Chapter 312: Chapter 312: The Center of Attention
The sun was high in the sky by the time the wedding procession finally, and tardily, arrived.
At the head of the procession was the groom, clad in wedding attire and adorned with a red flower.
Ji Liantang was riding a borrowed mule, and his expression was a little off, but no one was paying him any mind at the moment.
Behind him was the bride’s sedan chair.
A sedan chair! In the countryside, most brides rode a donkey or an ox to their wedding; some even walked to their in-laws’ home on their own two feet. A wealthy family really was something else. Not only did the bride get a sedan chair, but it was also much larger than a typical one.
But the chair bearers didn’t seem to be holding up well. They panted and gasped with every step, sweat streamed down their faces, which were flushed the color of pig liver.
Everyone thought, ’I wonder what kind of wood that sedan is made of. It must be incredibly heavy. Look how exhausted it’s making them.’
At a snail’s pace, the sedan chair finally reached the entrance of the Ji Family’s home.
The moment the sedan was set down, two of the bearers couldn’t hold on any longer and collapsed.
The other two bearers hurriedly helped them up, awkwardly trying to smooth things over. "It’s heatstroke, just a bit of heatstroke..."
Everyone thought, ’Heatstroke? In October? Yeah, right!’
But none of that mattered. The main event was here! The bride was about to come out!
The bustling crowd fell silent in an instant. Everyone craned their necks, holding their breath in anticipation, waiting to see the bride.
With all eyes on the sedan, a delicate, embroidered shoe emerged.
Someone stared, stunned.
Then, a hand parted the curtain.
Someone’s jaw dropped.
Then, nothing.
’What gives? Is she shy?’
’No, that wasn’t it. The sedan was rocking back and forth, as if she was trying to stand up but couldn’t for some reason.’
Just as speculation was running wild, a sickly sweet voice called out, "Husband, give me a hand."
Everyone present couldn’t help but shudder. ’So... saccharine...’
Ji Qingshan and Aunt Kang also began to urge him on.
Ji Liantang reluctantly turned and offered a hand, and then—he didn’t pull the bride out; instead, he was yanked into the sedan himself.
Seeing that any more delay would make them miss the auspicious time, the wedding matron threw propriety to the wind. She called the chair bearers over to help. First, they extracted the groom, who had tumbled in headfirst, from the sedan. Then, with great difficulty, they finally managed to "escort" the bride out as well.
The moment the bride stepped out of the sedan, the surroundings fell utterly silent.
"Dear God!"
Someone cried out and promptly fell off the wall with a THUD.
"HAHAHAHAHA—"
A burst of loud laughter suddenly erupted from Ji Huan’s backyard.
Among them, only Widow Xie had gone to see the spectacle. When she returned, she couldn’t stop laughing.
By the time she finished her spot-on reenactment, Ji Xuelan was laughing too hard to speak.
Only Ji Huan and Ji Mingfang managed to keep their composure.
Widow Xie leaned against the wall, unable to straighten up from laughing. "Oh, my heavens! I’ve lived a long life, but I have never seen someone so enormous! Several grown men couldn’t even lift her sedan. And you all know the gate to the Ji family’s courtyard—it’s not what you’d call narrow, is it? Well, she almost didn’t make it through! You know why? She got stuck!"
Ji Xuelan was laughed out. She wiped the tears from her eyes, a hint of envy in her voice.
"A rich man’s daughter never wants for food and never goes hungry. It’s only natural she’d be well-fed. I’d love to raise Daya, Erya, and Sanyang to be that plump and fair..."
Widow Xie waved her hand dismissively. "Stop right there! You think it’s easy to put on that much weight? Even if you fed Daya and her sisters the entire harvest from your family’s land, you wouldn’t get those results. Besides, if you really did raise your three girls to be like that, you’d be crying your eyes out later."
