Chapter 240: Chapter 240
Li Xianglu swings her legs on the bed, dressed in pajamas. Turning over feels uncomfortable, and turning back is no better. She sighs and puckers her lips, staring at the ceiling—her wedding is in three days.
Because there aren’t many people, the banquet will be held directly in the courtyard house purchased for Su Yan, only four or five hundred meters away from the one they live in—a turn away.
The house over there was almost completely demolished and rebuilt, but fortunately, since the district was building a new office area, they demolished the old house and a lot of old bricks were left over. Mr. Li had someone collect these bricks. The exterior of the house was built with these old bricks, and the interior was cast with reinforced concrete, making it particularly durable. Following the guidance of several local master craftsmen, the structure of the courtyard was simply altered; a garden and a large garage were added at the back. At the front, there was a flower hall for entertaining guests. The entire place was transformed into a courtyard with three sections, connected by galleries on both sides. It took over half a year to finish the major renovations, just the springtime decorating left to do.
Mr. Li’s idea was to entertain guests in the flower hall, which is not small—four tables can be set up. The spacious area in front of this house is also convenient for parking.
The main chef was introduced by Qin Xi’s friend—a master of Shandong cuisine with excellent skills, currently cooking for top leaders in a government department’s canteen.
Regarding the meat, Qin Xi had early on arranged for two pigs to be slaughtered. Actually, even if all of it was turned into dishes, it would be too much to finish. However, knowing that this girl loves to eat some meat and sausages, Qin Xi plans to make leftover meat into cured meat and some sausages for her regular consumption.
The chicken, duck, fish were all purchased with Foreign Exchange Vouchers. Xu Xi brought another remittance order worth ten thousand yuan before leaving. In fact, the money was more than enough; the key was to get these vouchers, so the chicken, ducks, fish, and vegetables were all bought from the Overseas Chinese Store.
In less than a month, everything that needed to be prepared was ready. Mr. Li had sent out all the invitations on his side. Li Xianglu only had a few classmates she was close to, but only two of them were in the capital while the others had returned to their hometowns. So, she only invited Lu Anna and Iro, who would also be bridesmaids on her wedding day.
The outfit for the wedding day was brought by Su Yan last year, made by an old craftsman from Hong Kong—a set of golden silk and red brocade dress and skirt. The shoes were matching red embroidered shoes with golden auspicious cloud patterns, inlaid with red coral beads, looking very quaint and beautiful.
And Li Jianqing had arrived three days ago. His sister was getting married—it was a big event he had to attend.
Originally, Li Erfu from Guanzhong was also notified, but since he couldn’t make it on time, he mailed a red quilt cover and a bag of fresh corn cob.
So, everything was ready, but she just didn’t feel happy.
Li Xianglu thought somewhat resentfully, why had nobody asked for her opinion?
At that moment, the door was knocked. Li Xianglu looked at the clock hanging on the wall in confusion, and was stunned—it was already eleven o’clock.
Asking who it was, she got out of bed to open the door and heard Qin Xi’s voice coming from outside.
Li Xianglu raised an eyebrow. What was he doing here so late?
After opening the door, Li Xianglu listlessly hung her head and returned to bed. She was not in the mood.
Qin Xi looked amused at the girl with her head drooped, closed the door with one hand, coughed, walked up to the bed, knelt on one knee, and holding the bouquet in his hand, he asked, "Li Xianglu, I love you. Will you marry me and be my wife?"
Li Xianglu, who was perked up getting ready to climb up, was startled and didn’t move. She turned her head to see Qin Xi kneeling on one knee, holding a bouquet of roses and looking at her with a smiling face.
Li Xianglu blushed, quickly turned around to sit properly, eyed Qin Xi’s formal suit, and hurriedly straightened her crumpled pajamas, smoothing her bird’s-nest hair.
Qin Xi watched the girl fixing her hair and clothes, smiling in his eyes but his expression solemn. He set the flowers aside and pulled out a wooden box the size of an egg from his pocket—it was made of red sandalwood.
Li Xianglu’s eyes sparkled, and she hurriedly straightened herself up, yet because she was dressed so casually, it was somewhat amusing.
Qin Xi opened the box in his hand, then reached out with both hands and earnestly asked again, "Will you marry me?"
Looking at the pink diamond platinum ring, Li Xianglu suddenly remembered—it was that carat diamond, already made into a ring. So beautiful, ah, pink and dazzlingly bright under the light.
Li Xianglu looked at Qin Xi, earnestness etched on his face, and felt a sudden surge of emotion. After her grandfather, it would be Qin Xi who, as her future husband, would be her closest kin in this world.
Qin Xi, who had been waiting for an answer, noticed something amiss in the girl’s expression; her little mouth was inexplicably pouting, and her nose sniffing. He quickly stood up and sat down beside the bed, wrapping his arms around her, "Silly girl, why have you started crying?"
Li Xianglu sniffled and stretched out her snow-white little hand.
Qin Xi, puzzled by her action, wondered, what is she doing?
Li Xianglu rolled her eyes at him in feigned annoyance and nodded with her chin towards the box.
Only then did Qin Xi understand. He immediately acted in a servile manner, took out the pink diamond ring from the box and put it on her left ring finger, fitting perfectly.
Li Xianglu held it up to her chest and admired it. So shiny, she thought, her face breaking into a radiant smile.
Seeing her reaction, Qin Xi really wanted to laugh, but fearing she might be having pre-wedding jitters, he quickly took out the other, wider ring for men from the box.
Li Xianglu took it and smoothly placed it on Qin Xi’s right ring finger, then said with a giggling smile, "Alright, from now on, you can only be nice to me!"
Qin Xi nodded happily and was about to speak when Li Xianglu hopped off the bed, picked up the flowers on the ground, sniffed them, and then complained, "Why are these Chinese roses?"
Qin Xi quickly touched his nose and pulled the person holding the Chinese roses over to explain, "There were no roses; I looked everywhere but couldn’t find any. In the end, I had to beg my friend whose grandmother grew several pots of Chinese roses in the heating room, which bloomed beautifully."
Getting even these Chinese roses was difficult. He guessed that right now his friend was probably kneeling at home. The old lady loved her flowers the most. Sneakily cutting away flowering branches, even her own grandson could get a spanking!
Li Xianglu thought it over—it wasn’t easy to find such blooming Chinese roses during this time and season. She nodded her head, indicating she would let it pass.
Seeing her reaction, Qin Xi breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly arranged the flowers in the vase and made himself comfortable.
Li Xianglu glanced at the ring and asked, "Is there anything you’ve kept from me?"
Qin Xi blinked, then nodded his head.
Li Xianglu showed an ’as I expected’ expression but said, "I have secrets too, but let’s take our time in the future."
Qin Xi was satisfied with this and nodded quickly. Actually, he was also prepared to disclose some matters. Now that he had expressed his feelings, it was time to be honest with each other. However, he didn’t plan to tell her everything at once since some things involved too much.
ps: I came back late; even the heavens punished me. On my way, I encountered three trucks carrying slop... the stench was terrible...
And there’s one more Chapter to go.