Chapter 9#
The Jiang family was going to hold a wedding.#
If Jiang Yicen’s spouse had been an ordinary person, Jiang Gongming wouldn’t have bothered with him. But since this was a marriage alliance with the Nan family, even if just for show, Jiang Gongming still had to follow the customs.
The night before the wedding, Jiang Gongming called his third daughter back from school and led Jiang Yicen and the others in an ancestor worship ceremony. They first had to pay respects to the Jiang ancestors, then perform a farewell ritual. For a woman, it would be a departure ceremony.
Jiang Yicen’s heart was with his own family. He bowed with deep reverence.
[Father, Mother, elder brothers, I am to be married tomorrow. My partner is a man, and I have no objection. I hope your spirits in heaven will bless us with health, a happy and fulfilling marriage, smooth careers, and the chance to reclaim our Jiang family business soon.]
Jiang Yicen was also anxious about his future life. He didn’t know what it would be like to live with someone he barely knew—whether his temper was good, whether they would get along.
He had been engaged before. His mother and his father’s close friend’s wife had been pregnant at the same time, so the two families decided that if one gave birth to a daughter and the other a son, they would arrange a betrothal before birth, uniting the two families. Unexpectedly, they encountered the turbulent tide of modern thought. The friend’s daughter had been exposed to new-era knowledge from a young age. At fourteen, after meeting Jiang Yicen once, she found him old-fashioned and boring, and proposed breaking off the engagement.
He still remembered the words Miss Wu, his former fiancée, said to his face.
“Jiang Yicen, you don’t know what movies are popular nowadays, you’ve never been to a cinema, you haven’t drunk coffee, and you still wear long gowns. I don’t want to get married and listen to you recite your eight-legged essays every day. This is a new society—what we need to learn are math, chemistry, physics, and science. Our ideas don’t align, our interests don’t match. Just tell your family to call off this engagement. Don’t delay me from marrying a traditional woman who will lift the tray to her eyebrows with you, and don’t prevent me from dating a man with new ideas. Let this feudal arranged marriage farce end here.”
Jiang Yicen had indeed never met such an open-minded woman, and he was willing to let her pursue the man she liked. He wasn’t fixated on it, so the engagement was called off. It was said that his former fiancée later married a scholar who had studied abroad in Japan.
March 11th. Sunny weather, auspicious for weddings, great fortune.
The vast Jiang residence was bustling with noise early in the morning.
He Nuanqing knocked on Jiang Yicen’s door early, thinking he would still be asleep as usual, but found him already fresh and clean, opening the door for her.
She noticed that Jiang Yicen had changed somewhat after the matchmaking banquet. However, she merely thought he was starting to adapt to life back in the country. After Jiang Yicen went abroad, mother and son seldom met, and the childhood affection had faded with separation. Jiang Gongming couldn’t tolerate his son’s sexual orientation, and He Nuanqing couldn’t protect her child. She always tried to please her husband, which ultimately created distance between her and Jiang Yicen. There was bound to be a rift between mother and son.
“You’re already up? The makeup artist and stylist are here. Hurry and change clothes.”
The wedding attire had been delivered to the Jiang residence three days earlier. The stylist carried in the pressed formal suit.
When Jiang Yicen proposed a Chinese-style wedding, the designer had a burst of inspiration and stayed up all night sketching, producing three versions of men’s formal suits in different periods and styles. But Jiang Yicen wasn’t satisfied. They designed a Ming-style wedding robe and a long gown with a mandarin jacket.
The Ming style was too archaic for him—he had no connection to that era. In the end, he chose the long gown and mandarin jacket style.
The long gown and mandarin jacket embodied Eastern aesthetics. The five buttons at the collar corresponded to the five elements, and the sleeve length reaching the pulse point hinted at the meridians—a beautiful symbolism.
Jiang Yicen changed into a dark red long gown paired with a black mandarin jacket patterned with dark cloud motifs.
The stylist wanted to dress Jiang Yicen, but he refused: “I can do it myself.”
Since childhood, he had been taught the distinction between men and women. He respected women’s work, but his early education was deeply ingrained.
Putting on clothes was very simple; the most troublesome part was the makeup. Jiang Yicen knew that men also groomed themselves, but when he saw the male makeup artist bringing out various pots and jars and preparing to apply makeup on his face, he couldn’t help stepping back twice.
Jiang Yicen’s eyes were full of refusal: “Can we skip the makeup?”
Makeup artist: “Fourth Young Master, you’re naturally handsome, young and with good skin. Let’s just do a simple base. The venue lighting is very bright; without a base, your complexion might look dull.”
Jiang Yicen: “Fine, then please keep it simple.”
Even with the so-called “simple,” the makeup artist spent over an hour working on his face and hair. When it was done, he glanced in the mirror. The person in the mirror matched him perfectly, as if he had returned to childhood.
When he lived at his maternal grandfather’s house, he often wore this very style of long gown and mandarin jacket. He somewhat missed those carefree days of studying with his grandfather.
The original “Jiang Yicen” often drank and stayed up late with friends, so his skin was naturally not in good condition. It had only recovered a bit recently.
The makeup artist adjusted Jiang Yicen’s skin tone, applied hydrating products, and tidied his eyebrows, giving him a healthier complexion.
Unlike weddings in their time—where the bride received guests in the morning and was carried by sedan or car to the groom’s home after lunch—modern people have limited time, so the procedures were greatly simplified. There was none of the former complexity. The Jiang and Nan families directly arranged for both sides’ guests to dine at the same banquet, differing only in seating arrangements.
