First Marriage Then Love

---This chapter was translated by Joe---

The hotel room has temporarily turned into Lin Li"s "mom"s house"*. Lin Li"s makeup is already done and she has already put on the pure white bridal gown that symbolises purity. She sits on the bed, her face radiating with happiness and satisfaction.

An Ran stands to a side, watching the bride a.s.sistant mess with Lin Li"s hair, her lips in a smile. Seeing her best friend getting married leaves an incredible indescribable feeling in her.

Unconsciously contemplative, time really flies, the young springly girl is already going to be a wife soon. Looking back at the 10 years that she and Cheng Xiang have been through, from the enviable beginnings to the recent events left her really undecided on whether it is good or bad.

Lin Li"s stubbornness leaves her with an unspeakable pain in her heart, but it seems fortunate that Cheng Xiang seems to really be a responsible man. Even though the 10 years of love has turned into a marriage of duty and responsibility, how sad is that! But it is still Lin Li"s choice and her firm faith towards that 10 years of love leaves her speechless.

The bridal a.s.sistant secures Lin Li"s veil on her, looking at the placement, positioning and at last places a crystal tiara on her.

An Ran looks at her, lips curling in a smile. Today is the most important day for her, she will not think of anything else but to wish her happiness.

Going up, she look at her seriously then says sincerely,"Lin Li, you look lovely today."

Lin Li smiles as well, unlike her previous big laughter, the her today simply curves her lips, radiating an aura of happiness.

An Ran looks at her, her eyes gradually turning red, gets down and pulled over her hands, she tries desperately to smile but the tears in her eyes flow uncontrollably down.

"Ai Yah! Why are you crying!?" Seeing her tears, Lin Li was fl.u.s.tered and searches everywhere for a tissue paper but it was placed far from her on the other side of the bed, even as she tried she just can"t reach it. Looking at the tears that continued to spill from An Ran, she says in a huff of effort,"Ai Yah An Zi, everything"s fine why are you crying?" reaching over to try to wipe her face of tears.

The bridal a.s.sistant at the side handed over the tissue to An Ran, An Ran took it but seems unable to stem the flow of tears from her eyes, she clutched tightly onto Lin Li"s hand, speaking breathelessly and seriously,"You must be happy, you really must be happy!"

Lin Li looks at her, affected by her emotions, keeps nodding. Her eyes fog over and her tears almost drops when the bridal a.s.sistant exclaims,"Goodness no, you cannot cry today, if you cry you will smear the makeup, quick quick raise your head towards the ceiling." The bridal a.s.sistant nervously draws two boxes of tissues over and hurriedly pa.s.s to Lin Li. Bridal makeup are among the hardest to put on and if the makeup is smeared it will mean trouble. Especially since looking at the time, the groom should be arriving any moment now.

Lin Li lifts her head and force the tears in her eyes to recede, takes over the tissue and scolds An Ran with laughter,"It"s all your fault, if I"m not as pretty as I can be later, just watch how I"ll punish you."

An Ran laughs as well and tries to wipe her face of tears. Looking at Lin Li"s unadorned neck, she suddenly remembers the pearl necklace she bought at the shopping area yesterday afternoon. She hurriedly takes the necklace from her bag and ask the bridal a.s.sistant if the necklace is suitable for Lin Li"s wedding outfit.

The bridal a.s.sistant looks at the simple necklace, and only responds after a moment, of course it can be, it"s more than suitable. The pearl necklace is simple yet elegant. Cla.s.sy yet distinguished, it is more than suitable for Lin Li"s wedding outfit today and even more so than the diamond necklace they have previously prepared.

Lin Li looks at the necklace in her hands, exclaiming in surprise,"Where did you get this necklace?"

An Ran places the necklace on Lin Li, saying,"It"s not mine, it"s yours! This is my wedding present for you!"

Lin Li looks at the pearl necklace on her neck,"I only got you that few hundred dollars worth of pajamus yet you got me such a big pearl!"

