Chapter 1035: 696 Exaggerated Bride Price_2

"Nannan looks truly beautiful today." The middle-aged woman standing before Wu Shengnan offered a light smile and a compliment, then turned her gaze to Du Heng. "This must be the groom today, right? He’s truly handsome and so full of spirit. Your mother-in-law praises you in front of me every day. It made me so curious. Now that I’ve seen you today, I understand. With a son-in-law like you, I’d be bragging to everyone I meet too!"

Du Heng beamed, his two large front teeth showing. This Auntie’s words are really pleasant to hear.

"Thank you for the compliment, Auntie. Please, come in."

Just as the two of them had escorted those guests inside, another group of three or four, adults and children, approached.

However, neither Du Heng nor Wu Shengnan spoke. They simply maintained their smiles and bowed slightly, ushering the family in.

"Honey, these are your relatives, right?"

"Aren’t they from your family?"

"I don’t recall them. They must be from your side."

"I don’t recall them either." Du Heng shook his head, a little dazed. Oh well, forget it. "Your brother and my brother must know them," he said.

It wasn’t that the couple was being pretentious; they genuinely didn’t recognize all of their extended family. That was just how it was with Du Heng’s family. Before Du Heng’s success in the previous year, a large portion of his relatives existed only in the conversations of his older brother and sister-in-law; Du Heng himself had never actually met them. This was partly due to his being away at school for many years, but a significant reason was also that his family had been too poor, and so-called relatives had mostly severed contact, deeming it pointless.

However, in the last year or two, Du Heng had suddenly struck it rich. He had money and status. This prompted those relatives who had previously only existed in his older brother’s stories to suddenly re-establish contact, and their relationships became incredibly close, almost overnight. And it wasn’t just them; many other relatives, whom even his older brother had never mentioned, also emerged from the woodwork. Du Heng certainly didn’t recognize them, and even his older brother, who had always been the head of the household, probably couldn’t recognize them all.

As for Wu Shengnan, she was simply spoiled. Having an older brother meant she never needed to be at the forefront of meeting relatives, especially those so distant one could barely make a connection. As a result, today, the newlyweds could only stand at the door, facing this awkward situation.

Actually, the proper way to handle this would have been for an elder from each family to stand with Du Heng and Wu Shengnan. They could have helped the couple identify guests and, at the very least, know how to address each arriving relative correctly—knowing the correct form of address, for instance. This is real life; each precise term of address signifies the specific familial relationship between parties. It’s not as simple as the generic ’Grandpa’ or ’Uncle’ you might read in books. Getting it wrong would, firstly, offend the guest, and secondly, be incredibly embarrassing for oneself. This, of course, excludes those ’trendsetters’ who disregard family ties, prefer to be loners, and consider tradition to be rubbish.

Du Heng and Wu Shengnan were both of the normal Han ethnicity. They acknowledged their identity and accepted their cultural traditions and beliefs, so they couldn’t avoid this kind of embarrassment. Actually, mistaking the exact relationship was a relatively minor issue. But getting the generation wrong—that was a colossal blunder. Both the one who misaddressed and the one who was misaddressed would be so embarrassed they’d wish the earth would swallow them whole.

Thus, arranging for an elder who knew many people to be present was quite necessary.

However, the old problem remained: in Du Heng’s family, there were only two people who could truly be considered elders in this context—his older brother, Du Ping, and his sister-in-law, Zhang Sumei. As for Du Xuejing and Du Yi—well, they couldn’t really be counted on at this stage; it would be pointless even if they were.

In Du Heng’s family, only his older brother and sister-in-law could manage this. But with at least a hundred relatives in the banquet hall, did they not need to be greeted? Had these guests been invited merely for their gift money? Moreover, Du Ping and Zhang Sumei also had to coordinate seating arrangements, the serving of dishes, and other matters with Wu Shengnan’s older brother. They were both spinning like tops.

