No Longer Escaping (ABO) - Chapter 22

The day of Wan Niang and Yang Lulong’s wedding finally arrived.

The scale of the event was huge, with almost every household in the village hanging celebratory red cloths.

The village hadn’t been this lively in a long time.

Wan Niang was getting ready at Sister Fang’s house.

Li Cui’er, Sister Fang, and Xiao Hua were with Wan Niang in the room.

Li Cui’er helped her put on the red wedding dress, and Sister Fang helped her with her makeup.

“She’s too much…” Wan Niang complained shyly.

Yang Lulong had secretly gotten a big red sedan chair, saying she absolutely had to ride in one.

The village was so small, yet she still had to ride a sedan chair from Sister Fang’s house to her own.

“She’s just being sincere. Be happy on your big day,” Sister Fang said with a smile, patting powder on her face.

“I’m not…” Wan Niang was embarrassed.

With such a huge event and the whole village involved, she felt quite shy.

“We know you’re shy, hahahaha,” Li Cui’er joked.

“Wan Niang, you didn’t eat much today, did you?”

“I haven’t eaten yet… Why?”

“Oh, I was just worried that if you ate too much, it would be hard to lift you later.”

“Li Cui’er!”

“Your leg just healed. Why are you joining in the fun and helping them lift the sedan chair?” Sister Fang asked Li Cui’er, seeing her teasing Wan Niang.

“This is such a rare event. I might only experience it once in my life. How can I not be a part of it?” Li Cui’er said, playing with Xiao Hua.

“You’re impossible…”

After Wan Niang’s last bit of lip makeup was done, Sister Fang asked her to look in the mirror.

“How do you look?”

Wan Niang looked at her made-up face in the mirror.

The white foundation made her already fair skin even paler.

The blush on her cheeks made her look radiant.

Her curved eyebrows were more defined, and there was a small flower design in the middle of her forehead.

The red lipstick was applied perfectly to her lips.

The bun she had worn for so long was taken down, and her long, dark hair was put up.

From now on, she was no longer an unwed maiden but a married woman.

If her mother could see her, she would be happy for her…

Thinking of this, her eyes became moist.

“Hey… don’t cry, or your makeup will smudge,” Sister Fang said, quickly comforting her when she saw tears welling up in her eyes.

Xiao Hua curiously ran to Wan Niang and looked at her made-up face.

“Auntie Wan, you’re pretty.”

Hearing Xiao Hua, Wan Niang held back her tears.

She bent down and said to Xiao Hua, “Xiao Hua, will you help Auntie Wan put on her veil?”

“Yes!”

She stood on her tiptoes, reaching up to Wan Niang’s head, and placed the red veil over it.

The group walked Wan Niang out of the room and into the sedan chair.

“Lift!” Zhang Long shouted.

He, Xiao Wen, Li Cui’er, and Zhang Shu, who had come to help, worked together to lift the sedan chair.

The procession set off grandly…

But on the way, Wan Niang, sitting in the sedan chair, couldn’t hold back her tears.

They dripped onto her hands.

She was still wearing the wooden bracelet that Yang Lulong had given her.

For some reason, it had started to show cracks.

She thought of her deceased mother and the hardships she used to go through.

At Wan Niang’s house, it was just Yang Lulong and two male villagers.

The others were with the wedding procession.

For some reason, Yang Lulong felt both nervous and amused.

The two men were standing next to her in the courtyard like her bodyguards.

She understood that after what happened to Sister Fang, they were probably afraid she would run away, so they were guarding her.

She took out some candy from her sleeve.

“Want some candy?” she asked them.

“Thank you.”

The two men, who had been expressionless, immediately smiled.

They took the candy from Yang Lulong and, like children, eagerly put it in their mouths.

The three of them waited for the procession, with a piece of candy in each of their mouths.

Wan Niang finally stopped crying when the sedan chair stopped.

She felt the curtain being lifted, and a gentle, soft hand touched hers…

It was Yang Lulong.

Wan Niang’s heart filled with joy.

When she got out of the sedan chair, Yang Lulong gave her a piece of pastry.

“You didn’t eat anything this morning. Eat this first to fill your stomach. You might not be able to eat for a while…”

Under the veil, Wan Niang smiled.

She ate the pastry as Yang Lulong carried her on her back to the hall, surrounded by cheers.

Xiao Wen acted as their witness.

