After a Contract Marriage with a Cold and Older Person - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Eve of the Wedding

Song Tingyun didn’t know what his current mood was.

It was strange.

He calmly folded the sketch paper and placed it in his pajama pocket, then turned off the lamp, opened the door, and left the study.

The living room was dark, lit only by the faint glow emitted by the ornaments Ji Wenxu had placed on the TV cabinet.

He reached out and turned on the living room light.

It was then that Song Tingyun suddenly realized that before Ji Wenxu moved in, this house hadn’t been like this. It seemed there weren’t so many vibrant colors besides black and white.

Now, there were fresh flowers on the coffee table that Ji Wenxu had arranged this afternoon.

There were various Lego figures and collectibles in the TV cabinet.

The balcony had several more pots of bright flowers.

…

Too much had changed.

Song Tingyun had tacitly allowed Ji Wenxu to change this home.

He stood in front of Ji Wenxu’s room door, raised his hand, and quietly opened the door a small crack. The light from the living room slipped through the gap, landing directly on Ji Wenxu’s bed.

Song Tingyun saw Ji Wenxu’s restless sleeping posture.

He didn’t know if his decision was correct—using less-than-honorable means to keep Ji Wenxu by his side—but he only wanted to keep Ji Wenxu from getting involved in danger.

But was this fair to Ji Wenxu?

Song Tingyun slowly withdrew his gaze and closed the door, his face showing a sad expression again.

…

The night fog dispersed, and the morning light and dew crept onto the window.

Ji Wenxu was carrying the groceries he bought from the supermarket and walked in, opening the door with his fingerprint.

It was seven-thirty in the morning.

After putting the vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator, Ji Wenxu went back to his room to take a shower.

He was actually quite satisfied with his current life.

He had originally thought that there would be countless conflicts between him and Song Tingyun due to their unfamiliarity, but he and Song Tingyun surprisingly got along friendly.

He knew that his own personality wasn’t very mature, and most of the time, it was Song Tingyun who was accommodating him.

Therefore, Ji Wenxu felt lucky that it was Song Tingyun marrying him; if it had been anyone else, his life wouldn’t be this easy now.

After taking a shower, Ji Wenxu took a short nap before getting up to make breakfast.

Ji Wenxu didn’t believe he had any cooking talent. Almost every dish he made here was learned and prepared according to recipes, but the taste was surprisingly decent.

This morning, he made egg rice rolls (Cheong Fun) and handmade wontons.

It was already nine-thirty when he finished cooking.

But…

Ji Wenxu put his hands on his hips and looked at the tightly closed bedroom door next to him.

Why wasn’t Song Tingyun up yet?

In the past few days, he had vaguely discovered that Song Tingyun seemed to be a bit of a bed-lover and prone to morning grumpiness.

Generally, most people were reluctant to wake up someone with morning grumpiness.

But Ji Wenxu would do it.

He just wanted to see expressions other than coldness and calmness on Song Tingyun’s face.

After all, how could there be a perfect person in the world?

With this thought, Ji Wenxu walked to Song Tingyun’s room door. He leaned against the door frame and raised his hand to knock.

“Song Tingyun, aren’t you getting up yet?”

No sound came from inside. Ji Wenxu continued to call out, “Song Tingyun, aren’t we going to try on our wedding clothes today? It would be too pathetic to just have the groom go alone.”

“Breakfast is getting cold, too. It’s a breakfast I haven’t made for you before.”

Ji Wenxu smiled innocently, looking completely carefree.

Because he heard a loud commotion inside.

Immediately after, the room door opened.

A very faint fragrance wafted out from inside; it was Song Tingyun’s scent.

Song Tingyun appeared before Ji Wenxu with a dark expression, a hint of malice between his brows, and messy hair. He said almost through gritted teeth, “I know.”

Ji Wenxu leaned forward, closer to Song Tingyun, and giggled, “Alright, I’ll wait for you.”

With that, he turned and sat down at the dining table.

Song Tingyun glanced at him and let out a long sigh.

…

After breakfast, the two got into the car to head to the wedding attire store.

Their toasting outfits had been chosen previously; today, they were going to select the formal wear for the wedding ceremony.

Many styles had been ordered early on. Song Tingyun had shown them to Ji Wenxu before, but Ji Wenxu didn’t have many requirements for these things, so Song Tingyun had handled the subsequent arrangements.

While men’s formal wear was generally single-style suits, the successful passing of same-sex marriage laws led to same-sex couples requesting different styles or designs.

Where there is demand, there is a market. Thus, a variety of designed same-sex wedding outfits gradually appeared on the market, with specialized clothing designs for both women and men.

For men’s wedding attire, the focus was primarily on modifying and designing based on the traditional suit.

The store assistants were already waiting for them at the entrance.

“Mr. Song, Mr. Ji, please come in. Our models are ready,” the manager smiled, inviting the two into the store.

Ji Wenxu walked behind Song Tingyun, his hands in his pants pockets, looking curiously around.

He seemed to recall seeing an advertisement for this store online. Every set of wedding attire was a unique piece, designed by several renowned designers, and would be discontinued once sold.

“Sirs, please take a seat here. Our models will be ready shortly.” The staff settled the two on the sofa and brought over steaming coffee.

Song Tingyun picked up the coffee and took a sip, saying, “Thank you. You’ve worked hard.”

Ji Wenxu’s ear twitched. Even though he was the boss of a listed company, worth tens of billions, he spoke politely. Despite his seemingly cold demeanor, he was unexpectedly gentle towards people.

Ji Wenxu felt that he didn’t know enough about Song Tingyun.

The models were chosen based on their height, weight, and body proportions. Their features were also decent, so the effect of the try-on would be similar to how they would look wearing the clothes.

