Yan Yan - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Congrats

After hanging up the phone, Xie Yu didn’t leave until Su Yan’s bedroom turned dark. It was nearly one o’clock in the morning when he got home, but the living room on the first floor was still brightly lit.

He was getting married tomorrow, and his father was still in the hospital, so both his aunts stayed at home tonight to accompany his mother, and it was not surprising that the three sisters were chatting now.

However, as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, his mother’s angry voice came from the living room. “What time is it? He hasn’t come back yet, and I don’t know what ecstasy the little fox has fed him.”

‘You are still complaining and dissatisfied with my future wife.’ Xie Yu felt sad.

The aunt, who had been mild-tempered, was persuaded. “Hey, don’t think too much. Isn’t this a good thing? It shows that the couple has a good relationship.” 

His little aunt also advised. “That’s it; the children have their own thoughts. Sister, don’t worry about it so much.”

Although his aunts tried to persuade his mother to accept Su Yan, his mother didn’t plan to stop there and instead became more aggressive. “It’s not that I don’t want Xie Yu to get married, but that girl is really not worthy of my family. She also looks good, but she dared to talk against me when she first came to the door, and Xie Yu still protects her everywhere. If she married into our family in the future, she would ride on top of my head. Can’t you understand that?”

Both aunts sighed helplessly. The two children were getting married tomorrow, so it was useless to say anything now.

“Why do you think so much? When the two of them get married, you can let them live alone, and you can enjoy your life,” one of his aunts commented.

The other aunt also advised. “I don’t think our Yu is the kind of person who forgets his mother after marrying a daughter-in-law, so sister, don’t worry about it.”

But his mother didn’t listen to her sisters at all and snorted coldly, complaining, “Yes, if it isn’t because his father is in bad health and wants to see him getting married soon, I will definitely not promise him to have a wedding with this little fox!”

Auntie: “Have they got the certificate?”

Ha, she thinks she’s beautiful. I won’t agree with the two of them to get the certificate! I really don’t know what Xie Yu thinks. The Jiang family girl is beautiful, gentle, and capable; every time she visits me, she buys me gifts, and she is nice and obedient, which makes me happy. Not only that, but look at her family background. Can that Su girl compare with Jiang Qi? I don’t know what happened to Xie Yu. Jiang Qi is such a nice girl!”

The more Xie Yu’s mother talked, the more she became angry, and even the aunts could not stop her.

Xie Yu sighed helplessly and walked into the living room with a heavy face. “Is that enough?”

Shen Rong was stunned for a moment and then became angrier, suddenly pointed at her son, and exasperatedly said, “You guys, take a good look; this is the good son I raised; he doesn’t even want his own mother for a little fox!”

“You don’t have to like her, but at least you have to respect her. She is the woman I chose, and when you humiliate her, you humiliate me,” Xie Yu said with a sullen face.

Shen Rong stared at his son with a livid face. “When did I humiliate her? Isn’t her father nouveau riche? If she’s not a little fox, how can she make you fall in love with her? So you don’t want your mother anymore? What did I do to her?”

“…” Xie Yu was utterly speechless.

His mother was messing around now.

Xie Yu nodded and smiled bitterly. “Okay, I wronged you; I apologise, and from tomorrow on, I will not be in your eyes at this house.”

After tomorrow, he would live with his wife at their own home.

After saying that, Xie Yu went upstairs. On the way, he heard his mother’s scolding voice and his two aunts’ comforting voices behind him, but his footsteps didn’t stop; he just felt agitated.

Xie Yu threw himself into bed and sighed. Staring at the shadowy chandelier on the ceiling, he suddenly thought of Jiang Qi. As his mother said, Jiang Qi was beautiful, sensible, and could make elders happy, but she was not the wife he wanted.

When he started a relationship with Jiang Qi, he actually loved her. His love was deep and lingering, and he could not wait to pluck all the stars and moons in the sky and give them to her. But as time went on, his love for Jiang Qi became weaker and weaker, until finally there were no feelings in his heart, so he proposed to her to break up.

