Page 77 of He Is My Bride

Four bedrooms, three full bathrooms with acreage in a peaceful, green town in Westchester, New York. Big yard for Hanjun to do qi gong in the mornings and a patio.

The house was larger than what Li Ying had envisioned for a ‘simple country home’, but considering he and Hanjun were already planning their second child and dreamed of a third, the space would get small fast.

“I’m home!” Li Ying called from the door. He had returned from his job at a local hospital, where he was doing his surgery residency.

“Welcome home.” Hanjun was cooking in the kitchen while the little one, now three months old, was playing nearby in his pen.

“Ooh!” Li Ying cooed at the toddler, “Is the little beast contained! Is the little beast in prison! Why would bàba do such a thing!”

Hysteric baby-giggles.

“Unleash the beast!” Li Ying growled in a heavy metal voice, which the toddler absolutely loved, picked up the ‘little beast,’ and came to the kitchen to give Hanjun a kiss. “How’s everything coming along?”

“Should be ready before the guests come,” Hanjun said .

“Okay, say if you need any help.”

“I think the ‘beast’ needs you more. You should tire him out so he can take a nap in an hour and be well-rested for the evening.”

“The beast needs daddy, huh?” Li Ying tossed the baby in the air, eliciting more delighted giggles. “Okay, let’s rock!”

Hanjun had bought the house a year ago, a couple of months after their return to the States when Li Ying had figured where he would do his residency—he couldn’t afford to be picky at that point, but he had found something that suited him just fine.

Wu Yiheng had offered Hanjun back his position as the senior business manager of Measumed, the company affiliate in New York. Hanjun had accepted.

It was an hour’s car ride to Manhattan, which was manageable, but while they had a small one to take care of and his husband worked long hours, Hanjun had taken some paternity leave. Li Ying had only stayed home for the first month.

Hanjun’s househusband try-out had enabled Li Ying to keep focusing on his demanding residency, and given Hanjun some time to reflect: in the end he still wanted to have a career instead of househusbanding and living on his dividends.

He wanted to be able to help his family back in Shanghai as much as he could from overseas, so he had decided he would return to the office soon.

‘What about the baby?’ Li Ying had asked, wondering if they should hire a nanny or place the child in daycare.

Help had come from Li Ying’s family: Grandma had offered to look after the child on weekdays, and the plan was that Hanjun would drop and pick him up each day from the Qians’ home in Brooklyn Heights on the way to work. They were set to work out the details today when the Qians would come over.

As for the Qians, they had embraced Hanjun as a new addition to the extended family, some with mixed feelings.

Li Ying had called Uncle Qian one day and said he would bring his boyfriend over, and showed up at their door with none other than Wu Hanjun , declaring that they would marry sometime next summer.

Mrs. Qian had said nothing and walked out of the room.

Kai had been quiet. Uncle Qian had invited them in for dinner and carefully inquired how Hanjun’s family had taken the news.

Li Ying had explained the best he could without revealing the whole pretending-to-be-a-woman part.

So, no, he had not told Uncle Qian much at all, but with it being all over the Shanghai news, Qian Hong would definitely know the whole story before too long. Everyone would.

Mrs. Qian had come around eventually, at least agreeing to be in the same room with Li Ying and his boyfriend when they came over every week, but she still had her scruples, fearing she had lost face in the mainland.

Amy had been such a darling about it all, congratulating her brother and his fiancé on their betrothal, telling Hanjun how glad she was to see that Li Ying had found someone who made him happy. Hanjun and Amy got along well. Amy was all over the baby too. She was just the perfect auntie.

Li Ying tired the baby out and put him into his crib to nap. “I wish I could have a nap too…”

“Then take a nap,” Hanjun said. “The guests can help set the table later. The neighbors already helped me erect the canopy earlier.”

“Oh, that’s nice! They are good neighbors, aren’t they? Should we invite them? I think we have enough food to feed everyone.”

“Let’s just keep it between family and friends. We can invite them over another day.”

“Okay.” Li Ying looked wistfully at the couch. “There’s too much to do! I’ll go put up the decorations.”

Li Ying fetched the boxes of decor from the garage: fairy lights to hang on the canopy, heart-shaped balloons, and a red cloth with the double happiness symbol; it was the day of their second wedding.

They had already been legally married at a courthouse earlier that week and scheduled the wedding for today due to their busy schedules .

While Li Ying was putting up the lights, a car pulled up to the yard:

“Hi, Li Ying!” Anne greeted.

