Liu Chen held the hand of her aunt, Hu Min, in return:
“Don’t worry, we had our wedding banquet at the Century Grand Hotel after all. If Hu Xingfa dares to cause trouble, we’ll have security escort him out with a fork!”
After dinner, Liu Fang told Hu Min to go back to her room to sleep, as a makeup artist was scheduled to arrive at five in the morning.
Once Hu Min was in the bedroom, Liu Chen, Mi Zhuzhu, and Ren Mo, under Liu Fang’s direction, began sticking ‘double happiness’ stickers everywhere, placing wedding candies in the elevator, and thoroughly cleaning the house.
There were no major issues, but a multitude of small tasks. After finishing, they looked at the time and it was past midnight. Liu Fang urged the children to sleep quickly to avoid dark circles under their eyes the next day.
Because of the significant emotional fluctuations after discovering her grades in the afternoon, Liu Chen went straight to sleep with Mi Zhuzhu after taking a shower.
While placing her phone on the bedside table to charge, Liu Chen felt something was still undone, but the intense drowsiness had already clouded her mind.
“Chenchen, I’m turning off the light!”
“Mhm!”
After responding, she lay in bed and soon drifted into sweet slumber.
Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away in Beijing, Ren Yu sat at his desk, tapping on his keyboard, occasionally glancing at the clock.
When it reached one in the morning, Ren Yu finally confirmed that the three-month long nightly online tutoring sessions had a gap today.
He got up from his chair and walked to the balcony outside with his cigarette pack.
For secrecy, to accommodate the company’s overtime needs, and with the money earned from Penguin Farm, Ren Yu had moved the company to a villa complex very close to Tsinghua University.
The entire first floor of the company served as an open-plan office space, with the second floor as dormitories.
At this moment, the sound of Ren Yu opening the balcony glass door was heard by Shen Hong, who was lying in bed, unable to sleep.
The balconies of the two rooms were separated by a small low wall. Shen Hong appeared on the balcony with wide eyes, looking at Ren Yu’s somewhat dejected back.
“Yo, even our little genius has something on his mind?”
Hearing Shen Hong’s teasing from behind, Ren Yu lowered his head and chuckled, discarding the cigarette he had barely smoked.
The ember on the ground flickered, now bright, now dim.
Ren Yu exhaled the rest of the smoke in his mouth slowly towards the front and then said in a low voice:
“Shen Hong, tell me, I’ve discovered a diamond. I both hope she shines brightly in this world, and yet I want to pocket her before the world discovers her.”
“Rare indeed, for a smart person like you to have troubles,” Shen Hong’s plump figure nimbly hopped over the low wall between the two balconies.
“But you’re overthinking this. A diamond is a diamond precisely because it shines whether you pocket it or not. So don’t overthink it, and perhaps the diamond doesn’t even want to bother with you?”
Ren Yu turned around, leaned against the balcony railing, his hands casually bent with his elbows resting on the railing, and looked up at the exceptionally bright white moon in the sky that night.
“Then I’ll work hard, work hard to make this diamond see me!”
Seeing the seriousness on Ren Yu’s face, Shen Hong became curious.
“You’ve been talking about diamonds and moons for so long. Which goddess has captured your heart so completely?
Is it the beauty of our computer science department?
Or the talented literary girl from the department next door?”
Ren Yu stomped out the cigarette butt on the ground and then smiled.
“Neither. You’ll understand in the future.”
Ren Yu knew that girls like Liu Chen, once they entered university, would begin their truly brilliant life paths.
And at that time, he wasn’t even sure if he would still have the courage to pursue her as he did now.
…
Liu Chen slept until 7:30 AM, then was woken up by the groomsmen arriving to pick up the bride.
She opened her door and saw that the master bedroom door opposite was tightly shut. The bridesmaids announced that if they could recite the Ballad of Mulan within one minute, they would pass.
The groomsmen, who had stayed up all night memorizing riddles, were completely stumped. It had been almost twenty years since they graduated from high school; who could remember that stuff?
The bridesmaid who posed the question was also bewildered. She had intended to make it slightly difficult for her pregnant friend as a formality, especially concerning the hidden wedding shoes, but unexpectedly, they got stuck at the gate-crashing challenge?
“Click.”
Liu Chen emerged from the door of the secondary bedroom opposite the master bedroom. For her aunt’s wedding today, Liu Chen was wearing a bright red Miu Miu dress, which her mother had clearly gotten from Chen Long.
It had a slightly A-line silhouette and two layers. The outer layer was red silk, and the inner layer was made of a slightly stiff fabric. The hem of the skirt playfully flared out, adorned with a circle of colorful Swarovski rhinestones.
Because she wasn’t good at styling her hair, and with the system’s assistance, Liu Chen’s long, straight black hair was casually draped over her shoulders.
Her young face was still slightly squinted with sleepiness, indicating she hadn’t had enough rest.
Upon seeing this youthful face, the groomsmen, who had initially brightened up, averted their gazes. She was too young; if she had married earlier, she could have been their daughter!
“Chenchen! Come here, quickly help your uncle. You’re the top student in the whole school, you must be able to recite the Ballad of Mulan, right?”
Liu Chen, still groggy from waking up, was momentarily stunned. Just as she was about to say yes, Wang Dong directly stuffed a large red envelope into her hand.
