Liu Chen was jolted awake from her dream in the middle of the night. Staring at the bedroom ceiling, it took her a moment to realize she was back at her home in Beijing.
Was this a dream?
Liu Chen wiped the sweat from her forehead. The dream had left her completely drenched.
Perhaps the act of wiping her brow disturbed Ren Yu, who was sleeping beside her.
"Having a nightmare?"
Before Liu Chen could answer, Ren Yu's strong arm reached out from under the covers and gently patted her back.
Ren Yu's voice was still hoarse from just waking up:
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Perhaps it was Ren Yu's voice, or the rhythmic gentle patting, but Liu Chen surprisingly fell back asleep.
This time, Liu Chen didn't dream. She slept until after nine o'clock.
The sunlight outside the window was already dazzling. Liu Chen reached out and touched the other side of the bed, which was now cold due to the air conditioning.
"You're awake?"
Before Liu Chen could retract her hand, she saw Ren Yu wearing shorts, a white towel draped around her neck, and one hand still holding an end of the towel, drying her hair.
Presumably, she had just taken a shower.
"Ren Yu, why do you take a shower every night before bed and again every morning?"
Liu Chen was a little confused. Because of Ren Yu's habit, she almost never woke up to the kind of scenes she saw in TV dramas, like waking up and greeting each other good morning.
Perhaps even a good morning kiss?
Perhaps Liu Chen's confusion was too earnest. Ren Yu looked at her, silent for a moment, her hand unconsciously stopping its motion of drying her hair.
Seeing Liu Chen's eyes full of curiosity, Ren Yu opened her mouth:
"It's hot, I get sweaty after sleeping all night. A shower feels more comfortable."
Ren Yu was lying!
Liu Chen could clearly feel it, but after a moment's hesitation, since Ren Yu didn't want to say, it wouldn't be good for her to press further.
"Oh... I'll go get ready then."
-
Despite the morning's interruption, Liu Chen quickly forgot about it. After all...
Today was the day she was going to attend Guo Da and Yu Li's wedding!
Their wedding was scheduled at a five-star hotel in the east of the city. It would take forty minutes to drive from Dadi Gongguan, even without traffic. Moreover, it was the weekend, and many people planned to take advantage of it to get out and about, rather than being cooped up in offices all day.
Navigating through traffic, they barely made it to the hotel entrance by eleven o'clock.
August 28th. Double eights, sounds like a good day. As soon as Liu Chen got out of the car, she saw the wedding photos displayed on both sides of the hotel entrance.
There were three couples getting married at this hotel today. Judging by their wedding photos, Guo Da and his bride seemed to be the oldest among them.
Liu Chen and Ren Yu walked into the hotel lobby. Seeing Guo Da and his wife's wedding photo and names, there was an elaborately decorated registration table in front of the photo. Standing at the table was a middle-aged woman in a red qipao with a small black mole on her brow.
The middle-aged woman had noticed them when they got out of the car and had been secretly observing them. Now, seeing them approach the registration table, her face broke into a warm smile.
"May I ask if you are on the groom's side, or the bride's side?"
Liu Chen was taken aback by the question. She hadn't considered which side she belonged to.
As Liu Chen hesitated, a loud voice called out from the elevator:
"Liu Chen! Liu Chen, you're finally here! Sister Li has been mentioning you in the dressing room, saying she wants you to talk to her for a bit."
Guo Da's voice came from the elevator. His words startled the middle-aged woman with the mole on her brow, who was in charge of collecting money. Upon realizing who it was, she immediately beamed, her eyes showing a hint of flattery as she looked towards Liu Chen and said, "So you are Miss Liu? My daughter told me that Miss Liu is her benefactor! By the way, I'm Lili's mom, everyone calls me Aunt Niu."
"Aunt Niu, this is the wedding gift I prepared for Sister Lili. Could you...?"
Liu Chen took out a golden ornament from her bag.
Aunt Niu quickly covered the gift with her hand and shook her head, her smile even more sincere. "No, no, Miss Liu. Please take it inside for Lili to keep. This is too precious. Miss Liu has spent too much, too much."
Since Sister Yu Li's mother said so, Liu Chen naturally didn't insist on leaving the solid gold ornament at the registration table. As Guo Da had to pick up more guests, Liu Chen followed his instructions and went up to the dressing room at the end of the second floor.
A sign hung outside the dressing room door, stating "No Entry Without Invitation." The sign was written on a dark brown wooden board, with a border of white lace flowers.
Liu Chen knocked on the door.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The dressing room door opened a crack, revealing a round face. Liu Chen guessed it was the makeup or hairstylist, as she was dressed very simply, her hair neatly styled with not a single stray strand.