From the passenger’s seat emerged Huang Xiang. “Hello!”

“ Ciao, my loves!” Li Ying dropped the lights in an instant and ran to hug both of them.

It was Huang Xiang’s first time in the States, and Anne had picked him up from the airport and driven upstate with him to attend the wedding. Huang Xiang and Anne were to partake in a fashion event next week, to network while they laid plans for their bespoke clothing brand.

“Come help me put all this stuff up.” Li Ying gestured at the wedding canopy.

“Still can’t throw a party without us, I see,” Anne joked while she and Huang Xiang went to help Li Ying with the decorations.

Hanjun brought the child out in a bouncer, the little one having woken up from his nap. Hanjun began to set up the grill; they would have a barbecue dinner, and Hanjun had prepped everything throughout the day.

Bottled beers and sodas sat in the cooler, and bottles of red wine had been brought to room temperature to wait.

They had a wine cabinet too, and Li Ying loved it.

And the huge grill. And his husband. And his son.

He loved his life. Busy as that life was now, between a new job and a child, Li Ying liked it that way right now.

Next arrived the Qians:

“Hi Li Ying, hi everyone!” Amy ran to give them all a hug. “You must be Huang Xiang?” she asked the fun-looking young man.

“Hello. Qian Amy? You sure are even more beautiful than Li Ying described!” Huang Xiang said.

Amy chuckled at the friendly flattery and shook Huang Xiang’s hand. “Li Ying has told me much about you.”

Uncle Qian came to Li Ying. “Congratulations on your marriage,” he said, smiling at the couple :

Hanjun had come over to greet everyone, too, bringing the little one with him. The baby was so small in his strong arms.

“Thank you, uncle!” Li Ying gave Uncle Qian a hug, and the man received him with a tight squeeze.

“We are so happy for you,” Uncle Qian said, but looking over his shoulder at Mrs. Qian, Li Ying wasn’t sure his uncle was speaking for everyone. Suppose he couldn’t expect a miracle when it came to Mrs. Qian.

“Congratulations, A-Ying,” said Grandmother Qian from her son’s side.

“Thank you, Grandma!”

While Li Ying greeted his mother, Uncle Qian went to tote over his foster son’s child—his grandson, as far as Qian Hong was concerned.

He and Hanjun connected over the joys of fatherhood, and soon Grandmother Qian joined them and took her turn holding her great-grandchild—as far as she was concerned; Li Ying and his family were their family.

The baby was passed around, bewildered between all the arms that wanted to hold him.

Mrs. Qian, having stood quietly by her husband’s side, seemed to soften as she looked at the baby—or perhaps it was just Li Ying’s imagination. She looked at Li Ying and Hanjun.

“Congratulations,” she said sedately.

“Thank you, Mrs. Qian.” Li Ying smiled through his awkwardness, knowing it was mutual. He then turned back to the others. “Go ahead and have some drinks if you like, we still need a moment to get everything ready.”

After everyone had been introduced, Anne said, “Alright, now that we have more hands on deck: Kai, will you please take over the barbecue, Li Ying and Hanjun need to go change clothes and prepare the tea ceremony while we still wait for Wu Hanrong.”

“Just keep turning the rotisserie, so that the meat cooks evenly, like this…” Hanjun showed Kai how to use the grill. They were cooking a whole suckling pig, which they had bought from the farmer’s market, like a proper wedding feast demanded.

Kai was still awkward with both Li Ying and his husband, with the whole gay thing, but he was trying, certainly more than his mother. He didn’t know how exactly he should be with the baby either, but suppose it was cute.

Li Ying and Hanjun went back inside and changed into their suits: Li Ying was wearing a black Western-style suit with a red tie, and Hanjun wore a red mandarin collar jacket and black pants.

Li Ying hadn’t put it past himself to slip on a dress sometimes, but right now this felt more genuine for the occasion.

Then, once again with Anne’s help, they prepared the tea.

Hanrong had sent them the wedding tea set through the mail, as well as Hanjun’s collection of teaware and tea pets.

They were now on display in a glass cabinet in the living room.

Hanrong had also sent family albums and other memorabilia: the violin.

Bunny. Those were in Hanjun’s and Li Ying’s master bedroom.

There was little time in their busy days to play music, but they still did it when they could.

“Easy with the lotus seeds,” Anne said while Li Ying spooned them into the cups.

“Can you stop micromanaging me? We’re not in Shanghai anymore,” Li Ying gently rebuked.