Next, Lu Tianjun and his brothers, as well as the brothers from Guan Cheng, bowed to their new aunt, Feng Qingxue. Willingly bowing, these four knelt in a row, uniformly shouting out "auntie!" Their faces were adorned with radiant and excited smiles, full of hopes for a beautiful future. They were all smart enough to know how great a difference a good aunt can make.
"Ah!" Feng Qingxue replied, quickly taking out the gifts she had prepared.
One cotton and linen shirt and a pair of pants for each of the four children.
No one can resist the allure of new clothes. The two teens and two children, holding their new clothes, were ecstatic. Like a swarm of bees, they rushed to the river to bathe, planning to put on their new clothes gifted by their aunt after their bath!
The river wasn’t deep, especially at the bend where the water only reached half a meter. Since the children were accustomed to bathing in the river, the adults felt at ease, only reminding them not to head towards the dam before they left. Close to the Wanglou Brigade station was a bomb crater from wartime, which had turned into a pond over the years, reaching a depth of six to seven meters at the deepest spot.
At this moment, Niu Yibao wished to leave.
Lu Jiang tried to keep him, but Niu Yibao replied in a serious tone: "I can’t delay any longer. Commander Ye and Commander Zhao told me to return after the Commander’s wedding. I must return to participate in training. I’m leaving today."
Hearing his insistence, Lu Jiang quickly asked Feng Qingxue to prepare some dry food for him, and then went to send him to the station.
Niu Yibao initially didn’t want Lu Jiang to accompany him, but Lu Jiang had other plans.
After borrowing a mule cart from the production brigade, Lu Jiang and Feng Qingxue accompanied Niu Yibao to the train station. It was not until after he got on the train that they left the station. Lu Jiang then said to Feng Qingxue: "Qingxue, let’s go get our marriage certificate!"
A wedding is not complete until the marriage certificate is obtained.
"Marriage certificate?" Feng Qingxue seemed a bit confused. She had never heard the aunties and grannies mention a marriage certificate before. Was there already such a thing at that time? She wasn’t clear about this as she hadn’t read all the information available to her.
"Yes, a marriage certificate! You see, in the old feudal society, weddings were conducted based on the tradition of ’three matchmakers and six proof-of-purchase’. Among these six proofs, a marriage agreement, issued by the government office was required to be recognized as legal husband and wife. Without this piece of paper, the marriage was not considered legitimate. There was a similar marriage certificate before the founding of our country, illustrating the importance of this piece of paper. However, due to the frequent wars, many people just held the wedding ceremony without getting the certificate," Lu Jiang patiently explained to her. "After the founding of our country, marriage certificates were also issued, but very few in our production brigade bothered to get one."
In other words, few rural couples had a marriage certificate.
Lu Jiang had already asked Wang Zhengguo to issue a letter of introduction in advance. After bringing their certificates, confirmation material authorized by the army, going through all the formalities, they finally received their marriage certificate.
Not only did they get a marriage certificate, but they also received a cloth ticket from the government – twelve feet worth!
Feng Qingxue was utterly surprised, "If everyone knew that they could get a cloth ticket by registering their marriage, wouldn’t they all rush to register?"
Lu Jiang thought for a moment, then shook his head: "No."
"The reason is simple. Not everyone is eligible to receive a cloth ticket." Their eligibility to receive a cloth ticket was because he was a soldier. The state provided extra benefits for military marriages.
Feng Qingxue nodded in understanding, then lowered her head to look at their newly acquired marriage certificate.
The marriage certificate was just two folded pieces of stiff paper, glossy and smooth, quite like the prize certificates she received when she was a student.