Around them were thunderous applause and endless cheers.
They kissed under the blessings.
But the blessings were not for them.
Her body trembled uncontrollably, not out of joy.
Nan Yu belatedly realized why Qu Jiaran had repeated that sentence last night:
Yuyu, you must be happy.
Sure enough, she knew everything.
The string that had been taut in her heart all along finally snapped, shattering with a pop.
From start to finish, for as long as she had been acting, Qu Jiaran had been acting with her.
How absurd.
---
The wedding ceremony was about to come to an end. Nian Nian, sitting in a wheelchair, was wheeled over.
She was the flower girl of this wedding. Holding a large bouquet of lilies of the valley in her hands, she had an innocent and bright expression on her face. "I wish Uncle and Aunt a new..."
Nan Yu came to her senses, a smile appearing on her face. She bent down to take the bouquet.
Nian Nian stopped halfway through her words. Looking at the masked face, she suddenly paused, a bit unsure. "...Nan Yu?"
A child's eyes were the brightest. She recognized the real person under the mask at a glance.
Nan Yu's body stiffened for a moment.
She didn't expect to be recognized by Nian Nian. Her blood froze instantly.
If she was recognized now, all her and Tan Linyuan's efforts just now would be in vain.
At this moment, Nan Yu suddenly felt her heart hanging in the air.
It was the thrill of a lie being on the verge of being exposed.
Almost instantly, Tan Linyuan bent down and took the bouquet. His gaze was calm, and his tone was nonchalant. "Nian Nian, Nan Yu isn't here."
Nian Nian still insisted. "But this is Nan..."
"Take Nian Nian down." Tan Linyuan lifted his eyelids and tilted his head, nodding to the staff behind the wheelchair. "Thank you."
Thankfully, Nian Nian's voice was not very loud, and not many people heard it.
When they returned to the crowd, Nian Nian was still full of doubts. She turned to Wen Ruoyi behind her and said, "Mom, it's so strange."
"What's strange?" Wen Ruoyi asked.
"The bride on the stage isn't Teacher Qu."
Wen Ruoyi found it funny and stroked her head. "If it's not Teacher Qu, who else could it be?"
She thought that it was just because today's ceremony was too grand that Nian Nian hadn't recognized her.
"It's Nan Yu." Nian Nian said firmly. "The bride in the wedding dress on the stage is Nan Yu."
"Silly child, what are you talking about..." Before Wen Ruoyi could finish her sentence, she suddenly caught sight of the Buddhist beads on the bride's right hand.
Wen Ruoyi caught her breath.
She remembered seeing those Buddhist beads on Nan Yu's wrist before.
That string of Buddhist beads had once belonged to Linyuan.
...
After the wedding ended and the guests had left, Tan Linyuan and Nan Yu returned to the rest room prepared for them by the hotel.
As soon as the door closed, Nan Yu immediately tore off the mask.
Nan Yu almost didn't hesitate to speak. "Uncle, you owe me an explanation."
"Explain what?" Tan Linyuan was very calm. "You've been with Qu Jiaran all this time. It's me who should ask you for an explanation."
"Why is it you who showed up in the wedding dress?"
Tan Linyuan took off his dark blue mask. His voice was calm, and his tone was neither cold nor warm. "Did you and her plan this?"
Nan Yu directly retorted with irony. "Uncle, your ability to play the victim has improved."
It was all because of his excellent acting before that Nan Yu couldn't tell whether he really didn't know or was just pretending.
The situation had been urgent just now, and she hadn't had time to think. Now that she had calmed down, she realized that there were clearly many loopholes.
Tan Linyuan was a very meticulous person. Today's accident might very well have been planned by him and Qu Jiaran.
But soon, Tan Linyuan denied her speculation. "I'm not interested in such tricks of swapping the real with the fake."
"Moreover, what can I gain from doing this?" His gaze was deep as he looked into her eyes. "I don't think this is fun."
What he meant was that it wasn't worth taking such a big risk to stage this play, as there was no benefit or value in it.
Nan Yu was speechless. "Then..."
Tan Linyuan squinted his eyes. "You should ask Qu Jiaran about all this."
"Where is Qu Jiaran?" Nan Yu asked.
No one knew.
Even Qu Gaolin in the guest seat hadn't recognized that the person on the stage wasn't his daughter. He had been drinking heartily.
Tan Linyuan picked up his phone and called Qu Jiaran.
Under normal circumstances, Qu Jiaran would never miss Tan Linyuan's call.
She would answer it immediately and then happily say, "Linyuan, why did you call me on your own initiative? Do you miss me?"
This time, however, no one answered the call unexpectedly.
Tan Linyuan's eyes were deep. After a while, he slowly said, "I can't get in touch with her."
Nan Yu knew that if Qu Jiaran didn't even answer Tan Linyuan's call, then she definitely wouldn't answer hers.
Who on earth could get in touch with Qu Jiaran?
Nan Yu thought for a moment and then suddenly had an idea.
She called Qi Zhu.
That day at the door of the ward, after Nan Yu had learned about Qu Jiaran's condition, Qi Zhu had left her a phone number and said that if she ever needed help in the future, she could just ask.
Nan Yu had initially declined repeatedly, but Qi Zhu had said that this was his way of showing his apology for not being able to help last time.
As a bodyguard, Qi Zhu must have been by Qu Jiaran's side all the time.
She had thought that she would never have the chance to call Qi Zhu's number, but unexpectedly, it came in handy now.
The call was answered quickly.
"Miss Nan?" Qi Zhu's voice came from the other end of the phone.
Nan Yu immediately asked, "Qi Zhu, are you with Qu Jiaran now?"
"Yes, I am."
"Let her answer the phone."
"...Miss Qu may not be convenient right now."
Nan Yu didn't believe it. Her tone became a bit urgent. "Is she deliberately not answering the phone? Give the phone to her."
"Sorry, Miss Nan. Miss Qu really isn't convenient right now."
Nan Yu gritted her teeth. "Qi Zhu! Tell Qu Jiaran that if she doesn't answer the phone today or explain it to me in person, I'll break off our friendship with her today!"
The other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds.
"Miss Nan, Miss Qu is in the operating room right now."
Nan Yu was stunned. Her breathing quickened, and the phone almost slipped out of her hand.
...
Outside the operating room.
Qi Zhu was tall and burly, but he lowered his head in front of Nan Yu. "Before today, Miss Qu didn't allow me to tell anyone."
This had been Qu Jiaran's plan from the very beginning.
"Miss Qu never intended to attend the wedding in the first place. She prepared this wedding for you."
"She said that if the surgery is successful, it would be a double celebration as you and Mr. Tan would also get married; if the surgery fails..."
Qi Zhu obviously didn't want to accept this possibility either. His voice paused for a moment. "If the surgery fails, she hopes that you can replace her and live happily."
For a moment, Nan Yu was speechless.
She had so many things she wanted to say, but standing in front of the operating room, all the words got stuck in her chest.
Finally, she said with difficulty, "What's the success rate of the surgery?"
Qi Zhu said, "The doctor said it's 50%, and that's only if there are no complications."
But in reality, complications could occur at any time.
Qu Jiaran had a congenital atrial septal defect, so her heart was different from that of a normal person.
Apart from the known condition, no one knew if there were any other defects before the open-heart surgery.
The doctor had predicted that the probability of complications was as high as 90%.
And these 90% of complications could take her life at any moment.
If she didn't have the open-heart surgery, they could only watch her life fade away;
but once the open-heart surgery started, there was no turning back.
It all depended on fate.