Under Zhou Zheng’s encouragement, Lin Shuang pulled out those fabrics she’d kept tucked away for so long, seeing daylight once more. She still hesitated, without any particular vision, but Zhou Zheng had already moved a workbench and display cabinet into the new home.

By Zhou Zheng’s reasoning, even if nothing came of it, having them displayed at home was still a kind of keepsake.

Lin Shuang happily accepted the gesture.

Over these months, the two of them had steadily received over a hundred packages, plus armfuls of shopping bags brought back from outings. Lin Shuang unboxed things every day, delighted each time. Zhou Zheng’s lifestyle leaned minimalist, while she preferred things fancy and refined—together, the two of them seemed particularly complementary, neither too much nor too little, just right.

Before the wedding, Fu Min and her husband came to see the wedding home; Qi Ling and Qi Shan came along too. Zhou Zheng played host, and his relationship with the whole family was actually better than Lin Shuang’s. Qi Ling, who normally couldn’t string two sentences together in front of others, was noticeably more obedient around Zhou Zheng, while Qi Shan felt nothing much toward Lin Shuang but adored Zhou Zheng, calling him “brother-in-law” over and over with striking enthusiasm.

Made Lin Shuang look like an outsider by comparison.

Fu Min brought things over, and finally, in the bedroom, pressed a heavy red plastic bag into Lin Shuang’s hands: “This hundred thousand yuan, it’s for your dowry…….. it’s a bit little, but it’s my heart in it, don’t look down on it.”

The hundred thousand included Fu Min’s own private savings—she’d done all she could. There were three kids in the family, plus Qi Ling and Qi Shan after that, and plenty of places still needing money.

Lin Shuang shook her head, refusing: “No need.”

“Just take it.”

“No need to give it to me.” Lin Shuang tucked the money back into Fu Min’s handbag. “Both of us have decent incomes, we’re not short on money, we don’t need either family subsidizing us. Save this money, leave it for Qi Shan, you’re getting on in years too. He’s still young after all.”

Qi Shan was, at least, her half-brother through their shared mother—the blood tie wasn’t especially close, but as long as they didn’t burden each other, that was enough.

Fu Min let out a soft sigh.

From the living room came the sound of Qi Shan’s laughter as he played games. Lin Shuang pushed Zhou Zheng forward as a shield, adding: “Zhou Zheng and I don’t do the whole betrothal-gift-and-dowry thing, marriage is a matter between the two of us, we don’t need family support. If I took this money, Zhou Zheng wouldn’t feel right about it either.”

In the end, the money was returned to Fu Min’s hands.

The family discussed the wedding arrangements. Lin Shuang asked Fu Min: “Want me to go with you to buy a nice festive dress? Zhou Zheng’s grandmother and relatives will be coming in from the countryside, you can help me play host a bit.”

“Sure.” Fu Min nodded.

With the wedding approaching, Lin Shuang still had a mountain of things to handle. As for the milk tea shop, she’d simply hired a new employee, going in every few days to check inventory and restock. The area around the school gradually lost one of its striking sights, and with Zhou Zheng’s wedding invitations already delivered to his colleagues, it was all but settled that the boss lady would retreat behind the scenes after marriage and become a homemaker—no shortage of people feeling wistful about it, and even more teasing Zhou Zheng about it.

The gossip took every form imaginable, envy and jealousy alike, rumors flying everywhere. Whatever people said, Teacher Zhou clearly had the ability and the skill—otherwise how could he have fought his way through so many suitors and won the beauty’s hand? The beauty had her own standards too, not just anyone could win her over.

Zhou Zheng had always been fairly steady, never one to comment on gossip, and with the tense atmosphere at school before the college entrance exam, he was coming and going early and late every day, head down and hard at work, focusing first on his class.

The belongings from the old house were gradually moved to the new wedding home; some of the older, unused items were sent back to the countryside—Lin Shuang went along with Zhou Zheng to visit Grandma too. The upstairs room stood empty, perfect for a fresh redecoration, and with the lotus pond, green mountains, and setting sun visible outside the window, staying there occasionally for a day or two felt like half a utopian dream lifestyle.

On the last trip back to the countryside before the wedding, Zhou Zheng discussed arrangements for the wedding day with Shunzai—the village had quite a few relatives and neighbors to invite, and arranging chartered transportation, pickups, and return gifts all needed to be entrusted to Shunzai’s care.

Lin Shuang didn’t concern herself with these troublesome matters, instead accompanying Zhou Zheng’s grandmother in sorting through the household storage room, digging out a sewing box from when Zhou Zheng’s parents got married. The box was covered in a thick layer of dust, the paint had chipped, but its vintage shape had quite a distinctive style. Lin Shuang planned to wash it up and bring it home, to display in the studio as a storage box for buttons and beads.

