Chapter 190 - 174: A Rare Good Night’s Sleep

Chapter 190: Chapter 174: A Rare Good Night’s Sleep

"Boss Chen is tall, dark, and handsome — a face that could launch a thousand ships, loved by all who lay eyes on him~"

The bridesmaids standing in front of Chen Yuan were laying on the compliments thick.

"Heard that one a dozen times already — not very original. Here’s a red envelope for the effort, but if you can do better, there’s more where that came from."

Chen Yuan wasn’t the least bit smug about it. If anything, he was enjoying the game.

The bridesmaids exchanged glances. Boss Chen was clearly no pushover. They huddled up, racking their brains to come up with something better, each one trying to outdo the last — until someone finally played their trump card.

They offered to add him on WeChat.

Even Chen Yuan had to admit that one got to him a little. He waved his hand magnanimously and handed out every red envelope he had on him.

"I’m starting to think this bridesmaid squad is going to be completely useless tomorrow. They’re not going to hold the door for five minutes."

The bride watched her bridesmaids getting completely played by Chen Yuan and shook her head helplessly. At this rate, they’d probably end up opening the door for him voluntarily.

"So you actually want me stuck outside the door, huh."

Zhou Lin laughed. He was more convinced than ever that tracking down Chen Yuan had been the right call. The bridesmaids were no match for him — and Chen Yuan hadn’t just gone rogue on his own, either. He’d brought the whole groomsmen squad along for the ride.

Thoughtful as always.

Everyone else in the room could see it too — Chen Yuan just had a way of handling things that left a good impression.

Especially when they all headed out for dinner afterward and Chen Yuan made a point of going around with the groomsmen, handing out red envelopes to every friend and family member there. Nobody went home empty-handed, and everyone was pleased.

"Cousin, do you have Boss Chen’s WeChat?"

Once they were outside, sure enough, one of the bridesmaids was already angling for Chen Yuan’s contact.

"I don’t, but your brother-in-law does."

The bride called Zhou Lin over.

"Oh-ho, looks like little cousin has her eye on someone."

Zhou Lin’s smile carried more than a little meaning.

"Is Boss Chen single?"

The bridesmaid didn’t even try to hide her interest.

"One hundred percent. Single, young, and loaded."

Chen Yuan’s fishing pond business back in the village had been booming — both ponds packed to capacity every single day. Saying he was raking it in wasn’t even an exaggeration.

"Perfect. Brother-in-law, give me Boss Chen’s WeChat, and I’ll open the door for you tomorrow — no questions asked."

The bridesmaid whipped out her phone.

"We’re practically family — no need to make deals. My little cousin’s happiness is on the line, and as her brother-in-law, it’s my duty to help."

Zhou Lin struck a pose of noble righteousness, but his hand was already flying toward his pocket to grab his phone.

It wasn’t just the one bridesmaid, either. One by one, several of them came over to ask Zhou Lin for Chen Yuan’s WeChat, until Zhou Lin started feeling a little envious himself.

"Tall, good-looking, young, rich, funny, charming — yeah, I get it. The guy’s got it all."

Zhou Lin shook his head. Chen Yuan’s package deal was genuinely hard to argue with when it came to attracting women.

It was just a shame he was stuck out in the village. Put him in the city, and he’d have been the life of every club in town.

Since the wedding was being held in town where there were proper restaurants and hotels, the bride’s family had skipped the home setup and booked a hotel instead.

At dinner, the bridesmaids insisted on sitting at the same table as Chen Yuan and the groomsmen. The bride’s family had also arranged for someone to host them at the table, and Zhou Lin had specifically requested the bride’s eldest sister.

Chen Yuan took full advantage of the opportunity and spent most of the meal picking her brain about how to run a children’s entertainment business.

It turned out to be a very productive dinner.

As things wound down, Zhou Lin and the bride headed to the restaurant entrance to see the guests off, with Chen Yuan rounding up the groomsmen and bridesmaids to help hand out red envelopes on the way out.

"Zhou Lin."

Once most of the guests had left, the bride’s mother walked over.

"Mom, what’s up?"

