In early August, Jiang Qiaoxi took a day off to accompany Lin Qile to try on wedding dresses. That morning, he sat at the head of the bed, topless, watching the morning news, and saw his wife excitedly going in and out of the bedroom, washing, blowing, and putting on light makeup. Lin Yingtao was in the small cloakroom adjusting her breast stickers and dawdling to change clothes. She came out, rummaged around the dressing table, and found a Chanel lipstick and stuffed it into her bag.
She opened the drawer of the bedside table and pulled out a treasured champagne-colored box. She picked up a pair of carnelian earrings from it and carefully put them on her earlobes in front of the mirror.
Jiang Qiaoxi called the trader, put on a new suit, stood by the door, and looked down at his beautiful wife.
Since he was very young, Jiang Qiaoxi liked to see Lin Yingtao showing off to him.
He took the paper bag from Lin Yingtao.
Bought in 2007, this pair of high heels, including the box and paper bag, still looks like new.
"Why don't you wear it before going out?" Jiang Qiaoxi held her hand.
Lin Yingtao put her arms around his waist, her bright red lips moving as she said, "The soles of your shoes can't stand the wear."
When Jiang Qiaoxi went out, he wanted to spray the men's perfume his wife bought for him, Hermès Terre, which he had only sprayed once on the day he received it, but Lin Yingtao didn't want to. She stood in the elevator, hugged him, and sniffed his suit for a long time.
Jiang Qiaoxi felt that she was like a kitten, constantly sniffing him.
Lin Yingtao sat in the passenger seat and said, "I feel like none of the perfumes I bought are as good as your original scent..."
Jiang Qiaoxi's eyes narrowed due to the glare of the sun outside the car. He smiled as he drove, "What do I smell like? Why can't I smell it?"
Lin Yingtao wore jewelry to match her wedding dress, which made the consultant who had been booked by the bridal shop very embarrassed. The earrings were OK, as they were relatively small, and the cherry necklace on her neck could be used as an embellishment, but the pair of Salvatore Ferragamo's little red shoes really didn't match the white wedding dress.
"Ms. Lin, it's unlucky to wear a white wedding dress with red shoes!" a shop assistant said, "It means jumping into a fire pit!"
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "Buy another pair."
This bridal shop is in the mall.
"I won't," Lin Yingtao was stubborn. She was a little angry and turned back to discuss with the consultant of the bridal shop, "I really must wear these shoes to get married..."
"People say they're jumping into a fire pit." Jiang Qiaoxi said suddenly.
Lin Yingtao turned around and glared at Jiang Qiaoxi pretending to be unhappy: "Then when you gave me this pair of shoes, why didn't you think about whether I was about to jump into a fire pit...!"
Everyone in the room laughed, and some even cheered and clapped, saying, "It was given by the groom." Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his head, then raised it again. His ears were red, and he seemed a little embarrassed. He looked at his wife.
Lin Yingtao smiled and muttered, "Then I'm going to jump into the fire pit."
The store manager came over, took a closer look at the little red shoes Lin Yingtao was holding, and said, "It's okay, the train can cover it, but the heels are a little high. The bride will have to stand for a very long time on the wedding day. Can she bear it?"
Jiang Qiaoxi stood by and hesitated, "How about—"
Lin Yingtao said firmly with starry eyes: "I can bear it! I wear it to practice for a long time every year."
The groom, Jiang Qiaoxi, has worked in a foreign investment bank for more than two years and has become accustomed to wearing suits. No other suits fit him as well as the one he wears.
He sat on the sofa outside, waiting for his wife to try on her wedding dress. It was nine o'clock, and logically, he should be looking at futures, Hong Kong stocks, and holding meetings with the traders in his team.
But Jiang Qiaoxi raised his eyes and looked at the circle of snow-white curtains outside the dressing room. His wife was behind it, busy preparing for their wedding.
On the stairs.
She held onto the railing and put her feet into her blood-red high heels. It was obvious that she was in pain, but she tried to stand up straight. Then, with flushed cheeks, she looked at him with surprise, trepidation, and even some desperate eyes.
