Liu Ya made a funny face at her, grinned, and winked at her second uncle's house. Sang Wan couldn't help but smile. No wonder! Liu Ya must have told her sister-in-law about what had just happened, embellishing the story. When the sister-in-law heard how her second uncle and his wife were embarrassed, and that it was she herself who had caused it, she couldn't help but feel pleased!
No wonder she was also smiling so happily at her.
Mrs. Fang smiled lightly and said, "It's all right, it's nothing! Auntie and uncle must be hungry. I'll boil the chicken, fry the fish, and the incense is ready. We'll worship father and mother-in-law in a while, and then we can cook and have dinner!"
"Ah, causing trouble for my sister-in-law again! You can just call me Miss Wan, it sounds strange to be called Auntie," Sang Wan laughed and agreed, then told Liu Ya to help out in the kitchen.
Mrs. Fang smiled and gave an "ah," glanced at Liu Ya's new dress, and hurriedly waved her hand, "Never mind, the kitchen is full of dust and sparks flying around, I don't want to ruin her new dress! Liu Ya and I will go do it!" She glared at Liu Ya and laughed, "You are quite fortunate to be able to wear such a dress! Serve your mistress well, and if you dare to betray her, I'll not hesitate to come after you no matter where you are!"
"Auntie, don't worry! Liu Ya won't dare to disobey anyone, especially not you!" Liu Ya said with a grin.
Everyone laughed, and Mrs. Fang spat at Liu Ya, jokingly scolding, "You've grown bold enough to talk back, you little girl!" After saying that, she carefully told the children, "Don't fight!" and "Don't dirty your aunt's clothes!" and so on, before calling for Mrs. Xu to go with her.
Mrs. Fang quickly prepared the offerings, and the group went to the wing room where the tablets were placed. They set a small wooden table and arranged a whole chicken, a whole fish, and a large chunk of square-cut pork belly. They then placed two bowls of rice, two pairs of chopsticks, and three wine glasses, with a pot of rice wine on the side. Mrs. Fang then pulled her son and daughter away to leave the room.
Sang Hong lit the candles, held a bundle of incense with both hands, bowed deeply to his parents' tablets, and solemnly informed them that his sister had married into the Shi family. Fengju was very kind and took good care of her, and they could rest assured. He carefully placed the three sticks of incense into the incense burner and stepped back, gesturing for Sang Wan and Shi Fengju to come forward and pay their respects.
Sang Wan couldn't help but feel speechless when she heard her elder brother's words. She quickly glanced at Shi Fengju, wondering where her brother had observed him taking good care of her.
After offering the incense and bowing their heads, they added three splashes of wine to the water. Sang Hong then called in Mrs. Fang to clean up the ceremony site. The siblings burned some paper money before the tablets, sprinkled some wine on them, and also let Shi Fengju burn some paper money, thus completing the ceremony.
"Miss Wan, Fengju, let's go visit the second uncle's place and invite them over for lunch later. Then you can head back. It's quite a distance from here to Qingzhou, and I'll be more at ease if you leave earlier!" Sang Hong said after leaving the wing room.
Sang Wan nodded and smiled, "Brother and brother-in-law, please wait a moment, I'll be right there!" She couldn't go to the second uncle's house empty-handed, of course.
The gifts for the bride's return home had been prepared before the bride entered the household, and it was up to the bride's family to decide on the specifics. Sang Wan had a clear idea and had already allocated the gifts generally the day before. She just thought it would be better to inform Mrs. Fang about it now.
Sang Wan entered the kitchen and pulled Mrs. Fang aside. She whispered with a smile, "Sister-in-law, we are going to visit the second uncle's place, and later we'll invite them to join us for a meal. I'm thinking of giving two bolts of crepe silk and two bolts of ten brocade silk, a pair of gold hairpins, and a pair of gold earrings to the second aunt, two jars of pear flower wine and two bolts of patterned silk to the second uncle, and for my cousins, two bolts of fabric each, a pair of gold bracelets, and two pairs of silk flowers with the latest piled gauze. Also, we can give them two Jinhua hams, two catties of snow fungus, and half a catty of bird's nest, along with 100 taels of silver. Is that appropriate?"
Mrs. Fang glanced at Mrs. Xu, who was eavesdropping with her ears pricked up and sneered, "You are quite generous, giving them so many things! In my opinion, you could just give them ten taels of silver and they'd still be grinning from ear to ear! They are the kind of relatives who take advantage of others' kindness, and yet you still remember them! I'm telling you, after getting married, you must not be too good to people and only remember gratitude, but not grievances! Otherwise, you'll have a hard time in the future!"
Sang Wan's heart warmed, and she said softly, "I know sister-in-law is saying this for my own good. I understand and will remember your words! After all, they are my elders, and I should respect the proper etiquette—"