splendid star

Chapter 79
Before you know it, the National Day is approaching. In order to welcome the [-]th anniversary of the motherland, the streets and alleys of BJ are decorated with lights and colors, creating a joyful atmosphere.
On the afternoon of September 29, Xiao Ju and Xiao Qiang came to the exit of BJ Railway Station, preparing to welcome their family members from afar.
"Wow! This is BJ!" As soon as Xiaoju's family got off the train, Xiaoqian looked around with curiosity and couldn't help but exclaimed excitedly.
"Sister, there are so many people doing BJ! What do you mean by that word? What a sea of ​​people." Xiaohua was excited and incoherent.
"It's such a huge crowd. Now you know the consequences of not studying hard? You can't even say anything right." Xiao Qian laughed and mocked Xiao Hua.
"You are good at studying, why don't you marry a BJ?!" Xiaohua rolled his eyes at Xiaoqian and said angrily.
"Okay, please stop saying a few words." Xiaoju's mother persuaded.
The family dragged their luggage and slowly moved toward the exit along with the crowd.
"Dad, this is the first time I've come to a BJ in my life. We are so blessed by Xiaoju." Xiaoju's mother said excitedly as she looked at the clean and bright passage inside the train station.
"The same goes for Xiaoju. Even though he knew it was our first time at BJ, he didn't come to the platform to meet us." Xiaoju's father's tone was full of complaints.
"Dad, aren't they picking us up at the exit? We just have to follow the big group and we can't lose it." Xiao Qian quickly spoke for her sister.
As the family walked, they curiously looked at the soldiers and armed police on duty on both sides of the exit passage. They felt an unprecedented sense of solemnity.Xiao Qian dragged her luggage with one hand and held her mother's arm tightly with the other and said nervously: "Mom, the security in BJ is really good. There are armed police and soldiers standing guard everywhere. There are definitely no bad guys here."
"Yeah, no wonder everyone is rushing to the BJ. Living here makes me feel at ease." Xiaoju's mother held Xiaoqian's hand and said excitedly as she walked.
As soon as the four people appeared at the exit with big and small bags, Xiaoju waved her arms and shouted excitedly: "Mom and Dad! Xiao Qian, Xiao Hua, we are here!"
Xiao Qiang quickly walked forward to take the suitcase and waved everyone towards the subway.
"Brother Qiang, why didn't you drive to pick us up?" Xiaohua sounded a little dissatisfied.
"There are so many of us that we can't even fit in one car. Besides, the [-]th National Day is coming soon. Traffic control is in place during this period, so it's not convenient to drive." Xiao Qiang explained.
"Can my sister take the subway with her belly? She's not afraid of being squeezed, right?" Xiao Qian asked worriedly.
"It's okay, Xiaoqian, I just need to pay attention." Xiaoju quickly comforted her.
Everyone changed to the subway several times and took the bus. It took two or three hours to arrive at a hotel not far from Xiao Qiang's home.
After settling down with Xiao Ju's family, Xiao Qiang took his family members to a restaurant near the hotel to prepare for Xiao Ju's family.
After the in-laws on both sides got to know each other and introduced each other, Xiao Qiang's mother asked straight to the point: "Let me tell you, Xiaoju's parents, according to our customs, the woman needs to bring the dowry to the man's house tomorrow. I know you are from the south. It's a long way to come here, but we still have to go in the proper way. Where is the dowry you arranged for Xiaoju?"
After hearing this, Xiaoju's parents looked at each other. After a moment of silence, Xiaoju's mother asked doubtfully: "Xiao Qiang's mother, why do you still need a dowry? How can we prepare a dowry when we are so far away!"
Xiao Qiang's mother immediately became displeased and replied angrily: "Speaking of Xiao Ju's mother, our family received 5 yuan in gift money. Don't you have no dowry at all? Are you selling your daughter?"
"Dad, didn't Brother Qiang get [-] yuan as a gift?" Xiaohua asked in a low voice, wondering.
"Eighty thousand? Didn't you agree to fifty thousand? Qiangzi, Xiaoju, you two, tell me what is going on?" Xiao Qiang's mother asked sternly after hearing Xiaohua's whisper.
Xiao Qiang was already riding a tiger and couldn't get off, so he had to bite the bullet and explain in a low voice: "Mom! I promised Xiaoju and her family [-] yuan as a gift, but now I changed my mind and said [-] yuan. I couldn't say this, so I took [-] yuan. It’s padded inside.”
"Qiangzi, are you really capable? You actually teamed up with Xiaoju to deceive me. Xiaoju, you didn't even get married yet, and you started calculating the money?" Xiao Qiang's mother scolded angrily.
"Xiao Qiang's mother, what you said is wrong. This [-] yuan as a gift was promised by Xiao Qiang early on. How could he go back on his promise?" Xiao Ju's father replied dissatisfied.
"Okay, the wedding is going to be held the day after tomorrow. Let's not put aside the matter of the bride price. It's all over. Let's eat quickly, Mom. Xiaoju's family has traveled such a long way, so it must be early. I'm hungry." Seeing that the two parents were about to get into a tense situation, Xiao Qiang quickly gave his mother a wink to smooth things over.
Xiao Qiang's mother glanced sideways at Xiao Qiang and secretly cursed: This is a rip-off. "I'll stop talking now. Aren't you rich? Okay! After you get married, you two can't even think about asking me for money again." Xiao Qiang's mother said to Xiao Qiang in a sinister tone.
They didn’t have a dowry, but they also made a net profit of 8 yuan in betrothal gifts. What kind of family is this son looking for?The more Xiao Qiang's mother thought about it, the angrier she became. She put down her chopsticks before taking a few bites of her meal.The first meeting between the two parents ended so unhappy.
In the afternoon of the next day, Yuqing, Siyi and Guan Lu, who were their natal families, came to the hotel in advance to check in. An Chen, Meng Chenyu and Yu Yang came over the next day to attend the wedding.
"Xiao Ju, will Xiao Qiang pick you up from here tomorrow?" Yu Qing asked with great interest as soon as she saw Xiao Ju.
"Yes, this is my natal family for the time being! You are all my natal family." Xiao Ju happily replied, "Come on, sisters, come and sit quickly." Xiao Ju said while greeting the three of them excitedly The girl sat on her bed.
"Xiao Ju, where are your wedding photos? Let us take a look?" Guan Lu shouted excitedly as soon as she arrived at Xiao Ju's room.
"Yes, we really want to admire the beautiful bride and handsome groom!" Yuqing agreed with a smile.
"Xiao Ju, you don't know. The three of us have been wondering why you didn't post your wedding photos in QQ space all the way. Now you can always take them out, right? We want to see them all!" Siyi was also laughing beside her. The ground urged.
"Actually...actually we didn't take wedding photos. Brother Qiang said that I was pregnant and taking wedding photos was very tiring. I was afraid that my body wouldn't be able to support it, so..." Xiao Ju felt a little uncomfortable when she heard her sisters clamoring to see the wedding photos. I was embarrassed, so I lowered my head and explained in a low voice.
"No wedding photos? What should be placed at the wedding venue?" Siyi asked puzzledly.
"I don't know either. Brother Qiang said that the master of ceremonies knows about this and everything should be done according to his arrangements." Xiao Ju replied slowly.
"Come on, come on! Let's eat some wedding candies." Xiaoju's mother saw the three girls coming and quickly brought out a plate of wedding candies and brought them in.
"Where are my dad and Xiaohua?" Xiaoju asked her mother.
"It's their first time at BJ's. They are so excited. We don't know where we are going now. You guys can chat slowly while Xiaoqian and I are busy with other things." Xiaoju's mother said hello and went out.
