Sitting on the horse, Mai Ding turned his head toward An Zi Yan. “An Zi Yan, even if you wanted to surprise me, did you really have to torment me that much?”
“I fulfilled all those weird tastes of yours. You should satisfy mine a little too.” An Zi Yan spoke as though this were perfectly reasonable.
Mai Ding immediately objected. “You have no idea how miserable I was just now.”
“You think wearing this makes me happy?” An Zi Yan actually had a point. Arranging this entire fairy-tale wedding was a form of torture for someone as cold and allergic to sentimentality as he was.
“You could’ve just not dressed like that.” Mai Ding pouted.
An Zi Yan lowered his head from behind and brushed against Mai Ding’s ear, breathing softly beside it. “I’m dressed like this to make a certain someone happy.”
A single sentence was enough to melt an entire heart, but Mai Ding deliberately asked, “Who’s ‘a certain someone’?” He simply wanted to hear An Zi Yan say his name.
“If you don’t know, then I definitely don’t.”
“An Zi Yan, you!” Mai Ding jabbed him in the stomach with his elbow.
An Zi Yan chuckled. Mai Ding froze. An Zi Yan had smiled so much today that it almost felt like a dream. An Zi Yan lifted his chin toward the front. “We’re here.”
This time, Mai Ding truly felt as though he had entered a dream. He stared in disbelief at the castle ahead and the colorful balloons scattered everywhere. Soft lights glowed along the castle walls, illuminating the entire sky around it. A red carpet stretched from the magnificent castle doors all the way to Mai Ding’s feet. Balloons surrounded both sides of the carpet. Rows of people dressed in soldiers’ uniforms stood neatly at attention.
An Zi Yan jumped down from the horse. Mai Ding remained sitting there, completely stunned by the sight.
“Th-This… why… castle… here…” He couldn’t even form a proper sentence.
“The castle was always here. I deliberately left that brochure on your desk. I just happened to hide the part about the castle.”
“How did you know I’d choose the resort from your brochure?!”
“You think I don’t know what you like?”
So everything had been arranged by An Zi Yan from the beginning. Mai Ding no longer knew what expression he was supposed to make. Should he cry? Should he laugh? He reached both arms toward An Zi Yan. An Zi Yan lifted him down from the horse.
Holding Mai Ding’s hand, he stepped onto the red carpet. The moment they did, the people standing on both sides simultaneously placed their hands over their chests and lowered their heads respectfully in greeting. Every step Mai Ding took was cautious, as though one careless movement might shatter the wedding beneath his feet. When they reached the castle entrance, the enormous doors opened. Mai Ding’s dad stood there dressed like a king. He looked slightly ridiculous, but Mai Ding couldn’t bring himself to laugh at all. Yes, everyone had joined forces to torment him, but this meticulously arranged wedding had completely captured his heart.
White gauze suddenly descended from above and surrounded Mai Ding on all sides. At some point, An Zi Yan disappeared from beside him. Mai Ding’s dad entered the gauzy enclosure and smiled as he placed Mai Ding’s hand through the crook of his arm. The clock inside the hall reached twelve. Music began playing.
Mai Ding’s dad escorted him forward. There before him was a fairy-tale world created solely for Mai Ding. Bai Xiao Si was dressed as Snow White. Ellen was Cinderella. Every single person had become a fairy-tale character. An Zi Yan stood not far away, smiling at him. Like a prince. He had given Mai Ding the kind of wedding only a prince could give. An Zi Yan walked forward and took Mai Ding’s hand from his father. Together, they walked onto the platform. The priest, dressed as the Mad Hatter, was already standing there. “Do you have anything you wish to say?” Why did that sound more like something someone asked right before an execution?
Mai Ding blurted anxiously, “I do!” Was that too eager? Not reserved enough?
The priest coughed lightly and turned to An Zi Yan. “And you?”
