瑞安小伙三輪車迎娶英國新娘

6月29日上午，浙江瑞安市安陽新區(qū)格外熱鬧。從瑞陽路、安福路一直到萬松大道，一批批男女市民頂著如火驕陽，跟隨和觀看由10輛人力三輪車組成的一支迎親車隊。不少正在度暑假的小學(xué)生則在車隊后追逐嬉鬧，還不時拍手呼朋喚友：“快來看，三輪車迎新娘！”

這支迎親隊伍迎親時不用當前時髦的小轎車而用三輪車，這已經(jīng)讓人感到新鮮；更何況第一輛三輪車上坐著的那位新娘是個金發(fā)碧眼、皮膚白皙的英國姑娘，這就讓人更感奇特了：這位瑞安小伙子是誰呀？他怎么會娶上一位絕頂俊俏的英國姑娘呢？他又怎么會用簡陋的三輪車娶親呢？……

相遇“藍貝殼”一見便傾心

原來這位新郎叫王文芒，家住瑞安市城區(qū)，5年前畢業(yè)于溫州大學(xué)裝潢設(shè)計專業(yè)，喜愛美術(shù)、音樂，從事溫州計算機網(wǎng)站信息工作，今年28歲；新娘叫伊麗莎白（Eliza beth Ann Thomas），27歲，原籍英國伯明翰市，大學(xué)時她選修漢語言文學(xué)，深愛著博大精深的中華文化。前年她只身接受浙江溫州“英之輔”英語培訓(xùn)中心聘請，來溫從事英語教學(xué)，后來怎么會與中國小伙王文芒結(jié)成姻緣的呢？王文芒的母親說得好：“這是改革開放成就的跨國姻緣呀！”

在喜氣洋洋的婚宴上，王文芒幸福地說出了他們的相識、相知過程。要說初戀，那是緣起于“藍貝殼”酒吧的一次邂逅：前年圣誕節(jié)前夜，文芒和幾個“哥們”到溫州城區(qū)“藍貝殼”酒吧喝茶，看到鄰桌一位年輕漂亮的外國姑娘，她那金發(fā)碧眼、高挺的鼻梁，尤其是那高雅的氣質(zhì)，霎時震懾了王文芒，讓他怦然心動：“啊，我夢中的情人就是這樣一位姑娘，就是她！”他一見傾心了。

原來，文芒從小學(xué)開始就特別喜歡西洋音樂和歐美電影，所以他的英語也學(xué)得格外好。此刻見到這位“洋姑娘”，仿佛是多日積淀的澗泉，此刻不禁噴涌而出，他主動走到姑娘身邊，用英語詢問她的芳名，試探是否愿意幫助他學(xué)習(xí)英語？抑或他替她在溫州當免費的導(dǎo)游？突如其來的小伙子一時如此熱情，這讓善良而矜持的姑娘嚇了一跳，眼下社會上發(fā)生的一些詐騙故事她已從師友中聽多了，所以頓時警惕起來，只是出于禮貌，她說了一句：“我叫伊麗莎白，先生。其他無可奉告。”

但王文芒牢記大作家巴爾扎克的一句名言：“愛情的成功，不在于沖天的烈焰，而是經(jīng)久的燃燒！”他一邊常來“藍貝殼”守候，一邊又向人打聽，了解到伊麗莎白就在酒吧邊上的“英之輔”從事教學(xué)，并經(jīng)常光顧“藍貝殼”喝咖啡。于是從那天起，他就成了藍貝殼的常客。兩人相遇多了，他從微笑、舉手招呼開始，有時讓座或主動幫她搬椅子以及請教英語語法等，一回生兩回熟，王文芒以他的主動、熱情、謙讓及幽默，讓身在異鄉(xiāng)不無孤獨感的伊麗莎白逐漸產(chǎn)生了好感，后來在雙休日，她接受了王文芒的“溫州免費導(dǎo)游”，直至應(yīng)邀與王文芒共慶佳節(jié)。在互相交談、傾訴和生活上的互相幫助中，兩顆年輕的心終于慢慢地逐漸靠近。

中西有鴻溝愛情能磨合

2005年三八婦女節(jié)，王文芒邀請伊麗莎白到“藍貝殼”“為偉大的女性節(jié)日干杯”，在聚會中，王文芒和伊麗莎白從英語談到美術(shù)，從美術(shù)又扯到音樂，乘著酒興王文芒還操起酒吧的吉他，熱練地彈奏起英國飛船樂隊的《天堂之梯》。

