bookrandom Chapter 97 Silent Remorse and the Wedding
Chapter 97 Silent Remorse and the Wedding
When Lin Yue looked up, she saw her three children—her eldest daughter Coco, her second daughter Jingjing, and her youngest son Xiaobao—standing not far behind her. Beside each child stood their respective sons-in-law: their eldest daughter's husband, their second daughter's fiancé, and their fiancée Xiaoxue, all with tears in their eyes. Coco and Jingjing knew how much their mother had suffered and how much pain she had endured. Xiaobao, however, was too young to understand and didn't comprehend the hardships his mother had endured.
At this moment, when the mother recounts her experience, it's so calm, so emotionless, a flat narration, yet they are going through the same thing. Coco and Lone Wolf have a son and a daughter together, and she also faces mother-in-law/daughter-in-law issues, and communication problems with her husband, because their family backgrounds and living environments are different. At this moment, Lone Wolf puts his arm around Coco's waist and whispers in her ear, "Wife, I'm sorry." And Jingjing, the white-haired man beside her also puts his arm around her waist, saying, "Jingjing, I'm sorry." And Xiaobao puts his arm around Xiaoxue's waist and whispers, "Xiaoxue, I'll be good to you from now on." These are the three children's different reactions, because they are experiencing these things in their lives—mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships, husband-wife relationships—and in the long run, what will be needed to maintain them?
The two or three children have all grown up and know how to cherish their mother. The reason Xiao Bao's wedding was so grand is because Lin Yue and Gong Yong both intend to retire from the world and begin their spiritual journey. As time goes on, people their age tend to look old, while they themselves remain in their forties, which is indeed suspicious and hard to accept.
Several elderly women sitting around Lin Yue were shedding tears. An old man next to her kept saying, "I'm sorry, wife, I'm sorry, wife." Lin Yue looked up and saw that it was the group of veterans with their wives, who were now sobbing uncontrollably.
At their age, the bitterness in their hearts is unimaginable to outsiders. Because they inherited the spatial ability from Lin Yue, they retired very late. They often served in the military, leaving their families in the hands of their wives. Their wives, with the children, endured wind and rain without their husbands by their side; raising children alone was incredibly difficult. Some had their mothers-in-law to help, or they got along well. But the worst was when their husbands were away, their in-laws neglected them, and they were left alone with their children, in thunderstorms, or when their children were sick, carrying them around by themselves. Even when receiving IV fluids, there was no one to help. At those times, they desperately wanted a divorce, desperately wanted their husbands back. But reality told them that their men had sacrificed their families for the country. There was no other way; self-sacrifice seems simple to others, but only those in that position truly understand how difficult it is.
Among those veterans, several had lost their families because their wives couldn't bear the neglect and interference of their in-laws. Their wives felt their in-laws were meddling in their lives, offering no help, and even criticizing them. Several men lowered their heads, tears streaming down their faces. They knew how much their ex-wives suffered; with him away, they faced not only a lack of support but also their parents meddling and offering no assistance.
At this very moment, many military wives are perhaps experiencing more hardship and suffering than some wives in ordinary families. Nearby, some elderly soldiers, accompanied by one or two children, stood quietly comforting their mothers or fathers. Some, whose spouses had passed away, simply stomped their canes on the ground, making a loud thud.
Deep down, they both knew they had let down their wives, their wives, and their children. At this moment, tonight's tea party had become a lesson in repentance—a repentance for the men and a repentance for the women.
Among this group were two or three couples who were active-duty soldiers, only in their early thirties, who had come with their wives and children. The young wives were crying uncontrollably against their chests. They were the second batch of soldiers to receive the spiritual realm. They tried their best to comfort their wives, gently patting their backs to ease their pain.
These couples were among the more than 100 veterans of the Space Rings, including several deceased individuals whose Space Rings and Space Buttons were chosen by them. They were also outstanding members of this generation of young soldiers. They had taken leave in advance and brought their wives and children on this hard-won trip, which was entirely free for them. Lin Yue also provided excellent accommodations, so they all came with their wives and children to enjoy their happy family life without anyone interfering. Nothing could interfere with them, and they were cherishing these precious two months with Lin Yue.
