Chapter 25 – Finally, the day arrived

After becoming legally married, the communication between Zhou Ziyi and Yan Xiuzhi increased.

It wasn’t because their relationship had progressed by leaps and bounds, but because the wedding was approaching. Although many details were determined by Zhou Ziyi, it was still necessary to symbolically communicate with Yan Xiuzhi. Even though Mr. Yan was busy, he still took a day to try on the wedding suit again and personally visited the hotel.

Zhou Ziyi even linked arms with Yan Xiuzhi and walked around the hall, not letting go even during the final discussion and communicating with the hotel staff for quite a while. Yan Xiuzhi, whether out of habit or for some other reason, didn’t mind the man hanging onto him. He just stood there quietly, listening to Zhou Ziyi discuss the details with the staff and occasionally answering his questions.

Upon hearing that Yan Xiuzhi had come in person, the hotel manager immediately call his superior the deputy general manager, and they hurried down to greet them. After they got into Yan Xiuzhi’s car, they whispered, “Indeed, they are truly affectionate!”

The deputy general manager nodded, “I heard that Yan Xiuzhi never used to bring a female companion to social events, nor did he like others getting too close to him. However, today he held hands with Mr. Zhou the entire time, so it seems he values his partner very much.”

The hotel manager muttered, “I wonder who this Mr. Zhou really is…”

The deputy general manager said, “Regardless of who he is, we must treat him well. Let everyone remember his face, and next time we see him, be more astute so that Yan Xiuzhi doesn’t feel we’ve disrespected him.”

“Understood!”

*
No matter how Zhou Ziyi feels, “it seems like something is not ready yet,” the wedding day has finally arrived.

Although the hall ceremony and the evening banquet are both Western-style, because of the Chu family’s traditions, Yan Xiuzhi still went to pick up the bride in the morning. Two nights ago, Zhou Ziyi returned to the rental house with a bag, and the next morning, a group of stylists and makeup artists came to the house. They tidied him up and then left.

Of course, it wasn’t a complete finish, but a move to the hotel. They would touch up the makeup for the newlyweds before the hall ceremony. At this point, only Tang Shirong and a wedding photographer were left with Zhou Ziyi.

Tang Shirong was the groomsman on Zhou Ziyi’s side today, unique and unparalleled. In fact, some people who knew Zhou Ziyi, upon hearing the news that he was marrying Yan Xiuzhi, had openly or secretly offered to come and help Zhou Ziyi. However, Zhou Ziyi had refused all of them.
As for Tang Shirong, there was nothing wrong with him.

Although he is the only one, his level of excitement can match that of ten people. He boasted, “It’s just that we didn’t have the shoe-finding game. If we did, I guarantee that Yan Xiuzhi wouldn’t be able to find anything even if he dug three feet into the ground.” This was not an empty boast. Just asking for auspicious words, he entangled Yan Xiuzhi for ten minutes.

Today, Yan Xiuzhi recruited Li Fei as a bridesmaid—Li Fei was actually there to help with the proceedings—and found a cousin from the Chu family to be a groomsman. Li Fei and this cousin gave Tang Shirong several rounds of red envelopes, creating a lively atmosphere, and finally made it possible for Yan Xiuzhi to take Tang Shirong away.

The convoy for picking up people was arranged by the Chu family, with ten cars. Not particularly numerous, but each one was a luxury car with a recognizable name, and even the lead car was quite prestigious. The first three were even limited edition extended limousines. As the convoy drove through the streets, it constantly attracted the attention and photo-taking of passersby, which naturally added to its grandeur.

In theory, Yan Xiuzhi should have taken Zhou Ziyi home to “meet the parents” after picking him up. However, Yan Wenwu made it clear that he strongly disagreed with the marriage and would not attend the wedding. Upon consideration by the Chu family, they decided to cancel this part and proceed directly to the wedding in the afternoon. Otherwise, even if Yan Xiuzhi and Zhou Ziyi were to enter the Yan family’s gates, they might not be able to complete the respectful tea ceremony happily. What kind of situation would that be?

After the wedding ceremony, the convoy went straight to the hotel, and by this time it was already noon.

There was no banquet scheduled for noon, so the hotel prepared a simple meal for the newlyweds, the groomsmen and bridesmaids who had arrived at the hotel, the filming crew, makeup artists, and others. Although it was called a simple meal, the food was quite exquisite. Tang Shirong expressed his fondness for having steak for lunch, but he couldn’t drink too much at noon, so he only had a sip of red wine.

After the meal, everyone went to rest in their hotel rooms.

Naturally, the newlyweds shared a room.

The room was spacious, but there was only one large bed. Zhou Ziyi hadn’t thought much of it before, as two grown men staying in the same room wouldn’t be a problem, but when it was just the two of them left, he suddenly felt a bit awkward.

It was strange that there hadn’t been this kind of subtle atmosphere when they were changing out of their formal attire earlier. How did things become different after just having lunch?

After thinking it over, the only thing he could blame was the room being decorated in such an ambiguous manner.

The hotel’s arrangement of the bridal suite follows a standard process: rose petals scattered on the bed, the floor, and in the bathtub, a whole bouquet of flowers, a heart-shaped flower box, and red and white heart-shaped balloons drifting on the ceiling. When Zhou Ziyi and Yan Xiuzhi had come here earlier, they had changed clothes and gone straight to dinner without having the time to appreciate the setup. Now, with the door closed, the two of them were to be alone in a confined space for two hours… Zhou Ziyi suddenly realized this and felt unsure of what to do.

His eyes subconsciously looked around and the room’s decoration made him even more awkward.

