Page 73 of He Is My Bride

“Yeah-yeah-yeah, of course I am, stop asking me. How is everything out there?”

“Guests have begun taking their seats. Everything is looking good. Anne, a small change to plans… ”

Anne stepped closer to pay attention.

“Once Li Ying has come down the stairs, she will need to have her trail put straight, otherwise it may be left frumpled because the stairs are curved. You will have to follow behind her.”

“Does that affect the timing?” Anne asked.

“It shouldn’t, I think.”

The two of them went over the last-minute details while Li Ying stood there, trusting they would let him know if he needed to adjust something on his part.

“Which staircase will I take again?” Li Ying asked, staring ahead and visualizing the split staircase that curved down to the lawned terrace where the guests would be.

“Left,” Huang Xiang confirmed. “The same side as you will be standing on before the altar. Wu Hanjun will be on the right side, where Wu Yiheng will sit.”

“Got it.” Li Ying nodded.

“I have to go back now. Good luck!” Huang Xiang went back out.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, but not too hot, just the perfect wedding weather. Yes, everything was shaping up to be so perfect, Li Ying thought, trusting even as his hands shook whenever he kept the still for too long.

Huang Xiang opened the ceremony by welcoming everyone and explaining the schedule. Many of the guests wondered greatly at the band of long-haired, Western men and their electric guitar. Neatly suited as the band may have been, many thought whether they had come to the right venue.

Once Huang Xiang stepped aside, he gave the band a nod, they opened with the gentle first notes of ‘Nothing Else Matters’ by Metallica. Huang Xiang messaged Anne to start the count, and Anne put on the timer to know when to get Li Ying ready.

The vocalist began singing with a soft rock voice as Hanjun entered the terrace from another door. He took his place at the beginning of the aisle, and stood there for a short while as planned, giving enough time for cameras to flash off and the people to get a good look at the lucky groom.

Hanjun saw the family altar and the double happiness symbol above it before him, so close now, and there sat his uncle.

Hanjun began walking towards the altar as the people looked on, and finally took his place at the right side of the altar while Hanrong and Yiyi entered the aisle next.

They followed after him and took their places, Yiyi carrying the two golden wedding bands on a red silk pillow.

“There comes the second verse,” Anne said to Li Ying, both of them still inside the entryway. “This is where I would have prepared to go before you, but now I will come right behind you, taking care of the trail.”

Li Ying had been listening to the lyrics, which he could hear from the open door, and he was trying to hold back tears. He could only nod in response.

“Li Ying? Are you okay? One minute and…” Anne checked the timer. “No, fifty seconds to your mark.”

Li Ying nodded, “Yeah…”

“Oh, Li Ying!” Anne hugged him and carefully patted away his tears, making sure his makeup stayed on.

The band played a soft bridge.

“Okay, Li Ying, it’s time,” Anne said. “Get ready.”

At their mark, Anne saw Li Ying through the door and to the top of the staircase that would take him to the terrace, following close behind him. The third verse began playing as Li Ying came to stand at the top of the stairs, the vocalist adding more grit and rasp for a hard rock sound.

Everyone at the back row turned to look at the beautiful bride, and the ones in the front who could not yet see him turned as well, waiting, holding their breath until Li Ying had descended the stairs.

Li Ying took his position at the beginning of the aisle as the music swelled, and Anne swiftly rearranged the trail.

“You’re good,” Anne whispered .

Thank you, Anne, Li Ying thought. For everything.

Li Ying began walking down the aisle, cameras flashing to his left, to his right, eyes of all of Shanghai on him, but he saw only Hanjun’s. Their eyes locked.

The song reached the bridge, and now the vocalist really let loose. Next followed a short electric guitar solo, and it was unlike anything the audience had expected of a Wu wedding. It was perfect, everything Li Ying could have hoped for.

As Li Ying took his place before the altar by Hanjun’s side and they turned to look at each other, the notes of the guitar whittled down to calmer notes, and the vocalist sang a soft outro.

When the last lingering notes of the guitar faded, Li Ying and Hanjun stood there like they were the only two people in the world.

Huang Xiang stepped back to the front to do his part, opening with the poem:

“ ‘Explore and discover that which is within.

When we find ourselves, we are more easily found by others.

Without words, without even understanding,

lovers find each other.

The moment of finding is always a surprise,

like meeting an old friend never before known.

Life and marriage are a wondrous journey,

ever unfolding an opportunity

to rediscover ourselves and our beloved

again and again for even on a shared journey

the only thing constant is change.

Embrace it and let it lead you

to many a glorious tomorrow.’ ”

Li Ying looked at the audience… and saw Wang Guosheng stand up.

No !

Hanjun saw Li Ying’s eyes change and swiftly turned his head to look, seeing what he saw.

“Such lovely verse. ‘The moment of finding is always a surprise ?’ I wonder how well my cousin has ‘found’ his wife, as I believe there is something ‘surprising’ indeed about Li Ying that you all don’t know.

” Wang Guosheng spoke calmly, but his low voice was booming and carried across the entire terrace.

Hanjun noticed something else: Doctor Wang Yan was there, seated among the Wangs, and her face had grown pale and she stared at her family head in disbelief.

You didn’t mean for this to happen? Hanjun understood.

The guests were understandably confused, some murmuring with each other, wondering whether this was part of the program, an impromptu speech, or something else.

“Please…” Huang Xiang tried to get a hold of the situation, but he just didn’t perform well in front of an audience in such an unexpected situation. “Hold your speeches until the banquet…”

“It’s not I, but the doctor who performed Li Ying’s premarital health screening, who wants to have a word with you all.” Wang Guosheng held up a voice recorder, and with a press of a button everyone could hear it pairing with the venue speakers through bluetooth.

But you don’t have any proof?! Li Ying thought.

“Enough!” Wu Yiheng sat still, but his voice carried over the crowd, “Stop disturbing the ceremony or get out!”

“Oh, but you will want to hear the truth about your ‘daughter-in-law ,’ as confessed to me by the doctor.” Wang Guosheng clicked a button on the recorder, and suddenly Doctor Wang Yan’s voice could be heard all around them:

“Li Ying is a man!”

There was an uproar of gasps, then a silence as Wang Guosheng’s voice could be heard on the recorder next and everyone wanted to hear what it had to say :

“And what is your proof that Li Ying is a man?”

“I saw their… their anatomy through the hidden camera in the toilet while they were giving a urine sample.”

Full chaos was brewing on the terrace. Amidst the shocked crowd flashed a camera again, and one by one the phones began popping up.

“What did you see?” asked Wang Guosheng’s voice on the recorder.

Li Ying looked helplessly at Hanjun.

Hanjun looked at him. “Everything…”

“…Their…” said Wang Yan on the recorder.

“…will be…”

“…penis.”

“…alright.” Hanjun grabbed Li Ying by the shoulders and began leading him back along the aisle, taking hi m out of here.