The villagers were extremely efficient, and by the next day, they had almost cleaned up the wedding hall.
Although the tattered roof could not be repaired in time, it was temporarily covered with wooden boards. The dust in the house was cleaned up, and soft red silk hung from the four corners of the roof, layer upon layer, surrounding the "囍" character in the center. The candlesticks were replaced, the boards on the windows were removed, and new glass was installed, shining brightly in the sun.
At this wedding, Lu Yingjiu repeatedly reminded Jingxian to "keep everything simple."
The matter was not complicated at all. If he was given some time and wandered around the village, he would be able to catch the female ghost. The reason why this ridiculous wedding could still exist was entirely due to his indulgence of Jing Xian.
Jing Xian agreed with a hmm.
As a result, at seven o'clock the next morning, the alarm clock in Lu Ying Hotel rang.
His sleep quality was not very good last night. He was half asleep and half awake the whole time. But he felt better in the second half of the night and slept soundly.
It was just a weird dream.
He dreamed that Jing Xian secretly climbed onto his bed in the middle of the night, slept with his arms around him, and even rubbed his lips a few times with satisfaction.
Lu Yingjiu woke up as soon as he woke up and rushed to the bedside.
The bed was clean and not warm to the touch, so he could not be suspicious.
Could it be that it was just his illusion
Lu Yingjiu was skeptical.
It was not until he went to the bathroom to wash up that he discovered that he had a few stubborn, messy hairs sticking up left and right, and a suspicious red patch on his neck.
… He concluded that Jing Xian must have been a pervert last night.
Lu Yingjiu hung up the towel and prepared to go find trouble with Jing Xian.
As a result, he went out and walked around the house for a long time, but didn't even see Jing Xianxun's shadow.
Lu Yingjiu thought to himself, this is really abnormal.
Normally, Jingxian would have prepared breakfast early and enthusiastically called him to get up and eat.
Jing Xian was really guilty and ran away early. It was rare to see him being so shameless.
While Lu Yingjiu was thinking about how to reprimand Jing Xian when he was caught, he closed the door.
“Bang! Bang!”
“Clang—clang!”
“Bang, bang, bang, bang!”
“Clang!”
Then came the loud and penetrating sound of the suona. A group of people dressed in bright red were jumping around lively below, especially those who were beating the gongs and cymbals, jumping up and down three feet high.
Before Lu Yingjiu could react, he heard them cheering in unison!
A piece of red cloth was spinning in the air, flying directly from the first floor to the second floor, and accurately covering his waist.
Road welcomes wine:
His eyes were dark red, and just as he lifted a corner of the red cloth, he heard the people below shouting in unison: "We are going to pick up the bride!"
Another person ran over, holding a bunch of firecrackers in their hands, which crackled. The suona played more happily, and the drums beat faster, and the air was filled with a happy and cheerful atmosphere.
If it weren't for the fact that the "person" holding the firecrackers had no shadow, the person playing the suona had three or six arms, and the person beating the gongs and drums had blood spurting out from behind, it would have been a lively scene of a newlywed wedding.
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
He knew who was behind this no matter how hard he tried.
Sure enough, after a few seconds, the ghosts all retreated. At the end of the road, a handsome man walked out holding a flower. Umbrellas and fans were all in the air, and behind him were eight tall and strong men, carrying a sedan chair with a red curtain embroidered with goldfish and lotus flowers, which slowly moved forward.
A group of villagers gathered nearby, all craning their necks to watch the excitement. When they saw the groom Jing Xian show up, they immediately burst into crackling applause like a tide.
"Yeah!" they cheered.
Jing Xian just walked downstairs and raised his hand, but the flower hadn't been raised yet—
Everything went dark.
Lu Yingjiu threw the red lid directly down the stairs and covered Jing Xian's head accurately, then turned around and went back to the house without looking back.
Jing Xian: “…”
Ten minutes later.
Jing Xian stood outside the bedroom door, a red veil hanging loosely around his neck.
He banged on the door and said, "I was wrong. I was really wrong."
