Chapter 2 - Marriage

Xun Suji barely managed to lift his head—it was splitting. He had drunk too much at the party last night. The cocktails were tasty and didn’t feel strong, so he had drunk a lot of them, and by the time Chief Wen was giving his speech, he had already fallen asleep on the table. He had missed the subsequent entertainment program—he heard that there were S-class maids dancing to “Nobody” and “Gee Gee.” Although their dancing was very clumsy, it still made the otaku cheer with great satisfaction.

Right now, he could only sit on the edge of the bed and listen to Mo Xiao’an’s introduction—Mo Xiao’an was his best man for the wedding.

“So good—” Xun Suji’s drool was already half a foot long. “What else was there?”

After that, a female Elder, the girlfriend of a male Elder, went on stage and sang “Light and Airy Waltz,” singing and dancing, her short skirt flying. Although she was wearing safety shorts, her fair thighs constantly flashing before the eyes of the otaku still drew wild cheers—except for a certain boyfriend with a very unhappy face.

“Fuck—” Xun Suji covered his face in pain. “Don’t say any more.”

“It’s fine, you’re about to have your wedding night…” Mo Xiao’an comforted him. “Thighs, every woman has them.”

“What’s a wedding night…” Xun Suji said painfully. “Some things, once missed, are gone forever.” The young female Elders were, of course, more in line with the otaku’s tastes in every aspect.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mo Xiao’an said. “The quality will only get better in the future. Besides, a female Elder’s cosplay isn’t that great to look at.”

“What?!” Xun Suji suddenly stood up, then his legs gave way and he fell back down. “Cosplay?”

“Yeah, cosplay,” Mo Xiao’an said. “Dead or Alive…”

“Oh my God!”

“—It was vetoed because the theme was too risqué.”

“Damn, don’t eat and then spit it out,” Xun Suji said painfully. “Well, that’s fine. We can wait for the next cosplay.”

“Xiao Pei cosplayed as Mai Shiranui.”

“Mmm, just her outfit alone was hot enough,” Xun Suji savored the memory—Pei Lixiu was the most eye-catching at the entire event.

“Speaking of which, Sister Pei is really something. Not pantyhose, not leggings. The brothers all confirmed it: it was definitely a T-back!”

“Damn, damn,” Xun Suji had a mixed expression of envy and regret.

“Haha, a few of the naturalized citizens and natives had nosebleeds,” Mo Xiao’an seemed very happy. “But some people said that this might give them the impression that we are ‘debauched’…”

“What do they know! In the eyes of these natives, a female Elder wearing a short skirt is still indecent!” Xun Suji was very dismissive. “If we follow the natives’ feelings in everything, what kind of revolution are we going to make? Changing customs and traditions! Starting with shortening the length of skirts!”

“You’re absolutely right, brother,” Mo Xiao’an nodded repeatedly and continued his introduction. “There was also a cosplay of Bikō, and Pan Pan and Mendoza also cosplayed. I didn’t recognize what they were cosplaying, but their skirts were short enough. The thighs of a foreign horse are just good…”

“Wooo—” Xun Suji buried his head in his pillow.

“Unfortunately,” Mo Xiao’an concluded with regret, “Old Fang’s idea was good, but the costumes and props were a bit lacking. They were hastily put together, so they were just so-so.”

“It’s good enough to have girls to look at,” Xun Suji thought. Thinking of all the excitement he had missed, he suddenly felt super dejected and didn’t want to get out of bed even more.

“You should get up quickly, take a shower, and get ready. You’re going to be the groom today,” Mo Xiao’an urged. “You still have to go and welcome the bride later.”

“My head hurts.”

“You have to be the groom even if your head hurts. Get up.”

Under Mo Xiao’an’s urging, Xun Suji reluctantly got out of bed. Mo Xiao’an called Jin Xishan in, “Dress up your master well.”

Jin Xishan was dressed festively and neatly today. She had changed into the “new version of Hanfu” promoted by the “Huaxia Society,” a newly registered “Han Chinese” society organized by Liu Zheng and others. She was wearing a “new Hanfu” women’s outfit, which was actually a modern women’s dress with some Hanfu elements. The pattern was designed and cut by Zheng Shangjie based on a picture book, and it was made in the special supply department of the clothing factory under Mo Xiao’an’s management. The materials and workmanship were absolutely exquisite.

She wore a circle of small red flowers on her double buns and a full set of jewelry. She came in with a smile and first curtsied to Xun Suji, “Congratulations, Chief.”

Xun Suji seemed a little afraid to face her. His eyes wandered as he laughed dryly, “Good, good.” Although he had always fantasized about enjoying the bliss of having two wives, when it was really about to happen, he was still a little unaccustomed—he always felt that he had wronged Jin Xishan.

However, although Liu Meilan was not a beauty, she was slender, tall, with a large chest and round hips. In terms of figure, she had a great advantage over the small and thin Jin Xishan. So he was also very much looking forward to it.

Xun Suji usually lived in the office of the food factory for the convenience of his work. Now that he was getting married, it was of course not appropriate to live in the food factory anymore. As a person about to get married, he was among the first to be eligible for the housing lottery in Bairen New City and got a medium-sized unit.

