You were supposed to have a fake marriage with the diva, so how did you become her father?

At 10:40 a.m., the music on the lawn changed from the previous soothing piano piece to a string quartet version, with a slightly higher tempo, giving it a sense of ritual that "the show is about to begin".

The host stood to the side of the flower stand, holding a silver wireless microphone. He scanned the white chairs on the lawn and waited until the people in the last few rows silenced their phones before speaking.

"Distinguished guests, welcome to this lawn in the western suburbs of Shanghai to witness the wedding of Mr. Lu Ran and Ms. Shen Yuege. I am your host today, my surname is Wang, you can call me Lao Wang." When he said this, a polite laugh came from the audience, and someone whispered and repeated the words "Lao Wang", thinking that this self-designation was a bit novel at a wedding.

Old Wang didn't pause for long before continuing, "When I received the wedding plan, I glanced at the schedule and found it was packed with activities, from the entrance to the vows to singing to exchanging rings, interspersed with two musical performances and a speech from relatives and friends. I thought to myself, this couple's wedding is even more tightly packed than the Spring Festival Gala."

He chuckled self-deprecatingly, "But it's alright. I, Old Wang, may not have many other skills, but I'm quite good at managing a situation. Today, everyone is here, so just sit and watch. I'll handle the flow, and I guarantee there won't be any awkward silences or dragging on."

Another burst of laughter erupted from the audience. Priscilla Chan, sitting in the first row, laughed heartily, while Shen Zhiwei next to her, though not laughing out loud, had a smile playing on his lips.

"Now, according to the traditions of our Dragon Kingdom and the wishes of the newlyweds, the wedding ceremony will officially begin. First, please invite the officiant to the stage." Old Wang turned to the side of the stage and gestured for them to come forward.

The officiant was specially invited by Lu Ran. He was a senior colleague he met in the early days of TUTU, surnamed Li. Li had worked in the game industry for more than ten years before retiring, but he had maintained contact with Lu Ran.

Today, Mr. Li was dressed in a dark blue Zhongshan suit, his hair was neatly combed, and after standing in front of the flower stand, he first bowed slightly to the audience, then took out his reading glasses and put them on, and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it.

"Distinguished guests, I've been invited by the newlyweds to be their officiant today." Mr. Li's voice had a slight hoarseness typical of older people, but his enunciation was clear. "When I met Lu Ran, his company was still operating in that old building. The office door wouldn't close properly, and in the summer, all the cool air would escape when the air conditioner was on. Back then, he told me he wanted to grow the company and create games that players would remember. I thought to myself, 'It's good that young people have ambition, but making games isn't easy.' Now, several years later, I'm sitting here on this lawn watching him get married, and his company has expanded overseas. I can only say one thing—young people keep their word, and they live a solid life."

He glanced down at the paper in his hand, read aloud a passage from the marriage vows, essentially confirming that the two newlyweds voluntarily entered into marriage, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Marriage Law, as well as social morality and family ethics. After finishing, he signed his name at the end of the paper and handed it to the staff member next to him.

Applause broke out from the audience, brief but sincere. Old Master Li put away his reading glasses, bowed, and walked off the stage. As he passed Lu Ran, he patted him on the shoulder without saying a word, just a quick pat and that was it.

Old Wang took the microphone again: "Thank you, Mr. Li, for officiating the wedding. Now, for the next part, which everyone has been waiting for a while—please, the newlyweds, stand facing each other and say a few words to one another."

The lawn fell silent. Lu Ran stood under the flower trellis, turning to face Shen Yuege.

Shen Yuege stood a step away from him, the hem of her white wedding dress spread out at her feet, and her veil hung over her shoulders, the silver threads at the edges shimmering intermittently in the midday light.

She held the bouquet of white roses and hydrangeas in her hand very steadily, her fingers gripping the stems where they were tied, her knuckles not turning white, showing that she was not nervous.

Lu Ran looked at her face and thought for a moment about what to say.

He had written the draft once before, but last night he felt it was too formal, so he deleted it and rewrote it. This morning, he forgot the draft on his desk when he left home, so now he only has a general direction in mind.

He spoke, his voice not loud, but the microphone picked up every word clearly.

