Chapter 389: Chapter 389: Xiao Xuan Disrupts the Wedding
Fu Mingyuan chose a weekend for his wedding, so all the Fu family’s in-laws came.
Second Aunt Fu, who had married the third uncle of the Xia family, came with her children. Mr. Fu had also invited Mr. Xia, who graciously attended.
Third Aunt Fu was married to the Jiang Family’s eldest son, Jiang Ruihao. Her husband and two sons were at the front lines and didn’t have time to return.
She came to the Fu family residence with her eldest son, his wife, and their son. They should have come as part of Jiang Ruyan’s bridal escort.
But the two families had already severed ties, so Third Aunt Fu was attending her elder brother’s wedding banquet as a daughter of the Fu family.
When Divine Doctor Jiang saw his granddaughter marrying the elder brother of his eldest daughter-in-law, he was too ashamed to attend the wedding. Instead, he quietly slipped away to another city to practice medicine and help the world.
The Fu family’s fourth daughter-in-law was a woman from the Xiao Family. Although Mr. Xiao received an invitation, he was unwilling to come.
Xiao Yuling couldn’t persuade her father, but she was popular in the Xiao Family and invited her two older brothers and all her nephews and nieces in the Imperial City to the Fu residence.
Among them were Xiao Jiyan and Xiao Rui, whom Gu Jiaojiao knew. Of the adults, only Xiao Rui was still a student.
Of course, there were also younger cousins who were in high school, middle school, and elementary school.
His older cousins had all started working. Xiao Rui was the little tyrant of the Xiao Family.
His older cousins all doted on him, and his younger cousins all admired him.
Back in the late Qing Dynasty, the Xiao Family had been renowned merchant magnates, and during the Republic era, they were famous as "Gods of Wealth."
In the early 1930s, the Xiao Family’s garden villa on Huatang Road in the Imperial City looked down upon all the influential figures of the time.
They were extravagantly wealthy, with a full retinue of maids, chauffeurs, and guards. Xiao Rui’s great-grandfather had even established many "firsts" in the Empire.
He founded the first bank, was the first to focus on developing industries... and was a charitable philanthropist.
He was one of the few who could both serve as an official and run a flourishing business.
Xiao Rui’s great-grandfather had a total of seven wives and concubines, who bore him eleven sons and nine daughters. The daughters all married into powerful families of equal standing, forging alliances.
The Xiao Family’s power grew day by day. Even though later generations produced quite a few prodigal sons, they could still rely on their vast resources to remain standing.
Of the sons born to the great-grandfather’s primary wife, only Mr. Xiao—Xiao Rui’s grandfather—is still alive today.
The Xiao Family had a large and flourishing lineage. The other sons, born to concubines, had scattered to other places, such as the collateral branch of the Xiao Family in Qing City...
The younger generation of the Xiao Family all knew they had a grand-aunt as beautiful as a celestial fairy, but many had only heard of her without ever seeing her in person.
Only Xiao Rui and Xiao Jiyan had met this mysterious grand-aunt, but Xiao Jiyan wasn’t very familiar with Gu Jiaojiao.
"Hey, let me tell you all something. The new sister-in-law that Third Aunt’s family is getting today? She’s our grand-aunt’s arch-nemesis, you know."
Xiao Rui’s words created a huge stir. The girls, especially, were so surprised they covered their mouths to keep from crying out.
"For real?" the boys asked in surprise.
"I heard Jiang Ruyan is only twenty-two. How did she manage to get on our grand-aunt’s bad side?"
"Why would I lie to you? The other day at school, Grand-aunt just went and broke that woman’s finger..."
Xiao Rui then rattled off the story of what happened that day, and after finishing, he added a warning.
"When you see the bride later, you can’t cheer for her, okay? If Grand-aunt finds out, she’ll definitely be unhappy."
Xiao Rui earnestly instructed his older cousins. The family members in the Imperial City were all key personnel managing the pharmaceutical factory.
They knew some of the legends about their grand-aunt and admired her from the bottom of their hearts, even without having met her.
