NOVEL NEXT Chapter 249 Zheng He Gets Married
She muttered with schadenfreude, "Serves you right for giving my brother such a hard time. Now you get what you deserve!"
Xi Yiqian, standing to the side, was completely baffled, but amidst the crowd, neither Luu Qi nor Xia Liang offered her an explanation. After all, this wasn't an appropriate place to explain the complicated situation.
Seeing that the people inside adamantly refused to open the door, Zheng He was at a loss. He had no choice but to call over a groomsman and hand him a card.
"Go and withdraw five points for me. The PIN is 204613."
The groomsman took the card and, without a word, hurried downstairs toward the bank to withdraw the cash.
「Ten minutes later...」
He returned with a wad of cash equivalent to five points and handed it to Zheng He. They quickly stuffed the money into red envelopes and once again slid them through the crack under the door.
"More red envelopes have arrived!"
Soon, ten red envelopes had been sent inside.
This should be enough, right? Zheng He thought. But before he could even speak, a voice came from inside again.
"Don't stop now! This is barely anything."
"Exactly. If you stop now, it's no fun."
Still not enough? Zheng He's expression darkened, but he forced a smile when he remembered it was his wedding day.
"Um, I've given you all the cash I prepared for the red envelopes. It totals one point, that should be enough, right? It would be bad to miss the auspicious time."
Zheng He had hoped that by appealing to reason and emotion, they would finally open the door. He was wrong. Kong Man's bridesmaids were completely unimpressed.
"If you know we're past the auspicious time, then you should hurry up and get more money."
"Exactly! You clearly don't love our Manman at all if you can't even part with this little bit of money."
"The money you just gave us is only enough for one person, and there are still two more of us! It's not nearly enough."
Damn it!
Listening to them, it was clear they each wanted a red envelope worth one point. Zheng He didn't dare agree; he knew his groomsmen would probably explode. He quickly spoke up, but this time he addressed Kong Man directly, not her insatiable friends.
"Manman, please open the door! It's enough. Our friends and family are all waiting at the hotel."
Inside the room, the bridesmaids all turned to look at Kong Man. In truth, if she wanted to open the door, no one could stop her. Seeing the expectant gazes of her best friends, Kong Man shook her head and shouted to the people outside.
"I'll listen to my bridesmaids. They're my best friends. If they aren't satisfied, then what's the point of me getting married?"
"Damn it!"
Hearing this, Zheng He's groomsmen nearly blew a gasket.
This is unbelievable! Insatiable greed! It's still not enough? This is already three times what they were supposed to get!
A few of the more hot-tempered ones spoke up directly.
"Why don't we just kick the door down and carry her out?"
"I think that's a great idea."
"Yeah! Let's just grab her!"
Seeing the eager crowd, Zheng He thought for a moment before shaking his head. He knew Kong Man's temperament. If they actually did that, she might really call off the wedding. It had taken so much effort to get her to agree to marry him. For this moment, he had even added Two Cents to the bride price just yesterday. To get those Two Cents, his mother even had to go to Zheng Jin and threaten her own life.
Give up just like that? Right at the finish line?
Zheng He couldn't accept it. He only had Two Cents left on his card; if he withdrew it all, he'd be broke. He was counting on the wedding gift money just to pay for the hotel. He then considered that even after paying for the hotel, there should be a good amount left over from the gifts.
"Fine! You wait. I'll go get more," he said, practically grinding the words out between his teeth.
When they heard Zheng He agree, the bridesmaids were ecstatic, but the groomsmen's faces grew grim. Fortunately, Zheng He noticed their expressions and spoke to them in a low voice.
"My bad, brothers. After today, I promise I'll make it up to you all."
Since he had put it that way, they didn't say anything more and just took the bank card to withdraw more money.
At this, Xi Yiqian furrowed her brow. "This is going too far."
Before Xia Liang or Luu Qi could respond, a middle-aged woman in front of them, one of Zheng He's relatives, turned around.
"I know, right? Oh my! What a pretty girl! Which family are you from? How old are you? Are you married?"
Faced with this machine-gun-like barrage of questions, Xi Yiqian felt dizzy. Xia Liang quickly stepped in front of her.
"Auntie, I'm the son of the neighbor of the friend of the fourth uncle of the great-aunt of Zheng He's second maternal aunt. I'm just here to observe. And she's my wife."
"Oh, oh, oh..."
The auntie was a bit dazed by Xia Liang's convoluted explanation. Although she couldn't untangle the relationship, she nodded subconsciously. Meanwhile, Xi Yiqian's face turned beet red when she heard Xia Liang call her his wife, but she also felt a little surge of sweetness.
Even so, the auntie wasn't ready to give up. Her eyes lit up when she saw Luu Qi.
"What about you, young lady?"
Luu Qi immediately grabbed Xia Liang's arm. "Auntie, I have a husband too. It's him..."
What the—?!
The auntie's eyes went wide. Looking as if she'd seen a ghost, she stared at Xia Liang shielding Xi Yiqian while Luu Qi clung to his arm.
This... Are young people these days so wild?
She swallowed hard, not knowing what to make of the situation.
"It's here! The money's here!"
Just then, one of the groomsmen came running up with the cash. Zheng He, who had been waiting anxiously, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't even bother stuffing the money into envelopes. He simply shoved a stack of cash through the gap under the door.
"Here! This is one point!"
"It's here, it's here!"
Seeing a point's worth of cash slide under the door, the bridesmaids were overjoyed. "Keep it coming, keep it coming!"
Zheng He's heart was bleeding, but he was helpless. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the other stack of money through.
"We got it!"
With three points in hand, the four women inside the room were thrilled. Even though they had to give half to Kong Man, five points was more than enough. That was a month's salary earned in a single day; they wished they could have a wedding door-blocking game every day.
"Manman, open the door!" Zheng He yelled from outside, starting to panic. This was the last of his money. If they demanded more, he would truly be out of options.
"Don't rush, don't rush! Just give us some space, we're opening the door right now," one of the bridesmaids said, even as they were busy using a bill counter to divide the money.
After another agonizing five-minute wait, the bridesmaids finally opened the door. The groomsmen swarmed in and began searching the entire room for the bride's shoes. Finally, one of them felt something on the foot of a bridesmaid and found one of the hidden shoes. No one knew how he'd managed it, but what mattered was that it was found.
After putting the shoes on for her, Zheng He carried Kong Man on his back, his face beaming with happiness. He was completely oblivious to the fact that this happiness had been bought with a small fortune.
As the bustling crowd made their way downstairs, Kong Man, from her perch on Zheng He's back, saw Xia Liang in the crowd. Her whole body jolted.
Naturally, Zheng He, who was carrying her, felt it immediately. "Manman, what's wrong?"
Of course, Kong Man couldn't tell him the truth. "I'm just so excited to be marrying you. Let's go, quickly."
"Hehe," Zheng He chuckled, not suspecting a thing, and carried Kong Man into the car.
During the ride, he secretly sent the reception address to Xia Liang. Upon receiving it, Xia Liang hailed a taxi and rushed toward the final destination.