CHAPTER 16: WEDDING DRESS

Ruan Zhizhi thought to herself that she had probably overestimated her own resilience.

She really couldn’t forget Li Sicheng. The moment he appeared before her again, it was like seven years ago—she lost completely, utterly defeated.

All day at work she had been absent-minded, and even during lunch when she went to the pantry to get water, she accidentally spilled it all over herself. Beside her, Lu Wanyi, assuming she was sick, grew worried. “Zhizhi, are you okay? You’ve seemed off all day. Do you want to take a leave and go see a doctor?”

Ruan Zhizhi shook her head, forcing a small smile. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I probably didn’t sleep well last night, so I’m just a bit out of it today.”

After Ruan Zhizhi’s repeated assurances, Lu Wanyi reluctantly calmed down and returned to work. Ruan Zhizhi buried her head on her desk and let her mind wander.

That figure—Li Sicheng—was undeniably real. She wouldn’t be mistaken.

He had really returned to A City. But he had been doing so well in the U.S.; why would he come back now, at the peak of his career?

Memories of him flickered through her mind: the way he smiled, the way he played basketball on the playground, how he drunkenly wrapped his arm around her shoulders laughing, and how he told others they were “just friends.”

Her mind was a jumble of conflicting thoughts. After work, she took a taxi home and sank into the sofa, dazed.

Drawing the curtains, she gazed at the lights outside, feeling foolish for being so absent-minded. Li Sicheng must have had his reasons for returning, and none of them concerned her.

Ruan Zhizhi hugged a pillow, lost in thought, forgetting the passage of time. At some point, her phone rang, snapping her back to reality. She struggled to reach for it on the coffee table.

“Hey, darling, what are you doing? Missing me yet?”

It was Gu Nian’s voice on the line—youthful, charming, lively as always.

Ruan Zhizhi stretched lazily, holding the phone to her ear, and replied weakly, “Just hanging at home. What’s up, Miss?”

“Since you’re free, come with me to try on wedding dresses. My wedding with Cheng Fengjin is coming up in a few days.”

Hearing Gu Nian’s sweet voice, Ruan Zhizhi realized how quickly time had passed. The wedding date was almost here.

Biting her lip subconsciously, she scratched her head and apologized, “Ah, sorry, dear. I’ve been so busy with work these past few days that I completely forgot about your wedding. I must be getting senile.”

“No worries, no worries. I know you’ve been busy—what are friends for?” Gu Nian laughed easily. “Get ready, I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay.”

Fifteen minutes later, Gu Nian’s white BMW X5 pulled up in front of Ruan Zhizhi’s building.

When Ruan Zhizhi opened the door, Gu Nian was tapping the steering wheel to the beat of a song she was humming happily, looking positively delighted.

Ruan Zhizhi smiled and teased her, “Looks like our Miss Gu is very pleased about getting married soon.”

Gu Nian turned, her rare oval face flushed. “Stop teasing me! These past few days I haven’t been sleeping or eating well. If Cheng Fengjin weren’t so considerate and attentive to my mood, I’d probably have pre-wedding depression by now.”

“My dear Miss, you should be satisfied. If anyone were lucky enough to have a life like yours, even dreaming would wake them smiling.”

Successful career, carefree life, and about to marry the one she truly loved—how many people were truly that lucky?

The two chatted happily, recalling many moments from their college days. Ruan Zhizhi kept her lips tightly shut, repeatedly considering whether to tell Gu Nian about seeing Li Sicheng a few days ago—but ultimately didn’t.

Revealing it would only invite trouble. This time, she couldn’t afford to make the same mistake.

The car stopped in the underground garage of a high-end shopping mall. Gu Nian parked, and the two of them, arms linked, happily entered the elevator together.

The wedding dress brand chosen by Cheng Fengjin for Gu Nian was the top in A City, a dream come true for many girls.

For Ruan Zhizhi, this was her first time stepping into a bridal boutique. She had always felt marriage was far away, and personally, she had favored late marriage and late childbearing. Even now, considered a semi-“older single woman,” marriage had never been on her mind.

Yet, stepping inside the boutique, she truly felt the longing other girls had for love and marriage. Watching Gu Nian try on one dress after another in front of the full-length mirror, Ruan Zhizhi felt a pang of envy—envy that her friend would walk into marriage with the person she loved most in the world, envy that she could wear a dress, a ring, and no longer face life alone.

Not like her, lonely and solitary.

Gu Nian’s face shone with happiness, trying on five dresses in total. Following Ruan Zhizhi’s advice, she eventually chose the first princess-line dress and the third mermaid-style gown.

Ruan Zhizhi sat on a nearby sofa, scrutinizing each option. Gu Nian had a slim waist and long legs, and both dresses suited her perfectly. Yet Ruan Zhizhi felt something was missing. Gu Nian was her best friend since childhood—of course she wanted her to look as beautiful as possible on this once-in-a-lifetime day.

“Excuse me, are all your best dresses here? Are there others she could try on? Price doesn’t matter—her fiancé has plenty of money.” Ruan Zhizhi thought for a moment, then asked the question deliberately.

The sales assistant with the sweet smile froze for a moment at Ruan Zhizhi’s question, then smiled apologetically. “We do have one of our most prized wedding gowns in the store, very expensive. But… it was pre-ordered by a customer two years ago, so we’ve been keeping it in the back room and never let anyone try it on.”

Ruan Zhizhi frowned in confusion. “How could someone pre-order a wedding dress and not pick it up for two years? Either their wedding was canceled, or they found another dress they liked more. You guys are too honest… keeping it all this time?”

The assistant sighed. “It’s not like that. The gentleman paid a substantial deposit a long time ago, and sometimes he comes by just to check on it. He asked us to keep it reserved for him.”

Gu Nian’s curiosity was piqued. “That’s such a strange person… Did his fiancée ever come to try it on?”

The assistant shook her head. “Never.” She paused, then added, “Honestly, we’ve all wondered about it too, but we didn’t dare pry into the customer’s private matters.”

“And what does this man look like?”

“Extremely handsome, even more than a movie star,” the assistant said, eyes sparkling. “When he reserved this gown, all the girls in the store were practically envious. This dress is our crown jewel, crafted by our overseas designer, fully hand-embroidered, and encrusted with diamonds from top to bottom. It’s so expensive that most people couldn’t afford it even after three or four years of work. We often talked about how lucky his fiancée must be, and how excited we were to see her try it on.”

Gu Nian and Ruan Zhizhi’s interest in the dress grew, and the three of them ended up chatting animatedly about it. But in the end, Gu Nian chose the elegant princess-line gown after all. A gentleman doesn’t snatch another’s preference—and besides, the deposit had already been paid. Though curious, she didn’t make any excessive requests.

At the checkout, Gu Nian couldn’t help sighing, “Compared to this perfect man, I’m even more curious who his lucky fiancée is.”

Ruan Zhizhi smiled silently, taking it as a rare fairy tale in real life.

Much later, when Shi Yan brought her back to this boutique to try on wedding dresses again, she would finally learn that this man had long set his sights on her, and had already decided that one day, she would marry him.

And she would do so willingly.