Sheng Sui had attended weddings only a handful of times in her life.

Due to her parents’ divorce, she didn’t need to socialize with relatives, and when teachers at school got married, exhausted by private social interactions, she would only send red envelopes. The only two or three weddings she couldn’t refuse to attend in person had all ended in divorce in the past two years.

Over time, weddings had become, in Sheng Sui’s mind, merely ceremonies performed for others to see.

But today at Xu Zhuo and Su Yingying’s wedding, when she saw the newlyweds on stage with tears in their eyes making their vows and exchanging rings, she suddenly gained a new understanding of weddings.

The bride in her snow-white wedding dress outlined her graceful figure. When Xu Zhuo pulled her forcefully into his embrace, her tears slightly blurred her makeup, but she didn’t care at all.

“Mommy…”

Amidst the joyful music and the hall full of blessings, Sheng Sui felt her sleeve being gently tugged twice. Looking down, she saw her daughter looking at her with a furrowed brow.

The little girl didn’t understand what tears of joy were. Simply thinking that crying meant sadness, seeing Su Yingying unable to hide her tears, she empathetically tugged at Sheng Sui’s sleeve, blinking her round eyes sadly.

“It’s okay, big sister is crying because she’s happy.”

Sheng Sui’s heart softened at her daughter’s pitiful expression. She lifted the pink little bundle from the children’s chair, held her on her shoulder, and comforted her gently.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Zhou Shiyu beside her was completely focused on the wedding stage, his gaze unwavering. Usually, he wouldn’t let anyone else hold their daughter, but now he seemed completely unaware of Sheng Yi’s soft babbling.

The daughter in her arms had a gentle personality, her small hands obediently resting on Sheng Sui’s shoulder as she sniffled, her dark round eyes like glass beads, curious about everything around her.

Sheng Sui quietly observed Zhou Shiyu beside her—her husband.

The man’s profile looked as if it had been meticulously carved, the lighting making his angular features even more defined. His dark eyes reflected the happy couple on stage, his unwavering gaze even softening his usually profound and cold features.

Watching Zhou Shiyu’s complete concentration, somehow, those words from that year suddenly jumped into Sheng Sui’s mind.

“—I also want to put a ring on your finger, want to see you in a wedding dress walking toward me in the place you like, in a season with clear weather.”

“—I also want to hear you say ‘I do’ to me personally when the minister asks.”

“—This has been my wish since I was sixteen.”

Back then, they had just gotten married not long ago. She and Zhou Shiyu were having dinner at an izakaya, and amidst the food and noise, Sheng Sui saw her husband lean over and casually mention this like a joke.

These words hadn’t failed to create ripples in her heart, but time had passed too quickly. Sheng Sui had almost forgotten her husband’s persistent longing for a wedding ceremony.

After the vows, the bride and groom changed into festive red attire and soon came down from the stage to toast the guests.

When it was Sheng Sui’s turn, she stood up holding her daughter, smiled warmly and blessed the approaching newlyweds: “Happy wedding, congratulations.”

As she finished speaking, Sheng Yi in her arms struggled to turn around, looked left and right at her parents and the newlywed couple, waved her short chubby little hands randomly, then giggled.

Looking down at his daughter’s innocent and lively expression, Zhou Shiyu also smiled lightly and said: “Congratulations.”

“This wedding, in every aspect, especially the wedding dress, we really owe it all to Mr. Zhou.”

Her exquisite makeup couldn’t hide the smile in her eyes. Su Yingying gently nudged Xu Zhuo beside her and continued to remind him: “Hurry up and thank Mr. Zhou.”

Xu Zhuo raised his hand and made a fist, patting Zhou Shiyu’s right shoulder: “Thanks, brother.”

Zhou Shiyu slightly raised his eyebrows, the smile at the corners of his mouth gentle, accepting this unspoken gratitude between men.

Xu Zhuo put his arm around Su Yingying and quickly turned to leave. Zhou Shiyu watched the spirited newlyweds walk away, withdrew his gaze, and was about to take his daughter when he met Sheng Sui’s curious eyes.

Looking into his lover’s questioning gaze, Zhou Shiyu curved his lips to suppress his smile, lowering his voice: “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…Nothing,” Sheng Sui gently bounced her daughter a couple of times, feeling increasingly puzzled.

“But how did you end up helping with Xu Zhuo’s wedding?”

After all, Zhou Shiyu didn’t seem like someone who would understand wedding arrangements.

“Just lending a hand,” Zhou Shiyu took over his daughter and held her steadily. Smelling the alcohol in the air, he frowned slightly: “Let’s head back soon.”

A drinking venue was indeed not suitable for a baby to stay long. Sheng Sui pondered for a moment: “Would it be inappropriate to leave so early?”

