Chapter 23 Checking Up: We're Married!
The dim lighting created a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. Compared to the busy wedding preparations of the past few days, Song Qingran was now lounging on the sofa, feeling completely relaxed.
All eyes were on her. She suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze inexplicably unfocused. A gift? Could it be what she was thinking?
"Ranran, I'm so curious, what kind of mysterious gift is it?" Rongrong looked at her with her big, watery eyes, and when she didn't react, she shook her arm and asked again.
"Ah, yes, yes..."
Song Qingran, unusually guilty, stammered and couldn't utter a word.
The door to the private room creaked open.
Rongrong followed her gaze, but this did not ease Song Qingran's embarrassment. She rubbed her forehead and glared resentfully at Xu Qingru.
Xu Qingru poured a glass of red wine and fed it to her lips: "What's with the affectation? You used to love watching them, didn't you? This time I found fifteen, all top-notch. Don't waste them, after all, you'll be a married woman in the future and have to remain chaste."
Song Qingran: "..."
The way you're saying this makes it sound like she's a scumbag who plays with men's bodies. She's not good at all!
"Ahhh, what is this? Ahhh..."
I heard Rongrong's screeching voice, just like a groundhog.
She covered her eyes with her hands, her burning gaze peeking through her fingers, sweeping over the rows of exquisitely dressed, handsome men of various styles who entered.
The girls chuckled and pulled Rongrong over, tugging at her hands to see through her feigned modesty, letting her appreciate it.
"Don't be shy, relax a bit, but be careful, don't post it on social media..."
Rongrong's eyes lit up. "Don't worry, sister, I... I won't let anyone know."
The private room was spacious. Suddenly, the lighting changed, casting light down the aisle. Loud music started playing, and the handsome men struck stylish poses and began their catwalk, creating a passionate yet ambiguous atmosphere.
Rongrong counted them and found that there were indeed fifteen handsome men. Some were dressed in a clean-cut style, some were wearing white shirts and showing off their abs, some were wearing ancient costumes, and some were dressed in anime costumes... Each one of them had an extremely high appearance, as if they had broken through the dimensional barrier.
Seeing this for the first time, Rongrong was both shy and excited. She never expected to be able to play like this, and she was completely captivated.
After the fashion show ended, handsome men flocked to her, calling her "sister" repeatedly. Before long, each of the women was surrounded by several men, who played drinking games, cards, and fed her drinks... With such beauty before them, it was easy to lose track of time.
Xu Qing took a sip of red wine and nudged Song Qingran with her elbow. "Play with it for now, and I'll change the batch later to give you some inspiration."
Song Qingran is an artist who has published many comics. The main characters she draws, especially the male characters, all have top-notch looks and super popularity. Her drawing style is also exceptionally realistic and unique.
Only Xu Qingru knew that when Song Qingran lacked inspiration, she would find many male models, have them wear different styles of clothing, and pose in the way she wanted so that she could draw the most perfect character design. This was the reason why she never lacked inspiration.
Song Qingran did not refuse. After all, although Cheng Wang did not show it, she knew that he was a very possessive person, and perhaps she would not be able to look for male models as often in the future.
With that thought in mind, she began to appreciate it seriously, already thinking about the character designs for the next comic.
There was no one beside Song Qingran. Three young men, their faces flushed, approached, but Xu Qingru blocked their wine glasses before they could even reach out.
"She's getting married tomorrow. Playing around is fine, but flirting... is only possible with me..."
She took a little boy's hand and made him sit next to her, while gesturing for the other two to keep Song Qingran company, eating melons and chatting.
As time passed, the private room was filled with laughter and chatter. Song Qingran had drunk some wine, but she wasn't drunk. However, she was somewhat unsteady and had lost her usual wariness.
She had learned some basic fortune-telling techniques from her master at the martial arts school, and now she was holding a boy's hand, looking at his face and then his palm.
"You are destined for romance and will encounter helpful people, but you also have a calamity star in your chart. You should pay attention to your moral cultivation at age 25..."
"Sister, really? How can I resolve this?"
Song Qingran squinted, tilted her head, and leaned closer to take a look: "Wait, let me take a closer look first, the light is too dim."
Everyone started drinking, and the ambiguous atmosphere in the air grew stronger.
Just as he put his arms around Rongrong's waist, his phone rang.
Rongrong stiffened, pushed away the arm that was wrapped around her, sat a little further away, and whispered that she had a fiancé before glancing at her phone.
Seeing the chaotic and intoxicating scene before her, Rongrong regained her senses for a moment, biting her lip and resolutely turning off her phone.
