When he was young, Gao Shen loved the hustle and bustle of weddings. Whenever an uncle, aunt, or older sibling in the community got married, he'd always tag along, collecting all kinds of wedding candies and trying every trick possible to get red envelopes.
Back then, Su Qing was already like a little grown-up. She didn't like any of that.
Later, when school and studies took them out of the province, those beautiful memories became fewer and farther between.
Even though the community would still be lively during weddings—after all, everyone had been neighbors for decades—many things had changed. That once-close bond had gradually faded.
But this time, when Gao Shen got married, the whole neighborhood came alive again. It was different.
Two days before the wedding, they went door to door inviting people.
Starting the day before the wedding, nobody in the community cooked at home. Everyone just went to the playground in front of the community committee building for all three meals and even a late-night snack.
Over the years, the community had changed a lot. People were busy with their own lives, and it became rare to gather like this.
Gao Shen's parents were well-liked in the community. His future father-in-law had been a businessman and was a natural social butterfly. Everyone was either a buddy or an old friend. He'd gotten the atmosphere going early on.
The night before the wedding, Su Qing stayed at her own home, while Gao Shen stayed at his. A bunch of uncles and aunties got drunk and insisted that Gao Shen go and pick Su Qing up in advance, saying they wanted to stir up some bridal chamber excitement ahead of time.
Of course, the so-called bridal prank wasn't anything like the crazy stuff you see online. It was all about keeping the mood light and fun.
According to local custom, these kinds of pranks could last up to seven days.
In the end, it was Gao Shen's father and future father-in-law who put a stop to it.
On the wedding day—which happened to fall on a weekend—just after six in the morning, a group of kids from the neighborhood came pounding on the door, full of energy.
Turned out someone had leaked the news early that whoever helped welcome the bride would get a piece of Lego.
This made both the kids and adults in the neighborhood very excited.
But it was tough on Gao Shen.
He had been dragged by the uncles and aunties into chatting until after 3 a.m., and now he had to get up early while everyone else was still sound asleep. He was absolutely exhausted.
Not just the kids came to hurry him along—their parents tagged along too.
In fact, Gao Shen's and Su Qing's homes were just a few steps apart. You could walk over in minutes.
But no, that wasn't the custom.
According to the rules, they had to exit the community, circle around the outside, and then enter again through the main gate to pick up the bride. After that, they had to exit once more, walk around, and return through the main gate again.
Alright then, who's getting married? Let's go.
When they finally reached the bride's house, they couldn't just walk in. There were challenges to overcome.
Eating mustard and doing push-ups were the easy ones.
No need to go into the rest. Talking about it too much might offend someone.
Anyway, it was rough.
Luckily, Gao Shen had come prepared. He brought a group of kids with him. These little rascals charged around wildly, unstoppable. Before long, they had snatched the beautifully dressed bride away.
After the tea ceremony, they quickly ran off.
On the way home, Su Qing quietly told Gao Shen that she had it even worse—she had to get up around five in the morning.
Why so early?
She needed to do her makeup, get dressed, and follow a bunch of customs before leaving the house.
"I haven't eaten anything yet," Su Qing said with a worried look. She was clearly starving.
Gao Shen felt a little better.
Sure enough, sharing the pain really does make things easier.
When they finally made it home, there were still all sorts of customs and mischief to deal with.
For example, the bride's veil was snatched away the moment she entered the courtyard. According to tradition, it couldn't be given back without some bargaining.
Don't want cigarettes or alcohol?
Alright, then name your condition.
What? You want me to sing in public?
Come on, man. Back in primary school, you copied my homework and even passed a few exams because you peeked at my test papers. And now you want to mess with me? Traitor!
Finally, after sending his wife into the new room, Gao Shen quietly grabbed some food, stuffed it into Su Qing's hands, and told her to lock the door and eat in peace.
Technically, the bride wasn't supposed to eat yet, but Gao Shen didn't care.
His wife already had a perfect figure. No need to diet.
But then it was back to the chaos outside.
A senior provincial official showed up and said he had met Su Qing back when she was working in the capital. City leaders came with him too.
The donation Gao Shen had made this time wasn't small and had great social value. In recent years, efforts to promote this kind of charitable giving had increased significantly. Gao Shen's case was an excellent example to publicize, a positive model for the community and even the general public.
So now Gao Shen was like a tool being paraded around.
It was fine at first, but after a while, he started to zone out.
There was just too much going on and too many people.
He couldn't even remember how many relatives he'd been introduced to or how many old friends he'd reconnected with.
Basically, everyone he met would praise him, and he had to smile and act polite.
Eventually, he was totally drained.
Normally, weddings in his hometown included a lunch banquet and a dinner banquet.
But since simplicity was becoming the trend, Gao Shen and his friends canceled the lunch banquet. Instead, they offered three dishes and one soup at noon and held the main banquet in the evening.
Not easy to pull off.
