The CEO's Substitute Wife Is A Genius-Chapter 446 Grand Wedding: Sending off the Bride

The next day arrived quickly.

Jiang Man, JOJO, the bridesmaids, and the groomsmen hardly slept a wink.

At four o’clock in the morning, both groups were woken up by the makeup artists.

Jiang Man, who was used to a plain appearance, seemed transformed after the professional makeup team finished with her.

Her small, delicate face with well-defined features.

All words describing a woman’s beauty applied to her without exaggeration.

Her face was as exquisite as a painting; her fair skin was as smooth as white jade, flushed with a faint blush, the color of happiness.

Her eyebrows resembled distant mountains, and the slightly upturned corners of her eyes conveyed a hint of coquetry and shyness, yet her gaze held firmness and anticipation.

In contrast, the foreigner JOJO, who wore a dragon and phoenix gown, was at a disadvantage.

Such bright colors of the dragon and phoenix gown suited Eastern women’s temperament and contours, but not Westerners’.

Especially JOJO’s exceptionally prominent nasal bone, high and sharp, added a shrewdness and lacked the softness of Oriental beauty.

For the friends’ weddings to be together, the hotel specially connected two bridal rooms for them.

Once the two beds were pushed together, they sat upright on each of them.

JOJO found it all too amusing and occasionally lifted her red bridal veil embroidered with gold fragments.

Despite having asked the bridesmaids about the wedding procession several times the night before,

when it actually happened, she suddenly felt her mind go blank.

Unlike JOJO, who nervously behaved like a simpleton, Jiang Man was quite relaxed.

She sat cross-legged, leaning on her arms while playing with her phone.

However, this sense relaxedness was briefly interrupted by a knock at the door.

Lu Yingxue went to open the door and was astonished to see Madam Lan Xiang standing outside, unable to believe it.

Mao Lili and Zhang Ziqi, not being from this circle, naturally didn’t recognize Madam Lan Xiang.

But seeing her dressed in expensive haute couture, with her hair updo and the graceful bearing, it was not difficult to guess her distinguished status.

"Lan Auntie?" Jiang Man was overjoyed.

She had sent wedding invitations to France quite early but hadn’t received a response.

She had thought that Madam Lan wouldn’t come.

Madam Lan Xiang smiled, stepping gracefully into the bridal room, "I was ill recently and was uncertain if I could attend your wedding, so I hadn’t replied."

"But now you?"

"I’m better," Madam Lan Xiang smiled, her eyes creasing into a slit.

She brought a Hermès bag and placed it beside the bed.

First, she took out a wooden comb.

The wooden comb looked very old, almost like an antique.

"In old tradition, when a daughter gets married, her family sends her off. I don’t know if I can be considered your family, but may I comb your hair?"

Jiang Man paused for a moment, then quickly agreed, "Of course."

"But your hairstyle is already done..." Madam Lan Xiang hesitated.

"It’s okay," Jiang Man didn’t mind, "My hairstyle is simple; it only takes ten minutes to fix."

Madam Lan Xiang looked up at the wall clock and nodded, "Okay."

She did it quickly.

Nearby, Lu Yingxue and Lu Yingyang immediately helped to remove the hair accessories from Jiang Man’s head.

She didn’t like her hair to be too cumbersome, so her hairstyle and ornaments were simple,

unlike JOJO, who had a Phoenix crown weighing about seven or eight pounds of real gold.

"One comb to the end, two combs to bring white hair to the eyebrows, three combs to ensure a house full of children..."

Madam Lan Xiang held Jiang Man’s hair in her palm and gently combed it three times.

She combed each stroke with great care.

As she watched the hair strands being smoothed in her palm, her nose tingled, and she couldn’t hold back her emotions, shedding tears.

To avoid being noticed by Jiang Man and the others, she quickly raised her head to hold the tears back.

Just a month ago, Li Jin had found her and disclosed that she was Jiang Man’s birth mother.

