Page 106 of He Is My Bride

It was the biggest family event of the year, and Li Ying was happy he had already made friends with the matriarchs before being tossed in front of everybody else. He thought he knew what to expect from Wu Yiheng, but he was anxious about the Wangs causing trouble. On a more positive note, A-Yu would be there too.

It was still cold outside and even snowing gently, and Anne had decided Li Ying would stay warm in style: she had packed him a white vintage fur coat, super fluffy and warm. Hanjun helped the coat on Li Ying, who felt extra fancy wearing something so luxurious.

After having donned his black trench, Hanjun held the door and his arm out for Li Ying. Li Ying slipped his hand in the crook ofHanjun’s arm, his purse hung over his shoulder, and the small black case held in his other hand, and so the very stylish couple went to catch their taxi.

They sat in the backseat, holding hands. They crossed the Huangpu River to the Pudong side of town, where the Wus had reserved a cabinet from a panoramic restaurant on the 53rd floor of the Ritz-Carlton. They were dropped in front of the towering hotel, right next to the famed Oriental Pearl Tower, and in the yard, there were two dancing lions as an attraction.

They went inside the lobby, and there they saw little Madam Wu with a well-dressed, middle-aged couple and cousins Hanrong and Yiyi.

“Cousin—Wu Hanjun! Big Sister Li!” Yiyi greeted his new favorite cousin and his girlfriend.

Yiyi looked dapper in his white tuxedo and periwinkle vest, more playfully dressed than the average Wu. His parents seemed like nice people: being a Wu, his father looked impeccable of course, and his wife seemed to have the same twinkle in her eye as her two sons.

“Welcome back, Li Ying.” Hanrong smiled at him.

“Hi everyone, happy New Year!” Li Ying beamed. It was good to see everyone again.

“Hello, Hanjun. Happy New Year,” greeted the senior gentleman of the group as they approached.

“Happy New Year.” Hanjun introduced Li Ying and the middle-aged couple to each other: this was his first cousin once removed on the Wu side of the family, son of the little Madam Wu and his wife, the parents of cousins Wu Hanrong and Yiyi.

Madam Wu recognized Li Ying.

“Hello, Li Ying, happy New Year! My, you look beautiful!”

“You look very beautiful too, auntie! I love your dress!”

Little Madam Wu really was an easy one to get along with, just like her grandsons.

After introductions and some brief pleasantries, first cousin Wu led his wife and his old mother to the elevators, followed by cousins Hanrong, Yiyi, Hanjun, and Li Ying. They went to the 53rd floor and entered the elegant lobby of the restaurant. Dark wooden floors, black marbled walls, and moody lighting gave the space an air of classy elegance. The floor was laid with a plush carpet, and the reception desk featured a huge arrangement of pink orchids.

At the reception, Li Ying saw something less pleasant however: the tall and broad-shouldered figure of Wang Guosheng, with a woman in a conservative wine red dress holding his arm, Wang Hao—ugh—and another younger gentleman who must have been his older brother, Wang Jian, and with him was a willowy woman in a glittering red dress, and next to her stood Xinyu.

The boy turned around, and his eyes lit up when he saw the Wus and Li Ying approaching. He smiled, saying nothing, but his father noticed and followed his gaze.

“Ah. There come the Wus,” he noted with scarce enthusiasm.

After finishing his talk with the receptionist, Wang Guosheng turned to them as well. Li Ying took a look at his wife, who was smiling meekly. There was nothing too memorable about her, although she was a conventionally beautiful middle-aged lady. Li Ying thought he could learn much of Wang Guosheng’s character by observing his wife, and he thought he could already tell she was a woman entirely subjected to her husband’s will.

Wang Guosheng addressed the oldest person in their group, “Happy New Year. It has been some time since we met, Madam Wu. I hope your health has been good?”

“Happy New Year, Wang Guosheng. Yes, I have been well, thank you,” Madam Wu answered, offering her hand in a shake, which Wang Guosheng took. Their height difference was astonishing, with Madam Wu looking particularly small and frail before the imposing man. The exchange was muted, polite.

Wang Guosheng then greeted everyone else. He was suave in his mannerisms, and if he shared his sons’ dislike for the Wus, he didn’t let it show but acted perfectly civil. To Li Ying, this made him even more threatening. He was also wearing a tuxedo, the jacket in dark burgundy velvet with a black shawl collar. Guosheng’s family followed suit, everyone having a round of handshakes and ‘happy New Years’ with everyone else.

“Miss Li, happy New Year. It’s good to have you back,” Wang Guosheng said in that same business-like tone he addressed everyone else with, smiling too pleasantly and looking at Li Ying too keenly while he took his reluctantly given hand; Li Ying really didn’t want to let him touch himself, recalling the odd feeling he got when he first met him, as if the man was seeing through him somehow. Li Ying managed to return the smile though, and gave a handshake as good as he got, and perhaps his apprehension was only visible in his eyes.

“Congratulations on your betrothal,” Wang Guosheng added.

“Thank you, Mister Wang.”

Li Ying was relieved to change his hand into Madam Wang’s warm and plump hand, and she shook it so briskly her many jewels rattled around her wrist. She smiled brightly at Li Ying.

“Happy New Year, Li Ying! Have you been well?”

“Happy New Year, auntie! How have you bee—”

“Oh, it must be quite a year coming for you!”