Other men married at seventeen or eighteen and could enjoy marital life daily. He was already twenty-. Besides that time Xu Huaiqian helped with his initial heat, he was almost an old man without having enjoyed it once. Too tragic.
" Okay." If his husband wanted it, what could Xu Huaiqian do but agree?
" So good." Seeing Xu Huaiqian in his wedding clothes, face red, eyes lowered, agreeing to whatever he said, Chen Liejiu stood on his toes and kissed both of his flushed cheeks. " It's settled then. Don't sleep early tonight; wait for me."
Due to his health, Xu Huaiqian usually slept earlier than most, roughly after eating and digesting.
Tonight, with so many guests at the Chen house, Chen Liejiu couldn't just leave them outside. He had to see them off before returning to Xu Huaiqian for the wedding chamber.
But that would be very late. He didn't know if Xu Huaiqian could last that long.
"No, I won't." Xu Huaiqian's eyelashes trembled. His own wedding night—if he fell asleep early, he would vomit blood in frustration himself.
Moreover, he really wanted to tell Chen Liejiu: Don't worry, I'm even more anxious than you are.
He had been single for twenty-seven years. He was much more anxious. Right now, he wished he could instantly fast-forward to his and Chen Liejiu's wedding chamber moment to proceed with what he desired now.
But he couldn't. It was still noon, a long time until the dusk ceremony, and even longer until the wedding chamber.
"My A-Qian is so handsome." After their clingy moment, Chen Liejiu straightened Xu Huaiqian's kiss-mussed clothes, admiring him from all angles, feeling indescribably proud.
A sickly no wanted, he picked up and raised, and ended up with a peerlessly handsome Xiucai.
"My A-Jiu is also very handsome." Xu Huaiqian fastened Chen Liejiu's waistband. They had started kissing halfway through getting dressed.
If it was like this just putting clothes on, who knew how like dry wood meeting fierce flames—passionate it would be taking them off.
"Wait obediently for me to come lead you to the ceremony." After straightening their clothes, Chen Liejiu had to go out to greet the guests, while Xu Huaiqian, the live-in husband, had to wear a red veil and wait to be led out for the ceremony.
"Okay." Getting married for the first time, and following the bride's rituals, Xu Huaiqian was excited himself.
Such a novel experience.
It felt like he was really getting married, and to the person he loved!
Excitement, thrill, happiness—all sorts of joyful feelings filled him, impossible to describe in words. If you wanted to know, you'd have to experience it yourself.
Chen Liejiu, fully dressed in his wedding clothes, went out beaming with joy to receive the guests. In the courtyard, his red silk and Xu Huaiqian's red paper cutouts complemented each other, making everything today seem so perfect.
Many years later, Chen Liejiu, recalling this day, would still remember the feeling when he opened the door and saw the brilliant and grand wedding scene his little husband had prepared for him. It was the most beautiful among the many beautiful moments in his life.
At this moment, after admiring the wedding scene, Chen Liejiu suddenly felt it was too wrong to have interrupted the kiss with his little husband earlier.
They should have continued.
Kissed until the end of time.
As Chen Liejiu walked towards the courtyard, he looked at the windows, eaves, beams—even the sky above the entire courtyard was filled with knots Xu Huaiqian had made by hand and the small paper figures of them he had cut by hand.
With a smile on his lips, he went to greet the guests outside who were even more astonished than he was: "Welcome, welcome."
Clearly, the surprises Xu Huaiqian prepared weren't limited to this. When Chen Jinhu walked towards him smiling, looking like a normal person, Chen Liejiu's eyes stalled for a moment: "Little Tiger?"
"Big Brother." Chen Jinhu walked a few steps in front of him. "Does my walking look good like this?"
"Good looking." Chen Liejiu nodded, looking at his feet. "Your leg?"
"Second Brother thought of a solution for me," Chen Jinhu explained the secret of the shoes. "After I got used to it, I can walk like a normal person too."
Although the disability hadn't changed, this was already very good, much better than the crooked walking before.
"Wonderful. Your Second Brother is wonderful." At this moment, Chen Liejiu couldn't describe his feelings; he felt completely wrapped in a sensation called happiness.
Since his parents passed away, this feeling had never appeared again, but now it was back.
Returning to tell him.
He was no longer some raising his siblings al; he also had some to cherish and love him.
His A-Qian loved him.
"Yes, Second Brother is wonderful." Before returning, Chen Jinhu couldn't have imagined his Second Brother would be like this—so good it was almost hard to believe such a person existed in the world.
"Go greet the guests." Chen Liejiu patted his shoulder. Xu Huaiqian had given him the best; he also had to give the best to A-Qian. He couldn't allow the slightest mistake in their wedding today.
"Mm." Chen Jinhu was also wearing red today, though not as vivid as Chen Liejiu's, which was so bright it seemed the man's line between his brows would drip blood.
While Chen Liejiu was outside receiving guests, Xu Huaiqian wasn't idle inside either. He tested the room's temperature and lit two more braziers, to prevent his cold-intolerant body from freezing during... activities with his A-Jiu later, unable to endure it.
Just as he was leisurely poking the fire with fire tongs, the door of the bridal chamber creaked open, pushed open from outside.
"Who is it?" Xu Huaiqian slowly looked up and saw a aged face.
"Huaiqian [Erlang]?" Grandpa Xu hadn't seen Xu Huaiqian for a long time. Seeing the,, elegant, refreshingly handsome, and extraordinary Xu Huaiqian now, he hardly dared to recognize him.
"...Oh, Xu—" Not having seen the Xu family for a long time, suddenly seeing Grandpa Xu, Xu Huaiqian almost didn't recognize him. As the original host's memories surfaced, he almost blurted out his real name. He paused, then reluctantly called out, "Grandpa."