Reminding her of the nightie, An Ran unconsciously rolls her eyes,"You better not remind me of that nightgown you gave me, it has already been banished to the lowest depths of my closet and not coming out anytime soon!" Because that nightgown was a wedding present from her, she is unable to throw it away despite many attempts to do so, so even though she kept it she has placed it in the most most most bottom layer of her closet.

Lin Li shuts her mouth wisely, but the corner of her lips quivers in a sly smile, mumbling in a soft voice that almost cannot be heard,"If it wasn"t for me, would you be so loving with your Mr Su now, really ungrateful." Don"t think for a second she did not hear the sweet nothings she was whispering with her Mr Su last night!

Mother Lin and father Lin came in with a bowl of tangyuan*. An Ran looks at the time and went to the washroom to put on the bridesmaid"s dress then allows the makeup artist to help do up her makeup.

Lin Li only took a few bites from the bowl then was unable to eat more, frowning and shaking her head.

Mother Lin is worried if she will be able to last throughout the whole wedding later if she does not eat more, what"s more Lin Li is now pregnant, "Lin Li, eat more, you did not eat much yesterday. You may not have strength enough for the wedding later."

Lin Li shakes her head, half pinching her nose,"Mom, take it away quick, I almost vomited after smelling that." The tangyuan contains bean paste and even though she used to love the taste, now she cannot even stand the smell of it at all.

Hearing this, mother Lin removes the bowl away hurriedly, looking at her daughter, worried. Although Lin Li has been eating the past few days, she has thrown everything up afterwards. This is as if she has not eaten anything at all, she is very worried her body may not be able to take it,"Xiao Li*, what would you like to eat? Mom will get it for you."

"Mom, I"m really not hungry." Lin Li shakes her head.

Mother Lin is helpless on what to do, looks at father Lin, shaking her head. They can only ask An Ran to look after Lin Li and pay more attention to her later.

An Ran nodded, looking at Lin Li, worried for her as well.

Around 9am the female colleagues of Lin Li came in, the room is filled with females and the atmosphere heats up. Not a while later, the "brothers" of the groom arrives outside as well to fetch the bride. A few of the sisters blocked the groom at the door and demanded for red packets from the groom, as well as various kinds of demands, tricks and jokes.**

An Ran did not go out, staying in the room with Lin Li, holding her hand. An Ran could feel her shaking with anxiety.

An Ran teased,"The two of you had been a couple for so many years now, today is but a formality, is that something to be so nervous about?"

Lin Li did not refute her but says seriously,"It"s not the same, today has a different meaning." Saying that, she looks at An Ran,"The wedding is sacred to me, today is the day I am seriously certain that I"m going to be married to this man and give the rest of my life over to him."

An Ran holds onto her hand tightly, only smiling, not speaking.

When Cheng Xiang finally manage to break past the crowd of "sisters" troops, he walks in carrying a bouquet of flowers.

Cheng Xiang looks just as handsome and cultured today, he wore a slight smile on his lips and his eyes look straight at Lin Li, the look on his eyes gentle yet focused. An Ran moves to one side and Cheng Xiang gets on one knee in front of Lin Li, taking the prepared wedding ring from the groomsman and looked at Lin Li pa.s.sionately,"Lin Li, marry me!"

Lin Li looks at him steadily without speaking. She has been waiting for this for the last 10 years ever since the courtship. She has always desired to marry him, to be his most beautiful bride and today she has finally done it!

Cheng Xiang does not hurry her, only looking at her, waiting for her to nod.

Lin Li only feels her nose souring. The unhappiness of the past seems so unimportant now, the doubts and uncertainty have all vanished, her tears started to form in her eyes. Looking at him, her lips slowly curved in a smile, the tiredness she feels now is one of happiness, of joy. She slowly lifted her hand, move her lips and say out the words she has been wanting to say for the past 10 years,"I do!"

