The man snapped his fingers, and two beautiful assistants who had been helping him assisted Qian Sisi by holding up her train, guiding her outside.
Outside the makeup room was a resplendently beautiful corridor, with white gauze curtains fluttering between enormous relief columns, sunlight sporadically shining down on the intricately patterned, heavy carpet; on both sides of the carpet, flowerpots brimming with vividly colorful flowers vied for attention.
Qian Sisi took a deep breath, feeling her lungs fill with the faint scent of flowers, which lifted her spirits.
Two meters away from her stood a middle-aged man. Qian Sisi suddenly looked up and saw the man, her delicate facial features all scrunched up together.
Could this man be her future husband?
Looking at his age, he could be her dad!
The young girl's fingers involuntarily tightened around the bouquet she was holding, as she tried to breathe in and out... attempting to regain her composure as quickly as possible.
Although the middle-aged man before her was much better than the old man her senior sister had described, both in temperament and appearance, he could be considered a paragon among middle-aged men. But the thought of spending the rest of her life with such a man made Qian Sisi overwhelmingly despondent.
"Sisi..." Turning his head and seeing Qian Sisi standing motionless in the shadow of the column, the middle-aged man seemed to be even more nervous. He called her name and then quickly walked up to her.
Qian Sisi, feeling awkward, opened her mouth but had no idea how to greet the man, so she subconsciously began to draw circles on the ground with the tip of her shoe.
Watching Qian Sisi's little movement, the man's nervousness seemed to fade away and even... his eyes began to show a trace of fatherly affection. He stretched out his arm, "You seem unsteady on your feet. Is this the first time you're wearing high heels? Holding onto me might make it easier."
Qian Sisi looked up in surprise, and after meeting the face of the middle-aged man, she felt a bit embarrassed, giving a sheepish smile, "Yes, it is."
Seeing that she made no move, the middle-aged man took the initiative to pull her hand, wrapped his arm around hers, and led her towards the wedding venue. As they walked, he said, "Sisi, I want to thank you on behalf of Yaoyao."
Qian Sisi was startled and looked up at the man, only to hear him explain, "I am Yaoyao's father."
Yaoyao? It took Qian Sisi several moments to catch on. Oh, the rich girl who didn't want to get married?
So, did her parents owe money to this man before her, and that's why they used her to repay the debt and have her marry on behalf of someone else's daughter?
Qian Sisi secretly patted her chest. That was close; the man before her was the creditor, not the future husband...
But could her future husband be even older and uglier than the creditor before her?
Qian Sisi was on the verge of crying with fright.
"Getting married is a very important event in a girl's life. I am glad I can stand in for your father and be by your side," the creditor said kindly.
Since she had agreed to her parents' request to marry for someone, Qian Sisi hadn't been very resistant to the idea. After all, she was to marry someone someday, and not having met a man she liked in twenty years, it seemed there wasn't much to fuss about whom she married. Moreover, with her parents in such deep debt, how else was she to repay it if not getting married?
However, the creditor's warm approach did unsettle her, so she hastily responded with sincere earnestness, "Please don't say that! It's what I should do!"
The middle-aged man seemed quite taken aback by her reaction, his mouth slightly opening for a moment, his eyes suddenly showing a glint of reluctant guilt, and as if he were a familiar elder, he patted her head and sighed, "My surname is Xie. You can call me Uncle Xie."
Qian Sisi obediently nodded, "Uncle Xie."
Even though Qian Sisi had called the man "uncle" as requested, he seemed to still have a heavy heart, and with another sigh, he finally led Qian Sisi into the hall.
More precisely, it was a grand church.