The wedding registration was held at the Youth League Committee office of the institute.
The next day, as soon as work began, Yu Tu appeared at the doorstep of the Youth League Committee office, looking travel-worn. The person in charge of registration was a woman in her forties who happened to know Yu Tu. She was surprised to see him. "Xiao Yu? What are you doing here?"
Yu Tu greeted her and said, "I'm here to sign up for the mass wedding."
The woman fell silent at once.
After that basketball game, who in the entire Eighth Institute didn’t know who Yu Tu’s girlfriend was? And now he was signing up for the mass wedding?
"Xiao Yu," the woman said after careful consideration, her tone grave. "Did you... change girlfriends?"
Yu Tu: "...No."
"Oh." The woman nodded calmly, a thoughtful expression lingering on her face for at least three minutes before she slowly handed him a registration form.
Just after finishing the registration and stepping out of the institute building, Yu Tu received a call from Professor Zhang. "Come to my office."
Once seated in the office, Professor Zhang also hesitated before speaking. "So, are you..."
Yu Tu said, "I didn’t change."
Professor Zhang was taken aback. "What?"
Yu Tu said seriously, "I didn’t change girlfriends."
Only then did Professor Zhang understand, both amused and exasperated. "Who’s asking about that? If you had changed, would the institute staff have called me?"
Thrown off by the interruption, Professor Zhang got straight to the point. "I wanted to ask if you’re having some financial difficulties? If you need help, your teacher’s wife and I can assist."
"Thank you, teacher and teacher’s wife, but there’s no problem. Jingjing and I just want to keep the wedding simple."
"So, Xiao Qiao agreed?"
"It was her idea."
Professor Zhang couldn’t hide his surprise. "She suggested it?"
"Yeah," Yu Tu smiled. "She’s always been... a bit mischievous."
Yu Tu recalled how he had asked her last night: if they attended the institute’s wedding and people kept asking to take photos with her, what would they do?
As if she had already thought it through, she cheerfully replied, "Then we’ll run off after the ceremony! If we held our own wedding, we couldn’t just run away."
Her tone was practically brimming with anticipation.
"But she’s thinking a bit too simply," Yu Tu chuckled. "She thought it would be held within the institute, so there’d be no need to worry about the media, but that’s definitely not possible. So last night we discussed it—if we can’t keep it confidential, it might affect our colleagues, and then we won’t participate. I just asked the Youth League Committee the same thing."
Professor Zhang grew intrigued. "Keeping it secret before the wedding isn’t a problem. We’re experts at confidentiality. I’ll put in a word—I’ve been the officiant for the past two years, so they owe me that much. You two can even make your appearance right when the ceremony is about to start." As he spoke, Professor Zhang began brainstorming ideas for them.
"But what if the secret gets out midway? What’s your plan then?"
"That depends on when it leaks," Yu Tu said seriously, recalling all the wild ideas they had tossed around last night. "If it’s early, we’ll change to another plan. If it leaks during the wedding, we’ll run off immediately. Once you finish officiating, we can find another place for you to officiate a second ceremony for us."
Professor Zhang was utterly dumbfounded. "Are you holding a wedding or playing guerrilla warfare? This is absolute nonsense."
Wasn’t this just Miss Qiao’s brand of nonsense?
Yu Tu couldn’t help but laugh.Professor Zhang finally realized he had been tricked, feeling both amused and exasperated. Looking at his now radiant and accomplished student, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "You're finally settling down, and I'm truly happy for you. Xiao Qiao is a wonderful girl - treat her well."
Yu Tu put away his smile and replied with utmost seriousness, "I will."
It was early March, with clear skies and spring blossoms everywhere.
Early in the morning, a sign reading "Affection for Aerospace" was erected in front of a newly built five-star hotel in the suburbs. Today, twenty newlywed couples from Shanghai Aerospace Group would hold their wedding ceremony here.