獨在異鄉(xiāng)為異客，鄉(xiāng)音最能打動人心！此刻伊麗莎白聽到那熟悉的樂聲、優(yōu)美的旋律，一時如癡如醉……五一前夕，伊麗莎白終于答應(yīng)了王文芒的求婚。

王文芒和伊麗莎白成了戀人后，由于出身于不同國家、不同種族、不同的文化背景，自然顯山露水地暴露出矛盾來：英國習(xí)慣尊重女性，凡事女士優(yōu)先。坐車男士要打開車門請女士先坐，到達后男士應(yīng)當先下車給女士開門；宴客時男士要先給客人介紹女友，讓女友坐主位，并不能強勸酒；進酒吧共餐，英國人喜分餐且AA制付費，而王文芒長于溫州，頭腦里大男子主義的東西總會有意無意地會冒出來，惹得伊麗莎白少不了傷心落淚，特別是王文芒不會禮貌用語，一坐下常會架起他那大老爺式的“二郎腿”，伊麗莎白批評了他，這也使王文芒“惆悵了好幾個星期”。

不過愛情的力量確實神奇，經(jīng)過四五個月的磨合，習(xí)慣女士優(yōu)先的伊麗莎白竟然明白了溫州男人的“面子重要性”，這讓她艱難地學(xué)會了幾手韓國女性的謙柔；而王文芒，在伊麗莎白的“調(diào)教”下，也平添幾分英國式的紳士風度。

婚事從簡樸 相約共白頭

2005年的中秋節(jié)，王文芒正式把這份跨國之戀告訴了父母，并向家人詳細介紹了戀人的情況。想不到父母十分開通：“你們感到幸福就行！”親友們也對這樁婚姻非常寬厚，善解人意：“溫州人走遍五湖四海，以后娶洋姑娘、嫁黑人的更多啦，‘與世界接軌嘛’！”伊麗莎白心中的一塊石頭落了地！但王文芒心中還“吊著幾只水桶”：遠在英國的準丈人、準丈母娘會應(yīng)允他們的婚事嗎？他問伊麗莎白，但她故留懸念笑而不答。

圣誕節(jié)前，伊麗莎白打了越洋電話，愛女心切的爹娘當即由倫敦直飛上海轉(zhuǎn)來溫州。他們倆都是高級知識分子，儒雅開明，見王文芒一表人才，英語也地道，當即滿口贊成。本來王文芒與伊麗莎白協(xié)商先創(chuàng)業(yè)，過了30歲再結(jié)婚。但雙方父母比他們還心急，一齊催促，要他們早日完婚。經(jīng)過協(xié)商，于是議定在今年6月辦喜事，并對婚前和婚后的許多事項也作了商定：關(guān)于婚后居住地，他們選擇回瑞安故鄉(xiāng)安居，并在瑞安市安陽新區(qū)新世紀大廈購了一套住房，作了環(huán)保式裝修；關(guān)于工作和創(chuàng)業(yè)，王文芒也選擇在瑞安發(fā)展，由于“英之輔”英語培訓(xùn)中心已由溫州擴張發(fā)展到瑞安，伊麗莎白到瑞安教英語也算是“水到渠成”；關(guān)于喜事怎么辦？伊麗莎白說不要聘禮、不要納彩，更不要媒婆“六禮”，只要購買頂級婚戒一對，互戴手上，永結(jié)同心；特別是關(guān)于如何迎親，目前溫州人流行小轎車迎親，但生活在車流如織的英國姑娘對小轎車卻不屑一顧，她說這既浪費錢財又不環(huán)保，但唯獨對腳蹬三輪車特感興趣，而且她在英國的雙親也從未坐過三輪車。因此，王文芒便在婚禮中租來了10輛三輪車，車身披紅掛綠，車頭扎上紅綢，車頂一式的七彩氣球，車夫們穿著黑褲白汗衫、胸掛紅花，他和手捧白色玫瑰、穿著婚紗的伊麗莎白坐在第一輛車上，第二輛車上便是西裝革履身材魁梧的洋岳丈岳母，王文芒的父母坐在第三輛，證婚的、做儐相的及他的哥們依次坐在第四輛、第五輛直至第十輛車上。他們一路浩浩蕩蕩地在《天堂之梯》的優(yōu)美樂曲聲中行進，這特殊的音樂、特殊的迎親隊伍，引來了左鄰右舍、市民百姓爭相一睹，大家都為這對異國情侶贊嘆、欽羨、祝福……

An International Marriage

26-year-old Wang Wenmang met 25-year-old Elizabeth Ann Thomas in Blue Shell bar in Wenzhou on the eve of Christmas in 2004.