It was a sunny day when he proposed breaking up. Jiang Qi cried so much that he felt guilty, but he didn’t feel pity. Since he didn’t love her, they should have separated earlier; otherwise, it would only delay each other’s time.

Jiang Qi cried and begged him not to break up; he sighed lightly and said, “I’m sorry.” Then he stood up from the stool and was about to turn away when Jiang Qi suddenly grabbed his wrist. She stared at him stubbornly and unwillingly. “Did you never put her down?”

He blurted out, “No.”

Jiang Qi smiled—uglier than crying. “I didn’t say a name. So who is she?

“…”

Jiang Qi released her hand and stared at him with a sad and playful look. “How good is that village girl? You still remember her for so many years?”

He was silent.

Jiang Qi cried and asked him again, “Have you never thought about marrying me?”

He didn’t answer, but he knew his answer. ‘Yes, he never thought about marrying Jiang Qi.’

Jiang Qi was warm and unrestrained, like a red rose; she was an excellent girlfriend but not suitable to be a wife.

Jiang Qi had already seen through his thoughts, and she asked angrily and unwillingly, “Then why did you follow me to Xifu in the first place?”

‘Because you were very dazzling at that time, but she was unremarkable.’ Xie Yu could not tell this to Jiang Qi.

One was like a red rose, and the other was like a white rose. He liked both, but his vanity made him choose the red rose at that time. However, during the years with the red rose, he had never forgotten the white rose.

After a long time, he got tired of the red rose, so the red rose became mosquito blood, and the white rose became the white moonlight, which made him yearn, and she was more suitable for a wife than the red rose. This was the answer, but there was no way to tell the truth to Jiang Qi.

The only thing he could say was, “I’m sorry.”

After that, he didn’t stop much, went to the counter to check out, and left.

After breaking up, he lived a single life for a long time. In his spare time, he read books, hung around with friends, and travelled around the world with a bag on his back. During this period, he also met many suitors, but none of them were able to move his heart. But the sense of loneliness always struck in the dead of night. Whenever he had free time, he basically spent his time on his mobile phone, first on Moments, then on Weibo, and then on the QQ space.

[T/L: Moments, Weibo, and QQ Space are social media apps used in China.]

Late one night, he swiped a notice of a party for his junior high school classmates in his circle of friends.

Since studying abroad, he has not had any contact with his junior high school classmates, but he signed up without hesitation and went to the party in a suit as if he were going to attend a formal banquet.

The meeting place was set in a luxury KTV. The lighting in the room was dim, and various colours of light and shadow were intertwined. A female classmate was singing “Little Love Song”. Her voice was delicate and gentle, like a gentle spring breeze.

As soon as he opened the door of the private room, he saw her sitting in the far corner, quietly and obediently admiring others singing.

That day, she wore a pure light green dress with light makeup; her long black hair was like a waterfall; and there was an addictive gentleness between the corners of her eyes and brows, like a weeping willow in March, delicate and moving.

After not seeing her for many years, she had changed a lot. The rustic appearance had been completely washed away, leaving only a pure image.

When he walked into the room, she raised her eyes and looked at him. His heart skipped a beat.

From then on, he was sure that she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

For some reason, his dream was about to come true, but he always had a bad premonition in his heart, and he didn’t know where this premonition came from, so he was always anxious.

The sound of the phone vibrating suddenly sounded in the dark, quiet room.

Buzz… Buzz…

It was an unexpected call. He froze for a while before picking up the phone, but an unfamiliar call appeared on the screen.

‘It’s so late, who could it be?’

After hesitating for a moment, he still answered the phone. “Hello?”

But no one responded.

Xie Yu, who was in a bad mood, became more frustrated. “Who the hell are you?”

“…”

…………………………..

Su Yan got up at five o’clock in the morning because she had to put on bridal makeup. Her mother woke up earlier than her, and she and Yao Anan hadn’t finished washing up yet, but her mother came to call the two of them for breakfast.