He didn’t have to worry about decorating the house and buying furniture. After choosing the style, everything was handled by the General Office. For the wedding ceremony, Wu Shimang had originally intended for the wedding to be held at the Bairen Cathedral and had even promoted the various services provided: organ accompaniment, a children’s choir, a priest to provide vows and testimony…

“If you want a Western style, we can call a European priest to officiate your wedding!—You can choose from four priests! If you don’t like Westerners, I can officiate your wedding as the dean!”

Xun Suji was originally indifferent—getting married in a church was not bad, the atmosphere was good. But it was immediately met with resolute opposition from the “Huaxia Society,” who believed that getting married in a church when one was not a believer was a sign of worshipping foreign things. Xun Suji didn’t expect that getting married would also cause a “political correctness” problem. In the end, to avoid arguments, he decided to hold the wedding in the commercial building’s auditorium.

Not all the Elders were invited to the wedding. First, there wouldn’t be enough seats if everyone came. Second, he wasn’t familiar with many of them—marriage was, after all, a private matter. In the end, he decided to only send invitations to the Elders he usually had contact with and was on good terms with. The other Elders would receive a gift of wedding candy and cakes. Xun Suji didn’t like things like leaders’ speeches, so he didn’t send invitations to Wen, Ma, and others in the Executive Committee.

“You have to invite Xiao Zishan from the General Office,” Mo Xiao’an reminded him. “He’s in charge of the Elders’ daily life. He’s helped a lot with your wedding, and you’ll have many things to ask him about after you get married.”

“Of course, of course,” Xun Suji nodded repeatedly.

In the Liu Family Village, lanterns and colored streamers were hung, and the atmosphere was festive. The news of the marriage with an Elder had long spread throughout the entire Liu Family Village. Whether it was the Liu family’s own clan or relatives with other surnames, they all felt a great sense of honor. You know, Chief Xun was not taking a concubine, nor was he buying a maid. The Liu family’s daughter was being formally married as a wife who would wear a red skirt! Who among the prominent families in all of Lin’gao had such honor?

Liu Youren stood in the newly decorated main hall, watching the busy family members, with a profound smile on his face. As for Liu Meilan’s father, who was originally a distant relative of a side branch that was not valued in the clan at all, he had now become the object of everyone’s envy and flattery. He was wearing newly tailored clothes today, his face blooming with a smile.

The Liu Family Village had originally planned to hold a grand celebration. Because Liu Meilan was only his grandniece and a distant relative, Liu Youren was afraid that the Elders would think he was just offering a flower to the Buddha. So a few months ago, he had specially adopted Liu Meilan as his granddaughter. At the same time, he had prepared a very generous dowry, which included four maids. In Lin’gao, where the male-to-female ratio was severely imbalanced, just these four maids in their prime were a huge gesture.

“This is not appropriate,” said Zhang Youfu, who was acting as the go-between. “I heard Chief Xiao say that the Elders’ housing is not large. If you send four maids, there probably won’t be a place to put them.”

“If we don’t send maids, we can only send more gold and silver,” Liu Youren felt troubled. When marrying off a daughter, in addition to the bride’s jewelry, clothes, and fabrics, there were also a large number of household items and utensils. To buy these things, a discerning family would have to go to Qiongshan or even Guangzhou. But the utensils made by the Australians themselves were all exquisitely crafted. Even if he spent a lot of money to buy them from Guangzhou, they might not be to their liking.

But gold and silver were not common in Lin’gao. Landlords had plenty of grain—they couldn’t use grain as a dowry. Liu Youren thought about it, but he really couldn’t think of what to give as a dowry. In the end, it was his clan nephew and advisor, Liu Guangbiao, who came up with an idea: he gave a hundred mu of paddy fields as a dowry. Liu Youren felt that it was still not enough and ordered another two hundred mu of hilly land to be added.

“Uncle! That two hundred mu of hilly land has nothing on it but grass…” Liu Guangbiao expressed his concern. Would this anger Chief Xun?

“It’s fine! With the Heaven and Earth Society, even the land in Meitaiyang can grow grain. He won’t lose out,” Liu Youren was very confident.

This gesture was one of the best in the local area of Lin’gao. Although Liu Youren felt the pain of losing these several hundred mu of land, he was already determined to “follow the dragon.” As long as he could now secure a marriage with an Elder, why worry about not having wealth and honor in the future!

“They still think highly of Meilan now. In the future, I’m afraid it will be difficult for the daughters of commoner families like us to catch their eye,” Liu Youren said.

“Uncle is right.”

The wedding followed the Council of Elders’ principle of “changing customs and traditions,” simplifying the wedding process, including the matching of horoscopes, choosing an auspicious time, and bowing to heaven and earth, all of which were abolished. Xun Suji also didn’t want to go through this complicated etiquette. Although the Liu family had some complaints about this, they did not dare to go against the Elder’s wishes. Except for the etiquette of sending invitations, which remained the same, the wedding was conducted according to the model of the 21st century. The Executive Committee lent the Red Flag carriage for the purpose of welcoming the bride.