Jiang Qiaoxi was wearing a school uniform at that time, and he was thinking that perhaps he would never have the chance to see her become a woman.
He has always been a person more cowardly than Cherry, and he dare not bravely grasp the future.
In fact, it was him from the beginning. He was the one who guided her and enlightened her. It was him who made her run to Hong Kong to find him with a fever, and squatted in front of his apartment in the middle of the night just to say "I haven't forgotten you"...
If love is really a pit of fire, it was Jiang Qiaoxi who dragged her into it, otherwise Yingtao should have been free and carefree. Jiang Qiaoxi himself experienced how hard it was to be apart from her, and Yingtao never complained to him.
Lin Yingtao changed into her wedding dress with the help of two consultants. She chose three. She was not very satisfied with the first two. It’s not that they were bad, but she just felt they were not good enough. As soon as she put on the third wedding dress, she stared at herself in the floor-length mirror and couldn’t move.
"Just this one!" Lin Yingtao blushed and turned around and said softly, "I'll go show it to him!"
She hadn't worn a veil yet, just braided her hair and put it up, and she grabbed the hem and train of her skirt to avoid being stepped on by her shoes - even if she learned how to wear high heels, a girl still had to learn how to wear a floor-length wedding dress. Getting married is like a big test.
Jiang Qiaoxi was sitting on the sofa, talking on the phone. He was drinking a cup of coffee from McDonald's at the door. It was unclear whether he was on a conference call or chatting with someone. After all, he had been sitting outside waiting for more than two hours.
Lin Yingtao stopped outside the dressing room door. She loosened the hem of her skirt, letting the train cover her wedding shoes. She stood up straight with nervousness, biting her lip.
"Groom, groom!" the consultant called out with a smile.
Lin Yingtao said: "Jiang Qiaoxi!"
Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly turned around, holding the phone in his right hand and putting it to his ear. When he saw her, he put the phone down unconsciously.
Lin Yingtao looked at him, as if she wanted to smile, but somehow she couldn't, her lips pursed. She wore a girl's wedding dress, with a heart-shaped neckline, embroidered with lace and beads, which looked like angel feathers instead of cloth. Her shoulders were narrow, and her collarbone was delicate, showing her long neck. The snow-white petals were supported on her chest, with a graceful outline, just the right setting for the red cherry on the bride's chest.
Lin Yingtao walked up to her husband.
When Lin Yingtao was a child, she liked to tie her hair into two wobbly ponytails. Later, when she was together with him, when they were dating and living together in Hong Kong, her hair was always hanging down and entangled around his fingers.
Now, she combed her hair and tied it behind her head, making her small face and facial features look even more childish. She was imitating an adult in combing her hair, and her eyes looked at Jiang Qiaoxi's face uncertainly.
The consultant next to him saw that Jiang Qiaoxi didn't say anything and just stared at the bride. The consultant said, "Bride, turn around and see if your back looks good."
So Lin Yingtao turned around. There was a small mole on the back of her right shoulder, which flashed in front of Jiang Qiaoxi's eyes and then turned back.
Lin Yingtao looked up at him and finally smiled, a shy and nervous smile.
Jiang Qiaoxi didn't know what to say. He seemed not to be fully prepared mentally, especially when this scene suddenly appeared.
"Are you really going to marry me?" he asked puzzledly.
Lin Yingtao smiled and moved closer.
"Do I look good?" she asked, almost leaning into his arms.
Jiang Qiaoxi blinked, and light flashed in his eyes.
Lin Yingtao wanted to rent a wedding dress, but Jiang Qiaoxi didn't want to and insisted on buying it. "It's very expensive!" Lin Yingtao said, "How many times can I get married?"
"Can't I wear it at home if I'm not married?" Jiang Qiaoxi sat in a Cantonese restaurant, eating pineapple cubes.
Lin Yingtao supported her face and swiped her cell phone.
"Don't want it?" Jiang Qiaoxi looked up at her.
