My family tree hollow connects to the modern era : Chapter 43

The bridal dressing room was crowded with people. Several girls in beautiful dresses were chatting and laughing, and from time to time, some older women would come in to urge them, saying it was time to go out and greet the guests. Xu Jingjing responded continuously, but she did not let go of Yue Zhihuan’s hand. “Huanhuan, just stay in the dressing room. They are my good friends, whom I have told you about before: Wanwan, Qianqian, Xiaoyi, and Mumu.” Xu Jingjing called her four bridesmaids over: “This is my best friend, Huanhuan. Huanhuan is a bit introverted and shy, and since there is so much going on today, I’m afraid I won’t be able to look after her well, so please take care of her for me.”

The four of them were Xu Jingjing’s friends from university. She had attended college locally, and since these girls were also locals, they had kept in touch after graduation. They all knew Xu Jingjing had a childhood best friend who could not speak, was introverted, and did not like going out, so this was their first time meeting her. The girl named Wanwan praised Yue Zhihuan: “Your hair is so pretty! This chain is really exquisite. Where did you buy it? Do you have a link for it?” Yue Zhihuan shook her head and looked at Bai Zhizhi, who was standing at the door.

A group of girls finally noticed there was someone else at the door. When they looked over, their eyes lit up. He was so handsome that it felt unreal. If they weren’t so close that they feared being overheard, they would have let out a gasp of surprise. What kind of heavenly beauty was this, and in high-definition up close too! Xu Jingjing raised an eyebrow at Yue Zhihuan, winking and teasing her. Yue Zhihuan understood what she meant and quickly shook her head, gesturing: *He is my younger brother, his name is Zhizhi. He is only twenty years old. He was worried it wouldn’t be safe for me to go out alone, so he came with me.*

After gesturing, Yue Zhihuan waved at Bai Zhizhi, who then walked into the all-female dressing room. “Hello everyone. Congratulations on your marriage. I wish you and your spouse a long and happy life together.” Xu Jingjing blushed and thanked him: “Thank you. Welcome! There are a lot of people today, so please forgive us if we don’t host you well.” A more lively girl took out her phone and asked, “Can I take a photo with you?” Bai Zhizhi nodded with a smile: “Sure.” He was familiar with taking photos, having done so on his first day here. Although he still didn’t understand the point of taking photos with strangers, it wasn’t a big deal if they liked it, so he let them be.

Several of them took turns pulling Bai Zhizhi for photos, and even the bride joined in for a group shot. When they were urged from outside again, Xu Jingjing had to leave, but she didn’t forget to remind Yue Zhihuan: “Sit at the main table on my side of the family later. Xiaoyi, I told you before, please take Huanhuan over there for me later.” As she spoke, she held Yue Zhihuan’s hand and said: “You know my boyfriend, Qi Liang. He has friends on his side, some of whom were our elementary school classmates, but they will be on the groom’s side, so we don’t have to interact with them.”

She and Qi Liang were childhood sweethearts who lived in the same neighborhood and attended the same elementary school. When some mean-spirited classmates bullied her and Huanhuan, Qi Liang had stepped in to help. However, Qi Liang was also a naughty boy; he didn’t bully them with the others, but because he feared she would complain to her parents—since their families knew each other—they had an okay relationship. Later, after her family moved due to urban redevelopment, she hadn’t seen Qi Liang for several years until they met again in university. They grew closer through more frequent contact and eventually started dating. Therefore, she wouldn’t invite those elementary school classmates to her wedding, but Qi Liang still lived in the old neighborhood and hadn’t broken contact with some of them. Even if he didn’t invite them, his parents might invite old neighbors, which would include families of their former classmates. She knew this was unavoidable, but she hoped Huanhuan would come and had prepared for her to sit with her family, whom she had met when they were children.

Yue Zhihuan nodded with a smile: *It doesn’t matter. Those are things of the past.* After gesturing, she took out the wedding gift she had prepared from her bag. It was a gold bracelet she had bought by saving her own money. She didn’t know what people needed when getting married, but she felt a gold bracelet implied that their love was stronger than gold, and if they ever needed money in the future, the bracelet could be sold as a form of security. Xu Jingjing didn’t stand on ceremony, putting the gift into her bridal bag and pinching Yue Zhihuan’s cheek: “Come find me if you need anything, and eat a lot later.” With that, she picked up the hem of her giant gown and followed the people who had come to urge her out to greet the guests. As she passed by Bai Zhizhi, she smiled at him, thinking that if she became pregnant in the future, she would ask Huanhuan for photos of her younger brother, having heard that looking at beautiful people makes children grow up beautiful too.

