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墨書 Inktalez
At six o'clock sharp, Chef Jia woke from her slumber and nudged the Pockmarked Girl, who was grinding her teeth in her sleep. She threw on a jacket and pushed open the intricately carved wooden window. The cold morning air rushed in, causing the Pockmarked Girl to turn over, mumbling something incoherent. The warmth of the blankets could not compete with the chilly breeze, and reluctantly, she climbed out of bed.
"What time is it?" the Pockmarked Girl grumbled. "It's normal for Sea Surface weather." Song Yao had already checked the weather yesterday; Cao Zheng had assured her it wouldn't rain, so she had no objections. In fact, even if it did rain, it wouldn't matter—Jin Bo's storeroom was stocked with plenty of umbrellas, and a wedding in the rain could be quite romantic.
By the time the two women arrived at the venue, more than ten early-rising Islanders had already gathered. Most were middle-aged, their faces beaming with joy as if they were sending off their own children to marry.
There wasn't much to do early in the morning; the only busy one was Chef Jia in the Island Kitchen. Since everyone was on the same island, they skipped the banquet part of the event. According to the planned schedule, they would have a simple breakfast before the groom went to fetch the bride around nine o'clock. They would set off some firecrackers and make some noise to celebrate; by then, it would be time to head into the venue for the wedding ceremony. After the ceremony, there would be a buffet for over two hundred guests—two rounds would suffice—followed by cleaning up and later some fun during the wedding night with drinks and festivities to wrap up a successful wedding.
Song Yao and Yuan An boarded the yacht where Cao Zheng and Qianqian were already in position, adjusting the sound equipment. They had spent all afternoon yesterday testing various discs but unfortunately found no wedding march. Luckily, Islanders had some stock; they brought out a disc that was used as a frisbee for kids, its cover prominently featuring Richard Clayderman's Piano Piece collection.
Even if there were no fish or shrimp, Piano Piece was certainly more fitting than heavy metal music. The CD wasn't severely damaged; after some maintenance and repairs, it could barely play a few tracks. The tricky part was that someone needed to keep an eye on the sound system; otherwise, after a few songs, it would be filled with harsh static noise.
"Where's Old Wu? Didn't he say he was handling security? I haven't seen him around," Song Yao said as she went to check on her cake in the restaurant. Thankfully, due to the low temperatures at sea during the night, the cake molds were unaffected, and the cream had set perfectly.
"He's not in his room; he should have been up by now," Cao Zheng remarked as he glanced at Wu Wentao's cabin door, which was ajar and empty inside.
"What about Jiu Jiu and Jin Bo?" Song Yao asked.
"I don't know; they probably haven't gotten up yet," Cao Zheng replied with a grin. "There's nothing much happening this morning; things will get lively later."
Just then, Qianqian dashed down from the deck. "Who wants to come with me to see the bride?"
"What's that for?" everyone asked in unison.
"To help block her way," Qianqian said with a mischievous smile. "You think it's that easy to marry her after just a few hurdles?"
Song Yao and the others chuckled at this. After years of struggling between life and death, encountering such joyous occasions felt surreal; many details had slipped their minds entirely. If Qianqian hadn't mentioned it, they might have truly forgotten about this aspect.
"I need to finish decorating the cake; you all go ahead," Song Yao said with a pout. She wanted to join in on the fun but still had patterns left to create on top of the cake.
"I'm fine, let's go," Yuan An said cheerfully, immediately handing the wedding dress to Cao Zheng. The two girls linked arms and ran out with a skip.
At eight o'clock sharp, a faint light broke through the heavy clouds.
Song the Official stretched lazily, finally waking from his slumber. The scent of incense still lingered in the room. The blanket had fallen to the floor, and Barbie Doll lay bare, her arms numb from being pressed down. Looking down at the cat nestled on her chest, Song the Official couldn't help but chuckle. After shedding his burdens, he felt much lighter. He patted her perky backside, pushed aside her long legs draped over his waist, and struggled to get up.
Last night had been a wild affair, and after tossing and turning for most of the night, he wondered if it was due to pent-up energy that he felt a stirring desire upon seeing the delicate figure on the bed.
Reaching for a pipe on the table, he lit it with a match's flickering flame and took a deep drag. The low-quality tobacco swirled in his lungs as he tried to clear his mind of chaotic thoughts. He rolled out of bed and began dressing and washing up.
Song Jiu was probably the last one to rise. The sky outside was still dimly lit, but many people had gathered by the coast, and a procession was forming near the wooden house. The groom was being escorted like a star surrounded by admirers; it seemed they were about to go fetch the bride.
"Whoa!"
