Chapter 55
The wedding dress and gown finally arrived in Hong Kong, and Elaine also returned. The two long-lost best friends reunited, and everyone else paled in comparison. Although Miss Hao didn't live in the villa, it was practically the same as living there. No matter what time Zhuang Zhuoyuan came home, he would find her and his wife chatting away. Eventually, even the perk of taking his wife to and from school was snatched away by Miss Hao.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan tried to protest, but it was useless. Iris shut him down with just one sentence: "Will you spend more time with me in the future, or will Elaine spend more time with me?" So Zhuang Zhuoyuan could only comfort himself that at least when he was with Hao Yi, Iris wouldn't be thinking about investigating the case. She barely had enough time to try on those dresses.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan's clothing was easy to arrange; he had a great physique, and every suit he wore looked great, requiring almost no alterations. Iris, however, was a different story. She disliked looser dresses, and worried that dresses that fit perfectly would be too tight when her belly started to show in a month. While comforting the bride-to-be and expectant mother, Elaine asked in bewilderment, "You've been experiencing morning sickness all along, how come you're gaining weight?"
Iris lamented, "Boiling is one thing, gaining weight is another. Since moving back home, we have a maid, so although my husband can't cook for me every meal, he goes out late at night to buy me whatever I want to eat. Plus, I had some bleeding after my car accident, so he's really nervous now and doesn't trust me to do anything strenuous. He even said he'll supervise me until the fourth month. I used to go to the gym, but now, for him, I've cut all my workouts down to just yoga, and it's a really, really gentle kind with no difficulty."
Elaine didn't understand this sweet dilemma. On the contrary, the more she listened, the more she felt that Iris was just showing off her love. Shaking her head and shrugging, she put the bouquet on the table and went to help Iris change into another dress: "I don't think there's any use in you worrying about it now. Let's find some time to take the wedding photos first."
"We can go filming the day after tomorrow!" Iris said with a beaming smile, radiating happiness. "This afternoon and tomorrow afternoon, A-Yuan and I will go look at houses. He still plans to buy a bigger house so that we can have our own little home."
Elaine clapped her hands: "Then I'll buy an apartment near your villa, and I'll come over for a meal when you come back to stay!"
Iris always liked good neighbors.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan knew this, so he accompanied his mother on the house-hunting trip, finally narrowing it down to a few options before bringing Iris to choose. All the houses Zhuang Zhuoyuan kept were actually quite nice, but when Iris heard that the last one was in the same neighborhood as his mother's, she enthusiastically chose it. His mother's family was so kind, and Lamy was a mother of two; Iris wouldn't have to worry about not having anyone to ask if she had any questions in the future. Besides, if both men were away on missions, Iris would feel more at ease with Lamy by her side.
“But Mom will soon be transferred to logistics in another department.” Zhuang Zhuoyuan hugged Iris, a hint of melancholy in his voice. Of course, he also had some concerns: “If my older sister gets married and I go on a mission, leaving you alone at home, won’t you be scared?”
"What if I say I'm scared?" Iris suddenly wondered.
“Then I’ll try to switch departments as soon as possible, so I can spend more time with you. Actually, Mommy has talked to me about similar things before. She said that putting down the scope isn’t always a bad thing.” The setting sun shone on his face through the restaurant window, and Iris was quite surprised to see the seriousness in Zhuang Zhuoyuan’s voice. She knew how much Zhuang Zhuoyuan loved his job and how hard he had worked to get into SDU. He had been selected three times; how could she bear to let him give up his dream for her?
“BB,” Iris said seriously, “I’m glad you’ve included me and my family in your life plans, but I don’t want you to give up anything for me. Mommy and Daddy have their opinions, and sometimes we disagree, which is normal. I don’t want you to change your mind because of our temporary thoughts. You have sniper blood in your veins; you were born to do this. Tangyuan and I will support you, so don’t worry about us, okay? Even if you really want to leave, please shoot down a 50-cent coin first. I remember you told me Tiger shot down one, right? Everyone has such high expectations for you; you should at least shoot down two, right? Ideally, a moving target, one shot and you’d be the most unique sharpshooter in SDU history.”
"Wow, wife!" After being touched, Zhuang Zhuoyuan began to feel immense pressure. "I didn't expect you to have such high expectations of me."
Iris hugged him tightly: "Are you going to tell me you can't do it? If you can't do it, then..."
"So what?"
"Then forget it. If you want to leave, then leave. Life is so long anyway. Even if you regret it in the future, you'll still have the chance to master this skill. Being brave enough to give up is a kind of courage." Iris was very open-minded, which unconsciously gave Zhuang Zhuoyuan more strength. Zhuang Zhuoyuan sighed again about the advantages of having a wife, but also admitted that there was one thing he really couldn't do.
"What?" Iris asked, puzzled. She had a feeling that Zhuang Zhuoyuan wouldn't give her such a far-fetched answer.
However, while his answer wasn't exactly "outrageous," it was certainly "terrible." Mr. Zhuang Zhuoyuan solemnly and unusually seriously announced: "Because of Ms. Zhou Yishi, I can no longer be single, and SDU will lose a golden bachelor from now on."
