Chapter 306 Part 3: Marriage

Jiang Xiao crouched down again and reached his hand toward the girl’s fiery red dress.

But before he could touch it, his hand paused mid-motion, and he lifted his head to look at her face, as if trying to see beneath her red veil from this low angle.

“No peeking!”

Sensing his intent, Song Qiuyu gave a light huff and turned her face away.

“You haven’t found my shoes yet.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Jiang Xiao sighed helplessly. He had no choice but to withdraw his gaze and refocus on the hem of her dress, lifting it just a little.

At that moment, the fiery red skirt rippled like water, sending out tiny waves. Beneath the ripples, a pair of small feet wrapped in white socks suddenly came into view.

Just white socks?

He frowned and stared at them for a couple of seconds. For some reason, he felt something was off about those feet… they seemed a bit swollen?

Then, as if embarrassed by his gaze, the small toes curled inward and shrank back.

Not only that, but his new bride seemed to be tense all over.

He knew well how easily his wife got shy. Being stared at like this would naturally make her nervous—it was a normal reaction…

No!

Something was wrong. He felt Xi’er trembling. Was it from nervous shyness, or because—

In a flash, a possibility struck Jiang Xiao, and his eyes lit up.

Without hesitation, he grabbed her feet. Then he felt her small frame tremble slightly, like a startled kitten. A fearful voice slipped out from under the red veil. “Easy…”

Jiang Xiao narrowed his eyes. Instead of easing up, he squeezed her feet a little harder. The touch under his palm was soft, but also a bit firm—especially at the soles.

It was as if those white socks hid another secret—like there was a pair of embroidered shoes still on underneath.

A smile curled at the corner of Jiang Xiao’s mouth.

Seeing this, the bridesmaids stopped pretending. They confessed that the shoes were still on Song Qiuyu’s feet.

Then Jiang Xiao slowly pulled off the white socks covering the shoes.

Gazing at his beloved’s delicate feet in red embroidered shoes, he chuckled softly before lifting his eyes to her face.

“Can I look now?”

“Mmm…”

Song Qiuyu bit her lip and twisted her pale hands together.

She gave a small nod.

The moment the red veil was lifted, Jiang Xiao’s eyes lit up.

He had seen Xi’er in many forms—even more beautifully made up and dressed than now. But somehow, today’s Xi’er was the most beautiful of all.

“Ahem!”

Bearing the heat of Jiang Xiao’s admiring and fascinated stare, Song Qiuyu couldn’t help lowering her eyes. She pursed her lips with a bit of restraint, but the corners of her mouth lifted uncontrollably.

She really didn’t want to acknowledge this dazed groom, but still, blushing, she kicked him with her little foot.

She pretended to pout: “Haven’t you seen enough?”

Jiang Xiao coughed into his fist and turned to look at his groomsmen group.

“Is the road still jammed out there?”

“Still jammed! Really bad!”

Wang Quan sighed heavily.

Luckily, they had made arrangements in advance so the sedan chair path wasn’t too crowded.

“Then there’s no helping it.”

Jiang Xiao sighed, looked at Song Qiuyu, turned around, crouched in front of her, then glanced back and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Want to try being carried by Zhu Bajie?”

Song Qiuyu froze for a moment. Huh? Zhu Bajie Carrying His Wife?

A melody ingrained in her DNA automatically started playing in her head.

“Oh, okay. Then I’ll be the Great Sage Sun Wukong today, hehe!”

With that, she unceremoniously got up from the sofa, leaned onto his broad, warm back, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Let’s go, wife!”

Jiang Xiao hooked his arms under her slender legs, made sure she wouldn’t fall, and stood up steadily.

The next moment, the music that had only been echoing in Song Qiuyu’s mind was actually played by Lin An, who had opened NetEase Cloud Music.

Then, to that lighthearted BGM, everyone ran back the way they came.

When they passed the car they had arrived in, they were surprised to see that after all this time, the car still hadn’t even gotten off the bridge.

They felt thankful for their choice and kept running.

The flying red veil was caught in time by Sang Tian, who was guarding the bride, so it wouldn’t fly away.

Soon, they reached the designated path.

