Chapter 24: The Boring Wedding (1)

  Before the astonishing thing arrives, life is often calm, just like the darkness before dawn. Three days ago, I received a phone call from a junior high school classmate who had not been in contact for a long time. Just as I was wondering how he knew my phone number, he told me that he was going to get married and hoped I could attend his wedding. So I shifted all the energy I put into thinking about how he knew my phone number to being astonished by his upcoming marriage.

  In my remaining memories of him, all that's left is his disheveled appearance every day, with a yellowish sticky substance always hanging from his nose due to the overactive secretion of some organ in his nasal cavity. It was precisely this image that made him a legendary figure at school and even earned him a spot on the "99 Annual xx Middle School Top 10 Most Unpopular Male Figures Among Females". Who would have thought that fate would play tricks, and among our batch of classmates back then, he would be the first to get married.

  Because we lost contact after graduating from junior high school, I don't know what kind of experiences he had after graduating from junior high school. However, according to his introduction on the phone, he went to vocational high school after graduating from junior high school and studied tour guiding. Later, he was admitted to the Provincial Tourism School and graduated with a specialized degree this year. He then joined a travel agency in Ha City run by one of his relatives as a tour guide. In my later analysis, it is possible that since he started working in the "colorful butterfly dance" profession after graduating from junior high school, he naturally suffered many psychological and physical blows, which led to an uncontrollable sense of honor and shame deep within him, resulting in today's situation.

  Got up early in the morning, dressed myself carefully and put on a relatively formal outfit. After all, there will be many old classmates I haven't seen for years, can't look too shabby.

  Qin Keyi walked out of the room with a drowsy look in his eyes and saw this scene of mine, feeling a bit strange.

  "Why are you so dressed up early in the morning? Going on a blind date?"

  "Haha, you're close, it's related to 'intimacy', but I'm going to attend a wedding!"

  "Attending a wedding!? Whose wedding is it?"

  "My junior high school classmate's wedding."

  "Oh! That must be lively! Take me with you, okay?! I've loved attending weddings since I was a kid, because they're lively and there's candy to eat!"

  "Take you there! You don't even know my junior high school classmates!" I somewhat dislike Qin Ke's attitude of liking to join in the fun like a little kid.

  "I don't know you! Knowing you is enough!"

  "How can I possibly do that! How can I bear the shame!"

  "Oh, come on! What's wrong with saying I'm your girlfriend? Just say it already! Stop stalling!" Qin Ke Yi said impatiently.

  "My girlfriend? Get out of here! I wouldn't dare to lose face like that! Today, many of my junior high school classmates will be there, and I don't want them to laugh at me for finding such a low-quality girlfriend!" In fact, I had already agreed to Qin Ke Yi's request in my heart, because taking a beautiful woman like Qin Ke Yi to a public event is indeed a face-saving thing. As long as Qin Ke Yi persists a bit more, I will compromise with her. People all say that women are good at being insincere, but in my eyes, men are not much better than women in this regard.

  "Don't pull me!" Just as I was about to compromise with Qin Ke, she chose to give up, which put me in a very awkward situation, where I didn't know whether to advance or retreat.

  "Hey......hey......! You really aren't going, are you?!"

  "You don't want to take me with you, can I just cling to you then!"

  "Uh... you... won't reconsider?"

  "Ah?! You're sick! It was you who didn't want to take me earlier, and now you're making me consider it?! Are you mentally ill?!"

  "Cut the crap! If you want to go, hurry up and get dressed, try not to embarrass me too much!"

  "What an attitude! You act as if I'm waiting for your charity! I won't go there!" Qin Ke suddenly regained her haughty demeanor and shouted at me.

  "Alright, I was wrong. I formally invite Miss Qin Ke Yi to attend this wedding with me!" I said, bowing my body and making the gesture of a man inviting a woman to dance at a ball.

  "Alright, I'll reluctantly agree with you then! Wait a moment!" Qin Ke suppressed her smile and said seriously before running towards her room.

  Just as Qin Kai walked out of the room ten minutes later, Zhang Wei honked his car horn downstairs, indicating that he had arrived at my building, but my attention was completely absorbed by Qin Kai walking out of the room and I didn't realize that Zhang Wei was anxiously waiting for me to go down.

  Qin Keyi chose a set of clothes that fell between professional attire and casual wear, adding a light makeup look that brought out a beauty she didn't normally exhibit, stunning me just the same. It was Zhang Wei's car horn that finally broke my trance. Qin Keyi and I hastily headed downstairs.