After they paid their respects to the heavens and earth and to each other, Yang Lulong took Wan Niang into the wedding chamber.

She still had to go back out to entertain the guests.

The whole village was there, gathered in the courtyard, eating wedding dishes and drinking wine.

It was a lively scene.

Since it was her wedding day, Yang Lulong was pulled by everyone to drink a toast with them.

One drink per table.

She hadn’t eaten much but was already getting full from the alcohol.

Even though the alcohol wasn’t as strong as the kind in her own time, it was still enough to affect her.

She finally finished toasting everyone.

Her face was as red as a hot coal, and she was starting to feel groggy.

“Alright, alright, hurry up and go to the wedding chamber!” Xiao Wen grabbed her, fearing she might fall, and helped her to the wedding chamber.

“Go have a good night! Have a big, chubby baby with Wan Niang soon!”

“Be good to Wan Niang!”

“Don’t fall asleep! A night of bliss is worth a thousand pieces of gold!”

The villagers, who were also drunk, shouted their “blessings” to the couple without any shame.

The intoxicated Yang Lulong, with Xiao Wen’s help, stumbled into the wedding chamber.

She shook her head to clear her mind and sat down next to Wan Niang.

Smelling the alcohol on her, Wan Niang felt a little uncomfortable.

She didn’t like alcohol or people who drank.

But today was their big day, so she didn’t mind too much.

“They just wouldn’t let me go…” Yang Lulong said, feeling wronged.

“I don’t like drinking either… I won’t drink again…”

She was already scolding herself before Wan Niang could say anything.

A smile unconsciously appeared on Wan Niang’s lips under the veil.

“It’s time to lift the veil, you silly goose.”

She gently touched Yang Lulong’s hand.

“Oh, right.” Yang Lulong remembered.

She took a deep breath to make herself more serious, but the blush on her face wouldn’t go away.

Her long fingers took hold of the two corners of the veil and slowly lifted it.

But when she saw the tear stains on Wan Niang’s face, she froze.

Her drunkenness immediately went away.

She looked at Wan Niang with a pained expression.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“…” Wan Niang realized that her makeup had been ruined by her crying.

She felt disappointed and sad.

Looking at Yang Lulong’s worried face, she was too embarrassed to tell her that she had cried because she missed her family.

She looked at the broken bracelet on her hand.

“This bracelet… it’s broken…”

“Huh?” Yang Lulong picked it up to inspect it.

It was indeed broken.

“Maybe I used bad wood. It’s okay, I’ll just make another one.”

“You haven’t eaten all day. I asked Xiao Wen to bring some food for you. Eat up.”

Yang Lulong stood up.

“I’ll go get you some water to wash your face.”

Wan Niang ate the hot food.

It was all her fault for not holding back her tears and ruining the beautiful makeup Sister Fang had done for her.

“Here’s the water…” Yang Lulong came back with a basin and helped Wan Niang wash her face.

“Sister Fang did my makeup… It’s a shame…”

“It’s okay… We can ask Sister Fang to do it for you again…”

“But… today is so important…”

Seeing that Wan Niang was still upset, Yang Lulong looked around, trying to figure out what to do.

Her eyes fell on the new dressing table she had bought in town.

She remembered she had also bought some cosmetics with it.

“How about… I do your makeup?”

“Huh?”

“Come…” Yang Lulong took her hand and led her to the dressing table to sit down.

“Do you know how to do makeup?” Wan Niang asked, afraid that she might mess it up.

“I’ve only seen it once, but I think I remember,” she said.

When she bought it, she had asked the shop owner to demonstrate it for her.

Wan Niang looked up at her, seeing how serious she was.

She didn’t care how it turned out.

She just looked at her with a warm smile.

“All done…” Yang Lulong took her hands back.

Wan Niang looked at herself in the mirror.

Although it wasn’t as good as Sister Fang’s, it was quite good for Yang Lulong’s first time.

Yang Lulong waited nervously for Wan Niang to give her a review.

“It’s very pretty.” She smiled and looked at her.

Yang Lulong smiled back at her.

“You should do it too.”

“Huh? I don’t need to…”

“Just one thing,” Wan Niang said, moving to make room for her.

Yang Lulong sat down reluctantly.

“Yang Lulong, look up.”

Even though she was reluctant, she obediently looked up.

A pair of soft lips landed on hers.

After a long moment, Wan Niang pulled away from her, a mischievous smile in her dark eyes.

“It’s done…”