Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Rong Yu'an was startled by his own idea, but after calming down and thinking it over, he still felt it might actually work.

Although Gu Shenhan had said that no matter what happened in the future, he would always be family, if Gu Shenhan truly had someone else, what identity would he use to be that family?

If he hadn't fallen for Gu Shenhan, being his brother would have been okay. But now his heart had changed; he couldn't be a brother, and he didn't want to be one.

Anyway, in this world, people aren't so prejudiced about raising a child alone. He can ride horses and embroider. Mr. Dolphin said these skills can make money. So he could afford to raise a kid, and nothing is closer than your own child.

At nine sharp, the wedding planner arrived at Cuixi Garden. There were three of them. Gu Shenhan gestured for the butler to take them to the reception room on the second floor, then said to Rong Yu'an, "Feel free to share any ideas later. But have you decided on a Chinese or Western wedding?"

Rong Yu'an said, "Western."

He checked online; Western weddings don't seem as festive as Chinese ones. But whenever he thought of a Chinese wedding, he remembered bowing to his uncle holding a rooster back in that other world. That wasn't a great memory—he didn't want to think about it.

Gu Shenhan was a little surprised, but that actually matched his own thinking.

The two went to the reception room. Du Lixin, the head of the planning company and also the chief planner, said, "Mr. Gu, Mrs. Gu, thank you for giving our company this opportunity. I'm Du Lixin, the chief planner. These are my assistants, also the venue designer and cost estimator, Yang Xuran and Hu Jie. We'll serve you with professionalism and sincerity."

Gu Shenhan shook hands with them and sat down.

Du Lixin handed them two tablets: "These are some details we need to know before we start designing. Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu can take a look, discuss it, and give us some rough numbers. Then we can create a few preliminary plans based on your requirements, which we can later modify and adjust."

Gu Shenhan had previously said at the mansion that he had asked someone to draft a plan, but he hadn't actually. He had looked into wedding planning companies and chosen this one. Earlier, he hadn't decided whether to have the wedding so soon.

Ten days ago, when asked, he still hadn't made up his mind.

Rong Yu'an took the tablet. A long list of items was shown on it: venue selection requirements, venue location and design expectations, flower varieties, wedding favors, invitation styles and paper materials, photography and videography requirements, whether there was a preferred MC, makeup style preferences, number of helicopters and drones, their purposes and effects, wedding cars, wedding attire, hotels, banquets...

The list went on and on. When Rong Yu'an scrolled to the bottom, his eyes widened—there was even a drone show?!

Gu Shenhan was surprised too. He had never been married, only attended others' weddings, and hadn't paid attention to these details. He never realized there was so much to consider for a wedding.

Rong Yu'an pointed to the numbers next to the attire and asked, "What does this mean?"

There were several different price ranges, starting at nine thousand, then tens of thousands...

Du Lixin said, "Mrs. Gu, our company has been specializing in large-scale wedding planning and follow-up services for eight years. We have business relations and long-term partnerships with many companies. If you choose these brands through us, you'll generally get a discount, which is cheaper than ordering separately. For example, this one is 90,000: the design fee for this attire brand is 100,000, but when we handle it, the design fee is only 90,000. After confirming the design, there will be additional charges for materials and labor."

In other words, that price didn't include the clothes! Rong Yu'an was secretly shocked. In the other world, his wedding attire wasn't cheap either, but they just drew a design and followed it. Drawing up a design didn't cost anything.

Gu Shenhan said, "Let's skip the invitations; we have someone dedicated to that. And some of these venues require such a long wait?"

The earliest is next June or later.

The venue designer said, "Mr. Gu, hardly anyone uses venues of this level for weddings. But there are only so many auspicious days in a year, so most dates are actually free, but they usually don't book those dates."

"Isn't there a way to book earlier?"

"That's very tough to do. Venue design involves many flowers; everything has to coordinate to be ready on the client's requested day. If someone cancels, it affects not just the venue but also flights, hotels, etc."

In short, they had to lock in the date first, then choose the venue style, and then order flowers. No wonder weddings were so troublesome.

