Chapter 1034: 696 Exaggerated bride price
「October 1st, 4 a.m.」
Du Heng was rudely awakened from his sleep by Wei Kaida and the others, who grabbed him by the neck and hauled him up.
Du Heng was completely disoriented, staring blankly at his friends before him.
"Hey, groom! Time to get up, change, and wash!"
"What time is it?"
"Four o’clock."
Du Heng’s eyes rolled, and his body went limp, slumping back towards the bed. "It’s still early, still early. We leave at seven, and I’ll be home by eight."
But before his body even touched the bed, Wei Kaida and the others grabbed him again. "Bullshit! You need to be groomed from head to toe, you have to greet the fleet picking up the bride, and everyone has to tidy up and prepare the bridal chamber. Do you think there’s little to do? Stop dawdling! The brothers are all waiting. How can you still be sleeping?"
At this point, Du Heng felt as if every joint in his body was groaning, reminding him how tired he was, begging him to sleep and stop the torment.
"Brothers, please, be good guys. Let me lie down for another half an hour. No, just ten more minutes," Du Heng pleaded weakly, his bones feeling like noodles, soft and limp. "I only just fell asleep at two-thirty this morning, and I haven’t slept well these past few days. Let me sleep a bit. Really, just ten minutes. I absolutely promise to get up in ten minutes."
However, such pleas were utterly meaningless to Wei Kaida, Jin Zan, and the others.
His friends worked together, propping Du Heng upright. Wu Buwei and Liao Quansheng even started helping him change his clothes.
Wei Kaida, smirking as he held Du Heng’s arm, chuckled. "You know what this is? This is karma. When we got married, which one of us didn’t you torment? Today is your payback!"
Du Heng couldn’t process their words; he was genuinely exhausted and desperately wanted to sleep. He had no idea getting married would be this tiring.
Suddenly, the groggy Du Heng snapped awake. He lunged, grabbing a hand that was reaching for his underwear. His eyes flashed fiercely as he stared intently at the hand’s owner. "What do you think you’re doing?"
Liao Quansheng looked quizzically at his own wrist, completely baffled by Du Heng’s sudden outburst. "Helping you change your underwear, of course. Today you’re the groom; from head to toe, inside and out, everything must be new."
As Liao Quansheng spoke, understanding seemed to dawn on him. He snatched his hand back and shook it with a look of utter disgust. "You damn animal! What were you thinking?"
Nearby, Wei Kaida and the others burst out laughing, unable to resist teasing him. "Exactly! How could you be so lucky? Dream on."
But no matter what anyone said, Du Heng was now wide awake, all traces of drowsiness gone.
The thought of having his underwear stripped off by a group of grown men the day before his wedding was horrifying.
"Get out, get out, all of you! I’ll change myself." Du Heng protected his modesty, pushing and shoving the men out of the room.
The process of picking up the bride was largely similar to Zhuo Yue’s wedding day.
However, on Du Heng’s side, the old male relative and old female relative for picking up the bride were more traditional and cultured. This made the process more intricate, and their speeches more elaborate.
Of course, it was also more exhausting.
So much so that by the time they had picked up the bride and arrived home, after Du Heng carried the bride into the bridal chamber, he collapsed onto the bed and immediately fell asleep.
What was even funnier was that the bride also lay down right away, snuggling with the groom on the wedding bed, and soon both were snoring, leaving everyone in the bridal chamber torn between laughter and exasperation.
But they were all experienced in such matters; they naturally understood the couple’s exhaustion.
Moreover, although Du Heng had taken leave from work, he remained busy. Even during these days at home, after finishing his personal matters, he still had to review essential medical records. This included the daily treatment records from the stroke team and the pediatric cerebral hypoplasia group, for which he would add his own directives.
Although these two groups were now operating smoothly and generally didn’t require Du Heng’s intervention, he still had to review their work and make his assessments where summaries were provided.
Wu Shengnan was much the same; she simply couldn’t stay idle.
Even at home, she was either researching information or attending video conferences.
For others, getting married was a chance to put in some overtime at work.
These two, however, seemed to be getting married on the side while continuing their work.
It was a good thing many people were helping with the arrangements; otherwise, who knows how their wedding would have turned out.
At 10:20 a.m., the people in the living room figured it was about time. They went in to wake the soundly sleeping couple, urging them to quickly change their clothes and prepare to head to the hotel.
"President Du, congratulations, congratulations!"
"Director Li, you’re here! Please, come in, come in."
"Leader Wu, you look truly beautiful today!"
"Leader Zhang, are you implying I wasn’t beautiful before?"
"My apologies, I misspoke. You’ve always been beautiful."
"Leader Wu, I want some wedding candy!"
"There’s plenty for everyone! It’s already prepared for you all on the table inside."
Du Heng and Wu Shengnan escorted their guests in, then vigorously rubbed their stiffening cheeks.
"Honey, I’m so tired of smiling," Wu Shengnan said, leaning against Du Heng. While there was an element of coquetry in her action, the exhaustion was real.
To be tired from smiling so much—this was something they had never imagined before.
Du Heng rubbed his aching jaw muscles and sighed in agreement. "I’m exhausted too. My face feels like it’s about to cramp up."
Just as he finished speaking, Wu Shengnan instantly straightened up, a smile reappearing on her face. "Mrs. Zhang, you’ve arrived! Please, come inside."