Zhou Zheng’s grandmother, watching Lin Shuang, grew fonder of her by the moment, seeing how she didn’t turn her nose up at anything, stroking Lin Shuang’s hand affectionately: “What else do you like? Take it all back home, none of this stuff has much use anymore, eventually it’ll just get chopped up for firewood.”

Grandma pointed at a crib in the corner: “This is the little bed A-Zheng slept in as a baby, sturdy material, his second uncle made it by hand, there’s carved characters on it too. Once you two have children, you can use it too, let’s clean it up first and take it upstairs for storage.”

Lin Shuang smiled: “No need, Grandma.”

“You two aren’t young anymore, you should start preparing.”

They really weren’t young—both twenty-seven, twenty-eight. Generally, at this age, once people stepped into marriage, they’d also start preparing for children.

“No plans for children at the moment.” She said with a smile. “You can ask A-Zheng, he knows.”

Before heading back to the city, Zhou Zheng and Grandma talked in the room for a while. Lin Shuang stood outside smoking, and when she saw Zhou Zheng come out, she stubbed out her cigarette.

He smiled at her: “Let’s head back.”

“Finished talking?”

“Finished.”

On the way back, Lin Shuang asked him: “Did Grandma agree?”

“Not entirely, but that’s a matter between the two of us. In the end Grandma told us to think it over carefully.” He sighed. “Grandma’s getting on in years, the older generation’s ideas are hard to shift, just give me a bit more time on it.”

“How did you explain it?” Lin Shuang raised an eyebrow.

“I said……… I lost my parents early on, went through a lot of not-so-happy days myself, and I haven’t figured out how to be a parent myself, can’t guarantee I could give a child a lifetime of happiness and comfort.” He replied in a low voice.

“So have you figured it out yet?” Lin Shuang asked gently.

“Before I met you, none of it was even conceivable.” He was honest with her. “After meeting you, only then did I feel that life could look different from other people’s.”

Lin Shuang laughed, teasing him: “Since when did the math teacher switch to teaching Chinese? Your outlook on life is so quotable.”

Zhou Zheng shook his head with a laugh, asking her: “So are you ready?”

“Ready for what?”

“Marrying me, of course.” He said gently. “The wedding’s coming up soon.”

She closed her eyes, smiling, letting out a light “mm.”

Time really did fly. Their wedding outfits had already arrived by mail—neither of them had seen the other’s outfit yet, saving the perfect first look for the wedding day itself. Lin Shuang didn’t feel much about the wedding itself, but she had real affection for the dress hanging in the closet—what girl would ever turn down a beautiful, dreamlike wedding gown?

After the college entrance exam concluded, one week before the wedding, the two of them kicked off the official moving process—the old apartment had been completely emptied, some new furniture and daily necessities added, left clean and ready for Lin Shuang’s father.

Over these past months, the two of them had sent letters and photos to Lin Hai in prison. Lin Shuang wasn’t going to wait for her father’s release before the wedding—partly not wanting to make it overly sentimental, and partly, some missed time was simply missed time. In Lin Shuang’s life, there was no such word as “waiting.”

Zhou Zheng and Zhang Fan carried the big and small items into the wedding home, and the two of them intermittently finished tidying up the new place. The first time they slept in that two-meter bed, Zhou Zheng couldn’t sleep.

Of course, it was because the mattress was too soft, the silk bedding too smooth, the scent of the person beside him too sweet, and the bedroom too large—one dream after another of his life had come true, and it was hard to imagine that kind of dizzying feeling of standing on solid ground while the heart still floated.

The morning of the wedding, Zhou Zheng woke unusually early, while Lin Shuang slept especially soundly.

At five in the morning, the sky outside the window was already bright. Zhou Zheng went out, taking a detour to the forest park for a morning run, returning drenched in sweat an hour later. Lin Shuang, woken by the commotion, propped her cheek in her hand, lounging lazily in bed watching him.

“Lunch banquet starts at noon, we’re entering at eleven, that’s five hours of prep time from now, groom, are you not up a bit too early?”

He pulled the hem of his shirt up, taking off his T-shirt, revealing sweat-glistening muscle. His mood was a little tense, and pressing his lips together, he invited her: “Want to take a bath together? Then get ready a bit early? Zhang Fan and Miao Cai and everyone will come help this morning, and Mom and Auntie will come too, plus Grandma and Second Uncle and everyone.”

When had it started—he called her family members with even more warmth than she did.

Lin Shuang blinked her long lashes, covering her mouth for a lazy yawn, lowering her head to nod, and let him scoop her up, half-asleep and leaning into him as they headed to the bathroom together.

