Chapter 258
Chapter 258: I Only Love My Wife!
At that time, Du An Rao still did not know that she was only one step away from the truth. On the day of Du De Sheng and Qin Yan Qing’s wedding, she got up extra early and personally went to the hotel to pick up Father Du, Mother Du, and the others, who had arrived in City B one day in advance.
The wedding was held on an auspicious day at the end of the year, and it also happened to be a weekend. Everyone was free, so everyone came.
The moment Mother Du saw Du An Rao, she almost blurted out without thinking: “You lost weight.”
Then her eyes landed on the round double chin that had been fed out on Du An Rao’s face.
“…” Du An Rao fell silent.
“…” Mother Du also fell silent.
“…” Everyone else was speechless.
[Sure enough, there is a kind of “thin” that just means your mom thinks you’re thin.]
“…” Mother Du could only keep quiet.
“Cough, cough… Let’s go pick up Yi Han first.” At the key moment, it was still Father Du who smoothed things over.
Mother Du quickly changed the topic and took the chance to step down: “Right, right, let’s pick up your Third Brother first.”
They drove a little out of the way to pick up Du Yi Han, then the whole group headed in a mighty line toward the wedding venue.
For his beloved, Du De Sheng had prepared the most traditional Chinese wedding. There was a phoenix crown and scarlet robe, and even an eight-bearer sedan chair. Everything was there.
The whole wedding took place inside the residence where Du De Sheng and the others were living now. Considering Qin Yan Qing’s health, he did not let her leave the house, but the steps like welcoming the bride and the wedding parade were still kept.
At the right time, she only needed to go out the east gate, get into the flower sedan chair, and let the team walk a few rounds along Jingyu Street and several nearby streets. Then they would circle back from the other side and enter the house again through the west gate.
This process sounded simple, but Jingyu Street was very close to City B’s biggest tourist spot. There were countless tourists on normal days, not to mention during holidays.
Once the drums and gongs started and the team walked around a few times, the crowd watching almost blocked the road.
Because of what happened before, Qin Yan Qing had already cut all ties with everyone in the Qin Family. No one from the Qin Family was invited to this wedding, so for now, Du An Rao took on the role of her family.
After picking her up, they rushed back, and Du An Rao hurried to the bride’s side. She helped her put on her clothes properly, put on all the items that carried good wishes, helped her onto the sedan chair, then led her into the courtyard, over the fire basin, past the horse saddle, up to the wedding platform, through the bows and kowtows, and finally supported her into the bridal room.
Nervous and excited, she helped the bride finish all the steps. Only then did Du An Rao finally get to catch her breath. She planned to leave the bridal room to find something to eat.
She also wanted to see if there was anything easy to carry so she could bring some food back for the bride to fill her stomach.
But just as she walked out of the inner courtyard and turned around a long corridor, she saw several well-dressed middle-aged women standing outside the archway, whispering.
At first, Du An Rao did not really care. She only thought about hurrying past, but as soon as she got close, she heard a sharp and mean sentence full of malice.
“At her age, her skin must already be as rough as orange peel. And she still lets people hold such a grand wedding for her. It’s really embarrassing.”
Du An Rao’s steps stopped, and her expression visibly darkened.
The woman in yellow standing on the left side of the archway shivered when she heard that. She quickly straightened up and reached over to cover the speaker’s mouth.
“Oh my ancestors, you can’t say that. Did you forget how Elder Du’s eldest nephew’s whole family was driven out of City B and even lost their home?”
A sharp light flashed in Du An Rao’s eyes. Elder Du’s eldest nephew? Her Granduncle’s eldest nephew, wasn’t that Du Wei Shuai’s family? Their whole family had been driven out of City B? When did that happen? How had she not heard a thing?
The auntie who had just spoken froze for a moment, then quickly calmed down again: “What is there to be afraid of? There’s no one else here. Everyone else is eating at the front right now. It’s not like you are going to run out and talk. And I’m not wrong. It really is embarrassing. At that age, and she still makes it so high profile. She shouldn’t be afraid of people talking.”
The auntie in yellow glanced around without thinking. After seeing that there really were no strangers, she relaxed and said helplessly: “The more people say you shouldn’t talk, the more you talk. One day, you’ll ruin yourself with that mouth.”
The auntie who spoke first crossed her arms and let out a cold snort, clearly not taking her companion’s warning to heart at all.
Instead, the other auntie in a bright red shirt smiled lightly and joined in: “I actually think Madam Shen is right.”
The auntie in yellow stared at her in shock, her face full of the look of “Are you crazy? She’s being reckless, and you’re being reckless too?”
The auntie in red, who had just spoken, seemed totally unaware. She looked like the only “clear-headed” one among drunken people, as if she were calmly telling the truth.
“Elder Du is a hero. That is a fact no one can deny. But heroes are easily trapped by beauties. That is also a fact. Let’s not talk about other things. Driving his eldest nephew’s family out of City B was definitely a mistake on his part.”
“Look at how old Elder Du is now, and how old is that wife he’s marrying? The two of them will never have children in this lifetime. That big nephew’s family is the closest blood to him. Blood is thicker than water. Now he listens to that woman’s pillow talk and drives them away. In the future, this huge family fortune will definitely end up in the hands of outsiders. When that happens, the hero’s final years will be miserable, and his old age will be very hard.”
“That’s right, that’s right! Madam Kou just said exactly what I wanted to say. They say when a man marries a good wife, his troubles are fewer, and a good wife brings good luck to three generations. Marry a bad wife, and she destroys the family roots. If he didn’t marry the right wife, no amount of wealth is enough to waste. Elder Du did not marry a gentle, good wife from a good family. Instead, he chose this fox spirit who brings chaos into the house. In my opinion, he’s just old and muddle-headed. He will suffer for it later.”
Seeing them speak worse and worse, Du An Rao’s brows furrowed tightly. When she listened to that so-called Madam Shen talk, she just kept feeling a sour tone that would not go away, so she could not help paying more attention to her. Then she discovered a “secret” that was not really a secret at all.
[So that’s why this Madam Shen sounds so sour when she talks. I can smell the sourness from this far away! Turns out it’s because Madam Shen has a crush on my Granduncle and wants him to be her brother-in-law.]
The anger in Du An Rao’s eyes faded by more than half, replaced by curiosity and excitement at this big piece of gossip.
[Tsk tsk tsk. What a pity. My Granduncle has only ever loved one person. The only one in his heart is my Grandma Qin. He never liked her sister. Madam Shen’s matchmaking business failed halfway. Now she is watching my Granduncle and Grandma Qin finally end up together as a loving couple, and she is so jealous her eyes are red. No wonder she came to the wedding to act all weird and bitter.]
The people of the Du Family, together with Du De Sheng and Xi Jing Yue, had waited in the front yard for a long time without seeing Du An Rao come back, so they worriedly came to look for her.
They had not expected that as soon as they turned into the side gate, they would hear such a big bombshell.
In a flash, all eyes fell on Du De Sheng, as if they were saying: So you are that kind of Granduncle!
“…” Du De Sheng was speechless. [What does this have to do with me? Didn’t you hear what An An said? I only love my wife!!!]