Yan Xiuzhi hadn’t noticed anything unusual. He took off his jacket and hung it in the wardrobe, then turned to look at Zhou Ziyi. “What are you standing there for?”

Zhou Ziyi snapped back to reality and casually picked a topic, “Oh… by the way, Brother Tang transferred the red envelope money to me just now. Should I give it to you?”

Yan Xiuzhi looked puzzled, “What red envelope money?”
“It’s the red envelope that Sister Fei and your cousin gave to Brother Tang when they came to pick me up,” Zhou Ziyi explained. “Brother Tang said it contained 80,000, but it’s not auspicious to have cash back, so he transferred it to me.”

Yan Xiuzhi said, “No need to return it, it’s meant for you.”

Zhou Ziyi continued, “He said he wasn’t really asking for the red envelope, he just wanted to liven up the atmosphere for you…”

Yan Xiuzhi interrupted him, “Then keep it.”

Zhou Ziyi asked, “Huh?”

“It’s for you,” Yan Xiuzhi said lightly, “You’ve been running around a lot lately for the wedding. I know you’ve been busy.”

“But…” Zhou Ziyi looked puzzled, “this is my duty…”

Yan Xiuzhi felt that Zhou Ziyi was quite contradictory.
He obviously needed money badly and had done a lot of things for money. But suddenly, when he was given some unexpected money, he began to doubt whether he should accept it.

These details made Yan Xiuzhi even more convinced that Zhou Ziyi had a decent character.

— He was someone trustworthy.

“Take it if it’s given to you,” Yan Xiuzhi paused, then continued with the topic of the red envelope, “Are the red envelopes for the makeup artist and the photographer enough? If not, ask Li Fei for more.”

“It’s enough,” Zhou Ziyi replied, “The makeup artist gave ten in the morning, and the photographer gave one, the drivers from the car team…”

“You don’t need to report to me, just manage it yourself,” Yan Xiuzhi interrupted him, “Also, if you want to improve anything at home in the future, you can tell me. The monthly allowance is for you, you don’t need to use it for the family.”

President Yan was almost saying “I don’t lack money.”

Zhou Ziyi was stunned for a moment and then smiled, “Mr. Yan, aren’t you afraid that I’ll make false claims?”

Yan Xiuzhi said lightly, “You wouldn’t dare.”

Zhou Ziyi: “…”

Well, I don’t dare. What if I provoke Mr. Yan and he doesn’t give me the remaining contract money?
With this digression, Zhou Ziyi’s awkwardness disappeared. He smiled and pointed to the bed, “Take a rest.”

Yan Xiuzhi asked him, “What about you?”

“Me? I’ll just take a nap on the sofa, anyway, it’s so wide,” Zhou Ziyi paused and added, “By the way, this bed can rotate. If Mr. Yan wants to see the outside view from the bed, it can be turned towards the window.”

Saying that, Zhou Ziyi walked to the window and looked outside, “Oh, you can even see the place where we will hold the wedding in the afternoon. It looks pretty nice, the pool is so clear, like a sapphire!”

Yan Xiuzhi unexpectedly chimed in, “Didn’t you say the pool looks better at night?”

“That’s because we went to see it at night,” Zhou Ziyi stood by the window, turned to look at Yan Xiuzhi “But in the daytime, it will be brighter and also very beautiful! Do you want to take a look?”

Yan Xiuzhi was not very interested, “You will be standing there for a long time in the afternoon.”

“But it’s different to stand inside and see the whole view from above,” Zhou Ziyi smiled, “And they should be starting to prepare our venue, with lots of flowers arranged. Won’t you take a look?”

Yan Xiuzhi actually still felt indifferent. However, as he looked at the young man in front of the French window, observing the other’s joyful smile, he felt as though the splendid daylight outside had framed the person with a golden border.

Yan Xiuzhi stood up and walked towards him.

Zhou Ziyi explained to him by the window, “We use fresh flowers for our ceremony. The weather is too hot, and the sun is too strong, so we can’t arrange too early. We are starting to arrange the floral bouquets around and the flower arches and altar made of fresh flowers will be prepared indoors where there is air conditioning, and then we will put them out later…”

As he described these things, he couldn’t help but point around. Yan Xiuzhi stopped next to him, not stopping his rambling, but following his fingers down.

The hotel’s outdoor swimming pool was right below, with clear, blue-tinted water, and the sunlight reflected shimmering ripples on the surface. The pool was divided into several sections, the main and largest one being a long, geometric shape, surrounded by beautiful wedding decorations and flowers. The colors of bright red and pure white intertwined, and at a glance, one could see the jubilation and sanctity it represented.

Above the pool, a glass bridge had been erected, very close to the water surface, with no guardrails on either side, only two rows of simple and elegant independent flower stands. When the couple walked on it, especially the bride in a pure white wedding dress, it would become a dreamlike scene.

But there certainly wouldn’t be a bride today.

However, looking at the swimming pool hall from above, it was indeed very beautiful. This was the result of Zhou Ziyi’s repeated discussions.

“That’s great… The weather is also very good, too good.” Zhou Ziyi looked down at the blue pool below and sighed, “To be able to seize such an opportunity. If I have a chance to have a real wedding in the future, it definitely won’t compare to today.”

Yan Xiuzhi glanced at him, “Today’s wedding is real.”

“Cough, sorry, I misspoke,” Zhou Ziyi blinked at him, “You’re right, we’ve already registered, today is a real wedding. Ge, are you ready?”

Yan Xiuzhi: “Ready for what?”

Zhou Ziyi smiled, “Ready to kiss your partner.”