In the countryside, they generally picked the bride up early. As the Master of Ceremonies, Qi Xingchen not only had to host the wedding banquet, but he also had to start following around from the time the groom’s side was preparing to set off.
He arrived at the groom’s residence at 3 a.m. Within the town, its area was not large, and it was fitted with average decor; he did not know where the groom’s mother’s inexplicable sense of superiority came from.
After exchanging a few words with the groom who was putting on his make-up, he was slightly reassured. The groom was unlike his mother, seeming to be very gentle, like someone who would dote on his wife1 well.
Seeing that Qi Xingchen’s face was unfamiliar, the groom’s relatives could not help but be confused: “Young man, you are?”
“I am the Master of Ceremonies for today’s wedding banquet.”
“Whoa,” the relative slapped his thigh, then joked, “finding such a handsome young man to be the Master of Ceremonies; wouldn’t my nephew’s limelight be all stolen from him!”
To avoid this problem, Qi Xingchen only wore a formal attire that Qi Yuji had stuffed to him, and went without styling his hair or doing make-up.
Qi Xingchen thought in his heart: Later on, there will still be a much better looking handsome young man, the groom can only pray to be luckier.
At 4, the groom was done with his make-up and went to the bride’s home to pick up the bride. After much fussing, it was already a few minutes past 5.30 when they got to the hall. Qi Xingchen’s eyes swept through the guests that were sitting below, and then nearly fainted.
The entire 《Budget Travel》 programme team, including the guests, were all seated in the last row, neatly and orderly.
There was still some time before the ceremony started, so he rushed off the stage: “Yunfei-ge, what brings all of you here?”
“This is your hosting debut, we have to cheer you on yah,” Zhang Yunfei laughed, “and since Director Zhao thought this would be good material, he decided to come along and attend it together.”
Qi Xingchen had no choice: “Then try your bests to keep a low profile and don’t cause a commotion among the guests.”
After urging Zhang Yunfei, he found the young husband and wife and spoke to them about the programme team coming over to film. Many people were unwilling to be exposed to the public eye, thus he had to respect the views of the ones not used to it2.
The young couple was very open-minded. The groom said: “With so many people bearing witness to our happiness, of course I’m willing!”
“Me too,” said the bride, “And I like Bo Ye very, very much, if he could attend my wedding…… Oh my goodness, I simply don’t even dare to imagine! This would be the most memorable moment of my life!”
As she said this, the longing and anticipation on the bride’s face were apparent, and Bo Ye, who had come to look for Qi Xingchen, just happened to catch it.
He thought for a moment, then retreated backstage.
While Qi Xingchen was looking for the young couple to discuss the matter, Director Zhao took care of the parents of both sides and the guests. At the auspicious time of 6:06am, the wedding officially began!
When Qi Xingchen came out from backstage with a microphone, the guests below burst into a frenzy with a “huah”.
“Oh my goodness, their Master of Ceremonies is so handsome!”
“Which village is that kid from, is he seeing anyone? My granddaughter is 22 this year and happens to be single. They can get to know each other.”
“Tsk tsk tsk, uncle, are you getting senile? Isn’t this a celebrity who came to film that programme? They were even wandering around the village two days ago, have you forgotten?”
“Oh oh oh, then, celebrities also have to find a partner to start a family mah, once this is over I’ll usher him to go have a look at my granddaughter!”
Qi Xingchen tested the mike, immersed himself in the right emotions3, and said the first opening speech. Acrobatic performances required stage announcements; as he was good-looking, he was often sent to undertake that role outside of his usual duties, so he did not suffer from stage-fright at all.
He then continued, sharing the experiences of the groom and bride meeting and falling in love, and the ambience was immediately transformed by his voice that possessed an infectious enthusiasm. Luo Qiuman and the others could not help but applaud along, exclaiming in admiration: “I didn’t believe Director Zhao when he said Xingxing was a little demon at first, but now I do. This child really is ingenious.”
Afterwards, the newlyweds entered the scene, acknowledged their in-laws as parents4, and exchanged rings. When all of the processes on the stage were over, it was time for the newlyweds to make a toast and for the performances to start.
