Chapter 54: Lu Cheng Yu's Wedding Ceremony

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi both had their minds set on the big commercial house with residence area in the back, they paid the money with alacrity. The landlord appreciated how efficient they were, he and his family were in a rush to move, so he decided to give the furniture and some commodity to the couple for free.

Chen Xiao Mi wandered around in the big yard, thrilled, he said to Lu Lin, "This is amazing! Look how big our yard is!"

Lu Lin smiled at Chen Xiao Mi in a doting manner. As a mater of fact, this yard wasn't particularly big in a lot of wealthy families' standard. It was also one of the reasons why this place had been on the market for a while, wealthy families all said it wasn't spacious enough for their big family.

Take Councilor Yang for an example, there were four generations living in his manor. His parents, wife, concubines, kids, grandkids! Of course this place was too small for him and his family. But in Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi's case, there were only four people in their family, of course it was more than enough.

Chen Xiao Mi went to check the commodity the landlord left for them. There were some fabric, some oil and flour, Chen Xiao Mi did some quick math, he was stoked to find the commodity was worth more than 11 taels of silver.

The young couple decided to not move in for a while, they decided to keep this whole thing a secret, they didn't want to draw any attention to themselves. A commercial house with residence area in town was too conspicuous.

The two came up with an excuse, they would just say they were just here to do some house sitting for the owner if someone asked them.

On the other hand, Lu Cheng Yu and Li Fang Yue's wedding day was just around the corner.

The villagers all had their eyes on the wedding, they were so curious to have a look at the bride for they all knew how picky Tang and Lu Cheng Yu were.

The Lus had displayed ostentation and extravagance for the wedding, Lu Cheng Yu had even hired a sedan chair from town.

A lot of young girls in the villages wished their future wedding could be this grand as well.

Tang had made it very clear that she was going to be very picky about the guest list, leaving the villagers wondering whether Lu Lin was invited.

They all thought Lu Lin wasn't invited. Firstly, he was sold to Chen Xiao Mi, he didn't even bring changed clothes with him when Tang and Grandma Lu asked some villagers to carry him to Chen Xiao Mi's house on two pieces of door planks. That basically meant they had renounced him.

Secondly, Tang didn't send anyone to invite Lu Lin. Lu Lin didn't have to show up and humiliate himself in front of so many people.

But some villagers judged Lu Lin for not showing up, Lu Cheng Yu was his cousin after all, and he should show up and send his wishes according to custom. But neither Lu Lin nor Chen Xiao Mi was bothered by those voices.

The Lus had invited so many guests for Lu Cheng Yu's wedding, it was very impressive.

To return to Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi.

Lu Lin was thinking about the details about opening a commercial house, he thought they were short-staffed, so he had been thinking about buying some help.

"Buy some help? From a human trader?" Chen Xiao Mi asked in shock.

Lu Lin nodded. Buying servants and maids from human traders was not against the law in that time and space, it was a common practice in big families.

Chen Xiao Mi frowned and said, "Do we still have the money though? We bought farmland and that commercial house, that's 266 tales gone."

Lu Lin nodded and said, "We still have about 50 taels, we can make another 15 if we sell another batch of sweet potato wone."

Chen Xiao Mi pursed his lips and sighed, "We just have 50 taels left?"

50 taels was actually a large amount of money, but Chen Xiao Mi's mindset still hadn't changed from they had over 300 taels of silver, so he had this feeling of huge loss.

Lu Lin smiled and comforted him, "Haha, we only have 50 tales cash now, but wee have that amazing commercial house in town now, remember?"

Chen Xiao Mi was cheered up, but he wasn't as visionary as Lu Lin. He couldn't think of making money from doing business, he believed in hunting and working in the farmland.

Lu Lin had seen him through, he patted Chen Xiao Mi on the shoulder and said, "It's all right, we have 2 mu of farmland now, if our business fails, we can always sell that commercial house, come back to the village and live on the farmland. Don't worry, everything will be okay."

Chen Xiao Mi finally beamed, "You are right!"

Lu Lin didn't blame Chen Xiao Mi for being so pessimistic about their business, he knew it took time to change someone's mindset.

Chen Xiao Cai now trotted to the room, "Big brother, Lin Gege!"

"Cai, where have you been?"

"Lu Cheng Yu is getting married today, I just went to have a look."

Chen Xiao Mi was intrigued, "It's splendid, isn't it?"

There was no entertainment in that time and space, so people always were interested in weddings and funerals, even Chen Xiao Mi was curious about Lu Cheng Yu's wedding.

"Yeah, they must have spent a lot money on the wedding. But the Secretary-General didn't show up."

Chen Xiao Mi rested his chin in his cupped hand, he gloated, "Really? That big shot in-law isn't here?"

Lu Lin smiled, "As you said, he is a big shot, maybe he is occupied somewhere else."

This big shot Secretary-General was now Lu Cheng Yu's brother-in-law, he was supposed to show up at the wedding. But nobody in the village knew the truth, Li Fang Yue's sister was just the Secretary-General's concubine. Concubines had low status in this time and space, some scholars would even send their friends concubines as inspirations to write poems and articles.

