Chapter 4 The Bridal Chamber

  The sky was gloomy and the heat was suffocating. You Fei felt that even taking a breath was extremely difficult, but this day happened to be his most joyful day, August 8th, 1937.

  You Fei rode on a tall horse, which he didn't know where He Tianhao got it from, followed by his brothers and the welcoming team. You Fei felt that the streets were not as usual for several days, and people seemed to be trapped in a state of panic and indignation.

  "When the country is in danger, every citizen has a responsibility!"

  "Stop the civil war, unite against Japan!"

  "Drive out the Japanese pirates from the three eastern provinces!"

  Slogans rose and fell, the crowd of protesters, apart from the usual vigorous army - students, also had many ordinary citizens' faces. You Fei felt puzzled, so he said to Liu Yunqing beside him: "Yunqing, go ask what's going on?" "Ah!" Liu Yunqing responded and ran over, grabbed a student and smiled: "This little book friend, don't you know where you're going?"

  "That student angrily said: 'Now what time is it, the Japanese are going to attack Shanghai, you actually don't even know this. We have to go to the government to petition, vow to defend Shanghai to the death, and fight the Japanese invaders to the end!'"

  Liu Yunqing, who had turned pale with shock, hastily bid farewell to the student and ran to You Fei's side, saying in a flustered tone: "Big brother, the... Japanese are going to attack... Shanghai has arrived. They're going to petition the government to defend Shanghai."

  You Fei frowned and said with hatred: "Damn those little Japanese, they're eating from the bowl but looking at the pot, occupying the three northeastern provinces is not enough, do they want to occupy all of China's mountains and rivers?"

  At this time, a student stood on the high platform and shouted loudly: "Fellow villagers, fellow students, brothers and sisters! The little Japanese have swallowed our three northeastern provinces, but now they are also in control of Tianjin. The flames of war are about to reach the Huangpu River, and the Japanese will soon be breaking into our homes! They will smash our pots and pans, rob us of our property, kill our brothers, and then trample on their corpses, laughing loudly and saying: "Look, this is China, the most inferior nation in the world!" When a country is destroyed, families are also destroyed. Your head will be pierced by the Japanese devils' bayonets, your sons and grandsons will be branded with the word 'slave', forever unable to erase or wash away the shame! How humiliating it is! Rather die than become a slave of a ruined nation, every inch of land must be defended, not an inch can be given up!" The people around were quietly listening, everyone's eyes filled with deep sorrow and indignation. You Fly frowned, thinking: "You little brat, are you trying to stir up trouble?"

  "Defend China with our blood!" The student cried out loudly.

  "Blood defends China!" The thunderous voice rose, bellowing out the blood nature and dignity deep in the bones of an ancient nation.

  Seeing his own brothers also in a state of fervor, You Fei couldn't help but feel a headache and hastily said in a low voice: "What's going on, you several brothers, are you also thinking of joining these students to petition?" The brothers all heard the displeasure in You Fei's tone and didn't dare respond. You Fei slowly said: "The Blood Guards' spirit isn't just about shouting a few slogans, at that time who knows how many will become traitors? I spit on it! Remember this for me, we are hoodlums, we are thugs, resisting the enemy and saving the nation is not our business. The soldiers will go fight the little Japanese devils, they receive their military pay every day, when the country is in danger they must go to the front lines and die heroically. It's none of our business, do you all understand?" You Fei's last sentence was almost shouted at the top of his lungs, how could the others not "understand"? One by one they nodded their heads like chickens pecking at grain.

  You Fei and his group slowly moved forward again, You Fei turned back to take a deep look at the student who was giving the speech, muttering to himself: "A young kid, but with quite an attitude!"

  A surging tide of people rushed towards the government building, while You Fei's mood remained unchanged, his heart still preoccupied with his beautiful and unmarried wife.

  Here is the translation:

  When he arrived at Xie Zheng's pharmacy, he had expected to see a crowd of onlookers, but there was no one. It was as if all the other people had vanished into thin air. You Fei waited for a long time at the entrance, but still didn't see any neighbors coming to congratulate them. After waiting for a while, still no one came. You Fei suppressed his anger and found that even the people who were supposed to come and give him red envelopes with money had disappeared. What kind of auspicious day was this? He wanted to strangle Wang Po, who was standing in front of him. Wang Po saw You Fei staring at her fiercely and felt a chill run down her spine. She quickly smiled and said: "Young Master You, there may be fewer people than expected, but we can't simplify the ceremony. Let's hurry up and not miss the good timing!" You Fei let out a heavy hum from his nose, scaring Wang Po so much that the fat on her face trembled.

