Chapter 498: Collective Wedding

The news that I was getting married caused quite a stir in Hengyue City, following the wedding invitations widely distributed by Bureau Chief Chen Yazhi.

The first call to come in was from Huang Qishan, who started by congratulating me on achieving a successful outcome. He said that from now on, I would be considered a member of a high-ranking official's family, a person with status and standing in society.

I gave a bitter smile and said, "Qishan, you brat, dare you mock me? I'm just a person with an ID card; what kind of person with 'status' does that make me?"

Huang Qishan cried foul over the phone, saying, "Chen Feng, don't play the hypocrite after getting the better end of the deal; no one acts like that! Just think, if it weren't for your father-in-law, what would you have to rise so quickly? Do you really think you have exceptional qualities?"

His words were very unpleasant, as if he were using a knife to slice my flesh inch by inch. Deep in my heart, there had always been a barrier—the fear that others would mistakenly think I was someone who climbed the social ladder by relying on my wife's family.

I roared at the receiver, "Huang Qishan, are you jealous?"

Huang Qishan chuckled and said, "If I said I wasn't jealous, you wouldn't believe me. If I said I was, I wouldn't be reconciled to it myself. To tell you the truth, Chen Feng, you really do have many exceptional qualities, such as your image, your courage, and your ability; I, Huang Qishan, admit I dare not compare myself to you. So, I accept my defeat wholeheartedly. But have you thought about what Guo Wei might think?"

"None of his damn business!" I said contemptuously. "If he wants to be jealous, let him be. I'm happy."

After hanging up on him, before I could even get up, a call from Qian Youyu came in.

"Old Leader, congratulations, congratulations!"

I asked, completely bewildered, "Old Qian, what do you mean?"

Qian Youyu laughed heartily and said, "Just one meaning, one meaning—congratulations and best wishes."

"Nonsense!" I said. "Old Qian, where did you get the news?"

Qian Youyu shouted exaggeratedly, "Little Brother, the whole city knows; could I still be kept in the dark? You're getting married, such a big happy event, and you didn't even tell your big brother—did you forget me, or was it on purpose?"

I didn't care at all about Qian Youyu's posturing; I truly hadn't thought about inviting him. Regardless of how you put it, he was just a construction contractor, a nouveau riche. Although he now wore the hat of a Chunshan County People's Congress representative, he was, after all, just a clod of dirt, unfit for the grand hall. It wasn't that I looked down on him; I, Chen Feng, was the son-in-law of the Municipal Party Committee Organization Department Chief, and those coming on my big day would be high-ranking officials or my closest friends and family. Qian Youyu was, at best, just a passerby in my life. He couldn't be counted as kin, nor was he a friend.

"Old Qian," I cleared my throat and said, "We're just holding a few simple tables; we haven't made any moves yet."

Qian Youyu hesitated for a moment, sighed, and said, "I understand what you mean. The invitations have even reached Chunshan County, but our Suxi Town didn't get one. It seems Suxi won't have the chance to offer congratulations."

I was taken aback and asked, "What do you mean?"

Qian Youyu sighed, "Yesterday I went to the county to handle some business and ran into your former driver. He told me you were getting married and had invited Secretary Liu and County Magistrate Yu. I thought you would at least invite us in Suxi Town."

"I really didn't know," I said. "Old Qian, since you think highly of me, please do me the favor of telling Mayor Liu and the others in Suxi that I will go to thank them later."

"So, you are inviting us?"

"What do you think?"

"I understand." Qian Youyu hung up the phone happily. I clutched the receiver, staring at the opposite wall in a daze, where a tiny gecko was actually crawling. My interest was piqued, and I went over on tiptoe, preparing to observe how it caught its prey.

Seeing me approach, the gecko scrambled in a panic behind the picture frame hanging on the wall.

I lifted the frame but didn't see the gecko hiding inside, which gave me a start—could it fly?

