EOD Chapter56

At the end of August, Zhou Zefeng and Lu Zhao went to attend Mei Shuting’s wedding together. During the bridal bouquet toss, they both sat offstage watching the excitement, but by a stroke of luck, the bouquet happened to fall right into Lu Zhao’s arms.

Most of the people attending the wedding were relatives and friends of the groom. An enthusiastic middle-aged woman grabbed Lu Zhao’s hand, saying it was destiny, which meant Lu Zhao should find a girlfriend sooner, arrange his wedding early, and how wonderful it would be to hold his wedding here when the time came.

Lu Zhao glanced at Zhou Zefeng, smiling without a word.

As they walked out of the church after the ceremony, Zhou Zefeng finally blurted out the words he had been holding back for a long time, “Why didn’t you tell them that I am your boyfriend?”

“Who are they to me? Why should I tell them?” Lu Zhao glanced at Zhou Zefeng and said thoughtfully, “Though, it’s true that her advice can be taken into consideration.”

Zhou Zefeng didn’t ask what advice he was considering and just smiled. When they got into the car, the two of them argued endlessly over which home to return to tonight. Lu Zhao insisted on going to the villa in the suburbs to stay for the night, while Zhou Zefeng insisted on returning to Lu Zhao’s apartment. Each held their ground, and the argument ultimately ended on a very unpleasant note. In the end, because Zhou Zefeng was the one driving, he uncharacteristically refused to compromise and drove the car back to Lu Zhao’s apartment.

Lu Zhao’s face turned completely dark. Throughout the entire elevator ride, he stared at his phone and ignored Zhou Zefeng. As soon as they stepped out of the elevator, he left Zhou Zefeng behind and went to open the door himself.

To his surprise, as soon as he entered, Lu Zhao saw that in the pitch-black house, the only source of light was a large heart made of candles on the floor. The living room was gaudily decorated with all kinds of ribbons and colorful lights, and the words “Marry me” were spelled out in roses on the wall.

Before Lu Zhao could react, Zhou Zefeng, who had just been standing beside him, immediately rushed to the center of the large heart, dropped to one knee, and pulled out a ring box.

Lu Zhao wasn’t moved; he just felt like laughing. He also knelt down on one knee in front of Zhou Zefeng, fished a ring box out of his pocket, and opened it, “Isn’t this a coincidence? I also planned to propose today. Everything was set up at the villa, but you just had to make a fuss about coming back here.”

Zhou Zefeng was stunned, “Is that why you stubbornly insisted on going back to the villa?”

Lu Zhao nodded and said, “Though yours definitely can’t beat mine. Your decorations are too tacky, pure straight-man aesthetic.”

Zhou Zefeng was speechless, “To protect the environment, I even used electronic candles. And here I was hoping you’d praise me.”

“Yeah, praise you, you’re so great.” Lu Zhao’s perfunctory expression turned serious as he looked at Zhou Zefeng earnestly and said, “Jokes aside, since we’re already here, are you willing to marry me, Zhou Zefeng?” He took the ring from Zhou Zefeng’s hand and put it on his ring finger, “I’ll say it first, I do.”

Zhou Zefeng: “Of course I do!” He snatched the ring box from Lu Zhao’s hand, putting the ring on as if afraid he would back out. Now, with the addition of the platinum ones, they each had two rings on their ring fingers, looking like two gaudy, wealthy tycoons.

Smiling, Zhou Zefeng wrapped his arms around Lu Zhao’s waist and kissed his lips. “I have a gift for you.”

Lu Zhao also suddenly remembered, “I have one too. I’ll go get it.”

The two of them were being incredibly mysterious with one hiding in the study and the other in the walk-in closet. In the end, Lu Zhao emerged holding an exquisite gift box, while Zhou Zefeng dragged out a massive crate. Meeting in the bedroom, they enthusiastically began to unwrap each other’s presents.

Zhou Zefeng was a step ahead of Lu Zhao in uncovering the contents of his gift box; it was a custom-tailored coat-and-tails suit, complete with shirt stays and a cummerbund. Last month, Zhou Zefeng and Lu Zhao had gone together to help Mei Shuting and her husband pick out wedding attire, and the two of them had their measurements taken at the custom suit shop at the same time.

“We really are in sync. Did you secretly get me a custom suit too? Which style from the shop is this, and why is it packed in such a huge crate?” Lu Zhao spent quite a while unwrapping his before finally getting it open. However, upon opening it, he was greeted by a sight of pure white. Touching it with his hand, he realized it was a wedding dress.

