Having a voice in matters was quite different from just receiving trust fund treatment.

The large plot of land purchased by Harold was being prepared, with most debris cleared away. Ji Ya wanted a romantic lawn wedding, but this plot wasn’t quite up to standard yet.

Fortunately, the Xiangmi Lake Resort was right next door, spacious and tranquil when free of tourists.

Why was Ji Ya’s wedding set for October 2nd?

It was originally planned for National Day itself. However, when they proposed booking the entire venue on National Day, during peak tourist season, Xiangmi Lake management flatly refused.

It wasn’t about money – others rushed to travel during National Day, and closing the resort to visitors would have terrible implications. What good was money? Even wealth couldn’t reserve the entire venue.

October 2nd was only agreed upon after lengthy negotiations, considering George’s status as a foreign businessman.

This wedding was incredibly expensive.

Guests could stay at the resort, witnessing the wedding venue being built piece by piece.

After the resort closed on National Day, people began decorating the wedding venue.

The decorators were brought in from Hong Kong – George had bought a renovation company and held Hong Kong in high regard. This free port was connected to the world, unlike the more provincial mainland China.

Floral arches.

Temporary lawns.

Long tables covered with pristine white tablecloths, each piece of cutlery polished to a sparkling shine.

Tomorrow’s wedding would reportedly feature a buffet reception, with flowers on every table air-freighted to Pengcheng.

“This kind of wedding…”

As Ji Ya’s good friend, Zhen Wenxiu naturally had to accompany her on her wedding eve. While Ji Ya’s female relatives could have done this, Ji Ya’s sister-in-law became anxious at the sight of her, so the task fell to Zhen Wenxiu.

As the Ning family’s daughter-in-law, Zhen Wenxiu wasn’t exactly inexperienced, but this upcoming wedding, funded by real American dollars, opened her eyes with its extravagance.

When she married Ning Xue’s father in the 1960s, they both worked until the day before their wedding, took leave on their wedding day, and wore new clothes with red silk flowers pinned to their chests – that was marriage!

It was the 1960s, with nationwide famine – just having enough to eat was difficult, let alone elaborate weddings.

The Ning family’s circumstances were far worse than now.

Zhen Wenxiu surveyed everything in the room, unable to contain her envy: “The wedding dress alone costs thousands of dollars, plus that huge diamond engagement ring passed down through George’s family, and look at the decorations outside… You struck gold with George. How much must it all cost!”

The wedding dress was also an imported brand product. Ji Ya hadn’t planned to remarry, and with the rushed wedding date, she didn’t have time to design her dress.

The diamond ring was genuine, worn by George’s grandmother at her wedding. The Wilson family was already wealthy then – the main diamond was two carats, high quality, with superior cutting and setting. Surrounded by smaller diamonds, the large stone on Ji Ya’s elegant finger truly dazzled under the lights.

Diamond rings weren’t yet popular in China, but anyone with eyes could tell this was valuable.

Zhen Wenxiu’s words struck a chord with Ji Ya.

George might not match Harold in youth and handsomeness, nor inherited assets.

But regarding devotion to Ji Ya, his sincerity was unmatched.

Ji Ya had long refused marriage – such a woman wouldn’t appreciate others’ efforts, taking George’s gestures for granted. George should thank his uncle Harold for mercilessly shattering Ji Ya’s hopes, followed by Tang Hongen’s finishing blow. Losing face twice in one day forced even the most confident woman to question her charm.

Her fight and breakup threat with George wasn’t genuine.

Having witnessed her obsessive outbursts, he didn’t take her words seriously.

Ji Ya’s challenge sparked George’s ambition. Coincidentally, internal matters drew Harold back to America. George’s clear support for Harold earned him management rights to the Pengcheng golf course project, showing signs of a middle-aged man’s late-career surge.

At this point, George proposed again confidently, and Ji Ya, repeatedly humbled, actually agreed.

Even George was surprised.

When a submissive man suddenly finds his goddess agreeing to marry him, George’s investment in this wedding is predictable.

In 1985 China, even at the forefront of reform and opening up, no one had held such a wedding – booking Xiangmi Lake Resort, air-freighting flowers, designer wedding dress… total expenses likely reached hundreds of thousands of dollars.

George even covered round-trip airfare for Ji Ya’s guests.

Fortunately, it was a private event. In this era of slow news and insensitive media, without guests posting on social media, such news would surely cause discussion.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on a wedding?

While the nation still tightened its belt for development, such extravagance would face harsh criticism.

Though Ji Ya married a foreigner, she remained Chinese. Ji Lin, after seeing the venue, wholly approved of holding the wedding in Pengcheng – in Beijing, it would have been excessively ostentatious!

Of course, Ji Ya was always ostentatious.

She wouldn’t have sent her ex-husband an invitation otherwise.

No one knew Ji Ya had done this, though George knew but didn’t consider it significant by Western standards.

Zhen Wenxiu’s tone was full of envy. Ji Ya secretly despised her as an unsophisticated bumpkin but couldn’t say so: “It’s just a few hundred thousand dollars.”

She truly felt that wasn’t much.

George wasn’t the wealthiest man she’d dated – richer ones couldn’t tolerate her temperament.

But George was the most generous with Ji Ya.

Thinking of this, she felt somewhat less regretful.

Zhen Wenxiu clutched her chest, heart nearly leaping out: “…Just a few hundred thousand dollars?”

She dared not imagine how much that was in yuan.

Ji Ya spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a wedding! Zhen Wenxiu felt both envious and vaguely disturbed by such excess. Though a Ning family daughter-in-law and Ji Ya’s friend, she lived quite modestly.

“Isn’t this too much? George doesn’t mind?”

Ji Ya responded carelessly, “He wanted this grand display himself, how could he mind? Oh, and I sent Tang Hongen an invitation.”

Zhen Wenxiu’s heart skipped: “Why invite him? Is that appropriate?”

Ji Ya toyed with her diamond ring, “Why not? I can’t rest until Tang Hongen sees me remarry. George doesn’t mind – this is common abroad. Mayor Tang will surely graciously congratulate me.”