At that moment, all his repressed emotions burst out.

By the time he realized it, tears were already streaming down his face.

Meanwhile, inside the Su family villa, everyone was filled with joy.

Su Qingran’s engagement was tomorrow, and Jiang Chenlin was someone the Su family elders had watched grow up. Although his family situation was somewhat complicated, both Jiang Ruo and Wen Yue had always treated Su Qingran well, so Su Zhen and Lu Ruolan felt particularly at ease.

“Sis, I’m going to wear this tomorrow,” Su Qiantang said, holding up a beige dress as she stood in front of Su Qingran.

Su Qingran shook her head. “No way, that’s too understated. How can my sister be so low-key? You have to outshine the young beauties from the Jiang and Wen families!”

As she spoke, Su Qingran went to pick out a more eye-catching and beautiful dress for her sister.

The two sisters laughed and teased each other, and Lu Ruolan joined in, insisting that Su Qiantang dress more boldly.

When Su Zhen returned, he saw the three women trying on dress after dress, making him both amused and helpless.

“Dad, have you prepared your speech for tomorrow?” Su Qingran suddenly remembered, worried that her father might say something embarrassing, and quickly asked.

Su Zhen patted his chest. “Your old man gives speeches at the company’s annual meeting to tens of thousands of employees without ever needing a script!”

But Lu Ruolan exposed him: “Your father has been memorizing that 500-word speech under the covers for days, afraid he’ll mess up one word and embarrass you!”

Su Qingran burst into laughter. “Dad, there’ll only be around 200 people at the engagement party, right? Why are you more nervous than when addressing tens of thousands of employees?”

She reached into the left pocket of Su Zhen’s suit and, sure enough, found a handwritten speech.

Tsk, he had even highlighted the key parts with a marker.

And in those highlighted parts, it said:

“May the couple remain loyal, honest, understanding, and supportive of each other, and grow old together in love.”

“Oh my, that’s so cheesy,” Su Qingran said, but her heart still fluttered slightly upon reading those words.

The whole family sat down together to go over the speech, and as they did, Lu Ruolan became emotional and started tearing up again.

Amidst the emotional highs and lows, the night passed, and it was finally the day of the engagement.

The ceremony was set for 11:30 AM, with the banquet starting at 12:30 PM.

Su Qingran was up early. The makeup artist had already arrived at the Su family home and started doing her hair and makeup.

The dress she was going to wear had already been chosen and had been hanging in her wardrobe after being dry-cleaned. Since the weather was still a bit chilly, Su Zhen had arranged for the dress to be sent to the changing room at the engagement venue, so Su Qingran could change there.

With her naturally good complexion, Su Qingran hardly needed any base makeup, yet she already looked radiant. Her beauty was bold and striking, with a stunning visual impact.

Watching from the side, Su Qiantang couldn’t resist taking several pictures.

Then she posted on her social media:

“My sister.”

Su Qiantang was usually shy and didn’t have many contacts in her circle, just her desk mate, the class monitor, some relatives, and Jiang Chenlin.

Still, her unfiltered photos were so gorgeous that someone in her circle must have shared them. Before long, even Su Qingran’s own group chats were buzzing with her photos.

“Whoa, she’s stunning! So in three hours, I’ll get to witness this beauty in person?”

“Aaaah, I’m so jealous of Jiang Chenlin! How come I can’t marry such a gorgeous woman?”

“Ranran, wishing you happiness! I’ve seen you and Chenlin grow up together as childhood sweethearts. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness!”

“She’s getting engaged! Time to continue making all of us single folks jealous. Guess we’ll just survive on this bit of love to sustain us!”

…

The group chat was filled with blessings, and as Su Qingran read through the messages, her heart was full of sweetness.

Just then, a private message popped up:

“Congratulations on your engagement Miss Su.”

It was from Pei Jingyan.

The formal and brief tone was typical of him in Su Qingran’s circle.

Most of the other messages could be answered with a single reply, but Su Qingran felt it necessary to show more respect to a “senior” like him.

So she replied, “Thank you, Mr. Pei. Will you be able to come today?”

Pei Jingyan replied quickly: “I’m on a business trip today, so I won’t be able to make it, but I’ll have my assistant deliver a gift.”

Su Qingran had expected this response. In fact, she suspected that when Jiang Chenlin was in charge of sending the invites to his relatives, he might not have sent one to Pei Jingyan at all.

So she politely replied, “Thank you, Mr. Pei. I appreciate it, and I hope you have a good trip.”

Pei Jingyan didn’t reply after that.

Su Qingran set her phone aside, and her hairstyle was already finished. Once her parents and cousin were ready, it would be time to head to the banquet hall.

After much persuasion from Lu Ruolan, Su Qiantang finally agreed to wear a slightly brighter outfit than usual. She also removed her black-rimmed glasses, which she had worn for years to hide her face, and instantly looked much prettier.

Su Qingran pulled her sister along into the car, not giving her a chance to back out, and they headed to the banquet hall together.

With an hour left before the engagement party, the guests hadn’t arrived yet.

When Su Qingran got out of the car, Jiang Chenlin was already waiting at the entrance.

He was wearing the same suit from the other day, looking tall and handsome. Behind him, Jiang Ruo and Wen Yue greeted Su Qingran’s family warmly.

The two families happily discussed the final details of the event together.

Su Qingran headed to the changing room to put on her dress.

Outside the room, Jiang Chenlin leaned against the corridor wall, occasionally glancing at his watch.

As it neared 11:00, Jiang Chenlin approached Su Qingran and said, “Ranran, wait for me for a bit. I’m going to pick someone up and will be right back.”

Su Qingran nodded. “Alright, I’ll greet the guests in the meantime.”

Jiang Chenlin stepped out of the banquet hall. As he turned, he caught sight of Su Qingran in her white wedding gown.

He stared at her for a few seconds, his hand in the pocket of his trousers tightening. The ring box in his palm pressed painfully against his hand, but he suddenly turned around and disappeareddown the corridor.