If her fiancé knew there were male models here, he would definitely have this place torn down, and then he would tear her down too.
He absolutely mustn't find out!
*
"Brother Wang, are you really not going out for a get-together?"
"Yeah, all the sisters-in-law have a farewell night for singles, why don't you go?"
"Don't you want to know what your wives are doing? Do you want to go to the private room next to theirs?"
Jin Ye, Tang Chen, and Shen Yan, working together, have been trying to persuade Cheng Wang to go out for almost an hour.
"Tomorrow is the wedding, and after the wedding we'll go on our honeymoon. I haven't finished my work yet, can you guys help me?" Cheng Wang looked down at the computer, his long, slender fingers flying across the keyboard as he busily typed. He glared at them coldly, finding them too noisy.
The men, who had been sprawled out on the sofa, became listless. After waiting a while, they rubbed their empty stomachs and made a somewhat humble suggestion.
"Then let's go find something to eat. We're the best men tomorrow, what if we don't perform well if we're starving?"
Cheng Wang raised an eyelid, shut down the computer, picked up his coat without a word, and walked out. Jin Ye chased after him and asked, "Brother Wang, where are you going?"
"Have a meal."
The group perked up, put their arms around each other, picked up their car keys, and started discussing where to eat and what to eat.
After the car had been driving for about ten minutes, Shen Yan, who was sitting in the back seat, suddenly let out a rough howl and started pounding on the car window like a madman with red eyes.
"Open the door! Open the door! I want to get off!"
Cheng Wang patiently stopped the car, let the person out, and drove off. A little while later, Shen Yan was chasing after the car like a fool.
Jin Ye grinned, revealing his pearly white teeth: "Is Brother Yan having an epileptic seizure? Let's wait for him, he's quite pitiful!"
In the rearview mirror, Shen Yan was furious and stopped chasing. She took out her phone and sent several photos to a group chat.
@Cheng Wang @Jin Ye @Tang Chen: "What are you eating? Your wife is about to be seduced by a scumbag. Come with me to kill those scumbags!"
Jin Ye's eyes also reddened. He showed Cheng Wang a few photos and urged Cheng Wang to turn around.
"Bro, hurry to the bar, or you'll be cuckolded... Ugh... Slow down..."
*
Tomorrow is her wedding, so Song Qingran didn't dare to drink too much or let herself get too drunk. When a boy sat down next to her and tried to get closer, she went to the restroom.
Feeling a little dizzy, she sat on the sofa in the bathroom to catch her breath. The soundproofing was excellent, completely free from the noise and hustle and bustle outside. It was quiet, with only the sound of her soft breathing.
For some reason, I'm starting to miss Cheng Wang.
Her phone suddenly lit up and vibrated a few times; it was Cheng Wang calling. Song Qingran tilted her head back to answer, a smile unconsciously creeping onto her face as she spoke: "What, checking up on me?"
"Um, where are you? Is it convenient to video chat?" The man on the other end of the phone asked, his breathing unsteady and his voice strained.
The alcohol instantly cleared Song Qingran's head. Her breathing tightened, and she stammered something she didn't even know before hanging up the phone.
When I pushed open the bathroom door, the scene was beyond description.
Xu Qingru's girlfriends started kissing the male model, leaving the table littered with wine bottles and fruit.
"That's enough, that's enough. You all need to leave now."
Song Qingran shouted, and everyone's attention was focused on her again. However, compared to before, she was a little dazed. Xu Qingru had already drunk herself on the sofa. Hearing her voice, she sat up abruptly, responded, and then lay back down, sleeping like a lazy pig.
Rongrong hadn't drunk much alcohol. She was sitting alone in a corner taking photos, admiring the pictures of male models' abs in her album. Hearing this, she ran to Song Qingran's side and asked, "Sister Ran, what's wrong?"
Zhu Ling followed, bringing with her a strong smell of alcohol.
"Cheng Wanggang just called to check up on me. My eyelids have been twitching and I feel a bit uncomfortable. Let's clear the area quickly."
Upon hearing this, Rongrong and Zhuling's expressions grew even more unpleasant. The three of them finally managed to rouse the other men who were making a ruckus and get them to leave quickly.
But Xu Qingru only orders but doesn't pay, so Song Qingran has to transfer tips to each of them. After finishing, she has more than a dozen new friends on WeChat.
After seeing the person off, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
It's already 10 p.m., time to call it a day.