“It’s fine,” Zhou Shiyu glanced toward Qiu Si in the distance and saw him immediately turn his head away sneakily. He chuckled lightly: “They’d be happy for me to leave early.”

With the boss still around, how could the subordinates let loose and play?

Sheng Sui thought this made sense and nodded, telling Zhou Shiyu to take their daughter to the car first while she went to say goodbye to Su Yingying and Xu Zhuo.

“Okay.”

Zhou Shiyu had no objection to this. He bent down to put Sheng Yi in the baby stroller, but before his hand supporting her back could let go, he saw the usually obedient Sheng Yi suddenly wrinkle her little face and scrunch up her nose.

The little girl lying in the stroller hadn’t fully developed yet, her face pink and tender. Now with her features scrunched together and her limbs flailing as she looked up at the sky, it was clear she was about to cry.

Seeing this, Sheng Sui moved to comfort her, but Zhou Shiyu skillfully picked up their daughter again, saying gently: “It’s okay, she’s just being spoiled and wants to be held.”

As he finished speaking, the man gestured for Secretary Chen to push away the stroller. When he looked down again, he happened to catch Sheng Yi carefully squinting at him with her eyes, tears pooling in her eye sockets.

A typical case of loud thunder but little rain.

A hint of amusement flashed in his dark eyes. Zhou Shiyu raised his hand to straighten his daughter’s rumpled clothes and was about to leave with her when the pink bundle in his arms started squirming restlessly again.

“…Mommy…”

The soft, sobbing voice carried a crying tone. Sheng Sui had only taken two steps before turning back, clutching her phone in her palm, hesitating whether to hold her daughter while going to see Su Yingying.

“She wants you to give her a kiss before leaving,” Zhou Shiyu spoke again in his usual calm tone, with a touch of helplessness in his voice.

“She really knows how to act spoiled. I wonder who she learned it from.”

Sheng Sui quickly stepped forward and bent down to plant a kiss on her daughter’s forehead. Sure enough, Sheng Yi stopped whimpering and, like changing faces, immediately burst into cheerful giggles.

Hooking her daughter’s soft cheek with her finger, Sheng Sui laughed softly: “Daddy is practically a mind reader when it comes to Yiyi—”

Before she could finish her sentence, a shadow fell across the corner of her lips. The familiar scent of cold wood surrounded her nose. Sheng Sui’s long lashes trembled slightly as she looked up into a pair of dark eyes.

“Thank you for the compliment, Mrs. Zhou.”

Seeing her dazed expression, Zhou Shiyu’s eyes sparkled with deeper amusement, not feeling at all inappropriate about their intimacy in public: “Go ahead, I’ll wait for you in the car.”

Only after asking did Sheng Sui learn that the designer for Su Yingying’s wedding dress was recommended by Zhou Shiyu.

Not only that, but even the wedding planning company the couple chose was the one Zhou Shiyu had suggested.

“MichaelJ hasn’t taken private commissions for many years. This time he made an exception to help, completely out of respect for Mr. Zhou.”

Before leaving, Su Yingying gratefully held Sheng Sui’s hands, the beautiful bride not forgetting to offer her blessings:

“Seeing how knowledgeable Mr. Zhou is about weddings, he’s probably planning a surprise for Teacher Sheng.”

Under someone’s ten years of unwavering persistence, all employees of Sheng He—from company executives to cleaning staff and security guards—knew that their usually stern-faced Mr. Zhou doted on his wife the most.

As for why such a loving couple hadn’t held a wedding ceremony yet, there was much speculation.

“…This wedding, I’ve marveled at the planning details several times, and the person in charge keeps telling me that I haven’t seen Mr. Zhou’s arrangements—now that would be truly romantic…”

“…”

Even after dinner and a bath, when Sheng Sui came out of the bathroom wiping her wet hair, she was still thinking about what Su Yingying had said.

“—That’s mommy’s clothes, you can’t bite it.”

A low male voice interrupted her thoughts. Sheng Sui put down her towel and looked toward the source of the voice, seeing Zhou Shiyu sitting at the head of the bed with his work tablet on his knees, and Sheng Yi sitting properly beside him.

The pink bundle wore a coffee-brown onesie, sitting with her back to them like a doll, showing only her round little head with a hairstyle that Zhou Shiyu had somehow learned to do.

The father and daughter were busy fighting over the thin fabric in Sheng Yi’s hands. Sheng Sui frowned to look and discovered it was her white gauze shawl.

A one-and-a-half-year-old child loved to put everything in her mouth. Like Zhou Shiyu, Sheng Sui thought her daughter was going to bite her shawl when she saw Sheng Yi stretch out her short little arms, holding the lace-edged thin shawl over her head, babbling.