At this moment, the young soldier looked at his elderly superior and felt a sense of loneliness and emotion. He thought he could have done better, taken better care of his wife and his family, and shown them more love.
Later, many retired central government leaders arrived one after another. These leaders were quite old, some over 90 and even 100, and they came with their children. Lin Yue arranged for them to stay in her hotel or a nearby five-star hotel, or some ordinary hotels, according to their rank or the distance of their relatives.
In the second month, a number of central government leaders arrived, followed by some military personnel and businessmen who had cooperated with Lin Yue, as well as some wounded soldiers who had received treatment. They all received approval from their superiors. This was because they were all quite old, mostly in their seventies or eighties. Why the approval? Because some of them were involved in classified matters and couldn't leave. But in Lin Yue's territory, they received complete protection.
Because of Lin Yue's grand wedding banquet for Xiao Bao, many people who were previously only seen on television came to attend. Their primary reasons for coming were to visit Lin Yue's valley, to see if there was an opportunity to retire there, and some practitioners were there to explore the possibility of cultivating within the valley. Regardless of their motives, their initial intention was to congratulate the newlyweds.
They slowly arranged hotels, but both five-star hotels were already fully booked, and the other regular hotel was almost full, yet more and more people were still arriving. What to do? Lin Yue and Xiao Bao thought for a moment and then negotiated with two nearby hotels and a guesthouse, agreeing that Lin Yue would book them all for the National Day holiday. The two hotels, while regular, were large and clean, and the guesthouse was quieter and more remote, but very close to Lin Yue's valley. Thinking about this, Lin Yue decided to let whichever place they preferred go.
After the busy second month, the third month arrived. Those who had prepared in advance, and those who could arrive early, had mostly come. Only a few young people who were still working and waiting for the National Day holiday to come over remained. The older generation had also mostly arrived. Lin Yue's own relatives and friends were all there. They knew that this was the only big celebration for Lin Yue's family; afterwards, Lin Yue and Gong Yong might move away or live a secluded life.
In the second month, nearly several thousand people arrived in the town. To ensure the town's safety, Lin Yue reported to her superiors, and a regiment of young soldiers was stationed near the town to prevent unauthorized personnel from causing trouble.
Thinking of this, Lin Yue and Gong Yong went to their son's newlywed villa that evening to check if anything was missing. They looked around and saw that the villa was beautifully decorated and very festive, with paper-cut window decorations and the character for "double happiness" everywhere – all prepared in advance.
Lin Yue and Xiao Bao invited Xiao Xue's family to the new villa. In the living room, everyone sat down to discuss what to do. The main topics were the distribution of red envelopes and how many to put in each envelope. According to Xiao Xue's father's request, the small red envelopes would contain 5 yuan, while the larger ones would contain 10, 20, 50, 100, or 200 yuan, with many starting at 200 yuan. Then there were 500 yuan envelopes, followed by 1000, 1500, and 2000 yuan, and so on, up to a maximum of 3000 yuan. The red envelopes, especially the small ones, would be plentiful. Lin Yue then called the relevant bank manager and exchanged over 100,000 yuan in small change and 200,000 yuan in cash. What was this for? For distributing the red envelopes. Knowing there would be many children that day, and given it was the National Day holiday, they prepared 300,000 yuan in red envelopes. They weren't sure if that would be enough, and whether they should continue preparing. Thinking about this, Xiao Bao said, "Oh well, it doesn't matter if it's enough, it'll be about right." Xiao Xue also said, "It'll be about right." Then there were the wedding candies. Xiao Bao said they didn't need to put them in small boxes, just scatter them. After thinking about it, they decided to put a little extra on each table, scatter some candy, and put it in several baskets. The children could take what they wanted. They also put a few in a separate snack area, like a bookshelf in a five-star hotel, where people could take whatever they wanted. Lin Yue thought this was a good idea, so they placed many such shelves around the entrance to the wedding hall, the large factory auditorium, filled with all kinds of candies and snacks, free to eat. The news spread in advance, and the children and elderly who arrived early all took some, with no limit on the amount; they could eat as much as they wanted. However, as everyone knows, eating too much sugar isn't good for your health, so children like to eat a little bit every day, but adults only need a taste. Therefore, there's not much sugar that's actually consumed.