Inside the house: “…”
Jing Xian added: "But I still listened to what you said: I kept it simple. I didn't even give us wedding clothes, and I didn't even send invitations to people I knew. I just found a sedan chair with eight bearers and a band. It's nothing special."
A faint voice came from inside the room: "Jingxian, reflect on what you did yesterday first."
"Yesterday, I didn't do anything yesterday." Jing Xian said.
Inside the house: “…”
Jing Xian thought for a moment and said, "Does this count? I accidentally fed your fur ball a mountain ghost - but it was really a small mountain ghost. I guarantee it didn't choke."
Inside the house: "...what else?"
Jing Xian said: "Well, I did urge them to clean up the wedding hall and invite everyone in the village to the wedding, but I think these are all small things."
Inside the house: "...what else?"
Jing Xian thought about it, and finally gritted his teeth and confessed: "I'm sorry, I hid some private money without your knowledge. It's under my pillow, a total of 50 yuan, which I planned to buy a little zombie doll to put at the door of my house. I confessed and I will be lenient. You should come out quickly, so that we don't miss the auspicious time."
There was no movement in the house.
Jing Xian started knocking on the door again, and halfway through, the door suddenly opened. Lu Yingjiu looked at him expressionlessly, pulling up her collar, revealing her delicate collarbone and a large area of fair skin.
Jing Xian's Adam's apple rolled unconsciously.
Lu Yingjiu pointed to the reddish spot on her neck, which was the kiss mark, and asked, "What's going on here?"
Jing Xian: “…”
Jing Xian said: "There are so many mosquitoes here! I'll light some mosquito coils for you tonight!"
Lu Yingjiu slapped him in the face and said, "I'll beat you to death, you big mosquito."
Although Jing Xian was beaten, he at least coaxed his wife out. He happily took Lu Yingjiu to the first floor.
When they got downstairs, they saw a sedan chair carried by eight people waiting for them.
Jing Xian made a "please" gesture, indicating that Lu Ying should go up to drink.
Lu Yingjiu said, "Do you think it's possible for me to go up?"
"It took me a lot of effort to move the sedan chair to this village." Jing Xian emphasized, "Don't you think it's beautiful?"
This sedan chair is indeed very finely crafted, with flowing and silky curtains, delicate and gorgeous embroidery, and a light overall feel, with a faint fragrance. I wonder how long it took the craftsmen in the ghost world to build such a perfect sedan chair.
Lu Yingjiu took a deep breath and said, "If you think it's beautiful, why don't you go up and sit on it? There's an old saying that goes, 'Do not do to others what you don't want others to do to you.' You don't even want to go up there."
"Who said I don't want to?" Jing Xian immediately retorted, "I do want to, I really want to."
Having said that, he lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, took a step forward, and got in.
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Jing Xian lifted the curtain of the sedan chair again and stretched out his hand to him: "Hey, come on board together."
Lu Yingjiu: "Are you crazy? Two people riding in a sedan together?"
"Why not? This bridal sedan is ours. If you want, we can carry it together."
Lu Yingjiu was speechless and once again had a new understanding of Jing Xian.
However, when Jing Xian leaned forward to pull him, he couldn't help but smile and subconsciously took the hand.
—He pulled him up with powerful hands and put him steadily into the sedan chair.
There was plenty of space inside the sedan, and the four men could actually sit together without being too crowded.
It is inevitable that Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian are closely linked and inseparable.
The sedan chair trembled slightly, and then was lifted up by eight evil spirits and carried steadily up the mountain.
The closer they got, the cold fragrance from Jing Xian became more obvious.
It slowly penetrated into Lu Yingjiu's thoughts.
He remembered the story Jing Xian told him: in the middle of the abyss where no ghosts dared to set foot, there was a tree with white flowers that were forever blooming and withering. This was the place where Jing Xian was born.
Although he had never seen white flowers, he thought that white flowers must have the same pleasant cold fragrance.
Looking up, the light from the window shines in through the curtains, outlining Jing Xian's perfect profile and the... red scarf on his neck.
Lu Yingjiu stared at Gai for a few seconds, and finally couldn't stand it anymore: "Can you take this thing off? Where's your scarf?"
