Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife
Chapter 199 - 0199: The Eve of the Wedding 3_1

Chapter 199: Chapter 0199: The Eve of the Wedding 3_1

Feng Qingxue, who had come out upon hearing the noise, was stunned.

She’d never heard Lu Jiang mention this. It must have happened in recent days, as they hadn’t seen each other since setting the wedding date.

Wang Fengqiao opened a camphor box on the cart, painted with cinnabar lacquer and largely ignored by everyone. Inside, it held stuff she showed around. Smiling brightly, she said, "The Lu family doesn’t have much of value. However, Lu Jiang, having served as a soldier for many years, has saved some salary, collected some money. So, he prepared eighty-eight yuan, a set of velvet clothes, a polyester suit, a pair of Blue Begonia leather shoes, and also a three feet long red cord."

Quite lavish indeed, enough for the people of Caohu Squad to talk about it for twenty years!

Knowing that the Caohu Squad led a hard life, Wang Zhengguo and others didn’t stay for a meal. They just drank a bowl of sugar water and said goodbye.

Before leaving, Wang Fengqiao pulled Feng Qingxue into the inner room, gave her two handkerchief knots, and whispered, "You keep these and pack them the day before your wedding. I and your Uncle will bring you additional dowry at that time. It’s not convenient to take out what we’re giving you now in front of everyone. The two rings are from me, one of the handkerchiefs has something from your eldest uncle. No one else knows."

The implication was that neither Wang Fengqiao’s husband nor Wang Zhengguo’s wife knew about their gifts.

Feng Qingxue repeatedly declined. "I cannot accept these gifts! Auntie, you and the uncles have already helped me so much, and recently you’ve been busy preparing for my wedding, how can I take more from you?"

"Take it!" Wang Fengqiao forcefully placed them in her hands, "Though we can’t compete with the luxury dowries, bicycles, or sewing machines, we still can’t be without something valuable to secure our status when you marry into the Lu family. Besides, these items were given to your Uncle and me by the old lady of the Lu family when we got married. They’re just being returned to their original owner now."

Feng Qingxue had no choice but to accept and secretly resolved to dutifully respect her aunts and uncles after her marriage.

As for her youngest uncle and eldest aunt, whom she had not met since her rebirth, she admitted that she wouldn’t recognize them even if she met them.

When night fell and her sister was asleep, Feng Qingxue unwrapped the two handkerchiefs. One contained two gold rings, one with a ruby setting and the other with a sapphire. The gems weren’t large. The other handkerchief wrapped two solid gold bracelets and four tiny gold pendants. The latter had the shapes of peanuts, gourds, grapes, and pomegranates, all the size of fingertips, very exquisite and cute.

Feng Qingxue blushed at the sight of these.

Gourds, grapes, and pomegranates in traditional culture symbolize multiple offspring, while peanuts represent early and abundant fertility.

As her aunt pointed out, this was probably the dowry given by the matriarch of the Lu family when they got married.

In the blink of an eye, the eve of the wedding had arrived. Feng Qingxue finally didn’t have to deal with neighbors coming every day to admire the sewing machine and bicycle.

The novelty, it was too novel. Everyone wanted to come and learn more about these items. They would even clean their hands before touching them, very cautious and careful. It made Feng Qingxue both saddened and amused, but she didn’t stop them, letting them enjoy.

In the evening, the boxes were packed by the whole Fu family, and the elders came to add dowry before packing.

"Adding dowries" was an older term, not as common now because most families had a difficult life and had nothing to add as dowry.

Among the Caohu Squad, only Hongling’s mother sent a pair of embroidered shoe pads made of red water chestnuts. Feng Shuanzhu’s daughter-in-law, Ma Haiyan, presented a handkerchief. Feng Shuanzhu’s family sent a pair of combs, and Feng Teng’s family gave a few sewing items and a copper-topped needle.