Li Fang Yue's sister Li Ru now was favored by the Secretary-General, but that didn't change the fact that she was a concubine. So it was natural that the Secretary-General couldn't be bothered to show up in Li Fang Yue's wedding.

"Maybe Lu Cheng Yu and the Lus will get disappointed soon." Said Lu Lin.

The Lus spent so much money on this wedding not to satisfy or impress the bride, but the Secretary-General! But now the Secretary-General didn't even want to show up at the wedding, chances were their efforts would be wasted and their calculations would fall through.

Lu Lin squinted his eyes, 'Lu Cheng Yu might be too anxious to get married when he heard Li Fang Yue was the Secretary-General's sister-in-law, he didn't really do any research. He just bought whatever the matchmaker said and thought Li Fang Yue was a well-connected lady who could help him in his exams and official career.'

Lu Cheng Yu gave Li Fang Yue 30 taels as betrothal present in the hope that Li Fang Yue would bring an equal amount of dowry or at least a decent amount of dowry. He didn't mind if she brought less, because he knew Li Fang Yue's brother Li Hong was their parents favorite, their parents might will take that money and save up for Li Hong.

Tang was a calculating person, but not this time, she fell for the title of Secretary-General and she didn't do her research. She agreed to marry the girl for fear that someone else would snatch this marriage from them.

Grandma Lu and Tang were busy in the kitchen, they both pulled a long face.

Grandma Lu craned her neck to have a look outside of the window, "Have you seen the Secretary-General? Why isn't he here yet? The bride's sister isn't here either!"

Tang looked embarrassed, she said in a low voice, "Maybe they are busy."

Grandma Lu frowned, "Busy? Too busy to attend a family member's wedding? They should have time to at least show up and send wishes, plus, today isn't New Year Eve or anything, how busy can they be?"

Tang gnashed her teeth, she was thinking the same thing, so many guests had asked her the same questions, she was just too embarrassed to see the guests so she now was hiding in the kitchen.

"Maybe they will come in the afternoon." Said Tang in a low voice, even herself didn't believe that.

"Have you seen the bride's dowry?" asked Grandma Lu.

Tang was curious to see Li Fang Yue's dowry as well, but she didn't have a chance to have a good look at the stuff that Li Fang Yue had brought with her yet. She didn't want to appear as greedy on the first day that Li Fang Yue married into the family, she didn't want Li Fang Yue to speak ill of her in front of her brother-in-law in the future.

"I haven't got a chance to check yet. But I've heard some ladies in town would have a handsome dowry, hopefully Li Fang Yue's parents have given her a decent amount of money." Said Tang.

Tang had even heard some wealthy families would even give the daughter a commercial house as part of the dowry, Tang had dreamed about that, but she gave up on that thought when she saw the guests came with Li Fang Yue, it looked like Li Fang Yue's family didn't take this wedding seriously.

Grandma Lu felt so down, Lu Cheng Yu had been her favorite grandson since he was born. In Grandma Lu's eyes, Lu Cheng Yu was so perfect that he was eligible to even marry a princess. But now Grandma Lu wasn't happy about this bride, it looked like the bride's family wasn't taking Lu Cheng Yu seriously.

Grandma Lu changed the subject and said, "Where's Lu Lin? That jerk didn't come either? He really wants to renounce us."

Tang deliberately didn't invite Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi, but she thought they would come with a present anyway, so now she was mad that she wasn't able to take the present and put on airs in front of the villagers.

"This Lu Lin, now he is becoming more and more like Chen Xiao Mi since they got married!" Tang growled.

The villagers were busy talking outside as well.

"Do you know how much the Lus have spent on the wedding? Look, there's even a sedan chair!"

"I have no idea, but it must be a big amount, I heard the betrothal present alone is 30 taels, I don't think anyone in our village has received or accepted 30 tales before!"

"I can't believe they are so rich, but they still forced Lu Lin's father to join the army to save tax! Grandma Lu used to wail day ant night to force Lu Lin's father, tut tut tut... ..."

"I haven't seen many guests from the bride's side, is that Secretary-General here yet?"

"No, the Secretary-General isn't here." Replied Zhang Jin.

Zhang Jin, the Village Head's son, was popular among the villagers, they loved to gossip with him.

"But why? Isn't he the bride's brother-in-law?"

"Speaking of Lu Lin, he isn't here either, right?"

"Lu Lin now is determined to renounce them! I can't believe he really has it in him! Renouncing your family is a big deal, isn't it?'

"I can understand him though, his father died because his grandparents forced him to join the army, his mother died from overworking, and he was sold to a ferocious Bio by his grandparents."

"But blood is thicker than water!"

Zhang Jin chimed in, "Listen, I can relate to Lu Lin, Lu Lin got married on two pieces of door planks, and now look at Lu Cheng Yu! Can you blame Lu Lin for not showing up?"

The villagers exchanged a look, they started to nod in unison, they all thought the Lus were in the wrong.