At the Lou family’s old residence, Aunt Chen was the first to send a few photos of Lou Jingyi and Yan Hao walking down the stairs together, which left Zhao Laifang utterly thrilled.
Next came the photo of the marriage certificate sent directly by Lou Jingyi.
Zhao Laifang grabbed a magnifying glass and examined it closely. “Look at this, how well-matched they are!”
Lou Chang couldn’t help stealing a few extra glances either. The anger caused by Lou Jingyi’s rejection of the wedding last night had already vanished.
“Hmph, but not having a wedding still won’t do!”
Song Ying wore a troubled expression. “Dad, Jingyi isn’t willing right now either. What can we do?”
Placing the magnifying glass down on the table, Zhao Laifang voiced her concerns. “Your father and I discussed it last night. Since Jingyi and Yan Hao don’t have much affection for each other yet, a wedding definitely needs to be held, but not right now.”
Lou Minhe asked, “Mom, are you saying… wait until they develop feelings for each other before holding it?”
Zhao Laifang countered, “A person only gets married once in their life. If the wedding isn’t happy, can it even be done over?”
The older generation held the romantic wish of marrying only once and staying deeply in love until old age.
“To make Yan Hao face Jingyi’s stiff, expressionless face at a wedding? We might as well skip it for now. Let’s hold off on the wedding and discuss it further when Old Master Yan returns from abroad.”
“However… I have my own thoughts on this as well.” Zhao Laifang paused, letting out a sigh. “If they ultimately end up taking the path of divorce in the future, then skipping the wedding is for the best.”
Zhao Laifang knew her grandson’s temper all too well—when he was stubborn, he was truly stubborn. Rather than forcing it, it was better to just get the marriage license first, sparing Yan Hao any awkwardness or discomfort at a wedding.
Lou Minhe agreed, “Mom is right. Yan Hao’s parents have passed away. If she really does divorce Jingyi and remarries later on, our Lou family will be her second maternal home.”
It was a very realistic issue: if the two children remained loveless after marriage, they couldn’t be forced to stay together indefinitely. The betrothal had originally been established with the goal of a business alliance. Over the years, neither family had ever entertained the idea of canceling it, so the Lou family naturally had to honor the engagement. As for the future, they would just have to take it one step at a time.
“I have decades of friendship with Ah Hui; I certainly won’t treat her only daughter poorly.”
Song Ying nodded, her eyes carrying a trace of sorrow. “Of course. It’s just such a pity for Yan Hao…”
Song Ying and Yan Hao’s mother had been close friends for over a decade. She had been devastated when the couple passed away, let alone how Yan Hao must have felt.
Zhao Laifang and Lou Chang fell silent for a moment as well.
A few seconds later, Zhao Laifang asked, “I heard from Du Lai that Jingyi is going on a business trip in three days?”
“Yes, Mom. He’s heading overseas for half a month.”
“How can that be?” Zhao Laifang frowned. “Going on a business trip right after getting married.”
Lou Minhe also felt it wasn’t quite right, but since the project required it, he spoke up a bit for his son, “Mom, this was already negotiated with the business partners. We can’t waste their time either.”
“Well, in any case, have them come back tomorrow. Getting a certificate calls for a celebration—invite some of the relatives over too.”
“Understood, Mom.”
Song Ying added, “Since they’ve already registered their marriage, not a single thing that a Lou family granddaughter-in-law deserves can be left out. I’ll immediately have someone transfer a few properties under my name to Yan Hao.”
Lou Chang chimed in, “As her grandfather, I won’t fall behind either. I’ve already prepared mine ahead of time.”
Zhao Laifang nodded. “Alright, we’ll give them to Yan Hao tomorrow.”
Yan Hao spent a few hours in her room until Aunt Chen called her down for dinner.
To her surprise, Lou Jingyi was actually there. When she returned earlier and hadn’t seen him, she had assumed he was going out for the evening as usual.
“Young Mistress, tonight’s dishes are all prepared according to your preferences. Eat up!”
Perhaps because they had registered their marriage today, Aunt Chen thought a round table was more auspicious, so she had replaced the long dining table with a round one for the evening. Chinese people tended to pay close attention to the auspicious symbolism of shapes and homophones.
Previously, Yan Hao could only sit across from Lou Jingyi. Even though he rarely ate dinner with her and sat rather far away, dining felt much more relaxed.
