The phone call was connected smoothly. It didn’t take long before Leyao answered. Her voice was clear, mixed with a touch of busyness, as she said to me, “Calling me so early in the morning, what for?”
“I just wanted to check if you were up yet, and to wish you a happy wedding.”
“You’re pretty methodical. Should I be really grateful to you? My alarm clock isn’t even as punctual as your call.”
Her words made me a bit embarrassed, so I chuckled and replied, “I was just afraid you might oversleep. I felt it was my duty to remind you.”
“Hehe… Today is my wedding day. Do you really think I’d oversleep? How little do I value this wedding? Let me tell you, I was so excited I couldn’t sleep all night, just waiting for the morning to come…” She paused, as if drawing back the curtains, and then said with emotion, “The weather is really cooperating today, with such a bright and sunny sky. Does it mean my married life will be happy and blissful too? I’m getting more and more excited about it.”
I seemed to be moved, so I remained silent. Leyao continued, “Zhaoyang, say it again—wish me a happy wedding.”
“I’ll say it when I see you. Saying too much on the phone might bore you.”
“Say it now! After you do, you’re not allowed to show up at my wedding…”
I replied in surprise, “I can’t show up at your wedding? How can that work? There’s even an event from our company, Luku, there. If I don’t attend, the part where I speak on behalf of the company can’t happen!”
“I don’t care. You just have to say you’re sick. If you don’t meet this request of mine, don’t expect me to fulfill yours!”
“You’re getting married happily, while I have to pretend to be sick, hiding away. Miss, would you mind explaining your logic here?”
“You don’t need to know my logic. Just wish me a happy wedding, and don’t come near the wedding venue. Otherwise, I’ll show you that I’m not someone who jokes around…”
“Damn it… It’s the coldest time of the year. Are you trying to kill me with lightning? Your request is seriously shocking!”
“Beast! I’m about to get married, and you still dare to think about sleeping with me… If heaven is fair, even in this freezing cold, it should send a bolt of lightning to strike you dead!”
Our conversation rhythm suddenly returned to the way it used to be, but I couldn’t adapt to it, nor did I want to think too much about it. I weighed things in my mind for a while, and finally said to her, “Let’s not ruin this good day with foul language… Fine, since you insist, I’ll wish you a happy wedding. I’ll stay away from your wedding today, and won’t show up at the venue. I promise not to see you in your wedding dress.”
…
After ending the call with Leyao, I lit a cigarette with a somewhat gloomy mood, unable to tell whether her unreasonable request was a sudden whim or something she had been planning all along. But since I had already agreed, I would keep my word. Although not seeing her in her wedding dress would be a regret in my life, I could always make up for it by watching the video or looking at the photos.
After stubbing out the cigarette, I picked up the phone again and called my assistant to inform her that I was feeling unwell and wouldn’t be attending the event today. She seemed a bit surprised, but didn’t think much of it. After all, my speech wasn’t essential to the event. There were plenty of people who could replace me. The truly indispensable ones were Leyao and Cao Jinfei.
Since I couldn’t go to the wedding venue, this day, which was supposed to be extremely busy, suddenly became leisurely. I made myself breakfast, then watered the plants that hadn’t been taken care of for a while. I sat on the sofa reading a book while waiting for noon to come. In the meantime, I received sales data from the Zumai Data Center. The sales had already exceeded 30 million yuan, matching the total sales from last year’s entire Christmas season. And the real shopping peak hadn’t even started yet!
It was already 9:30 a.m., and I no longer had the heart to read. My mind was filled with images of Leyao’s wedding. Finally, I picked up my phone from the coffee table and called Roben to ask how things were going, but he didn’t answer. Probably the event was too noisy for him to hear his phone.
I then called the wedding planner’s executive manager in charge of this wedding and finally got a reassuring reply. At that moment, Leyao and Cao Jinfei were already on their way to the mall. They would be able to hold the wedding on schedule at ten o’clock.
After ending the call, I read for another ten minutes, but I became increasingly restless. Finally, I grabbed my briefcase and car keys from the coffee table, opened the door, and headed downstairs. I decided to go to the venue anyway—even if just from a distance. With so many cars and people around, I could just stay inside my car and no one would notice me.
…
It only took me twenty minutes to reach Zumai through the heavy traffic. Coincidentally, a car had just left, and I easily found a parking spot. I put on a pair of sunglasses that could hide everything and watched everything happening at Zumai from a moderate distance. The music in my car kept playing, on loop, Zhang Chu’s song “Lonely People Are Despicable.”
In fact, aside from its slightly gloomy title, the song’s melody and lyrics were full of positive encouragement, urging all lonely people to break free from boredom and pursue love as beautiful and vibrant as flowers.