  To those so-called etiquette and courtesy, he had always regarded them as worthless, so he let Wang Po dispense with all of them, except for the matter of offering tea and bowing his head to Xie Zheng.

  After waiting for a long time in the small hall, You Fei finally saw Xie Peishan, dressed in a red wedding dress, being supported by Wang Po and slowly walking to his side. The only difference was that Xie Peishan had a red veil covering her head, which made it impossible for You Fei to see her face, but this made him feel strange and itchy in his heart. Xie Zhenggao sat in the main seat in the hall, and You Fei and Xie Peishan knelt down together in front of Xie Zhenggao.

  Holding the tea in his hand, You Fei loudly said to Xie Zheng: "Old man Xie, today I, You Fei, will take Shan Er away from you by force! I owe you one! Although I'm a small-time hoodlum, today I swear to you as a man that from now on, as long as I have a bowl of porridge to eat, Shan Er will also have a bowl. I won't mistreat her, this you can be assured of!" After finishing speaking, You Fei handed the tea in his hand to Xie Zheng, then he knocked his head three times on the ground with a "thud thud thud".

  Xie Zheng took a look at You Fei, then looked at Xie Peishan again. His emotions were really complicated, and he let out a deep sigh. Xie Zheng finished the tea that You Fei had offered him in one gulp. When You Fei saw Xie Zheng drink the tea, he didn't bother with politeness anymore, and scooped up Xie Peishan to head outside. In this instant, Xie Zheng felt a wave of panic in his heart, and stood up involuntarily. He stretched out his hand, opened his mouth, but ultimately couldn't say anything. Xie Zheng sat back down weakly, holding his head in both hands, staring blankly at the chair.

  Xie Peishan, who was being held in You Fei's arms, felt her heart beating extremely hard. After all, this was the first time she had been in such close contact with a grown man, and it would be strange if she wasn't nervous. But what was on her mind was still the three loud knocks that You Fei had made earlier, feeling that he had knocked very hard, as if he had knocked into her heart.

  As they reached the sedan, You Fei gently placed Xie Peishan inside. When his hands left her body, she suddenly felt a sense of unreality about everything. Was she really going to be someone's wife? What would her future life be like? The uncertainty filled Xie Peishan with an inexplicable fear.

  Outside the sedan, You Fei's mood was no longer as complicated as Xie Peishan's. He felt comfortable all over and all his previous unhappiness had disappeared in an instant when he hugged Xie Peishan. "Let's go!" You Fei shouted loudly. His brothers saw a genuine smile on You Fei's face, a heartfelt smile that they hadn't seen in a long time. They were all delighted from the bottom of their hearts that You Fei had found a woman he liked.

  On the way back, the street was empty and quiet, with no one in sight. Only a few lazy big yellow dogs were wandering around, and the doors of the shops had been closed early. "I don't know where all the people on this street have gone to die, I won't go to plead for mercy today, if it wasn't for my brother's big day, I would have gone too, that bastard needs to be taught a lesson, otherwise he'll think no one is left in Great China." Xu Zhiwei said loudly. He Tianhao quickly pulled Xu Zhiwei's sleeve, constantly making eye contact and nodding towards You Fei, Xu Zhiwei finally reacted and quickly shut his mouth.

  You Fei glared at Xu Zhiyuan with a furious face, and Xu Zhiyuan didn't dare to look at You Fei either. He hung his head in fear, not daring to look at You Fei's angry face. Fortunately, You Fei did not get as angry as he usually did, so Xu Zhiyuan was able to let out a sigh of relief. Xu Zhiyuan wasn't afraid of heaven or earth, but he was afraid of You Fei's rapid-fire scolding.

  Originally, it should have been a joyful occasion to welcome the bride, but instead, it ended up with a group of people feeling gloomy and depressed. You Fei felt extremely uncomfortable in his heart, so he fiercely whipped his horse, and the group quickly hurried towards "Cuixiang Building". When they arrived at Cuixiang Building, the firecrackers were crackling loudly, and the scattered red paper on the ground temporarily lifted You Fei's mood. Wang Po led Xie Peishan out of the sedan chair, revealing a pair of small feet wearing embroidered shoes. The flash of her tender white calves left You Fei staring blankly. "Hey, Young Master You, what are you spacing out for? Tonight, she'll be yours, and you can look at her all you want then. But now, I need to take the young lady to her room, haha!"

  Wang Po led Xie Peishan into the house, while You Fei's eyes never left Xie Peishan for a moment. "Brother, your drool is dripping," He Tianhao said with a smile beside him.

  "Oh." You Fei wiped the corner of his mouth, but there was nothing to wipe away. He suddenly realized that He Tianhao was teasing him and burst out laughing.