"I want it," Cherry smiled, "This one is so pretty..."
They made an appointment to take wedding photos on the 6th, only taking one set of indoor photos to be used at the wedding, and the rest would be taken on the honeymoon.
After finishing her meal, Lin Yingtao wanted to take Jiang Qiaoxi shopping. They picked out watches together in the store, and Jiang Qiaoxi put them on his wrist one by one, without Lin Yingtao having to imagine. Lin Yingtao bought a new pair of flat shoes, also red, and planned to change into them when she got tired at the wedding. "I'll have to accompany my parents to buy clothes some other day," Lin Yingtao turned around and said to Jiang Qiaoxi. They walked together in the crowd of people in the mall. It was summer vacation, and there were many children and young student couples in the mall. They were shyly holding hands, eating ice cream cones, and squeezing in the machine to take photos. Lin Yingtao said in Jiang Qiaoxi's arms, "Why don't we buy Dad a Chinese Tang suit? I think he may not be used to wearing a suit."
Together they stopped outside a store.
In the window, there was a small crib with a flying little angel hanging on it and a pure white gauze curtain hanging down.
Lin Yingtao noticed that her and Jiang Qiaoxi's faces were reflected on the window glass.
They have all grown up.
Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly said, "Isn't this the bed where Jiang Yuyu slept?"
Lin Yingtao reached out and hit him: "You don't even know if Jiang Yuyu is a boy or a girl."
Jiang Qiaoxi said helplessly: "What's the difference between a baby's gender?"
Lin Yingtao looked at the little bed again and found it quite cute.
After going in and asking, this bed costs more than 8,000 yuan. Lin Yingtao pulled Jiang Qiaoxi out and said, "Let's go, we won't need it if we buy it now!"
Lin Yingtao met her old teammate in the mall, whom she met during basketball babe training in high school. The teammate was a flight attendant and was shopping with her friends. "Are you married already?" The teammate looked at her excitedly, as well as the school god Jiang Qiaoxi who always stood in the corridor on the second floor of the small white building and looked at them silently.
The three of them stood together and asked their friends to help them take a group photo. "Qile, you are so happy!" The teammate covered her mouth, and suddenly became emotional. She shook Lin Yingtao's shoulders, "Do you remember that time? Outside the principal's office, we said that Jiang Qiaoxi must like you, and you said we were talking nonsense!"
Lin Yingtao has not attended basketball training since the second semester of her sophomore year in high school, and has gradually lost contact with her former teammates.
I didn't expect to meet him again now, and I didn't expect that he would still remember her, and that he was still the same when they met again.
They exchanged WeChat accounts, and Lin Yingtao talked to her teammates for a while and discussed the date of the wedding.
They went to the imported supermarket in the mall and bought some fresh fruits and bread. Lin Yingtao was picking out fresh salmon heads when she saw Jiang Qiaoxi walking to the middle of the seasoning shelf, picking up each seasoning and looking at it. He seemed very curious and wanted to buy them all home. Lin Yingtao walked over, took each one and put it back, like a teacher instructing a child: "We don't need them, you can't cook!"
Jiang Qiaoxi felt that his wife looked down upon him: "I can learn."
Lin Yingtao said disdainfully: "Do you have time to learn?"
Jiang Qiaoxi raised his hand and pinched her face.
They went shopping for sunglasses, looked at beach towels and nylon hats at an outdoor store, and imagined together what they would buy before their annual honeymoon. Lin Yingtao said she would buy a lot of bikinis, really beautiful ones, and wear a new one every day!
"Okay!" Jiang Qiaoxi agreed.
He sat in the boyfriend waiting area, waiting for Lin Yingtao to go to the bathroom to touch up her makeup. Jiang Qiaoxi had just taken out his phone to check the messages when a middle-aged man next to him suddenly asked, "Jiang Qiaoxi?"
Lin Yingtao was still applying lipstick when she received a call from Jiang Qiaoxi, who said that their Experimental High School class teacher, Mr. Chen, was outside.