Qi Xingchen went backstage to change into the lion clothing. Bo Ye was already dressed and waiting for him. The two people looked at each other with a smile and simultaneously fastened on the lion head and draped the lion tail over himself.
The moment the huge red lion leapt onto the stage to the beat of the drums, the room fell silent for a moment.
Lion dance was a very old art. In recent years, with the increase in musical instruments, dance, and other categories, there were fewer and fewer parents choosing to send their children to learn martial arts and lion dance. It was very rare to see lion dance performances live anymore.
What made it more special was that after getting on the stage, Qi Xingchen very lithely raised his legs and jumped up high, swivelled the lion’s eyes and moved its mouth twice.
The image of a young lion cub, fresh out of the mountains and curious about everything, vividly appeared before their eyes. Charmingly naive5 and lifelike; it was not something a simple enthusiast could accomplish.
Along with the gradual build up of the drum beat, the little lion frolicked atop the Plum Blossom Poles, from time to time leaping around and occasionally standing up to express its joy.
Eventually, it spotted the red embroidered ball at the top of the lamp stand. After trying to approach and pick it several times —
Qi Xingchen whispered inside the lion’s head, “It’s the last time now.”
“En, be careful.”
After Bo Ye said that, he lifted Qi Xingchen by the waist and raised him straight up to his shoulders!
Sitting on Bo Ye’s shoulder, Qi Xingchen plucked the embroidered ball off, held it solemnly in the lion’s mouth, then tossed it to the most beautiful and blessed bride of the day!
Thunderous firecracker sounds followed.
The bride cried tears of joy as she caught the embroidered ball, while the guests cheered and applauded at the cuteness of the lion cub and the wonderful symbolism!
Amidst the buzz, Qi Xingchen pulled Bo Ye and ran backstage, then extended his fist towards Bo Ye: “Super perfect, it was pleasant working together!”6
As he spoke, his eyebrows, eyes, and corners of his mouth were all curving upwards, making him seem more mature compared to his usual introvertedness. Bo Ye realised for the first time, it turns out that the little fan was also a lively, flourishing, daring, and energetic youth.
Hence Bo Ye smiled and bumped fists with him, “It was pleasant working together.”
As the two fists made contact, Bo Ye’s hand was cooler, while Qi Xingchen’s hand was warmer.
Qi Xingchen was secretly curious, Bo Ye’s body temperature seemed to be naturally lower than others. But……
But when he was clutching onto his waist, why did he feel that it was that scaldingly hot?
“By the way, Teacher Xingxing.”
At that moment, Bo Ye’s voice pulled Qi Xingchen’s thoughts back, and said as he changed his clothes: “Accompany me to sing a song for the bride bah.”
Qi Xingchen froze for a bit: “What made you want to sing a song?”
“She’s a fan of mine.”
“……Oh.”
He does indeed dote on fans.
A sour taste inexplicably flooded Qi Xingchen’s mouth. He kept brushing at the ground with the tip of his foot, “Sure ah, what do you want to sing?”
Bo Ye had never sung any wedding ceremony tunes before. After thinking about it for quite a while, he finally thought of a duet song that often made its appearance at weddings, and was greatly popular.
“Marry Me Today.”7
I have become scum tler im so sorry everyone. TT school has been hard and is currently going harder. istg everytime I submit something, a new assignment or project just pops up. Literally posting this as I procrastinate on a lab report that is due uh. In a day. *hides*
Haven’t touched the next chapter yet, wondering how am I going to translate the lyrics given that I have like 0 romantic genes *wheeze* sorry jolin tsai
Side note: I haven’t heard of any new news about the eng website for jj yet. Might wait a bit more to see if I’m feeling okay enough to make this not pw protected. I’ll see how.
Also just a short rant: whenever I encounter a word/phrase that can have a direct translation but doesn’t carry the full meaning/context/nuance just makes the perfectionist in me go jfdkhglkdfghkdgh the frustration but also footnote time
cheerios! ~astrid83
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