Chapter 745 - 742: Cousin (Female)
The two girls still had their pride and didn’t dare to cry too loudly; they just silently wiped their tears, choking with sobs as they walked back to the hotel.
"I still don’t want to die."
"It’s not like anyone wants to die, I... I’ve just graduated, I’m still so young."
"I haven’t even been in a relationship."
"If I had known, I would have confessed to my crush and left no regrets."
"Why don’t we find a man at the bar tonight?"
"No way, it’s too chaotic, what if we catch a disease?"
"If we’re about to die anyway, what disease are we afraid of?"
"I don’t want that, I’ll go home and ask my grandaunt. She used to be all mystical and maybe has a way to save us."
...
As the two girls chatted, they stopped crying and even felt it’s not a big deal. They feared pain, but didn’t seem so afraid of dying. It’s hard to say whether they were carefree or if that’s just the state of mind of young people today.
"Sigh, coming to Bin Hai, I was actually thinking of visiting my uncle." Shen Shiyun said.
"Your uncle? You have relatives in Bin Hai?" Liu Xueyi was very surprised.
"My uncle and my dad are half-brothers and haven’t been in touch for many years. I hadn’t even heard them mention it before. Only recently did I find out that my grandpa stayed in Bin Hai for a while and was very happy when he returned..."
"Your family is from Shanghai, how did your grandma meet your grandpa?" Liu Xueyi was very curious.
"My grandpa was a sent-down youth back then, sent here." Shen Shiyun said.
"Oh, I get it, your grandpa’s like those heartless guys in the stories about sent-down youth who abandoned their wives and children after returning to the city." Liu Xueyi suddenly realized.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Shen Shiyun scolded, but wasn’t angry because her grandpa indeed didn’t handle it well.
"It’s true." Liu Xueyi mumbled under her breath.
"My grandpa was so happy when he returned, he kept talking about my uncle and my uncle’s son. But my cousin seemed to dislike my grandpa, he didn’t even want to talk to him. But I could feel that my grandpa really liked him, he’d smile happily when talking about him and said he forgot to take a photo, looking very regretful. I wanted to see what he looks like this time..."
"Couldn’t you just ask your uncle to send a photo? We aren’t in ancient times, where a letter takes months." Liu Xueyi asked.
Shen Shiyun glanced at her, "Is this just about a photo?"
"Isn’t it?"
"My grandpa didn’t forget to take a photo for sure, it’s just that my cousin didn’t want to take one with him. But he took plenty with my uncle and aunt." Shen Shiyun explained.
"Are you still going to see them now?" Liu Xueyi asked.
"How could I now? We’ve got that ominous thing on us, going to their house would bring them harm." Shen Shiyun replied.
"What do we do now?" At this point, Liu Xueyi panicked again.
"What else can we do? Pack up at the hotel and buy tickets to go home." Shen Shiyun said.
The two, who had just calmed down, felt sad again when they thought of this.
"I don’t want to die, I’m still young..." Liu Xueyi said with a sob.
"If we had a choice, who would want to die." Shen Shiyun also choked up.
"Would we become ghosts if we died?"
"Maybe, if ghosts exist, naturally we’d become ghosts when we die."
"If we become ghosts, could we appear during the day?"
"Huh?"
The two women looked at each other.
Can ghosts appear in the day? Or under the bright sun?
-----------------
"How about this one?"
Ruan Hongzhuang was wearing a pure white wedding dress and spun around in front of Shen Siyuan.
"Looks good." Shen Siyuan honestly replied.
But Ruan Hongzhuang rolled her eyes at him and turned to look at Taozi.
"What do you think?"
"The waist is a bit loose, and I think the hem is too long, it doesn’t look very nice." Taozi gave a fair suggestion.
Ruan Hongzhuang looked back at Shen Siyuan and said, "See? That’s an opinion, all you can say is ’looks good’."
"I really think it looks good, because you’re beautiful, you look great in anything." Shen Siyuan shrugged.
Taozi sneered at his words, but Ruan Hongzhuang was pleased and turned to try on another outfit.
"Aren’t you going to try anything on?" Shen Siyuan asked Taozi.
"Are you going to take wedding photos with me?" Taozi was pleasantly surprised.
"That’s a strange thing to say, like you, I’m getting married, naturally everything else should follow the usual procedures." Shen Siyuan said.
Taozi immediately perked up upon hearing this, but soon sat back down.
"What’s wrong?" Shen Siyuan found it odd.
"Today’s Ruan Ruan’s day, I’ll find another time." Shen Siyuan said.
Hearing that, Shen Siyuan smiled and extended his hand, Taozi immediately placed her hand in his palm.
Just then, Shen Siyuan heard a slight clicking sound from nearby.
Shen Siyuan turned his head and saw a staff member casually putting away a phone, then hastily picking up a wedding dress and heading into the back room.
"What’s up?" Taozi noticed Shen Siyuan’s gaze and was a bit puzzled.
"Nothing." Shen Siyuan shook his head with a smile.
Soon after, Ruan Hongzhuang came out in another outfit, and so it went on, trying dozens of outfits, including wedding dresses and formal wear. Shen Siyuan also tried on quite a few outfits.
These clothes weren’t for the wedding but for the wedding photo shoot.
Ruan Hongzhuang didn’t like wearing clothes others had worn, even if it was just for taking photos, she had to buy new ones. Today’s fitting was not only to select styles she liked but also to challenge the fit of some that didn’t suit her.
As for the wedding attire itself, Ruan Hongzhuang had already commissioned custom-made ones since she wanted a purely traditional Chinese wedding. So the process for making the red wedding dress was more intricate and time-consuming. Fortunately, there were still several months left, enough to create the perfect wedding dress she envisioned.
The three of them were at it until almost 2 PM, and while Shen Siyuan felt hungry and tired, the two were still enthusiastically engaged.
Fortunately, Ruan Hongzhuang had already picked out all her favorite clothing, and once some outfits had their sizes adjusted, they could formally start taking wedding photos.
Ruan Hongzhuang intended to have all this done before Spring Festival.
"Did the shop assistant say anything to you just now?" While eating, Shen Siyuan curiously asked Ruan Hongzhuang.
"Say what?" Ruan Hongzhuang was puzzled.
"She took a sneaky picture of Taozi and me, I thought she might’ve said something to you." Shen Siyuan said.
Just then, Taozi, who was engrossed in her meal, raised her head, looking as if she’d realized something.
"She saw us holding hands, probably thought I was the mistress." Taozi said.
"Aren’t you?" Ruan Hongzhuang smirked at her.
"Who that is remains to be seen." Taozi retorted defiantly.
After all, Shen Siyuan was introduced to Taozi by Jiang Wenxin, but Ruan Hongzhuang had intervened, making Taozi feel like she was the third party.
Yet her greasy mouth seemed to lack conviction.
"She probably didn’t tell me because she was afraid I’d cause a scene and ruin their business."
Today she had spent quite a bit in the store.
She didn’t argue with Taozi, as given their current relationship, debating the topic was meaningless. Her comments were just habitual teasing.
Just then, Shen Siyuan’s phone rang.
When he looked, it was surprisingly a call from his dad, Shen Jianjun, which caught him off guard.
Because Shen Jianjun rarely called him, usually, they’d talk over WeChat if needed.
"Dad." Shen Siyuan quickly answered.
Ruan Hongzhuang and Taozi also stopped eating and looked toward Shen Siyuan.
"What? Cousin?"