He Nuanqing personally brought Jiang Yicen breakfast. The makeup artist and stylist left one by one.
For some reason, He Nuanqing’s eyes suddenly reddened when she saw him. The person before her looked like her son, yet unlike him.
She handed Jiang Yicen a card: “Son, this card has the money I’ve saved over the years. Use it for investments in the future. Be careful with your words from now on, and try to rein in your American habits while at the Nan residence. When two people live together, they must be considerate of each other. Be thoughtful toward Nan Shuyi.”
Jiang Yicen knew these words came too late. “Jiang Yicen” never got the chance to hear them.
He said, “I can’t accept your card.”
He Nuanqing pushed it back into his hands: “I’m counting on you to support me in my old age. Consider it an investment.”
Jiang Yicen had learned about He Nuanqing’s background during this time. She was a graduate of a prestigious university. Upon graduation, she joined Jiangda Group as one of the secretaries in Jiang Gongming’s president’s office. Later, Jiang Gongming divorced his wife. The woman he had an affair with gave birth to a child and left the country with a payout. He Nuanqing then got close to Jiang Gongming, married him, and helped raise the child born shortly after.
Jiang Yicen said, “I hear you graduated from a top university when you were young.”
He Nuanqing paused and smiled. “That was a long time ago.”
From what he had learned, Jiang Yicen said, “Think more about yourself. Don’t go to those women’s virtue classes anymore.”
He Nuanqing: “…”
Jiang Yicen thought that since he was living the life of “Jiang Yicen,” he hoped He Nuanqing would live more for herself.
He said, “Foot binding was already banned in the late Qing dynasty. The saying ‘a woman without talent is virtuous’ is outdated. In the past, women were forced into the ‘three obediences and four virtues’ because they had no opportunity to learn. You are a modern woman, not someone who should be shackled by old ideas, moving backward instead of forward.”
He Nuanqing’s expression shifted repeatedly. “What do you know? You sound like a schoolteacher lecturing your mother. Just because you’ve been free in America, you think listening to your father makes me ‘three obediences and four virtues’? The traditional classes I attend are virtue classes? Yicen, you’ve been abroad too long; you don’t understand.”
Jiang Yicen felt he probably couldn’t convince He Nuanqing, but he fulfilled his duty to advise her.
He said, “Then please take care of yourself in the future.”
This “mother-son” conversation ended on a sour note.
Someone knocked at the door. A short-haired woman entered, wearing a tailored light blue suit that gave her a sharp, handsome look. It was Jiang Yiqi, who had returned the day before. She seemed to have overheard part of their conversation.
She walked over to Jiang Yicen and handed him a red velvet box: “A wedding gift for you.”
Jiang Yicen: “Thank you.”
Jiang Yiqi: “You’re welcome.”
As nine o’clock approached, the butler came upstairs to inform them that Nan Shuyi, who was coming to pick up the bride (groom), would arrive soon.
Jiang Yiqi suddenly said to Jiang Yicen, “Jiang Yicen, take off your right shoe.”
Jiang Yicen: “Why?”
Jiang Yiqi: “To let the eldest Nan find it, of course.”
He Nuanqing disapproved: “Little Qi, better not.”
Jiang Yiqi: “Since the marriage is happening anyway, don’t you want happiness?”
Without another word, she pulled off Jiang Yicen’s shoe and hid it under the living room sofa.
Simple enough—it wasn’t overly difficult.
But Jiang Yicen pondered her words: Don’t you want happiness? He did.
At that moment, the Jiang brothers appeared at Jiang Yicen’s door.
Jiang Yifeng, though with his usual roguish air, had at least put on a suit, showing respect: “So, how do you want to make things difficult for Nan Shuyi when he comes in? Red envelopes or something else?”
Jiang Yicen thought about it. In his own family, when his sisters married, the younger brothers would also create obstacles for the groom, but usually his second brother handled it. His second brother had the most tricks and knew how to play.
He picked what he thought was the simplest: “Antithetical couplets.”
Jiang Yifeng laughed. “You don’t want to get married after all? How could Nan Shuyi possibly match couplets?”
Jiang Yicen thought to himself, Is Nan Shuyi really that uneducated?
Before they could finish discussing, the Jiang butler walked in carrying a bouquet full of spring greenery: “Fourth Young Master, your bouquet. The groom will be here any moment.”
Everyone rushed to block the door, Jiang Yifeng being the most enthusiastic. He was determined to squeeze a few big red envelopes out of Nan Shuyi today.
The group left, the door closed, leaving only Jiang Yicen and Jiang Yiqi inside. Neither spoke, so it was quiet.
Jiang Yicen held the bouquet, brought it to his nose, and smelled the faint floral fragrance, which eased his nerves a little.
Outside the door, there was quite a commotion. Even louder than Jiang Yifeng was Zhou Yi, who was clearing the way for his brother.
“I’ll hold them off, Nan Shuyi—you rush through!”
“If you don’t give six eights, you’re not taking my brother!”
“Jiang Yifeng, are you asking for the moon?”
“What’s wrong with asking for betrothal gifts?”
“Ha! Dream on! I’d never give it to you!”
What started as merely going through the motions somehow turned into Jiang Yifeng genuinely blocking the way.
Nan Shuyi moved swiftly. Jiang Yiting and his brothers, along with the young men they’d brought, simply couldn’t catch him. And Nan Shuyi had more people on his side, so they quickly opened a path for him. He walked calmly toward the third floor.
He arrived at the door with the double happiness character. With both hands, he gently pushed, and the door swung open.