That's such a terrible joke! Iris really wanted to punch him; it's a shame she actually thought about it so carefully.
The greatest advantage of living with the one you love is waking up happy every day. With a month left until the wedding, Iris was living each moment to the fullest. During the day, she went to school, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan went to work. In the evenings, they would write invitations and watch TV together. Occasionally, when he was training at night, she would continue researching the cases of Du Tianyu and Yao Meiling alone. However, influenced by the Kary incident, she was no longer particularly enthusiastic about immersing herself in the characters and exploring their inner worlds; after all, not everyone could bear that kind of darkness.
While writing the invitations, Zhuang Zhuoyuan also discovered some new problems—or rather, they couldn't be called problems. When Jennie asked him to write down everyone he knew at the police station, she gave him a list, and the first name on it surprised him. He handed it over to Iris to confirm: "Big Brother!"
Iris nodded seriously: "It's your eldest brother, Daddy knows him." Her pen moved from top to bottom, making a soft rustling sound on the paper: "These are all people that Daddy and Mommy know."
Then Zhuang Zhuoyuan realized that, combined with his list of names, Edward's business partners, Jennie's family's long-standing friends, and various relatives and friends, he began to worry that their wedding would not be able to be completed in one day.
Edward and Jennie had considered this matter, so initially they planned for three days with about a hundred tables. Because it was difficult to schedule seating for people from different circles, they decided to follow past practice and host different guests for each of the three days. However, to avoid taking up too much of the newlyweds' time, Edward had a larger outdoor venue prepared for the ceremony. As for the banquet, they booked three halls, where the newlyweds could take turns toasting guests. Of course, the bride's parents had thought of even more thoughtfully. Iris put her arm around Zhuang Zhuoyuan's shoulder, reassuring him, "Daddy has already spoken to the media. They've asked them to refrain from recording, and photos and reports will be reviewed by us before being released. Your identity will be absolutely confidential. We'll protect you!"
She sounded a little proud at the end. Zhuang Zhuoyuan gently pinched Iris's nose, only now realizing so many details. He'd been busy with his upgrade exams lately, and his family seemed to have taken over most of the work so he could focus on it.
Thank you.
"Silly boy." Iris leaned in and kissed him, then snuggled against her husband's shoulder affectionately. "Sorry, baby, it seems we didn't listen to your opinions in time when we were discussing these things. I didn't mean to tell you this so late, it's just that Daddy needs to rebuild our network of relationships in Hong Kong for us, and we can't really get involved in these things. So there are too many details of the wedding that can't be finalized all at once. Every time I wanted to tell you, Daddy and Mommy would give me some new feedback, which gave me a headache, so I just didn't know what to say anymore."
A lavish wedding certainly carries many unique aspects compared to an ordinary wedding. Zhuang Zhuoyuan understood the necessity of his in-laws' actions. As Jennie said, those in positions of power must fulfill their corresponding responsibilities, and they had already gone to great lengths to take care of Iris and him. He touched Iris's cheek: "So, that private wedding in England is your dream wedding?"
The young woman was very sweet-talking: "As long as you're here, any kind of wedding will be my dream wedding. I've even considered a destination wedding."
"Then let's have as much fun as possible during our honeymoon." Zhuang Zhuoyuan touched the tip of her nose, and their foreheads touched. After only a few seconds, they couldn't help but kiss again.
"Ah Yuan, I really like you." It seemed that she wanted to be intimate with him all the time.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan stroked her cheek, his voice deep and magnetic: "What a coincidence, me too."
Just when they thought everything was going smoothly, an accident occurred. Due to the new deputy captain, Long Po's, inexperience in command leading to repeated mistakes, Ma Da, who was about to be transferred, was kept on by Zhan Hantao for an extra month. As a result, during a hostage rescue operation, Ma Da was accidentally injured by a grenade and fell into a coma in the hospital. Even after surgery to remove most of the grenade fragments, the doctors still informed everyone upon leaving the operating room that they could not confirm when the patient would wake up, and even the chances of waking up were not very high at present.
Iris rushed over with Lamy, and upon hearing this, Lamy nearly collapsed. Iris and the other Team A members, who were also waiting outside the operating room, quickly helped her sit down. Unexpectedly, Lamy, regaining her balance, turned around and slapped Zhan Hantao across the face. She blamed him for everything: "Are you satisfied now? My husband could have been transferred safely to another department, but you insisted on a month. And what happened? Now he's lying in a hospital bed, his life hanging in the balance. I might lose my husband, Grace might lose her father, and even this baby in my belly might not have the chance to see Ahui! Ahui could have held it in his arms and watched it grow up! Give me back my husband!"
Lamy broke down in tears. Iris, watching from the side, couldn't help but tear up as well. She nestled into Zhuang Zhuoyuan's arms and hugged him tightly. At that moment, she was also terrified, terrified that Lamy would be her future. She didn't want anything to happen to Zhuang Zhuoyuan.
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