"Sister Lili, it's Liu Chen. Can I come in? And my partner and two friends."
"Yes, yes, Liu Chen, come in quickly!"
The dressing room door then opened completely, revealing a somewhat relaxed scene inside.
Yu Li was wearing a French-style strapless wedding dress that could be described as elaborate. The entire dress sparkled under the light of the crystal chandelier in the lounge and the bright sunlight outside the window. The hem of the skirt alone, as far as Liu Chen could see, was no less than five meters long.
"Your wedding dress..." Liu Chen instinctively walked towards the chair where Yu Li was sitting and asked, looking down at the dress.
Yu Li raised an eyebrow. "This is the wedding dress that suits me best in the entire bridal shop, but the price made me really heartbroken."
Liu Chen sat down gently on a sofa chair next to the wedding dress and lightly brushed her fingertips over the diamond-encrusted hem. Hearing Yu Li's words, she became curious:
"Heartbroken?"
Yu Li nodded vigorously and then slowly held up three fingers in front of Liu Chen.
Liu Chen couldn't help but widen her eyes:
"Three hundred thousand?"
Yu Li slowly nodded. Although she tried her best to express her heartache at spending three hundred thousand on a wedding dress, her eyes were full of joy and her lips couldn't suppress their upward curve, revealing her true inner feelings.
Liu Chen looked at the beautiful wedding dress, following the diamonds on the skirt up to Yu Li's face, who was wearing this beautiful gown. She nodded and affirmed, "It's beautiful. It's worth it."
After receiving Liu Chen's affirmation of the wedding dress's value, Yu Li visibly relaxed.
"You don't know, when my mom found out this wedding dress cost Guo Da three hundred thousand, she even suspected Guo Da would kill me, hahahaha."
Yu Li was laughing as she said this, revealing eight pearly white teeth. But Liu Chen noticed that Yu Li was just putting on a show of laughter.
So, Liu Chen silently held Yu Li's hand, saying nothing.
On the contrary, Yu Li's laughter abruptly stopped as she felt the warmth from her hand on her back.
"When I wanted a divorce, my mom advised me that a woman who couldn't have children was incomplete and that I should accept my fate. Now that I'm married to Guo Da, my mom thinks Guo Da marrying me is a conspiracy. She never seems to believe that I can be happy."
Hearing this, Liu Chen felt she could probably guess why Yu Li had been waiting for her.
When Yu Li said this, wasn't she also asking herself?
As Liu Chen's mind was racing, she suddenly straightened her back and froze on the sofa.
Yu Li, who had been focused on Liu Chen, hoping she would say something, looked at Liu Chen with a confused tilt of her head when she saw her state:
"Chenchen?"
Pulled back to reality by Yu Li's voice, Liu Chen looked towards Yu Li's eyes, which, despite being carefully concealed by foundation, still showed dark circles.
"Sister Li, have you been feeling particularly tired lately?"
Hearing Liu Chen's question, Yu Li answered honestly, though she didn't know why Liu Chen was asking:
"Yes, but it might be because I've been busy preparing for the wedding. Time has been tight, and everything has been piled up. Plus, I'm not getting any younger, so I get very tired if I stay up late."
Liu Chen nodded. No wonder the system task she received was to inform Yu Li of her pregnancy.
Seeing Liu Chen nod, Yu Li became a little nervous. She had never been a lucky person. Even if she bought ten scratch-off lottery tickets, she wouldn't win. Now that she was with Guo Da, she felt very happy.
"Wh-what's wrong? Is, is it that I, I'm sick?"
After saying the last sentence, Yu Li swallowed and then sped up her speech, a smile that looked more like a grimace returning to her face.
"It's okay, Chenchen, tell me. I can handle it. Being able to have the wedding and wear this dress is enough for me in this lifetime."
Yu Li said with a smile, but tears honestly welled up in her eyes.
"Really, really, my eyes are suddenly feeling uncomfortable. I can't let my makeup run."
Yu Li said, folding a small pointed corner from a tissue and using it to dab away the tears overflowing from her eyes.
Liu Chen watched Yu Li's series of actions and words and quickly clasped Yu Li's left hand, which was resting on her white wedding dress.
"No, Sister Lili, I mean, have you been tested for..."
Yu Li's hand, which was absorbing tears, stopped as she heard Liu Chen's words. She looked at Liu Chen with confused eyes, seemingly not understanding what "tested for" meant.
"Um, I mean, is it possible that your fatigue and low mood are because you're pregnant?"
