Chapter 224: The celebration tonight (3)

Li Wei got out of the car that was standing at the entrance of the path that would lead to the banquet hall. Mu Shufen opened the door for him, after which he got out of the car and then both of them proceeded towards the banquet hall.

It took almost fifteen minutes to complete the process of verification, after which Li Wei and Mu Shufen got into the hall. Li Wei was wearing a navy blue three-piece tuxedo, that had a shawl lapel navy blue waistcoat with black collar and a shawl lapel navy blue single-breasted one-button suit, with a black color collar, with the trouser of navy blue color as well, beneath it, he wore a spotless white shirt. A beautiful broach at the breast pocket made the outfit complete and made him look handsome and poise as well.

Mu Shufen wore a basic black three-piece suit.

They both entered the banquet hall, and again, most of the eyes of the ladies were on him. Many gazes followed his movements and were amazed by the way he carried himself.

He spotted Mr. Erik and then went to congratulate him. The C.E.O. Of vertex corporation, who was with the other businessmen, noticed Li Wei instantly.

"Mr. Li is here!" Mr. Erik said with a raised voice, to which Li Wei said, "Nice to meet you again, Mr. Erik. And also, happy marriage anniversary to you and your wife."

"Thank you, Mr. Li. It's a pleasure to have you here," Mr. Erik said with a grin.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Erik," Li Wei said as his gaze fell on a woman who was standing with her back towards them. Strangely she felt familiar to Elaina, her face wasn't visible from this side.

Li Wei frowned, but before he could do anything, his attention diverted to Mr. Erik who was introducing him to the other people standing there.

Seeing Li Wei's sight at the woman that had turned her back towards them, Mr. Erik said, "Miss Song, I want you to meet, Mr. Li, he is the C.E.O. Of the Li Corporation, that we are collaborating with. And he is the same person I mentioned when I said that a client from China, said the same things to me as you did."

As soon as Li Wei heard, 'Miss Song' he froze.

Elaina?

Li Wei thought in his mind, and he had a surprised look on his face, which he wasn't able to hide.

'How is Elaina here?' Li Wei thought in bewilderment.

Somewhat happy and Somewhat confused, Li Wei waited for the 'Miss Song' to look towards them so that he can confirm that this Miss Song is his wife.

"Miss Song," Mr. Erik once more, and the woman finally turned towards them, and till then, Li Wei knew that she was Elaina, and Elaina knew that he was Li Wei.

"Mr. Aiden Li, please meet Miss Eliana Song, the representative of the Song Industries," Mr. Erik said, as Elaina turned towards them.

"N-Nice to meet you, Mr. Aiden," Elaina said, with her eyes towards the floor, and Li Wei was both shocked and happy.

He wanted to directly ask her, then and there, that what she was doing here, but he composed himself, his insides still in turmoil. With a smile, he said, "To think that I will meet Miss Eliana here in Moscow, is really amazing," as he put forward his hand for a handshake.

Elaina didn't have a choice but to accept the handshake. As Elaina bought her hand forward to Li Wei's, Li Wei took her hand quickly and squeezed it lightly, but keep in mind not to hurt Elaina.

As soon as Elaina felt it, she flinched and unconsciously looked up, only to meet Li Wei's eyes. As soon as their eyes met, all that happens every time, happened this time as well. The eyes didn't waver and they looked at each other without blinking.

Their sweet time was interrupted by Mr. Erik's voice.

"Huh? It looks like Mr. Li and Miss Elaina know each other," Mr. Erik said.

"Yes, we are very close acquaintances, aren't we, Miss Elaina?" Li Wei said, his eyes still on Elaina. Elaina was taken aback by this sudden statement of Li Wei and said, "Y-Yes, it's true. We do know each other," as she took her hand back from the prolonged handshake.

"That's great. You two please enjoy yourselves, I will see you around," Mr. Erik said, as he excused himself and then made his way to the other people, where the rest of the people that were standing with them, have shifted.

Now, only Li Wei and Elaina were left, and it didn't take long before the atmosphere between them become awkward, as both of them couldn't say anything.

Finally, Li Wei was the one to break the silence, "Why are you here?" he asked.

"I-I am here for business, what else?" Elaina said as she tried her best to avoid Li Wei's gaze.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were here?" Li Wei asked again.

"Y-You didn't ask me," Elaina said, to which Li Wei frowned, and then instantly he smirked.

"Do you have anything to ask? If not, I will take my leave," Elaina said as she was going to excuse herself, but Li Wei held her hand, stopping her from leaving.