With her I do, the surrounding atmosphere sounded a great applause and in the midst of the cheering someone even started blowing a whistle.

Cheng Xiang took a while to react, his chest suddenly feel at ease. It seems that he was so nervous he has actually forgetten to breathe just now. Even though he already knew beforehand that she will agree but it"s inevitable for him to feel nervous. His hand continues clutching at the ring tightly.

"Hey groom, are you so happy you can"t react? Quickly put the ring on your bride, after wearing it she will then be your wife!" Seeing Cheng Xiang motionless , the crowd at the back started crying out.

Once someone started saying this the crowd starting joining in all at once.

Only then does Cheng Xiang react, unable to hide the joy in his face, with ring in hand, looking at Lin Li, he cried out,"My wife!"

This causes Lin Li"s emotions to surge even more. She covers her mouth with her hand, not letting a sound out. Looking at him, she kept nodding, giving a reply to his cry.

Cheng Xiang"s eyes starts to become reddish too, looking at the outstretch hand towards him, he held onto the hand and with tears in his eyes threatening to flow out,"My wife, let me put the ring on for you."

Lin Li, unable to speak, keeps nodding.

Cheng Xiang reach for her hand and retrieve the ring from the box. Looking at her, he solemnly and carefully slides the ring on her finger.

An Ran looks at the scene and just feels a rush of souring from her nose. She turns around and lifted her head up to force her tears back in. When she turned back, Cheng Xiang had already placed the ring on her ring finger and handed the bouquet of flowers to the bride. Lin Li"s eyes reddens and looks at An Ran, An Ran hurries over and handed over the ring box she was holding to her. Opening it, the ring was retrieved and Lin Li similarly slides the ring onto his ring finger as well.

After the solemn ritual was done the crowd at the back again started cheering for joy.

"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!..."

"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!..."

No matter how jovial and open she is, Lin Li still feels embarra.s.sed at this time, and looks at the crowd feeling slightly bashful. But Cheng Xiang does not feel like this at all, he stood up, cups both hands on her face, leans forward and gave her a big kiss on her lips in front of everyone.

"Kiss for one minute! One minute, everyone countdown!" Someone started instigating in the crowd, heating up the atmosphere even more.

An Ran stands to a side, watching Lin Li with a face full of happiness, finally at ease. Maybe this choice is the best one for her, it"s like wearing shoes, only the wearer knows if the shoe fits or not.

Everything is progressing smoothly, after the teasing and the pranks, Cheng Xiang lifts Lin Li up in a cradle and carries her out of the room, into the lift and onto the bridal car waiting below.

An Ran and the rest of the bridesmaids sat in other cars and followed after them, The bridal car first goes straight to the new place in the suburbs the Cheng family had prepared for them. In the new place, under the instructions and directions the officiator gives and according to the traditions and customs of the marriage ceremony, Lin Li and Cheng Xiang offers tea to the Chengs and even kowtowed to them.

The two elders smile and hand out red packets to the two of them.

Then Lin Li and An Ran together with the rest of the bridesmaids were arranged to stay in their new place, awaiting for the other Cheng family"s elders to gather. Then the family will leave for the hotel together.

The few of them helped Lin Li to put on her 2nd gown for the day. It"s the same specially ordered gown that An Ran saw her tried out the day at the bridal shop. Because later at the hotel, Lin Li will wear this gown at the wedding venue, to be handed away by her father to Cheng Xiang.

The few of them waited in the room for a bit and after a while, it seems everyone has gathered and they leave for the hotel in a flurry of activity.

Lin Li sits with Cheng Xiang in the bridal car, her lips in a slight smile, her face radiating with happiness.

Conversely, sitting next to her, Cheng Xiang was acting weirdly once in the car. He kept looking out the windows at times and the smile on his face looks awkward.

Natually Lin Li notices the change and ask worriedly,"What"s wrong, has anything happened?" Looking at him, Lin Li starts to have a bad premonition.