  It was clear from Zhang Wei's expression that he had already become extremely impatient, leaning against the car door with one hand pressing the horn and smoking with the other. When he saw me come out, he just wanted to say something to me, but his mouth suddenly froze, and from his mouth shape, it could be seen that it was nothing more than those few swear words, and the numbness of his mouth movements, I think the most reasonable explanation is that he was also shocked by Qin Ke's beauty at first sight.

  I carefully observed his eyes, from emitting a weak light to spraying out "blazing green light" and finally becoming dull and dark. Although the process was extremely brief, I think his inner activity at this moment is intense. After I briefly introduced Qin Ke Yi to him, he proactively stretched out his hand with enthusiasm. At that time, I seized Qin Ke Yi's hand in front of her and shook hands with him instead. Although I have no relationship with Qin Ke Yi, I don't want her to suffer from the "pollution" of a rough man.

  Qin Kaiyi and Zhang Wei were both bewildered by my inexplicable behavior, so I used the excuse of hurrying them to get on the car. Qin Kaiyi dove into the back seat, and just as I was about to open the front passenger door, Zhang Wei mysteriously called me over to one side, with a sly expression on his face, saying "Alright, buddy! When Tong Chen left, I was worried for you, afraid that from then on you'd never find someone who met your expectations again. Who would have thought this one is even better than Tong Chen?"

  "Drop it! There's nothing between us, we're just housemates, a pure male-female relationship!"

  "Damn it! There's a line in 'Dream of Red Mansions' that says it well, 'You're all related, how can you still be pure?'"

  I was amazed at Zhang Wei's involvement in some literary works, and chose to remain silent, got on the bus, and appreciated Lao Luo's famous saying "A magnificent life doesn't need explanation!"

  On the way to the wedding, Zhang Wei's mouth never stopped trying to tell jokes to make Qin Ke happy and also wanted to show off in front of the beauty. I always think that a person's sense of humor is related to their knowledge and IQ, so this also determined that Zhang Wei's jokes would be quite boring if they didn't go down an adult route.

  Qin Kaiyi seemed to be trying not to hurt Zhang Wei's self-esteem, so he kept smiling all the way to cater to Zhang Wei. At this time, I found Zhang Wei and Qin Kaiyi's behavior very funny, so I also smiled all the way, which made Zhang Wei feel that his jokes were well-received, and thus further stimulated his desire to show off his sense of humor. We arrived at our destination unknowingly amidst Zhang Wei's awkward jokes.

  The groom enthusiastically greeted every guest at the door, and when he saw me and Zhang Wei getting out of the car and walking towards him, he looked very excited, his expression seemed to be showing off "I'm awesome now!"

  After years of tempering, the yellowish substance on the groom's face has disappeared from its original position and is no longer as unkempt as before. A pair of glasses on his face even shows a bit of bookish air. While enthusiastically chatting with us, he skillfully led us to the gift money collection place, then told us that there were other guests to entertain and would chat with us later. As I took out the red envelope, I suspected that the main purpose of inviting us was to collect gift money. A scene flashed in my mind: at 2 am, a newlywed couple on their bed, instead of doing what they should be doing, were busy counting money on the bed. As someone who has received three years of systematic financial education in college, I don't know if I should remind him that according to some authoritative research, 75% of gift money needs to be repaid with interest later.

  At this time, the fleet of cars carrying the bride slowly arrived at the hotel entrance, a total of ten cars, with the first five being Mercedes-Benz 600. Looking at this lineup, his family must have spent a lot of money on him. In my eyes, people's attitude towards marriage is no longer as simple as romanticism. Chinese people understand romance as something related to money. When I was young, I loved watching wedding ceremonies, especially those held outdoors among skyscrapers. It wasn't because I was precocious or had complex thoughts, but mainly because I was born to love excitement. I found that adults' views on weddings are different from children's. Grown-ups tend to use this opportunity to show off their wealth, plan a grand ceremony, and prove to relatives, friends, and neighbors that they have money and style.

  The grand wedding has become a must-follow folk tradition in China, and its profound influence has penetrated into the souls of several generations. Every man wants to make preparations for this major life goal many years before marriage, setting long-term goals and working hard. It's okay to be poor for half a lifetime, as long as you can burst out your grievances on the wedding day, it's not too late, and being able to pretend to be rich for one day is good enough, even if you have to drink porridge and eat plain vegetables for the rest of your life. This way, you won't lose face or tarnish your ancestors' reputation. Many "filial sons" choose to get married after graduation, taking advantage of the opportunity to squeeze out their parents' last drop of blood. Without a job or with a salary of only a few hundred yuan, they live in 100-square-meter apartments and use high-end home appliances on their wedding day, which may be why many foreigners exclaim "mysterious oriental country" when referring to us.

  In the past, when I saw various wedding scenes, my first feeling was not the same: so-called marriage is not marrying a wife, but buying a wife.