As she passed, Bai Zhizhi’s fingertips moved slightly, hooking onto the black aura of evil spirits entwined around the bride, wanting to see if he could extract this bad thing from her. He had encountered such aura before on corpses or spirits possessing corpses, but this was his first time on a living person. As long as the person wasn’t dead, this aura should be extractable. He focused his mind, drove his spiritual power, and tightly wound it around that aura, attempting to pull it out of Xu Jingjing. However, just as he applied force, Xu Jingjing, who had reached the door, suddenly clutched her stomach and bent over in pain. Bai Zhizhi immediately stopped. Everyone rushed over to support her: “What’s wrong, Jingjing?” After a wave of cramping, Xu Jingjing felt no more pain and hurriedly reassured her worried friends: “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Maybe the dress is too tight.” The bridesmaids asked: “Do you want us to loosen it for you?” Xu Jingjing felt it and confirmed it didn’t hurt anymore, shaking her head: “No need, just bear with it. It’s only for half a day.”

Yue Zhihuan was also worried, but because everyone was crowding around, she couldn’t get through and could only watch from the side. Xu Jingjing reassured her friends, looked back at Yue Zhihuan, winked at her with a smile, and then picked up her gown to go greet the guests. She didn’t know who made the rule that the bride and groom must greet every guest; standing there in high heels was practically torture. As for getting married, she definitely wouldn’t do this a second time.

After everyone left, the girl named Xiaoyi walked over: “Huanhuan, I’ll take you to the banquet. It will probably be a while before it starts, so you and your friend can eat something first. Jingjing’s family is very busy greeting guests, so there shouldn’t be many people at the main table yet. Don’t be afraid.” Yue Zhihuan made a gesture of thanks. Bai Zhizhi translated from the side: “She says thank you. She’s not that socially anxious, so you can go back to your work; you don’t need to worry about us.” Xiaoyi smiled: “Let’s go then, I’ll take you over. Did you get a number plate when you entered? There will be a raffle later, and if you’re lucky, the grand prize is a latest-model tablet.” Bai Zhizhi was very enthusiastic: “Really? Then we’ll go get a number plate later too.”

After Xiaoyi led them to the woman’s side of the main table, Bai Zhizhi asked: “What is a tablet computer?” Yue Zhihuan took out her phone and searched for it to show him. Bai Zhizhi asked again: “Can it play games?” Yue Zhihuan nodded, and Bai Zhizhi immediately became interested: “Where do you get the number plates? I’ll go get two. If I don’t win, I’ll make Jiang Lin buy me one!” Yue Zhihuan looked around and pointed toward the entrance. Bai Zhizhi said: “You sit here and don’t go wandering off, I’ll go get the plates.”

Bai Zhizhi ran to the door to get the plates, but he was pulled away by several outgoing socialites for photos. Yue Zhihuan sat at the sparsely populated table drinking a beverage. She laughed as she saw Bai Zhizhi surrounded by people. Who said being good-looking was useless? Even before the raffle, Bai Zhizhi had already been handed several dolls that seemed to be intended for the raffle prizes; how popular he was! Yue Zhihuan took a picture of this scene and sent it to Brother Jiang. She knew Brother Jiang hoped Zhizhi could get along well with humans, and look, weren’t they getting along very well?

Jiang Lin, who was still in a deployment meeting, saw Yue Zhihuan’s WeChat. Thinking something was wrong, he opened it to find a photo of Bai Zhizhi surrounded by people. Looking at the surroundings, it appeared to be a wedding scene. Recalling that Yue Zhihuan had mentioned her best friend was getting married, it seemed Zhizhi had accompanied her. Thinking about how Yue Zhihuan hadn’t been out this far for a long time, Jiang Lin transferred a sum of money to her: *After the banquet, take Zhizhi for a walk around the area and buy some clothes for him and yourself.* He never forced Yue Zhihuan to go out, but since she was already out, getting some exposure to society wasn’t a bad thing. Yue Zhihuan received the money and sent back an “OK” emoji. Since she was already out, walking around wouldn’t hurt.

Just as she was watching Bai Zhizhi, a figure blocked her view. Yue Zhihuan looked up, and the smile on her face immediately disappeared. The person who came was an elementary school classmate. She couldn’t remember his name, but his appearance hadn’t changed much since they were children. He had bullied her once though compared to what happened in middle school, pulling her hair or throwing bugs into her desk seemed trivial—but she still disliked these people. Ma Jun ignored Yue Zhihuan’s expression and greeted her with a smile: “You’re Yue Zhihuan, right? I remember you. I’m Ma Jun. We were in the same class in elementary school. Do you remember? I was ignorant when I was little and did some jerkish things. I’m sorry, I apologize to you here.”

He naturally didn’t recognize Yue Zhihuan; he just saw a pretty girl sitting there, so he asked his buddy Qi Liang who the girl was to get introduced. Qi Liang knew of Yue Zhihuan but hadn’t seen her in many years and didn’t recognize her. However, Xu Jingjing had told him just now that Yue Zhihuan was coming, and warned him to keep an eye on his brothers so they wouldn’t go bother her. He hadn’t expected them to be spotted across the aisle, so he could only warn them: “That’s my wife’s best friend. You guys used to bully her when you were kids. She’s the one who can’t speak. Today is my wedding, so don’t you guys cause any trouble for me.”

