Lin Yehan was carrying Little Jun as the toddler cheered for his Uncle Dom, not for his own mother. Although the little guy had no idea what was going on, his adorable giggles indicated that he was having fun watching the entertaining scene playing in front of him.
On the far side stood the best friends Long Jinjing and Chen Fei. Long Jinjing felt shy just by the idea of catching the bouquet so she stood a little behind her best friend. She looked like she had no intention of trying to catch the bouquet at all.
Chen Fei also had no interest in the bouquet and the implication of catching it but she was a competitive person. Just seeing the triplets Dom, Meimei and Clover all gearing up to catch the bouquet ignited her own fighting spirit. She planned on catching the bouquet just because she liked to win and not because she believed in the crap about being the next one to marry.
Then a booming voice suddenly started cheering for a certain someone.
“Jinjing, my girl! You have to catch the bouquet and marry my pinheaded grandson next! Why are you standing there at the very back? I want to know! Go to the front so you’ll have a higher chance of catching the bouquet! Come on, my girl! Grandpa believes in you!”
Long Jinjing turned a deep shade of crimson. She felt so embarrassed that she wanted to run away but couldn’t because she didn’t want to ruin her sister’s bouquet toss by being a killjoy.
Chen Fei turned around. “Don’t overthink it. Just have fun.”
“Y-yes. You’re right.”
Long Jinjing took a few deep breaths and stepped forward so that Grandpa Lu wouldn’t complain anymore about her standing too far in the back.
At the front, Iris also felt entertained. She waved the bouquet a little, trying to figure out how much force to put in her throw. It was quite heavy for a bouquet so she would need to put more strength when throwing it behind her.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes, boss! My gorgeous and fabulous self is all ready to catch that beautiful bouquet! Maybe if I do, my future lover will finally appear and give me my happily ever after! Ehehehe~”
Clover stuck her tongue at her brother. “Sorry, Big Bro. The bouquet will be mine! Maybe I’ll be able to meet a hot Frenchman who’ll become my husband when I return to France this weekend.”
“Momsy will beat you with her deadly slippers if you marry too early!”
Clover had no retort to that because their fearsome mother would really do that.
“I’ll be the one to get the bouquet!” Meimei declared but nobody believed her because she looked like she was about to fall asleep on her feet.
Yu Mo was recording everything on video.
“Alright, I’m going to throw the bouquet now in 3…”
Iris closed her eyes.
“2…”
She went into a pitching position.
“1!”
She threw the bouquet like a baseball while her eyes were still closed.
The bouquet barrelled like an unstable rocket in the air. There was nobody in the direction that it was flying.
Dom was the first one to move towards it but the exhausted Meimei tripped and bumped into him, sending the two of them crashing to the floor. Seeing them, Clover quickly abandoned her own pursuit of the bouquet to help her brother and Meimei from the floor.
Jiang Ying Yue was the farthest away so she didn’t bother chasing after the bouquet. She just stood there in her original position and watched who was going to be the one to catch the flowers.
Chen Fei reached for the bouquet but at the last second, she stepped back all of a sudden and let the flowers whistle past her. Behind her, there was a small yelp followed by a dull thud.
Silence.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds—
“Bahahaha! Excellent job, Jinjing my girl! Haohao my boy, why aren’t you helping your future wife from the floor yet? I want to know! Go and check if she’s injured!”
A stone-faced Lu Zihao walked to where Long Jinjing was struggling to get up from the floor, the huge bouquet on her lap. There were stray petals and leaves on her hair, clothes, and all around her.
She was just blindly following behind her best friend and pretending to participate in the bouquet toss just for show. Seeing Chen Fei reaching for it just a few seconds ago, she thought that her best friend would emerge the victor for sure. Who would’ve expected for Chen Fei to suddenly step back?
Before Long Jinjing knew it, the bouquet had hit her on the chest, knocking the air out of her. The weight of the big bouquet and the great force to which her sister threw it caused her to stumble backwards and fall on her butt to the floor.
Without a word, Lu Zihao grabbed the bouquet from her lap and lifted her up with a hand in one smooth move. [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]
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded, still too breathless and shocked to speak. She couldn’t believe that the bouquet literally landed on her lap without her really trying.
“Hurt anywhere?”
She paused before shaking her head.
“Good. Here.” He handed the bouquet back to her.
“T-thanks.”
“My bouquet!” Dom wailed. “But since it’s Sis Jing who got it, then it’s fine. Wuwuwu! Please take care of her Big Brother Boss!”
Long Jinjing flushed and made a face at the overdramatic Dom. Then she glared at her best friend. Chen Fei just shrugged at her as if what happened was of no concern of her.
“Congratulations, Big Sister,” Iris said when she reached them.
“I…uh, thanks.” Long Jinjing pressed herself closer to Lu Zihao’s big body in a futile attempt to hide herself from everyone.
“You threw the bouquet too hard,” Lu Zihao reprimanded his sister. “If it hit Jinjing in the face, she would surely have a black eye.”
Iris tilted her head to the side and studied him as if she was seeing her own brother for the first time.
