Chen Yang and Chen Liming chatted as they soon met up with their maternal uncles. After picking up the two uncles, they hurried back.
When a niece gets married, the maternal uncles are to be seated in the main seat.
For Li Zhengpeng's side, his relatives from Shanghai couldn't make it, so the two maternal uncles had even greater prominence and could not be treated casually.
By the time Chen Yang and Chen Liming brought the guests back, games had already begun.
Li Zhengpeng's colleagues were all university teachers, with activities like poetry recitations, violin performances, and ballroom dancing.
The wedding felt more like a party, which Chen Yang found eye-opening.
Though this era was hard, people's enthusiasm for life was very high, and those with the means were more willing to spend time improving themselves.
Unlike later times, when people spent two-thirds of their 24 hours, excluding sleep, staring at a small screen in their hands.
Chen Juan had more female colleagues from the education bureau, while Li Zhengpeng's side was the opposite. In this era, unlike later times where a school might have ten teachers with nine being female, most university teachers were male.
Their wedding had a hint of a matchmaking event.
Once most of the guests had arrived, the bride and groom, adorned with big red flowers, served tea to their respective parents and then exchanged red envelopes after addressing them by their new titles.
There was no bowing to heaven and earth, nor any other grand ceremony. A few colleagues who were in high spirits stood on a table, suspending apples with a rope, and made the couple play a biting-apple game.
The wedding itself wasn't complicated, but Chen Liming and his wife cried until their eyes were red. Chen Yang also saw his aunt continuously shedding tears with his mother.
His cousin Zhang Hongmei was still unmarried, so when Chen Juan got married, his aunt felt the sorrow of a daughter's wedding.
After the meal, the aunt and the two maternal uncles went back home for a visit. Usually, everyone was busy with work and labor, so it was rare for the family to gather.
Li Zhengpeng and Lou Xiaohui had to rush back to Shanghai after getting married. His eldest sister and brother-in-law were inquiring about the dormitory building at his unit.
It was similar to his previous life; his brother-in-law was almost begging his local roommate to give up his dormitory.
Chen Yang told his brother-in-law not to rush and to stay at home for a few days. His parents were grieving the marriage of their daughter, so it would give them a buffer period.
In the next few days, he planned to check around the Qianmen area to see if any "yalizi" (housing agents) had started looking for business.
The reform and opening up process in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces had always been at the forefront of the country. Even Anhui province had black markets where farmers secretly sold vegetables.
It was possible that Jinling might also have "yalizi" like later-day real estate agents selling or renting houses. Even if properties couldn't be bought or sold, renting a courtyard would suffice.
Given his brother-in-law's capabilities, if the school built faculty dormitories in a few years, he would definitely be allocated housing. If not, it wouldn't matter; by then, real estate would be freely tradable, and Chen Yang buying a property for them would be a small matter.
He had lived a second life, and making money was precisely for his family to live better. He wouldn't be reluctant to spend money on his sister and brother-in-law.
"Zhengpeng, you go and see the two uncles back."
"Yangyang, you take your aunt home."
The two maternal uncles were happy about their niece's marriage and had drunk quite a bit. They were in high spirits and talked all afternoon. As dusk approached, Chen Liming finally called his eldest son-in-law to escort the two brothers-in-law back.
He then arranged for Chen Yang to take his aunt home, which had been discussed when they arrived.
"Aunt, let's go."
Chen Yang pushed his elder sister's bicycle. The two maternal uncles were tall, so his father and brother-in-law, riding their own larger bicycles, could carry them easily. His aunt was smaller, so she could sit on the back of his sister's bicycle.
"Yangyang, it will be dark by the time you get back. You won't be able to see the road clearly. Why don't you bring a change of clothes and stay at Auntie's house tonight?"
Qin Liyun glanced at the sky. Women's minds were indeed more delicate. It would take Chen Yang an hour or two to take his aunt home.
By the time he returned, it would surely be getting dark. There were no streetlights in those days. At night, it was pitch black outside, and falling into a ditch would be no joke.
"Listen to your aunt. Have your wife pack a couple of outfits for you."
His mother packed some leftover meat dishes from the lunch banquet into two aluminum lunchboxes and placed them in the basket his aunt had brought her eggs in.
"Sister, take some of these dishes home for your husband and Hongmei to enjoy. Yangyang can bring the lunchboxes back later."
Packing leftovers wasn't something shameful in those days. Only very close relatives would be given leftover dishes from a banquet.
The two sisters chatted for a while. Meanwhile, Shen Xue had already packed clothes for Chen Yang. The two little ones hugged their father and kissed him.
"Aunt, let's go."
Chen Yang got on his bicycle and headed towards the village of his aunt's house from memory.
For some unknown reason in his past life, his parents had retired directly without anyone taking over their positions.
Later, his aunt's family didn't fare well. After the reform and opening up, the resentment in his uncle's heart, coupled with the growing gap between rich and poor, finally became unbearable.
But by then, Chen Yang had already gone abroad. He only found out later.
His uncle, in order to earn money to marry off his two sons, went to Shanxi province to work in a black coal mine. He left in '83 and never returned.
Later, people from the village who went with him escaped and said that it was no place for humans, that there had been a mine accident, and his uncle had the misfortune to remain buried in the mine.
There was no compensation, not even a memento.
His aunt fainted upon hearing the news.
Chen Yang only learned about it later from his elder sister and younger sister. From then on, his aunt would stare towards Shanxi every day, crying day and night.
She would constantly murmur that he was fine when he left, but when he was gone, not even a body was left. Within a year, his aunt died of excessive grief, following her husband.
His cousin Zhang Zhugen and cousin Zhang Shugen, along with their younger sister, managed their few acres of land and lived a difficult life. Even with the constant support from Chen Yang's parents, it was still arduous.
Later, when Chen Yang became wealthy, he did help them, but his uncle and aunt, in their fifties, both passed away.
Chen Yang always regretted this matter.
Looking at the increasingly familiar place from his childhood memories, Chen Yang recalled the plain white rice his aunt and uncle had cooked for him and Chen Juan, and his heart felt heavy.
"Yangyang, your wife is wonderful. The two children she's given birth to are very smart. If your eldest cousin could find a capable wife like yours and have two children, your aunt and I would be completely satisfied."
His aunt sat on the back of Chen Yang's bicycle, holding the two aluminum lunchboxes filled with meat dishes. She knew her sister was looking out for their family.
"Aunt, don't worry. Brother Zhugen will definitely find a good wife, and so will Brother Shugen. When they both find wives and have children, I'm afraid you and Uncle won't be able to handle them."
Listening to his aunt, Chen Yang knew she was feeling envious seeing his mother with her two young grandchildren. It was true that his eldest cousin, Zhang Zhugen, was already 25 years old. Due to the family's poverty, no girl had taken a liking to him. At his age in the countryside, it was indeed rare to be unmarried, so it was no wonder his aunt was anxious.