Just as I was struggling with this, Huang Weiwei walked in. Seeing me holding our wedding photo, she asked in surprise, "Hubby, what are you doing?"

Now she was a woman surrounded by happiness, a happy smile blooming on her face at every moment.

In her happy smile, I finally realized that women actually all want a grand wedding!

In the past, she had always followed my line of thinking, even going so far as to run away with me to avoid holding a wedding, but in reality, she was just being clever and doing all of this so that I would feel it.

All her actions crumbled under the strong interference of Bureau Chief Chen Yazhi. The sensible and well-mannered demeanor she displayed in front of my mother made my mother decide that even if her son lost his official position, she would hold a grand and glorious wedding. She had to do right by the Huang family and do right by the ancestors of my Chen family.

I finally compromised, mainly due to my mother's firm attitude.

Just as I was pretending to be full of joy while announcing the wedding, the smile on Huang Weiwei's face made my heart stir; it turned out this was the result she had wanted all along.

"There's a gecko," I said softly, as if afraid of scaring it away.

Huang Weiwei came over on tiptoe, stared at the wall for a long time, and asked, "Where?"

I shook my head and said, "I don't know either; it was just here, I really saw it."

Huang Weiwei laughed, "Hubby, are you under too much pressure? Your eyes are playing tricks on you."

"It's really there," I said stubbornly, my eyes still searching everywhere. But the gecko seemed to have vanished into the wall; not a trace could be seen.

"If it's there, it's there," Huang Weiwei said, hugging my arm tenderly. "Hubby, let's discuss something."

I hung the frame back up, helped her sit on the sofa, and asked, "What is it?"

"Have you decided who you want to be your best man?"

I paused; I really hadn't thought about this question. With the wedding date drawing closer, the thought of who would be my best man had never crossed my mind.

"I've decided, I'm still asking Mengmeng to be my maid of honor," she said, leaning against me with infinite affection. "We promised each other when we were little that whoever got married, the other would definitely be her maid of honor."

"Don't maids of honor have to be unmarried?" I asked hesitantly.

"Mengmeng is unmarried."

"But she has a child."

"It's precisely because she has a child, and the child needs a father, that I want her to be my maid of honor." Huang Weiwei's breath was like orchids, and I could smell a hint of warm maternal love in her scent.

"Good!" I said. "Wife, as long as you're happy, everything is fine."

Huang Weiwei kissed me on the cheek and said, "Hubby, you're so good!"

I chuckled and said, "It's a must."

"Hubby, I've also thought about who to ask to be your best man."

"Who?"

"Guess."

"I can't guess," I said, rolling over to pin her beneath me, looking into her bright eyes, and couldn't help but kiss her lightly.

She giggled, trying to break free. Helplessly pinned by me, she had no room to move. I touched her increasingly full breasts, my heart surging with excitement.

"He Jiaxiao," she said, panting and struggling, her face flushed like a blooming peach blossom. She whispered a plea, "Hubby, stop moving, I can't take it."

"You said He Jiaxiao?" I teased her on purpose. "Am I He Jiaxiao?"

Huang Weiwei's face was flushed, and she panted, "Hubby, I meant let He Jiaxiao be your best man."

"Is that okay?" I let go, helped her sit up, and said hesitantly, "They seem to still have issues."

"What issues? The child is already born; is it still worth fighting over?" Huang Weiwei smoothed her slightly disheveled hair and said with infinite longing, "If only Mengmeng and I could wear our wedding dresses on the same day and walk into the wedding hall together, how wonderful that would be."

"Why don't we just hold a collective wedding," I teased her.

"Great, great!" Unexpectedly, Huang Weiwei clapped her hands in approval: "Hubby, I'll leave this matter for you to handle."

I was between laughter and tears; it was originally just a joke, but I didn't expect it to stir up trouble, which was something I hadn't anticipated.

Would that pair of rivals, Chen Meng and He Jiaxiao, listen to my arrangements?