Page 16 of He Is My Bride

Li Ying woke up in panic. Hanjun was gone.

It was still dark outside: no light seeped in through the gap in the curtains. Li Ying checked his phone for the clock: past six in the morning. Hanjun was probably out in the park doing his daily qi gong routine at this hour, Li Ying realized.

He calmed down when he got his bearings.

He must have woken up early because of the time difference.

He couldn’t think of going back to sleep though, either because his brain was telling him it was early evening, or because of the lingering sense of unease.

If Li Ying had had a nightmare, he couldn’t remember it, but something had left him anxious.

He hadn’t had nightmares in a long time.

They had gotten less frequent as he’d grown up, but stress usually brought them back.

Li Ying really wanted a smoke right now, and maybe he would have caved in if he didn’t need to do his whole makeup routine before he could even pop into a corner store.

Li Ying kicked off the blanket and got up. Wandering the empty, dark home could have made him feel lonely, but it was Hanjun’s home. Li Ying felt his presence all around him, comforting him even when the man wasn’t there .

He went to the bathroom and ran a hot bath. The tub was next to a window overlooking the city, and from up there, Li Ying felt like he was safe up in a warm nest, looking down at the world below.

Li Ying was still nervous about today. He considered Cousin Hanrong’s approval in the bag already, seeing as they had gotten along so well, but it was Hanjun’s uncle, Wu Yiheng, that Li Ying was truly worried about.

Hanjun hadn’t spoken of his uncle all that much, but from what he’d told him, Li Ying had the impression that the man was very traditional, ambitious for the family company and his nephew, and very, very strict.

Based on Hanjun’s stories, on the other hand, his grandmother sounded like a nice one, and Li Ying hoped she would be easygoing like Uncle Qian’s mother.

Li Ying’s honorary grandmother could also say the snippiest things though, like when she’d noted Amy had gained weight, or how Kai wasn’t the brightest of the lot.

Or how Li Ying would never find a wife if he didn’t grow any taller.

Well, she’d been right about that one, but for the wrong reasons: Li Ying had had a growth spurt that very summer, but also figured out he liked men.

The irony. If Hanjun’s grandmother was as sharp with her tongue, Li Ying better watch out.

Li Ying heard the door, then steps outside the bathroom. A knock.

“Li Ying?” It was Hanjun.

Li Ying spread out seductively in the bath. “Come on in.”

Hanjun entered, and was pleased with the sight greeting him.

“Did you sleep well?” Hanjun asked.

“Time difference is messing with me, but whatever. Join me?” Li Ying invited, and Hanjun began removing his clothes.

Hanjun joined Li Ying in the bath, and as they took their time, Li Ying’s ghosts left him alone.

—

Anne came over around noon and unpacked Li Ying’s clothes for him—she firmly refused his help—hung them in Hanjun’s walk-in wardrobe, and ironed and steamed everything.

She helped Li Ying into his getup and did his hair and makeup, ever mindful of the time, with both of them peering nervously at the clock.

When everything else was ready, Anne presented the outfit Li Ying was supposed to wear for the afternoon tea.

“So, the idea was to give a ‘girl next door’ vibe.” Anne talked Li Ying through the look. “Something innocent to please the in-laws, but still chic, because everybody else is going to see you too, and they have to think that you’re fashionable.”

She presented Li Ying with an over-the-knee, pleated plaid skirt in brown wool, Yves Saint Laurent vintage, paired with a simple white blouse.

He was to wear this with heeled black loafers and pearl stud earrings.

His hair was done in the usual way, with a mid-height ponytail and bangs to frame his face.

He had simple eye makeup with cherry red lip tint.

A small black leather purse for an accessory.

Li Ying looked at himself in the mirror, turned his hips and watched the skirt swirl about his knees.

“Is it just me, or is it rather giving ‘school girl?’” Li Ying thought it didn’t give as much ‘innocence’ as Anne had probably hoped.

Anne was quiet for a second, eyeing the outfit critically. “It’s fine. Just act your age and it’ll just come off as a bit flirty.”

Li Ying tucked out his tongue, winked, and raised his foot. Hanjun had been walking past the bedroom just then and stopped to stare.

“Big Brother Wu!” Li Ying called in his highest nasal voice, still acting cutesy, making Hanjun turn on his heels and flee into his study with bright red cheeks. He all but slammed the door behind him.

“And that’s exactly how not to act today!” Anne slapped Li Ying’s legs with a brush.