On the contrary, the snack area saw a lot of consumption, and gradually, the children stopped eating meals and started eating snacks instead. The adults also noticed this problem, so they simply put the snacks away and released them all on the wedding day. For everyone's health, the candy was still left there.
Another half month passed, and more people came. Some had asked their boss for leave several days in advance to fly over, including Xiaoxue's brother and sister-in-law, her parents, and her brothers. Where should they be placed? Lin Yue arranged for them to stay in an empty room on the floor below Xiaoxue's, a 140-square-meter room with four bedrooms—enough for their whole family. It was convenient for them to go up and down the stairs, and as Xiaoxue's family, they could discuss things together.
Then, some of Xiaoxue's father's relatives arrived one after another, and they were accommodated in another empty apartment on the ground floor below Xiaoxue's building. Later, the children of Xiaoxue's mother's sisters and brothers were accommodated in an empty apartment in Xiaoxue's building. These were all company-owned, fully furnished apartments with water, electricity, and gas, and all the necessary furniture, though some appliances were missing. The air conditioning was central, installed by the company. There were no refrigerators or washing machines. But considering they were only staying for a few days, this wasn't an issue. Xiaoxue said that since there were three washing machines on her roof, her relatives would bring their clothes up to Xiaoxue's building each day to wash and then hang them to dry in the rooftop garden. This way, everyone could manage. Although it wasn't convenient to bring clothes out, some of them wanted to hand-wash, so they could simply hang them in their respective rooms.
Because Lin Yue had been preparing all the food in the valley, the number of tables had increased from ten or twenty to fifty. The three places were no longer enough to accommodate everyone, so they had to choose the company's canteen. One area had been designated for friends and family to eat there, and all the rice and noodles in the canteen had been replaced with spirit rice and spirit noodles, so that everyone could have a similar diet.
On the last day of the wedding, Lin Yue hired a professional body care specialist to come to Xiao Xue's house for a spa treatment, transforming her into a beautiful bride. Xiao Bao also brought over her custom-made wedding dress. Because they were having a traditional Chinese wedding, Xiao Xue's dress was exceptionally beautiful and custom-made, with gold thread embellishments. The dress was incredibly expensive, costing tens of millions. This was a gift from Lin Yue to Xiao Xue, a gift to be passed down through generations. As for the headdress, Lin Yue had it custom-made at a specialized jewelry store, following the style previously prepared by aristocratic families. Furthermore, the bridal sedan chair was prepared in advance, and even a white horse from the valley was brought out.
Xiao Bao insisted on a strictly traditional Chinese wedding ceremony befitting a prominent family, and the wedding was quite spectacular. To ensure a grand occasion, the route for everyone involved was as follows: Xiao Bao would start from the bridal chamber, pick up Xiao Xue from the staff dormitory, then circle the entire company, drive two kilometers through the town, and return. As a result, there was a lot of music and celebration, making it a very lively affair. During the ceremony, the emcee's words were both touching and insightful. The nearly 100 tables of people around seemed to be offering their blessings to the newlyweds.
As the groom, Xiaobao, rode a white horse, followed by a festive bridal sedan chair, the grand wedding procession drew crowds of onlookers who offered their best wishes to the newlyweds. Upon arriving at the wedding venue, the couple first underwent traditional rituals such as stepping over a fire basin and crossing a saddle, symbolizing the removal of bad luck and the attainment of peace and safety. Then, witnessed by everyone, the couple performed three bows: first to Heaven and Earth, expressing gratitude for their blessings; second to their parents, thanking them for their upbringing; and finally, a mutual bow between husband and wife, symbolizing their vow to support each other and spend their lives together.
Then, amidst joyous music, the newlyweds were led to their bridal chamber. The entire wedding ceremony was imbued with a rich traditional cultural atmosphere, solemn yet warm, leaving everyone with unforgettable and beautiful memories.
Xiaoxue returned to the bridal chamber and changed into a bright red cheongsam-style toasting dress. Afterwards, she and Xiaobao began moving among the more than one hundred tables of guests, toasting everyone.
Xiao Bao, Lin Yue, Gong Yong, Ms. Yang, and Xiao Bao's father, along with two young people, went from table to table to meet relatives and friends, warmly greeting them. They especially made sure to visit every table where leaders were seated. Even if it was just a simple greeting, it was essential.