“This photo was taken when we were volunteering together. After a long day, I almost had a heatstroke because I wasn’t used to physical work. He went far to buy me some herbal cooling water and sat in the welfare center fanning me. It was an elderly lady at the center who captured this moment with my phone.”

“And this one…”

Su Qingran introduced the photos one by one. At first, the guests were still wondering why the groom hadn’t arrived, but soon they were engrossed in the stories.

More than ten years of memories, dozens of meaningful photos, enough to last a lifetime.

These photos were a testament to their journey together.

Su Qingran noticed that the slideshow was nearing its last few images.

She felt as though an invisible hand was tightening around her throat, making it harder to speak. She didn’t know if Jiang Chenlin would show up by the time she finished, but she had no choice but to continue.

There was no other option.

“This one was taken last year. I stayed up late carving, and my neck hurt. I had Xiaoyun from my shop massage my neck, but Jiang Chenlin sent her away, saying her technique wasn’t professional. To prevent me from developing neck problems from my work, Jiang Chenlin had spent a month volunteering at a blind massage clinic to learn proper massage techniques. He massaged me so well that I almost fell asleep. Xiaoyun secretly took this photo.”

She reached the last photo.

“This one I took secretly just half a month ago when we were trying on our outfits. I came out of the fitting room and was stunned by how handsome he looked, so I snapped a quick photo.”

Su Qingran vividly remembered that day. She thought that after so many years together, they were like an old married couple. Yet when she opened the door and saw Jiang Chenlin in his suit, her heart still skipped a beat.

All their past moments seemed to be coming to a close with the final photo.

Su Qingran still didn’t know why Jiang Chenlin was late or if she would ever forgive him after today.

As the slideshow faded to black, the guests below were laughing, crying, and applauding.

They began to shout in unison, “Groom, come out! If you don’t, we’ll steal the bride!”

Standing there, Su Qingran saw the smiles on everyone’s faces, but all she felt was a dizzying sense of unease.

Lu Ruolan could no longer stand it. She couldn’t bear to see her daughter struggle alone on stage any longer. Standing up, she prepared to pull Su Qingran off the stage.

Just then, someone in the audience exclaimed, “Oh my god, there was an accident at the intersection up ahead 20 minutes ago! An electric car lost control and crashed into another vehicle, then exploded. It seems like everyone involved was hurt!”

The person next to them quickly hushed them, “Keep your voice down! We’re at an engagement party. Why are you talking about that?”

Realizing their mistake, the person whispered, “Hopefully no one heard that.”

But the next second, Su Qingran, who had been standing on stage, was suddenly in front of them.

Her eyes were slightly red, with a faint sheen of tears, but her voice was extremely calm: “What accident? Let me see.”

The girl, a relative from the Wen family, realized she might have caused trouble and tried to hide her phone. However, Su Qingran, appearing composed, quickly took the phone from her hand.

“Please unlock it. Thank you,” Su Qingran said.

The girl, a bit frightened, complied.

Su Qingran immediately saw the news. The report had been posted 10 minutes ago, describing an accident that occurred half an hour earlier.

Calmly, she thought to herself that this timing matched exactly when Jiang Chenlin should have been returning if he was picking someone up. Any later, and he wouldn’t have made it back in time for the engagement ceremony.

Since the accident had just happened, there was no further information available online.

Su Qingran handed the phone back. “Thank you.”

Without another word, and ignoring the confused looks from the guests, she walked swiftly out of the hall.

Jiang Ruo and Su Zhen were at the entrance. Seeing her, they quickly asked, “Ranran, did you hear something?”

Su Qingran heard her own dry voice say, “Half an hour ago, there was an accident at the intersection up ahead.”

Jiang Ruo’s face turned pale.

Su Zhen immediately responded, “We’ll go check right away.”

Some of the guests sensed something was wrong and came over to find out what was happening.

Upon learning the news, everyone’s expressions grew serious.

As concern for Jiang Chenlin’s safety spread, two figures appeared at the entrance to the banquet hall.

It was Jiang Chenlin and a young woman.