Chapter 305

Arrived at the underground parking lot, Xu Yanfeng pressed the car key, Zi Heng himself opened the car door, crawled in and sat down. Xia Xi deliberately lagged two steps behind, and tugged at Xu Yanfeng's arm.

"What did Zi Heng just say to you?" Xia Xi asked softly.

"Curious?" Xu Yanfeng raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"Nonsense."

"I can't say." Xu Yanfeng feigned difficulty shaking his head, "This is a secret between us father and son, I have to keep it."

Xia Xi wore an utterly speechless expression; she didn't really want to know either, guessing it wasn't a big deal, so she didn't ask and opened the car door.

Xu Yanfeng stopped her briefly: "You want to sit in the back?"

He gave the driver the day off today and drove himself.

"Any problem?" Xia Xi said, "I'll sit in the back to keep Zi Heng company and chat."

"Are you angry?" Xu Yanfeng slightly lowered his head to look at her face, his voice a bit low.

"You're overthinking it; I'm not angry about this little thing." Xia Xi patted him, like directing a driver, "Little Xu, go drive."

Xu Yanfeng: "..."

About forty minutes later, the family of three arrived at the hotel.

Zhao Lei is not a local of Nancheng; her husband is. They booked a luxurious suite at the hotel as the bride's dressing room. The groom set out from home, came to the hotel to fetch the bride, made a round trip back, then came again to the hotel's decorated banquet hall on the third floor to hold the ceremony.

Today is the main wedding; afterward they will hold another one at Zhao Lei's hometown.

The dormitory group chat was lively; the two bridesmaids had been accompanying the bride Zhao Lei since yesterday, and now they kept asking when Xia Xi would arrive.

Xia Xi replied in the group: "I've already arrived at the hotel."

Zhao Lei: "I'm in room 1602, not convenient to come out to meet you, come up yourself."

Xia Xi smiled; how could she let the bride go out to meet someone? She typed a few characters and sent: "See you later."

After putting away her phone, Xia Xi turned to look at the father and son beside her, and instructed Xu Yanfeng: "I'll go up to chat with Zhao Lei and the others; you take Zi Heng first to the banquet hall, the one on the left side of the third floor."

Xu Yanfeng took Zi Heng's little hand, gave it a little shake, and gave her a reassuring look: "Go ahead."

The elevator reached the third floor; the father and son got out, while Xia Xi continued up and stopped at the sixteenth floor. As soon as the elevator doors opened, she saw Wu Qinglu and Wang Qiuyu wearing smoke-pink bridesmaid dresses.

The two stood one on the left, one on the right, looking exactly like greeters, as if in the next second they would say in unison, "Welcome."

Wu Qinglu smiled: "The bride isn't convenient to go out; we two are."

Wang Qiuyu nodded heavily, then gave Xia Xi a once‑over from head to toe, unable to contain her excitement: "Damn… Xi Xi, after not seeing you for years, you still look like a college student, so young."

Saying that, Wang Qiuyu touched her own face and sighed: "Looks like this butcher‑knife of time is merciless only toward me."

Xia Xi burst out laughing; she's still as amusing as ever.

Among the four dorm mates, Wu Qinglu is the somewhat more refined and shy one.

Xia Xi opened her arms and hugged the two of them, took a deep breath, and said the most ordinary greeting: "Long time no see."

"Really, it's been a long time." Wu Qinglu curled her lips; seeing Xia Xi should have been a happy thing, but for some reason the atmosphere suddenly turned a bit sentimental: "You left a note back then and disappeared; although you still use WeChat normally, you hardly chat with us, and we've been worried something happened to you. Tell me, are you just too inconsiderate?"

"Sorry." Xia Xi stroked her back, corners of her mouth lifting, yet her eyes felt a bit sore: "Back then something happened, and I didn't have time to say goodbye to you."

"Forget it, it's all in the past." Wang Qiuyu patted her shoulder.

The three of them chatted a few words in the hallway, linked arms, and walked toward the suite where the bride was staying.

Wang Qiuyu: "Zhao Lei said you have a kid—true or false?"

"True, I brought him along today." Xia Xi spoke frankly, "The child's father is downstairs in the banquet hall."

"The child's father?!" Wu Qinglu stared wide‑eyed, full of disbelief: "Who is it? Did you get married? When did you marry? Why didn't you tell us? Did you and Xu Yanfeng really break up? Back in school lots of people said that, but we didn't really believe it."

She had too many questions; Xia Xi wore a laughing‑crying expression, not knowing which to answer first.

Wang Qiuyu stroked her chin and hit the nail on the head: "I'm saying the child's father couldn't be Xu Yanfeng, could he?"