Lin Yingtao hurried out. Teacher Chen was wearing a light yellow shirt and beach shorts. The family of three was shopping during the summer vacation, looking very casual. When she saw her, Teacher Chen laughed out loud: "Lin Qile!"
"Teacher Chen!" Lin Yingtao called sweetly, and she went over and gave him a tight hug.
"What's wrong with you two?" Teacher Chen suddenly frowned and said seriously, "Didn't we agree not to have premature love?"
"I'm not in love too early." Jiang Qiaoxi said calmly.
"You didn't fall in love early, so you got married so early?" Teacher Chen said with a smile, "Tell me, in your class of 2005, is there anyone who got married earlier than you two?"
Lin Yingtao said coquettishly: "Teacher Chen, we only started dating in college!"
Teacher Chen held Jiang Qiaoxi's tall shoulders, turned around and said to his wife, "This is the genius from our Class 18 of the 2005 class, Jiang Qiaoxi, the gold medalist in the Mathematical Olympiad! The first prize in the country!"
The Master's wife hurriedly said, "Remember, remember!"
Teacher Chen said: "I didn't go to Tsinghua! I said I wanted to study abroad. I took the TOEFL for the first time and got 116 points!"
He quickly introduced Lin Qile: "This is also one of the top 100 in our grade, little girl, you study very hard, you are from Beijing Normal University, right!"
Lin Yingtao smiled and said, "Hello, Master's wife!"
The teacher's wife touched her little daughter's hair and said softly, "See? Learn from your brothers and sisters!"
Lin Yingtao felt very embarrassed when she stood in front of Teacher Chen, especially when she stood with Jiang Qiaoxi.
Jiang Qiaoxi was calm and composed. He had paid little attention to his teachers since he was a child. This might be the privilege of a top scholar.
"I wish you two a happy life!" Teacher Chen said, "You must show the same spirit as in high school, work hard and take good care of your family in the future! Don't slack off once the college entrance examination is over!"
In mid-August, Qin Yeyun came to the provincial capital on a business trip. She walked into Lin Yingtao's home wearing high heels, carrying a bunch of skin care gift boxes.
Lin Yingtao was selecting photos for her wedding PPT. The table was full of old photo albums. She ran over quickly: "Ye Yun—"
The male owner Jiang Qiaoxi was not at home. Qin Yeyun put down the paper bag in his hand and walked around Lin Yingtao's house. "Damn, Jiang Qiaoxi is so good at making money. Your family bought such a big house!!"
Lin Yingtao took the slippers and helped Qin Yeyun put them on.
She leaned closer and stared at Qin Yeyun's now exquisite and overly beautiful face.
Lin Yingtao pouted and cried with envy: "I also want such a beautiful nose..."
Qin Yeyun glanced at Lin Yingtao, and she stretched out her hand to poke her forehead: "Forget it, or else if you play around someday and lose your nose-"
Lin Yingtao was going to make lunch for the super beautiful Miss Qin Yeyun. She cut bacon, cracked eggs, and took out braised beef and tomatoes from the refrigerator. Qin Yeyun was looking at the pile of old photos in the living room. These photos were from a long time ago and were very yellowed. Qin Yeyun picked up one and saw the staff club of the Qunshan construction site. Next to the club, the small house across the road was the original store of Qin Yeyun's family.
Qin Yeyun walked into the kitchen and saw Lin Yingtao busying herself there. He couldn't help but yelled, "Lin Yingtao!"
"Ah?" Lin Yingtao looked up at her while cutting the braised beef.
"You're getting married in October!" Qin Yeyun walked in angrily, "Why don't you starve yourself to lose weight!"
She went up and took the knife from Lin Yingtao's hand, opened the refrigerator and took a look. Qin Yeyun turned around and said to the aggrieved Lin Yingtao, "I'll cook you some broccoli, you just eat that! You're getting married, you don't know how to do it!" She then took a piece of braised beef cut by Lin Yingtao and stuffed it into her mouth, "Well, it tastes good! Who braised it?"