The guests arrived one after another, and Jiang Yubai followed his parents into the auditorium.
At the corner of the auditorium entrance, Jiang Yubai ran into Jessica's relatives. He exchanged a few polite words with them and accidentally glanced at Lin Zhixia in the distance. He took a step towards where Lin Zhixia was, and his father whispered, "Where are you going?"
"My invited friend is here," Jiang Yubai said formally, "Please excuse me."
Dad was amused by him: "Sure, go ahead."
Jiang Yubai was wearing a dark blue suit. He had a nice figure, broad shoulders and a narrow waist, long legs, and a straight back like a pine tree. The suit he was wearing suited his temperament very well. He walked gracefully in front of Lin Zhixia, and the first thing he said was, "There's strawberry cake today."
Lin Zhixia jumped for joy: "Strawberry cake?"
Lin Zeqiu said coldly behind her back: "Why are you so happy? It's not like you haven't eaten strawberry cake before."
Jiang Yubai then glanced at Lin Zeqiu. After not seeing him for a few months, Lin Zeqiu still hadn't matured. Jiang Yubai greeted him politely, "Hello, welcome to my uncle's wedding."
Lin Zeqiu said nothing. He held Lin Zhixia's wrist tightly, his fingertips gently pressing on the back of her hand.
In the huge Rose Hall, the guests were dressed in gorgeous clothes and precious jewelry, but it seemed that only Lin Zhixia and Lin Zeqiu were dressed simply. The two siblings seemed to have strayed into another dimension.
Lin Zhixia didn't care about this at all. She thought for a moment, took out two red envelopes from her pocket, and handed them solemnly to Jiang Yubai.
"It's my and my brother's share," she said.
Jiang Yubai was startled: "Contribution money?"
Lin Zhixia asked in confusion: "Don't other guests pay gifts?"
Jiang Yubai said truthfully: "They will put the check in the red envelope."
Lin Zhixia became shy: "I... I only prepared two hundred yuan."
"Thank you," Jiang Yubai said sincerely, "Thank you very much, I will bring the red envelope to uncle and convey your blessings."
Lin Zhixia asked him: "Don't you think two hundred is too little?"
Jiang Yubai firmly stated: "Not a small amount. Your kindness is priceless, it is an infinite number."
"Yeah!" Lin Zhixia agreed with Jiang Yubai's statement. With a smile in her eyes, she asked again: "Where is the bride? Is she very beautiful? I like looking at the bride the most."
Jiang Yubai raised a hand and pointed to the rockery next to the waterfall: "Wait a little longer, the bride will come out of the cave."
Lin Zeqiu laughed, "What a strange idea."
Lin Zhixia tugged at Lin Zeqiu's sleeve. Lin Zeqiu turned his head and looked at the exit of the auditorium: "Lin Zhixia, can you stay here?"
"Why can't you stay?" Lin Zhixia asked back.
Lin Zeqiu lowered his voice, his words were obscure and difficult: "Look at other people's clothes..."
Jiang Yubai immediately explained: "There is no dress code for this wedding. Not all guests wear formal clothes."
After Jiang Yubai said this, he asked Lin Zeqiu to look in another direction - there was a group of young people in their twenties and thirties. They were dressed in ordinary clothes and were inconspicuous.
"Who are they?" Lin Zeqiu asked.
Jiang Yubai introduced: "A friend of mine in the music industry who my uncle knows."
Lin Zhixia interjected: "Friends in the music industry are so low-key."
Jiang Yubai quoted his uncle's original words: "My uncle said that he invited friends to be witnesses for his wedding. As long as the people come, nothing else matters."
Lin Zhixia said approvingly: "Well, not being bound by the form..."
Before Lin Zhixia finished praising him, Jiang Yubai suddenly said to her, "Can you sit next to me?"
Lin Zhixia blinked and looked at him in confusion. Although she didn't understand the marriage rules of wealthy families, when she attended weddings in the countryside, the groom's immediate family members always sat at a separate table - Lin Zhixia was not a direct relative of Jiang Shaoqi, so how could she sit with Jiang Yubai
She refused sternly: "No."
To Lin Zeqiu, the three words "no" sounded as beautiful as the sound of nature.
Very good.
His sister finally made it.
My sister finally got the chance to give Jiang Yubai the cold shoulder in public.
Since Lin Zeqiu stepped into this auditorium, he felt uncomfortable all over. It was filled with a luxurious atmosphere and a dizzying feeling of burning money. He knew that Jiang Yubai's family was rich, but he didn't expect the so-called "rich" to be so exaggerated.
