Chapter 693 - 692: Wedding (Part 4)

Yu Zhengqing was still sulking, but Wu Sheng just raised an eyebrow, looking especially smug. "Alright, we’re heading up now."

He walked right past them and went upstairs.

And just like that, they passed the obstacle set by Ling Zhen and Yu Zhengqing.

But the second floor was still waiting.

On the second floor were Su Li’s colleagues.

As colleagues of Su Li, one of the nation’s most outstanding young professionals, they weren’t going to be a walk in the park.

A few of her sharp-tongued colleagues stood on the second-floor landing, arms crossed and smiling as they spoke up.

"Our dear Su Li, getting married right after graduation. It’s such a terrible loss for us! So, we’ll have to ask the groom to pass our little challenge."

Wu Sheng looked at the second blockade and calmly said, "Let’s hear it."

"Our Su Li is a household name as a journalist now, so we’d like the groom to read a piece of news for us."

The colleague who had spoken grinned and handed Wu Sheng a news script from his pocket.

Wu Sheng glanced at it, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Wu Dong and Wa Wa Lian, who were right behind him, quickly leaned in for a look. Once they saw it, their mouths twitched too.

The colleague smiled, completely at ease. "Of course, a groomsman or anyone from the groom’s party can take his place. As long as it’s read out loud with no mistakes, no stuttering, and no pauses. We’ll even allow the groom to read from the script."

’Hmph, as if they can get through this without a single mistake.’

’This was a classic tongue-twister script they used for broadcast practice back in school. It was packed with all sorts of place names, numbers, and proper nouns. Many of us took forever to read it fluently.’

’Of course, we can lower the standards a bit. Otherwise, the groom will never get past us.’

Seeing their expressions, Wu Sheng smiled. "Alright," he said politely. "I’ll start now."

"The following is a social news bulletin..."

To everyone’s utter astonishment, Wu Sheng recited the entire script in one go, his delivery perfectly standard, without a single pause or mistake.

The colleague who had issued the challenge was stunned. The groomsmen behind Wu Sheng were stunned, too.

After three seconds of silence, the colleague asked in disbelief, "What the... How did you do that?"

Wu Sheng broke into a smug, utterly punchable grin. "Sorry," he said. "I’ve seen this script before. Su Li showed it to me. We even had a contest with it."

He looked smug on the outside, but inside, Wu Sheng was just relieved. ’Thank god I practiced this with Su Li!’

Head held high, looking both incredibly smug and punchable, Wu Sheng strode past the second blockade.

And then... he encountered the third blockade: Tongtong’s mother and the "mom delegation."

The mom delegation had watched the previous two roadblocks. The moment they saw Wu Sheng and his group, their eyes lit up, and two thoughts simultaneously flashed through their minds.

The first was: ’Oh my, if I weren’t already married, if I were just a few years younger, I’d want to find a husband like one of them!’

The second was: ’Oh well, I can’t marry one, but I’ll make sure my daughter, niece, or sister finds a husband just like one of them someday!’

Swooning aside, the mom delegation showed no weakness. They immediately played their trump card.

"Sing a song for the bride."

Singing... Uh, singing?

Wu Sheng froze.

He was good at just about anything, but singing... singing was definitely not his strong suit.

After a moment of stunned silence, Wu Sheng asked, "Could we maybe do something else?"

The mom delegation didn’t answer. Wu Sheng tried again cautiously, "Anything else?"

"Nope." The moms shook their heads in unison.

Wu Sheng shot a pleading look at his groomsmen. Finally, Wu Dong buckled under the pressure and stepped forward to sing... a country folk song.

The moms were practically doubled over with laughter.

"The song isn’t half bad, so we won’t be so strict. Oh well, a folk song will do."

The moms were in a good mood, so they decided to go easy on them.

The very next second, they regretted it.

A booming chorus erupted in the third-floor stairwell. There were only a dozen or so of them, but they bellowed in perfect unison with incredible gusto. It wasn’t just the hallway that heard it—the entire building did.

And of all things, it was a country folk song they were singing.

The residents on that floor had already heard the commotion from outside. When the singing started, they all came out of their apartments to watch the spectacle.

They all sang together, each man belting out the tune with gusto. Their voices grew louder and louder, and the energy was so infectious that even the mom delegation and the other onlookers couldn’t help but start singing along.

Wu Sheng sang until his face turned red, craning his neck upward, hoping Su Li could hear him.

And up on the sixth floor, Su Li... definitely heard it.

"Haha, they’re singing with such gusto!"

Su Li heard it, everyone in the room heard it, and they all burst out laughing, praising the performance.

As Su Li listened, she couldn’t stop the corners of her lips from curling into a smile.

The smiles on Li Anna and her female colleague’s faces, however, grew increasingly stiff. Still, they had no choice but to force a few chuckles.

’You can imagine how frustrated they were. They hadn’t expected Wu Sheng to be so agreeable, so compliant. He was asked to sing, and he just... sang.’

The song had lifted everyone’s spirits, and people couldn’t help but rush out to watch the fun.

After Wu Sheng and his men finished their song, they had finally passed the third challenge.

And then... on the fourth floor, they encountered the fourth challenge.

When Wu Sheng saw his little aunt, he truly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

"Little Aunt, please don’t make trouble," he pleaded. "We’re on the same side! We have to hurry and bring Su Li home."

Wu Sheng was hoping his little aunt would go easy on him, but she just shook her head grimly.

"Nope. No way. No going easy on you. I can’t." His little aunt shook her head firmly. Then, as if performing a magic trick, she produced a large-eyed needle and nine fine red threads from behind her back and handed them to Wu Sheng.

"Thread the needle," she said. "It symbolizes being joined by the red thread of fate, for a long and everlasting love."

His little aunt smiled. "With each thread you pass through the needle, I want you to think about your past with Su Li. Think about why you want to marry her. Think about your future together, and make a silent vow in your heart to cherish her for the rest of your life."

Wu Sheng was visibly moved. The groomsmen fell silent, all of them watching his little aunt with serious expressions.

When she finished, she patted Wu Sheng’s shoulder. "Go on. Thread them, and think."

This was a tradition of sorts, one his little aunt had prepared for in advance, right down to the words she would say.

Wu Sheng nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Auntie."

Wu Sheng began to thread the needle.

He wasn’t a stranger to the task; he had often threaded needles for Grandma Wu whenever he visited his hometown.

His solemn, focused expression showed everyone that he was truly taking his little aunt’s words to heart.

The previous challenges had all been loud and boisterous, but this one was utterly silent. And yet, everyone was smiling.

Su Li, listening to the "live broadcast" from downstairs, couldn’t keep the smile from her face.

After his little aunt, the fifth floor brought him to Li Hongqin and Yin Cuihua.

When Wu Sheng saw the two of them, he said nothing, simply offering a polite bow.

Li Hongqin and Yin Cuihua were truly like family to Su Li. Over the past two years, he had seen everything they’d done for her.

"Sister Hongqin, Sister Cuihua, please rest assured. You can entrust Su Li to me."

Wu Sheng said with great sincerity.

Li Hongqin and Yin Cuihua exchanged a glance, then shook their heads with wry smiles.

"Now you’re just playing dirty. After you say something like that, how can we possibly give you a hard time?"

Li Hongqin took a deep breath. "Alright. Since you’ve put it that way, we won’t set up any more challenges. Just make a promise, here, in front of everyone."