As the sun sank in the west, silver scales glimmered across the boundless ink-black sea.
A lone island rose abruptly from the water.
Roughly round in shape, like a seashell, it sloped from east to west and was covered in coconut palms, banana plants, and other greenery.
At that moment, beneath the eastern hillside, lay a small town.
Lanterns and decorations lined the main street, spreading all the way to a certain household.
The household was teeming with people. Visitors came and went without pause, each wearing a smile and offering congratulations.
Amid the joyful bustle, a group of children clustered beneath the bamboo building in the back courtyard, waving bamboo branches entwined with colorful vine flowers as they shouted, "Bride, come out! Bride, come out!"
Upstairs, two happily married women, both with living parents and children of their own, carefully lowered a bright-red wedding veil embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in the water beside entwined lotus blossoms over the exquisitely made-up bride in her gorgeous wedding dress.
"Everything's ready."
"It's about time. She should get in the sedan."
"Have the wedding cakes been checked?"
"They're all being watched. Don't worry."
"Elder Sister, take care..."
"Don't cry, don't cry. You'll make your elder sister's makeup run, and then she won't look beautiful."
Amid the chatter, the bride was helped downstairs. Wedding cakes and flower petals rained through the air as she climbed into a flower sedan draped in red and green. Amid the thunder of firecrackers, the wedding procession slowly set off toward the groom's home on the western side of the island.
The suona's blare rang through the coconut grove. The island was humid and hot year-round, with flowers blooming in every season. Along the route, bougainvillea burst into bloom, vivid reds and pinks set against a dense sea