On one hand, Ji Huan felt they shouldn’t be laughing at the poor girl. On the other, it was like a lightbulb had gone off in her head—’No wonder. No wonder the Du Family was willing to set aside their past grudges and marry their only daughter to him.’
’He’d made his bed, now he had to lie in it. Ji Liantang was after the Du Family’s wealth, so whether Du Caizhu was fat or thin, he had to accept her.’
So she said jokingly, "Being a little plump is good. Maybe Ji Liantang has a thing for bigger women."
It was a bit improper for an unmarried young woman like her to say such things, but thankfully, Widow Xie and the siblings from the first branch were already used to her ways.
"Well, I doubt Ji the Fourth will be able to ’like’ her... You didn’t see her. That Du girl has the build of three Ji the Fourths put together. When she stands there, she looks like a pagoda, and he looks like a scrawny little quail next to her. If those two ever get into a fight, she could probably pick him up with one hand and toss him onto the roof."
Widow Xie’s words painted such a vivid picture that Ji Huan couldn’t help but spray out the tea she had just sipped.
Another round of roaring laughter followed.
At first, Ji Huan thought Widow Xie must be exaggerating. Even if Du Caizhu was heavy, she couldn’t be *that* heavy.
It wasn’t that she had much confidence in Du Caizhu’s figure, but that ever since she had arrived here, she had rarely seen any overweight people in the countryside, only in the town or county seat.
The adults toiled in the fields from dawn till dusk, their faces to the dirt and their backs to the sky. The children had endless chores and had to share their meals with a horde of siblings. Honestly, just not going hungry was a blessing.
And yet, Widow Xie’s description was so specific and realistic...
’Think about it,’ she thought. ’Du Caizhu being the size of three Ji Liantangs... What did that even mean?’
’Ji Liantang was over five-foot-seven and weighed at least 130 pounds. Didn’t that mean Du Caizhu had to be over 330 pounds?’
Ji Huan was truly at a loss for words now.
’Should she be envious of the Du Family’s immense wealth, or should she praise Ji Liantang’s... fortitude?’
’Forget it. She couldn’t find a better word for it. All she could say was, only those who endure the bitterest of hardships can rise above the rest.’
Widow Xie wasn’t actually a malicious person. She had nothing against Du Caizhu personally; she just couldn’t stand the main Ji family. Everything about them rubbed her the wrong way.
Now that Du Caizhu was marrying into the family, it went without saying that she would side with Ji Liantang and Aunt Kang. The ally of an enemy is an enemy, and Widow Xie worried that she would help Aunt Kang cause trouble for Ji Huan.
Her nerves had been on edge ever since Ji the Fourth failed his exam. When she heard he was marrying into the Du Family, she had breathed a brief sigh of relief, thinking that now that Ji the Fourth had a rich wife, the Ji Family would finally stop coveting Ji Huan’s meager assets.
But on second thought, she realized she had been too optimistic.
And everyone knew how long Aunt Kang could hold a grudge.
For something as important as Ji the Fourth’s wedding, it was one thing not to inform Ji Huan, but they hadn’t even said a word to the first branch.
She’d heard that Ji Qingshan had originally planned to have Ji the Third go and invite them, but Aunt Kang had stopped him. The reason? The first branch had been getting close to Ji Huan lately.
No matter how you looked at it, wasn’t this all directed at Ji Huan?!
Ji Huan was well aware of the things that worried Widow Xie.
’Plans just can’t keep up with changes,’ she thought. ’Du Caizhu’s arrival had delayed the inevitable.’
Now that the main Ji family had such a wealthy daughter-in-law to replenish their coffers, they probably wouldn’t be targeting her for a while.
But just because they wouldn’t, didn’t mean others wouldn’t.
「At the Ji family home.」
After a busy day, once the last of the guests had been seen off and the house and courtyard were tidy, the family could finally sit down in the main hall for a chat.
Ji Xiu’e suddenly asked, "Father, Mother, now that Ji the Fourth is married, when will it be Wuan’s turn?"