They hadn’t officially gone through the formal address ceremony yet, but Zhou Lin had already started calling her Mom.

"Your uncle had a few too many. Maybe have someone take him up to the hotel to rest."

The bride’s family had a lot of relatives, and they were all enthusiastic hosts. Zhou Lin’s uncle had been toasted relentlessly — and with a wedding being such a joyous occasion, it was hard to turn anyone down.

If the bride’s father hadn’t stepped in to slow things down a bit, "a few too many" would’ve been a serious understatement. The man would’ve been flat-out drunk.

"I’ll take my dad up."

One of the groomsmen started heading toward the hotel entrance.

"You’re all staying here at the hotel — rooms are on the sixth floor. Go ahead and grab your key cards."

The bride’s mother pulled out a stack of key cards. By the look of it, they’d booked well over a dozen rooms — though their side had only brought around ten people, not counting the bride’s family.

Including the bridesmaids, of course.

"We’ve set aside ten rooms for your group. If that’s not enough, just go to the front desk — no need to pay, just give our name, and we’ll settle the bill later."

The bride’s mother handed Zhou Lin ten key cards.

Zhou Lin nodded and took them, passing the first one to his cousin to take the uncle upstairs to rest.

Then he handed the rest to Chen Yuan and the others. Two to a room, both with separate beds — nothing awkward about that.

About ten minutes later, the last of the guests had been seen off. The remaining crowd headed up to the teahouse above the hotel to hang out, and Zhou Lin invited Chen Yuan and the others to join.

"Yuan, come play cards."

Cards were the go-to entertainment around here. Whether it was a wedding or a birthday, whenever family and friends got together, someone was always going to suggest a game after dinner.

Every venue had to have a card room ready.

"You guys have fun — I’m going to head up and get some rest. What time are we meeting tomorrow morning?"

Chen Yuan had zero interest in cards. He’d already handed out all the red envelopes he needed to, and there was nothing else for him to do. He might as well go catch up on some sleep.

He’d been up past one in the morning the night before, and he’d been hoping to nap in the car on the way over, but all the stopping and starting had made that impossible. He was genuinely tired now.

"The bride’s family checked the auspicious time — the convoy leaves at 8:08. We’re getting up at six-thirty to eat, then heading over to fetch the bride."

Zhou Lin knew Chen Yuan worked late at the fishing pond every day and rarely got the chance to turn in early, so he didn’t push him to stay.

The bridesmaids tried to pull Chen Yuan into the fun too, but he politely declined.

He headed upstairs, found his room, slid the key card into the power slot, noticed the air conditioning wasn’t on and switched it on, then dropped both backpacks on the desk, grabbed his change of clothes, and went to shower.

He came out and flopped onto the bed — absolute bliss.

He scrolled through his phone for a bit, checked the group chats, confirmed there was nothing that needed his attention, set his alarm, and rolled over to sleep.

At some point someone knocked — it was Zhou Lin’s college buddy. Chen Yuan didn’t mind. There were two beds; it didn’t matter who he shared the room with.

As long as it wasn’t one of the bridesmaids~

They exchanged a few words, Zhou Lin’s friend went to wash up, and Chen Yuan turned back over and went straight to sleep.

...

Before six in the morning, Chen Yuan’s eyes snapped open before his alarm even had a chance to go off. He practically bounced out of bed, full of energy. He’d been asleep by nine the night before, and it felt like he’d finally paid back every hour of sleep he’d been missing lately.

"There’s nothing like actually going to bed early."

It had been a long time since he’d slept that well. He felt completely recharged.

After washing up, Chen Yuan saw that Zhou Lin’s friend was still out cold — it was barely past six, so he left him to it, grabbed both backpacks, and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"How are you up this early?"

He walked into the restaurant and found a bleary-eyed Zhou Lin already there.

"Ha, I crashed at nine last night. Slept like a rock."

Chen Yuan took the cigarette Zhou Lin offered, clapped him on the shoulder, and grinned. "Wake up, man. Today’s your wedding day."

"I know, I know — I want to feel pumped about it, but I didn’t finish sorting everything out until nearly one last night, and then I was up at the crack of dawn. Honestly, getting married is more exhausting than pulling an all-nighter at the office."