Just as Song Qingran was trying to figure out how to send the drunken group home, the door suddenly opened again, and several tall men entered. Their eyes were dim, and she thought it was the second batch of male models arranged by Xu Qingru. She kept her eyes on her phone screen and didn't even look up, impatiently dismissing them.
“We don’t need a second batch. You can leave now. I’ll transfer some money to your manager later, and you can split it as compensation.”
She only became alert when the man walked up to her and his tall figure completely loomed over her.
She raised her eyes, saw the man's familiar features, her pupils contracted sharply, and her expression froze at the corners of her slightly parted lips.
Cheng Wang said nothing, but gently touched her hair with a tender gesture. His expression showed no anger, as gentle as a summer breeze.
But she always felt like there were thorns in her head, which made her very uncomfortable.
"Zhao Rongrong!"
Chen Yan's rough roar hurt Song Qingran's eardrums. Rongrong was half-forced by him to walk out the door. Song Qingran turned her head and saw Jin Ye pick up Xu Qingru from the sofa and run away.
Song Qingran was in a real bind, unsure of who to rescue. She was about to rush out when she froze in mid-air, held up by Cheng Wang's arms around her waist.
A wave of dizziness washed over me, and my thoughts became muddled.
The man carried her to the passenger seat, and as the car started moving, Song Qingran let out a burp, but she immediately covered her mouth before making a sound.
The car was quiet, eerily quiet.
"What's going on between Jin Ye and Qing Ru?" she murmured.
"Is this the relationship you're thinking of? Didn't she tell you?" Cheng Wang glanced at Song Qingran, then quickly returned his gaze to focus on driving. She didn't reply, so he added, "It seems you're not that important to her."
For some reason, Song Qingran felt a bit sour about the tone, and she felt uncomfortable. She lowered her head and sent Xu Qingru a dozen bombs before she felt better.
"I hope Rongrong will be alright," she asked again, as if making conversation out of boredom.
"A fight in bed will do the trick," Cheng Wang said calmly.
"What about the others...?"
"Tang Chen and Zhu Ling will make the arrangements."
Song Qingran sensed the man's emotions; he was probably angry, though he didn't show it on his face. She opened her mouth to explain.
"actually......."
"If you're sleepy, take a nap. I'll wake you up when we get home."
Their voices rang out simultaneously.
Song Qingran's eyes were somewhat flustered. She was not used to his indifference and felt a little wronged, but she couldn't blame anyone else. She had really ordered a male model.
But is he using emotional abuse?
She didn't like him like this, so she obediently closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, feeling resentful. Eventually, she actually fell asleep.
When she woke up again, she was back in the bridal chamber, and her clothes had been changed into pajamas. Although the two of them had done everything except for the last step, she still blushed slightly.
The door was ajar, letting in a beam of light. Following the light, Song Qingran found Cheng Wang in front of the living room's French windows.
"What's wrong? Are you troubled?" Song Qingran walked step by step behind Cheng Wang, put her hand on his shoulder, and was quickly grabbed by him. He gently pulled her, and she sat in his lap. The two were very close, his back straight, their breaths mingling.
"Go back to sleep, you'll be tired from the wedding tomorrow."
Cheng Wang picked up Song Qingran with one arm and bent down to put her on the bed, but she clung to him with all four limbs and couldn't be put down. He shook his head helplessly, but then a smile appeared on his lips: "You have something to say?"
Song Qingran buried her head in the man's neck, rubbing against him like a kitten, and then pressed her earlobe against his flushed earlobe. "Honey, are you jealous today?" Feeling his stiffness, Song Qingran breathed a sigh of relief and continued in a soft voice, "It was Qingru who arranged it. I didn't know, and I didn't do anything. I'm different from them. I just drank some wine."
These words sounded familiar, and Cheng Wang's ears twitched.
Although his wife was vibrant and alluring, and spoke sweetly, especially when she called him "husband," which inexplicably made him feel weak all over, he was still unhappy. He knew she wouldn't do anything outrageous, but he couldn't guarantee that others wouldn't scheme against her. And he cared for her far more than he imagined, and he couldn't bear the thought of other people around her.
"Can I check up on you?"
Shen Yan and Rong Rong's phone photo albums are shared, so Shen Yan can see the photos Rong Rong took, and Cheng Wang also saw a picture of Song Qing Ran being toasted by a man.
Song Qingran was stunned for a moment, "What?"
"Let me check your phone," Cheng Wang said matter-of-factly.
After hesitating for two seconds, Song Qingran handed her phone to Cheng Wang. Cheng Wang smiled and took it, and to show his honesty, he also handed over his own phone.
