The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

January 22nd, the third day of the Lunar New Year, the weather is sunny, auspicious for weddings.

The Yuntianlou International Hotel, which is usually bustling with guests, is turning away all visitors today.

Bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses, wearing badges from the Sinian Group, surrounded the hotel building in layers, creating an extremely serious scene.

"My God, Yuntianlou! The most luxurious den of iniquity in Yuncheng!" Xiao Chen rolled down the taxi window, looked at the blocked-off building in the distance, and couldn't help but gasp in amazement. "Old Jiang, are you sure we're not in the wrong place? Is Uncle Xu and his wife having their wedding here?"

"Of course, how could it be fake?" Jiang Xun opened the wedding invitation embroidered with gold and silver brocade and carefully read the address on it. "There's only one Yuntianlou in the entire Yuncheng. We can't possibly go to the wrong place."

"This is my first time at Yuntianlou," Luo Chen said, looking at the magnificent hotel building with the curiosity of a curious child.

"So luxurious, so grand, but why do I feel... like this is an execution ground?" Su Zhe muttered to himself as he sat in the front row.

Hearing this, Jiang Xun raised an eyebrow and smiled, "That's normal. What are Uncle Xu and his wife's status? For such an important event, they definitely need to have tight security."

"That's true." Su Zhe nodded slightly.

The four of them got out of the car at the hotel entrance, and a waiter in work clothes quickly came to greet them.

"Gentlemen, hello! Yuntianlou Hotel is currently undergoing renovations and upgrades and is not accepting guests from outside the hotel. We apologize for the inconvenience. Did any of you make reservations in advance?"

Jiang Xun nodded and handed out the wedding invitations to the four of them one by one.

After checking each of them, the waiter quickly bowed to them and said, "So you are Mr. Xu's guests. Please follow me."

The four accepted the invitations and followed the waiter into the hotel building.

The moment I entered the building, the view opened up before me.

Beautiful colorful balls, an exquisite red carpet, white rose petals fluttering everywhere, and a huge mural hanging on the wall—it's all Xu Nian and Xu Xi's wedding photo.

Below, written in elegant handwriting, is the wedding ceremony of Mr. Xu Nian and Ms. Xu Xi.

At this moment, the four of them finally realized that they had not come to the wrong place.

"My goodness, Uncle Xu is really generous." Xiao Chen silently calculated in his mind, "Booking the entire Yuntian Tower to celebrate the wedding, that must cost... at least... tens of millions of yuan."

"It's not just that." Jiang Xun, who had seen a lot, put his hands behind his head and explained, "For landmark hotels like this, you can't just rely on money to book the whole place; you also need connections and relationships."

"This is really expensive," Xiao Chen murmured.

Jiang Xun smiled gently: "A wedding is a major life event, and money is just an external thing. This price is nothing to Uncle Xu."

Led by a waiter, the group entered the sightseeing elevator and ascended to the banquet hall floor.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, a lively atmosphere instantly enveloped them.

The magnificent venue was filled with elegantly dressed men and women, as well as important figures who are usually only seen on television and in the news. They gathered here, clinking glasses and chatting happily.

"My God, isn't that Wen Yao, the current boss of the Sinian Group? The tycoon of the business world! The wealthiest woman in the country!"

"Look at that man over there, isn't that Qi Yu, the rural teacher who was featured on the 'Touching China' program a couple of days ago? He has traveled to countless towns and villages over the past ten years. The Minister of Education from Beijing personally presented him with an award. My mom was talking about him to me last night, telling me to take Teacher Qi Yu as my role model."

"My goodness, am I seeing things? Look at that old man, he's a true member of the first generation of revolutionaries! I've seen him on TV before, he has more medals on his chest than Su Xunzong!"

Standing among these top figures, several simply dressed young men couldn't help but feel at a loss.

Even Jiang Xun, who was well-informed, broke out in a cold sweat.

As a business family, his family has many connections in political circles in various places.

He had personally witnessed his parents bowing and scraping before these connections.

Those so-called connections, in front of the important figures present today, probably don't even deserve to carry their shoes.

Four naive teenagers stood in the banquet hall, looking like country bumpkins visiting the Grand View Garden, even their breathing became cautious.