And now, Lin Zeqiu took a deep breath, and the accumulated haze was swept away.
Lin Zeqiu smiled slightly, like a winner who won without any effort, and took Lin Zhixia's wrist to show off: "Jiang Yubai, have you heard this saying - family members, one table. Lin Zhixia should sit near me. You are the groom's nephew, go and do your own thing, there are guests waiting for you to entertain them."
The air was filled with the faint scent of roses, and gurgling water flowed under the glass floor. Lin Zeqiu held his sister's hand and looked around, trying to find a place to sit down.
Jiang Yubai described it persistently: "I sat in the front, where the table was long, not round. If you want to see the bride, my view here is wider."
Lin Zhixia's heart wavered: "Are the seats around you empty?"
Jiang Yubai led her forward: "My left is empty, and my mother is on the right."
"Where are your other relatives?" Lin Zhixia asked curiously, "Last time at your grandfather's house, I met Huang Yuxiao..."
Jiang Yubai said calmly: "He is at another table."
"Is the relationship between you and me... closer than that between you and him?" Lin Zhixia whispered to herself.
Jiang Yubai was very sure: "Of course."
Lin Zeqiu put his arm around Jiang Yubai's shoulder, acting like a big brother. Lin Zeqiu was a few years older than Jiang Yubai, and slightly taller. His action was full of a warning, and Jiang Yubai calmly reminded him, "I am Lin Zhixia's best friend, and this fact will not change."
"That's right." Lin Zhixia agreed.
Lin Zeqiu said nothing.
Lin Zhixia checked her watch and urged, "The wedding is about to start, we have to sit down quickly."
Today's wedding banquet is Jiang Yubai's ideal banquet.
Jiang Yubai felt at ease and secure when his best friend sat next to him. Even though his best friend brought her difficult brother with her, Jiang Yubai didn't mind at all.
After the banquet began, many waiters pushed carts to serve dishes. Appetizers included lime ice grass, steamed dumplings with mandarin duck, shrimp balls with caviar, and stewed conch with bird's nest and fish maw - each person had a portion of these dishes, which were brought to the guests by the waiters themselves.
The waiters were very particular when pouring the wine. Wearing white gloves, they opened the champagne, first lifted the glass, tilted the glass slightly, poured out a little wine, let it sit for a while, and then let the wine flow out of the bottle and slowly slide down the wall of the glass. They would also bend down and gently place the wine glass on the table, without any sound from beginning to end.
Strangely, although the waiter provided such a considerate service, Lin Zeqiu felt uncomfortable all over. He held the chopsticks in his right hand and the wine glass in his left hand, and his heartbeat quickened for no reason.
Today was Lin Zeqiu's first time drinking champagne. He took a sip, and the aroma of the wine filled his lips and teeth, bringing a novel experience.
Lin Zhixia was not yet an adult and could not drink alcohol, so the waiter brought her a glass of freshly squeezed strawberry honey juice - this was a drink specially prepared by Jiang Yubai, and Lin Zhixia liked it very much. But she still wanted to know what champagne tasted like, so she asked curiously, "Brother, is champagne good?"
Lin Zeqiu said: "Generally."
Lin Zhixia turned her head and whispered to Jiang Yubai: "Do you want to drink?"
Lin Zeqiu reminded again: "Just talk, don't get so close to him."
Lin Zeqiu, Lin Zhixia, Jiang Yubai, Jiang Yubai's parents and others were all sitting at a long table. Jiang Yubai invited Lin Zhixia to sit next to him, and his parents didn't say anything. However, after Lin Zeqiu finished speaking, Jiang Yubai's mother suddenly asked: "Jiang Yubai, is the person sitting on Lin Zhixia's left her family member?"
Jiang Yubai put down his chopsticks: "He is Lin Zhixia's brother."
"My biological brother from the same father and mother." Lin Zhixia added.
Lin Zhixia enjoyed the meal very much. She tasted some caviar shrimp balls, bit into the mandarin duck steamed dumplings, and sipped the strawberry honey juice. She was so happy! Jiang Yubai's parents wanted to chat with her, and Lin Zhixia didn't feel nervous or uneasy.
The appetizers at the wedding banquet were served, and the lights in the auditorium gradually dimmed. Jiang Yubai sat between his mother and Lin Zhixia, and heard his mother ask, "I heard from Xiao Jiang that you are a freshman in college?"
"Yes." Lin Zhixia nodded.
"What major?"
"Information and Computing Science in the School of Mathematics."
“Do you study mathematics?”
“It’s not just mathematics, it also includes other subjects… I’m not good at doing basic research in a purely theoretical direction, I want to do some practical applications. I’m currently studying quantum circuit chip design in the quantum computing laboratory, which is considered a physics direction.”