An Zi Yan looked at Mai Ding. Under that gentle gaze, Mai Ding felt as though he were going to melt. An Zi Yan said softly, “Darling, you look beautiful tonight.” Then he pulled Mai Ding close and lowered his head into a deep kiss.
Cheers erupted below. Two little fairies with wings attached to their backs carried the rings forward. Both little fairies were boys. Very appropriate for the theme. The Mad Hatter coughed again, trying to stop the spectacle. They hadn’t even started the vows yet. Of everyone below, Su Xiao Mi—dressed as SpongeBob SquarePants—was by far the most excited. His neck had turned red as he screamed enthusiastically, “French kiss! French kiss! French kiss!” Yan Yan shot him one glance. Su Xiao Mi immediately went silent, then looked back at Yan Yan. “Yan~ You’re being so uncooperative. Everyone agreed to dress as fairy-tale characters, but you came dressed like a normal person. Aren’t you deliberately refusing to fit in?”
There was no chance Yan Yan would ever wear something ridiculous like that. He could already tell how uncomfortable An Zi Yan felt in his prince costume. “Who told you SpongeBob was a fairy-tale character? He’s an animated character at best.”
“What?! Why didn’t you remind me when we were at home? Do you know how heavy this costume was to bring here? That’s too much! If I’d known earlier, I would’ve dressed as Hello Kitty.”
“Pretend I said nothing.”
Mai Ding secretly slipped the vows he had prepared to the Mad Hatter and made frantic faces at him, signaling that he should read exactly what Mai Ding had written. The Mad Hatter frowned but ultimately indulged the newlywed. “Mr. An Zi Yan, today is a sacred day. Surely you would not risk being struck by lightning from heaven by saying no. In the years ahead, are you willing to cherish Mai Ding, never prank Mai Ding, never order Mai Ding around, never ignore Mai Ding when he speaks, allow Mai Ding to touch your piano however he likes without being scolded, allow Mai Ding to enter and leave any room freely, allow Mai Ding to say more than ten cheesy things every day, and tell Mai Ding you love him every single day…” What kind of wedding vow was this? It was basically a wish list. Even the people below were rolling their eyes. Before the Mad Hatter could finish, An Zi Yan interrupted. “I refuse. Stop rambling. Hurry up.”
“Why? I think those vows are great.”
“Too many demands will only hurt you.” An Zi Yan spoke coldly, then swept a glance toward the Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter startled and immediately sped up. “Then, for the rest of your lives, are you willing to live together, love one another, spend your lives unable to have children together, never violate your vows, and continue loving each other forever?”
Mai Ding immediately became unhappy. What kind of vow was that?! It was practically stabbing directly into his sore spot. So he couldn’t give birth. So what?!
“I do.” An Zi Yan cooperatively picked up the ring and took Mai Ding’s hand. He gently slid it onto Mai Ding’s ring finger. Mai Ding stared at the ring on his hand, then at An Zi Yan. Thousands of emotions filled his heart, yet every one of them seemed jammed inside his chest, leaving him unable to say anything. He could only stupidly pick up the other ring and slide it onto An Zi Yan’s finger. Then he threw himself onto An Zi Yan. “I do! I do!”
How long had he waited for this moment? Mai Ding could no longer remember. Now that it had finally arrived, real and tangible, it somehow felt unreal. The restless heart inside his chest kept pounding, desperately trying to express how much he loved this person. From their first meeting until now, Mai Ding had forgotten just how many hardships they had gone through along the way. But he had carved every fragment of happiness permanently into his heart.
There was nothing extravagant about it. Our ordinary love was still going on.
The surrounding lights dimmed. Only one large circle remained illuminated at the center. A band dressed as dwarfs began playing soft music. An Zi Yan bent slightly at the waist and extended one hand toward Mai Ding like a gentleman. Mai Ding assumed he was being invited to dance. Instant regret struck him. Why hadn’t he learned more ballroom dancing before this?! He couldn’t possibly ruin such a perfect wedding with his imperfect dancing. Just as Mai Ding was struggling, An Zi Yan forcibly dragged him into the circle. Mai Ding had no choice but to brace himself and assume a ballroom-dancing posture.
“What are you doing?”
“Aren’t we dancing?”
“Who wants to dance with you?”
“Then what are you—ahhh!” Mai Ding screamed, frightening quite a few people. The circle wasn’t merely a platform. It was an elevator. The platform began rising higher and higher until it reached the rooftop. A cool breeze brushed across Mai Ding’s face. From this height, he could see the entire resort glittering with lights. Unfortunately, there were only a handful of stars in the sky. No matter how good An Zi Yan was at arranging things, even he couldn’t defeat heaven. Su Xiao Mi’s voice floated up from below. “Mai Mai! Throw the flowers down! Throw them!”
Bai Xiao Si and An Su shoved Su Xiao Mi aside. “Why are you joining in? Catching the bouquet is for unmarried people like us. You’re already a married woman. What are you doing making trouble here?”
“What married woman?! That sounds awful! I’m a young married woman. And who says married people can’t catch bouquets? I like that star bouquet. It’s so pretty! I want to take it home.”
Mai Ding laughed and threw the flowers from above. Everyone below fought for them. Clearly, none of these people actually wanted to get married. They simply enjoyed fighting for the lucky symbolism. Even Mai Ding’s mom, Mai Ding’s dad, and Grandpa An joined in. Were they deliberately trying to cause chaos? But the truth was, the more you didn’t want something, the more it seemed determined to come directly toward you. The glowing bouquet dropped straight into Yan Yan’s arms. Su Xiao Mi was so moved that tears nearly burst from his eyes. “Yan~ I knew you loved me most! You knew I liked them, so you deliberately caught them for me.”
“You’re imagining things.” Even so, Yan Yan tossed the bouquet over to Su Xiao Mi. Su Xiao Mi happily held it while swaying his head back and forth. Everyone else lost interest and began dispersing toward the castle doors.
After throwing the bouquet, Mai Ding tilted his head. “Why did you bring me up here? There’s nothing here.”
Mai Ding looked around. Other than the wider view, there really wasn’t anything. An Zi Yan let out a sharp whistle. Mai Ding looked curiously toward the darkness surrounding the castle. Tiny points of light appeared. They looked like fireflies. The “fireflies” rose higher and higher. Only then did Mai Ding finally realize what they were. Sky lanterns. One lantern after another slowly floated upward. Hundreds gathered together, rising higher, drifting past the castle, drifting beside Mai Ding, then floating into the sky. They became a river of stars close enough to touch. Mai Ding extended his little finger and hooked it around An Zi Yan’s.
There had already been so many shocks and so much emotion today. It had never stopped. One wave simply rose higher than the last. The scent of love seemed to float through the air until it filled the entire world.
“I’ve never seen you this gentle before.”
“You’d better prepare yourself. This is the last time you’ll ever see it in this lifetime.”
“What do you mean? Can’t you stay this way?”
“I already look like this. If I stayed gentle too, I’d be too perfect. Being human would become exhausting.”
“You shameless bastard.”
Mai Ding rested his head against An Zi Yan’s shoulder. “An Zi Yan, we’re going to stay together forever, right? Right?”
“Mm.”
“An Zi Yan.”
“Mm.”
“Thank you for everything you’ve given me.”
“It was yours to begin with.”
Maybe our love will never receive the blessing of most people. Maybe others will never understand how someone like you and someone like me could possibly end up together. Maybe the road ahead will be harder. But maybe is only a hypothesis. The reality standing before us is that we have received the blessings of those who love us. Someone like you married someone like me, and from now on, you will always be there on this road with me.
Anyone who refuses to learn how to be happy is an idiot—
END. Again.
Maybe there will be extras.
Maybe.
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