"Isn't this good?" Jing Xian pulled the lid to make it symmetrical. "I'll cover you when we get there, so you won't be shy."
Lu Yingjiu held his forehead with his hand, and Jing Xian took advantage of the chaos to touch his waist again.
The sedan chair continued to move upwards. Even though the eight ghosts had strong legs, it was estimated that it would take more than ten minutes to reach the wedding hall.
Lu Yingjiu heard that in addition to the sounds of gongs and drums, there were also lively voices near the sedan chair. She must have heard some villagers joining in the fun.
Finally, when Lu Yingjiu pulled Jing Xian's hand away from his lower back for the first time, the sedan chair moved downward and trembled slightly when it landed on the ground.
We've arrived.
Jing Xian was the first to get off the bridal sedan, and then led Lu Yingjiu out.
I saw that the door of the wedding hall was wide open and it looked brand new.
Yao Gou arrived earlier than them. He considered himself the master of ceremonies and had already taken care of everything with great enthusiasm.
The red candles were lit, the tables were set, and the lanterns were hung in an orderly manner.
He stood at the door and called out, "Bridesmaids, please welcome the bride and groom!!"
The surrounding villagers applauded again: "Great!"
When Lu Yingjiu thought that these villagers were invited by Jing Xian, he felt very upset. He finally suppressed the urge to slap Jing Xian again and went into the wedding hall with Jing Xian.
Yao Gou said happily: "Okay, let's get ready for the ceremony..."
"Wait." Lu Yingjiu said suddenly.
Yao Gou was stunned: "What happened?"
Lu Yingjiu pointed to the back of the wedding hall and said, "Shouldn't we be given some time to prepare before the wedding?"
Yao Gou said: "Actually, you don't need to. Everything is fine. Do you still want to put on some makeup?"
"Just give us some time." Lu Yingjiu dragged Jing Xian towards the back of the wedding hall.
He had noticed last time that there was a small utility room at the back of the wedding hall, where the master of ceremonies and the mistress would sometimes rest. At this moment, he pulled Jingxian through the corridor, pushed open the utility room, and went in.
Jing Xian was led by him, and said with some embarrassment: "This is not good, are we going to have our wedding night right here? I originally imagined a more luxurious room..."
Lu Yingjiu stopped and turned around, holding a red invitation card.
The invitation was inscribed in gold:
Groom: Respect
Bride: Road welcoming wine
Happy marriage
At the end is a blue hibiscus flower, blooming lively.
Originally Yao Gou had not expected this step, this was something Jing Xian had prepared for himself.
Lu Yingjiu shook the invitation in her hand and said, "Not bad. Who did you ask to paint the flowers?"
Jing Xian said: "Can't I draw it?"
"Just based on your stick figure drawing skills, you're probably a hundred years behind." Lu Yingjiu shrugged.
Jing Xian then admitted that he had specially asked a painter to draw this picture.
Lu Ying ordered some wine and took out a gold pen.
He quickly crossed out the first name and started writing a new one:
Groom: Road welcoming wine
Bride: Respect
Happy marriage
Then he looked up, his brown eyes slyly like a cat, and said, "What do you think of this?"
Jing Xian hesitated for less than half a second before agreeing with his wife's opinion: "Good! Very good!"
No matter what, being able to get married is a good thing!
Lu Yingjiu reached out again and pulled the red veil off his neck.
When the lid slid off, the touch was delicate, and Lu Yingjiu's fingertips were slightly cool, and they touched Jing Xian's skin inadvertently, making him itchy.
He raised his head lightly—
The red veil was firmly placed on Jing Xian's head.
Lu Yingjiu curved her eyes and smiled, slowly adjusted the position of her hood, and asked, "How about this?"
Jing Xian: "Okay!"
Lu Yingjiu said again: "Is it settled? I will lead you to the door later and lift the veil for you, and you will be officially married into my Lu family."
Jing Xian: "Good! Very good!" His tone became more and more excited.
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Lu Yingjiu couldn't help but laugh: "Jing Xian, you are really..."
There was smile and tenderness in his tone.
