Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 156 - 154: Process of Elimination

Chapter 156: Chapter 154: Process of Elimination

A marriage certificate is about getting legal recognition, while a wedding is about gaining social recognition and blessings.

Having a wedding is essentially telling everyone I’m married now, I’m no longer alone—changing my social label from single to married.

Another aspect is the celebration, where everyone gets together to have a good time and extend their well-wishes.

Life needs a sense of ceremony, and marriage, as a paramount life event, requires it even more.

The wedding ceremony on stage was proceeding in an orderly fashion according to the agenda.

The groom and bride exchanged rings and glanced at each other with tender affection.

Sun Wen started the teasing first, "Kiss!"

"Whistle~" Xiao Yu put his finger in his mouth and blew a whistle.

"Kiss!"

"Kiss!"

A table of guests chanted a few times, creating an atmosphere that soon spread as other tables began to shout, turning a scattering of voices into a synchronized shout.

Yu Fei glanced at their table and, with a sneaky move, covertly flipped them the middle finger behind his back.

"Did you see that?!" Gao Xin, despite having small eyes, had a vigilance that couldn’t be matched. He tugged at Sun Wen and Qin Guanglin, pointing in the direction of the teasing, "So cocky! We must mess with him a bit!"

Sun Wen couldn’t help but laugh, "This little guy, we’ll get him drunk when he comes down!"

"You guys go for it, make sure he can’t enter the bridal chamber." Qin Guanglin, munching on melon seeds and watching the couple on stage kiss, oddly started missing Teacher He.

They would be doing the same in the future.

Huh, the thought was quite lovely.

Applause rang out, and the groom, giggling, waved his hands to show his thanks, while the bride modestly lowered her head in shyness. Seeing this, Xiao Yu felt a sour twinge, clapping while nudging Qin Guanglin with his elbow, "Look at that boy, all smiles and joy. You get him to drink a few more with you later—he definitely won’t refuse."

"Why are you asking me? All you heavy drinkers are still standing right here."

"The others are all seasoned drinkers. He definitely won’t drink with them, but you’re different, you hardly ever drink," Xiao Yu winked conspiratorially, "he definitely won’t refuse."

"Let’s see about that later," Qin Guanglin answered vaguely, "If you guys can’t handle it, I’ll step in."

It wasn’t that he never drank, he just didn’t usually enjoy it, finding the taste a bit too sharp. Now, on this celebratory day, he couldn’t not drink; as long as he managed the amount well, it’d be fine not to drink too much.

Paying respects to parents, receiving red envelopes, everything continued smoothly and without a hitch, and the hotel staff began to serve the dishes.

"I’m starving, let’s have a bite to fill up."

"Easy there, don’t make a scene and embarrass yourself, ever heard of being a gentleman?"

"You’re grabbing food faster than anyone, and you dare talk about being a gentleman?"

"Hey, that’s too much."

Within half a minute of a dish being served, only an empty plate remained. Sun Wen stood there with his chopsticks, glancing at the empty plate then at them, "I mean, it’s been two years since we graduated, how can you guys still act like this?"

"Hahaha, you’re just too slow." Zhang Dongming said, laughing as he picked up a piece of meat.

"Yep, you’re the fastest."

"..."

The first couple of dishes were just fun and games; when more dishes were served later on, no one scrambled for them, instead, everyone started pouring drinks.

"Nobody is leaving here standing today, that’s my word," Sun Wen plopped a bottle of alcohol onto the table, talking big.

"Can I crawl out later?" Gao Xin, seeing Sun Wen’s determination, couldn’t help feeling timid.

He had perhaps the worst tolerance for alcohol among them, playful as they might be, he really couldn’t handle his drink.

"Heh heh heh." Sun Wen raised his glass and placed it in front of Gao Xin, "Come on, let’s drink to our brotherhood first."

"Take it easy, okay?" Qin Guanglin nudged Xiao Yu, whispering a word of caution, "The guy just went through a breakup, he’s looking for drinking buddies. Later, don’t go too hard with him; I don’t want to carry you guys back."

Xiao Yu and Sun Wen, who shared the same table, were always at loggerheads, neither backing down and both determined to drink the other under the table.

