The first question was so easy it felt like a piece of cake! Sheffield quickly answered, "Evelyn's favorite snack is preserved plums, her favorite fruit is mango, and among desserts, she loves Tiramisu the most. Is my answer good enough? If not, I can continue."
Just a simple response with the answer "preserved plums" would have been enough for the bridesmaids, who didn't expect him to list out so many things.
Libby raised her hand and nodded. "That's enough. Next question, please recite the bride's phone number backwards."
Sheffield was gifted with sharp memory and as such, he was able to recite Evelyn's number backwards ever since she gave him her number. He knew he was going to glide through these questions with ease. Under everyone's baffled gaze, he answered the question easily, and added, "This is no fun. Can you please ask some harder questions?"
Joshua couldn't help but ask, "Dude, did you take a peep at the questions in advance?"
One of the bridesmaids explained, "I'm certain that he didn't. We came up with these questions just this morning. Since the groom came with you, there is no way he could have known these questions earlier."
"All right, I'll take your word for it!" Joshua said. Then he turned to face Sheffield, giving him a thumbs up, and said, "Nicely done, man!"
The bridesmaids continued with their interrogation. "Next question: what's the size of the bride's shoes?"
"36." "What are the ten nicknames of the bride?"
"Eve, Evelyn, darling, Piggy, honey, my queen…" The room broke into a smattering of laughter, not to mention the bridesmaids who all guffawed loudly.
"The last question. What's the total sum of the bride's ID card number?"
"That's too hard! How can anyone expect him to know that?" the best men exclaimed in unison.
"I bet Sheffield doesn't know the answer!"
"Gifford, you're the strongest among us three. Go pick one of the bridesmaids and carry her on your back around the room three times."
Everyone was ready to make fun of Sheffield, yet in less than two seconds, he gave the correct answer with a mysterious smile at Evelyn. "76," he said.
Two years ago, he found out what Evelyn's ID card number was when they had planned to go to France. While he was waiting for her at the airport, out of sheer boredom, he had written his and Evelyn's names down on a piece of paper.
Then, he added up the numbers of their ID cards respectively. In the end, after doing the math, Sheffield concluded that he and Evelyn were a perfect match. The total of her ID card numbers was exactly the same as his—76!
The group of bridesmaids, upon hearing the answer, screamed out loud, "Mr. Tang, you are so amazing!"
"True love! It is true love!"
The emcee immediately asked the groom to take two steps towards Evelyn. "Mr. Tang is an exemplary suitor. He has passed the first test. Now, onto the next one."
As one of bridesmaids took out a lipstick and a blindfold, she announced, "We're going to play a game. One of the groomsmen will have to apply lipstick on the groom's lips, blindfolded!" "What?" Astonished gasps flew across the room as the groomsmen and even Sheffield himself reeled back in shock.
The bridesmaids' amusement to see the astonished look on the men's faces was evident by their giggling. Without further delay, they insisted, "Please pick someone from your group to play the game."
Five of the guys all turned their sights towards the sixth, who, incidentally, had his eyes set on Joshua. Gifford noticed the awkward silence and the weight of all the eyes on him. "Why is everyone looking at me like that? Guys, I've never even touched a lipstick before."
Gifford wasn't lying. The man didn't have a girlfriend and his knowledge on cosmetics was, in fact, non-existent.
The other groomsmen laughed and Joshua stepped forward hoping to change Gifford's mind. "No one here is more suited for this game than you. I've seen you shoot accurately with eyes covered, don't deny it!"
Gifford looked at Sheffield with pity, but when he realized that it was Sheffield who would be wearing the lipstick and not him, he reluctantly said, "Fine! I will do it! Give me the lipstick."
Sheffield tried to hide his apprehension behind a smile. "Can we use a transparent one?"
Unfortunately, the bridesmaids weren't going to let such a rare opportunity slip by so easily. "Don't worry. We have makeup artists here with us. Rest assured, you will look as handsome as ever after the game."
Gifford clumsily twisted the tube, revealing a red lipstick and held it between his teeth while a bridesmaid tied the blindfold around his head.
Sheffield knew that it was too late to slither out of the game, so he said to Gifford resignedly, "Dude, I'm not expecting you to get it right, but please try to get it over with as soon as possible." The faster this was all over, the faster he could marry the love of his life.
"Don't worry, buddy," Gifford comforted him inarticulately.
While the crowd giggled and snickered amongst themselves, Gifford slowly approached Sheffield.
With a disgusted look on his face, Sheffield looked at the man apprehensively as the lipstick grew closer and closer to him. Gifford didn't have to stand on his toes or crouch since they were roughly of the same height. The only problem was that the lipstick was slightly slanted. "I know that this isn't the right time to be joking about this, but you look just like your little friend because of that lipstick sticking out of your mouth," Sheffield teased.
"What are you even talking about?" Gifford was confused.
"Your dog."
"Hahaha…" A roar of laughter shot through the room.
Gifford gritted his teeth angrily, cursing in his heart, 'How dare he compare me to a dog! I'll paint his face into a picture!'
When the lipstick landed on the corner of Sheffield's mouth, Libby suddenly reminded them, "I forgot to tell you that if the work isn't good enough, the groom and his entourage will have to do 20 push-ups."
"No way!" the men wailed.
Joshua grabbed Gifford's arm before he could continue. "Man, did you hear that? 20 push-ups! Please do your best to make Sheffield look pretty. For our sake!"
Gifford grumbled incoherently, gesturing with his hands that it was just 20 push-ups, not 200; why was Joshua making such a fuss?
As the distance between him and Gifford shortened, Sheffield could feel Gifford's warm breath on his face. He started to feel very uncomfortable. In fact, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to keep himself from kicking Gifford away from him.
The lipstick streaked across his lips. There were times when both men almost kissed in the middle, sending the audience wailing with excitement.
In the end, Sheffield's lips looked like fat sausages and there was even a shade of red under his nose.
Sheffield pushed Gifford away furiously and said, "Find a woman to practice your skills on as soon as you go back home."
Then, instead of whining, Sheffield lay prostrate with his groomsmen in a row to commence with the punishment.
Fortunately, the groomsmen were regulars at the gym and as such, 20 push-ups felt almost effortless to them.
The bridesmaids kept their word and helped Sheffield clean up before they played two more games. After a long dreaded wait, the groom finally approached the bride.
He took the bouquet of flowers from Joshua and affectionately said, "Evelyn, I'm here to take your hand in marriage."
The emcee of the ceremonies remarked, "Don't just talk. Just kneel down and hand over the flowers to the bride."
Thud! Sheffield immediately knelt down on the carpet beside the bed.
Almost in response, an explosion of laughter shook the room, because Sheffield had gone on both knees.
The emcee reminded the groom helplessly, "Hey, Mr. Tang, you're only supposed to get down on one knee!"
Sheffield feigned laughter and said, "I'm sorry. I was just excited to see my wife."
Evelyn was so moved by his words that she almost failed to hold back her tears. This man was getting increasingly adorable.
He handed her the bouquet and cleared his throat before saying, "Evelyn Huo, you are the only woman I wish to spend the rest of my life with. Please, marry me."