Sheng Sui was amused by her daughter’s adorable posture as she kicked her short legs. She quietly walked forward to kiss her daughter’s cheek, but Sheng Yi turned around first. Seeing it was mommy, her eyes immediately lit up.

The pink bundle used her hands and feet to try to stand up, nodding and bowing anxiously, almost losing her balance and falling.

Sheng Sui quickly bent down and caught her daughter with quick reflexes: “What’s wrong—”

Halfway through her sentence, she saw Sheng Yi in her fluffy onesie holding up the shawl, clumsily placing the white shawl on her head.

The little girl then beamed with joy, puffing out her round little belly. First, she giggled cheerfully, then turned and ran into Zhou Shiyu’s arms, mumbling.

“…”

Sheng Sui, with the shawl on her head, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Thinking her daughter was worried she might catch cold and specifically wanted to add clothing for her, she reached up to adjust it.

But Sheng Yi became even more anxious, stepping on the soft bed surface to run back over, but in her haste, her body swayed and she sat down on Zhou Shiyu’s abdomen with a thud.

“She wants you to dress up like a bride.”

Zhou Shiyu easily scooped up the miniature figure with one hand, supporting her under her arms to let Sheng Yi stand steadily on the bed surface.

The man leaned against the headboard looking at Sheng Sui, his tousled hair slightly covering his eyes, but unable to hide the tenderness in his dark gaze: “It must be very beautiful.”

Sheng Yi nodded vigorously like a pecking chicken, her little belly bouncing along.

“Mommy, beautiful!” Imitating daddy’s tone, after repeating it several times, she suddenly remembered something else, pointed at the white shawl on Sheng Sui’s head, and pouted:

“Kiss kiss!”

Now even Sheng Sui belatedly understood that Sheng Yi had been unable to forget about the daytime wedding and wanted daddy and mommy to reenact it at home.

She lovingly rubbed her daughter’s head and was about to bend down to kiss Sheng Yi again when her mouth was blocked by a pair of small hands.

Mommy’s kisses were an irresistible temptation. The pink bundle’s outstretched hands almost retracted several times, but she held firm in her stance: “…Kiss daddy.”

Then she immediately added more loudly: “Also kiss Yiyi!”

“Alright, then let’s kiss daddy first, then kiss Yiyi.”

Sheng Sui straightened up and happened to see Zhou Shiyu pointing his phone camera at her. Their eyes met, and the man unhurriedly put away his phone, watching her comical appearance with the shawl on her head with an amused smile.

“…I never knew you had the bad habit of recording people’s embarrassing moments?”

Half an hour later, after finally coaxing their daughter to sleep, when the couple embraced tightly under the covers as usual, Sheng Sui couldn’t help but ask.

Zhou Shiyu’s strong arms wrapped around Sheng Sui as he lowered his voice: “Men are all fickle.”

Hearing the teasing in his words, Sheng Sui looked up into the man’s smiling eyes and raised her fist as if to hit him.

“I never knew that Mrs. Zhou, after being married for so long, still always wants to get physical with me.”

Zhou Shiyu easily encircled both of Sheng Sui’s wrists with one hand—just enough force to prevent her from breaking free without really restraining her.

With their daughter still sleeping peacefully in the crib a few steps away, Sheng Sui bit her lip and sighed as she looked up, hearing the man whisper in her ear:

“This is the first time I’ve seen you dressed as a bride. In case there’s no chance to see it again in the future, I could only take a picture.”

“…”

How could Sheng Sui not hear the longing in his words? Suppressing her breath, she said softly:

“Zhou Shiyu, if you want to, let’s have a wedding ceremony.”

The movement beneath stopped. In the darkness, Sheng Sui heard the man’s breathing hitch, followed immediately by burning lips descending like a snake.

Since having Sheng Yi, the couple, especially Zhou Shiyu, rarely behaved like this evening.

The kiss left Sheng Sui breathless, making even her vision slightly white, until she heard the rustling sound of turning in her ear, and the man’s burning lips finally reluctantly withdrew.

Breathing heavily, Sheng Sui waited until there was no more sound from the crib for a long time before snuggling back into Zhou Shiyu’s arms, her head resting against the man’s slightly sweaty neck.

Listening to Zhou Shiyu’s strong and clear heartbeat in her ear, Sheng Sui looked up at him and asked softly: “Just having a wedding ceremony makes you this happy?”

“Mm.”

As always, someone precisely hit her soft spot, responding in a hoarse, deep voice, his lips pressed to her ear, each word clear:

“After all, this is the first time Suisui has felt sorry for me since having the child.”