Song Jiu froze. He was responsible for setting off fireworks and saw that the wedding party was about to depart. Without caring about appearances, he grabbed a towel to wipe his face, quickly donned his formal attire, and nudged Barbie Doll awake. After a few hurried gestures, he dashed out the door. Barbie Doll was still dazed and had no idea what Song Jiu was trying to convey; all she saw was him rushing out like a gust of wind, followed by a muffled thud as he flew back into the room.
He truly flew back.
Song Jiu sprawled on the ground, his mind blank as he failed to process what had just happened. A warm liquid trickled down from his forehead, and large footprints on his white shirt mocked him silently.
"Song..." Barbie Doll blinked in confusion, completely at a loss. Before she could sit up, the faint light at the door suddenly dimmed. Looking up, she saw a wall of people blocking the entrance.
The grogginess of waking up mixed with dizziness from the impact as Song Jiu lay there for a while longer before finally snapping back to reality.
"Rebels!" The face of someone named Qian Wanguo flashed through Song Jiu's mind just as he had rushed out; he hadn't even seen what lay beyond the door when suddenly something struck him on the head, followed by an overwhelming force that sent him flying.
Regaining his senses instantly, Song Jiu stumbled back several steps to stand upright without even glancing at those entering through the door. He instinctively reached behind him only to find nothing there.
The door closed, plunging the room into darkness.
Song Jiu raised his head, his expression shifting from anger to fear in an instant.
Two men, two robust foreign men.
Their faces were unfamiliar, but that Jungle Combat Suit was all too familiar to Song Jiu.
Clearly, they had no intention of speaking with him. One of them raised his gun slightly, signaling for Song Jiu to raise his hands, while the other pulled a piece of paper from his waist pouch. The two foreigners compared notes and glanced at the Barbie Doll on the bed before shaking their heads in confusion.
Song Jiu's mind went blank as he struggled to control his emotions, trying not to think about the situation outside. He turned to glance at the pillow, where the cold grip of a gun was partially visible.
In the small wooden house, the wedding procession was underway.
"Where's the 38 Red Flag cannon operator?" Jin Bo shouted loudly. "Song Jiu should be firing the cannon now!"
"He hasn't arrived yet." Luo Yu, looking refreshed, replied. Today, they were also playing bridesmaids. They had changed out of their casual clothes and into well-tailored dresses that exuded elegance and beauty.
Jin Bo grinned in surprise. "What the hell? How can he be the boss if he can sleep through this?"
"Forget it, forget it. Let's just have someone else fire the cannon for now," Fang Fei said as she squeezed through the crowd. The atmosphere was so lively that it felt like everyone had been injected with enthusiasm. She had dressed up in a strapless gown that morning, but amidst the throng, she nearly got pulled down. Now she had to lift her skirt while covering her chest, looking both beautiful and awkward.
"Dr. Zhong, you go take over," Jin Bo said helplessly as he pulled Dr. Zhong out from among the crowd.
The groom was still inside the house, adjusting his tie and wearing a perfectly tailored suit. A silly grin spread across his face as he gazed through the window at the stilt house where the bride was waiting, his heart nearly leaping out of his chest.
"Where's Little Leaf?" Luci squeezed in from another side, navigating through the crowd to grab Fang Fei, who was trying to push her way out. "The speech draft is still with her! Where did she go?"
"Ah," Fang Fei exclaimed, feeling overwhelmed. She had thought everything was arranged perfectly, but now there were so many unexpected troubles. Raising her voice, she replied, "I don't know! She left early this morning."
"Hey, hey, don't crowd!" Luci said, feeling speechless. After staying up late to carefully write the script, she had hoped to sleep in a little longer that morning. So, she had asked Little Leaf to deliver the script to Dai Wei. However, when she finally found Dai Wei, he hadn't seen Little Leaf at all.
"Don't worry; she's probably with Huihui and the others at the bride's place. Just go over and get it," Fang Fei said, cupping her hands like a trumpet and calling out loudly. Suddenly, someone bumped into her, and before she could steady herself, she heard Jin Bo's loud voice starting to shout.
"The groom has prepared Wanli Red for me to set off these twenty thousand firecrackers!"
"Twenty thousand?" Luci quickly covered her ears and shouted back, "How long will that take to explode?"
"Until we bring the bride out!" Jin Bo laughed heartily, waving his arm. "Let's go!"
Dr. Zhong, squatting in front of the firecrackers, flicked his lighter. A flame leaped up with a soft whoosh.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom!
The Wanli Red ignited, and the deafening sound of firecrackers erupted. Colorful paper shattered and burst apart as smoke filled the air. The groom stepped out of the house, escorted by the wedding procession through the roaring fireworks, with red paper scraps raining down as he headed straight for the Stilt House.
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