The two of them soaked in the bathtub, turned on the speaker for some pop music. Lin Shuang even brought over two sheet masks and a bottle of red wine, chatting idly about everyday things while wearing the masks—this year’s college entrance exam papers and the school’s admission rates, the milk tea shop’s new offerings and promotions, the amounts of wedding gift money and the state of the social economy…….

The conversation flowed pleasantly, both of them feeling good, until Lin Shuang suddenly stopped short, her almond eyes widening, bumping into Zhou Zheng, her expression serious: “Did you send Luo Wei double invitations? When she got married, we gave double the gift money, you know.”

Zhou Zheng’s heart, which had finally started to relax: “………..”

Refreshed from the bath, the two of them ate breakfast while calling around to confirm the day’s schedule with everyone. Aside from the hotel, they’d only hired a photographer and a florist—not even a makeup artist, since Lin Shuang’s own skills were more than up to the task, handling both her and Zhou Zheng’s looks herself.

“The sun’s coming in.” Sunlight, filled with lush greenery, sliced through the room in patches of light and shadow. The white gauze curtains stirred in the breeze, occasionally revealing a glimpse of the scenery outside the window. The music still played softly in the room, the atmosphere leisurely, and the bride invited the groom: “Before everyone arrives, want to dance a little?”

“What kind of dance?” The groom was still doing housework at the dishwasher.

“Waltz or ballroom dancing.” She shrugged, extending a hand toward him. “Actually samba would work too.”

“But I can’t dance.” The groom wiped the water off his hands, frowning slightly.

“Doesn’t matter.” She pulled at his arm. “Just spin along to the beat.”

He wrapped both hands around her slender waist, she draped her arms around his neck, their bodies pressed together, music flowing quietly through the room, the two of them swaying casually to the beat, the atmosphere fresh and sweet.

“Zhou Zheng.”

“Mm.”

“Your heart’s racing.”

“Is it?” He asked in a deep voice.

“Nervous?”

“A little, I guess.”

“Don’t be nervous, first time’s always awkward, second time’s a breeze, a green first time is always forgivable.”

“………” Zhou Zheng ground his teeth, and through her robe, gave her rear a firm smack.

Then quickly added: “There’s no second time!”

She mumbled: “Guess how many red envelopes we’ll get today? Enough to cover the banquet cost?”

“………”

“Marriage is deadly, if it weren’t for people trying to recoup their gift money, half the wedding industry would go under, right? Maybe I should open a wedding company myself, I think custom wedding dress rental would do well, one order could feed us for a month.”

He couldn’t take it anymore: “Can we talk about something else?”

“Talk about what? You say.”

“………” He thought about it. “Did you sleep well last night?”

“………” Don’t you have a pretty good idea whether the person sleeping next to you slept well or not?

A sudden doorbell cut through the music—nine in the morning, Miao Cai arrived first to help Lin Shuang with makeup and getting dressed.

Next came Zhang Fan and Xie Xiaomeng, helping Zhou Zheng set up the place, handling phone calls and odd tasks.

Skipping the whole procession-and-pickup ritual, plenty of people came over to join the fun at home—Fu Min and Lin Shuang’s aunt’s whole family came, Qi Ling, Qi Shan, along with Zhou Feng and Zhou Xue arrived early too. With the bride and groom both busy getting ready inside, Zhang Fan acted as the on-site host, running around inside and out greeting guests, keeping the atmosphere lively.

Halfway through greeting guests, the elevator doors opened, and a few young, fresh-faced kids peeked out cautiously by the front door: “Is this Teacher Zhou’s place?”

Turned out to be Zhou Zheng’s students, coming to join the fun, offering their congratulations to their teacher and his wife.

The videographer, a friend of Zhou Zheng’s, called out, cap on: “Come on, come on, everyone, let’s get a big group photo.”

The bedroom door was closed, chaos erupting just outside it. Zhou Zheng, for the first time in his life, enjoyed a full makeup and styling service—his airy, styled hair looked devastatingly handsome. Miao Cai, holding a highlighter brush to add some shine to Lin Shuang, marveled: “I think Teacher Zhou looks even better with a bit of shine, he’s usually so buttoned-up, but with just a casual glance now, there’s a bit of a rakish charm to him.”

Lin Shuang nodded in agreement: “You think he’s just been over-mattified from teaching too much? A bit too oil-controlled?”

“Not to mention, his height’s really coming through now, total male-lead-of-a-novel material.”

Zhou Zheng’s face heated slightly: “………”

“You two…… should we hurry up and get the bride’s makeup done?” He dodged Lin Shuang’s lipstick. “I’ll go check on everyone outside.”

Miao Cai pushed him back into his seat, applying foundation: “Shuangshuang’s skin’s got great bones, the two of us working together will be quick, won’t hold things up. The groom needs to get properly ready too, or how’s he going to match such a gorgeous bride when they head out later.”