Changing a tradition that had been around for decades—or even centuries—was no small task.
Nobody wanted to be the first to do it for fear of being talked about. People had been calling for simpler weddings for years, but participation remained low.
Many people suffered through the expense, but when it was their turn, they still bit the bullet and sometimes even borrowed money to throw a lavish party.
This time, the wedding was simple and elegant. Although there were still quite a few tables, cutting the event down to one meal reduced a lot of the burden.
And since most of the guests were community residents and friends and relatives, the number of tables was reasonable.
If this had been in another city, they probably would've only needed 20 or 30 tables. That would've cut the cost dramatically.
And when weddings are simplified, other customs tend to follow suit. That's how traditions evolve.
Because of this, no one complained. Some even said it was a pity the wedding was so simple. But deep down, everyone knew this was a good thing for the entire community.
After all, if people want to hold simpler weddings in the future, they can now point to this one as a precedent.
And who would dare say Gao Shen was stingy?
So everyone took the wedding seriously and was genuinely happy for Gao Shen and Su Qing. It was a joyful event that filled the entire community with warmth and cheer.
After the banquet finally ended and the guests were seen off, he returned home and collapsed onto the bed. Before he could even hug his wife, another duty came up.
According to custom, the bride had to return to her parents' house the next day, and the Su family would come early in the morning to pick her up.
Going back?
That was another round of exhaustion.
But it did save them a banquet.
Normally, there'd be a separate banquet for the bride's return to her family, but now it was combined with the wedding banquet.
They had already invited all the relatives and friends from both families, so there was no need for a second one.
Still, all the formalities had to be done.
Another busy day.
And the day after that, the two families had already arranged to go out together to burn incense and fulfill their vows. They planned to visit multiple places and would be busy for two full days.
Just listening to it made Gao Shen feel exhausted.
This marriage was more tiring than coaching a match.
"I told you from the start not to go through with it, but you insisted on following hometown traditions. Now you're complaining again."
Su Qing chuckled as she spoke, massaging Gao Shen's shoulders and hands with the right amount of pressure.
Gao Shen laughed, "Isn't this what they call returning home in glory?"
Su Qing rolled her eyes at him, clearly not buying it.
But deep down, she knew Gao Shen didn't want her to be let down.
In their hometown, even if you had the marriage certificate, if there was no proper wedding, it wouldn't count as a real marriage.
Even if they didn't visit often in the future or lost contact with some people in the community, the memory would remain: the Su family's girl married into the Gao family properly.
If she hadn't, people would've talked behind her back.
And even if the younger generation didn't care, would the older generation be so open-minded?
Would Su Qing's parents feel at ease?
"Alright, I was just talking nonsense," Gao Shen said with a smile as he held Su Qing's hand. He pulled her gently toward him, and she lay down beside him. The two looked into each other's eyes.
"By the way, my mom already told you—hurry up and have a baby for the Gao family."
Though they were already like an old married couple, Su Qing still blushed a little and said irritably, "This isn't just a woman's job. Isn't it up to you men? You should try harder."
"Yes, yes, yes. What's the saying? There are no dead fields, only dead cows. I swear I'll be the cow that plows the field to death!"
Seeing him getting more and more shameless, Su Qing gave him a fierce side-eye but then nestled into his arms with a shy smile.
Gao Shen had taken two weeks off from Manchester City.
By the time all the wedding matters were settled, it was almost time to return.
Before leaving, he took Su Qing around the community, visiting neighbors, relatives, and friends one by one, observing all the traditional courtesies.
Before they left, Gao Jianguo and Su Zhijun had already finalized their agreement with the development zone's management committee to purchase the 200-acre plot that Gao Shen had requested. Next came the formal procedures.
It would take time. Even if construction began, it wouldn't start until next year at the earliest.
Fortunately, the company wasn't in a rush.
When both sets of parents came to see them off at the airport, they naturally started nagging them again about having children.
The same old arguments.
Gao Shen told them not to work so hard and to come live in the UK when they had time. After all, both of their careers were now based in Europe.
After arriving in the capital, Su Qing hosted some banquets for former classmates, leaders, and colleagues.
Many of them had helped Leeds United with earlier investment efforts in China. That friendship needed to be maintained.
The couple also attended the opening ceremony of Leeds United's Beijing office together.
This showed the club's efficiency. Once they decided to set up an office in China, they acted quickly, and now it was up and running. Their speed was impressive.
With the new office open, Leeds United signed two sponsorship deals in China. Both were home appliance brands, but they operated in different sectors. There was no conflict, and the fees weren't high. The negotiations had taken over two months and were just recently concluded.
This marked a strong start to Leeds United's push into China and the broader Asian market.
Just as Gao Shen wrapped up his business at home and was about to return to Europe with Su Qing, the international break was coming to an end.
But at that very moment, a bombshell piece of news suddenly broke, shaking the entire European football world.
(To be continued.)