Suddenly, there was a commotion from the opposite side. I quickly turned my head to look, but it wasn’t Leyao. It was the new car launch event by Mercedes-Benz and Porsche at Zumai that had just begun. The two celebrities they had invited were now interacting with customers on site along with the 4S store.
The influence of top celebrities was huge. In an instant, the event was swarmed by a sea of people. I only caught a glimpse of one celebrity’s silhouette through the crowd before losing sight of her completely. The noise had already drowned out everything else. This scene made me certain that since Zumai’s establishment, it had never gathered such an overwhelming crowd. On this single Christmas day, so much money was being spent here, satisfying people’s desires and vanity.
I rolled the window down halfway and lit another cigarette, continuing to wait…
There was another wave of commotion from the crowd. This time, a group of security guards rushed out from two minivans and pushed through the gathering crowd. Once a path was cleared, I finally saw Cao Jinfei stepping out of a white car. To my surprise, besides him, there were also several well-known business tycoons and a famous male actor who had joined his entourage for the wedding. On Leyao’s side, quite a few influential figures from the entertainment industry had also arrived, including Roben, several famous actors and directors, and even some film company executives. I hadn’t known about any of this beforehand, but this was definitely a pleasant surprise. Their presence added great weight to the event, though it also increased the pressure on security. The guards looked tense as they pushed back the ever-crowding spectators. However, the moment Cao Jinfei stepped out of the car and carried Leyao into the spotlight like a star among stars, she remained so calm, leaning against his chest, only to be swallowed by the crowd moments later and disappear from my sight. Perhaps she would soon be smiling brightly, but I would no longer be able to see it.
All the top executives of Zumai had come down to the plaza to greet the guests arriving with Cao Jinfei and Leyao. Fang Yuan looked the most nervous, standing at the very end of the group, constantly giving instructions through his walkie-talkie to guide the security team in maintaining order. Soon, he too was swallowed by the crowd. Meanwhile, I remained alone in my car, listening to the song “Lonely People Are Despicable,” feeling a bit down, exhaling cigarette smoke into rings that drifted out the window.
The chaos on site finally calmed down a bit, and suddenly, the image of Leyao in her wedding dress flashed through my mind. But since I had only seen her for a moment, I couldn’t remember the exact style of the dress. However, the hem of her skirt kept swaying in my memory, carried by the wind.
My phone rang again. I was a bit surprised. I wondered who could still remember me at this time when everyone else was so busy, especially since Leyao had excluded me from the event.
I pulled the phone out of my pocket with some effort and found it was Jian Wei calling. Earlier, I thought I had seen her in the crowd, but she wasn’t there for Leyao’s wedding. She was probably there on behalf of me to speak for Luku as an investor.
I answered the call. Her voice carried a tone of concern and urgency as she asked, “Where are you? I heard from your assistant that you’re sick and can’t come to the event?”
“Yeah.”
“Can’t you just push through a minor illness?”
“This speech only takes a few minutes. Anyone can replace me… I’m feeling really unwell. I just want to rest for a bit, so let’s not talk about it.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Jian Wei hung up the phone. Then, someone knocked on my car window. I was shocked to see Jian Wei standing outside! My casual lie had instantly collapsed.
Jian Wei gestured for me to open the door. I awkwardly complied. She sat down in the passenger seat. I scratched my head and asked, “With so many cars and people around, how did you even find me?”
Jian Wei looked at me and replied, “I personally handled the license plate for this car. So tell me, how did I find you?”
Only then did I realize that the car I was driving was the company car assigned to me. To get a lucky license plate number back then, it was indeed Jian Wei who had personally gone to the vehicle administration office to handle it. Naturally, her memory of it was much deeper than anyone else’s.
Seeing that I didn’t respond, Jian Wei asked again, “Why are you wearing sunglasses if you’re not driving?”
I replied casually, “My eyes feel uncomfortable. I think I might have conjunctivitis.”
Jian Wei tried to take off my sunglasses, saying, “Let me take a look…”
I grabbed her hand impatiently and snapped, “It’s contagious. Why are you even trying to look?”
“You never tell me the truth. Don’t you get tired of it?” Jian Wei seemed a bit upset, and her hand pressure increased slightly. We remained entangled like that…
Unbeknownst to either of us, a Land Rover had parked across the street, no more than ten meters away from my car. Then, Xiang Chen stepped out of the car. From such a close distance, he seemed to recognize my car and glanced in this direction.
My heart skipped a beat. I quickly pulled Jian Wei, who was still entangled with me, down onto my lap and stared anxiously out the window at Xiang Chen, fearing he might come over and I wouldn’t be able to explain the situation clearly.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage