206 — The Wedding (1)

Qiao Mingran almost flew out of the chair she had sat in as she grabbed her son tightly, "Tinghua, what did you say?"

"Mother, please calm down. I said I have found someone that I'm about eighty percent sure is Elder Sister, but I still need to confirm it." Gao Tinghua said, patting his mother awkwardly.

Both of them were in his mother's study, seating across from each other. The ambience was scholarly, albeit a bit bare because Qiao Mingran didn't use it often.

Qiao Mingran calmed down, but she was still shaking visibly. While giving his mother some time to put herself together, Gao Tinghua looked around.

Since his relationship with his mother went sour many years ago, he had not come in here in a very long time.

Looking more closely, he could see lots of books arranged on the ornate ceiling to floor shelves. There were many titles, but the books were mainly on geography and how to find a missing person, in addition to books on management and novels.

From where Gao Tinghua sat, he could see a section that looked entirely devoted to newspapers and clippings.

No wonder she was so agitated.

Her obsession for more than three decades was finally about to bear positive fruit.

He was brought back to reality by the sound of his mother's voice, "So, so what do we do now? What next?"

"I'll make an appointment with her. I tried to get her hair or something for the DNA testing, but her husband to be is too—"

"She's getting married? Has the date been fixed?" Qiao Mingran's voice went up in anxiety.

In all her fantasies about her daughter, she had always thought that her daughter was long married and it was a minor regret of hers that she would never witness her wedding.

Gao Tinghua didn't want to go into complicated explanations, so he only nodded, "As far as I know, the wedding is this weekend."

"So soon? Have you done a background check on the groom? Is he a good person?"

Gao Tinghua hesitated. Of course he tried running a background check on Li Chuanmo, but as for the results he got, they were only what was known to the public. It showed how shrewd this Chairman Li was.

As to the question about him being a good person, Young Master Gao had to admit that he was conflicted. If he said Li Chuanmo was not a good person, then wouldn't that mean his sister was in trouble?

And if he said he was a good person, what good person would care less about business ethics and cause so much damage to his partnership with the foreign company?

So eventually he said, "We need to trust Elder Sister's eyes Mother. All I can say is that he is the chairman of one of the largest companies in the country, and he is really not simple."

Qiao Mingran fell silent, mulling over her son's words. Then she stated firmly, "I want to attend." Gao Tinghua looked like he was put in a tight spot.

If it was any other event, he would have made a guarantee to his mother on the spot. But this particular one was a bit tricky, especially since it would obviously be a cold day in hell before Li Chuanmo sends him an invitation.

Neither of the couple in question actually saw eye to eye with him, so it was going to be problematic.

Still, looking at the tears that had welled up in her eyes, he nodded. "Very well Mother, I will try my best."

That out of the way, Qiao Mingran began to ask him more questions about her, what she looked like, her job, her hobbies and so on.

Young Master Gao could only tell her to stem her enthusiasm. If she would really attend the wedding, it won't do for her to be this excited. She would scare Pei Yueran away!

Qiao Mingran nodded in tears. As long as she could see her daughter again, nothing else mattered.

*****

Saturday morning was ushered in by a snowstorm, large flakes dropping from the sky like someone sprayed a can of thick frosting cream.

Then, like a miracle, the sun came out. Even the weather forecast stations expressed their surprise, as it was expected to be gloomy throughout the day. It was unbelievable, to say the least.

As early as the crack of dawn, Pei Yueran had been woken up by her mother. In actual fact, she hadn't even been sleeping deeply, as the bundle of nerves she had become had made sleep elusive.

By the time she finished soaking in the rose petal shower arranged for her by the hotel, Su Qianhua had arrived.

"The latest bride in town!!!" Su Qianhua hailed, while her friend blushed prettily.

They were still hugging each other when the wedding styling team from Mandarin arrived.

After that, it was a flurry of activities. Pei Yueran was pulled here and there. Hair styling, makeup and doing her nails took more than three hours. The stylists were very conscientious because they wanted to produce a masterpiece.

Su Qianhua came to sit by her after she was done dressing up, trying to make her laugh and take her mind away from the monotonous chore.

When she started to put on her wedding dress, Su Qianhua remembered to ask, "Why aren't you wearing my gift? That lingerie is guaranteed to turn Boss Li's brain to mush, trust me. You should give him a treat."

Pei Yueran's expertly lined eyes widened in shock, before her cheeks turned redder than the light blush that had already been applied to her cheeks.

"Su Qianhua, don't talk nonsense!" She said in embarrassment. Couldn't she see that they had company? What would they think about her words?

Su Qianhua spread her hands out, "Where's the nonsense in my words? Isn't it true? I even bought two types, so if you don't want to go for the sexy bold red lace, you could go the innocently seductive route with the black—"

Her voice that was so matter of fact was cut off because Pei Yueran shoved a piece of chocolate into her mouth. "Qianhua, please stop. I'll wear it later, okay?"

Despite the calm that the team tried to show, smiles that they couldn't hide were already breaking out on their lips. She was sure they would have been laughing at her by now if they weren't trying to be professional.

Director Zhou, who had no such scruples, laughed gaily at the expense of her blushing daughter, "Tell her for me Hua'er, she is still so uptight at this time. Won't my Son-in-law suffer?" Her daughter's innocence at this time was really headache-inducing!

"Mom!" Pei Yueran complained.

Su Qianhua nodded in satisfaction as she savored the sweet taste in her mouth, "At least she has now agreed to wear it, Auntie Zhou. That's good. Don't say I'm too meddlesome Ranran, it's all for your marital happiness."