"W-What are you doing? Are you crazy?" Elaina said as she tried to free her hand from Li Wei's grip, but her efforts were in vain.

"Wife, do you want me to tell, that who close we know each other," Li Wei whispered in Elaina's ear, his face near Eliana's neck.

As soon as Elaina heard Li Wei's words, she was flustered, and said, "What are you-" turning her head around, but her words stopped when she saw Li Wei's face close to her's.

With only a centimeter distance, between her and Li Wei's face, it was enough to increase Elaina's heartbeat, and she seemed to have frozen in her place. All the things that she had thought last night, about her feelings towards Li Wei, came into her mind, and her face had become red as a tomato.

As for Li Wei, he was enjoying seeing the change in the expression of Elaina one after another. First, she looked angry, and then shocked, then her face had turned as red as a tomato and she seemed like she was thinking of something.

"Now that we are this close, should I kiss you, Miss Song?" Li Wei said, as his eyes landed on Elaina's lips that looked delicious, making Li Wei lick his lips.

Hearing Li Wei's words, Elaina came back to reality, and soon as a reflex, she took some steps back quickly, but unfortunately, she did it so carelessly that her legs tripped and she felt herself falling.

Closing her eyes, Elaina waited for the pain to come, but eventually, she felt a strong hand on her waist that pulled her straight. Relieved, slowly, she opened her eyes, only to see Li Wei's face in front of her, his hand still holding her waist.

"You sure are clumsy," Li Wei said with a frown, as he helped Elaina stand straight.

"T-Thank you," Elaina said, as she got in her position. The next thing was silence, but before, any one of them would care to break it, Mr. Erik's voice from the mic was sounded, its time for his speech.

Standing straight, both Eliana and Li Wei stood in their positions, and all the attention drifted towards Mr. Erik on the stage.

"Good evening to all my friends and all the esteemed guested here, who made time and attended the celebration for my twenty-fifth marriage anniversary. I would like to thank you for coming here, and being a part of this memorable day for me," Mr. Erik paused, and the crowd gave a round of applaud.

After the clappings stopped, he continued, "Don't worry, I won't bore you all with my long speech, but I would like to take this chance to say some words. I am getting nostalgic recalling all the memories, of this very same day, twenty-five years ago, when I got married to my love, my wife, Mariya," as he presented his hand to his wife that was standing next to the stage. Taking his hand, Erik pulled up Mariya on the stage and they both stood next to each other.

"Twenty-five years, sounds long right? But strangely, to be standing here, it went away in a blink, but what I keep in my heart are all the memories that those days left in my heart. The love between partners should be boundless, and with time it should grow more profound. It takes a lot of effort to make a marriage work, but the journey seems natural when both work together. The bachelors and those who are just married, all those young couples, keep this in mind, I am giving you some advice,"

Hearing this, the whole crowd laughed, after which Erik continued, "These twenty-five years, many things happened, I got married to this beautiful lady by my side, was blessed with a handsome son and a beautiful daughter, and so on, and many things changed. From a bachelor, I became a husband, from a person who liked to sleep alone, I became a person, who is now not able to fall asleep without my wife. I became more responsible as I became a father. And from a tantrum-throwing man, I learned how to bow my head down whenever I and Mariya fought. Of course, this was important as well, if I wanted to sleep in my bed and not on the sofa."

The crowd laughed again.

"But in all this, something that hasn't change is the love that I hold for my wife, and it won't change in the upcoming years as well. In these twenty-five years, I fell in love with you every single day, Mariya. And I hope to spend the rest of my life falling in love with you like this," Erik paused as he proceeded to sit on a knee, and taking out a ring from his pocket, he showed it to Mariya, who was nearly in tears.

"So, Mariya, will you marry me again? Will you let me fall in love with you again, will you let me love you on and on?" Erik said.

"Yes, you old man. I will," Mariya said, as she broke into tears, and she gave her hand to Erik, after which Erik put on the ring into her fingers, and he got up and hugged her.

The whole crowd broke into cheers and laughter, followed by claps.

After they broke the hug, Erik said, "It's time for the first dance of the evening everyone! So take the hands of your partners and enjoy," as he took the hand of Mariya, and soon the music started.

Everyone else as well proceeded to dance together with their partners.

Elaina who was smiling saw a hand in front of her. She turned towards the person, of whom the hand was, it was Li Wei.

Li Wei said as Elaina turned towards him, "Can I have your first dance of the evening?"

Elaina, who was in a good mood, nodded, and as she did, Li Wei took her hand, into his, grabbing it tighly, so as to never let it go.