Feng Xuan laughed as she and Jiang Lijun exited the building.
"That woman behind the cashier is so mean," Jiang Lijun told her.
"Yeah, maybe it's her time of the month."
"Where are you headed now?" Jiang Lijun asked her. She had met him on the line for enrollment earlier and she had found his company rather comforting because he too, was from overseas.
"I am going to meet my cousin. She wants to go on another shopping spree," she answered as she stepped down the multiple steps. "Where are you headed?"
"I have to go home," he said. "I still haven't finished unpacking."
"Aww," she cooed. "I wish I have a house to come home to."
"Why? Where are you staying?"
"I am staying in a hotel for now." Feng Xuan's throat suddenly swelled. As if she was experiencing a bad allergy. She suddenly remembered why she couldn't go home. Right, she was getting married and would be living with her husband from that day onwards. "Our house is under renovation," she explained, using the same excuse her father did.
"Must be tough then," Jiang Lijun said. Jiang Lijun was a good head taller than her, his hair covers his forehead and his face was angular and bony. She wouldn't say 'skin and bones' because he looked like he had firm muscles. He wore round glasses that made Feng Xuan remember Harry Potter.
"Not that much," she answered, looking down at her sandaled feet. "I kind of like staying in the hotel. It has a mall underneath," she smiled. "I was due for a wardrobe change anyway, it was a good way to pass the time."
"When will your house be finished?" Jiang Lijun asked.
It will never be finished, Feng Xuan thought. "I'm not really sure. But I am only at the hotel until the next weekend."
"You found a place to stay?"
"Yeah," she smiled. That sudden nervous feeling started once more inside her stomach. No matter how hard she tried to wrap her head about getting married next Saturday, it still felt like something that was not real.
Her father's limousine made a stop in front of them and she turned to Jiang Lijun. "Can I offer you a ride somewhere?"
"Wow, you really are loaded, huh?" Jiang Lijun joked. "I'd love to ride a limo, but our house is only a bus ride away. Take care, Feng Xuan."
Feng Xuan smiled at Jiang Lijun, "You too."
Jiang Lijun was the kind of guy who was like your next-door-neighbor type. He just had that cozy feeling and warmth that you would remind you of home. His small boyish smile was what probably sent that idea to Feng Xuan.
She got in the car and made her way back to The Kingly Hotel. She met with her cousin, Wang Yimin, at a popular store.
"So," she started when she saw Wang Yimin browsing through a rack of skirts. "Did you get more intel?"
Wang Yimin gave her a laugh. "I have already told you the best bachelors last time we were together."
Feng Xuan's eyebrows furrowed. "I just don't think that any one of those guys is the one that I will be marrying next Saturday."
Wang Yimin was dressed in an ankle-length peach dress, it shaped her body flawlessly. "Well, one of those guys will be the one you are marrying. If not, then you're screwed."
Feng Xuan's mouth open to protest. "What?! You mean, that's all the good guys here in Chengshi?" She quickly recounted Wang Yimin's short list of four men. All of them CEOs of different companies. One handling a telecomm company, one was a contractor, one was a developer, and the last one was an heir to a television network.
Wang Yimin shrugged a shoulder at her. "It is going to be fine, Xuan. You don't have to worry so much about the marriage. Once you are married, all you have to do is spend all your husband's money," she joked with a laugh.
Feng Xuan did not believe in that mindset. She had grown up thinking that she wanted to make a name for herself. Not that she was the daughter of the famous Feng Lizhao.
Then a terrifying thought came to her mind and she rushed to the side of her cousin. Clutching on her arm, Feng Xuan asked, "Am I... Are we... expected to...you know?"
Wang Yimin looked at her confusingly. "What?"
She clutched harder and whispered, "Am I to sleep with him on the wedding night?"
Wang Yimin bursted out laughing. She had never thought her cousin would be this innocent about such things, considering she had been overseas in the prime of her teenage years. "Are you really asking me that?"
"Well?!" Feng Xuan demanded for an answer. "Did you sleep with your husband on your first night together?"
Wang Yimin sighed, remembering that sweet night with Zhou Shan. He had not forced her or anything. Wang Yimin just knew she had to give herself wholly to her husband. And that was what she did. "Yes, I did, Xuan."
"Is it expected of me to do so?"
Wang Yimin wanted to laugh at Feng Xuan's wide eyes. Like there was a fire wreaking havoc in her sweet little mind. Wang Yimin placed her hand on her cousin's shoulder and patted. "You will figure it out. It's just a thing going inside a hole."
"Noooo!!!" Feng Xuan covered her ears. "I certainly do not need this talk with you."
Wang Yimin just shook her head as she checked out a sparkly pair of shoes. "Can I get a new pair?" she asked the saleslady.
She thought as Feng Xuan disappeared to a fitting room, "Oh, that sweet girl."