—

Hanjun had another car delivered to him until his precious Bentley would make it across the ocean. He drove himself, Li Ying, and Anne to the Peninsula hotel, just a twenty-minute ride away in the Bund waterfront.

Anne got off at a smaller café near the hotel.

She would be on-call with an ‘emergency kit’: extra breast tape, underwear, makeup, anything they might need in a major disaster.

Hanjun may have had his bodyguards but Li Ying had Anne, so he felt reassured.

He was still as nervous as could be expected.

Hanjun handed his car keys to a valet and walked side by side with Li Ying into the hotel lobby.

Next to the lobby was a salon where tea was being served: the Art Deco chandeliers, marbled floors, and grand pillars gave the space a sophisticated air, which Li Ying was already getting numb to when everywhere he was taken was so opulent.

There was live piano music playing and people talking, silver spoons and china clinking.

Hanjun walked to the receptionist and gave his family name, and they were promptly shown to their table. And there they were:

“It’s good to see you, Hanjun,” spoke a man who seemed to be in his sixties, having well preserved his handsomeness—except for his brow, which bore many furrows.

He had a neatly trimmed, short mustache, silvery-gray hairs on his head here and there, and he wore a light gray suit which wasn’t lavish in design but spoke of wealth by its quality of materials and perfect tailoring.

Li Ying didn’t know what he’d expected, but he was relieved to see the uncle was indeed a man and not a dragon.

“Good to see you, Uncle Yiheng,” Hanjun greeted, his voice and speech formal, considering these were his closest family members.

“Hanjun, have you eaten yet?” a thin, elderly gentlewoman asked Hanjun, beaming at him with a perfect row of blinding white dentures .

Her silver hair was cut short, and she was wearing an emerald green dress and a shawl, and gold jewelry. Li Ying thought she was the best-dressed grandmother he ever did see.

Hanjun gave her his trademark almost-there smile. “Not since lunch, have you eaten?” he greeted his grandmother back in the same manner.

“It’s nice to see you again, Miss Li .” Hanrong smiled at Li Ying.

“Hi, Wu Hanrong!” Li Ying smiled back, holding his arms in front of himself in a demure manner because he didn’t know what else to do with them.

“Uncle, grandmother,” Hanjun spoke with emphasis, “this is Li Ying, my girlfriend. Li Ying, my uncle Wu Yiheng, my grandmother Wang Linming.”

“Hello, nice to meet you!” Li Ying greeted and shook the hands of Wu Yiheng and Grandmother Linming, who was indeed the daughter of great-grandfather Wang—the ancestor of the Wang cousins.

“My Cousin Hanrong you met yesterday,” Hanjun said.

“Yes. Wu Hanrong was so kind to pick us up from the airport.” Li Ying gave the Wu cousin face iii .

“It was no problem.” Hanrong smiled. “Shall we order?”

Hanrong seemed to be socially the most adaptable one in the group in terms of his status, age and personality, Li Ying noted, and he kept the conversation moving in a favorable direction for the benefit of the group.

Li Ying thought he could bounce off easily with Hanrong to maximize his own face. But first, gifts:

“I brought a small souvenir for each of you from my hometown,” Li Ying said, and gave each Wu a gift pack of eight cookies from a famous bakery in New York. A good old chocolate chip cookie was a very good, all-American gift and a safe choice.

The gifts were politely received and everyone seated.

“So, Miss Li,” Hanrong led the conversation, “Hanjun has mentioned that you are studying to become a doctor?”

“Yes, I’m studying for the third year at New York University Grossman School of Medicine.” This is where the interviewing starts, huh?

“Impressive,” Hanrong went on, “I have heard American medical schools are very difficult to get into.”

Thank you, Wu Hanrong, I love you! “It’s true. My school has an acceptance rate of only two-point-one percent, but I worked hard and luckily got in on my first try.”

“Ooh, Miss Li must be very intelligent,” Grandmother Linming said.

“She is,” Hanjun attested with confidence.

“But it’s hard work that pays off in the end, isn’t it?” Li Ying tried to stay humble. He wasn’t sure how well he succeeded when he couldn’t stop smiling smugly after Hanjun praised him in front of his family.

“Indeed,” Wu Yiheng said, breaking the silence he’d kept up so far.

They informed a dapperly dressed waiter of their choices of tea.

All the Wus took oolong—Da Hong Pao for today— while Grandmother Linming went for yellow tea.

Li Ying took the safe option and simply asked for ‘black tea.’ Hanjun had always brewed nice tea at home, but Li Ying didn’t know what was what. He was more used to drinking coffee.