent to Xiangxi Shimen, is unique and has been called "Xianyuan". The villages and stockades at the foot of the mountain are home to some indigenous Tujia people who make a living from the mountains.

  The foot of the sunny side of the mountain is Liujiacun Village, the largest village in the local area.

  Liujiacun village is built on the mountain and by the water, in front of the village there is a curved canal, outside the canal is a small road leading to the village, and outside the road is a shallow and clear pond. On the left side of the village entrance is Qinglonggang, and on the right side is Baigutang.

  At the foot of Baitu Valley Mountain, a simple single-stilted wooden house was built against the mountain.

  On December 28, 1978, this humble stilted house was decorated with lanterns and streamers, and the front yard was packed with people. A wedding procession sat on the open platform in front of the house, playing music and singing, extremely lively, and the sound of drums, gongs, and music could be heard five miles away.

  The village entrance, and many guests are walking towards the village. Before entering the village, you can already hear the loud laughter and shouts of Liu Xiuzhen, a villager.

  Liu Jia village's old village chief, Liu Dezhou, grasped a wooden stick and sat solemnly in the central hall, his eyes fixed intently on everyone's movements. Whenever he saw someone make a mistake at some point, he would immediately raise his stick and say: "You... you come over here for a moment, it shouldn't be like this, it should be like this... like this..."

  The person being pointed at nodded and smiled obsequiously: "Yes, yes, you're right as always, I'll listen to your orders and do it, no mistake, got it, following your orders, I'm off!"

  As he spoke, the man waved his hand at Liu Dezhou and ran out excitedly.

  Qing Shu held a red paper in his hand, with an air of a master, shouting at the crowd inside and outside the house to arrange the wedding according to the program on the red paper.

  The wedding program arranged on red paper was dictated by Liu Dezhou and written with a brush by Qing Sheng.

  Qingsheng is Liu Dezhou's son-in-law and the husband of Liu Xiu Zhen.

  Everyone in the family is busy with something in this house, but don't think that today is a happy event at Qing Shu's home.

  Liu Jiawei, the son of Qing Shengjia, was born this year and is not yet one year old. He is being held in the arms of his grandmother, Liu Lao Tai, sitting under the old locust tree in their own courtyard, basking in the sun, and calling out to him with a singing tone that is long and drawn out, distant and pleasant.

  But today no matter how hard Ah Po sang, her voice was drowned out by the sound of gongs and drums and storytelling from the An Bingwen's house across the street.

  Yes, today Liu Dezhou sat on the high hall remotely presiding over was indeed the wedding of Liujiacun villager An Bingwen.

  At this time, the groom, Guan Angwen, was wearing a brand new Tujia Pipa collar and sitting in the new house with a happy smile on his face, waiting for the bride to arrive.

  An Bingwen is not a Tujia person, his ancestors moved to Liujiacun from outside the mountain to avoid floods and settled down in Liujiacun as outsiders. His ancestors were nephews of the Liu family, born into a scholarly family, and from his ancestors to his parents' generation, all were literate, so although they were outsiders, they were always respected in Liujiacun. However, by An Bingwen's generation, not only was the population sparse, with only one son left in this branch of the family, but An Bingwen himself was also weak and clumsy, and not good at farming, leading to the decline of the family.

  Because Liu Dezhou's ancestors were the wealthy families in Liujia Village, and they had been the village head and clan leader for generations, An Bingwen's ancestors always respectfully referred to Liu Dezhou's ancestors as "public house" and "maternal uncle". When it came to An Bingwen, he still followed his ancestors' habit of respectfully referring to Liu Dezhou as "uncle", and called Qing Sheng "Shu Sheng Ge".

  It was also because of An Bingwen's courtesy and birth, as well as Liu Dezhou and Qing Shengben being kind-hearted and helpful to the poor, that although An Bingwen's family had declined, they still treated him with great respect and helped him out in every way.

  So in Liujiacun, although An Bingwen did not have the same status as his ancestors and was respected by people, no one in Liujiacun dared to ignore him.

  Although An Bingwen is not a Tujia person, because the host Liu Dezhou is a native Tujia person, all the procedures of the wedding must be carried out in accordance with Liu Dezhou's arrangements and in accordance with the Tujia wedding customs.

  Yesterday at the second or third watch of the night, Liu Dezhou had someone light two large red candles on the "incense fire" in the main hall, filling the main hall with smoke and mist.

  In front of Liu Dezhou, in the middle of the main hall, several large tables were arranged in a row. On the table, various sweets, pastries, peanuts, melon seeds and fresh fruits were neatly displayed. In the midst of soft and pleasant music, the host was preparing to "accompany the ten sisters".

  First, the host invited several bold and good-singing girls who had come to attend the wedding celebration. Then, a slightly older middle-aged man with a wrapped head arranged the seating order. In the center of the seat sat the shy and lovely bride, dressed in Han Chinese attire, wearing a bright red double-breasted padded jacket, with her black hair high up on her head.

  On either side of the bride sat two young girls slightly younger than the bride, also dressed in bright red, but with embroidered Miao-style collars and slanting-opening padded jackets. They were the bride's "attendant girls."

  The remaining girls' oblique aprons were of different colors, mainly red, purple and green. Their seats were also under the guidance of a slightly older hall guest, who sat down in order.

  They had just sat down when the host opened his throat, and after a rhythmic blessing, he ordered the start.

  The "ten sisters" invited by the host began to sing the sister song in order from east to west.

  First sing opening songs, then sing other songs. Mostly praise, persuade goodness, express feelings, bless and tease etc.

  At the end of the performance, the ten sisters sang a round song again. One girl sang: "A pair of phoenixes flew out of Linluo..."

  Another girl continued singing, "A pair of magpies followed..."