At 9 AM, in the romantically decorated lounge, the brides and grooms were having their makeup done under the guidance of wedding volunteers, waiting for the 10:10 AM ceremony on the lawn.
Amid the busy chaos, only one couple sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window at the far end of the hall remained particularly quiet. With their backs to the main hall, they faced the grassy field outside, leisurely drinking tea and checking their phones, mostly whispering intimately to each other.
The young volunteer Xiao Li glanced at them several times before finally approaching somewhat shyly. "Director Yu, Miss Qiao, if you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask me."
"Thank you," the bride replied politely through her thin veil, smiling at her.
Xiao Li found the sight somewhat dazzling. The bride's white wedding dress, made of some special fabric, seemed to make her entire person glow in the sunlight.
"But we're all set," the bride said quietly. "We woke up very early today and already took many wedding photos outside earlier. We'll go out for more photos when our parents return from the exhibition hall."
The Aerospace Group had arranged this mass wedding with exceptional care - relatives and friends had been taken to see the Aerospace Exhibition early in the morning and wouldn't arrive at the hotel until around 9:30.
"They should be here soon," Xiao Li said, unconsciously lowering her voice. "We were all so surprised to learn you're participating in today's wedding. Don't worry, all staff members will keep your secret."
"Thank you for your trouble," the handsome groom expressed his gratitude this time.
"Not at all, it's our pleasure," Xiao Li quickly waved her hands and asked concernedly, "Did no one notice when you came in earlier?"
"We slipped in through that side door," the bride pointed to a less conspicuous entrance. "Everyone's busy with their own makeup, and when you're getting married yourself, you don't really pay attention to others."
Xiao Li thought to herself that might not necessarily be true, given how striking they looked. "Since you missed the rehearsal, would you like me to go over the procession order and schedule with you?"
"No need, I've memorized everything. I have plenty of experience in this area - I'll guide your Director Yu through it," the bride said with a sly smile.
The groom chuckled and told Xiao Li, "I have BDS, don't worry."
Goodness, if she weren't also in the aerospace field, she wouldn't have understood this display of affection, Xiao Li thought, her face reddening from their interaction.
"I'll go attend to other matters then - one group of makeup artists still hasn't arrived," she said before quickly walking away.
The atmosphere in the hall was growing increasingly tense - four brides were still waiting for their makeup artists who hadn't shown up. The couples kept glancing anxiously toward the entrance.A volunteer rushed breathlessly into the hall, his face etched with anxiety as he approached the wedding coordinator. "I just got through on the phone—the car carrying that team of makeup artists was in a collision with another vehicle."
The coordinator was startled. "Is everyone alright?"
"They're fine, but they're all injured and definitely won't make it."
Relieved yet instantly anxious again, the coordinator realized losing four makeup artists at once would create an impossible workload. Their wedding venue was in the suburbs, making last-minute replacements unfeasible.
She made a swift decision. "Xiao Huang, go ask if the hotel has any solutions."
The messenger volunteer dashed out immediately. The coordinator clapped her hands to gather everyone's attention in the hall.
"We have an emergency—the scheduled makeup artist team can't make it suddenly, and we're short four artists. I need to ask: are there any volunteers who know how to do makeup? Any brides who can do their own?"
The volunteers exchanged uncertain glances while the brides grew visibly distressed.
"I never wear makeup normally."
"Even if I do, my skills are nowhere near professional level."
They looked on the verge of tears—every woman wants to look exceptionally beautiful on her wedding day.
The coordinator pressed urgently, "Can the other makeup artists work faster?"
One makeup artist explained apologetically, "Our styling and makeup are integrated—it's impossible to rush."
Xiao Li stood by helplessly, sharing the anxiety. In her distress, she noticed the handsome groom in the corner suddenly stand up and nod toward her.
Without hesitation, she hurried over.
Approaching them, the bride beamed at her and said, "Are you short on makeup artists? My team is upstairs right now."
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