Chapter 643 - 642: Wedding Photos

Every year, she would put great thought into preparing birthday gifts for Wu Sheng and Tang Mo.

And every year, Wu Sheng and Tang Mo loved the thoughtful gifts she prepared.

Just as she, in turn, loved the gifts Tang Mo and Wu Sheng prepared for her. Why did everyone love them? Because they were all prepared with great care.

That thoughtfulness was the best gift of all.

With Wu Sheng’s birthday less than half a month away, Su Li started brainstorming. She mulled it over for five or six days but still had no inspiration.

Su Li spent more and more time pondering, even using her meal times to think.

As she ate, her gaze fell upon the chopsticks in her hand.

Looking at the words "Holding your hand, growing old with you" on the chopsticks, Su Li couldn’t help but smile.

This was a birthday gift Wu Sheng had given her before: two sets of custom-made bowls and chopsticks.

On each pair, one chopstick was engraved with "Holding your hand," and the other with "growing old with you." Then there were their names.

One pair of chopsticks was engraved with "Su Li," and the other with "Wu Sheng."

Su Li was currently using the chopsticks engraved with Wu Sheng’s name. She had originally wanted to use her own, but Wu Sheng disagreed, saying it was better if they swapped.

Su Li couldn’t win the argument, so she ended up using the ones engraved with "Wu Sheng," while he used the ones engraved with "Su Li."

He treasured them so much that he wouldn’t even let Tang Mo use them. Everything he said implied that Su Li should take them with her when she got married and use them for a lifetime...

Of course, Wu Sheng hadn’t excluded Tang Mo when giving the gift. He had also given Tang Mo a separate set of a bowl and chopsticks, just for his use.

On one chopstick was written, "Study Hard," and on the other, "Improve Every Day," followed by Tang Mo’s full name.

Then, on the bowl, were two large words: Little Point.

It was an incredibly obvious declaration that this was Tang Mo’s, and he was instructed to use this bowl from now on.

Tang Mo: "..."

Tang Mo didn’t want to use it at all. He wanted to use the set with Su Li’s name on it, but... in the end, he had no choice but to use the one with his own name. When he was preparing to go abroad, Wu Sheng had helped him pack and even slipped this bowl and chopsticks set into his luggage, telling him to use it overseas too.

Su Li had to stifle her laughter for a long time back then.

’Okay, from the moment she first saw Tang Mo’s bowl and chopsticks, she couldn’t help wanting to laugh every time she saw them.’

Tang Mo’s set had a childish flair, while Su Li’s was different; it was a kind of promise from Wu Sheng, or you could say, a message of his hopes.

He hoped that his and Su Li’s future would be one of "holding your hand, growing old with you."

This phrase was also Su Li’s favorite, which was why she cherished the bowl and chopsticks, and adored the gift.

He had clearly put a lot of thought into such a gift.

Naturally, Su Li also wanted to give Wu Sheng a gift that would truly touch his heart.

"What would be a good gift?" Su Li muttered to herself.

Su Li thought for a while but couldn’t come up with anything. However, when she started missing Tang Mo and pulled out a photo album to look at his pictures, inspiration suddenly struck.

She thought of it—a wedding photoshoot.

’Ahem, back then, the concept of a wedding photoshoot didn’t really exist.’

For most weddings, you simply took a single marriage portrait. At most, you might take another picture of the bride and groom on the day itself, and getting a full family portrait was considered more than enough.

The idea of taking photos in various styles before the wedding, then developing and saving them, didn’t exist.

’As an ordinary bride-to-be, I... I want to have a wedding photoshoot too!’

’Taking beautiful photos while I’m still young and pretty and saving them to look back on in the future would be so wonderful!’

As Su Li thought about it, her eyes lit up.

’Just because wedding photoshoots don’t exist now doesn’t mean they can’t. I’m going to have one!’

’No, not a wedding photoshoot... a marriage photoshoot!’

’"Wedding photoshoot" is just a term. I’m definitely not going to wear a white wedding gown for the pictures, but I can still take them in lots of other outfits.’

