Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The next day, the sun had just started rising.
Pei Ge was in deep slumber when was dragged out of her warm bed by a pair of hands at the crack of dawn.
“Quickly wake up!”
“Mhm!”
Her lashes trembled a little before she finally opened her eyes.
“Mom, what’s up?”
She yawned and saw that it still slightly dark outside.
“It’s not even daybreak yet!”
“What do you mean it isn’t?” Zhang Manhua gently patted her daughter’s shoulder when she saw how sluggish the latter was.
“Hurry up and get up; it’s almost seven. Stop sleeping. Don’t you know what day today is?”
She glared at her daughter and then tossed all the readied clothes at the latter.
“Hurry up and get changed. We’ll head over to Lily’s to get your hair and makeup done after breakfast.”
After that, she left her daughter’s room in a hurry.
As she watched her mother busy around, she smiled under the pile of clothes burying her and muttered to herself, “It’s just an engagement – not like it’s a marriage…”
Still, she got up and got dressed quickly.
Because she was going to Lily’s salon to get her hair and makeup done, the clothes she wore were quite plain.
As soon as she got dressed, she left her room.
She smiled when she got to the bathroom and looked at the fair-skinned woman smiling happily in the mirror.
“We’re officially getting engaged today…”
Even though she kept emphasizing that it was an engagement and not a marriage, she actually looked forward to it more than anyone else.
Patting her face, she smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
“Pei Ge, don’t be nervous today! You must hold yourself steady!”
Once she cheered herself on, she walked to the dining room and had breakfast.
“You’d better pay more attention to your image at the engagement party today. Xiao Ji’s family has invited a lot of famous and influential people. Even though our family isn’t well off like his family, we’re not poor, either, so you must not be nervous then.”
Seeing her daughter’s unusual calmness at the dining table, Zhang Manhua understood that her daughter was actually really nervous.
When this thought crossed her mind, her lips upturned at the corner.
“Mom, why would I be nervous? what’s there to be nervous about?”
Hearing her mother’s advice, Pei Ge set down her chopsticks and said.
“You! You’re still the same as ever.” Her mother shook her head with a face full of smiles.
“Once you have something big that makes you nervous, you always behave in the exact opposite manner. You always look really calm and collected,” said her mother.
“Since when?” She pouted, a little unwilling to accept it.
“Have you forgotten? When you were younger, there’s a recital competition in your school. That was your first time on stage, and you were so nervous that you were shaking, but you were comforting your dad and me by saying that you’re not nervous at all.”
Her mother laughed aloud as she reminisced about the past.
“I thought that you would have a stage fright in front of all the teachers and students, but…” Zhang Manhua gazed at her fondly. “Who knew that you’d perform even better than usual?”
Pei Ge shook her head at this, not really having an impression.
“Mom, when was this? Why don’t I have any recollection of this?”
“It’s a really, really long time ago. I think your dad brought a video camera and recorded it, but it’s been so long, so I don’t think I can find the disc anytime soon.”
As the mother-daughter pair chatted, they finished the plain breakfast.
Once breakfast was over, the two took a taxi toward Lily’s salon.
On their way there, Ji Ziming and his mother called.
One was for her mother, and the other was for her.
“Okay, I know. Yes, I’ll be waiting for you to pick me up at Lily’s. You get busy and don’t worry about me.”
Hanging up, she saw her mother looking at her suggestively.
“What’s up mom? You’re scaring me with your stare.”
She glared at her mom and patted her chest.
“Daughter, I heard from your auntie that Xiao Ji cares a lot about you. You have no idea that he actually tried setting your wedding date two weeks after your engagement party.”
She froze when she heard this from her mom.
“Two weeks after the engagement party?”
Why didn’t I know about this?! Besides, isn’t that too fast?
Noting the shock on her daughter’s face, Zhang Manhua laughed aloud.
“Ha ha! His suggestion was vetoed by his parents, though. The engagement party can be brought forward, but a wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime affair. They definitely wouldn’t let him have his way with it.”
When she heard that his idea got vetoed, she was unsure whether she was relieved or sad.
“Lass, it’s clear that he likes you. Handing you to him, I can be rest assured,” gently said her mother as she held her hand.
“En, mom, I’ll definitely be happy,” she replied with certainty and a bright smile.
In an instant, the car was filled with warmth.
Amid this warmth, the taxi arrived at their destination.
