Guests arrived one after another, and Jiang Yubai entered the hall with his parents.

At the corner of the hall entrance, Jiang Yubai met some of Jessica’s relatives. After exchanging polite greetings with them, he inadvertently caught sight of Lin Zhixia in the distance. He took a step toward Lin Zhixia’s position, and his father asked in a low voice: “Where are you going?”

“My invited friend has arrived,” Jiang Yubai said formally, “please excuse me.”

His father was amused: “Go ahead.”

Jiang Yubai wore a dark blue suit. His physique was developing nicely, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs. His posture was as straight as a pine tree, and his clothes suited his temperament perfectly. He approached Lin Zhixia with elegance, and his first words were: “There’s strawberry cake today.”

Lin Zhixia was elated: “Strawberry cake?”

Lin Zeqiu coldly said from behind her: “What’s so exciting? It’s not like you’ve never had strawberry cake before.”

Only then did Jiang Yubai look at Lin Zeqiu. After not seeing him for several months, Lin Zeqiu indeed hadn’t matured. Jiang Yubai politely greeted him: “Hello, welcome to my uncle’s wedding.”

Lin Zeqiu remained silent. He firmly held Lin Zhixia’s wrist, his fingertips gently pressing on the back of her hand.

In the vast rose-filled hall, guests were dressed in luxurious clothing and adorned with precious jewelry. It seemed only Lin Zhixia and Lin Zeqiu were dressed simply. The two siblings appeared as if they had wandered into another dimension.

Lin Zhixia didn’t mind this at all. After thinking for a moment, she pulled out two red envelopes from her pocket and solemnly handed them to Jiang Yubai.

“Wedding gifts from me and my brother,” she said.

Jiang Yubai was surprised: “Wedding gifts?”

Lin Zhixia asked with confusion: “Don’t other guests give money as gifts?”

Jiang Yubai replied honestly: “They put checks in red envelopes.”

Lin Zhixia became shy: “I… I only prepared two hundred yuan.”

“Thank you,” Jiang Yubai said sincerely, “thank you very much. I’ll give the red envelopes to my uncle and convey your blessings.”

Lin Zhixia questioned him: “Don’t you think two hundred is too little?”

Jiang Yubai firmly declared: “Not at all. Your sincere wishes are priceless, an infinite number.”

“Yes!” Lin Zhixia agreed with Jiang Yubai’s explanation. With a smile in her eyes, she asked: “Where is the bride? Is she very beautiful? I love seeing brides.”

Jiang Yubai raised his hand, pointing toward the artificial mountain by the waterfall: “Wait a little longer, the bride will emerge from the cave.”

Lin Zeqiu laughed “Hehe”: “Strange concept.”

Lin Zhixia tugged at Lin Zeqiu’s sleeve. Lin Zeqiu turned his head toward the exit of the hall: “Lin Zhixia, can you stand being here?”

“Why wouldn’t I be able to?” Lin Zhixia asked in return.

Lin Zeqiu lowered his voice, his words obscure and difficult: “Look at what others are wearing…”

Jiang Yubai immediately explained: “This wedding has no dress code. Not all guests are wearing formal attire.”

After saying this, Jiang Yubai directed Lin Zeqiu’s gaze to another direction—where a group of young people in their twenties and thirties had gathered, dressed ordinarily and inconspicuously.

“Who are they?” Lin Zeqiu asked.

Jiang Yubai introduced: “Friends of my uncle from the music industry.”

Lin Zhixia interjected: “Music industry friends are so low-key.”

Jiang Yubai quoted his uncle: “My uncle once said that he invites friends to witness his wedding; as long as they come, nothing else matters.”

Lin Zhixia complimented: “Yes, not bound by formalities…”

Before Lin Zhixia could finish her praise, Jiang Yubai suddenly said to her: “Could you sit next to me?”

Lin Zhixia blinked, looking at him with confusion. Although she didn’t understand the wedding customs of wealthy families, when she attended weddings in the countryside, the groom’s immediate family always sat at a separate table—Lin Zhixia wasn’t Jiang Shaoqi’s immediate relative, so how could she sit with Jiang Yubai?

She firmly refused: “No, I can’t.”

To Lin Zeqiu, those three words “No, I can’t” sounded as delightful as heavenly music.

Great.

His sister had finally shown some sense.

His sister had finally publicly snubbed Jiang Yubai.

Since Lin Zeqiu stepped into this hall, he had felt completely uncomfortable. The place was filled with an air of lavish extravagance, permeated with a dizzying sense of money being burned. He knew Jiang Yubai’s family was wealthy, but he hadn’t imagined that “wealthy” could be so extreme.

