A woman is always the most beautiful when they are the bride.
Su Ruan Xiu sat in the front row. She looked at the lush green grass and the dreamlike wedding venue. When music was played, she watched her daughter, wearing a beautiful wedding gown, walk by. Her daughter and a man walked together, side by side.
There were applause, flowers, and music. Even though Su Ruan Xiu's eyes reddened around the rim, she still watched her daughter walk towards the vicar with the man. Her life and her daughter's life would never be the same. It would surely be different.
On New Year's Day, she didn't expect Xiao Le to bring a man back home. She knew her daughter and Zhuang Wei had split up. As a mother, she could help her daughter with anything apart from matters like these. Because in these situations, no one could help them. They could only hope that the person would think it through themselves.
Mother Su remembered the moment when she first saw Wei Chu. Her daughter was carrying a handbag while that elegant, graceful, and charming man carried many bags as he followed Su Le. He was definitely an elite but he was careful as he tried to be in her favor.
He said that he would treat Su Le well for life and would not betray her.
But it was only then that she also remembered these words being uttered before. About 20 years ago, Xiao Le's father had also said the same thing.
Besides, this man was rich and he had a strong family background. She didn't know if this person would become the 2nd Zhuang Wei. As a mother, they would always be biased towards their child. This was natural. It was a mother's nature.
What really moved Su Ruan Xiu was not the young man's promise. Neither was it his family background. Even though they were not rich, they weren't poor to the point where they needed to sacrifice their happiness for money. What really touched her was a simple meal.
During the afternoon of New Year's Day, the couple went out to buy a lot of food and insisted on cooking themselves. So, Su Ruan Xiu could only sit on the sofa to watch TV while secretly shooting glances at the kitchen.
Su Ruan Xiu was very clear of her daughter's level of cooking. Her daughter could only cook stir-fry vegetables or instant noodles. If it was anything else that was just a bit more complicated, the taste would not be good. Even though her daughter had entered the kitchen, she could only wash the vegetables as her cutting skills were not good either.
When all the dishes came to the table, Su Ruan Xiu discovered that they were all Sichuan dishes. There were a few which were her favorites, but everything else was food that Su Le enjoyed. She picked some food to try. The taste was not bad. The only thing she would criticize was that there wasn't enough salt, but she knew that Xiao Le preferred food that was slightly bland as compared to her.
After the meal, Su Ruan Xiu watched the young man carry all the dishes and bowls into the kitchen while her daughter sat in front of the TV. She thought that it wasn't right and said, "Xiao Le, how can you let Xiao Wei wash the dishes?"
All she got in response was a shameless smile from her daughter. Su Ruan Xiu couldn't help but think about how bad was the young man's taste was for him to fall for her daughter.
She may have had a bad marriage herself but it didn't mean that everyone else would be as unfortunate as her. She didn't have any requirements for her son-in-law; she just hoped that her daughter would find someone who was reliable and someone who understood her.
—————-
"Ah, In-laws," Mother Wei sat beside Su Ruan Xiu. The happiness on their faces was genuine, "Xiao Le is a good child. All my family members like her. Since our children have gotten together, we as parents are relieved."
"In-laws, don't praise that child so much. She has many shortcomings. I'm relieved now that Wei Chu is getting married to her," Su Ruan Xiu had a meal with Wei Chu's parents before and they were all happy with each other, so they set the marriage date to be in May.
May was an auspicious month. They all agreed to have the ceremony in May. As for the young couple, they did not disagree either so the marriage date was set like that.
"Will the groom and bride exchange rings."
Su Ruan Xiu lifted her head and saw her daughter wearing a beautiful wedding gown as she stood beside Wei Chu. They looked well-matched. Her eyes stung. In the end, she couldn't stop her tears from falling.
The ring was slid onto Su Le's finger and it was a perfect fit. Su Le bent her fingers to look at the ring. The corner of her lips lifted. Then, she took the male version of the ring from the box that was held by her bridesmaid. She slowly slid the ring onto Wei Chu's finger.
He had bound her and she had bound him.
After the exchange of rings was completed, all the guests started clapping enthusiastically. Su Le lifted her head and saw the satisfied smile on Wei Chu's face.
She was distracted as she reminisced the year she had spent with Wei Chu. There were no misunderstandings like in novels, no 3rd parties, and no big changes. Everything went by calmly like water flowing in a lake.