Gu Shenhan asked Rong Yu'an, "An An, which venue and design style do you like?"

Rong Yu'an thought, I don't like any of them. He knew that for noble families and their kids, a wedding was never just about the couple; it was a display of the family's strength and status.

But this is way too expensive!

And maybe he wouldn't even get to use it after choosing.

If Gu Shenhan really cared that he wasn't the original Rong Yu'an and wanted to part ways, either the wedding wouldn't happen, or the other partner wouldn't be him.

Thinking about this, Rong Yu'an's enthusiasm for the wedding diminished a lot.

He asked, "Do we have to decide today?"

Du Lixin said, "Not necessarily today. As long as you have a general direction today, it will help us create a more accurate plan."

Gu Shenhan said, "Show us some past cases, my wife and I would like to see them."

Du Lixin immediately arranged it.

Rong Yu'an found that there were indeed many very beautiful weddings, different from what he had understood as weddings.

The ones he had found online were probably more ordinary weddings, but what he saw now, whether venues or banquets, all had pictures with approximate costs next to them—one, two, three, four, five... the total cost hit eight or even nine figures.

Rong Yu'an was secretly stunned. Was this highway robbery? He had been born into a marquis household, considered somewhat noble, but they never dared to be so extravagant. If they had, his grandfather would have been impeached by civil officials eight hundred times.

Gu Shenhan said, "The banquets need to be held in at least four places: one abroad and three domestically. For the overseas guests, about two hundred people. Domestically... the main venue will be at Hanli Garden, with about twelve hundred people, lasting two days. The secondary venues: Cuixi Garden and my wife's family home. Count each as about a hundred guests initially. As for attire, let the first three brands come up with designs first. The attire is not just for me and my wife, but also for my family members. I'll send detailed requirements and measurements later."

Gu Shenhan looked at Rong Yu'an: "An An, which venue do you like?"

Rong Yu'an said, "I'm fine with any. But can we delay it a bit? Since it can't be too early anyway, let's not rush it."

Otherwise, if he didn't have to leave but got pregnant before giving birth, it wouldn't be good to have a wedding while heavily pregnant.

It was September now. Since the earliest suitable venue was after June next year, why not schedule it for October or later? That way, whether he stayed or left, it wouldn't matter.

Gu Shenhan was a little surprised. He thought Rong Yu'an would want it sooner.

Du Lixin said, "If it's between October and December next year, it will be much easier. There will be a lot of options, and plenty of time. European castles or some private beaches can be booked."

Gu Shenhan said, "So it's over a year away."

Du Lixin smiled gently, "Mr. Gu, that's how big weddings go. There are too many things to coordinate—hotels, shuttle buses, the MC... getting everything to line up on one day is a huge project. So everyone starts preparing well in advance."

Gu Shenhan suddenly understood why the old lady was so calm, asking just a couple of questions and then stopping. She must have known all along that he would eventually come back to her.

This would need someone dedicated to follow up; it was not something he and Rong Yu'an could resolve in a few days, unless they wanted to be bombarded with calls every day.

Still, it wasn't without progress. When Du Lixin and his team left, at least the critical data had been gathered.

Gu Shenhan asked Rong Yu'an, "What about your uncle and aunt? How do they want to handle it?"

Rong Yu'an said, "I don't really want to hold one at their place."

His uncle and aunt didn't care about him anyway, so why bother? If they did, it would cost a lot, and knowing his aunt and uncle—and his grandpa—they'd definitely try to take advantage.

Gu Shenhan knew what those people were like, but not having one there wouldn't save trouble; it might make people think he looked down on Rong Yu'an.

He'd ask the old lady about this before deciding.

In the afternoon, Gu Shenhan took Rong Yu'an to get a passport. After that, they still had some time, so Gu Shenhan wanted to take Rong Yu'an shopping for loungewear, pajamas, and underwear. These items weren't available at the custom clothing store where he ordered Rong Yu'an's outfits, and Rong Yu'an only had a few sets.

Gu Shenhan went to his usual brand store and picked out two dozen pairs of underwear for Rong Yu'an. Rong Yu'an muttered under his breath, "It's underwear, not diapers. Why so many?"

