"Attending the wedding?"
Wang Xue frowned as she looked at Hou Yong. The latter smiled and walked straight toward her.
Wang Xue instinctively tensed her muscles, and her grip on Sun Liangyu’s hand tightened involuntarily. However, Hou Yong passed right by both of them and stopped in front of Gu Panpan.
"Gu Panpan, will you marry me?"
Hou Yong smiled as he spoke to the young girl, who sat in her chair, looking completely at a loss.
Those few words caused the girl’s fair little face to turn bright red in an instant.
"You... I... you..."
Gu Panpan stammered incoherently. She looked up at Hou Yong, then turned to glance at the stunned Wang Xue, and finally looked around at the assembled guests. Hou Yong crouched down and reached out, covering the girl's small hand with his own.
The moment he touched her, the girl jolted as if she had been electrocuted, nearly jumping out of her seat.
"Gu Panpan, I’m saying that I like you. Will you marry me?"
Hou Yong remained half-crouched before Gu Panpan, speaking every word with utter sincerity.
In his previous life, Gu Panpan had been one of the educated youth who came to the countryside with Wang Xue and the others. The girl, along with Wang Xue, had been accepted into university. During the time Hou Yong worked in the city, Wang Xue felt embarrassed by him; every time he came to the school to bring her money, she would make him meet her at a small snack shop nearby.
Back then, Hou Yong had felt somewhat inferior, but the only thing he could do was work twice as hard so that, one day, he could walk into Wang Xue’s school with his head held high.
Gu Panpan had worked at that snack shop. Every time he came by, she would sneakily add extra portions to his meal behind the owner’s back.
During those arduous early days of his career, the girl had always remained optimistic and cheerful. She was like a little sun, encouraging Hou Yong to be just as bright and sunny alongside her.
That was why, when Hou Yong founded his first company, the very first person he contacted was Gu Panpan. She had joined his startup team without a second thought, working her way up from entry-level sales to become the CEO of his company.
On that freezing, snowy night when he eventually succumbed to the cold, it was she who had offered him his final warmth. In his fading consciousness, he had heard the secret she had kept buried in her heart for so many years.
She had liked him all along.
And so, living this life again, after Wang Xue had announced she was "following her heart," how could Hou Yong not have had his own sudden, profound awakening?
"I will."
A tiny sound escaped Gu Panpan’s throat, and Hou Yong let out a hearty laugh.
He took Gu Panpan’s hand, pulled her to her feet, and placed the veil—which he had been clutching into a ball—onto her head.
Setting aside the fact that Gu Panpan liked him, in this day and age, for a girl to make such a choice in public, solely to spare him from embarrassment—the sheer courage it required was immense.
With a firm gaze, Hou Yong led the girl step by step onto the stage. He turned to the Old Village Chief, who was serving as the makeshift officiant, and said with a smile, "Let’s continue. Would you mind asking that question again?"
"..."
The Old Village Chief looked at the microphone in his hand, which seemed to be suffering from a bad connection. It felt like he should just do as Hou Yong asked, right?
Wang Xue pulled Sun Liangyu away, looking thoroughly humiliated. The people attending the ceremony were all villagers from Bafang Village; she was just an outsider. She hadn't missed the looks of hatred and disdain in the eyes of the villagers.
She didn't want to endure any more unpleasantness on the spot, but she stared resentfully at Hou Yong and Gu Panpan on the stage. For a fleeting moment, she inexplicably felt that the two of them were actually a better match.
*I must be going crazy.*
Wang Xue shook the ridiculous thought from her mind and dragged Sun Liangyu away as if fleeing for her life.
The atmosphere at the wedding became somewhat bizarre. The Old Village Chief, being a man of the world, gave a few light coughs and announced that the ceremony would continue. The villagers, ever so supportive, resumed their festivities.
Hou Yong’s parents looked stiff as they endured the rest of the wedding, while Hou Yong, acting as if nothing had happened, brought Gu Panpan around to toast each table, his face glowing with a warmth that showed no hint of pretense.
"Old Hou, do you think our son has been driven mad by all this?"
Hou’s mother tugged gently at the hem of Hou’s father’s shirt. The old man didn't speak; he just watched his son’s back, his brows furrowed so tightly a fly could have been crushed between them.
The wedding banquet passed by. The traditional "teasing the bridal chamber" program, which the village had planned, was tacitly and collectively skipped by everyone; heaven only knew what kind of storm might break out in the Hou household later that day.
By the time the guests had dispersed, Hou Yong was slightly tipsy from the local grain liquor.
Yet, he hummed a tune as he moved from table to table, clearing away the debris of the feast. On the other side of the courtyard, Gu Panpan was also cleaning up, her face flushed red—perhaps from the alcohol, perhaps from shyness.
"Pan'er."
Hou’s father walked over from the side. The moment he spoke, his voice was unnervingly hoarse, and both of them jumped.
"Uncle."
Gu Panpan turned and stood at attention, her hands behind her back, twisting her fingers. Hou’s father cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "Pan'er, thank you for bailing my son out today, but... but I can’t let this weigh on you. Tell me what kind of compensation you want."
"Hm... hmm?"
Gu Panpan realized his intent a beat late and quickly waved her hands. "Uncle, no, there’s no need for any compensation. Actually... actually, I liked... I liked Brother Yong all along, so..."
She didn't finish the rest of her sentence. Hou’s father stood there, stunned for a long moment, before nodding woodenly. He turned, walked toward the doorway of the inner room, and looked back. "Hou Yong, come inside with me."
"Coming."
Hou Yong replied, then looked at Gu Panpan, who stood there feeling somewhat at a loss. He then glanced down at Hou Dongdong, who was still grabbing peanuts off the table with her tiny hands, and smiled. "Dong'er, could you do your brother a favor?"
Hou Dongdong stuffed a peanut and two of her fingers into her mouth. "Got it, Brother. Keep little sister-in-law company, right?"
With that, the little girl skipped over to Gu Panpan and took her hand, chatting away while the two braids at the back of her head bobbed up and down.
Hou Yong suddenly felt a sense of warmth in his heart.
...
The room didn't get much light, and being north-facing, it was rather dim.
Hou’s father sat by the table, twisted the knob on the kerosene lamp, and lit his pipe with a match. The pungent scent of aged tobacco leaves slowly filled the room.
"Monkey, are you alright?"
In the otherwise heavy atmosphere, the first thing his father said was to express concern for him. Hou Yong suddenly felt a sour ache in his chest.
In his previous life, it wasn't just Hou Yong working himself to the bone to save up for the bride price. After getting off work at the county factory, his father would go work illegal shifts at a brick kiln, pouring his entire heart and soul into their family. Just as Hou Yong was on the cusp of success, his father collapsed at the brick kiln—end-stage uremia, past the point where dialysis could help.
That had become a lifelong wound in Hou Yong’s heart. He had succeeded, but his father never lived to see it.