Feeling a bit guilty, Zhou Zefeng met Lu Zhao’s murderous glare and explained, “It was too beautiful, I couldn’t help but buy it for you. Hurry up and try it on.”

Lu Zhao’s face lined with dark exasperation as he slammed the crate shut again. “I take back what I said. We are still not in sync at all.”

Zhou Zefeng carefully took the wedding dress out. It was crafted with diamonds encrusted over its entire body, making the whole gown shimmer and gleam radiantly. It looked like a dazzling river of stars under the light. Lu Zhao was so blinded by the glare that he couldn’t keep his eyes open; refusing to pay Zhou Zefeng any attention, he turned his head away. Zhou Zefeng spread the wedding dress out in front of Lu Zhao and said, “Just try it on, alright? Wear it for me to see, please? I beg you, Gege.”

“Cut that out.” Whenever Zhou Zefeng wanted something, he would call him Gege. Lu Zhao was practically immune to it by now, but since this wedding dress was simply too glorious and eye-catching, he still couldn’t resist reaching out to touch it.

Taking advantage of the moment, Zhou Zefeng placed the gown into Lu Zhao’s arms and said, “I’m going to the walk-in closet to change. You change here, see you in a bit.” He kissed Lu Zhao’s cheek and, without another word, cradled the suit and headed into the closet, leaving Lu Zhao standing there holding the wedding dress, completely at a loss whether to stand or sit.

The sound of Zhou Zefeng stripping and changing inside could be heard as clear as day from the outside. Lu Zhao placed the wedding dress on the bed, pacing back and forth in the room. He couldn’t help but bite his knuckles, occasionally glancing at the wedding dress sitting obediently on the bed, engaged in a fierce internal struggle for a long time without being able to make a decision.

It wasn’t until Zhou Zefeng was about to come out that Lu Zhao was still leaning against the window, lost in thought.

“Have you changed yet?” Zhou Zefeng called out from inside. “If you still haven’t changed by the time I come out, I’m going to change you myself.”

“Are you freaking threatening me?” Lu Zhao’s voice was freezing cold. “You can just sleep in the walk-in closet tonight. Don’t come out.” With a sharp click, the closet door was locked from the outside. Zhou Zefeng hadn’t expected Lu Zhao to pull this stunt out of nowhere. It just so happened that he couldn’t get the buckles of his shirt stays to fasten properly no matter what, leaving him drenched in sweat. By the time he had finished putting on the entire tailcoat suit and his bow tie, the door was still locked. Just as he was preparing to act cute to get Lu Zhao to open up, the lock clicked back open.

Zhou Zefeng’s heart began to pound uncontrollably. He pulled open the door and stepped out of the closet, only to see Lu Zhao standing right in the center of the room—Lu Zhao was wearing the white wedding dress.

“So beautiful… Baby, you’re so beautiful.” Zhou Zefeng approached him with utmost care before wrapping his arms around his waist to kiss his lips. His kiss left Lu Zhao’s breathing unsteady, and Lu Zhao only managed to say, “You’ve seen it. I can take it off now.”

The next day, Lu Zhao ultimately still wore a suit as he headed to the suburban villa with Zhou Zefeng. When Lu Zhao had been fiddling with his phone in the elevator yesterday, he had actually been notifying the staff to cancel the candlelight dinner, but the venue decorations were still completely intact and untouched.

A heavy rain had fallen the previous night, leaving the lawn soaking wet and drenching the rows of chairs and the altar at the very front, making everything look quite disheveled. The setup looked just like a lawn wedding; there were even champagne roses lining both sides of the path the moment one entered the garden. The only thing missing was the guests, relatives, and friends; there was no one but the two of them.

“We really were thinking the same thing. When we attended your mother’s wedding yesterday, I was thinking that we could hold a wedding just like this.” Zhou Zefeng took Lu Zhao’s hand, walking with him toward the altar.

Lu Zhao smiled and read the vows. Then, Zhou Zefeng asked, “Lu Zhao, are you willing to marry me? Even if this ‘marriage’ is not protected by law and known only to ourselves.”

“I do.”

Beneath this vast blue sky, countless reunions and departures take place every single day. They acted as their own priest, read their own vows, served as their own guests, and accepted their own blessings; unknown to anyone, recognized by no one, yet utterly indestructible.

The world gathered around them, bearing witness to this exact moment.