Deep in her thoughts, Su Le did not hear the following words, "The groom may kiss the bride." So, when she felt the warm sensation on her lips, she could already hear the loud applause.
"Blanking out at a time like this?" Wei Chu let go of Su Le and gently touched the corner of Su Le's lips. "Mrs Wei, have you come back now?"
Su Le glared at him. Then, she looked at the bouquet of flowers in her hands and her friends that was sitting down. They were all smiling and giving her their blessings. She lifted her arms and threw the bouquet towards her friends. If a bride throwing a bouquet of flowers represented a happy marriage, then she hoped that the friend who caught the bouquet would be happy for life.
"This lady has finally managed to snatch one," Chen Yue smiled cheekily as she caught the bouquet of lilies. She inhaled the fresh fragrance from the flowers and looked towards the newly wedded couple on stage. May you live a long and happy life together.
She turned her head and saw a familiar person in a corner who looked absent-minded.
It was Zhuang Wei! At first, Chen Yue was annoyed, but then she smiled. The best revenge for men like him was to never receive true love. He also had no opportunity to regret. After all, there were no second chances in everything in life.
When the wedding ceremony ended, Su Le changed into a qipao. Then, along with Wei Chu she headed to toast with the guests. During the toasts, Wei Chu introduced her to aunts, aunties, and many other relatives. Su Le just copied Wei Chu and greeted them. She felt that her eyes were getting dizzy, but everyone laughed as they congratulated them. Even though Su Le felt tired in her heels, she was feeling very happy inside. Her happiness was impossible to conceal.
When they finally reached the table of the younger relatives, Wei Yao beamed at Su Le and Wei Chu. Wei Yao had gained weight after giving birth, but she looked cuter now, "I didn't think that Xiao Le would get together with elder cousin. I still remember when cousin blanked when he stared at our author's meet group photo."
In response, Su Le smiled brightly as she quickly glanced at Wei Chu before saying, "It can't be helped. Your cousin has secretly been in love with me for many years. I have to give him some face."
"Thank you, Empress Su, for giving me this grace," Wei Chu put his arm around Su Le's shoulder. He didn't mind others knowing about it, but how did Xiao Le know that he had secretly been in love with her for years?
When the wedding ended, a group of people made a fuss about the bridal room. Su Le was exhausted when everything ended. She rested on the bed and said, "It would have been much easier if we just each paid the 450 Yuan to get the marriage certificate and be done with it."
"We can't be so casual about something that will only happen once in a lifetime," Wei Chu's gaze fell onto Su Le's waist. The qipao emphasised Su Le's figure and as a gentleman, he had restrained himself long enough.
A hand rested on Su Le's waist but before anything could happen, Su Le quickly got out of bed and entered the bathroom.
Wei Chu looked at his empty hands. Then, he heatedly stared at the closed bathroom door. He really wanted to break it.
Su Le absentmindedly took a bath. Even without looking at the mirror, she knew that her face was completely red. If she said that she wasn't nervous, she would be lying. Su Le bathed for almost an hour before slowly exiting the bathroom. She immediately saw a pair of twinkling eyes.
"You should bathe …"
"Bathe after exercising." What grace, what gentleness, everything had become fleeting clouds at this moment.
In the end, Su Le got caught by a hungry wolf. Her clothes loosened, and then …
The night was beautiful. The bed was soft. But the person who was flipped and turned suffered.
Deep in the night, Wei Chu hugged a person to his chest. He thought back to when they had first met, when his heart moved, and later the pain. Then, they met again, fell in love, and got together.
Perhaps this was fate?
When he first met her, he missed his chance but luckily, he received a second chance. He kissed her forehead that was covered in sweat, "Goodnight, wife."
—————-
After a few days, Qi Jiu finally released another post.
Qi Jiu: I got married. Congratulate me.
In a moment, people she did and didn't know gave their blessings.
Someone called 'Waiting For Happiness' left a comment that only contained a word: wife.
After that, 'Waiting For Happiness' was added into the list of people she took notice of.
"Looks like I didn't work hard enough last night if you're still going on Weibo," someone standing behind her placed their hand on her waist. Su Le let go of the mouse she was holding and spat out, "Leave."
"Wife, don't be angry. I'll massage your shoulders and back." Even though he was cursed, he was still shameless and stuck to her. He smiled so widely that it reached his ears as he stared at the post on Weibo.
"Wife."
"Yes?"
"Hello."
"… I'm very well."
A certain someone smiled.