Ge Chen opened his mouth to say something when someone knocked on the door and then entered the room. It was Xue Linâs maternal uncle. Xue Lin saw him and gasped. She hurriedly stood up and walked forward. "Uncle?" he was her maternal uncle.
Her uncle twisted her left ear slightly and said, "Now you remember you have an uncle, you ungrateful brat. If it wasnât for your husband, we wouldnât have known."
Xue Lin smiled. "I didnât want your sister and her family to know."
Her uncle asked, "Are you sure you donât want them on this occasion? They are your parents after all."
"I donât want to see their faces at all. Because of them, I was almost married to a trash. Are you alone? Or others came as well..."
"We all came." Xue Linâs second maternal auntie said. Her other three maternal aunties were behind her. Her uncle lived in London and her aunties lived in the USA.
Xue Lin covered her mouth. She never thought that they would all come. "You all came... thank you so much."
Her eldest auntie smacked her forehead. "Why didnât you contact us? Why did you fight alone? If you told us, we would give your mother a good beating."
Xue Lin shook her head. "If beating would bring her to sense, I could have done that by myself. But thatâs not an option. She wonât change."
The fourth aunt said, "Okay, enough of it. Xiao Lin, you look so pretty today. Now that you got married, you should dress up and do some makeup once in a while like you were used to before."
The third auntie said, "I brought some makeup boxes with me. I bought the ones you like, Xiao Lin."
"Thank you very much." Xue Lin beamed.
Ge Chen came forward and bowed. "Hello uncle, aunties, I hope you had a wonderful journey."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Of course, we did. If it wasnât for you, we wouldnât know that she was getting married. That punk! She always keeps secret." Uncle glared at Xue Lin.
Her aunties agreed as well. Ge Chen went to their houses and personally invited them. It didnât end there. He even bought tickets and let them use the Su Familyâs private plane to come here. He requested them to keep it a secret from Xue Lin so that he could give her a surprise.
Xue Lin grinned childishly in return. If he didnât see it with his eyes, Ge Chen wouldnât have believed it. Xue Lin looked a lot better and she even smiled. It was the first time he ever saw her smile so lively. He was glad that he invited them here.
Her eldest auntie looked at the clock and said, "Itâs time, we will take her with us."
Ge Chen nodded. "Of course, please be careful of the road."
"We will." Her aunties and uncle took Xue Lin away. They were staying in the five-star hotel. After they reached there, Xue Lin was welcomed warmly by her cousins.
"Oh my God! Sis, you look wonderful."
"Sis looks so pretty."
"Little Lin grew up."
"I thought sis would stay single for the rest of her life."
"I thought she would become a nun."
As her cousins came and hugged her, they didnât forget to joke. Their jokes made everyone laugh. They are all from Long and the USA, so they spoke in English.
Xue Lin grumpily said, "Today Iâm the bride. Shouldnât you all worship me like Iâm an empress?" She could speak English fluently.
"All hail to Empress Lin!" One of her male cousins bowed dramatically. He was twelve years older than her. Others laughed.
The fourth auntie said, "You can have fun later. The groom is on the way. Prepare everything."
"Alight." They let Xue Lin stay in one of the female cousinsâ rooms.
"Letâs hide Empress Linâs shoes." The youngest cousin said. After hiding the shoes, they started gossiping.
Ge Chen arrived fifteen minutes later. According to tradition, he had to look for the bride with his friends. In the hotel, they reached the tenth floor where the uncles, aunties, and cousins were staying and saw that all the doors were decorated.
Ming Yu and Louis looked at Ge Chen. Louis asked, "Are we going to check all the rooms?"
"No," Ge Chen glanced at Ming Yu and asked him, "In which rooms are her female cousins staying?
Ming Yu answered, "Room number 105, 106, 107 108, 109 and 110."
Ge Chen said, "Letâs split into two groups. You two start from the right side, Iâll start from the left side."