"Whoa, they really split up?"

"Broke up half a month ago, he’s been holding in his frustration waiting for today to drink to his heart’s content."

"We should congratulate him then." Xiao Yu opened a bottle of alcohol, filled his own glass to the brim, and then turned to Qin Guanglin, "Want some?"

"Just pour it, eventually I’m going to have to drink some anyway."

Filling up both their glasses, Xiao Yu watched as Sun Wen had just put down his cup, then immediately topped it off for him, "Come on, Wen, down the hatch."

"Down the hatch."

Sun Wen was no refuser of drinks. Having just finished one without even touching the food, he immediately lifted his glass for another, smacking his lips and exhaling, "Ah, that’s the stuff."

"Eat something first to line your stomach, otherwise we won’t be able to carry you out if you drink too much," Qin Guanglin advised, munching slowly on his food.

Even though he wasn’t a regular drinker, he knew drinking on an empty stomach made it easiest to get drunk; lining the stomach before drinking was much better.

"Hey, if I drink too much, I’ll just get myself home, no need to carry me," Sun Wen declared with a grand wave of his hand. "I don’t have a girlfriend keeping tabs on me right now, I can drink however I want—it’s all about the comfort."

"Hehe, I’ve got someone keeping tabs on me, go drink with them," Qin Guanglin quickly covered his glass with his hand as he saw Sun Wen about to pour him another.

"..."

Blinking, Sun Wen glanced around and rapped on the table, "Who here has a girlfriend now?"

"I do."

"I do."

Only Wang Jincheng and Lin Hao responded, while the others turned their gaze towards them.

"..."

"..."

The two felt a bad premonition and quickly changed the subject, "Eat, eat, why are you just staring? Let’s eat."

Qin Guanglin ignored them, pulled out his phone, and snapped a photo of the decoration on the stage to send to Teacher He.

"Just saw someone else’s wedding, so nice."

"Is getting married nice?" He Fang replied quickly, probably bored at home with nothing to do—either watching TV dramas, playing Fight the Landlord, or writing novels.

"Yeah, really nice," Qin Guanglin responded, looking down at his message.

"Then you should take a good long look."

"..."

Pocketing his phone, not wanting to bother with her, it vibrated again just as he put it away; he reluctantly took it out.

"Don’t drink too much," He Fang advised.

A smile spread across his face, feeling a bit happy inside; it was nice to be cared about.

"Don’t worry, I’m not fond of drinking."

After a bit of idle chit-chat and putting the phone away again, the topic at the table had switched to women.

When men gather, the topic often drifts there unknowingly.

"I have a female coworker who, during her talent performance when she joined the company, guess what she did?" Xiao Yu asked mysteriously.

"To start, eliminate singing and dancing," Sun Wen deduced.

"Then rule out taking off from a standstill," Gao Xin added.

"Next, rule out killing a dinosaur with bare hands."

"And rule out standing on your head and washing your hair..."

"Forget it, you guys will never guess." Xiao Yu pinched together two fingers and raised his eyebrows at them. "Breaking walnuts with bare hands, ever seen that?"

"Pfft, when I eat walnuts, I just squeeze them in my hand," sneered Zhang Dongming from the side.

"It wasn’t breaking two walnuts together; it was using two fingers, one walnut, and it was the tough-shelled kind," Xiao Yu gestured with his hand. "She seemed to hardly use any force... forget it, you didn’t see it, you can’t imagine how shocked I was at the time. I couldn’t break it with both hands." He turned to look at Sun Wen, "Neither could Wen."

"... I really couldn’t," Sun Wen nodded in admission, "Last time I was eating walnuts, the final one, I squeezed with both hands for ages and couldn’t crack it, ended up smashing it with a mug."

"Right? That strength..." Xiao Yu rubbed his chin in reminiscence, "It scared all the guys at the company shitless, no one dared to chase after her."

"It’s like you weren’t scared," Gao Xin chuckled, "How good it is to be that strong."

Sun Wen shook his head, "I’d rather they were soft and squishy; otherwise, in a fight, they could send you to the hospital."

"..."

"..."

"I reckon I really couldn’t beat her," Xiao Yu pursed his lips, "Better to keep my distance."