Later, Huang Yuyan and Yang Jiahui assisted Iris in removing her makeup and washing her face while Jin Liwei grabbed a set of pyjamas for her to change into. She wanted to take a shower but her mother-in-law lectured her. In the end, she had no choice but to satisfy herself with a simple wipe-down with a damp towel instead. Jin Liwei did it for her because she felt too drained to do it herself.
The men already left the bedroom when Jin Liwei carried Iris to their bed. Huang Yuyan and Yang Jiahui fussed over her while Grandma Li rested on the chaise longue.
“Grandson, let your mother take care of your wife for now so that you can return to the banquet,” the elder matriarch said.
Jin Liwei frowned. “No, Grandmother. I’ll stay with my wife.”
“I know that you want to stay with your wife but you can’t just leave your guests hanging like this. Xiulan is unable to return to the banquet because she’s feeling unwell but you’re perfectly fine so you need to go back by yourself. You invited all those people and they all spent time and effort to attend today’s event without even knowing that it’s your wedding. Some even flew from abroad. It’s terribly rude to just disappear without giving a proper explanation. As the groom, you have the responsibility to at least show your face to your guests until they leave even if your bride cannot.”
His frown deepened.
Iris touched his hand. “Grandma Li is right, Liwei. You should return to the banquet and interact with our guests. I would do it with you if I could but as you can see, I can’t right now. I just know that I’ll feel sick again if I return with you to the banquet.”
He was unwilling to leave her.
“I’ll be fine, darling,” she said.
Huang Yuyan also tried to persuade him. “Yes, son. Rest assured that Xiulan will be fine. Your mother will take care of your wife while you’re gone.”
“The doctor will also stay here,” Iris added. “And with Auntie Yuyan—”
“Dear, we’re an official family now. You should start calling me Mother and not Auntie Yuyan anymore!”
Iris’ eyes widened before she smiled. “Sorry, Mother.”
“It’s fine, dear. Just don’t forget next time.”
She nodded before turning to her husband again. “I’ll really be fine. Mother will accompany me. You go back to the banquet and thank our guests, okay?”
He still looked unwilling to leave her but found it difficult to reject her request. In the end, he sighed and agreed with great reluctance.
“Fine, I’ll go. You should rest now, love. I’ll be back later.” He leaned down and gave her a rather chaste kiss on the lips in front of his mother.
“Okay, darling.”
With that, Huang Yuyan and the private doctor stayed with Iris in the bedroom while Jin Liwei, Grandma Li and Yang Jiahui left. Grandpa Lu, Long Tengfei and Wang Yingjie were waiting in the suite’s living room. They all left together to return to the banquet.
At the banquet, Jin Liwei tried his best to interact with the guests despite his desire to return to his wife. When asked about Iris, all he said was that she was feeling unwell. Since everyone invited were close friends of the couple, they were all worried about Iris but didn’t pry too much. Most of them already knew that she had some health issues so they accepted Jin Liwei’s explanation of why she suddenly disappeared from her own wedding banquet.
When it was almost time to end the banquet, Jin Liwei took the microphone to personally speak to everyone. [This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profiting from my hard work. Please support the original author, ArriaCross. Thank you! Also follow me on Instagram @arriacross]
“On behalf of my wife and I, I would like to thank all of you for attending our wedding. We know that it has been a huge surprise to you because my wife and I decided to keep everything a secret. We truly appreciate your attendance today. It has been such a pleasure sharing this special and important moment with you all.
“Some of you have been asking me during the banquet about giving us wedding presents. It’s understandable that you didn’t prepare anything given that we didn’t inform you about the true nature of today’s event. That’s why my wife and I don’t expect you to give us any wedding presents. Your presence today is already enough for us.
“But when I told you this earlier, you were all adamant that you still want to give us wedding presents. Thank you very much! However, my wife and I already decided that we will not personally accept any wedding presents from any of you.”
The guests didn’t look happy at his announcement. Just based on their expressions, it was already obvious that they would still send some wedding presents regardless of what Jin Liwei said tonight.
Jin Liwei could read their thoughts from their expressions.
“If you still wish to give us wedding presents, I would suggest that you donate to my wife’s foundation Iris of Hope instead. It’s still newly established but Iris of Hope already helped a lot of the less fortunate people. Instead of giving to us, my wife and I think that it’s better to give back to those who need it the most.”
Everyone clapped their hands after his speech. They now felt better after his rejection of wedding gifts. Representatives from Iris of Hope appeared to assist the guests who wanted to donate on the spot. Wei Lan took this opportunity to remind everyone that she was also a representative of her daughter’s foundation.
Jin Liwei let her be. As long as she didn’t cause trouble, he wouldn’t stop her. Besides, Wei Lan had indeed been helpful in gathering support for Iris of Hope when his wife was busy with her other works. Wei Lan used her status as a viscountess to raise money for the foundation.
It was already past midnight when the banquet finally ended and the guests who weren’t sleeping over at the mansion all left.
Jin Liwei returned to the bedroom to find his wife already sleeping. He smiled at her.
“I can’t wait for our honeymoon.”
