Lili never liked interpreting. She preferred translating to interpreting. But now, she had no other choice. Her parents' English was rubbish, and it wasn't enough for them to have a talk with neither Lei nor Mr. Jin.
"I told you that even though you work for Germans, you should learn English," Lili whispered to her mother, who only made a hissing sound at her and then smiled brightly at Lei again.
"So, when do you think we should plan the wedding? Where will it be? Here or could you get to Hong Kong? Or will there be two of them?" Weiwu asked her parents and actually took away Lili's breath with those questions.
Somehow, it still really didn't occur to her. For Lili, the engagement was something Lei wanted and needed. She, on the other hand, felt they knew each other just a little for them to hurry so much.
"Why don't we slow down a bit?" she asked Weiwu, who confusedly looked at her.
"Do you regret it?" Lili hurriedly shook her head, raising her hands in panic.
"I just… we have known each other for a few months. We are still young. We have time before getting married, so we should live together first. Talk. Know if it really works." Lili panicked a bit again. She never imagined it to be like this.
"And I don't think there is a need for two weddings. Only one is enough with just a few people…" her voice was getting smaller and smaller. Weiwu wanted to say something, but Lei stopped him and shook his head. He got up from his chair and kneeled next to her.
"Is it too much?" Lei asked softly, holding her hands. The slight shaking of her head made him smile.
"Breath. I will wait as much as you need. No need to hurry or worry. I will explain it to my father," Lei whispered to her and it really calmed Lili down. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
The few seconds of feeling the sun on her face and the warmth of Lei's hands had relaxed her and calmed down the frightened pacing of her heart.
"Thank you," she said to Lei and finally smiled at him. Lili had been just too nervous since this morning. Her mother noticed it. She even saw Lili starting hyperventilating at the mention of the wedding. Ready to help her, she was overtaken by Lei.
"He is good for you. I acknowledge he knows you as well as I do…" Mary whispered to Lili when she calmed down.
The past few months, when she heard about Lili's engagement, she tried hard to learn at least English. Now, she understood and could get some sentences.
"I'm sorry that I pressured you. I just don't want you to run away from him…" Weiwu apologized for his enthusiasm. But Lili laughed.
"It's okay. I'm okay now. And I won't run away. That's why I agreed with him to put a ring on me. To tie him up too." They all laughed except George, who had no idea what they were talking about until Mary explained it to him.
"Mrs, your order has arrived." The server came inside and brought many dishes that Mary had ordered before they arrived.
"Tell him I choose things I thought they would want to try when they are in Czech, but with luxury taste," Mary nudged into Lili to translate it. Weiwu nodded and thanked.
"And we have a gift for them, but I'm afraid it needs to be shipped separately. I hope they will have a place to put it. It's a chandelier."
"A what?!" Lili exclaimed and shocked looked at her mother, then her gaze slid to Lei and Weiwu. Then back at her parents.
"Do you think they will mind if I strangle you right here before them?" she hissed and lowered her voice. "I told you something small and not ugly!"
"Too bad we already paid for it. So either it will be given to Mr. Jin or it will get installed in our home…" Lili's hair stood up in a panic. She knew her mother's taste too well to agree to have it at home. Especially when she would inherit the house they lived in.
'I'm sorry…' she thought to herself and begged for forgiveness inside her mind.
"Rather father-in-law than me…" she whispered and straightened herself while smiling at Mr. Jin, conveying the message about the chandelier. Lei's father thanked and Lili was silently hoping the chandelier was nice and chic and not something tacky.
Actually, the rest of the dinner went very well. Lili had fun trying to explain the cultural differences, especially those with living together and not being married. Which was pretty usual in Czechia, not that usual in Asia.
"No, we think we should just live together first before we marry, to see if it works or not. You know, divorce is expensive. So you need to have that in mind…" Lili explained to baffled Weiwu. Lei was already used to different things. He liked some of them. And some were just plain weird for him.
"Oh," Lili just remembered something. She took out the papers and gave them to Lei. It was something she asked for from Anna, Lucy's mother, who was a lawyer.
"This is a prenuptial agreement." Lei skimmed through the pages, looked Lili in the eyes, and tore a few pages at the time.
"What are you doing? It could only be modified if you didn't like something!" she exclaimed and dived in for the papers. But Lei evaded her hands and caught Lili by her waist.
"I won't sign papers like this… With you, never…" he said calmly. Weiwu looked at him with furrowed brows.
"Are you sure?" he asked. Lei nodded resolutely and Lili grimaced with desperation. Weiwu smiled and nodded, then he smiled at Lili's parents and, with his distinctive English, spoke up.
"What's my son's, is Lili's too. No need for agreements like this. Your daughter will soon be a wife of a billionaire. So we need a huge wedding…" Mary looked really shocked at first, taking her time to understand. But then her face lit up, and she nodded.
"Big wedding, yes. Huge," she agreed with her own broken English. Lili cried out with frustration, but all of them ignored her as they started using a translator to communicate without her.
"Just leave it to them and me," Lei whispered into her ear and sat her on his lap. Lili slumped and made a pouting face, knowing she had no opinion in here anymore. At least for now.
"Do you want a western or an eastern wedding?" her mom asked and Lili did not know what to choose…
Well, it would be better to not ask her anything for now. Her mind blacked out when Lei's breath brushed on her neck.
"Choose what you want or we will do both." She kissed the back of her neck and Lili shivered.
"I don't know," she cried out and buried her head in her hands. They were all bullying her…