Cheng Xiang hurriedly remove his gaze from the windows and looks at Lin Li, shaking his head,"No, nothing at all." He should not think more of it, he will be marrying Lin Li later, he should be focusing only on her today!

Lin Li follows his gaze outside but did not see anything at all. Then nodded, not probing.

When Lin Li and entourage arrived at the hotel, the wedding company has already decorated the hotel with flowers, balloons, the red carpet, the whole works!

Because the wedding ceremony has not started yet, Lin Li and An Ran are placed in a small room to prepare. Over there, father and mother Lin are already there. Seeing Lin Li, they hurriedly let her sit and worried over her, asking if she is thirsty or hungry.

Lin Li shakes her head, only wanting to go to the washroom.

The small room comes conveniently equipped with a washroom so An Ran accompanies her to the washroom, helping her to hold onto the exaggerated skirt, making it more convenient for her to relieve herself.

Just as they were preparing to go back after finishing, Lin Li looks at An Ran and starts to speak but stops after a while.

An Ran saw that there was something going on, asks,"What"s going on?"

Lin Li looks at her, originally wanting to say that Cheng Xiang"s expression and reactions seems weird when they were returning to the hotel. But at last she shakes her head, smiling at her,"It"s nothing." Actually Lin Li felt that her nerves had been stretched out taut during this period, always suspecting if Cheng Xiang was true to her but just seeing Cheng Xiang putting the ring on her finger, feeling how nervous he is just as she was, hearing him ask for her to marry him, even how pa.s.sionately he calls her his wife. From all this she can feel that his att.i.tude towards this marriage is the same as hers. Maybe just as he says, he has always known who it will be accompanying him on this journey of life and he has never had thoughts of leaving her side.

Maybe she is just overthinking it just now, it"s already at this stage now, she"s still worried if something will happen.

"What"s wrong?" An Ran looks at her, worrying.

Lin Li smiles, shaking her head, giving the excuse,"A little nervous, originally wanting to ask if you felt the same during your wedding to your Mr Su but just remembered the two of you just applied for the certificate and did not have a wedding."

An Ran believes her, reaching over giving her a hug,"It"s alright it will be fine, this is something that only happens once in a lifetime, it"s normal to be nervous, it will be fine later."

Lin Li nodded and smiles at her.

In the room for half an hour now, the bridal a.s.sistant rush in informing the music has started and the ceremony is starting, letting Lin Li know to be ready to walk down the aisle with father Lin in hand when the music changes to the wedding march song.

Lin Li nodded, nervously looking at father Lin. Actually he is nervous as well but he still pats his daughter"s hand, a.s.suring her.

An Ran as well as the rest of the bridesmaid sat at the pre-arranged table a.s.signed and mother Lin is sitting with the Cheng"s.

The venue has been decorated auspiciously, the central red carpet paves a direct route from the venue door to the stage. Beside the doors are multiple flower columns and along the carpet are several smaller columns all decorated with flowers. The ceiling floats balloons of various colors. Beside the emcee is a big LED multi display screen, the screen is showing various photos of Lin Li and Cheng Xiang during the last 10 years. There"s everyday pictures as well as travelling ones but mostly shown was their wedding photos. Mischievous, cute, happy, pa.s.sionate, sweetly kissing amongst them all.

When the wedding march song started playing everyone present quiet down. and everyone"s attention was fixed on the door where the bride was going to enter. Everyone neglected to pay attention to the one who was standing near the stage, beside the red carpet. Cheng Xiang"s* phone in his pocket receives a message at this time and after seeing the message, Cheng Xiang"s* face underwent a big change, as if something had happened. Cheng Xiang hurried over to the emcee to delay the proceedings and for the music not to start but before the emcee is able to answer, the door opened and Lin Li appears, holding onto her father"s arm, a smile on her face and walking towards him.

Just at this time, the phone again rings with another message, he quickly read it and his face paled. Without any explanation, he turns and rush out towards the exit of the wedding venue.