  Still in order from east to west, the girls sang one after another.

  "The Phoenix Cries, the Flowers Bloom..."

  "Magpies chirping in unison, a harmonious reunion..."

  "Flowers bloom and bear fruit, the fruit is round, flowers and fruits are round for ten thousand years..."

  Their voices rose and fell in a rhythmic cadence, overlapping each other.

  A girl wearing a pink-purple jacket, wrapped in a green apron, with an embroidered flower headscarf on her head, had the loudest voice. After singing each sentence, she would challenge the girl from the next door, which led to cheers and applause from the relatives and friends who were watching.

  The bride Bai Cuifen sat in the middle, blushing and speechless, not singing either, but her delicate face half-hidden and half-revealed her inner joy.

  An Bingwen sat in the room, facing the main house, gazing at the bride's back, wishing it would get dark soon so his bride could enter his room and completely belong to him.

  It's finally time to invite the bride and groom to pay their respects after lunch!

  The person presiding over the ceremony had already laid out a large, embroidered red woolen blanket in the center of the hall, and the area around it was packed with guests waiting to see the excitement.

  The bride had just been helped up by the guests at the humble seat, and immediately someone came over to move away the several long tables that were arranged in the center of the main hall.

  With the support of her attendants, the bride slowly walked into the crowd.

  "Wow! How did the bride end up with such a big belly."

  "Is the bride pregnant already?"

  "Wait a minute, didn't Bingwen just match with Xiang? How did they already have a kid?"

  "Could it be the passing auntie?"

  ……

  The commotion just now suddenly subsided and turned into a sigh of regret.

  Just a moment ago, a guest who was still praising the bride's appearance, choked back his words and said, "It turns out that she is just a passing sister-in-law, and she even brought her pubic hair with her."

  The bride lightly bit her lip, and her face, which had been rosy like a flower just before, turned somewhat pale.

  "The bride is a big-bellied person, the child will be almost seven months old?" Liu Xiu Zhen squeezed over from the crowd, supporting the bride, and asked her sideways.

  The bride blushed and nodded slightly.

  "Or so," she said, her head scanning the crowd for a glimpse of Qing's shadow.

  Although Liu Dezhou, who was sitting in the middle of the main room and had the most authority when speaking at Liu Xiuzhen's house, to the extent that he was the most prestigious person in Liujia Village, Liu Xiuzhen's eyes quickly swept past him, still looking around for her husband Qing Sheng's figure.

  In Liujiacun Village, almost everyone listened to Liu Dezhou's words, including Qing Sheng. Especially at home, Qing Sheng listened to Liu Dezhou's words and never disobeyed him. Before doing anything, Qing Sheng would always go to Liu Dezhou to ask for his opinion.

  "Father, what do you think? Is it okay?"

  "Ah, okay!" Liu Dezhou puffed on his homemade dry tobacco pipe, with a tobacco pouch hanging from the mouthpiece, nodded his head slightly.

  Since Liu Dezhou passed on the position of the head of the household to Qing Sheng, he also handed over his position as village chief to Qing Sheng.

  So before making any decision, Qing Sheng always respectfully asked for his father-in-law's opinion.

  "It's up to you to decide."

  Liu Dezhou rarely gave any opinions on Qing Shu's decisions, always nodding in agreement or saying they were good.

  So in the eyes of Liujiacun people, although Liu Dezhou is no longer in charge now, his prestige still exists. So whenever something happens in the village, everyone still habitually goes to ask for his advice.

  But Liu Xiuzhen was different, she worshiped her husband Qing Shusheng. From the day she married Qing Shusheng, she never asked for advice from her father again, and for all matters at home and outside, she would ask Qing Shusheng, and only him.

  Because he is her man and the most proud man in the whole village.

  "Shu Sheng, Shu Sheng, come over here." Seeing Qing Shu Sheng still busy with things outside the main house, Liu Xiu Zhen beckoned to her and called out.

  Someone immediately ran out and pulled Qing Sheng, "Sister is calling you!"

  Qing Shu walked in and looked at Liu Xiu Zhen.

  "Look, Cuifen's belly is so big, it's not convenient for her to kneel down and worship the ancestors, and we're also afraid of accidents. Why don't we just let Bingwen worship alone when we pay our respects, and Cuifen can just bow slightly, that way it's okay, no need." Liu Xiuzhen looked at Qing Sheng with hopeful eyes.

  "Who arranged for them to get married?" Qing Shu asked with a stern face.

  Because there is no ceremony of worshiping the ancestors on that red paper. How can a pregnant bride worship the ancestors, and the child is not even An Bingwen's, how can they worship the ancestors?

  Seeing Qing Shu's face turn pale, Liu Xiu Zhen couldn't help but feel a little flustered. "What's going on! I didn't know? Who was it, who arranged for the bride and groom to pay their respects?" Liu Xiu Zhen immediately looked up and asked the crowd.

  A young man squeezed out from the crowd and said tremulously: "It was Grandfather who told me to."

  "Let them just bow to each other!" Liu Dezhou, who had been sitting silently at the back of the crowd without speaking, stood up with his cane and said: "Bingwen is marrying for the first time, if they don't bow to each other, how can it be considered a proper wedding? With so many relatives and friends here, how can it be done without bowing? Just bow to each other! As Xiuzhen said earlier, the bride just needs to slightly bow her head, and Bingwen can kneel down alone." After finishing speaking, Liu Dezhou sat back down properly.

  The green tree nodded and said, "Alright then, let's kowtow!"

  Having gained Liu Dezhou's consent, Liu Xiu Zhen immediately showed a complacent expression, her face blooming with joy again, and she began to shout orders for the preparation of the wedding ceremony.

  At this time, the groom An Bingwen was finally invited out of the room.