"Shen Yuege. We haven't known each other for particularly long, but we've been through pretty much everything. I write songs and you sing them, I record songs and you listen, I revise lyrics late at night and you fall asleep on the sofa next to me, you record until the early hours and have an upset stomach in the recording studio, and I find you a cup of hot water. These things piled up one by one, until today, standing here, I feel there's no need to look for someone else." He paused, as if confirming that what he was about to say was accurate enough, "So today's wedding, for me, is about putting what's already confirmed in front of more people. Nothing else, it's just confirmed."

Shen Yuege stood opposite him, and after listening to his words, she did not speak immediately.

She looked down at the petals of the bouquet in her hand, as if confirming which line of her speech she was about to utter.

Then she raised her head, looking directly into his eyes, and spoke a little slower than usual, as if she had thought through each word before she spoke it.

"Lu Ran. I actually remember most of what you just said. When you were writing songs at home, I was on the sofa next to you looking at my phone. After you finished a section, you would turn around and ask me, 'How does this part sound?' Sometimes I wouldn't even be listening and would just say, 'It's good,' and you would continue writing. Later, I noticed that after you finished writing, you would play it back yourself, revise it, revise it, and play it back again. I knew that if you felt something wasn't good, you didn't need me to say anything; you would revise it until you were satisfied." As she said this, the corners of her mouth curved slightly, but the curve wasn't large, and her tone remained serious. "So, for today's wedding, I don't have anything particularly special to say. I just confirmed that I have no hesitation about spending my life with you."

After the two finished speaking, they stood quietly for two seconds, one step apart. No one in the audience made a sound. The only sounds on the lawn were the wind blowing from the distant lake and the faint clattering of the small light bulbs on the flower stand as they were blown by the wind.

Then Old Wang's voice rang out at the opportune moment, breaking the two-second silence: "Good. Both of you expressed your true feelings, not sentimental but very insightful. This is one of the most honest parts of a wedding I've ever seen. Next—"

He deliberately dragged out the last syllable, glancing slightly towards Lu Ran, "—There's one part that's not yet on the wedding agenda for today."

Someone in the audience gave a soft "oh." Zhou Mingzhe, who was sitting in the middle row and had been looking down at his phone, turned off the screen and looked up when he heard this.

Zhao Yiming, who was standing next to him, also put down the candy he was peeling, folded the candy wrapper in his hand, and stuffed it into his pocket.

Chen Mo sat down in a seat on the side and placed the teacup he was holding on the ground next to the chair.

"This step was requested by Mr. Lu himself, and he coordinated with us a week in advance to have all the equipment, music, and microphones tested."

Old Dynasty pointed to the side and back of the stage, where a standing microphone had appeared out of nowhere. The microphone's height had been adjusted so that it was facing the direction where Lu Ran was standing. Next to it, on the floor, was a music stand, but there were no scores on it; it was just standing there empty.

"So next, we'll dim the main lights in front of the flower stand and leave a spotlight on the groom. Mr. Lu Ran, please."

The rows of lights on both sides of the lawn dimmed one by one, leaving only the ring of warm-colored bulbs at the top of the flower stand and the spotlight behind the stage still lit.

The spotlight beam shone from the side, outlining Lu Ran's figure from the dark background. His dark gray suit had a soft, matte sheen under the light.

He walked behind the standing microphone and stood there, holding the microphone stand with one hand and letting the other hand hang at his side.

The spotlight shone directly on his face, but it wasn't too harsh, illuminating the contours of his face clearly yet softly.

The lawn fell completely silent; even the people who had been chatting quietly just moments before were now quiet.

Shen Zhiwei, sitting in the front row, straightened up a bit and placed his hands folded on his knees.

Priscilla Chan pulled a tissue out of her bag and held it in her hand, her movements very light but her fingertips already clenched tightly.

Shen Yuege stood at the edge of the shadow of the flower stand, the afterglow of the spotlight falling on the side of her wedding dress, illuminating half of her face and then dimming it again.

She was still holding the bouquet of flowers firmly in her hand, but her fingers were using a little more force than before.

The intro to the background music started.

It wasn't an instrumental version of the accompaniment; it was the original track of the accompaniment that came out of the speakers. The piano sound came out first, a few chords slowly unfolded, and then the strings layered on top of each other. When the melody came out from the direction of the microphone, it was as if something was gently supporting the lawn, and even the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the treetops became weaker than before.

Lu Ran stood behind the microphone and waited for the first part of the intro to finish before speaking at the transition between piano chords.

"Parting the dark clouds in the sky, it's as beautiful as blue velvet..."

...