Chapter 548: Li Zhi Gets Married
Chapter 548: Chapter 529: Li Zhi Gets Married
After Zheng Zhonghe’s one-month celebration, Gu’er and her friends were swamped with preparations for Li Zhi’s wedding.
Although they didn’t need to buy a house, and the decor and furniture were quite new, the place still needed some sprucing up for the wedding.
Feng Ling didn’t have her family’s support. She had no plans to invite anyone from the Guan Family to her wedding. Her issues with them were simply too deep to resolve. As long as Grandpa Guan could be there, that was all that mattered to her.
They also had to buy all sorts of things. Although Li Zhi’s parents were handling much of it, the friends pitched in too. After all, Li Zhi had always been there to help organize everyone else’s weddings. Now that it was his turn, everyone was naturally giving it their all.
As for the wedding attire, Feng Ling had personally designed the groom’s suit and her own wedding gown. Gu’er had seen the sketches, and they were beautiful.
Sun Jiaming privately asked Gu’er if she wanted to get photos taken in a wedding dress, since she hadn’t worn one for their own wedding. He was worried she might be envious of Feng Ling.
Gu’er said there was no need. To her, the most important thing was the man by her side; she didn’t care what she wore. She told Sun Jiaming that when they reached their golden anniversary, he could wear a suit and she could wear a wedding dress to celebrate it.
Sun Jiaming didn’t know what a golden anniversary was, so Gu’er spent a good while explaining it to him.
Sun Jiaming smiled and agreed. He, too, hoped to spend fifty years with Gu’er. He imagined that when the time came, they would be holding hands, supporting one another, celebrating their golden anniversary surrounded by the blessings of their children, grandchildren, friends, and family.
Sui’er also came to see Gu’er for a heart-to-heart. She admitted that while a part of her still had feelings for Li Zhi, she had truly let go. She knew they could never be together and decided not to torture herself over it. She was happy for Li Zhi and Feng Ling, and she had even bought them a wedding gift and planned to attend the ceremony.
Sui’er also told Gu’er that once the new village school was up and running, some of the fourth-year university students might come and teach for a while. The students in the lower years couldn’t, as their vacation schedules conflicted with the school’s, but the thought was there. She added that many of her classmates wanted to buy gifts for the children, which she would bring back for Gu’er to distribute.
Gu’er felt a wave of relief and pride. ‘I never thought the old Sui’er—the one who was a little selfish, a little bossy, and a little calculating—would grow into the person she is today.’
The days flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the day of Li Zhi and Feng Ling’s wedding arrived.
August 28th, a very auspicious date.
Gu’er hadn’t slept well the night before. The plan was for Feng Ling to depart from Li Zhi’s apartment and then be formally welcomed at his parents’ home. A few of them had stayed up late talking, and the morning was a flurry of makeup and hairstyling. Gu’er got up early to help. Once everything was finally ready, Li Zhi came to pick up his bride. Sui’er, the bridesmaid for the day, went along to stay by Feng Ling’s side.
‘Watching Sui’er, Gu’er felt a little bittersweet. Sui’er was just as beautiful as Feng Ling, but she and Li Zhi simply weren’t fated to be together. Still, Sui’er has grown up now, with her own dreams and ambitions. I’m sure her own special someone will come along eventually. One day, she’ll go from being the beautiful bridesmaid to the beautiful bride.’
This was a joyous occasion for the Li Family, and they had prepared a mountain of firecrackers. The moment the motorcade arrived, the deafening pops and crackles nearly scared Jiji to tears.
There were so many people. Many of Li Quan’s army comrades, friends, subordinates, and colleagues came, not to mention the relatives and friends from Li Zhi’s mother’s side, plus Li Zhi’s own friends and army buddies. The place was packed. Since Gu’er was holding her child, she didn’t push her way to the front, instead finding a less crowded spot to stand with Marina, who was holding Dian Dian. As for Sun Jiaming and Dingzi, they were busy greeting guests and couldn’t break away.
Gu’er overheard several people remarking how lucky Feng Ling was to marry into the Li Family.
Someone else commented that it pays to be pretty; otherwise, how could a girl with Feng Ling’s background possibly marry into a family like the Lis?
They were all envious of Feng Ling, saying things like, “If only I had such a beautiful daughter. Marry her into a family like the Lis, and all your worries would be over.”
‘I don’t think so,’ Gu’er mused. ‘It’s true that good-looking people have a natural advantage and can get ahead in many things. But Li Zhi has been on plenty of blind dates, and he’s met women prettier than Feng Ling. What was the name of that beauty from back then? Oh, right, Zhang Lili. She was stunning, but Li Zhi didn’t pursue things because their personalities clashed. He likes Feng Ling not just for her beauty, but because she’s a filial daughter and has a strong character of her own. She’s not like Zhang Lili, a classic “white lotus.”‘
Speaking of Zhang Lili, Gu’er sighed. She had seen her recently—not in person, but on television. She’d spotted her in a drama series, but when she checked the cast list, the actress’s name wasn’t Zhang Lili, but Zhang Meng. (I don’t know if there is a real Zhang Meng in the entertainment industry; this character is fictional.) But Gu’er was positive it was her. The face was the same, she was still gorgeous, and her acting was actually pretty good.
‘Who would have thought Zhang Lili would end up becoming an actress? She isn’t famous yet, and actors these days aren’t as glamorous as they’ll be in the future, but she’s already in a TV series. With her looks, her career prospects should be excellent if she keeps it up. It really goes to show, you can never predict a person’s fate.’
Gu’er’s mind drifted through these and other thoughts until the noisy celebrations inside wound down, and it was time to head to the restaurant.
It was a large restaurant that Li Zhi, Sun Jiaming, and their friends had chosen together. They had booked the entire main hall and reserved several private rooms, just in case there weren’t enough seats for the crowd they were expecting.
Gu’er, holding Jiji’s hand, and Marina, carrying Dian Dian, took a car to the restaurant.
At the restaurant, Gu’er found Lin Shan, Chen Fengjiao, Zheng Changsheng, Lin Shuying, Cao Qiu, Sun Zhuzi, Grandma Sun, Grandma Dingzi, and Aunt Zhao. As they were elders, they hadn’t participated in the rowdy morning festivities and had come straight to the restaurant.
As soon as Jiji saw them, he toddled over on his own. With so many people to keep an eye on him, Gu’er wasn’t needed. Seeing how crowded it was, she went to help welcome the other guests.
When most of the guests had arrived, Gu’er was astounded. There were more than thirty tables filled—far more than at her and Sun Jiaming’s wedding. ‘The Li Family sure knows a lot of people,’ she thought.
Gu’er also ran into Chunhua, the heavyset woman she had argued with last time, and the woman Chunhua called “sister-in-law.”
Gu’er knew the Li Family hadn’t sent an invitation to Chunxiang. She figured Chunxiang must have tagged along with her sister-in-law. But since they were already there, she couldn’t just turn them away, invitation or not. Besides, Chunxiang wasn’t the only guest who had shown up uninvited. So, Gu’er simply smiled and had someone lead them inside to a table.
Chunxiang tried to cozy up to Gu’er, but her sister-in-law pulled her away, chiding her for being tactless. “Have you no sense? Think about what day it is! You came to show your face and be seen, that’s enough. Trying to ask for favors now is just asking for trouble.”
——————
Li Zhi and Feng Ling were finally married. The original iron triangle had all found their happy endings.