Lili was really uncomfortable and nervous. It wasn't because she didn't want to get married to Lei. But because she forgot how big this wedding was. She realized that only yesterday, when they all moved to the hotel, the marriage took place.
And, hell, kill her. But it was too much for her.
Everything looked grand and expensive, and it was packed with people. Thankfully, they would excuse her limited knowledge of Cantonese customs. She was told what to expect by four people already and fortunately, she didn't mess up the tea ceremony. But now, face to face with Heng Tai… Lili was confused. Why were they so… savage?
She saw Lei's, the groom's side, eating wasabi mochi, drinking chili with water, doing planks for two minutes and that wasn't the end of it? Lucy actually took out her makeup kit and made almost all of Lei's friends into women with colorful and bright faces. That Lili didn't even know Lucy had palettes of those colors.
Lili turned to Mimi, who stayed behind with her, and gave her her own bag with makeup remover and basic makeup things.
"Can you please go to Huobai and pass him this?" she asked, keeping the Czech tradition that the groom shouldn't see her before the wedding. Mimi nodded, watching her fiancée, to be a living canvas, in horror.
"They will be here soon. Lei actually paid them a lot of Hong Kong dollars. We thought it would hold them back longer." Junfeng ran inside and nodded at Silva.
"Don't torture them like that, please. I want to be done with everything." Lili moaned and heard a commotion in the front room.
"They are ready. All guests and everyone is waiting at the reception." Lili took care of her sweaty palms and got up. The dress she had on was beautiful white with a rich a-skirt and crimson red plum blossoms and diamonds on it, held up on her with spaghetti straps. It was heavy when she got up, but stunning.
"We are going," Lucy said, and everything after that was just a smudge for Lili. She walked through the halls of the hotel to the outside garden. Everyone was seated and could see her approaching through the open door.
But Lili stopped by and waited for her father to take her to Lei. It was so beautiful. The sun shining enlightened her husband in its warmth, the rows of chairs beautifully decorated. Lei was standing in front of a round gate made of flowers and greenery. He looked at her and bit his lip. She knew it was a sign he was holding back tears. And that watered Lili's eyes. A song Lei requested started playing, and Lili's mouth widened in a huge smile. It was a song about a drunken Scotsman, but slowed down a lot and played on a piano with such emotions.
She took the first step, grateful father was there to hold her, and then, watching only Lei, slowly went up to him, while everyone was staring at her. Normally she would be uncomfortable in a situation like that, but now her eyes were only on him. And his gaze never left her. She could feel it. The closer she was, the more she could see that he really almost cried. Lei even raised his hand to sweep away that one tear that escaped and nothing made Lili love him even more.
Lili stopped next to him and smiled, blinking so she wouldn't cry. He was so dashing in a black tuxedo, making his fit body stand out even more. He wore a small plum blossom, a symbol of resilience and perseverance chosen to represent their determination to overcome anything together.
"You look amazing," he breathed out, and Lili laughed.
"You are even more dashing than usual." He took her hand from her father's hug and smiled at him, and bowed.
"If you hurt her, I will take her back," her father said in Cantonese with perfect pronunciation showing he practiced it for a long time. It surprised both Lei and Lili. Lei became more serious and nodded.
"I promise I will take care of her as best as I can," he answered in English, and Lili translated it. Her father nodded and went to his seat in the first row with Lili's mom and Lei's dad and brother.
The reception was quick. They said yes to each other and left the door to the reception hall of the Rosewood Hotel to get congratulations. They didn't say their vows or promises because, for both of them, it was nothing meaningful. They both preferred actions before words.
A stream of people just flowed through the door to the outside after congratulating them. Only a few were invited to the ceremony. The rest of the guests were invited to the reception hall. One congratulatory message stuck in her head the most. It was from Shan and he showed his maturity. So much Lili got scared for his mental well-being.
"You look amazing together. Always cherish each other. Cherish what you have and even if you argue, make up. There could be once a day when one of you leaves involuntarily. Everything you have done will haunt you. So live together the way you won't regret it," he said and left with such heavy words. Lili looked at Lei.
"I talked to the psychologist, and she said she will take care of their needs when they come to her." That calmed her down a bit, and she continued as if nothing happened, but his words lingered inside her head as a silent reminder for the rest of her life.
An MC took care of everything, and Lili was glad she didn't have to care. Everyone wanted to take a picture with them, everyone wanted to talk to them. The table of gifts was already full and the hotel staff had to move the gift to another room, making the table clean, but it was full again moments later. Lili had a feeling that everyone in Hong Kong was invited.
After a meal, cake cutting, dance, and other games that she went through with Lei, Lili was really tired. She sent out a silent signal to Lucy, who promptly took her away and helped her change. Then the party started and at the end of the day, both Lili and Lei were so tired they fell to the bed in the hotel room and fell asleep.
Weeks later, during their honeymoon, Lili and Lei spent most of the week snuggling and relaxing together.
"Do you know I love vacations like this the most?" she said and kissed him on his lips again.
"Oh, and I have a surprise for you when we will come back to Czechia." Lei stopped caressing her, wondering why they had to go back to Czechia. And Lili correctly decoded his confusion.
"Because in Czechia, I have my gynecologist and only he can confirm my suspicion." Lei sat up staring at her, his eyes widened with confusion.
"Well, after the not-nice summer, my period had really been messed up. They said it was because of the stress and trauma and everything and told me it will get better once my psyche will get better. Well, I hadn't had my period in two months. After a phone consultation, I was told to try a pregnancy test…" Lili got up and Lei suddenly knew where she had disappeared yesterday for a long time.
She opened the drawer and took out a long tube-like thing that Lei immediately recognized. It was a pregnancy test and, as he soon noticed. Positive.
"You will be a father…" Lucy smiled and Lei almost passed out from happiness. From that day on, he was worse momma chicken to Lili than Chao to Yitian.