They did as Ge Chen told. They had to give a red packet to every door and found out that Xue Lin wasnât there. They even got themselves a male cousin of hers wearing red qipao and he flirted with Louis till poor Louis turned pale. In the end, Ge Chen found Xue Lin in room number 107.
Xue Linâs female cousins were giggling. Most of them had the western wedding and so they didnât know the fun of a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony.
Ge Chen had to look for Xue Linâs hidden shoes in the room. It took him three minutes to find the pair of red shoes. Before that, he found some fake shoes causing everyone to laugh. He put on the shoes on bashful Xue Linâs white jade-like legs.
Xue Linâs uncle and her eldest aunt took her parentsâ place. Xue Lin and Ge Chen offered all the elders Chinese wine. The bride and groom also fed each other desserts. While others had desserts, Xue Lin attached a red rose on Ge Chenâs left side of his clothes and put a decorative bracelet on his left hand. Others also pinned flowers on Ming Yu and Louisâ clothes.
After that, Ge Chen gave his wife a piggyback ride and took her downstairs. On her right hand, she was grabbing a bouquet of red roses. Her delicate womanly body was pressed against his back. He could feel her softness. His mouth went dry and he gulped. He controlled his hormones.
Ge Chen carefully put her in the car and the car drove off to the Su Familyâs summer villa. There, Su Fengfei and Gu Xiali were waiting for them. After they reached, Ge Chen carried her like a princess and took her in the bedroom that was decorated with red roses. Even the bedcover and pillow covers were red. Ge Chen gently put her down in the bed. How he wished to push her down then and there.
Su Fengfei and Gu Xiali offered them a pair of white silk scarves and hang them on their necks. After taking some photos, the bride and groom went to the Shizuo Temple. The priests and Su Fengfei, Gu Xiali, and Xue Linâs uncles, aunties, and cousins were waiting for them there.
The priest prayed for them and gave them his blessings. They also had to take part in a hidden ritual of four gods. They were in a dark room with candles lightened up everywhere and they had to poke their fingers. As blood spilled, they joined the fingers and let their blood mix together. When they did, the strong wind blew inside the room. However, the fire in the candles didnât extinguish. It was surprising and it made Xue Lin wonder if the fours gods blessed them or not.
Later, they were taken to the reception center. Xue Lin and Ge Chen got two red silk scarves and they were knitted together. A red stage was built and decorated for them. They proceeded forward and stood in the middle of the stage. The red scarves were taken from them and Ming Yu gave Ge Chen a red stick. With that stick, Ge Chen took off Xue Linâs veil.
On the stage, there was a red table and both sides of the table, there were two chairs. Xue Linâs uncle and auntie sat on the chairs. Ming Yu and Louis put a red pillow in front of them. Ge Chen and Xue Lin knelt on the pillow. They faced her uncle and aunt and bowed twice before facing each other and bowed. They raised their hands from both sides and intertwined their fingers and bowed. Then they rose and unlocked their fingers and put their hands down just the way they raised their hands.
Later, the groom offered his uncle-in-law a red cup of Chinese wine and then his aunt-in-law. His uncle-in-law gave him a red packet and his aunt-in-law gave his bride a box of gold jewelry. Then, Xue Linâs uncle and auntie gave them blessings and left the stage.
Afterward, Xue Lin and Ge Chen had to cut each otherâs strands of hair and Ge Chen had to knot them together. When he was done, they put the hair together in a small red pouch. Then, they took two red cups, full of wine. They knocked the cups gently twice and drank. Then, they threw golden balls toward the guests. Those were gifts from the bride and groom. Then, Ge Chen carried Xue Lin outside. They went to Su Familyâs summer villa to change clothes and have lunch there. The guests enjoyed their meal after they left.
**The four godsâ ritual is just a fiction.
[ Now who wants a Chiense wedding ceremony? XD ]
[A/N: And donât worry about the universe of four gods and Chinese zodiac. Iâll let you know all the details thatâs needed in the story. You donât have to research on your own. This Happy-go-lucky Author is a good teacher. She will teach her discples. ;p ]