"You'll change them every day. They'll wear out fast. Better to stock up."

This one is a bit thin, definitely won't hold up in the wash. But it's really soft.

I don't know what material it is, can't tell by touch, but it's very soft, and you can feel how comfortable it is.

But when I looked, one piece costs the same as 180 steamed buns—that's too expensive!

Rong Yuan insisted on at most six; any more and he wouldn't buy them.

Gu Shenhan saw he was serious and didn't stubbornly argue with him. He quietly told the salesperson to throw in ten extra.

Next, they went to buy loungewear. Rong Yuan looked, and the cheapest one he touched was over a thousand—way too expensive, so he said no.

His family had lasted through three dynasties without ever declining; his grandmother and mother never lived like this. Gu Shenhan was very wealthy, living in a huge mansion with more than ten servants, including a butler and maids. But it was way too extravagant.

His grandfather went through hard times leading troops in battle; sometimes soldiers had to fight on empty stomachs when supplies ran out. There weren't any wars here, but in business, nobody could guarantee stability. He still thought being this extravagant was a bad idea.

But Gu Shenhan was just as stubborn. He didn't know if some weird obsession had been triggered, but he just wanted to buy things for Rong Yuan, especially clothes. Every time he saw Rong Yuan wear something he'd bought, he got this weird satisfaction. So he dragged him out of one store and into another.

Rong Yuan wasn't into it and grumbled, "I might as well make it myself."

Gu Shenhan asked in surprise, "You can make clothes?"

Rong Yuan said, "Of course I can."

Every guy knows how to do this, right? Although not everyone learns it well, most can manage. It's not like making something super complicated—just a robe, a little bigger or smaller doesn't matter. Piece of cake for him.

In the end, the two didn't buy pajamas or loungewear at all—they went and bought an electronic sewing machine.

For a three-thousand-yuan item, Rong Yuan chattered happily the whole way home.

Gu Shenhan couldn't help but get caught up in that pure joy. He casually said, "If I'd known you'd like it this much, I'd have said 'Do the antibody test and I'll buy this for you'—would you have gone straight away?"

Rong Yuan's joy was cut short like someone hit a shutdown button.

After a moment, he said, "Babe, how about we go to the hospital right now?"

Gu Shenhan asked, "Are you sure?"

Rong Yuan nodded.

When he didn't yet know how much the wedding would cost, he didn't overthink it. He just wanted to have someone to keep him company, a family of his own.

But with all that money about to be spent, if Gu Shenhan actually cared about his background, who would eat the loss? He couldn't be too presumptuous.

So it was better to just be upfront about it sooner.

Gu Shenhan hesitated for a moment: "Let's go to the hospital tomorrow on an empty stomach. We'll have a checkup together."

Rong Yuan nodded.

Gu Shenhan said, "Don't worry. No matter what, your husband isn't going to leave you."

Actually, not all antibody tests are that easy to do, and Rong Yuan was already twenty-one. Not all vaccines are worth getting a booster for at his age.

He was just thinking about the "what if."

At this moment, Rong Yuan turned back: "If we're having the wedding in over a year, does that mean we have to wait over a year to... you know..."

Gu Shenhan smiled and asked, "What?"

Rong Yuan said, "Forget I said anything."

Gu Shenhan grasped Rong Yuan's hand firmly: "Do you think I'm some kind of monk? Over a year? I wait every night for you to knock on my door. So why don't you come?"

"Why not you come to me?"

"Because I'm afraid you wouldn't welcome me. Who wouldn't even shake my hand when we first met?"

"We weren't married then."

"So after marriage it's okay? The person you marry doesn't matter."

"...That was how I thought before."

"And now?"

"Only you," Rong Yuan said very softly.

Tomorrow he'll test antibodies. Tonight he has one night's opportunity.

As long as they are not divorced, they are legal spouses. It's not unreasonable for him to want a child. Might as well gamble. Since he's been with someone this good, it's pretty unlikely he'll ever like anyone else.

Gu Shenhan didn't say anything, just glanced at Rong Yuan and drove much faster than before.