At six o’clock, the makeup artist and photographer arrived. At about seven o’clock, the other three bridesmaids also arrived. They had already hidden Su Yan’s shoes last night, so their task this morning was to block the door.

[T/L: Hiding the bride’s shoes is a Chinese marriage custom.]

Su Yan’s younger brother, Su Zhan, was just a 20-year-old boy. In Su Yan’s eyes, this kid had a standard, silly white face.

When Su Yan was sitting in front of the dressing table to touch up her makeup, her silly brother walked around her and said, “Don’t worry, sisters, as long as your younger brother still has a breath, it is absolutely impossible for those stinky men to break the defence, unless the surnamed Xie gives enough red envelopes to the sisters; otherwise, I won’t tolerate.”

Su Yan: “…” ‘If you behave like this in school, you won’t be single until now.’ Su Yan sighed.

Although Su Yan was annoyed with her brother, the bridesmaids and Su Yan’s other friends praised Su Zhan for being cute and smart.

As the sun rose, there were more and more guests at home, and the four bridesmaids had to close the door ahead of time.

After taking another round of photos, Su Yan’s headgear suddenly loosened. Since the first wedding dress was a Chinese embroidery dress, the matching headgear was also more complicated. She had to sit in front of the makeup mirror again and let her makeup artist fix it. So the four bridesmaids had nothing to do and pulled Su Zhan to play and take selfies.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Su Zhan went to open the door, and he saw his mother standing there with a strange man with a gentle appearance. A black, long, flat wooden box was placed on the ground near him.

Su Zhan gave his mother a puzzled look.

His mother, Liu Xiang, replied, “The photographer wants to take some additional photos for the bridesmaids, so you can lead those sisters downstairs.” 

Su Zhan: “Oh.”

Liu Xiang did not leave but said to her daughter, “Someone has come to give you a wedding gift.”

Su Yan heard the words and looked at the door.

The unfamiliar man smiled at her, saying, “I’m Mr. Bai’s assistant, and I’m here to send you a wedding gift for him.”

Only then did Su Yan think of the WeChat message Bai Xingfan sent her last night and hurriedly said, “Oh, thank you so much!”

Although she didn’t expect that he would let his assistant deliver gifts home directly, she didn’t find it strange because, when she was in the ancient town, she had asked his driver to bring things home for her, so he knew her home address. So that was normal.

After getting permission, the assistant walked into the room with the tray, stood beside Su Yan, and opened the wooden box with one hand.

Liu Xiang also followed curiously, stretched her neck, and glanced at the box.

The box was lined with dark green velvet lining, and three pure gold leaves lay on the lining in an orderly manner. The forging was exquisite and lifelike. Su Yan couldn’t help reaching out and carefully pinching a gold leaf.

There was a pattern engraved in the centre of each leaf, but because the pattern was too thin and hollow, Su Yan couldn’t see what was engraved on the leaf she was holding for a while.

After studying it for a while, she put the leaf back in its original place, smiled, and said to Bai Xingfan’s assistant, “Please thank Mr. Bai on my behalf. I like this gift very much.” 

As long as the gift wasn’t expensive, she didn’t have any problems.

But who would have thought the assistant would reply, “You misunderstood; this is just an accessory to the gift.”

“Ah?” Su Yan was stunned.

The assistant said, “Mr. Bai said that these three leaves are the three wishes he promised you. As long as you put it forward, no matter what your wish is, he will try his best to satisfy it, even if he has to go through fire and water.”

Su Yan was stunned. She didn’t expect Bai Xingfan to be so generous.

The gift was too expensive, and she was too embarrassed to ask for it, but when she was about to refuse, her mother, Liu Xiang, asked curiously, “Really, anything can be done?” 

The assistant nodded lightly. “Yes, Mr. Bai said, even if Miss Su wants his life, he can give it to her.”

Su Yan: ‘What do I want his life for?’

Liu Xiang asked again, “Young man, who is the boss Bai you are talking about? Is he very powerful?”