As for Wu Shengnan’s side, they had people who could help. But the awkward question was, should Wu Shengnan’s father do the introductions, or her mother? Or perhaps Sir Wu Zhong himself should take on the task? It wasn’t appropriate. Not at all. Wu Shengnan’s older brother had to manage things inside. Entertaining their family’s relatives and friends was even more complicated than for Du Heng’s side. On Du Heng’s side, there were so many people that a simple, "So sorry, we’re incredibly busy today, please forgive any oversight in hospitality!" could smooth things over. But Wu Shengnan’s guests were people for whom ’face’ was paramount; slighting any one of them would be a misstep. That’s why Wu Shengnan’s older brother couldn’t come out to help at the door. As for Wu Shengnan’s sister-in-law, she was essentially on the same level as Du Xuejing and Du Yi—not helpful.

And so, the couple stood at the door, awkwardly and exhaustedly greeting each arriving guest. Their legs were numb from standing, their waists ached, and their faces were sore from constant smiling. Just when they felt they couldn’t hold on any longer, they were finally called inside to begin the wedding ceremony.

The wedding was prepared by a wedding planning company. To build a sense of mystery, Du Heng and Wu Shengnan had rehearsed separately, each practicing their own part of the proceedings. It was elaborate, heartwarming, and very romantic.

But in Du Heng’s view, any sense of surprise or mystery was just pure torment.

However, in the end, the wedding did offer Du Heng a small surprise. Li Qin and Feng Su, whom he had never expected to see, were actually invited onto the stage during the final segment and sang a song for everyone. Although their singing wasn’t great, they gave Du Heng an immense amount of ’face’. This made the guests present view Du Heng and his new wife with even greater esteem.

Once all the ceremonies were complete and everyone began to feast heartily, Du Heng and Wu Shengnan, swallowing their own hungry saliva, picked up their wine glasses and started making the rounds to toast their guests. It was just that the number of guests today was somewhat larger, completely exceeding Du Heng and Wu Shengnan’s expectations. Originally, they had estimated twenty tables for Du Heng’s side and thirty for Wu Shengnan’s. But now, looking around, the entire banquet hall and all the private rooms were packed to the brim. Forget fifty tables; people would believe it if you said there were a hundred.

Consequently, Du Heng and Wu Shengnan hadn’t even toasted half the tables when the banquet wound down and guests began to depart.

Still, it was a relief that the banquet was over. Du Heng and Wu Shengnan no longer had to go through the motions. They comfortably found a place to sit and finally began to fill their empty stomachs.

Just then, Wu Shengnan’s older brother came over, flanked by two of his friends, and plonked himself down next to Du Heng.

"You eat, don’t mind us. We’ve already eaten. I’m here to go over the accounts with you." Wu Shengnan’s older brother took two black bags and two account books from his friend.

Du Heng quickly finished the food in his mouth, wiped his lips with a piece of paper, and said to Wu Shengnan’s older brother, "Brother, tell me, how much did the hotel and wedding company cost in total? I’ll transfer the money to you now."

Wu Shengnan’s brother slapped the items in his hand onto the table and said magnanimously, "Who said anything about that? Don’t worry about those expenses. My friends handled everything; it didn’t cost much. What I want to talk about now is the gift money we received today."

Du Heng glanced at the lavish spread of fish and prawns on the tables and quickly said, "Brother, we can’t just ignore those costs. Today’s banquet was so magnificent, it gave us tremendous ’face’. We can’t let your friends lose money over this."

Wu Shengnan’s brother didn’t address Du Heng’s concern, instead pushing the items beside him towards Du Heng. "Let’s not talk about other things. Here’s today’s gift list and the cash gifts. We’ve already tallied it. The total is exactly 618,200 yuan. You can count it."

Du Heng’s eyes widened instantly. Even Wu Shengnan, beside him, stopped eating and asked in astonishment, "Brother, isn’t this too much? I remember when you got married, you only received a little over one hundred thousand yuan in gift money."

Du Heng swallowed hard; he too was stunned by the figure. He had attended many weddings and funerals in his hometown, and had even served as the accountant for the Old Secretary’s family during a funeral. That particular event had only brought in a total of 51,000 yuan in gift money. Over 600,000 yuan now seemed a bit much.

But Wu Shengnan’s brother seemed unfazed by this sum, even a little dissatisfied. "You call this a lot? Just a while ago, for Uncle Bai’s granddaughter’s Baby Steps celebration, Uncle Bai’s side alone received nearly a million yuan in gift money! It’s only because Dad gave instructions, and I was up front keeping an eye on things and turning certain people away. Otherwise, if today’s gift money hadn’t topped two million, I’d change my surname from Wu!"