He Played a Little Trick

Wei Zisu never did fall asleep. He chatted with Cui Xiangxiang for a while, listening to him lament at length, "We're both getting state-assigned alphas, so why is there such a huge difference?" before hanging up.

Since he wasn't going to sleep, he might as well get up and find Yin Zhengchuan.

The study?

Wei Zisu left the bedroom and searched room by room.

There were so many rooms. Unable to find him, he simply took out his phone and called Yin Zhengchuan.

For the first time in his life, he learned that sometimes, finding someone at home required a phone call too.

"Didn't you sleep?" Yin Zhengchuan asked as he came out of the study. "Are you having trouble getting used to a new place?"

"No," Wei Zisu said. "I'm just not sleepy."

Who could sleep after hitting the jackpot?

"Let's go look at the venue!" he said.

Wei Zisu felt that after all the care they had put into the preparations, it would seem rude if he didn't even take a look.

"Sure!" Yin Zhengchuan looked delighted. "Wait for me at the gate. I'll get the car."

Wei Zisu went to the main courtyard to let Yin Zhengchuan's parents know, then headed to the gate to wait. Auntie Sun came back carrying lots of groceries and greeted him in her dialect. "Mr. Wei, where ya off to?"

"Huh?" Wei Zisu looked at the vegetables she was carrying, thinking she was asking him how to cut them, though somehow that guess didn't seem quite reasonable.

Realizing he didn't understand, Auntie Sun quickly switched to halting Mandarin. "Where are you going?"

So that was what she meant!

"Auntie Sun, Zhengchuan and I are going to look at the wedding venue," Wei Zisu replied.

"Oh, go on, then. Come back for fish tonight."

"Okay. Thank you, Auntie Sun."

Just then, Yin Zhengchuan drove up in the Phaeton. Wei Zisu said goodbye to Auntie Sun and got in.

The wedding venue wasn't far from Longevity Village. It was at a resort with an enormous Swan Lake, where black and white swans could be seen everywhere. There was also a lawn by the lake, and that was where the wedding would be held.

The venue was almost fully decorated. It was warm and romantic, and the exceptional care that had gone into it was plain to see.

Yin Zhengchuan kept asking Wei Zisu whether there was anything he wasn't happy with, telling him to say so if anything needed changing.

"It all looks good," Wei Zisu said.

Yet hearing that left Yin Zhengchuan a little disappointed. Wei Zisu always gave him the impression that he didn't particularly care about this wedding, as though he would say it looked good no matter how Yin Zhengchuan decorated it.

He actually wished Wei Zisu would plant one hand on his hip, twist his ear with the other, and say, "I don't like white chair covers. Change them to yellow!"

But Wei Zisu didn't. He hadn't even looked through everything before saying it looked good.

Yin Zhengchuan's fragile heart began aching again. He silently told himself, Tonight! Tonight's the night! I have to tell Zisu how I feel. I like him. I've liked him for five years!!!

On the way back, just before they reached home, Yin Zhengchuan said, "The garage is a little way from our house. Can we park the car first and then walk back together?"

"Sure," Wei Zisu said.

Hearing that, Yin Zhengchuan kept his expression neutral, but inside, he was thrilled. He admitted it: he was playing a little trick, taking advantage of Wei Zisu. He was a bastard.

But!

Today, he was going to be that bastard and indulge his vanity!

When he had brought Wei Zisu back at noon, it had been lunchtime, and they had hardly met anyone along the way. Not having a chance to show off his beautiful husband had felt like such a waste.

It was now past four in the afternoon. At this hour, the village aunties and uncles were all exercising, playing chess, or chatting in the park or at the village entrance. Attendance was as high as ninety-nine percent. The remaining one percent could only be those bedridden with paralysis and unable to leave the house.

If he walked past them with his husband, the news that he, Yin Zhengchuan, had married a beauty would spread throughout Longevity Village before sunset!

With his little scheme in mind, Yin Zhengchuan drove into the garage. Looking at the dozen or so luxury cars inside, Wei Zisu was momentarily speechless.

As they walked home, Wei Zisu kept feeling that Yin Zhengchuan was walking very slowly, though he wasn't sure whether he was imagining it.

Those long legs of his were taking tiny steps, making his gait look rather comical.

"Mr. Liu, squatting here enjoying yourself?" Yin Zhengchuan greeted an elderly man enthusiastically. Before the man could answer, he continued, "Oh, I took my husband to see the wedding venue. We're getting married the day after tomorrow!"

"Oh," Mr. Liu said, then smilingly complimented his husband's looks.

Wei Zisu smiled and thanked him politely, while Yin Zhengchuan looked immensely pleased with himself.

"Auntie, off to buy groceries? This is my husband. He just came back today. We're getting married the day after tomorrow!"

The auntie, whose own son had yet to find a spouse, said they made a good match, but inwardly thought, Wait, who asked you?

Once she had gone some distance, Yin Zhengchuan whispered to Wei Zisu, "Did you see that auntie's nose? Isn't it just like Yuan Zizhen's?"

Wei Zisu paused, then smiled. "Now that you mention it, it really is. When you said before that every auntie in your village had a nose like that, I thought you were just trying to annoy Yuan Zizhen."

"I was trying to annoy him," Yin Zhengchuan said, "but it's also true."

Just then, a group of elderly men crawled toward them.

Yes, crawled.

It gave Wei Zisu a fright.

Yin Zhengchuan hurriedly explained, "Don't be scared. They're exercising. Who knows which expert told them crawling on all fours cures herniated discs."

Wei Zisu: ...

The people in their village really were interesting.

"Oh, Zhengchuan, you're back? Where ya off to?" the elderly man leading them asked.

"Ah, yes. This is my husband. He just came back today. We're getting married the day after tomorrow. Come to the wedding feast, all of you," Yin Zhengchuan replied.

The elderly men froze for a moment, then kept crawling as they looked at the two of them and offered their congratulations. It was a very strange sight.

Wei Zisu kept smiling and thanking them politely.

After the elderly men had walked... no, crawled away, Yin Zhengchuan suddenly asked Wei Zisu, "You don't mind me introducing you like that, do you?"

They were practically at their doorstep, and only now, after all those introductions, did he ask.

"I don't mind," Wei Zisu said. "But... wasn't that 'where ya off to' just now asking where you were going?"