Chen Wenyi, holding a red silk ribbon in one hand and a feather fan in the other, occasionally glanced up at Leng Ren, who was staring at her. Their gazes met in mid-air, and she shyly averted her eyes again.
She was really getting married! She couldn't believe that in just over two months since she transmigrated to this place, she had found someone she liked and was about to marry him off!
During the short distance they walked forward, Chen Wenyi couldn't help but recall some things from her previous life. She had reached the age of twenty-eight, and although she had never officially been in a relationship, she had been on many blind dates.
In the modern world, with its materialistic desires and advanced development in all aspects, people often become greedy and want too much. Chen Wenyi didn't know if she was too difficult to get along with or if her standards were too high, but none of the blind dates she went on lasted more than three months.
After transmigrating to ancient times, the thought of marriage relying on arranged marriages and men having multiple wives made her lose all hope. After all, this was a feudal era with conservative customs, where many women valued their chastity and reputation more than their lives.
Let alone dating boys and developing feelings, even if a woman spoke a few more words to a man, she might be gossiped about and labeled as promiscuous.
However, the moment she saw Leng Ren yesterday, the flutter in her heart never stopped. Especially the words he spoke to her before the ancestral rites and his demeanor made Chen Wenyi feel like she had struck gold.
Leng Ren had actually finished getting ready much earlier before the ancestral rites. Although they entered from different directions, they had already met before the rites began.
Leng Ren strode up to Chen Wenyi, and after a long period of hesitation, he asked, "Can, can I call you Sui Sui too?"
Chen Wenyi looked at the somewhat reserved and flustered man. She nodded, a bright smile on her face. "Of course! You can call me whatever you like."
Seeing the young girl's smiling face, Leng Ren's stern features softened considerably. "Actually, I wanted to ask you, won't you regret it?"
Chen Wenyi's smile turned into confusion. She stared intently at Leng Ren's face, unsure of what he meant by his words. "Regret what? Why should I regret it?"
Leng Ren pursed his lips, recalling what had happened that afternoon when she had pulled Su Muqing into the private room.
Initially, he thought he wouldn't mind it because he knew Su Muqing was a girl and there could be no development between them. But in the end, he found he couldn't do it.
What bothered him was that in Chen Wenyi's eyes, Su Muqing was a man. So he couldn't help but overthink, wondering if she didn't like him but wanted to use him to get close to Su Muqing.
He dared not think too much, as the more he thought, the more his heart clenched. After a while of internal struggle, Leng Ren still voiced his question. He didn't want Chen Wenyi to make an impulsive decision today and regret it later.
"I thought you liked Young Master Su. This afternoon, I brought back the embroidered ball, but you took Young Master Su to the private room. If you wanted to be with her..." Leng Ren's words trailed off, but Chen Wenyi understood his meaning.
"Pfft~ Hahahaha!" Chen Wenyi burst into laughter, amused by Leng Ren's words and expression. Noticing the many people around, she quickly covered her mouth with her hand, but her shoulders continued to shake with laughter.
If it weren't for the current environment and the solemn ceremony about to take place, she really wanted to sit on the ground and laugh until her stomach hurt.
She hadn't expected her mother to be right. It turned out that Leng Ren's insistence on returning the embroidered ball that afternoon was indeed because of Su Muqing. Chen Wenyi had always thought Leng Ren was refusing the marriage because he had no feelings for her.
Chen Wenyi wiped away the tears of laughter from her eyes and asked, "So, you really didn't want to marry me this afternoon because of this?"
Leng Ren pursed his lips without answering, but his silence was an implicit acknowledgment. Chen Wenyi looked at the ruggedly handsome man before her and miraculously saw a hint of grievance in his eyes.
Interesting! She hadn't expected her luck to be this good, to have found a treasure boy who could be both fierce and adorable!
Chen Wenyi looked at Leng Ren's expression, like a abandoned puppy about to be left behind, and immediately felt unbearable to see him so wronged. However, she couldn't resist teasing him a little.
"Do you think I'm stupid? Or do you think I'm blind? Xiao Mu Mu is a girl, just like me. Don't you think I can tell? Or don't you know she's actually a girl?"
Leng Ren froze, his gaze towards Chen Wenyi filled with disbelief. After all, Su Muqing's disguise was flawless: a handsome face, a convincing Adam's apple, and even her voice was slightly altered by a voice changer.
Thus, no one discovered her female identity along the way. Chen Wenyi was surprisingly capable. She recognized Su Muqing as a girl the moment she saw her!
Leng Ren asked her in disbelief, "How, how did you know?"
Seeing the disbelief in Leng Ren's eyes, Chen Wenyi said proudly, "Well! The heavens forbid divulging such secrets! Anyway, the moment I saw her this afternoon, I knew she was a girl. Otherwise, I wouldn't have pulled her into the private room in front of my father."
Undeniably, Leng Ren was very happy to hear this answer. It turned out she had recognized Su Muqing as a girl from the start, and it wasn't because she liked Su Muqing.
"Then, then why are you willing to marry me? Is it because of that embroidered ball? What if the embroidered ball wasn't brought by me..."
Chen Wenyi raised her hand and covered Leng Ren's mouth, stopping him from continuing. "There are no 'what ifs'! Our meeting was destined. The embroidered ball is merely the guide to our meeting. The one who will marry me in the end can only be you!"
Seeing the determination and undisguised affection in Chen Wenyi's eyes, Leng Ren's unsettled heart finally found peace. He took the young girl's hand and squeezed it in his palm for a moment before quickly releasing it again before anyone noticed.
After all, many people were waiting ahead, and they were not yet married. If someone saw them and gossiped about her, it wouldn't be good.
"Brother Leng, although this is our first meeting and we are getting married under these circumstances, I want to tell you that I genuinely like you! I didn't believe in love at first sight before, but today I know it. I didn't believe it before because it wasn't you! The moment I saw you, I felt like I had seen you for a thousand years. I am very sure it's you!"
Hearing Chen Wenyi's confession, Leng Ren was incredibly excited, and his hand holding hers trembled uncontrollably. He was never very eloquent, and at this moment, he was so excited he didn't know what to say.