Jiang Xiao set Song Qiuyu down, took her hand, and helped her into the flower sedan. He then mounted the horse at the front of the procession.

“Lift the sedan!”

The moment the eight-person sedan chair was raised, Song Qiuyu swayed with it and nearly lost her balance, almost bumping her head against the window frame.

She adjusted her red veil, let out a breath, then secretly lifted the curtain on the side to peek outside.

Many people had gathered along the roadside, taking photos of them.

Even without looking at her phone, she could imagine what was happening in the live stream room.

She wanted to sneak a look at Jiang Xiao too, but from this angle, she’d have to stick her neck out—too dangerous.

After one last peek, she obediently lowered the curtain, adjusted her posture, sat upright in the sedan, and didn’t move anymore.

Only after the final step of the wedding procession was complete did everyone truly arrive at the hotel.

A Chinese-style wedding is very different from a Western one. There was no bouquet toss, but there was the wedding bowing ceremony.

“Look, our little darlings are here!”

That was Su Luo’s voice.

The red veil was back on her head. Song Qiuyu couldn’t see her mother’s face now, but she could perfectly imagine the expression there—it must be overjoyed!

“Come here, child.”

Song Zhao Ye stepped forward, took his daughter’s hand, and led her to Jiang Xiao.

“Today, I entrust my daughter to you. I hope you will treat her well.”

“Mm, I will.”

Jiang Xiao’s eyes were firm.

Taking the girl’s soft little hand from his father-in-law, he continued to lead her forward, stopping in front of his own parents, his grandfather, and grandmother.

Feeling the eyes on her, Song Qiuyu unconsciously tightened her grip on Jiang Xiao’s big hand. It was really hard not to be nervous.

“Scared?”

Jiang Xiao asked, almost imperceptibly.

As he spoke, he held her hand tighter and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“No.”

Song Qiuyu replied in a low voice.

“Good. I was really worried that after four years of dating, now that we’re actually getting married, you might suddenly want to back out.”

Jiang Xiao said, whether deliberately or not.

“Are you looking down on me?”

Song Qiuyu gritted her teeth. She couldn’t understand why Jiang Xiao would say such things at a time like this. If there weren’t so many people around, she’d want to elbow him.

“Of course not. I’m just too nervous, so I wanted to tease you a little to relieve my own stress.”

Jiang Xiao didn’t hide it; he said it outright.

Hearing that, Song Qiuyu’s heart gave a sudden thump.

She suddenly understood. She didn’t say anything more, just lifted the corner of her mouth slightly.

‘So he was helping me relieve my own stress. Really… learning the wrong things from Lin An, acting all tsundere.’

Seeing that Song Qiuyu didn’t retort, Jiang Xiao knew his goal was achieved, and his own mouth unconsciously curved upward.

On the side, Lin An suddenly felt like sneezing, but he forced it down.

This scene happened to be caught by Xia Qi, who gave him a strange look and quietly asked, “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Lin An shook his head.

‘I just feel like someone’s talking behind my back.’

Then came the three bows: first bow to heaven and earth, second bow to the parents, third bow between husband and wife.

All the formalities went smoothly.

After everything was done, Song Qiuyu felt exhausted, but the hand holding hers tight gave her a lot of energy.

When they finally returned to the bridal chamber, the girl just flopped onto the bed and lay there like a dead fish.

‘So this is how tired Lin An and Xia Qi were back then…’

‘With that much fatigue, how did they still manage to do… that?’

‘Scary stamina.’

She closed her eyes. Heavy drowsiness seemed to weave a net around her, trapping her tight, and she couldn’t fight it—she just wanted to sleep.

She figured she wasn’t the only one this tired; Jiang Xiao was too.

Thankfully, unlike Lin An and Xia Qi, they had already done that kind of thing long ago. If they were too tired tonight, they could theoretically just sleep.

The bridal chamber night didn’t necessarily have to be about… that.

“Xi’er, sleepy?”

Jiang Xiao walked toward her.

Hearing that, Song Qiuyu recalled all the wedding formalities they had gone through today. She snapped her eyes open. “Not sleepy anymore!”

Jiang Xiao was the one most tired—he had run to pick her up, carried her back, and ridden the horse…