Jiang Yubai's mother commented: "Very good, a student of science and engineering."
Using only the three words "science and engineering" to summarize Lin Zhixia's skills is obviously not accurate enough. Jiang Yubai couldn't help but say: "Lin Zhixia can speak several foreign languages."
Jiang Yubai's mother smiled and said, "Really?"
"At least there are English, French, Japanese and German." Jiang Yubai said confidently.
His mother asked him again: "What does Lin Zhixia want to do in the future?"
Lin Zhixia took a sip of strawberry juice, swallowed it, and then said, "This September, I will submit an application for early graduation to the college. I will graduate in my junior year, and I will continue to study for a doctorate..."
Lin Zeqiu said in a deep voice: "Don't explain, you have no relationship with them."
Jiang Yubai sincerely hoped that his mother didn't hear that. However, it turned out that his mother heard it very clearly. His mother held a small silver spoon in her hand and tapped the porcelain bowl with the tip of the spoon - this was a bit abnormal, because his mother always ate without making any noise.
Dad was talking to Grandpa. When he heard the noise, he lowered his head and asked, "Are these dishes not to your liking?"
Jiang Yubai answered for him: "The food is good, I think it's okay."
Dad said, "Listen to your mother first."
At this moment, several clusters of lights in the auditorium suddenly lit up, and the pale light focused on a stone platform surrounded by roses. On that stone platform, there was an orchestra. Every musician was wearing a suit and holding his own instrument. At a glance, cello, saxophone, flute and violin could be seen.
The orchestra played "Ode to Love" in great harmony.
"Ode to Love" is a work by the famous musician Edward Elgar. He composed this piece for his fiancée to express his deepest and strongest love, and it is very suitable to be played at a wedding.
The orchestra's musical attainments were very profound. They worked together seamlessly, and the melody of "Ode to Love" was gentle and melodious, reaching the hearts of the audience.
After about a minute, the ensemble gradually faded, and the violin solo began. The sound of the violin was beautiful and melodious, floating in the air, like a confession, conveying countless love words to the ears. Thousands of threads of love woven into a net, wrapped around the jumping notes, making the audience completely immersed in the gentle and lingering sound of the violin.
The lights focused on the violinist, and Lin Zhixia realized that the man was Jiang Shaoqi! It was the first time she saw Jiang Shaoqi without gloves.
Jiang Shaoqi's hands are particularly eye-catching, with ten slender and well-proportioned fingers that look like they were carved from marble. Of course, his piano playing is even more beautiful than his hands, with lingering sounds that are endless in your memory.
Lin Zhixia whispered, "Jiang Yubai, your uncle is amazing. No wonder he became the first violinist at the age of 23."
Jiang Yubai's fingertips rested on the edge of the rice bowl. He replied subconsciously: "At my wedding, I can play the piano."
"Ah?" Lin Zhixia was stunned. "Your wedding?"
Jiang Yubai was shocked: Why did he suddenly compare himself with his uncle? He held his bowl tightly and said, "I'm sorry, I mean..."
Before Jiang Yubai could finish his words, Jiang Shaoqi's performance ended. Everyone applauded and cheered for him from the bottom of their hearts. He was used to such scenes and put down his violin very calmly.
The light followed him as he crossed the stream and walked up the glass steps.
The wedding MC handed him a microphone, and he said into the microphone: "Thank you all for attending our wedding..."
Outside the rockery with an artificial waterfall, the rose curtain was lifted by two bridesmaids, and the bride Jessica, wearing a snow-white flowing wedding dress, walked into the guests' sight.
Jessica wore a veil and held a bouquet of flowers in her hand. Her cheeks were flushed and her spirits were high. Her delicate tulle skirt spread all over the floor.
When she heard Jiang Shaoqi's solo backstage, her whole heart flew to him. As he got closer and closer to her, she only had him in her eyes. The roses and crystals were just a foil. She and Jiang Shaoqi looked at each other for a moment. Jiang Shaoqi reached one hand into his pocket, and was about to take out the huge diamond ring when he felt a chill on his back - his pocket was empty. It seemed that he had lost his wife's diamond ring.
No, it's not lost.
Jiang Shaoqi remembered that after he finished playing the violin just now, he put the diamond ring and the violin into the violin case.
He was a little excited at the time and didn't use his brain.
But he didn't panic.
He held his wife's finger and looked down at the audience. He stared at his brother, sister-in-law, nephew... The nephew even nodded at him, as if he was very sure of him, and his smile froze on his face.