'Congratulations to the host, the daily task is complete, you have received one protective pregnancy talisman, which can effectively protect pregnancy for ten months.'
Hearing the completion of the task, Liu Chen didn't hesitate. She directly took out the protective pregnancy talisman given by the system. As soon as the talisman appeared in her palm in reality, because she was holding Yu Li's hand, she directly placed it on Yu Li's hand.
'Use the protective pregnancy talisman?'
'Yes.'
As Liu Chen was doing this, Yu Li was completely stunned.
She had wanted a child for so, so long.
She had suffered so much for it, and had even resigned herself to believing that she was destined to atone for her sins in this life.
Even when both she and Guo Da had their physical examinations and found no issues, due to their age and the fact that they hadn't been using contraception and she had never gotten pregnant, Yu Li had very little expectation for this.
Even "very little" was an understatement. The truth was, Yu Li had completely forgotten that she was capable of bearing children.
Seeing Yu Li completely stunned, her eyes unblinking as she stared at Liu Chen, Liu Chen hesitated and waved her hand in front of Yu Li.
"Ah!!!!"
A scream pierced through the hotel's soundproofing and reached Guo Da's ears. Guo Da froze for less than a second before turning and rushing towards the elevator. Seeing that the nearest elevator was on the sixth floor, Guo Da immediately turned and ran up the fire escape stairs.
When Guo Da arrived at the dressing room, breathless, he was about to open the door when he found it locked from the inside.
This discovery sent a wave of panic through Guo Da. He gripped the doorknob with one hand and repeatedly patted the door with the other.
"Sister Li! Sister Li, what's wrong! Sister Li!"
Just as Guo Da was knocking on the door and getting no response, he heard Ren Yu, who had somehow appeared behind him, say, "Sister Yu Li is changing clothes, and Chenchen is inside with her. There's no danger, don't worry."
Hearing Ren Yu's words, Guo Da finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"I, I thought something had happened. It's good that everyone is safe, it's good that everyone is safe."
After saying this, Guo Da lowered his hand and was about to offer Ren Yu a cigarette with a chuckle. However, as soon as he pulled the cigarette out of the pack, his smile froze, followed by a look of dismay.
"Well, Mr. Ren, you just said Sister Li was changing clothes in there? I, I remember when I left, Sister Li was already wearing her wedding dress?"
Guo Da said this while scratching his head, as if he was genuinely trying to confirm if the Sister Li he remembered wearing a wedding dress was real and not a figment of his imagination.
"Sister Yu Li discovered something and decided not to wear the wedding dress."
Ren Yu found it strange as he said this, but there was nothing he could do. Chenchen insisted that Sister Yu Li tell her husband the happy news of her pregnancy herself.
Therefore, he couldn't reveal the pregnancy.
"Something? What? Did Sister Li find out I secretly bought life insurance? But I listed her as the beneficiary!
Or, or did Sister Li discover that I've been losing hair lately? Does she dislike baldness?
Or, or was I too tired the night before last and secretly got into bed without washing my feet?"
As Guo Da was frantically confessing his sins, a crisp "click" came from behind the tightly closed dressing room door. This was the sound of the lock cylinder opening.
Then, Yu Li's clear voice followed:
"You, Guo Da, you've been doing so many things behind my back? Do you know that I almost choked on your foot odor when you got into bed without washing your feet that night!"
Guo Da had already turned to face the door when he heard the lock click. Now, seeing Yu Li emerge from behind the door, and seeing her in her wedding dress, the same as when he had last seen her, yet somehow different.
Guo Da curiously approached Yu Li, circling her. His voice couldn't help but rise in pitch:
"Sister Li, why is your wedding dress ruined?"
Hearing Guo Da's words, Yu Li couldn't help but roll her eyes. But even as she rolled her eyes, Yu Li wore a smile, a genuine smile.
"Idiot, Chenchen helped me widen the waist of the wedding dress by three fingers, so it wouldn't press on our baby."
Guo Da's fingers, which were gesturing towards the wedding dress waist, suddenly seemed to freeze, trembling uncontrollably.
"Ba, baby?"
Yu Li turned around and looked at Guo Da, who was standing there like an idiot.
"Stupid, I'm pregnant."
Before Yu Li could even explain how she discovered it, she was embraced by Guo Da.
"Sister Li, Sister Li, thank you, thank you, *sob* I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't even notice you were pregnant, I'm sorry..."
Listening to Guo Da's wailing and his heartfelt apologies, Yu Li didn't call him a fool again. She gently stroked the back of Guo Da's head.
"Stupid, don't apologize. Meeting you is the luckiest thing that's ever happened to me."