Seeing the situation the emcee asks the music master(DJ?) to change the music, once the music was changed the crowd started murmuring, everyone is unaware of what"s happening and even Lin Li who had just walked in appears stunned and stood in the center of the red carpet, looking at the man who is rushing in her direction and not able to react.

Cheng Xiang heads towards Lin Li with big steps and stops in front of her, saying,"Lin Li, wait for me here for a while, I"ll be right back." and with that he turned and left.

Lin Li is confused by what he just said, just what is happening right now?!

The Cheng parents and Lin parents are also confuse by the situation, father Cheng hurriedly calls after him,"Cheng Xiang, where are you going?!"

Cheng Xiang stops his steps, only saying,"Mom Dad I have an emergency, I"ll be right back, the ceremony will only be delayed for a bit." He is truly frightened he may not be in time, xiao xiao"s message to him had said, if he did not go over right away she will jump from the top floor of the hotel, and she will definitely do it! He does not dare to risk her life if it turns out to be true! So, he is rushing over to the top floor right now for a look, and to bring her down.

"You scoundrel! What is more important than your own wedding?!" Father Cheng says scolding, walking round the table towards him,"No matter what the matter is, it can wait until after the wedding!"

"Dad, I"m really not able to explain right now, I"ll be right back." And with that, he turned and left the venue.

Lin Li finally reacts, hurriedly heads towards Cheng Xiang"s back crying out,"Cheng Xiang!" Didn"t he say he wants to marry her? If he leaves now what does that mean?!

Cheng Xiang did not turn back, hurriedly runs out the venue. He is afraid that xiaoxiao meant what she wrote, if he is late by even a few minutes, he could not imagine the consequences!

Before anyone is able to react to what"s happening, Lin Li also threw aside her bouquet of flowers and follows Cheng Xiang out the venue.

The bride and groom has both left the wedding, the people in the venue starts to react finally and starts discussing this.

As An Ran finally got her wits back she is afraid for Lin Li, she hurriedly got out of her seat and when pa.s.sing by father Lin, swiftly says to him that she"ll go take a look.

Cheng Xiang runs out and was hurrying to take the lift to the top floor when he sees xiaoxiao in the main lobby, phone in hand, smiling at him and calling him in a coquettish manner,"Brother Xiang."

Cheng Xiang turns his head, looked dazedly at xiaoxiao who is standing not 10 steps away from him, then looks again at the changing number display on the lift, took a while to react and took big steps towards her, "Why are you here!?"

xiaoxiao flirtatiously holds onto his arm, answers in a darling manner,"Then do you want me to be up there? Do you really want me to jump down from there?!"

Cheng Xiang looks at her, then at the phone in his hand, accusing,"You lied to me!"

xiaoxiao remains unaffected, still holding onto his arm,"Otherwise you wouldn"t have come out."

"You__!"

"Cheng Xiang!" Lin Li caught up at this time and saw the two, arms in hand in an intimate manner, her chest suddenly seems being knock by something viciously. She sways, standing unsteadily, her breathing hard due to the chase just now.

Cheng Xiang turns towards Lin Li but was held tightly by xiaoxiao, xiaoxiao pouts at him and shakes her head, as if saying she will not let go!

"xiaoxiao, let go." Cheng Xiang is a little angry. He had really thought she was in trouble, otherwise he would have never left Lin Li at the wedding venue to rush over here.

"I"m not letting go." xiaoxiao does not think he is angry at all, hands tightly clutching on Cheng Xiang, her face displaying an expression of victory and looks at Lin Li.

Lin Li only felt that her heart was pierced by thousands of needles! Imagining it is one thing but actually seeing it with your own eyes is another matter entirely! She had once imagined him be with another woman, and in even more intimate actions than this but the pain of her imagination is no where near the pain of seeing it in reality!

"Lin Li....." Looking at Lin Li"s pale face, Cheng Xiang knows she must have misunderstood.