He expressed his hope that she would send Manman off as her mother.

After learning the whole story, she collapsed immediately, unable to accept it, and became severely ill.

She thought about it for a long time, but ultimately, she didn’t have the courage to acknowledge Jiang Man as her own.

It was better they didn’t recognize each other—after all, the Lu Family wouldn’t welcome her, let alone her daughter.

Manman was not Ye Xiangling’s daughter and would have a better relationship with the Lu Family.

This time, on the occasion of Manman’s joyous wedding, the Lu Family had reluctantly made peace with her temporarily.

But in reality, the old lady and Lu Xuemei held deep grudges against her.

Such hatred couldn’t be resolved in a day or two; only time could gradually diminish it.

"My dear child, even after you’re married, you must not wrong yourself. If you ever feel wronged at your husband’s family, you can always come back to your maternal home."

"Manman, not only is the Hu family in the harbor city your maternal family..."

As she spoke further, Madame Lan Xiang’s voice choked up and went hoarse.

Sure, marrying off a daughter was supposed to be joyful, yet she couldn’t control her emotions.

The crowd was somewhat puzzled and couldn’t grasp the emotional trigger for her.

"Madam." Lu Yingxue hurriedly pulled out a few tissues and handed them to her.

Jiang Man turned around, also slightly confused, "Aunt Lan, why are you crying?"

"No, it’s tears of joy. We older folks are especially sentimental, making you young ones laugh."

"Not at all!" Lu Yingxue and Lu Yingyang chorused.

Especially Lu Yingxue, who had become much livelier since joining the research institute.

"Little aunt calls you ’aunt,’ so may we call you ’great aunt’?"

"Of course you can," said Madame Lan Xiang, looking at the naive and endearing Lu Yingxue with fondness in her heart.

"Great aunt, feel free to cry all you want. Wasn’t there an ancient custom of crying at the wedding ceremony?"

"No more tears." Madame Lan Xiang waved her hands with a smile, "If I start crying later, you all might join in, and it would be quite a shock for the groom and his groomsmen when they arrive."

"Hahaha." Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.

Madame Lan Xiang was impartial; after finishing styling Jiang Man’s hair, she moved behind JOJO.

However, JOJO’s hair ornament was quite complex, so she symbolically combed through JOJO’s bangs.

"This hair-combing ceremony is a custom of our Huaxia, symbolizing beautiful blessings. Not sure if you understand all these blessings?"

"I understand," JOJO nodded earnestly, her eyes looking up.

Madame Lan Xiang smiled and slowly combed through her bangs, reciting:

"One stroke for a journey to the end;

Two strokes for white hair meeting the eyebrows;

Three strokes for children and grandchildren everywhere;

Four strokes for good fortune for the husband and meeting nobility wherever he goes;

Five strokes for five sons achieving the highest ranks, for silver and everything abundant;

Six strokes for relatives and friends coming to celebrate;

Seven strokes for seven sisters joining to match Dong Yong, a bridge built high and mutual respect ensured;

Eight strokes for the Eight Immortals coming to confer longevity, with treasures and journeys abound;

Nine strokes for nine sons connected, each one distinguished;

Ten strokes for husband and wife aging together, reaching old age." freewebnoveℓ.com

One moment, JOJO claimed she understood, the next moment, she revealed a foolish yet clear gaze, totally baffled!

She didn’t understand at all.

But surely, they were lovely meanings.

"All done." After ten strokes, Madame Lan Xiang finally calmed her emotions.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jiang Man; the makeup artist then started re-styling her hair.

After finishing the hairstyle, she opened her bag.

She took out two redwood boxes.

Thorough in her preparations, she had prepared for her daughter, but knowing her daughter’s foreign friend was going to get married too, she had prepared for her friend as well.

"Come, put on the phoenix bracelets."

The two bracelets were different; Jiang Man’s had some age to it—it was a Ye Family heirloom...