Suddenly, someone patted them on the back.

"Hey, when did you guys arrive? Why didn't you send me a message?"

Xu Nian appeared behind them with a smile.

Today, he was dressed in a handsome evening suit, with crisp trousers and leather shoes. He combed his hair into a mature style and had a confident, sunny smile on his face, exuding the aura of a male star from Hong Kong movies in the 1990s.

"We just arrived not long ago, and we were afraid of holding up Uncle Xu," Jiang Xun said sheepishly, scratching his head. "Uncle Xu, you must have been very busy today?"

"Sigh, you bet." Xu Nian smiled helplessly. "I didn't sleep a wink last night, and I rushed over at dawn to start working."

"Are you busy? Brother, you're clearly too excited to sleep."

A soft, ethereal voice drifted from afar.

Jiang Xun and the others looked in the direction of the sound and their eyes widened in surprise.

Xu Xi, dressed in pure white gauze, appeared in their sight with a smile.

Countless exquisite hairpins held her silver hair high in an updo, and her already delicate and pretty face, paired with her exquisite makeup, was simply breathtakingly beautiful.

The long skirt trailed on the ground, like a hazy cloud.

She almost never wears makeup, not because makeup doesn't look good, but because her natural face is beautiful enough and doesn't need any extra embellishment.

Today is the most important day of her life, and also the only day she ever wore a full face of makeup.

The woman walking towards them didn't seem like a beautiful woman from the mortal world, but rather a celestial being.

Wherever it passed, all light seemed dim, and all flowers seemed vulgar.

Like an angel from a fairy tale, she quietly descended to earth.

Xu Xi stopped in front of the stunned group, gently took Xu Nian's arm, and waved to the boys with a smile: "Good afternoon! Thank you for coming to my brother's and my wedding."

"Hello, sister-in-law!" Jiang Xun was the first to react, handing out the red envelopes that the others had prepared to Xu Nian and Xu Xi one by one. "Uncle Xu, sister-in-law, happy wedding."

"Hehe, thank you all." Xu Xi didn't stand on ceremony with the boys and accepted the red envelopes with a light smile.

Then, she took four gift boxes from Zhao Lin beside her and handed them to the four boys one by one.

"Hey, sister-in-law, is this wedding candy?"

As soon as Xiao Chen received the gift box, his mouth watered without him even realizing it.

The gift boxes were exquisitely packaged, and each person's gift box had their name printed on it with beautiful ink.

The wedding candy from such an awesome celebrity's wedding must be incredibly delicious.

Xu Xi covered her mouth and chuckled: "These are our wedding favors. In addition to wedding candies, we've also prepared special gifts according to each of your individual preferences."

"Really?" Luo Chen's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly opened his gift box.

A flash of light appeared, and the moment Luo Chen saw the contents of the box, he was so excited he almost shouted out loud.

Inside the gift box, a beautiful anime figurine lay quietly.

This is a figurine he has longed for, but has been deterred by its price.

Of course, this alone wouldn't have made him so excited.

Most importantly, the figure's packaging box prominently displays the autograph of the voice actor for this anime character!

With this signature, the value of the figurine can no longer be measured in money; for true anime and manga enthusiasts, it's priceless and unavailable.

The others who witnessed this scene gasped, looked down at the gift boxes in their hands, and unconsciously swallowed.

With Luo Chen as an example, it seems that the gift boxes they hold also contain some priceless surprises.

No one chose to open it on the spot anymore; they were afraid they wouldn't be able to control their excitement and shout loudly on the spot.

"Hehe, I'm sure you'll like it." Xu Xi noticed the expressions on their faces and smiled, her eyes crinkling.

"Thank you, sister-in-law!"

"Thank you, sister-in-law!"

The boys could not hide their excitement and thanked Xu Xi repeatedly.

"Don't be shy, I hope everyone has a great time!"

Zhao Lin whispered a few words in Xu Xi's ear. Xu Xi nodded and waved to the boys, "Excuse me, the wedding is about to start. My brother and I need to touch up our makeup."

Goodbye, sister-in-law.

"Uncle Xu, sister-in-law, happy wedding!"