Now, Lin Zeqiu took a deep breath, and all the gloom he had accumulated was swept away.

Lin Zeqiu smiled slightly, like a winner who had triumphed effortlessly, and proudly took Lin Zhixia’s wrist: “Jiang Yubai, have you heard this saying—’Family members, one table.’ Lin Zhixia should sit near me. You’re the groom’s nephew, go take care of your business. Your family has other guests waiting for you to receive them.”

The faint fragrance of roses permeated the air, and streams of water flowed beneath the glass floor. Lin Zeqiu held his sister’s hand, looking around for a place to sit.

Jiang Yubai persisted: “I sit at the front, where the table is rectangular, not round. If you want to see the bride, the view from my position is better.”

Lin Zhixia wavered: “Are the seats around you empty?”

Jiang Yubai led her forward: “The seat to my left is empty, and my mother sits to my right.”

“What about your other relatives?” Lin Zhixia inquired curiously. “The one I met at your grandfather’s house, Huang Yuxiao…”

Jiang Yubai replied flatly: “He’s at another table.”

“Is my relationship with you… closer than his with you?” Lin Zhixia muttered quietly.

Jiang Yubai was certain: “Of course.”

Lin Zeqiu put his hand on Jiang Yubai’s shoulder, quite in the manner of a jianghu big brother. Lin Zeqiu was a few years older than Jiang Yubai and slightly taller. His gesture contained a warning, but Jiang Yubai calmly reminded him: “I am Lin Zhixia’s best friend. This fact will not change.”

“That’s right,” Lin Zhixia echoed.

Lin Zeqiu remained silent.

Lin Zhixia checked her watch and urged: “The wedding is about to begin. We need to sit down quickly.”

*

Today’s wedding banquet was exactly the kind of feast Jiang Yubai had imagined.

With his dear friend sitting beside him, Jiang Yubai felt secure and at ease. Even though his friend had brought along her difficult brother, Jiang Yubai didn’t mind in the slightest.

After the banquet began, numerous servers pushed carts to serve dishes. The appetizers included iced lemongrass, steamed duo dumplings, caviar shrimp balls, and bird’s nest with sea cucumber stewed with conch—these dishes were portioned individually, and servers personally delivered them to guests.

The servers were very meticulous when pouring wine. Wearing white gloves, they opened champagne bottles, first lifting the glass and tilting it slightly, pouring a small amount of wine, pausing briefly, then letting the wine flow from the bottle mouth, slowly sliding down the glass wall. They would bend down and gently place the glass on the table, making no sound from beginning to end.

Strangely, despite the servers providing such attentive service, Lin Zeqiu felt entirely uncomfortable. He held chopsticks in his right hand and a wine glass in his left, his heart rate inexplicably accelerating.

Today was Lin Zeqiu’s first time drinking champagne. He took a sip, and the wine’s aroma filled his mouth, bringing a novel experience.

Lin Zhixia was underage and couldn’t drink alcohol, so servers brought her a glass of freshly squeezed strawberry honey juice—a drink Jiang Yubai had specially arranged, which Lin Zhixia loved. Still, she wanted to know what champagne tasted like and curiously asked: “Brother, does champagne taste good?”

Lin Zeqiu said: “It’s alright.”

Lin Zhixia turned her head and whispered to Jiang Yubai: “Do you want to drink alcohol?”

Lin Zeqiu reminded her: “Just talk if you need to talk, don’t get so close to him.”

Lin Zeqiu, Lin Zhixia, Jiang Yubai, and Jiang Yubai’s parents all sat at a long table. Jiang Yubai had invited Lin Zhixia to sit beside him, and his parents hadn’t said anything. However, after Lin Zeqiu spoke, Jiang Yubai’s mother suddenly asked: “Jiang Yubai, the person sitting to Lin Zhixia’s left, is he her family member?”

Jiang Yubai put down his chopsticks: “He is Lin Zhixia’s brother.”

“Same father, same mother, biological brother,” Lin Zhixia added.

Lin Zhixia ate happily. She tasted a bit of caviar shrimp ball, then bit into a steamed duo dumpling, took a sip of strawberry honey juice, and was living like an immortal! Jiang Yubai’s parents intentionally chatted with her, and Lin Zhixia didn’t feel nervous or anxious at all.

After the appetizers were served, the hall lights gradually dimmed. Jiang Yubai sat between his mother and Lin Zhixia. He heard his mother ask: “I heard from Little Jiang that you’re in your first year of university?”

“Yes,” Lin Zhixia nodded.

“What’s your major?”

“Information and Computational Science in the School of Mathematics.”

“You study mathematics?”