Zhou Lin shook his head and took a long drag to get himself going.

"You want a wife, you pay the price."

"Alright, come eat. We need to get over there early."

Zhou Lin waved Chen Yuan toward the breakfast spread.

"Let me set these bags down first."

One backpack full of red envelopes was already heavy enough — two was a workout. He’d only need to bring one for the bride-fetching.

"Give them here — I need to pop back anyway."

Zhou Lin took the bags, and Chen Yuan sat down to eat.

After breakfast, Chen Yuan settled into a chair in the hotel lobby and caught up on his group messages.

The wedding party trickled downstairs one by one. Once everyone had eaten, it was still shy of seven o’clock. Then they set off for the bride’s home.

"You think they’re going to go too hard on me with the door-blocking games?"

On the way over, Zhou Lin was visibly anxious.

"Relax. With us here, we’ll bust you through no problem."

"The harder the bridesmaids fight back, the more fired up we get."

"Our mission today: walk out with every woman in that house — except the mother-in-law."

The groomsmen were all laughs and bravado, riding high on the energy.

You take your bride, I’ll take my bridesmaid — everyone wins.

All that confidence evaporated the second they arrived.

Lined up across the front gate of the courtyard was a wall of children — at least a dozen of them, shoulder to shoulder, blocking the entrance completely.

"Can’t exactly charge through that. Red envelopes, red envelopes."

Zhou Lin signaled Chen Yuan to start handing them out.

The whole groomsmen squad pitched in, but even the parents standing behind the kids were holding out their hands — everyone wanted in on the wedding money. Nobody was going to wave them through for free. If they wanted to get past, the groomsmen were going to have to get creative.

"One kid under each arm — charge!"

Chen Yuan shot a look at the groomsmen, scooped up a kid in each arm, and bolted for the entrance. The rest of the groomsmen piled in behind him, and before the parents even knew what was happening, they’d blown straight through the first checkpoint.

Fun was fun, though, and Chen Yuan wasn’t stingy about it — he made sure to go back and hand out a generous stack of red envelopes to the kids and their parents alike.

Next up: the main door.

It was shut tight. Zhou Lin walked up and knocked.

"Who’s there?"

The father-in-law’s voice came from inside.

"It’s me."

Zhou Lin pressed his ear against the door.

"Me who?"

"Your son~"

"I don’t have a son. Only a son-in-law."

"Your son-in-law’s son~"

The moment the words left his mouth, the whole courtyard erupted in laughter. Zhou Lin caught himself immediately, flustered, and scrambled to correct it — he meant your son-in-law.

"And what do you want~"

The father-in-law was cracking up on his side of the door.

"To pick up your wife — no wait, my wife~"

Zhou Lin had completely lost the plot. One mistake led to another, each one more ridiculous than the last. Everyone inside and outside was in stitches — even the videographer’s hands were shaking too hard to keep the camera steady.

Fortunately, the in-laws weren’t looking to make things difficult. They were just there for a good time, and they swung the door open with a laugh.

But the hardest part was still ahead.

There was no way the bridesmaids were going to let them through without a fight.

Except — to everyone’s surprise — the door to the bride’s room was already wide open. Six bridesmaids stood in two neat rows like a welcoming committee, looking absolutely stunning.

"What’s going on here?"

The more composed they seemed, the more nervous Zhou Lin and his groomsmen got. This had to be some kind of trap.

"No door-blocking today — we’re keeping things civilized. Each of us has three questions. Answer correctly and you walk in. Answer wrong and you hand over a red envelope."

"Alright boys, heads up — listen carefully~"

Zhou Lin turned and rallied the groomsmen behind him.

There was no getting around the wedding games — that was just tradition. But if the bridesmaids wanted to play it civil, then civil it was. They’d win this on brains.

"I’ll go first. Question one: does the bride prefer peanut oil or rapeseed oil for cooking?"

The bridesmaid at the front of the line fired off the opening question.

Zhou Lin and the groomsmen broke into grins instantly. Multiple choice — just like back in school. Way easier than having to come up with an answer from scratch.