After instructing Long Teng to come and lead the boys to their respective seats, Xu Nian and Xu Xi went to the dressing room behind the scenes.

"How is it, brother? Are you so excited your heart is about to jump out of your chest?"

Xu Xi linked arms with the man and said with a smile.

Xu Nian nodded slightly: "You too, right?"

"I didn't," Xu Xi blinked, feigning composure.

But her slightly trembling little hands had already betrayed her true feelings.

"Xi Bao, hurry up! Uncle Zhang said it's almost time!" Wen Yao led a group of makeup artists in, surrounding the two of them and starting to do their final touch-ups.

Standing beside the main stage, Zhang Feng straightened the bow tie on his tuxedo, picked up the microphone, and slowly walked onto the stage.

"Dear guests, friends who have traveled from afar, good afternoon!"

His powerful voice carried through the speakers to every corner of the banquet hall.

People in the audience all looked up and turned their attention to the chubby figure on the stage.

The emcee is the host of a wedding and has the most lines, second only to the bride and groom in importance.

Choosing Zhang Feng to be the emcee for their wedding was a decision Xu Nian and Xu Xi made together after careful consideration.

As the elder who knows the couple best and a benefactor who has helped them countless times along the way, there is almost no one in the world more qualified than Zhang Feng to officiate their wedding.

Zhang Feng's gaze swept across the audience, a slight nervousness creeping into his heart.

Even though there weren't many witnesses to the wedding—Xu Nian and Xu Xi only invited their friends and some close acquaintances—Zhang Feng was still under considerable pressure.

Xu Nian and Xu Xi were children he watched grow up, and in his heart, they were just like his own children.

His children entrusted him with such an important task, and as their father, he absolutely could not fail them.

He took a deep breath and recited the opening remarks that he had memorized many times before.

"It is a great honor to be able to gather here with everyone on such a beautiful and special day to witness the most important moment in Xiao Nian and Xiao Xi's lives."

"On behalf of the newlyweds, I would like to extend our warmest welcome and heartfelt thanks to everyone for coming. Welcome, everyone!"

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.

Have you ever heard of the term "wild child"?

"When I was a child, my parents would call naughty, lively, and active children 'wild children'."

"I was three years old when I was climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles, so I am honored to have been called a 'wild child'."

"When my parents called me that, they were always holding a rough twig."

"Every time this happens, I know my butt is going to get a good spanking, and I'll be lying on the bed crying in pain for the next few days."

As soon as he finished speaking, bursts of laughter erupted from the audience.

Zhang Feng chuckled awkwardly and continued.

"Later, I grew up with the title of 'wild child,' started working, and like most of the wild children who grew up with me, I devoted myself to the grassroots level of the country, contributing my own strength to society."

"At this point, we got another name for him: police officer."

"Even my parents have started to look at me properly and stop calling me a 'wild child' all the time."

"I thought this word would gradually disappear from my memory as I grew up. Until I met Xiao Nian and Xiao Xi, who are the two newlyweds today."

"At that moment, I realized that 'wild children' not only refers to us children who were whipped by our parents from a young age, but also to children like Xiao Nian and Xiao Xi who were abandoned by their parents, wandered outside, and had no one to take care of them."

"At the age when I was refusing to eat to spite my parents and fight for them to take me to the amusement park on weekends, Xiao Nian has to fight alone against the cruelty of life just to have a bite to eat."

"At the age when I was secretly taking money from my parents' wallets to buy treats for the prettiest girl in my class, just to make her smile, Xiao Nian was able to feed another girl who had the same experience as him with half a lunchbox stained with sweat and blood."

"Back then, I really couldn't understand why someone like Xiao Nian would exist in this world. She was struggling to make ends meet, not having enough to eat or wear, and even her voice was weak and listless, yet she still gave everything for another person."

"Because I've been rained on myself, I want to hold an umbrella for others."

"That's why we can gather here today to witness this happy ending."

"There was no fleeting glimpse on the way to school, no lingering fragrance on the sports field, and no romantic encounter that felt like love at first sight or a meeting of kindred spirits."

"The core of Xiao Nian and Xiao Xi's relationship comes from the mutual reliance that comes from the feeling of being abandoned. I think this is the most touching kind of love."