Now, she had no choice but to sit right beside him. Whether intentionally or not, there were only two chairs set at the table tonight, placed quite close together.
Lou Jingyi was busy shelling shrimp as a servant pulled out the chair for Yan Hao, and she sat down.
She stared at the plate of fragrant, fresh lobster, wanting to ask someone for help with the peeling.
“Aunt Chen, help me…”
Before she could finish, a freshly peeled shrimp was placed right onto her plate.
Yan Hao froze, never expecting that Lou Jingyi would peel a shrimp for her.
Seeing this, Aunt Chen couldn’t help but smile. “Is the Young Mistress craving shrimp? You and the Young Master really share a tacit understanding!”
“Oh right, Young Mistress, I’ve already had people organize your things.”
Still staring in a daze at the shrimp on her plate, Yan Hao asked, “What things?”
Aunt Chen explained, “Your luggage, of course. Since you’ve already registered your marriage with the Young Master, it’s only natural that you share a bedroom. I’ll have someone sort out your clothes later and place them in the master bedroom’s walk-in closet.”
“Please don’t blame me for acting on my own initiative. After all, if the old master and mistress found out you and the Young Master got your marriage certificate and were still sleeping in separate rooms, they’d blame me.”
This remark was deliberately meant for Lou Jingyi to hear, as Zhao Laifang suspected her grandson was entirely capable of pulling a stunt like sleeping in separate rooms. She had given Aunt Chen strict instructions beforehand so that Lou Jingyi wouldn’t be able to refuse.
Hearing this, Yan Hao glanced over at Lou Jingyi. He was calmly shelling another shrimp without saying a word.
Is he angry, or not angry? Does he agree, or disagree? Yan Hao wondered to herself.
Noticing Yan Hao hadn’t picked up her chopsticks yet, Aunt Chen gently reminded her, “Young Mistress, hurry and eat. The shrimp the Young Master peeled for you are going to get cold.”
“…Oh.” Yan Hao picked up the shrimp and popped it into her mouth.
Lou Jingyi added a few more peeled shrimp to Yan Hao’s plate.
Why is he suddenly being so nice to me? Is it because we got our marriage license…?
“Thank you…”
The two of them ate their meal in quiet company.
Aunt Chen quietly snapped a few more photos and sent them off to the old master and mistress: [The Young Master and Young Mistress’s relationship is progressing smoothly.]
Such petty maneuvering naturally didn’t escape Lou Jingyi’s notice. However, he said nothing, merely glancing briefly in Aunt Chen’s direction before continuing with his meal.
After dinner, Lou Jingyi had business to attend to and had to head out.
Yan Hao was pulled into the master bedroom by Aunt Chen, who asked her if there were any specific arrangements she wanted made.
“Young Mistress, your clothes are all in the walk-in closet, and I’ve placed your valuables inside the drawers. Take a look and see if anything else is needed.”
Yan Hao looked around. “Where is my pink box? The one with the combination lock.”
“Right here,” Aunt Chen said, sliding open a small drawer in the walk-in closet. “I saw how precious you considered this box, so I made sure to tuck it safely inside the drawer.”
Yan Hao let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Aunt Chen.”
“I’ll go get back to work then. Just give a shout if you need anything.”
“Okay.”
The bedroom sheets had been replaced with red ones by the servants, and two sets of matching red pajamas were neatly laid out across the bed.
Lou Jingyi’s bed was extremely large, which helped Yan Hao relax a bit. Since he didn’t like her, a bed that wide meant they wouldn’t have to sleep too close together.
She checked the bathroom; the servants had already moved her toiletries from the outer bathroom and arranged them neatly inside.
Lou Jingyi’s shaving razor from the morning was still resting on the vanity counter. Yan Hao picked it up and placed it neatly into a storage box.
She had no idea whether Lou Jingyi would return tonight, but she still wanted to take a quick shower to avoid the awkward silence of facing each other later.
Yan Hao grabbed her red pajamas, took a shower in the bathroom, and lay down on the bed to scroll through her phone.
Today was, after all, the auspicious day they registered their marriage. She had taken a photo of their marriage certificates, intending to post it to her Moments. However, she set the privacy settings to Visible to Me Only.
Celebrating by herself was still better than letting it pass in complete silence; after all, this was her first time getting married. At least when she eventually parted ways with Lou Jingyi in the future, she would still have a keepsake to look back on.