The cell phone alarm lit up in the darkness. Gu Youran reached out to turn it off, and the room fell silent again.
She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before realizing that today was her and Shi Heng's wedding.
She subconsciously reached out to touch the side, but there was no warmth there at all.
Shi Heng left at three in the morning, so he should have just fallen asleep.
She lifted the quilt and stepped barefoot on the carpet. It was still dark outside the window, with only the dim light from the garden lamp.
She walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and opened the curtains a little. Several black commercial vehicles were parked downstairs, and the Shi family's servants were moving things carefully.
She turned around and went to the bathroom to wash up. When the warm water rushed over her body, her heartbeat finally started to normalize.
Today, she is really going to marry Shi Heng.
Gu Youran had just dried her hair when she heard a gentle knock on the door.
"You Ran, are you awake?" Tao Nianwan's voice came through the door.
"Wake up, Mom." She hurried over to open the door.
Tao Nianwan stood outside the door, wearing a dark red cheongsam, her hair neatly tied up in a bun, and holding a carved wooden box in her hand.
Two maids followed her, one holding a tea tray and the other holding a makeup box.
Tao Nianwan walked straight into the room, and the two maids quickly put down what they were holding and left silently.
"Sit here." She pointed to the chair in front of the dressing table. "I'll comb your hair."
Gu Youran sat down obediently and watched in the mirror as her mother-in-law opened the wooden box and took out an antique rhinoceros horn comb.
"This comb was passed down to me by Grandma Shi Heng." Tao Nianwan's fingers gently stroked the teeth of the comb. "I should give it to you today."
Gu Youran was startled, "This is too expensive..."
"Precious?" Tao Nianwan chuckled, "The daughter-in-law of the Shi family deserves better."
She stood behind Gu Youran, ran her fingers through her shoulder-length hair, and her voice suddenly became soft and long:
"Comb your hair all the way to the end, and raise the case to the level of your eyebrows."
The comb teeth slowly slid across the hair, and Gu Youran saw from the mirror that her mother-in-law's expression was focused and almost pious.
"Comb your hair twice to the end, and fly together with your wings together."
On the second stroke, Tao Nianwan's fingers paused slightly, and he suddenly asked, "What time did Ah Heng come last night?"
Gu Youran's face flushed slightly, "...twelve o'clock sharp."
Tao Nianwan hummed softly and continued to comb for the third time:
"Comb your hair three times to the end, and you will be together forever."
After combing her hair, she leaned over to Gu Youran's ear and whispered, "He's a stickler for rules, coming in from the balcony just in time."
Gu Youran's face turned even redder. "You... know?"
"Is there anything about this family that I don't know?"
Tao Nianwan took out a red string from the wooden box and expertly tied a lock of her hair. "But his father did the same thing when he got married."
Gu Youran couldn't help but laugh.
Tao Nianwan patted her shoulder and said, "Okay, it's time to put on makeup."
She has an excellent foundation, with fair and translucent skin, and hardly needs much modification.
Tao Nianwan only drew her eyebrows and lipstick, then used a fine brush dipped in gold powder to lightly draw a line at the end of her eyes.
"Close your eyes."
Gu Youran closed her eyes and felt her mother-in-law's fingertips gently touching her forehead.
"Okay, let's see."
She opened her eyes and saw herself in the mirror with picturesque eyebrows and features, lips dotted with vermilion, and the golden powder at the corners of her eyes sparkling in the light, making her look incredibly radiant.
"it's beautiful."
Tao Nianwan praised sincerely, turned around and picked up the wedding dress embroidered with a hundred children from the sofa, "Come, put it on."
On the bright red satin of the wedding dress, a lifelike picture of a hundred children was embroidered with gold thread. Each child was no bigger than a fingernail, and some were playing Cuju, reading, or having fun.
When Gu Youran raised her hand to put on her sleeves, she suddenly found two small words embroidered on the lining of the cuffs:
【Heng & You】
Tao Nianwan smiled and sighed, "It was embroidered two months ago. That boy secretly asked a Su embroidery master to add the words."
Gu Youran lowered her head and touched the two small words, and her heart seemed to be gently grasped.
Tao Nianwan tied her belt and suddenly reached out to brush her shoulder-length hair, "Your hair is a little short..."
She turned around and picked up a small red velvet box from the dressing table. When she opened it, she found a pair of diamond earrings with the main stones being a rare light pink.
"This is the rough diamond that Heng's father bought in South Africa the year he was born."
Tao Nianwan put the earring on Gu Youran's earlobe and said, "I originally wanted to wait until you have a daughter before giving it to me..."
Her fingers gently pinched Gu Youran's earlobe, "But it's more suitable for you now."
Gu Youran looked at the two pink spots on her earlobes in the mirror, and suddenly found that Tao Nianwan's eyes were slightly red.
"mom……"
"Don't move." Tao Nianwan turned around and took out the dragon and phoenix gold wire bracelet from the makeup box, "And this."
She slowly put the gold bracelet on her wrist, looked at it again and again, and was very satisfied.
Gu Youran stared at the gold bracelet on her wrist and suddenly whispered, "Mom, thank you."
She traced the winding branches on the bracelet with her fingertips. "From choosing the wedding dress to combing the hair, you took care of everything yourself."
Tao Nianwan paused as she was adjusting the bracelet, "This is how the Shi family should marry a daughter-in-law."
"No."
Gu Youran mustered up the courage to hold her mother-in-law's hand. "You clearly hate planning banquets, yet you even reviewed every invitation for me."
Tao Nianwan snorted softly, but her fingertips quietly returned the grip, "Don't be so sentimental, I'm just worried that you'll lose face for the Shi family."
Gu Youran smiled and suddenly understood where Shi Heng's thoughtfulness came from.
After combing her hair, Tao Nianwan gestured to Gu Youran to sit on the sofa.
There was already an exquisite purple clay teapot placed there.
"Eat it while it's hot." She opened the lid of the bowl, and the sweet fragrance immediately filled the air.
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