Jing Xian's vision was blocked by the quilt, and his heart was also soft. Although he couldn't see Lu Yingjiu, he still wanted to reach out and hug him.
Before he could take action, he heard Lu Yingjiu whisper, "...Chu Qianju is worshipping a ghost exorcist in the temple. Is that me?"
Jing Xian's movements froze.
Seeing his reaction, Lu Yingjiu knew everything.
Lu Yingjiu added: "Chu Qianju is cursed. He has no afterlife, only a short life in endless reincarnation. Do I have the same fate?"
Light dust danced in the air, gently falling onto the old wooden box in the corner.
There was an embroidered shoe in the wooden box.
It was in tatters, lying alone in a wooden box, unclaimed, and hiding an unknown story.
Jing Xian did not answer.
He just stretched out his hand and gently stroked the face of the passerby. He was invisible, but he carefully traced every inch of the line with his fingers.
—For some reason, Lu Yingjiu felt that Jing Xian’s act was almost pious.
It was as if he had done this before in countless years.
It was not Lu Yingjiu himself, but he was alone facing those cold murals and those vague phantoms, sketching them over and over again.
Lu Yingjiu said: "Jingxian, I'm telling you this just to tell you..."
He paused before continuing, "I just want to tell you that you are special to me no matter what. Before I met you, I never thought that one day I would be with another man - or rather, I couldn't imagine that I would have someone I was willing to spend my life with."
"I have struggled, doubted, and hesitated before, but in the end, I realized that I had no bottom line for you from the beginning. Maybe deep in my heart, I have never thought about the ending where we are not together."
Lu Yingjiu offered wine to Jingxian again.
The tall man in front of him was still wearing the shawl he had put on himself, which looked bright red and festive.
Because it was covered with Lu Yingjiu wine, Jing Xian didn't try to take it off at all.
Jingxian doesn't care about anything.
It doesn’t matter who gets on the bridal sedan, who the so-called bride and groom are, who leads whom through the door, or who lifts the veil for whom…
The titles are all false, the ceremonies are all fake.
If we really want to prove it, a sedan chair carried by eight people or a long wedding dress are all meaningless and are just for momentary pleasure. As for love, we need to wait until the mountains are high and the waters are low, the earth is vast, the seas run dry and the rocks crumble, the rivers run dry, we need to wait for the two people to embrace each other every night, and for them to be covered in snow together.
Jing Xian wanted to be with Lu Yingjiu from the beginning to the end.
Lu Yingjiu held Jing Xian's hand and said seriously: "I don't know what our past relationship was, or what our relationship was like before, but I can answer the question you asked on the roller coaster: right now, at this moment, I like you."
Jing Xian clenched his hands tightly, holding Lu Yingjiu's hand tightly, but he didn't dare to use too much force, and his finger bones were almost bluish white.
Lu Yingjiu said: "You always say that you are confident in resolving my life-threatening situation and told me not to worry. But I can't ignore the uneasiness in my heart: no matter what, I don't want you to get hurt because of me."
"I am lucky enough to meet you. I am lucky every day of my life and I dare not ask for more. So, you don't have to pay any price for me."
"Even if death is unavoidable, I still love you in this short life."
Jing Xian: “…”
Jing Xian stretched out his hands and put them around his waist, pulling him into his arms. His movements were so big that the veil slipped halfway off - but at this moment, there was no one around.
The sunlight was cut by the wooden lattices of the window and sprinkled gently on them. The two people hugging each other, one handsome and the other unrestrained, seemed like a match made in heaven. They should have walked forward side by side, and would never separate no matter the road ahead led to death or eternity.
Thousands of people were watching the wedding hall, the emcee was talking big, but behind the bustle, in a hidden corner, a red veil was half draped over Jing Xian's body and half over the black clothes of the hostess, but it couldn't hide her face, her bright eyes, or her fiery and passionate emotions.
Jing Xian whispered, "Can I kiss you?"
Lu Yingjiu looked back at him.
The familiar, cat-like cunning in the light brown eyes reappeared.
He curved his eyes and smiled: "When I didn't refuse, it meant I acquiesced."