"Xiaoju, have you prepared everything for tomorrow? I heard that the groom will be looking for wedding shoes when he picks up the bride on the day of the wedding." Yuqing asked with a smile.
"Well, the wedding shoes have been bought. You three will be responsible for hiding them tomorrow." Xiao Ju happily warned.
"No problem, we will definitely hide in a place where the groom can't find it." After Guan Lu finished speaking, she began to look around the room for a place to hide the shoes.
"Under the bed?" Siyi suggested.
"No, the shoes will get dirty." Yuqing retorted.
"How about hiding in the curtains?" Guan Lu came up with an idea.
"That's a good idea! Xiaoju, hand over the wedding shoes, let me try them on." Xiaoju handed Siyi the wedding shoes, and Siyi began to figure out how to hide them.
"Where is the wedding dress? Let me take a look. Let's prepare everything we will wear tomorrow first, so as not to panic tomorrow." Siyi tilted her head and asked Xiaoju with a smile.
"I didn't prepare a wedding dress. I bought a red skirt in advance and planned to wear it at the wedding tomorrow." Xiao Ju said and took out the skirt from the box she brought with her.
"Xiaoju, are you too frugal? Didn't you even prepare a wedding dress on your wedding day? Just a red dress?" Yuqing asked in surprise.
"Xiao Ju, we women only get married once in our lives, why don't we be nice to ourselves? Isn't this just too good for you?" Guan Lu asked puzzledly.
"But Brother Qiang said that if I bought a wedding dress, I would only wear it this time. It was too wasteful, so I bought this red dress. This way, after today, I can wear it in the future without wasting it." Xiao Ju replied.
"This Xiao Qiang is too good at calculating, isn't he? You are too, too talkative. Why do you agree to everything?" Yu Qing complained on behalf of Xiao Ju.
"Xiao Ju, let's not make do with it like this. I know a few friends from the photo studio. I'm going to call and see if I can rent a wedding dress temporarily." Siyi didn't allow Xiao Ju to say anything else and started to make a call.
But when I called them one after another, they all said that the National Day is the peak season for weddings, especially since this year is the [-]th anniversary celebration, and there are no more wedding dresses to rent.
Seeing Siyi lowering her head in frustration, Xiaoju quickly comforted her and said, "Siyi, it's okay, it's fine if I wear this red dress to get married!"
"Xiao Ju, you really have wronged yourself so much." Siyi looked at Xiao Ju distressedly.
"Yes, you, the bride, will only wear a red skirt on your wedding day. What should we wear as bridesmaids?" Yu Qing looked at the trolley suitcase and said sadly. There were two things prepared by Siyi. Beautiful bridesmaid outfits.
"Forget it, let's not talk about it. The three of us will decorate the room properly. The groom will come over tomorrow to pick up the bride." Seeing this, Guan Lu quickly changed the subject.
The four girls started preparing to decorate the room.
Hearing that Xiao Ju neither took wedding photos nor prepared a wedding dress, Guan Lu suddenly no longer envied Xiao Ju for marrying a BJ man from the bottom of her heart. If it was Yu Yang, he would definitely not wrong me so much, right?Guan Lu thought to herself.
"Is the person with Pantou coming here early tomorrow morning?" Yuqing asked Xiaoju while decorating the room.
"Well, we've made an appointment. Come over at four o'clock tomorrow morning to put your hair down and put on makeup." Xiaoju replied softly with a smile.
"Xiao Ju is getting married tomorrow! I suggest that the four of us girls have a wild time tonight and enjoy our last single life." Guan Lu suggested happily.
"Lulu, have you forgotten that Xiaoju has a baby in her belly now?" Yuqing reminded in a low voice.
"It's okay. How about we sing together? It can be considered a celebration of the last single life." Xiao Ju happily suggested.
"This can happen, I support it with both hands!" Siyi said while raising her hands in a gesture of approval.
"Okay! It's settled!" Guan Lu said happily.
(End of this chapter)