“Can you do me a favor? Can you help me complete this wedding?”

“I...”

“I know you don’t want to, but I have no other choice, I don’t want to shock my mother,” Qian Lan practically pleaded as she held onto Mo Zichen’s arm. “I can promise you that we will only hold a wedding, we won’t actually sign any papers. After the ceremony’s done, you are free to marry whomever you want. We will no longer be involved with each other.”

“But...”

“Zichen, help me.”

No matter how Mo Zichen thought about it, he felt like he had been pulled into a trap, but he still let Qian Lan drag him into the wedding car.

Qian Lan’s bridesmaids were made up of her colleagues. When they saw her bravely swap out her groom, they admired her courage.

Since he was already sitting in the car, Mo Zichen decided to play along and do this favor for Qian Lan. After all, he was supposed to attend a lecture that day and he was already dressed appropriately.

...

Qian Lan’s wedding was small, but there were still a few guests from the army as well as Qian Lan’s friends and family. All up, there were only 20-30 people. However, when Mo Zichen glanced at the front row and saw Mother Qian, he noticed that she did indeed look unwell; she looked exactly like a seriously ill patient.

Of course, Qian Hui and Father Qian were also present at the wedding, as well as Xu Chunhao. As soon as they spotted Mo Zichen walk in, their eyes grew wide in shock.

What happened to the groom?

Why did he suddenly change?

How was this a wedding? This was a complete train wreck!

Seeing the scene before her, Mother Qian stood up and asked, “Are you joking? Where’s your groom?”

“Here,” Qian Lan replied as she hooked her arm with Mo Zichen’s.

“I know who he is, but he’s not the groom. Qian Lan, today is the most important day of your life, don’t joke around.”

“I’m not joking. I’m marrying this man today.” After speaking to her mother, Qian Lan turned to the wedding celebrant and said, “Let’s get started. His name is Mo Zichen.”

The wedding celebrant was a little surprised, but he quickly nodded his head and replied, “Let’s get started then...”

Everyone thought the scene was quite ridiculous, but they still let Qian Lan and Mo Zichen go ahead.

It was completely absurd! Afterwards, Mother Qian learned that the real groom had run away and her daughter had randomly grabbed another man to fill in his spot. But, she was being much too brave, especially since the man she grabbed was her ex-boyfriend. Wasn’t the situation enough of a mess as it was?

Mo Zichen could tell that everyone was calling Qian Lan ridiculous.

After all, no one would randomly swap out their groom just because the original one ran away. But, wasn’t that how his parents got married?

With this thought, Mo Zichen temporarily paused the wedding and turned around to bow to everyone. He then explained, “I’m sorry everyone, Qian Lan did indeed grab me to replace her runaway groom.”

“Although the wedding is a mess, it’s great that Qian Lan’s parents are present. I would like to take this opportunity to tell the two of you that I believe I am the one that can bring Qian Lan happiness. So, I hope that Auntie and Uncle can hand your daughter to me.”

“To be honest, Qian Lan was never prepared to get married yet. She simply planned this wedding to give Auntie a peace of mind.”

“Hence, when the groom ran away, she had no choice but to grab me – her neighbor.”

“Since I’m here, I would like to say a few things. This wedding may not be valid, but I believe I am the person that Qian Lan can entrust the rest of her life to. What do you think, Auntie? Do you think this joke should come to an end?”

After hearing from Mo Zichen, Mother Qian turned and looked at her daughter, “If not for Mo Zichen, how embarrassed would you be today?”

Qian Lan looked at Mo Zichen and smiled, “Mom...”

“...I don’t care if my groom ran away today. All I know is, today’s ceremony is already half completed, so let’s finish it. Today, the Qian Family will only acknowledge this man.”

Qian Lan glanced at Mo Zichen with a stressed expression.

The entire scene seemed both real and fake; even Mo Zichen couldn’t distinguish the truth. Luckily, at this time, Qian Lan leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Don’t worry, after this is all over, we will return to being friends like before.”

Mo Zichen nodded and turned back around to face the celebrant.

It didn’t take long before the ceremony was completed. Afterwards, Mother Qian turned to the guests and apologized, “Today was a complete embarrassment, I’m sorry for making you witness such a joke. My daughter may be a mere lieutenant in the military, but she is very mature. Please except my apology.”

“How about this, why don’t we pretend that we all attended an engagement today. When these two are truly ready for marriage, the Qian Family will arrange a grand wedding for our daughter.”

Mother Qian’s words relieved the awkwardness of the event and everyone understood her intentions, so they clapped and congratulated Qian Lan.

Afterwards, Mother Qian invited the guests into the hotel to get some rest. This was when she truly turned to teach Qian Lan a lesson, “It’s been 5 years. You’ve left home for 5 years and you returned with a gift like this?”

Mo Zichen stood behind Qian Lan and watched as she got scolded.

“You previously declared that you were leaving the Qian Family and you were never coming back. I let you have your way, so what’s this?”

“Were you putting on an act to make me happy?”

“I almost died from anger. Luckily, Zichen came to the rescue.”

Mo Zichen analyzed Mother Qian and discovered that she had changed a lot.

Perhaps, due to the investigation on the Qian Family, Mother Qian experienced the extremes of human nature, so she learned to become more tactful.

years ago, Mo Zichen never met Mother Qian and the two of them never faced each other head on, but Mo Zichen couldn’t resist looking into the Qian Family. That’s how he knew how Mother Qian was like 5 years ago.

“But, now that things have progressed to this point, I must ask, Zichen, were you serious about what you just said or did you simply say it to brush off the guests.”

“Of course, I’m aware that you helped us, so I won’t blame you for speaking the truth.”

“Auntie, that’s just a small matter, you shouldn’t take it to heart,” Mo Zichen replied, implying a deeper meaning.

“I understand,” Mother Qian nodded. “In that case, today didn’t count.”

Qian Lan looked at Mo Zichen with a trace of disappointment, but this quickly disappeared.

“No, what I meant was, I’m willing to be with Qian Lan again.”

Mo Zichen looked into Qian Lan’s eyes and added, “Since fate wasn’t on our side 5 years ago, let’s try again. If nothing results from this, then I won’t persist.”

Qian Lan looked at Mo Zichen in shock...

“Are you being serious?”

“Yes, but Qian Lan, let me be honest with you, 5 years ago, when you broke up with me, it took me a long time to recover, so I might still feel hatred for you. If you want to be with me, you need to be prepared to accept that I may not be very intimate at the beginning.”

After hearing this, Qian Lan nodded her head with a bitter smile, “I understand...”

“If you acknowledge the engagement today, then let’s count it as the real thing.”