Lin Li heads in his direction in a daze, her face emotionless but her tears kept flowing down her face. She had been feeling him behaving weirdly since they were in the car earlier but she had never thought he would leave in the middle of the wedding ceremony!

Standing in front of them, Lin Li stared at the two holding arms together. She had pestered Cheng Xiang like this in the past and everytime Cheng Xiang would lightly pinch her nose then lightly kiss her lips then agreed to every unreasonable request she had made! She had thought she is the only one to be in this position enjoying this treatment but alas, another woman had the same after all.

Ahh, right. How could she forget, that place was originally not hers, she is just a subst.i.tute for that woman! Because he couldn"t get her so she is there to take her place. She had always been a subst.i.tute, a shadow of another woman! He had never truly loved her, even with 10 years of love, no matter how much he had doted on her, she had never taken the place of the one in his heart! She has been the one stubbornly holding onto this feeling, always the one not wanting to let go!

"Lin Li, it"s not what you__" Cheng Xiang looks at her, wanting to explain but was interrupted by Lin Li.

"Have you ever really loved me?" Lin Li look and ask him steadily, her tears kept flowing from her eyes, unceasing.

"It"s not like that, I___" Cheng Xiang is again interrupted, only this time not by Lin Li, but by xiaoxiao beside him.

"Brother Xiang has always loved me, otherwise look, with only a message, not even a call, he rushed out like this. Don"t you think this is obvious enough?" xiaoxiao looks at Lin Li, saying smugly.

"xiaoxiao, stop saying rubbish!" Cheng Xiang scolded, he wants to push her arms away but she held on even tighter, he"s unable to push her away at all!

Lin Li nodded, yes, the answer is already so obvious, yet she still asks, has she not shamed herself enough?

But she really does not want to resign herself to this, 10 years of feelings. From 18 to 28, the most precious and vibrant years of any woman, she had given everything to the man before her, she had loved him, not even minding to be someone else"s shadow, to be with him not caring about her status or reputation. She kept thinking that time can overcome everything, thinking that with 10 years, even if there isn"t true love, even if he has someone"s shadow in his heart, she would be able to get a sliver of love from him, a sliver of cherish, especially now that she is carrying the child of the two of them, the embodiment of their union!

Painfully blinking her eyes, she allows her tears to fall, looking at the man in front of her, she discarded the last vestige of her pride, asking,"Cheng Xiang, are you going back to get married with me?"

Without even waiting for Cheng Xiang to answer, xiaoxiao besides him says bluntly,"Why are you being such a pest, brother Xiang does not even like you, it"s already so obvious yet you want it to be said out loud? Wasn"t it clear when brother Xiang ran away from the wedding because of me just now? What more do you__"

"xiaoxiao that"s enough!" Cheng Xiang is really angry now, scolding xiaoxiao, then pulls away from her arms and says coldly, "Please shut up, you have no right to say anything!"

xiaoxiao was shocked by the him now, Cheng Xiang has always been gentle since he was little, he was never angry about anything, not to mention yelling at her with anger!

Cheng Xiang did not look at her, but turned and look at Lin Li"s pale face, his heart felt a sharp pain, as if his heart was being shredded, it"s so painful that he has trouble breathing!

Lin Li looks at him, asks again,"Cheng Xiang, are you still getting married with me?" If he answers yes, since she has already been silly for so many years now, then let her be foolish one more time, she really does not want to let go of these 10 years of feelings!

Cheng Xiang looks at her, nodded steadily! As if promising,"We will get married, I will never leave you!" He has never thought of leaving her. Maybe when they started he treated her as a subst.i.tute for xiaoxiao but as time goes by he knows deeply that she was just her and not anyone"s subst.i.tute. Even with similar hairstyle, even if there are other areas of similarity, she remained herself and he has never mistakened her for anyone else! Being with her is such a comfort, you can laugh out loud, you can eat not caring about how you look. They had been together everyday for the past 10 years, she is like a part of his life, so if speaking about leaving, it is not her who is not able to continue on without him but him who is not able to continue living without her!