Ji Wenxu thought all the clothes looked pretty much the same, but he felt that on Song Tingyun, his face would make a sack look good.

The thirty-plus outfits were quickly modeled.

Song Tingyun only favored two sets.

The staff immediately took him to try them on.

Ji Wenxu waited for him there, not playing with his phone, just sitting lazily.

After a moment, Song Tingyun came out of the fitting room in the first outfit.

The white suit accentuated his already fair skin. His figure was tall and straight, yet slightly slender. The suit had an asymmetrical design, with the left hem being longer, and a golden chain hanging from the bottom of the hem. The suit emphasized his unusually slender waist.

“Oh my gosh, Mr. Song, this outfit was simply made for you.”

If it were someone else, Ji Wenxu would probably think it was the staff’s exaggerated flattery, but with Song Tingyun, he felt the staff member was spot on.

Ji Wenxu stood up and walked over to Song Tingyun.

“Hmm…” He bent down to examine it.

Song Tingyun took half a step back, “What’s wrong?”

“Will the collar here scratch you?” He raised his hand and touched the gold buttons and chain embedded in the collar, asking.

Song Tingyun raised his hand and touched his neck. It had indeed scratched him just now, but he hadn’t taken it seriously.

He hadn’t expected Ji Wenxu to notice this detail.

It might be fine for a temporary try-on, but he would have to wear it for almost an entire day during the wedding, and the discomfort would only worsen.

“Let’s try the other set,” he suggested.

Song Tingyun said yes.

The second set had a similar design to the first, but it lacked some of the exaggerated pendants, and the waist was cinched even tighter.

They finally decided on this set.

As the staff packaged the clothes, Ji Wenxu took the opportunity to go to the restroom, leaving Song Tingyun alone there.

After seeing Ji Wenxu walk away, the staff member smiled and tried to get closer to Song Tingyun, saying, “Sir, your marriage must be very happy, right?”

Song Tingyun, “Why do you say that?”

“I just feel that your husband seems to love you very much. When you went to change, he waited outside with an expectant look on his face the whole time, and he wasn’t impatient or playing on his phone,” the staff member told Song Tingyun what she had observed.

Song Tingyun’s lips slowly curled up, but he didn’t say anything.

He knew well that Ji Wenxu’s behavior was simply because he had a good personality. Even if Ji Wenxu were marrying someone else in an arranged marriage, he would still show the same respect.

Because Ji Wenxu was inherently a good person.

Even so, he felt much better. He gave the staff member all the cash he had left in his pocket, saying, “Thank you for your service. This is your tip.”

“Sir, you are too kind. We wish you a hundred years of happiness and a long, lasting marriage.” The staff member accepted the tip with both hands.

Ji Wenxu happened to walk over.

Seeing that both of them were in good spirits, he leaned close to Song Tingyun and asked curiously, “What were you two talking about? You look very happy.”

The staff member was about to speak, but Song Tingyun was quicker. He nudged Ji Wenxu’s arm with his elbow, turned, and walked outside, saying, “Nothing, let’s go. Time for lunch.”

Ji Wenxu let out an “Aww,” and chased after Song Tingyun with his long strides, “Where are we eating?”

…

…

After that day.

Ji Wenxu suddenly felt that time was slipping away like running water through his fingers.

The wedding date arrived as promised.

The elders in the family had purchased a lake-view apartment for them in the city, which was a type of building where two floors were connected.

After the wedding, they would move in there together.

Early that morning, Ji Wenxu was woken up to prepare.

He had returned to his previous residence two days before the wedding. The procession to pick up the groom (or bride) would go to the apartment they currently shared.

He sat in front of the dressing mirror, letting the stylist manage his hair.

Hearing the commotion, Ji Wenxu knew who had rushed over.

The time was still early, and they had arrived right on schedule.

Each of them was crying and howling as if their brother was getting married, giving Ji Wenxu a headache.

“Be quiet. What’s with all the crying and howling when I’m the one getting married?” Ji Wenxu looked at the few people behind him through the mirror.

“We just don’t want you to get married.” The person who initially shouted that he would never marry was now the earliest among them to get married in the blink of an eye.

It was hard to say whether it was dramatic or absurd.

“Come on, I won’t lose a piece of flesh by getting married,” Ji Wenxu waved his hand, pushing away Chen Yilan, who was clutching his arm and wailing, and continued, “Go, go, go, cry somewhere else. Don’t get my wedding suit wet, or Song Tingyun might look down on me!”

His words caused an uproar among the surrounding people.

Wei Zhang clenched his fist, looking indignant, “That despicable Song Tingyun! How dare he look down on you!”

Ji Wenxu was completely exasperated.

He instructed the room’s housekeeper to escort his friends out of the room.

He had briefly learned about the wedding procedure.

He knew he would eat a quick bite and then head out to pick up his partner.

He had always found this process cumbersome, but Ji Shuyi said that everyone follows this procedure for marriage, and it couldn’t be changed, so Ji Wenxu didn’t try to introduce any new customs.

After getting into the car.

Ji Wenxu sent a message to Song Tingyun, [I’ve set off]

[Song Tingyun: En]

[Ji Wenxu: Are you going to hide the wedding shoes?]

[Song Tingyun: ?]

[Ji Wenxu: Just kidding]

There was no such tradition for their same-sex marriage. After serving tea and saying goodbye to their parents, they would go to the wedding venue together.

However, Song Tingyun didn’t seem to have any relatives to bid farewell to, did he?

Ji Wenxu asked again: [You don’t have any relatives there, right?]

Song Tingyun looked at the two framed photos of the deceased placed on the living room table, [No. Just come over and go through the simple process]

Ji Wenxu replied with an [Okay] word.