The assistant said, “CEO of Haoyuan Group, Bai Xingfan.”

The Haoyuan Group was the Bai Group in the public’s mouth.

The female makeup artist who was tidying up Su Yan’s headdress suddenly stopped and looked at the assistant in surprise and shock. Their wedding company provided high-end services and often took over wedding orders from wealthy or noble families, so they also had a certain understanding of the upper-class circle of Dongfu.

Bai Xingfan was recognised as the crown prince of the Bai family, the heir brought out by the old master Bai himself, but the attribute of not being close to women was not a joke.

‘Wait, not close to women? Then…..’ The makeup artist was stunned. The makeup artist glanced at the tray in the assistant’s hand in surprise and then quietly glanced at the bride, thinking, ‘They say that he is not close to women, but the truth is, he is still thinking about other people’s wives.’

Liu Xiang was a housewife, so she had never heard of Haoyuan, but she knew the title of CEO, and she was surprised when she heard it. Before Su Yan refused, she decided. “Thank you, we will accept this gift. Now, go back and tell your Mr. Bai, if he has time, come and have a meal at home, and we will thank him.”

Su Yan was extremely helpless. “Mom! Do you know how valuable this gift is? How can we accept it?” Looking at the assistant, she said apologetically, “I’m sorry, my mother is like that; don’t listen to her; I can’t accept this gift.”

The assistant replied, “I’m sorry, Miss Su; my job is to give gifts, not to return them.” After speaking, he put the tray on the dresser in front of Su Yan and said, “I wish you a happy wedding.” Then he turned around and left.

Su Yan: “…”

Liu Xiang patted her on the shoulder. “It was given to you as a gift, so just take it. Maybe one day you can also help him.”

Su Yan was too lazy to explain it to her mother, and she couldn’t explain it. After all, the gap between ideas and concepts was too big, so she could only reply, “It’s alright, I see; you can go and entertain the guests.” But she thought, after the wedding, she should return the gift.

Bai Xingfan’s generosity was Bai Xingfan’s business. He was rich and fearless, but she, Su Yan, couldn’t accept such an expensive gift.

Liu Xiang sighed helplessly and went downstairs to entertain the guests.

Not long after her mother went down, Yao Anan came back first.

“Where are the three of them?” Su Yan asked.

“Went to the washroom.” Yao Anan walked to Su Yan, saw the three golden leaves, and couldn’t help but ask, “Wow, what is this?”

Su Yan didn’t want to say so much, but so as not to cause misunderstanding, she said concisely, “A gift from a friend.”

Yao Anan: “Can I see it?”

“Of course you can.” However, Su Yan still reminded her. “Be careful; don’t break it; this thing is a bit expensive, and I dare not accept it.” Since it was a gift to be returned, it must be returned without any damage.

“Got it!” Yao Anan held the wooden box in both hands, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, pinched a leaf out of it, and held it up high at the window.

Under the bright sunshine, the delicate, thin leaves glowed with dazzling golden light, and the blue sky became the background, which perfectly filled the gaps in the hollow pattern.

Yao Anan was fascinated by this piece of art and suddenly realised that the blue sky had turned into water and the pattern in the hollow was actually a mountain.

Surprised, she picked up the second leaf and pointed it to the sky. A bridge appeared in the “water”. ‘Wait, why is this bridge familiar? It seems like the West Lake Broken Bridge?’

Then she recognised the pattern on the third leaf as the ‘West Lake Long Bridge’. Then the pattern on the first leaf is, ‘Lonely Mountain?’

As they all knew, the Three Mountains of the West Lake were not so friendly to couples after all. ‘Lonely Mountain’ reflected loneliness, and broken bridges indicated that the heart was broken; long bridges were not long, but grudges were long.

Yao Anan frowned immediately. ‘Is this a wish for a long-lasting happy wedding? I think it’s to wish people an early divorce, right? Who gave the gift? It’s too cruel! It may have been given by a jealous woman.’

End of Chapter 4

Have a nice day!