After the test of strength, Chen De’an let Zhao Jing pass.

It was a bit simple, but that’s how country folk get married.

You have the groom perform a set of punches, greet some people, light a cigarette, or arm-wrestle, and that’s that. If you were to actually make the groom compose a poem to urge the bride out, even if he did, the neighbors and relatives wouldn’t understand it anyway. They’d just stare blankly.

So they simply skipped all that. Letting the groom go in to fetch the bride was the main event.

But Chen De’an still felt he’d gotten the short end of the stick. He grumbled to Yao’an, "Mom should have had me first. That way, Jing could have called me his ’older brother-in-law’."

But as it was, because his sister was the eldest, Jing—who was clearly two months younger than him—would get to call him "younger brother-in-law" in the future.

’Damn "younger brother-in-law,"’ he thought. Just thinking about the title made him shudder.

Yao’an gave his brother a look that said, "Are you for real?" and couldn’t be bothered with him anymore.

He squeezed through the crowd into the room, only to find that in that short time, Zhao Jing had already brought his sister out.

The couple now walked into the main hall, ready to bid farewell to their parents.

At this sight, tears instantly welled up in both brothers’ eyes.

’Marrying off your sister is so cruel!’

Xu Suying also felt it was cruel.

A daughter getting married was like having her mother’s heart scooped out.

Even though Zhao Jing was a good match and her daughter wasn’t marrying far away, the moment Xu Suying thought about her daughter eating and living in someone else’s home, her tears began to stream down her face.

Mrs. Qian was startled. She quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe away the tears. "Sister, it’s a joyous day. You can’t cry." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The words had barely left her mouth when she saw her brother-in-law’s eyes were red too. He turned slightly to sniffle, trying to avoid shedding tears in front of everyone.

But it was so hard to hold back.

’It felt like a piece of his heart was being torn out!’

Chen Song felt as if a ball of cotton was stuck in his throat, and he couldn’t get a word out. It was Xu Suying who recovered from the wave of emotion first. Holding back tears, she said to her veiled daughter, "Since you are now a wife, you must be filial to your mother-in-law and treat your sister-in-law well..."

She rambled on, but in reality, she only managed to get out a couple of halting sentences.

Then, turning to the dashingly handsome and upright groom, Xu Suying instructed word by word, "Qing’er is a good girl. If you treat her with a true heart, she will never let you down. If one day you two can’t go on, you bring her back..."

"Sister, Sister! On this joyous day, you must be silly with happiness! Don’t say any more. The auspicious hour has arrived. It’s time to send Qing’er off."

Mrs. Qian managed to stop Xu Suying from saying something she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t stop her tears.

The moment she heard the phrase "leaving her family," Xu Suying’s tears became completely uncontrollable, bursting forth like a spring once more.

Her choked sobs and suppressed weeping were painful for the other married women to hear.

They were all mothers. When a daughter married, didn’t it feel just like having your heart and soul torn out?

The second aunt-in-law quickly tried to console her, "She’s just marrying within the village, only a short walk away. If you want to see your daughter, I’ll have Jing bring Wanqing back."

"Really, it’s not far at all. You can see her just by taking a little walk."

"A daughter grows up. Keep her at home too long, and it only breeds resentment. Marrying her off early is the proper thing to do. Next year, she’ll give you a grandchild, and you’ll have happy days ahead."

Xu Suying wiped her tears, forced a smile, and pulled the young couple up. "Go on, hurry now. Don’t miss the auspicious hour."

Unconsciously, Chen Wanqing’s face was already streaked with tears.

She didn’t even have a real sense of being married, yet at this very moment, the feeling of leaving home was so overwhelming.

In that instant, she truly understood the cruel meaning behind the two simple words "parting ways."

The red flower in her hand twitched slightly, and Jing’s hushed voice sounded by her ear, "Don’t cry. I’ll bring you home tomorrow. If you miss Mom, I can even bring you back for a visit later tonight after everyone has gone to bed."

For some reason, Chen Wanqing was suddenly amused.

’Bring her home for a visit at night?’

’How on earth could Jing even suggest such a thing?’

There was no precedent for a bride running back to her parents’ home on her wedding day. If word got out, who knew how much people would laugh at them.

Zhao Jing might have known what she was worried about, for he lowered his voice even more. "We’ll wait until after dark. I’ll talk to De’an beforehand and have him leave the door unlocked for us. Even if you want to sleep at home tonight, I’ll cover for you."

Chen Wanqing genuinely couldn’t cry anymore. Now she just wanted to smack Jing.

’All he does is spout nonsense.’

’Is it so fun to tease people?’

Before she knew it, they were at the courtyard gate. Hearing Jing say, "Lift your foot, we’re crossing the threshold," Chen Wanqing lifted her foot by reflex and found she had already walked out of her family’s home.

"Don’t look back," Jing said. "Dad and Mom are watching, and they might start crying again. Just follow me. We’ll be back tonight."