But none of them had expected that this grand-aunt was a college freshman!
"Of course! If she dares to oppose our grand-aunt, it’s merciful of us not to beat her up."
"Sixth Brother, I’m going to go hit the bride later. She’s so mean! She actually dared to point her finger at our grand-aunt."
Xiao Rui’s eight-year-old younger cousin said with puffed cheeks. He was the son of Xiao Rui’s youngest uncle, Xiao Yue.
Although he was young, his words carried some weight. For one, his chubby, adorable appearance was very cute.
And for another, he had an awesome dad. Xiao Yue was unanimously recognized by everyone in the Xiao Family as the next Family Head.
"Okay, our Little Xuanxuan can go hit her without worry. If you lose, your second older cousin will back you up."
"That’s right, your eldest cousin and your nephew will help you too," said a married granddaughter of the Xiao Family, holding her three-year-old son’s hand.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s move out!" Little Xuanxuan declared heroically.
「At the Fu residence」
The crackle of firecrackers shook the heavens. The middle-aged groom wore a crisp white shirt, black trousers, and cap-toe black leather shoes.
Although his handsome face had many wrinkles, it didn’t stop him from beaming with joy.
A firecracker shot into the sky, heralding the bride’s arrival. Jiang Ruyan wore a bright red dress, a wedding gown style she had copied from one Sheng Yueyue learned of in a future era.
While Sheng Yueyue’s version had been a clumsy imitation, Jiang Ruyan was, after all, a bit smarter than her.
Thanks to her modifications, Sheng Yueyue’s awkwardly imitated wedding dress style, when worn by Jiang Ruyan, still surpassed the current fashion trends.
Uncle Jiang was extremely satisfied with this marriage, as many of the guests who arrived today were influential public figures.
He took his daughter’s hand and, with his head held high and chest puffed out, proudly walked toward the groom, who was three years his senior.
He recited the line he had rehearsed three hundred times: "Son-in-law, from this day forward, I entrust my daughter to you. I hope you will treat her well."
The groom took the bride’s hand and said with a beaming smile, "Father... please don’t worry. I will take good care of Yanyan."
Seeing the loving father and filial daughter on stage, as well as the affectionate glances exchanged between the bride and groom, the audience couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotion.
The master of ceremonies announced loudly, "The groom, Fu Mingyuan, and the bride, Jiang Ruyan, have been joined in a beautiful union! Let us all congratulate the happy couple.
Let’s wish for them: to share one heart and one pillow, to walk hand in hand through the vast world, and to find that passionate love of ’I love you, and you love me.’
May this bride and groom share a unique and special elegance and romance."
"Wow, a true match of talent and beauty! You can’t even tell my big brother is older than the bride," Second Aunt Fu said loudly and smugly.
"Yes, the bride and groom look so well-matched! You can’t tell there’s a big age gap at all!"
"Tch. Didn’t you hear the emcee? He said this bride and groom share a ’unique’ elegance. That means their age gap is huge."
Xiao Rui shouted at the top of his lungs, as if afraid others wouldn’t hear him. Because of Gu Jiaojiao, he found the bride, Jiang Ruyan, particularly disagreeable.
"Is that what the emcee meant? How come I didn’t hear that?" a person of some standing asked in confusion.
"Indeed. The emcee just told us all to congratulate the newlyweds."
"He said this bride and groom are ’unique,’ and that means their age difference is huge. Have you ever seen a girl so young marry a groom older than her own parents? Isn’t that exactly what the emcee meant by ’unique’? Even an elementary schooler like me could understand what he meant."
Xiao Xiaoxuan argued in his high, child-like voice, standing on a stool. He was determined to back up his sixth cousin and fiercely defend his grand-aunt.
"Hey, you know, the kid makes a lot of sense. I think that’s what the emcee meant too."
"..."
The mood of the congratulatory crowd was completely derailed by Little Xuanxuan.
The Master of Ceremonies: ...
’I say the bride and groom are ’unique’ at every wedding I officiate!’