“My dear niece, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda!”
Seeing Wang Dong’s anxious expression, Liu Chen held the large red envelope and flashed a big smile before beginning to recite:
“Chirping, chirping, Mulan weaves at the loom…”
After her recitation, the bridesmaid who had posed the question immediately moved aside, allowing the groomsmen to flood into the master bedroom.
Hu Min, who had spent two hours doing her makeup in the room, was lowering her head and chatting with a friend. Hearing the door open, she looked up.
Wang Dong, pushed into the room by the groomsmen, saw Hu Min and froze for a moment. It was only when reminded by the groomsmen that he, holding a bouquet, knelt on one knee before Hu Min, who was seated on the bed.
“Minmin, I’m here to take you home, to our home.”
Hu Min blinked her eyes.
“So cheesy. Don’t think you can get away with skipping the wedding shoe hunt!”
In the end, Wang Dong and the groomsmen spent an hour searching the twenty-odd square meters of the bedroom and only managed to find one red wedding shoe hidden beneath the hem of Hu Min’s wedding dress.
Liu Chen had intended to follow the bridesmaids from a distance, but Hu Min grabbed her hand and wouldn’t let go. She could only follow her, without makeup, all the way down to the neighborhood and watch as she and Wang Dong got into the wedding car.
Only then did she get into the following wedding car with the bridesmaids.
Just as she was about to get into the car, a bridesmaid beside her opened the car door and said with a smile:
“Is that Chenchen? Come, get in, the three of us will be in this car.”
After saying thank you, Liu Chen got in and sat in the back seat. On the way to the wedding hotel, the two bridesmaids started chatting.
“Hu Min, that girl. I always thought her personality was so simple and stubborn, making it difficult for her to find a partner. But look, the groom picking her up today, isn’t his name Wang Dong? How generous was he with the door-opening红包? No matter how we blocked the door, he didn’t get angry.
You know, last time, one of my classmates was also pregnant before marriage. The bridesmaids were doing games to block the door, and the groom just said one thing.”
At this point, the bridesmaid in the passenger seat paused.
The groomsman driving the car then asked:
“What did he say?”
“That groom said, ‘Marry me if you want to, get lost if you don’t!’”
Upon hearing this, the other two gasped.
“Did he really say that? Then, then what happened?”
The bridesmaid in the passenger seat sighed.
“What else could happen? The marriage fell through!”
The groomsman driving the car felt it was a bit inauspicious and quickly changed the subject:
“Hey? I heard the bride’s niece is the top student in the whole school. Why didn’t I see her today?”
Liu Chen, sitting in the back seat, was a bit confused.
“I am.”
“Huh!?”
Now it was the groomsman’s turn to be confused. In his mind, students with good academic performance were always nerdy girls with glasses, dull and awkward. He never expected the bride’s niece, who was so beautiful, to also be so academically gifted!
“Little girl, you’re amazing, so smart and beautiful. I wonder what kind of partner you’ll find when you go to college.”
The bridesmaid in the passenger seat suddenly suggested seriously:
“It’s best not to date in college. Otherwise, you’ll break up right after graduation and have wasted four years of your youth. You’d be better off getting certifications with that time, and then find a high-paying job after graduation.”
“Exactly, exactly!”
Liu Chen heard them, and she could understand that the two bridesmaids were likely speaking from the heart today.
They didn’t need her response; they just wanted to share their recent thoughts.
By the time they finally reached the Century Grand Hotel, Liu Chen and the two bridesmaids got out of the car. The groomsman in the driver’s seat wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Three women together are simply a torment…”
Entering the Century Grand Hotel, the usual spot where the bride would stand to welcome guests was handled by the two bridesmaids.
After all, the bride was several months pregnant. Although her belly wasn’t showing much, she couldn’t be overworked.
Hu Xingfa, holding an invitation, brought Hu Qian to push Luo Meihong, who was in a wheelchair, to the Century Grand Hotel. He looked around but couldn’t find Hu Min’s reception desk.
It was only when Hu Qian spotted the names of the bride and groom on the reception desk that Hu Xingfa found the location.
Upon reaching the reception desk, they first had to give a red envelope and then sign their names.
The two bridesmaids were Hu Qian’s college roommates and didn’t recognize the family in the wheelchair. They simply followed the procedure, asking Hu Xingfa to sign the guest book and then opening the red envelope in front of them to write down the amount next to the name.
This way, the newlyweds would know how much to return in gifts later based on the book.
Hu Xingfa was well aware of this procedure. He had a mission today and wouldn’t embarrass himself in such a matter.
The red envelope was opened, and three thousand yuan in cash was neatly arranged inside.
This gift amount was quite substantial for someone who wasn’t a close friend or family member.
“Little sister, push Grandma inside and find a place to sit. The wedding ceremony will start at twelve sharp.”
At this moment, Hu Qian heard this but showed no reaction. Her eyes were fixed straight on Liu Chen, who was walking out of the Lily Hall.
Liu Chen had grown taller, become thinner, and was even more beautiful. The little dress she wore clearly looked expensive.
Hu Qian’s grip on the wheelchair tightened, and she took two steps back.
She suddenly didn’t want to attend this wedding banquet anymore.