Chapter 19 - The Dress Talks

Shopping was honestly boring for Feng Xuan. She hated walking down aisle per aisle, hoping to find something to her taste. But she loved the thought of having new clothes, of being able to mix and match and make combinations that would not always be acceptable for everybody.

So there she was, yet again, at The Kingly Hotel with Wang Yimin. It was just after her morning classes and her dear cousin phoned her, telling her she needed to be scouring for her wedding party dress.

Unlike Feng Xuan, Wang Yimin enjoyed the scrupulous process of looking for the perfect garments. She combed through store after store, looking for the right dress for her and for her cousin.

Some of her comments include:

"You look like a boring housewife."

"That says, 'I'm still a child, please help me out of this marriage'."

"Oh, that's really beautiful," she said when Feng Xuan came out of the dressing room wearing a collared mermaid dress. The lace dress was backless and snugly fitted Feng Xuan's slim body. "But that says, 'I just got married today'. But you didn't. I'd still take that dress though. Maybe you'll get married again sometime in the future," she shrugged.

"What does this one say?" Feng Xuan pulled the curtains aside.

Wang Yimin tilted her head. "That looks perfect." Feng Xuan gave her a little twirl and she saw that the back had a V-line and was embellished with beads. It wasn't exactly white in color, more like a blush pink. The rest of the dress looked simple and had a slit on the skirt. "We can put your hair up. Add a flower or two or some pearls."

Feng Xuan looked at herself in the mirror. "The dress doesn't say 'I'm not forced into this wedding', right?"

Wang Yimin laughed. "It says that alright—I mean, with the history of our family everyone knows that you just married Qing Chen. The dress says, 'I was not entirely willing to be married, but my husband is so nice and kind that I do not really mind.'"

Feng Xuan smiled and thought about Qing Chen for a second. Would he like this dress?

"Really now," Wang Yimin said, "you look perfect."

Feng Xuan nodded at herself. "Can you make the skirt not so boring?" she chuckled and kicked the train. "Make it a little more jagged? Or maybe add another layer of chiffon? Just so it doesn't look so boring."

Wang Yimin knew a thing or two about making adjustments and was more than willing to help her. "Yes, I get the idea. Maybe a little shiny tulle layer." She smiled, thinking about just how it would look. "I'll have it sent to you by Thursday so we can make adjustments on Friday if necessary."

While eating a little snack of salads, Wang Yimin finally opened up the topic she wanted to ask Feng Xuan ever since they saw each other today. "So... how is your husband?"

Feng Xuan swallowed. "What do you mean? I told you already that he's great."

"I know! But what about the other part? Did you enjoy?"

Feng Xuan almost choked on her greens. "O—oh! You meant 'that'!" she coughed."No, we didn't do anything."

Wang Yimin's everybrows raised. "Really?"

"Yeah, I made a fool out of myself. He was entirely clueless on what was going on."

"Why? What did you do?"

"I straddled him."

Wang Yimin gave a full-blown laugh. covering her mouth. "You're crazy! I didn't know you have the guts, cousin. I should say I'm really impressed."

Feng Xuan looked down but smiled a little. "He didn't want to rush. He said we didn't need to do it right away and that we should just do it when the time is right."

Wang Yimin slowly nodded. "Props to him. I never thought he would be the guy you're marrying. I was so surprised when Uncle Zihao told me. Qing Chen seemed just kind of reserved. I saw him at parties but we never really interacted."

"Well, on Saturday, you will," Feng Xuan said.

"Is he a quiet person? He always sort of looked brooding."

"He actually talks a lot," Feng Xuan's smile grew wider. Everyone thought that Qing Chen was the kind of person who did not really talk too much, but with her he was always engaging her into conversations. Or maybe he did not really have a choice but to talk to her because who else would he talk to in their house? The utensils? "And he's always smiling."

Wang Yimin's lips smiled too. "You like him."

"It's too early to say that."

"No, I just meant you like him as a person. In general."

Was it possible that Feng Xuan's smile could grow wider? Wang Yimin thought not."I do."

Wang Yimin was happy for Feng Xuan, but she was also worried. "Are you both on the same page, for the future? Did you get to talk about that already?"

Feng Xuan nodded. "We've talked about it somehow. He was really open when I hinted that we should hang out and he even suggested that we have dinner twice a week for starters."

Wang Yimin was impressed. Now, this was an arranged marriage worth smiling about. "I'm glad for you. I can't wait to meet him."

"I can't wait for you guys to meet each other."

Later on, the cousins did a little more window shopping. Feng Xuan asked Wang Yimin if they should have dinner together.

"I can't. I told Zhou Shan I'd cook him dinner tonight."

Feng Xuan got excited. "I can't wait to meet him on Saturday!"

Wang Yimin was not really going to cook dinner for Zhou Shan tonight. She just wanted to push Feng Xuan towards Qing Chen. "Maybe you should ask your husband for dinner. He's just upstairs, right?"

"He better be," Feng Xuan said. "It's still office hours."

When Wang Yimin said good bye, bringing along her dress for Saturday, she debated whether or not should she go upstairs to Qing Chen. Then she saw a restaurant she had known from childhood and knew it was a sign.

She was going to surprise her husband.

Or would she be the one up for a surprise when somewhere on the 10th floor of The Kingly Hotel, a woman was busily typing letters in behalf of her boss whose name was Li Zongying, secretary of Qing Chen and former lover.