Shu Qingqing glanced at her phone a few more times. The article mentioned that her wedding dress was actually worth fifty million.
Her heart ached instantly. A wedding dress is only worn once in a lifetime; twenty million was truly too extravagant.
And the fresh flowers covering the entire estate cost ten million. They were just for one-time use, practically more expensive than the dress itself.
Lu Bochuan chuckled and took the phone from her to take a look. "The report is wrong."
Shu Qingqing looked up. "What's wrong about it?"
Lu Bochuan replied, "The one billion actually includes the cost of buying the estate. Plus, after the news of our wedding came out, the company's stock price went straight up by five percent, so we actually made a profit."
Shu Qingqing was surprised. "Getting married can actually make a company's stock price surge?"
Lu Bochuan nodded. "A stable marriage for a company's executive is a signal of controllable risk, which greatly boosts investor confidence."
Shu Qingqing's eyes instantly lit up. "That's wonderful! When it's Lu Yu's turn to get married, we have to throw him a super grand wedding too."
"Lu Yu's matter isn't urgent. Let's get down to business first." Lu Bochuan bent down, scooped her up in his arms, and strode toward the bathroom.
The bathroom was also decorated very romantically. There were festive double-happiness characters, various heart-shaped ornaments, and pink balloons everywhere.
Before Shu Qingqing could even admire the decor, she was kissed until her head spun.
Then, she felt a hand reaching over.
Lu Bochuan habitually reached to unfasten the hidden clasp on her back, but only touched smooth skin.
His palm probed further up, but still felt nothing.
Realizing what he was doing, Shu Qingqing suddenly laughed.
She took Lu Bochuan's hand and guided it slowly downward.
Lu Bochuan soon touched a thin strap.
Before he could wonder about it, Shu Qingqing had already slipped off her outer garment.
Unlike her usual styles, a thin strap was tied around her slender neck. On the red silk fabric, the embroidery of mandarin ducks playing in the water was exceptionally lifelike.
Further down, two more thin straps were tied around her back.
"Does it look good? I prepared this especially for our wedding night," Shu Qingqing said, her voice tinged with shyness.
Lu Bochuan's Adam's apple bobbed before he nodded. "It looks good. Very beautiful."
And then, his palm slowly rested on the thin strap.
She didn't know how much time had passed before Shu Qingqing felt herself being carried to the bed.
Having tossed and turned for so long, she was truly exhausted. She didn't even want to open her eyes, simply letting Lu Bochuan help her into her clothes and tuck her in.
Though tired, she was still somewhat conscious. When a good while passed without him holding her from behind, she finally opened her eyes.
Then she saw Lu Bochuan pull out one of his own hairs, and then use scissors to snip one of hers.
"What are you doing?" Shu Qingqing asked.
"To grow old together with white hair, forever united in one heart." Lu Bochuan intertwined the two strands of hair, took a small red brocade pouch from the drawer, carefully placed the hair inside, and tucked it under their pillows.
The corners of Shu Qingqing's lips curled up.
How wonderful. A romance uniquely belonging to the Chinese.
The next day, Shu Qingqing slept straight through until nearly noon.
Just as she was about to get out of bed upon waking, she was scooped up by Lu Bochuan. "Wash up first. After we eat something, we're off on our honeymoon."
Shu Qingqing originally wanted to let Lu Yu and Lu Xun know, but Lu Bochuan gave her no time at all. As soon as she finished eating, he immediately whisked her onto a private jet.
When they landed again, they were in the Maldives.
Just like the advertising slogans, the sea here was as blue as the sky.
Lu Bochuan had rented out an entire small island, preparing for a honeymoon that belonged only to the two of them.
However, ideals are full, but reality is skinny. On their second day there, Lu Xun kept calling Shu Qingqing.
"Mom, another day has passed. Are you and Dad still not coming back?" On the video call, Lu Xun's little mouth was pouting high.
"Count thirteen more days, and Dad and Mom will be back." Their honeymoon trip this time was planned for half a month.
Lu Xun puffed out his cheeks and scribbled on his notebook. "Okay then, I'll wait for Mom for another thirteen days. Mom, let me tell you, today at kindergarten..."
Watching his youngest son chattering non-stop on the screen, Lu Bochuan frowned deeper and deeper.
Women are soft-hearted after all. Every time Lu Xun called, Shu Qingqing would say she'd only chat for a few words before hanging up. But every time the call connected and Lu Xun acted cute, it never lasted less than half an hour.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Bochuan walked over to the network cable and fiddled with it a few times.
Shu Qingqing and Lu Xun were in the middle of chatting when the video was suddenly disconnected. Looking again, she saw there was no signal at all.
"Lu Bochuan, the internet here dropped. Have the staff come over quickly to fix it."
Lu Bochuan took the phone from her hand, placed it in the drawer, and closed it. "The staff are all off today. It's actually perfect that there's no signal; this way, no one will come to disturb us."
Shu Qingqing said, "But we've already played almost all the entertainment activities here. If we don't look at our phones, it'll be so boring."
"It won't be boring. We can still do a lot of interesting things."
Following Lu Bochuan's gaze, Shu Qingqing saw a bed placed not far away. The bed was strewn with fresh flowers, and the white drapes around it swayed gently with the soft sea breeze.
Shu Qingqing paused. Putting a bed out here... it couldn't be what she was thinking, right?
She looked up into Lu Bochuan's eyes and, sure enough, saw him nod.
Shu Qingqing stammered, "Wait, you... when did you have them set this up? No, no, it's not just the two of us here."
"The staff left a long time ago. I promise they won't come back." Lu Bochuan bent over and lifted her into his arms. "Last time you promised me we'd try a new position. Isn't it time to fulfill that promise?"
The sea breeze was gentle, and the night was still long.
For the final stop of their honeymoon, they went to Paris.
The Seine River at dusk was tranquil and soft, and the love locks on the bridge were a unique sight.
Before leaving, Lu Bochuan also bought a lock.
He then picked and chose for a long time before finding a good spot.
Holding Shu Qingqing's hand, Lu Bochuan was just about to attach the lock when a man and a woman walked up next to them. The two chattered away and started digging through the pile of locks.
The two were speaking French, which Shu Qingqing couldn't understand.
"What are they doing?"
Just as Shu Qingqing asked, she saw Lu Bochuan frown and pull her away.
"What's wrong? Didn't you say the view from this spot was good?"
Lu Bochuan looked completely serious. "Those two are breaking up and want to remove their love lock. The feng shui over there is bad. Let's hang ours somewhere else and not be next to them."
Shu Qingqing burst out laughing.
Lu Bochuan looked a bit childish like this, yet extremely cute.
"Alright, let's change spots and stay a little further away from them."
The evening sun stretched their shadows long. In the gentle breeze, with their hands overlapping, they devoutly fastened the lock tight.