’Yes, that’s what I’ll do. Let me think... what outfits can I wear? I wonder what the photo studios have.’

Without a second thought, Su Li immediately began to plan.

The next day, Su Li found some time to visit a few photo studios and check them out.

Some of the studios had costumes: historical period clothing, cheongsams, ethnic minority outfits, sailor uniforms, striped sailor shirts—they had it all. They even had costumes from some movies and TV shows.

Su Li was secretly delighted. ’This is just perfect.’

Su Li visited two or three studios and talked with the owners. After she expressed her desire to shoot for an entire day and take lots of pictures, the owner’s expression changed from initial bewilderment to his eyes lighting up.

The owner declared that he saw a huge business opportunity!

’He was going to take this business opportunity and make it big!’

In the end, the two reached an agreement. The owner even added, "Are there any particular outfits you’d like to wear? If so, just tell me, and I’ll do my best to find them for you."

"Let me think about it. I mainly want to shoot photos with different styles from different eras. If there’s anything you don’t have, I can try to find it myself."

Su Li and the owner roughly negotiated a price and a potential time, and then she left.

She didn’t dare to set a firm date because she still needed to confirm Wu Sheng’s availability, and she had to arrange her own time off in advance too.

’After all, they could only do the photoshoot when Wu Sheng was free.’

Su Li returned home, giddy with excitement. That evening, she contacted Wu Sheng and asked him when he could get a day off—a full, free day.

"You sound like something is up. Where are we going?"

Wu Sheng asked perceptively.

"I’m not telling you yet. You just tell me when you’re free. You’ll find out on the day."

Su Li wanted to keep it a secret.

Seeing that he couldn’t get anything out of her, Wu Sheng gave her a date. Su Li checked her own schedule, realized she should be free that day too, and they locked it in.

Su Li marked it on her calendar, smiling a little as she looked at the date.

’She hadn’t planned it, but the date just happened to be Christmas Day.’

’After the photos are developed, they’ll make a perfect birthday gift!’

Lost in happy thoughts, Su Li began to make the arrangements.

「Soon, the appointed day arrived.」

It was a rare, beautiful day. No snow and no rain, just blue skies, white clouds, and a visible sun.

Su Li’s eyes crinkled as she smiled at the weather. When Wu Sheng arrived, the first thing he saw was her brilliant smile and a rather large bag on her back.

"Are we going out?" Wu Sheng asked.

"Yep, we’re going out," Su Li nodded.

Wu Sheng shouldered the bag and headed to the photo studio with Su Li. Along the way, he kept asking what they were going to do, but Su Li refused to give him an answer.

"You’ll know when we get there. It’s such a shame Little Mo isn’t here. It would be perfect if he could have come too."

Su Li began her usual lament, and she truly did feel it was a pity. ’If Tang Mo were here, we could all take pictures together!’

Wu Sheng was quite used to Su Li’s nattering, which only made him all the more curious about what she had planned.

When they arrived at the photo studio and he overheard the conversation between Su Li and the owner, Wu Sheng’s eyes lit up instantly. He knew what Su Li wanted to do.

He watched the owner enthusiastically show Su Li the newly added costumes, then glanced at the clothes Su Li had packed in her bag. The smile on his face was dazzling enough to blind someone.

"...For your marriage photos, you could wear this bright red wedding dress. As for your hair, my wife can help you with it. It’s just... the groom’s outfit might be a little small, since the groom is so tall."

The studio owner hadn’t expected Wu Sheng to be so tall.

Just as Su Li started to frown upon hearing this, Wu Sheng spoke up.

"We have a traditional red wedding dress like that at home; we don’t need to use yours. How about this: Boss, you get your things ready, and we’ll find a place to rendezvous. I’m going to go home and get some clothes first."

’If they were going to do this, they were going to do it with the best. How could Su Li wear a costume wedding dress? She had to wear the real thing!’

Coincidentally, his mother had just told them they should try on their wedding outfits to see if any alterations were needed.

Wu Sheng pulled a bewildered Su Li home, where he and an excited Wu Qihua packed up several boxes of clothes and jewelry. They even came up with two more scenic locations for the photoshoot.