“Not purely mathematics, it includes other disciplines… I’m not good at doing pure theoretical basic research. I want to do some practical applications. I’m currently learning quantum circuit chip design at a quantum computing laboratory, which is more in the physics direction.”

Jiang Yubai’s mother commented: “That’s great, a student in science and engineering.”

Using just the term “science and engineering” to summarize Lin Zhixia’s skills was not accurate enough. Jiang Yubai couldn’t help but say: “Lin Zhixia speaks several foreign languages.”

Jiang Yubai’s mother smiled: “Is that so?”

“At least English, French, Japanese, and German,” Jiang Yubai said with certainty.

His mother asked him: “What does Lin Zhixia want to do in the future?”

Lin Zhixia took a sip of strawberry juice, swallowed, and then said: “This September, I will apply for early graduation from the school. I’ll graduate in my junior year and continue for a doctorate…”

Lin Zeqiu said in a deep voice: “Don’t explain. You’re not related to them.”

Jiang Yubai sincerely hoped his mother hadn’t heard that. However, the facts proved that his mother had heard very clearly. She held a small silver spoon in her hand and lightly tapped it against a porcelain bowl—this was unusual, as his mother typically ate silently.

His father had been talking to his grandfather. When his father heard the sound, he looked down and asked: “These dishes, are they not to your liking?”

Jiang Yubai answered on her behalf: “The food is good, I think it’s fine.”

His father said: “Let’s hear what your mother has to say first.”

At that moment, several clusters of lights in the hall suddenly brightened, and soft light focused on a stone platform surrounded by roses—on that platform was an orchestra! Each musician wore a suit and held their instrument. At a glance, one could see cellos, saxophones, flutes, and violins.

The orchestra played “Salut d’Amour” with remarkable coordination.

“Salut d’Amour” is a work by the famous musician Edward Elgar. He composed this piece for his fiancée to express his most intense love, making it very suitable for performance at weddings.

The orchestra’s musical achievement was profound. They cooperated flawlessly, and the melody of “Salut d’Amour” was graceful and lingering, reaching straight into the hearts of the audience.

After about a minute, the ensemble gradually softened, and a violin solo began. The violin’s sound was beautiful and moving, floating melodiously like a confession, conveying countless words of love to the ears. Thousands of threads of emotion wove a net, wrapping around the jumping notes, completely immersing the audience in the gentle, lingering violin sound.

The lights converged on the violin performer, and Lin Zhixia realized it was Jiang Shaoqi! This was the first time she had seen Jiang Shaoqi without gloves.

Jiang Shaoqi’s hands were particularly eye-catching, with ten proportionate, slender fingers that seemed carved from marble. Of course, his music was even more beautiful than his hands—the lingering sound resonated, leaving a lasting impression.

Lin Zhixia whispered, “Jiang Yubai, your uncle is amazing. No wonder he became a violin concertmaster at twenty-three.”

Jiang Yubai’s fingertips rested on the edge of his rice bowl. He responded instinctively: “At my wedding, I can play the piano.”

“Huh?” Lin Zhixia froze. “Your wedding?”

Jiang Yubai was startled: why had he suddenly started comparing himself to his uncle? He gripped his rice bowl tightly: “I’m sorry, I meant…”

Before Jiang Yubai could finish his sentence, Jiang Shaoqi’s performance ended. The audience applauded and cheered sincerely, but he was used to such scenes and calmly set down his violin.

The lights followed his footsteps as he crossed the stream and walked up the glass steps.

The wedding host handed him a microphone, and he said into it: “Thank you all for attending our wedding…”

Outside the artificial mountain with the waterfall, two bridesmaids lifted the rose curtain, and the bride, Jessica, wearing a flowing snow-white wedding dress that trailed the ground, elegantly entered the guests’ view.

Jessica wore a veil and held a bouquet. Her cheeks were flushed, her spirit soaring, and her delicate tulle skirt spread across the floor.

She had heard Jiang Shaoqi’s solo from backstage, and her whole heart had flown to him. As he came closer to her, her eyes saw only him; the roses and crystals were mere embellishments. After they exchanged glances, Jiang Shaoqi reached into his pocket, about to pull out the huge diamond ring, when his back suddenly turned cold—his pocket was empty, and it seemed he had lost his wife’s diamond ring.

No, not exactly lost.

Jiang Shaoqi remembered that after finishing playing the violin, he had absentmindedly put the diamond ring in the violin case along with the violin.

He had been a bit excited and wasn’t thinking clearly.

But he didn’t panic.

He held his wife’s fingers and looked down at the audience. His gaze fell on his brother, sister-in-law, nephew… his nephew even nodded at him, seeming very confident in him, while his smile froze on his face.