"Lin Li!" An Ran reaches at this time, seeing the three at a standoff, she hurries beside Lin Li. Lin Li plainly smiles at her, only saying, "It"s alright now, let"s go back to continue the ceremony." Saying that, she turns and starts to walk off.

xiaoxiao behind Cheng Xiang yells out,"brother Xiang! Haven"t you always been in love with me since you were little? You even wrote a letter confessing your feelings for me the day before I flew! In the letter you said you had always like me since you remembered, are all these not true? Do you not love me anymore? brother Wei Jun has already forsaken me, and now, even you don"t want me anymore?"

Hearing this, Cheng Xiang stops in his tracks, blinking his eyes painfully, the hands on both sides clenched into fists.

Seeing him stop, xiaoxiao continues,"brother Xiang, I know you have always loved me, I was foolish in the past and did not know you treated me the best and will be the one to love me forever. But I know now." With this, she heads towards Cheng Xiang, reaching over and pulling his hand tightly, continues, "I have nothing now but you, brother Xiang. If even you forsake me then what do I do then?". With that, tears like pearls started falling from her eyes,"brother Xiang, please don"t forsake me, please don"t leave me alright?"

Cheng Xiang tightly held onto his hands, not turning back but not able to take another step forward either.

Seeing this, An Ran looks towards Lin Li worriedly, only seeing Lin Li tightly biting on her lips and shaking, her hands on her sides clenching tightly, as if suppressing herself.

"brother Xiang, I know you have always treated her as my subst.i.tute, actually I"m always in your heart right? Otherwise you wouldn"t have hurried to see me when I got back, not even bothered to go home. Why do you not admit it when you like me so much, do you really want to live in resignation for the rest of your life just for some duty and responsibility? You clearly do not like this woman but only agrees to marry her out of guilt. Can a marriage without love last long?" xiaoxiao tightly holds onto Cheng Xiang"s hands saying.

Cheng Xiang painfully blinks his eyes, he cannot deny he has really liked xiaoxiao in the past and even now still holds some fondness for her. He cannot deny this part.

xiaoxiao emotionally hugs Cheng Xiang from behind, she speaks emotionally,"brother Xiang, please don"t leave me! I really have nothing left anymore, if you leave I will really die, do you really want to see me dead?"

An Ran cannot take it anymore and was just about to go up to question her when suddenly, Lin Li who was by her side turned, step forward, pulled xiaoxiao away from Cheng Xiang fiercely, lifts her hand."PAAA!___"and give a tight slap across her tear striken face!

Lin Li evidently did not hold anything back, xiaoxiao"s face started swelling immediately as her face reddens from the slap. That white complexion juxtaposes the redness of the handprint vividly.

Stepping forward and grabbing onto xiaoxiao, Lin Li is very agitated,"How can you do this?! When you didn"t want him you left him without a trace of regret. With our 10 years of feelings, what right do you have to step in between us?! Lemme tell you, he is now my husband and the father of the child in my belly!"

xiaoxiao only reacted now after being slapped, hands holding onto half of her face, crying out,"You You You, you dare to hit me!"

"Why wouldn"t I dare to hit you, you are stealing my husband!" Lin Li roars out, agitated and tears started flowing uncontrollably.

Cheng Xiang and An Ran were also stunned by Lin Li"s slap and only recovered their senses now, An Ran hurriedly held onto the slightly trembling Lin Li.

xiaoxiao crying pulls on Cheng Xiang,"brother Xiang, she hit me, she really hit me, it"s painful, it"s really painful!"

Lin Li"s emotional state seems to hit a new peak, completely not able to control herself, she pushes An Ran aside and steps forward to pull away xiaoxiao who is besides Cheng Xiang, she is almost at the point of a mental breakdown.

xiaoxiao is fearful of her and thinking she is coming for another beating, hurriedly hides behind Cheng Xiang.

