With the guests coming to her house unexpectedly like that, Calista wasn't that much fazed but enthusiastic, as it had been a while since she ate with a lot of people.
With Susan and Ma Susan helping, breakfast was cooked quickly and a while later, everyone sat in the gazebo which was big enough to accommodate five people.
Calista never lacked stools or benches, so everyone sat comfortably without the pressure of having the earth or floor torture anyone.
Breakfast was delicious, and with a lot of oil, everyone enjoyed the food heartily.
It was even more perfect as Calista, who barely maintained table manners depending on her mood, took that time to smoothen the relationship between her future husband and the people closest to her in the village.
The more the three interacted with Orson, the more they liked her. Especially when they saw how accommodating and soft, he was.
Unlike Calista, who was on the energetic side, and at times without a filter, having someone like Orson by her side could be helpful. Maybe he would be able to help her restrain herself in the future.
When breakfast was done, seeing Orson about to take the dishes, Susan and her mother's hearts nearly popped out of their chests.
Calista didn't react exaggeratedly as in her head; everyone was equal and liable to help with house chores. It wasn't like she was telling him to give birth.
In the end, Susan went to do the dishes, while Calista discussed with the rest what she was planning to do.
"Uncle, I want Frank and Tim to help Orson with cutting the logs needed for the altar. And ….."
As there were certain procedures to be done before the wedding and with her wedding being a shotgun and had to be done as quickly as possible, there wasn't too much time for her to fool around.
For the wedding to take place, the altar to the goddess of love and marriage needed to be built, no matter what. Luckily, it wasn't something that was complicated, as even villagers could build one.
When Ba Susan heard that, he simply nodded his head since there was no problem with that. As for Susan, Ma Susan and Rita, Tim's wife, these three could help her with the other procedure, so that when the wedding starts, no one would be embarrassed.
With all the plans bared in the open, there was no need for all of them to linger anymore.
That day everyone became busy. Orson left for the mountains with Tim and Frank, who were very friendly and made Orson feel comfortable.
Thanks to the two of them, Orson learnt much more than what he already knew.
While the boys were out, Calista and Susan were busy preparing food ingredients for the banquet the next day.
And since there wouldn't be a lot of people attending the wedding, the ingredients to be prepared didn't have to be too much, but Calista loved being extravagant.
So, Susan watched helplessly as Calista took out a pig's head which she passed to Ba Susan to deal with as it needed to be cut before cooking.
With the head being treated by an experienced elderly, the two friends began to marinate the meat. Susan was in awe the whole time as she listened to Calista explaining this and that as her hands moved pretty fast, dealing with different kinds of meat at the same time.
On the other hand, Ma Susan was busy cooking traditional beer. It was a must, to have it on a special occasion and the one she was brewing was a special kind called one-day beer.
It was a kind of beer that required just one day to ferment. Others might think that because it needed one day, it wouldn't taste nice, but what people didn't know was that it was a very dangerous type of beer.
Getting drunk was very easy, but people couldn't resist. There were a few places where the beer was sold, but not everyone could afford the resources required.
To cook the beer, the brewer was required to have at least yeast or aged sorghum for fermentation, but the best way to make it was to use yeast.
With yeast and sugar being expensive, how could they be so willful to brew it?
It was the same as brewing mageu, making these two was very costly.
Fortunately, the one having the wedding was Calista, and what did she lack? Nothing.
So Ma Susan was at ease as she made the beer with a smile on her face.
On the other hand, Calista, who was planning to introduce a few good dishes to the Dickens family, decided to go all out in her preparations.
Sometime in the later afternoon, the three men returned to the hill, and they brought back loads of logs that could be used straight to build the altar.
The altar didn't have to be luxurious, but it needed to be built sincerely.
Certain rituals were followed before the altar was built and Orson, who had never gone through such tedious procedures, nearly regretted agreeing to the marriage.
The people who would build the altar needed to be married, as that would bring the luck of marriage to the groom. The groom was required to participate in the building, as that would show sincerity and willingness to tie his life to another.
But before that, everyone who would participate was required to bathe their bodies with lukewarm water without any soap or the like, with three different colored candles lit up in the process. The candles weren't allowed to be blown off, no matter what.
When that was finished, the candles would be brought to the area where the altar would be built and secured nicely until the construction was completed.
During the construction, a certain chant needed to be sung repeatedly until the altar was done. That was done to pray to the goddess and seek her blessings for the marriage.
As Orson followed every procedure, he solemnly hoped that he who was an atheist would never regret that day in the future ever. Otherwise, where would he hang his head?