  As he entered the courtyard, the dozen or so tables set up on the empty ground were now completely deserted. The fire in You Fei's heart suddenly surged upwards with a loud "whoosh", "Jiang Zhuang!" You Fei bellowed loudly.

  Jiang Zongliu hastily walked out of Cuixiang Building upon hearing the shouting, his face filled with worry as he said: "Big brother, this person...this person... originally agreed to come, but then heard that on a certain day, the Japanese were going to attack, so they all...all went to take care of their own affairs. Some people are packing their bags preparing to flee inland, some are inquiring about taking a boat to escape overseas, therefore...therefore..."

  "His grandfather's, every single one of them is a petty citizen, they don't have much money when they need it, but when they do have money, can they run away with it? Each and every one of them are top-notch useless people, all stuck in the gutter. I was kind enough to invite them to drink at my wedding banquet, but they actually dared not come! Fine, very good, next time they're in trouble, don't come crying to me!" You Fei shouted with a red face.

  Jiang Zhuang shook his big head and said, "Big brother, they're all ready to run away with their tails between their legs. What about us? Shouldn't we also be prepared to run away? I heard the Japanese are going to march from north to south, and Guangzhou will probably fall into their hands too." As soon as Jiang Zhuang finished speaking, he was hit on the head by a heavy object. He Tianhao shouted loudly, "You stupid fatso, all you know is how to talk defeatism! How can those little Japanese devils possibly reach Guangzhou? Do you think our soldiers are just eating idle rations?"

  Not even one guest who had been invited to the wedding banquet came, You Fei felt that this marriage was really shameful, so he shouted: "Come on, brothers, let's all drink and eat together, don't waste all this food and wine. Today is my big happy day, everyone must get drunk and full."

  As soon as he heard about drinking and eating meat, Jiang Zhuang's eyes narrowed into a slit with a silly smile. He Tianhao patted Jiang Zhuang on the head and said: "You dead fat man, there are so many dishes and wine, you can eat your fill, but be careful not to burst your belly." After finishing speaking, He Tianhao touched his high and bulging belly with his hand. At this time, Jiang Zhuang's eyes only had a full table of food and drink, and he couldn't hear what He Tianhao was saying at all.

  "Cheers, cheers, cheers!" Drinking and eating, playing pranks had been going on for more than three hours, the sky was dark and the lanterns had long been lit. You Fei didn't know how many cups of wine he had drunk, but his eyelids were starting to droop, and his voice was getting louder and louder. Normally, drinking this much wouldn't get him drunk, but today his mood was complicated - happy about finding a beautiful wife, yet annoyed that not even one guest came to congratulate them. The wine quickly took effect, and soon he was dizzy and confused.

  Yu Fei had already gotten quite drunk when he saw him, He Tianhao advised: "Brother, let's drink this wine another day, it's not early now, your wife is still waiting for you in the room, a spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold, hurry up and go in, ah, don't drink anymore!"

  "Go, go, go! I'm not drunk yet, can still drink. Come on, brothers, today is my big day, everyone must drink to their heart's content. Hey, Jiang Paizi, why are you always flashing in front of me? Are you intentionally trying to dazzle my eyes?" You Fei said, already slurring his words.

  He Tianhao shook his head and gave a signal to Huang Long, who was standing beside him. The two of them lifted up You Fei and rushed towards the new house with the big red lanterns hanging from it. You Fei struggled and shouted: "You two useless people, what are you doing? I haven't had enough to drink yet!" He Tianhao and Huang Long ignored You Fei's protests and carried him all the way to his room, pushing him inside before locking the door behind him.

  "I haven't had enough to drink yet!" After a round of knocking on the door, You Fei also gave up. Turning around, he saw that everything in the room was red, the red carpet was so dazzling, the big red candles, the big red quilt, and the big red paper covered the walls, making the entire room seem like it had been coated with a layer of red wax. You Fei sat down beside the tea table, picked up the teapot, "glug glug" drank a few mouthfuls of cool water, shook his heavy head, and felt that he was much more clear-headed.

  Xie Peishan sat on the edge of the bed, and since You Fei entered the door, she was so nervous that her fingers were pinched into the flesh. Finally, she heard You Fei's slow approaching footsteps, step by step, which made her heartbeat accelerate suddenly.

  You Fei walked to Xie Peishan's bedside, just standing there with a silly smile. He sat down on the bed, pushing the red dates and peanuts on the bed sheet to one side, and wrapped his arm around Xie Peishan's slender waist. Xie Peishan was startled by You Fei's sudden move, her whole body stiffened up, she didn't dare to move at all, while You Fei's big hand was firmly pressed on her waist, the heat from his palm made Xie Peishan feel a tingling sensation all over her body.