Cheng Xiang now starts to be able to react as well, unconsciously aware that Lin Li is going to hit xiaoxiao again, he steps forward and blocks Lin Li, "Lin Li, stay calm, hear me out."

"I"m not listening I"m not listening, I"m not going to listen to anymore of the lies you coax up! I know you have always treated me as her shadow, no dyeing and cutting of my hair?! I have been with you for 10 years now, I thought you will feel a sliver of love for me, even if it is just a little! Even if you don"t I"m fine, we"re finally getting married, I have waited for this day for 10 years, but why must you today, today! why must you run away from our wedding today?! Even if you had told me yesterday that you"re not going to marry me, even if it was this morning it would be better. But why did you choose to do it just now, why when my father is holding my hand escorting me, in front of all my relatives and friends?! Cheng Xiang, can you be even more ruthless?!" Lin Li roars at Cheng Xiang agitated.

And just at this time, father and mother Lin as well as the Cheng parents arrives at the scene, the few of them looked at the situation but no one immediately steps forward.

Cheng Xiang is unable to say another word at all from all the questions, knowing she will not be able to listen to anything he says seeing how agitated she is. He steps forward to pull her away but was pushed away by her. Seeing Lin Li rush towards xiaoxiao angrily, Cheng Xiang thought she was going to do something untoward to xiaoxiao so unconsciously he reaches out and pulls on Lin Li"s hand, wanting to pull her back towards him but because he used too much strength and because he did not manage to catch Lin Li in time, he causes Lin Li to wobble and Lin Li took a few steps backwards, unable to balance herself and falls heavily backwards.

"Lin Li!" An Ran screams, looking at her taking a few steps back she is already too late to reach her!

"Lin Li!"

"Lin Li!"

The Lin parents and Cheng parents at the back all exclaim loudly and hurried over to Lin Li but the distance is too far and their actions are in vain.

No one could hold on to Lin Li and everyone can only watch as Lin Li falls heavily onto the floor on her bottom!

"AHHH!" A piercing pain causes Lin Li to cry out in pain, she feels as if something is being torn from her body and no matter how much she struggle to grab and hold on, it is futile, then she feels herself lying on the floor.

Cheng Xiang is the first to react and hurries over to help Lin Li up. Fl.u.s.tered and helpless, he only hugs onto Lin Li tightly, keeps repeating,"Lin Li, Lin Li...."

Lin Li raises her hand up with difficulty, wanting to caress his face but was unable to do so, her strength depleted. Below her pure white gown, blood seeps out, slowly staining the white material that symbolises innocence and purity.

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*mom"s house - it"s a direct translation but means a place that is not the groom"s place where the bride can prepare for the wedding. Traditions states it"s taboo for the bride and groom to see each other before he comes for her hand in marriage. NOrmally it"s done in the bride"s own place but in Lin Li"s circ.u.mstances the hotel room will have to do.

*tangyuan - Chinese dessert made from glutinous rice flour. It is similar sounding to reunion in Mandarin and is eaten whenever there is a gathering or to celebrate being together i.e. family gathering during chinese new year

*Xiao Li - endearing term for Lin Li, the Xiao means little

**The whole wedding starts with the groom going to fetch the bride from her place and pa.s.sing a series of obstacles to show his love for the bride. Typically the bride will have several "sisters" or female friends who blocks the groom from getting the bride till they are satisfied he has shown enough love for her. The groom, on the other hand will get his "brothers" or guy friends to attempt to pa.s.s the obstacles or tests the sisters set up. It"s a great big chaotic fun.

*Cheng Xiang"s - it actually reads Cheng Xu but there"s isn"t any mention of who this person is, so I defaulted it to Cheng Xiang instead. I feel it doesn"t take anything away from the story though. Tell me your views.

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I hope you"re not like me, I flip my keyboard after writing this chapter...