"No, abuela," Xia An said somewhat bashfully. "Ye Ziwen and I have been married for such a long time now. Besides, we already have a child. Why would we need to have another wedding ceremony?"
"Don't you think that's funny?" Aunt Zhao said seriously, looking at Xia An. "This is what Qi Chen owes you. When you got married, he didn’t even know who you were."
"But..." Xia An frowned slightly. She did not want this complication but Aunt Zhao was very persistent.
To make the two elders happy, she nodded. "Alright, since both grandfather and grandmother hope for this, I’ll ask Qi Chen what he thinks."
"Much better," Aunt Zhao finally smiled. She looked at Xia An before continuing. "I'll mention it to Qi Chen later."
Xia An originally thought that Aunt Zhao was just saying it for show and would forget about it after a while.
However, when Lu Qi Chen came over in the evening to pick her up, Aunt Zhao immediately brought up the topic.
After dinner, Xia An and Lu Qi Chen were sitting on the sofa watching TV with Zhao Shiji also present. Aunt Zhao cut a plate of fruit and placed it in front of Lu Qi Chen. "Qi Chen," she said, "I talked to your grandfather about this. There's something we think you should do."
Lu Qi Chen respectfully addressed Aunt Zhao. "Abuela, just say what you need. If I can do it, I'll try my best."
"It’s like this," Aunt Zhao smiled and looked at Lu Qi Chen. "When you got married to Xia An before, we hadn't recognized each other yet. This time... I hope you can give Xia An a proper wedding. She's had a hard life since childhood. When she got married to you, she even used someone else’s name. After all that has happened, we feel like there's something missing between the two of you. That's why..."
Aunt Zhao looked at Xia An sympathetically and said, "Don’t worry about the money. Grandfather and I will cover it. We don't need a big event; just family and friends witnessing it."
"But...?" Lu Qi Chen’s face turned serious. Xia An and Aunt Zhao paused, thinking he might refuse.
Xia An felt a glimmer of disappointment but smiled anyway to smooth things over. "It's fine. I have two children with Qi Chen now. We don't need any rituals. Abuela, forget about it."
"But..." Aunt Zhao frowned. She had never thought Lu Qi Chen would reject the idea.
Lu Qi Chen glanced at Xia An and knew she must be misunderstanding. He hurriedly said, "You’re mistaken. I will definitely have a wedding for her, but who should pay for it?"
He smiled as he took Xia An's hand, expressing his sincerity. "We've been together for so long now. I feel like there are many things I owe her and always wanted to make up for, especially the wedding. It has always been a regret. I admit, I had this thought before. Don’t worry; I’ll handle it. Everything will be perfect."
Aunt Zhao’s face finally lit up with a smile. Beside her, Zhao Shiji chuckled. "That's good. Si An and Xiao Xiao can even act as flower girls; it would be quite interesting."
Xia An smiled and lowered her head slightly.
It was very late when Xia An and Lu Qi Chen said their goodbyes. Lu Qi Chen helped put everything in the car, and since Xiao Xiao had already fallen asleep, Xia An placed her in the back seat before heading to bid farewell to Aunt Zhao’s family.