“They are here.” Zhai Hua heard the commotions and checked to see where it came from like a military intelligence soldier. She could make out a blur of red and green in the faraway distance. Zhai Hua recognized Qiao Nan as the person in red and the person in green to be her brother.
Zhai Yaohui looked solemn while Miao Jing was exhilarated.
Seeing the excited look on Miao Jing’s face, Zhai Yaohui held her hand, calming her down.
The daughter-in-law was being led by their son into the house. She would not run away. She would definitely be part of their family. There was no need for Miao Miao to be so agitated.
As soon as the bride and groom walked past the entrance of the Zhai family’s residence, two groups of people who stood by either side of the door set off firecrackers. Ribbons and flower petals floated in the air and dropped onto Qiao Nan and Zhai Sheng as well as the bridesmaid and the best man.
With her head covered by a red veil, Qiao Nan stepped into the Zhai family’s residence once again, turning teary at this once in a lifetime moment.
She knew that this time was different from the multiple times that she entered the house in the past.
Once she entered the house today, she would be part of the Zhai family. Apart from the Qiao family, she had other relatives who cared for and loved her.
All of them were sincere toward her and would treat her well!
“Bow to heaven and earth.”[1]
Zhai Sheng and Qiao Nan adopted Chinese traditional rituals for their wedding. Therefore, they followed the customs to bow to heaven and earth.
Nowadays, most couples would follow the Western wedding rituals. It was rare to see this type of Chinese traditional wedding ceremony. Therefore, it was all the more fascinating and special.
As the master of ceremonies shouted to send the newlyweds into the bridal room, the youngsters started to shout and howl. The guests could not help but feel embarrassed, knowing that the youngsters meant to banter with and play pranks on the newlyweds!
In her two lifetimes, this was the first time that Qiao Nan was married. She knew of this custom and had, in fact, read a lot of negative news regarding this custom.
Qiao Nan could not help but panic.
What kind of pranks did the people of Ping Cheng use to play on the newlyweds? Did they play pranks on the bride?
Zhai Sheng edged closer to Qiao Nan, giving her assurance and a sense of security.
Sure enough, without waiting for Zhai Sheng to say anything, Shi Qing, who was beautifully dressed like a lady, shouted, “Quiet down. Who is itching for a fight? I am the bridesmaid today. I will take all the pranks that you have prepared.”
Everyone quieted down at Shi Qing’s shouts.
Among the people present, some were comrades from the army who were very close to Zhai Sheng, and some were his childhood friends from the quad who grew up together with him.
All of them were friends with Zhai Sheng. Even if they were busy today, they would make time to attend his wedding.
Many of them did not know Qiao Nan, the bride, but they all knew Shi Qing, the female monster.
If Zhai Hua was hailed as the big sister, Shi Qing would be next in line.
Especially after Shi Qing joined the army, most of the time, Zhai Hua would bring Shi Qing around with her. Many people were saying that Zhai Hua had handed down her teachings to Shi Qing and that they were similar in temperament. They were domineering and valiant and men would treat them as their leaders and big brothers.
Faced with such women who were stronger than all of them, they could not afford to offend them.
All of the young men from reputable family backgrounds turned green and did not dare to misbehave in front of Shi Qing.
“Hahahaha. Shi Qing, you are truly taught by me.” Zhai Hua was proud of Shi Qing.
Most of the children from the quad were ill-disciplined and out of control.
Zhai Hua was proud that she was the nemesis of this ill-disciplined bunch of people.
“Everything is alright now. I will send Nan Nan back to the room.” Zhai Sheng had anticipated that this would happen, so he was the least worried that his friends and comrades would play pranks on the newlyweds.
Zhai Sheng had arranged for Shi Qing to act as his first line of defense while Zhai Hua would be his final line of defense, acting as his critical strike.
With Zhai Hua around, it was hard to tell who would be pranked.
Shi Qing was to give them a warning, telling them to know their limits and to stop fooling around. By the time it was Zhai Hua’s turn, they would have to suffer under her hands.
“Zhai Sheng, today is your wedding and you are getting a wife. We are here to bring luck and fortune to you. What you are doing is too unfair.”
Among all the children from the quad, Zhai Sheng might seem to be the best-behaved child, but he was actually the cheekiest and naughtiest child!
Many of his friends had suffered under his hands in the past. They were thinking of taking their revenge on the day of Zhai Sheng’s wedding. However, Zhai Sheng, the sly fox, already arranged for Shi Qing and Zhai Hua to stop them from pranking the newlyweds.
There was something that they feared the most.
It was the tigress!
“Scram.” Shi Qing raised her hand. “Brother Zhai, take care of your friends. I will send Qiao Nan to the bridal room.” It was fine if they played pranks on Brother Zhai, but she would not allow them to play pranks on Qiao Nan.
In fact, Shi Qing was telling the bunch of people that they had targeted the wrong person. As long as their target was Zhai Sheng, not only would she not stop them, but she would also give them a helping hand.
“You’re right. Make him drink! Make him drink!”
“Zhai Sheng, come over here. Let’s drink. Tell me. How did you manage to get that beautiful wife of yours?”
Zhai Sheng seemed to be immune to feminine wiles. To him, all the other women were similar to his soldiers. He was solemn and serious. However, once he was enlightened, he managed to snare a young, budding flower.
At the thought that the bride was only a first-year college student, Zhai Sheng’s friends chanted and cheered even louder.
“Sister-in-law? Crap, shameless.”
The Zhai family’s residence was located nearby and there was a huge commotion at the southern side of the quad. Even if Qiao Zijin attended the wedding banquet at the northern side of the quad, she could still hear loud sounds where Zhai Sheng’s friends addressed Qiao Nan as the sister-in-law. Qiao Zijin fumed in anger and lost her appetite despite the table full of sumptuous food.
Those who addressed Qiao Nan as their sister-in-law used to snort at her when they walked past her in the quad.
Even when Qiao Zijin was in her glorious state, she was only the most outstanding child in the northern quad.
Qiao Zijin had to lower her head when she was around the people from the southern quad. She behaved as if she was the aggrieved young daughter-in-law.
Qiao Zijin used to think that the privileged children from the southern quad would never accept Qiao Nan, who came from a humble background.
The Zhai family might have gone crazy and lost their minds, but the people from the southern quad couldn’t behave like them. There had to be a few rational people among them. These people would definitely make things difficult for Qiao Nan on such a special day.
However, the scene that Qiao Zijin had been anticipating did not unfold. Instead, all she could hear were loud shouts, addressing Qiao Nan as the ‘sister-in-law’.
This was different from what she imagined!
The shouts got louder and louder. Qiao Zijin felt that she seemed to be engulfed in flames of fury. She could not take it anymore.
In this way, everyone in the quad knew that not only had the Zhai family accepted Qiao Nan, but the people from the southern quad had accepted Qiao Nan as well.
[1] A ritual kneeling by the bride and groom as part of a Chinese traditional wedding ceremony.
