Chapter 905: Chapter 725: Love Crosses Mountains and Rivers, Love Is a Lifelong Obsession

Time flew by, and soon it was the wedding day...

Yet the day before, a little unexpected event occurred.

Before the wedding, logically, the groom’s family would start finding groomsmen and such. Given Qiu Mingyan’s contributions to Chen Family Village over the years, many naturally were willing to be a groomsman.

Unfortunately, the day before, with the house packed full of people, Qiu Mingyan didn’t find anyone.

He hardly paid attention to everyone’s self-recommendations and even borrowed a motorcycle from neighbor Chen Ah Jiu, saying he needed to go to the city, and left for half a day.

When he returned, the woman he brought back was Sister-in-law Qiao, who had been selling bus tickets in Longkou Town for years.

Was she... brought back as a bridesmaid?

If she was invited for the wedding feast, it wouldn’t be necessary for the groom to go out of his way during such a busy time.

If not... she’s a bit old for a bridesmaid, and Sister-in-law Qiao’s son has already had two children; it’s not quite proper.

The crowd was puzzled, unable to understand what Qiu Mingyan was up to.

Qiu Mingyan didn’t want to interact much and just asked the family to take good care of Sister-in-law Qiao before he went inside to busy himself and didn’t exchange a second sentence with her.

Sister-in-law Qiao was not a talkative person. She simply faced everyone’s eager glances, smiled, and began munching on sunflower seeds.

This matter wasn’t a big deal, but amidst the pre-wedding oddities, it reached the ears of the Mai Family. The men of the Mai Family collectively furrowed their brows, sitting together to ponder, abandoning the fighting of the past ten days.

Mai Shixiong said, "What do you think Qiu Mingyan is up to every day? It’s the day before the wedding, yet he’s not seeking groomsmen or bridesmaids, but going to town to bring Sister-in-law Qiao over. What’s he up to?"

Mai Shihong didn’t have many ideas.

His son, Mai Manshan, spoke, "Could it be that Brother Mingyan plans to leave immediately after the wedding?"

At these words, everyone’s eyebrows furrowed tightly.

Recently, Qiu Mingyan’s remarks — that the Feng Family will surely come to avenge — had scared them out of their minds to the point of wanting to abandon the marriage! To the extent that if the Feng Family were to come again, they would rather give Qiu Mingyan to them.

But the Feng Family didn’t come, and under such interests calculation, they were conflicted over losing face, gritting their teeth against Qiu Mingyan.

While also harboring a lucky hope, desperately thinking that if the Feng Family decided to give up, Qiu Mingyan could go outside as a doctor and continue supporting the Mai Family, right?

At this moment...

Upon hearing Manshan’s words, Mai Shixiong was the first to lose his temper, "How dare he! After all, the initiative of the marriage is in our hands. To marry or not is up to us. Moreover, once married, we are all in this together! If he wants to leave on his own, leaving us behind, no way! From now on, if he stays in the village that’s fine. If he leaves, he’ll have to support our entire family!"

When Mai Shihong heard, he chimed in, "Yes! No way for him to run off! Anyway, tomorrow we’ll keep an eye on Sister-in-law Qiao. If anything looks off, I’ll grab a stick and break his leg, make him finish the wedding first! If the Feng Family wants him, we’ll sell him; if not, he owes our family so much. Alive, he’s one of us Mai Family; dead, he’s our Mai Family’s ghost!"

Mai Shihong still remembered the grudge of Qiu Mingyan crippling his son all those years ago, unable to let go of the obsession both emotionally and rationally.

This matched perfectly with Mai Shixiong’s viewpoint, and the two immediately started murmuring angrily.

Yet, on the other side, Mai Shilong sat, already disinclined to pay any attention to the words of his two brothers, only weighed down by the increasingly bizarre actions of Qiu Mingyan, feeling something in the depths of chaos was becoming more anxious and fearful...

...

Thus, it morphed into today...

In the morning, as the sky lit up slightly, the sound of cheerful gongs and drums echoed through the smoky village as dawn broke.

Qiu Mingyan got up, shaved cleanly and organized everything, then entered the room to bow to his parents.

This bow seemed fitting to all of the spectators, yet extremely odd.

After all, during a wedding, you should bow to your parents, but shouldn’t you go fetch the bride first and then come back with her to bow to the groom’s parents together?

Why then did he get up in the morning to bow alone?

Everyone exchanged glances, thinking it might be because Qiu Mingyan was particularly filial, and didn’t pay much attention.

Gui Lanzhi and Qiu Jingxin trembled, eyes collectively bewildered as they looked at their son, as if sensing some unease.

Qiu Mingyan, however, said nothing, just casting a deep, ink-black glance at his parents, rising calmly. He then walked beside Qiu Mingjun, patting his shoulder, and went to another room.

That room was set up as the bridal suite, fully decorated last night.

At this moment, Qiu Mingyan returned, surely changing into his wedding attire.

The group laughed and chatted, standing outside the door waiting for him to come out, eagerly discussing how the Mai Family must be fully prepared today, wondering how beautiful and joyful Manxiang must be today. How lively today’s wedding would be, and what antics they’d pull when Qiu Mingyan came out for the bridal fetch.

After all, it’s a wedding, and after years of tug-of-war between the Mai Family and the Qiu Family, reaching the moment of marriage was also the moment of closure in the villagers’ hearts. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Feng Chengyue’s departure day and Qiu Mingyan’s despair had almost been forgotten by everyone in the village.

Left behind was Qiu Mingyan finally staying, making those who liked him happy for his fulfillment of promises, and even those who disliked him held a peculiar hope for potential future gains.

...

The Mai Family.

Mai Manxiang, in today’s waiting process, felt both anxious and excited.

After all, surrounded by compliments.

Despite Qiu Mingyan’s indifference to village people and affairs these days, he couldn’t suppress the wedding joy, everyone knowing to speak highly.

Mai Manxiang finally awaited this day, despite all grievances and sorrows, it finally arrived.

She did not wish to worry about many things today.

"Ah, Manxiang, today you’re really beautiful! Everyone’s long said you’re the prettiest girl in the village, and now you’re marrying Qiu Mingyan, you two are truly a couple made in heaven."

"Yeah, yeah, especially since Qiu Mingyan is good-looking too. Once you’re married, just think how amazing the children would be."

"Hey, not just kids, with Qiu Mingyan’s education, our village might even have another university student in the future. Haha, I say, knowing you two would go back and forth all these years, you should have pushed him to marry sooner!"

The smile on Mai Manxiang’s lips couldn’t be stopped, thinking of Brother Mingyan who hadn’t mentioned a single word about backing out even until last night; she just hoped today’s dream would be a bit more beautiful.

But as time wore on, everyone started murmuring, "Shouldn’t he be here by now?"

Yet they still hadn’t seen Qiu Mingyan’s bridal fetch team appear.

After waiting less than five minutes, accompanied by Mai Manshan barging pale-faced into the Mai Family’s courtyard, shouting, "Something happened!!!"

Startling Mai Manxiang, dressed in red jacket and skirt, unable even to put on her veil, quickly followed everyone outside.

Lin Cuixia shouted anxiously first: "What nonsense are you spouting, what happened?! This joyous day, stop that!"

Mai Manshan couldn’t stop, recalling the scenes before, sweat streaming down his temples.

So, stammering with palpitations, he could barely utter a word, especially with the fear in his heart...

His lips trembled for a long time before squeezing out a few words, "Brother Mingyan... committed suicide..."