Xia Xi nodded: "It's him."

"Holy shit holy shit holy shit, it's still you, Xia Xi, awesome." Wang Qiuyu said while pushing open the suite's door, pulling Xia Xi inside, eager to hear her story: "I just said you two couldn't have broken up—look how fiercely you pursued Xu Yanfeng back then; we all saw it."

Zhao Lei sat on the bed in her wedding dress; hearing the three words "Xu Yanfeng," she looked at Xia Xi: "What are you talking about?"

Today the bride is the star; Xia Xi walked over, spoke her blessings personally, then handed over a gift.

After Zhao Lei's introduction, Xia Xi greeted the other bridesmaid in the room whom she didn't know.

Wang Qiuyu tried to steer the topic toward Xia Xi: "Zhao Lei, do you know who Xia Xi's husband is?"

Zhao Lei blinked, looked at Xia Xi then at Wang Qiuyu: "Husband? She's not got a boyfriend? I've even met him. She's the boss at her company, called Lu something… Lu Mingji? I think that's the name."

Wang Qiuyu: "???"

What's going on?

Wu Qinglu: "You've got it wrong. Xi Xi's husband is Xu Yanfeng."

Zhao Lei wasn't sure either, and asked Xia Xi: "Did I get it wrong?"

Xia Xi had no choice but to clarify the past: "Lu Mingji is indeed my boss, and also a very good friend of mine. At that class reunion, we played truth or dare, I told a lie and had him pretend to be my boyfriend."

Zhao Lei figured it out; that night she had felt something odd—Xu Yanfeng and Xia Xi were being flirtatious in the private room, yet Lu Mingji, who was supposed to be the boyfriend, didn't lose his temper. She had thought he was just tolerant, but it turned out to be fake.

"Your child is…" Zhao Lei dragged her words, embarrassed to ask outright.

"It's Xu Yanfeng's." Xia Xi had figured it out before coming; today would be a confession session. Since she had brought Xu Yanfeng along, she had no intention of hiding it: "We really did break up before, and we hadn't been in touch for several years. We ran into each other by chance last year, and only recently reconciled."

She skipped the twists and turns, giving a simple summary.

Zhao Lei was startled, finding the veil annoying, she flung it up: "No, sis, this is a runaway‑with‑the‑baby story, huh?"

Xia Xi: "..."

Not long after chatting, the auspicious time for the bride‑fetching was approaching; Xia Xi helped Zhao Lei lower her veil, and with a smile reminded her: "Bride, don't forget today is your big happy day."

A few bridesmaids pulled Xia Xi over to block the door, symbolically asking the groom a few questions; after receiving a stack of red envelopes, they mercifully let them in.

But that's not the end yet; Wang Qiuyu took out a sheet of paper: "Next up is a rapid‑fire Q&A game—if you answer incorrectly or take more than three seconds to reply, you must accept our punishment."

The groom is 1.8 meters tall, with fair skin, wearing half‑frame glasses, his hair styled with wax to look sharp and handsome, dressed in a white shirt and black suit, a bow tie at the collar, a red flower pinned on his chest—he looks particularly spirited.

"You tell me first what the punishment is." He laughed brightly, his eyes unblinking as he stared at Zhao Lei on the bed.

Wu Qinglu brought a tray, on it were candies in various packaging: "Lose once, pick any candy and eat it on the spot."

The groomsmen exchanged glances, then shouted: "No way, it's that simple?"

Soon they realized it wasn't that simple; those candies were all weird flavors. The sour ones written on the package felt like being hit by something when eaten, cheeks aching, so sour they made you jump three feet high. The spicy ones made the whole face turn red the moment the tongue tasted them. There were also bitter, cake-like flavors… no idea where they were bought from.

The groomsmen were tormented to the point of unbearable suffering, and they declared: "From now on, the groom will bear it himself; we're not accompanying you any longer!"

Everyone laughed and chatted for a while, then came the segment of finding the wedding shoes; Xia Xi quietly moved beside Zhao Lei, bent over and whispered: "I want a few candies."

"Ah?" Zhao Lei tilted her head, blinked, smiled, and said boldly: "Tsk, I thought you wanted to tell me something big; there's nothing else, the wedding candy is more than enough, feel free to eat and take as you like."

"No." Xia Xi said, "I want the weird-flavor candy just used for the prank."

Zhao Lei: "?"

Although she didn't understand, Zhao Lei still grabbed a handful for her. Xia Xi stuffed it into her small bag she carried, lowered her head and chuckled, thinking of finding a chance to test it on Xu Yanfeng, not knowing what his reaction would be. He is always calm and unflappable.