A local of Rui’an， a satellite city of Wenzhou， Wang graduated from Wenzhou University in 2001 and was working for an Internet company in Wenzhou. A college graduate who majored in Chinese， Elizabeth came from Birmingham， Britain and was teaching English in a language school in downtown Wenzhou.

Wang Wenmang’s heart throbbed at the first sight of Elizabeth， a blond sitting at a table next to him and his friends. Inspired by the eagerness to know her， Wang went over to speak to Elizabeth in English. He asked for her name and asked if she would like to help him with English learning and if he could take her around Wenzhou for sightseeing as a guide free of charge. The young Chinese?gushing eagerness scared Elizabeth. She was immediately on alert: she was not born yesterday and she had heard of tricks by scam artists in Wenzhou. But she replied politely that her name was Elizabeth and then told him no more than that.

Wang was not to be deterred. He made a point of visiting Blue Shell frequently. Soon he learned that Elizabeth was a teacher of English at a language school located near the bar. They often saw each other at the bar. And Wang went out of his way to greet Elizabeth with smile and hello. Sometimes he tried to find seat for her， or ask her to straighten out some English grammatical problems. In Elizabeth’s eyes， Wang was gentle， warm， and humorous， and always took things in his hands. Gradually she warmed up to Wang. On a weekend， she accepted Wang’s offer to take her around Wenzhou for sightseeing. They began to date.

On March 8， 2005， the International Women’s day， Wang asked Elizabeth to celebrate the big day of great females. At the Blue Shell， they chatted about English， art， literature， and music. Then Wang played Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin on the guitar. The fantastic melody touched the heart chords of the English girl.

Less than two months later， Elizabeth agreed to go steady with Wang. As they were closer to each other， Wang and Elizabeth soon confronted the clash of different cultural backgrounds. Elizabeth took English gentlemanly behavior for granted， but Wang was not an English gentleman. He did not know exactly how to do all the lady-first things Elizabeth expected of him. She was not happy with his Wenzhou-styled gentleman’s manners and Wang was melancholy for weeks. But love was the magic that solved the problem. After 4 months， Elizabeth gradually got to understand how men in Wenzhou grew up to place dignity above everything else. A modesty and softness typical of Korean women gradually shone in her and Wang began to behave more like an English gentleman.

In the Mid Autumn Festival in 2005， Wang Wenmang revealed his international romance with Elizabeth to his parents. His parents and relatives were broad-minded and understanding. Elizabeth felt relieved after learning Wang’s family blessing to their love. But Wang still felt uncertain about his would-be parents-in-law. Elizabeth gave him a sweet smile， but didn誸 say anything specific. She called home before Christmas in 2005. Her parents， both senior intellectuals， immediately flew from London to Shanghai and then flew to Wenzhou. After meeting with Wang Wenmang and finding him talented and able to speak good English， they agreed to give Elizabeth’s hand to Wang.

Wang and Elizabeth had planned to get married after they turned 30， but the parents from the two families urged them to get married sooner. After much planning， they agreed to hold the wedding in June 2006. They bought an apartment in downtown Rui’an and furbished it in an environmental-friendly manner. Wang would move back to Rui’an for career development and Elizabeth would also come to Rui’an to teach English as the expanding school was to set up a branch in Rui’an. Elizabeth wanted neither large dowry nor showy arrangements. She just wanted a pair of best diamond rings for her and her bridegroom.As for the vehicles for the escort party to take the bride to the groom’s house， she was not interested in sedans， a popular practice in Rui’an and Wenzhou. She wanted tricycles and her parents had never had a tricycle ride. So the couple rented ten tricycles. The tricycles were decorated with red silk and rainbow-color balloons and riders were dressed in black pants and white shirts with red flowers on their chests.

On the wedding day， accompanied by the melody of Stairway to Heaven， the cavalcade went through Rui’an City with Wang and Elizabeth in the first tricycle， her parents in the second， and his parents in the third and others following in the remaining tricycles， The spectacle drew a lot of local residents， who gave their big smile and greetings to the newly-weds.

(Translated by David)