Shally - Wen L ijuan - #0505020372

Radio and television warnings had sounded throughout half the winter holiday, beginning from the end of January, as the heavy frost and snow lashed the north and middle south of China. It was certain to pummel Jiangxi where I lived. It became colder and colder. I canceled all the classmates’ reunions and entertainment for the sake of the bad weather. My parents also complained all day about the inconvenience that it brought.” What horrible weather!” Most of the trees were broken off by the pressure of the frost and snow, the roads were covered with ice, which caused traffic jams and lots of passers - by fell down, “Like a drowned mouse” my dad said anxiously.

“What an awful day” I thought. I could not help worrying about my good friend’s - Qing and Bing’s wedding on Jan31.They lived in the country. I heard that there was no electricity, and even worse, the candles were out of stock. “ I hoped everything would go well, “ I prayed.

On that day, I got up very early. Because I was invited as a maid of honor, I should arrive there before 7:00 AM. It was still dark outside; I stood in the street, waiting for a taxi. It was freezing cold, the rain and snow whipped me, and the roar of the wind frightened me. It seemed to suck me in, I almost could barely stand steadily, after half an hour, and there was still no taxi. I could not feel my body, what I could feel was only the little warmed snivel running from my nose. I almost wanted to go back. Just then, an empty taxi caught my eye. I got in the car and soon felt warm.

After one hours’ journey, I got there near 7:30 AM. “Oh I have been expecting you all morning. I was afraid you were unable to come because of the snowstorm. I am so grateful”, said Qing ecstatically. There was a note of passion in her voice. “Shally, you know how excited, how nervous I am, my heart is beating all the time.” “Dear me, I know, don’t worry, I will be there with you, just take it easy” I said.

After dressing up, we set off at 9:00 AM. The cars moved forward slowly. The drivers had trouble in driving fast and smoothly from skidding on icy roads. Worst, because the deep puddles were filled with water, mud and snow, we had to constantly stop and push the cars. On the midway, the road was blocked by the fallen trees and so we had to stop again to move them away, while we were dragging, suddenly, the ice - crystals that hung on the wires fell down, like a sword stabbing our head and body. I felt a blast of pain on my head. Unfortunately, one of my friends was injured. A stream of blood dropped from his forehead, but it was not serious.

By noon, snow and wind diminished slightly, and we finally reached the groom’s home. Most of us appeared with draggled shoes. The celebration began at 12:00. I felt a little tired and very hungry with having had so many hardships along the way. At that time, we had no mood to care about table manners. We peeped at each other and then we all burst into laughter. We were chatting while enjoying the delicious meal.

After dinner, we had a custom of making fun of the bride and groom. We forced them to kiss in public. Qing seemed very shy, her face turned red in a flash, like an apple, pretty cute and beautiful, and a note of happiness appeared on their faces through the glory of their eyes. Later, we played a trick on them. We held an apple up by a thread and the couple sat face to face. Then we put the apple between them, counting: one, two, three, etc. They began to bite the apple at the same time, just then, we pulled the apple up and they crashed into each other. We kept on doing this until they bite the apple. We all laughed so hard it brought with tears to our eyes. After that, we were singing, chatting, and playing cards…. The whole celebration ended in the middle of the night, all of us sank in the happiness and warmth.