“Second Boss, Second Boss, look.” Ye Qingchang pointed at the central platform.
It wasn’t that high anyway, only about as high as the dining table in front of them.
Then she casually smacked the back of Yang Shuli’s head, who was still eating appetizers. “Stop eating, Little Bird is getting married.”
“Really?” Yang Shuli glanced at the appetizers in her bowl, then at Zhu Niao on the stage.
In the end, she made a decision and temporarily abandoned the food.
Heaven knows how much determination that took.
“How does it feel…” The blonde Liu Yong beside her frowned. “She’s walking like a zombie.”
“‘Zombie’ might even be praising her.” Ye Qingchang had already taken out her phone to record. “It’s like she just learned to control her own limbs.”
The reason for Zhu Niao’s stiff walking posture, sometimes even walking with the same hand and foot, was actually very simple. She was nervous.
Although she knew the guests below were all from Gou Yu’s side and people she knew and was familiar with, she still felt inexplicably nervous.
In front of her was Gou Yu, whose expression was also somewhat unnatural.
It was a strange thing. The two had faced each other and walked toward each other countless times before, but now, in this situation, they felt awkward for the first time.
Because this time, walking toward each other didn’t represent the two of them going to a street stall for a good meal, nor did it represent them finding an even better takeout coupon on their phones.
It represented the hearts beating with the emotions each held.
And with that, their steps merged together, eventually synchronizing in frequency and rhythm.
That was the meaning of the two walking toward each other.
“Huff…” Taking a deep breath, Zhu Niao once again commanded her disobedient legs. But they were as unresponsive as an arm that had been slept on all night.
She could feel the guests’ gazes piercing her like knives, like needle tips.
She was like a crew member tied up on stage, inside a wine barrel, with pirate swords thrust into the barrel through its openings.
She didn’t know which sword would kill her—maybe the next one.
Zhu Niao raised her head with difficulty and looked toward where she should be walking.
There was Gou Yu, making funny faces.
On this stage, where the guests below were staring intently and which Zhu Niao considered the focus of all attention, he raised both middle fingers at her.
Then, pretending to be relaxed, he took a few big strides and came to her side.
In front of her, he stuck out his butt and slapped it twice, producing a loud sound. Zhu Niao heard it clearly, and maybe the nearby guests did too.
It was like a warm current flowing into Zhu Niao’s limbs.
She clearly felt her legs regain sensation, and those gazes no longer seemed so piercing.
“Let’s go, princess.” The smug grin was still on Gou Yu’s face.
He didn’t look like a prince escorting a princess to a banquet, but a bandit openly stealing the princess.
But Zhu Niao didn’t consider herself a princess either.
She was just a pirate crew member trapped in a barrel, at someone’s mercy.
Now her pirate captain had arrived.
Gou Yu held out his hand to her. She placed her hand in his.
Then, holding hands, the two walked to the very center. They stopped in the middle.
Zhu Niao involuntarily took a deep breath.
Gou Yu mischievously scratched her palm, making her release the breath she was holding.
Angered, Zhu Niao glared at him.
In front of them was the Store Manager Lady, walking up the steps carrying something unknown.
She came to a stop in front of them. Gou Yu took the item, bent slightly, and placed it in front of Zhu Niao so she could see.
“It’s soft and smooth. Maybe it accidentally fell on the ground earlier and was washed with dish soap but not rinsed properly.”
“Are you stupid? This is f*cking silk.” Zhu Niao had not a shred of nervousness left now.
Gou Yu picked up the item and examined it carefully. “I think an imperial edict in TV dramas should look like this.”
“Except imperial edicts are yellow, and this is red.”
Then, each holding one side, they unfolded the item. For a long time, neither of them made a move.
The Store Manager Lady, who was about to leave, raised an eyebrow and walked back.
“What’s wrong? If you can’t read it aloud, you don’t have to.”
“No.” Gou Yu’s face was full of distress. “I can’t read it.”
“Then maybe you’re holding it upside down.”
“No, I can’t read it either way. What’s written on this thing is way too flamboyant.” Zhu Niao also coughed beside him.
The Store Manager Lady had almost forgotten—it was already a miracle that these two could remember pinyin after entering university.
“Then forget about it. Just sign your names on that table over there, show it off, and then you can go rest.”
The Store Manager Lady was still considerate.
Zhu Niao and Gou Yu exchanged glances and nodded.
Each holding one side of the unfolded engagement certificate, they walked over to the rosewood table that had been brought in for the scenery.
Then they both stopped simultaneously.
“Can you sign?” Zhu Niao turned slightly to ask Gou Yu beside her.
Gou Yu was silent for a moment. “Normally speaking, if it were a white paper and a black pen, I could,” Gou Yu said with a troubled expression. “But first, this isn’t white paper, and second, it’s not a black pen.”
Zhu Niao picked up the brush pen, the only pen prepared on the table.
In fact, many of the arrangements for the engagement banquet hadn’t been explained to the two, because the Store Manager Lady thought it should go without saying—like putting cat food in front of a cat, the cat would know to eat it.
But in reality, she realized she had apparently overestimated these two.
“Then what do we do now? There’s still the display part after signing,” Zhu Niao said with a worried tone.
Gou Yu rubbed his chin, and his eyes lit up. “Hey!” He raised a finger. “I have an idea. Give me the brush.”
Zhu Niao lightly dabbed off the excess black-gold ink and handed the brush to Gou Yu.
Right in front of Zhu Niao, who leaned in to watch, Gou Yu made a grand stroke.
“Are you serious?” Zhu Niao’s expression was incredulous.
“If I’m not serious, would I be faking it?”
After saying that, Gou Yu gave the brush back to Zhu Niao and gestured with his chin toward the engagement certificate on the table.
Zhu Niao gritted her teeth. “Fine, I’ll go through fire and water for a friend.”
Then she also grabbed the brush and made a grand stroke on the certificate.
A moment later, the two lifted the engagement certificate together, facing all the guests.
“What the f*ck is that?” Ye Qingchang and the others tilted their heads.
On the large red engagement certificate were gold embroidered characters, but the traces of gold ink at both sides told a different story.
One side had drawn a fish, the other side had drawn a bird.