Song Qingran was quite curious about what was on Cheng Wang's phone, so she started checking it out. She looked through his call logs, social media contacts, and chat history, but put it down after less than ten minutes. His private life was frighteningly clean, and there was nothing that piqued her curiosity.
She glanced furtively at her phone in his hand, and watched as he copied and pasted the message "Why be a gigolo!" after discovering she had added the male models on WeChat, then deleted them all. Meeting his gaze, she gave an awkward smile, "Qingru didn't pay."
Cheng Wang didn't look at anything else. After deleting her from his friend list, he put his arm around her waist and asked, "Am I not prettier than them? Look at me more often in the future." He didn't say anything else, but she could read from his eyes that if she dared to mess around with other people, he would get angry with her.
Song Qingran mumbled that she understood, then kissed him on the lips. "Okay, the misunderstanding is cleared up, let's go to sleep." Tomorrow is the wedding, and if we delay any longer, I'll really become an ugly bride.
Cheng Wang held her as they lay down, kissing her forehead. "Sleep."
The next morning, Song Qingran was awakened by a series of knocks on the door. She glanced at the window and saw that it was just dawn. The man beside her was not there, and the warmth that once belonged to him in the bed was long gone.
She stretched and reached for the door, but caught a glimpse of a sticky note on the bedside table.
Song Qingran, our marriage is based on love. Even though we've only been together for a short time, I must be certain of one thing: I love you.
A warm current enveloped her heart, and Song Qingran's eyes welled up with tears. She carefully kept the note.
She wanted to say the things she couldn't say before to him countless times now.
Logically speaking, their marriage seemed like a bubble, and no one was optimistic about it. But from the first time she saw him, she was drawn to him. She never rejected or resisted him; instead, she was more willing to go along with him. She really, really enjoyed being with him.
Even when she was painting and he was working beside her, she was still very happy.
This feeling came too quickly, too easily, making it hard to believe, yet it was real; she simply liked him and loved him.
The knocking on the door grew more urgent. Song Qingran wiped away tears of joy and opened the door to greet her bridesmaids.
Before she could even utter a word, she was surrounded by her bridesmaids, busy getting dressed and made up, barely having time to breathe.
"Hurry up, you're already late. Don't talk, just get ready..."
"Yes, hurry up, I want to be the most beautiful bride today."
"Sister Ran, congratulations!"
The three of them chattered away, helping Song Qingran with her makeup along with the makeup artist, leaving her unable to ask a single question.
She also wanted to know what happened later last night. She noticed that the three bridesmaids had too much makeup on their eyes, and it was coming off. Had they stayed up all night?
Finally dressed, Song Qingran remembered something and whispered to Xu Qingru, "Have you dealt with my perfectly matched parents yet?"
Only after receiving Xu Qingru's nod did she smile with satisfaction, sitting on the bed waiting for the groom to come and pick her up.
The two agreed to meet at the old house and hold a traditional Chinese wedding there. Before long, the groom arrived with his bridesmaids. The three bridesmaids, Xu Qingru, Rongrong, and Zhu Ling, had already come up with many questions to ask Song Qingran to answer, but unfortunately, they disappointed her.
The best man easily led the bridesmaid out the door, and Cheng Wang was not troubled at all before reaching Song Qingran.
"Honey, I'm here to pick you up."
His smile was too confident, too flamboyant. Song Qingran said somewhat petulantly, "I haven't found my wedding shoes yet."
She expected to see a man frantically searching for his shoes, but instead he sat down next to her. She moved the fan that was covering her face and reached out to push him away, but he didn't budge. Just as she was about to get angry, he suddenly pulled her close, his hot breath spraying on her face. While she was still stunned, he lowered his head and kissed her alluring red lips.
"Um... makeup... ruined..." she stammered, unable to form a complete sentence.
Just as she was lost in the kiss, he suddenly pulled away, his hands quickly leaving her skirt, still clutching her wedding shoes.
Song Qingran was somewhat annoyed that she had let him off too easily, but seeing the joy in his eyes, she couldn't bring herself to be ruthless. She was still held in his arms and got into the car under everyone's gaze.
Looking at the joyful scene and the fireworks rising into the sky, Song Qingran felt that she had finally caught the tail end of happiness.
When the convoy arrived at the Cheng family's old residence, the guests had already entered.
Fu Xingyun and Song Yilian were riding high on their marriage to the Cheng family and were chatting and laughing with bigwigs in the banquet hall when someone called the couple out.
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