The few former classmates remembered who she was, nodded with a smile, and once the groom walked away, they couldn’t help themselves. Now that they were all grown up, they figured they could just apologize for what they did when they were young and ignorant at least they were classmates once, and they could just reintroduce themselves as friends. Since the guy had come to apologize, Yue Zhihuan couldn’t show too much stress, so she just pulled a smile and shook her head, indicating that the past was in the past.

Ma Jun pointed to another table: “A lot of our classmates are over there. Today, let’s use Jingjing and Qi Liang’s wedding as an elementary school reunion. Come on, let’s go sit over there; don’t sit here.” Just as he reached out to pull Yue Zhihuan, Bai Zhizhi pressed down on his shoulder. With a slight exertion of force, Ma Jun’s face twisted in pain: “Where are you trying to take my Huanhuan?” Ma Jun didn’t know who the person grabbing his shoulder was, but their grip was surprisingly strong. He winced in pain and struggled to get away, but the person clamped onto him with one hand so hard that he couldn’t escape, forcing him to beg for mercy: “I’m just her elementary school classmate! We just saw each other and wanted to talk, really, just classmates! It hurts, it hurts, please let go!”

Yue Zhihuan was afraid Bai Zhizhi would hurt the guy, so she hurriedly grabbed him and shook her head. Bai Zhizhi then pushed the man away: “There are so many people here you could talk to, but you chose to come to Huanhuan? What, seeing her alone, you think she’s easy to bully?” He had seen Yue Zhihuan’s reluctant expression from far away, and the fact that this guy even wanted to reach out and pull her showed he had no manners at all. Just then, a strange man walked over quickly, pulled Ma Jun away, and smiled at them: “Sorry, my friend is a bit overfamiliar. He said he saw an elementary school classmate and wanted to say hello. He’s not a bad person.”

As the man spoke, he smiled at Yue Zhihuan. He didn’t look too bad and appeared polite, blocking in front of Ma Jun as if to smooth things over. Under normal circumstances, this might have been accepted, as they really were elementary school classmates and not total strangers; nothing could really be done in public, and chatting wasn’t against the law. Unfortunately, today they met Bai Zhizhi.

He stared at this newcomer, looking him up and down: “And who are you?” The man smiled politely: “Hello, my name is Li Jun. I’m a friend of the groom. We really don’t have any other intentions; they just saw an old classmate and wanted to liven things up. Are you her boyfriend? We’re all young people; let’s go over and chat.” Bai Zhizhi said: “Li Jun, since you walked over, you’ve looked at Yue Zhihuan ten times, your gaze fell on the hair chain and earrings on her head seven times, and three times on her bracelet. Your eyes are filled with calculation. What are you calculating?”

Li Jun looked helpless upon hearing this: “That is a misunderstanding. I’m a designer, so I can’t help but want to take a few extra looks at beautiful things. The accessories she is wearing are designed very well. If I have caused any offense, I apologize to her.” Bai Zhizhi chuckled: “A designer, so you were motivated by greed for wealth?” Li Jun’s smile vanished, and he looked quite serious: “Don’t you think it’s a bit excessive for you to say that, sir?”

Bai Zhizhi: “Excessive? ‘Ma Jun, who is the girl at the opposite table? High-ice jade and pink diamonds, it looks like she’s a wealthy young lady.’ That was you, right?” Bai Zhizhi repeated Li Jun’s words word for word. How large was this venue? If he wanted to listen, there wasn’t a sound in the building he couldn’t hear. He didn’t know what “high-ice jade” or “pink diamonds” were, but he knew that when this person spoke, his tone was full of greed. It was because he had asked Ma Jun who Yue Zhihuan was that Ma Jun had asked the groom, leading to the current scene. Li Jun didn’t expect his words to be heard, but his expression remained unchanged: “I said it, I’m a designer; I’m naturally sensitive to these kinds of things. I think you misunderstood me.”

Bai Zhizhi: “I’ll count to three. Get out. If you don’t, I’ll make sure you can never leave.” Ma Jun had just been squeezed by him, and his shoulder was still aching. Even if the hotel had security, this person surely wouldn’t kill, but it would be miserable to get hit a couple of times. He hurriedly pulled Li Jun, who still wanted to say something, and left. Li Jun’s face turned pale; whether it was because his scheming was exposed or his plot failed, he left quite reluctantly.

Bai Zhizhi snorted and pulled out a chair to sit: “What kind of people are these? Let me tell you, the saying ‘birds of a feather flock together’ holds some truth. Since your friend’s groom is surrounded by these types, I expect the groom isn’t anything good either. No wonder your friend is entangled with the aura of evil spirits; maybe it was brought by the groom.” Yue Zhihuan grabbed Bai Zhizhi, her face turning pale. She subconsciously wanted to gesture, but realizing Bai Zhizhi wouldn’t understand complex sign language, she hurriedly took out her phone to type: *Evil spirits? You mean Jingjing has evil spirits on her?*

Bai Zhizhi nodded: “In the area of her stomach. I tried to extract it just now, but she seemed to be in a lot of pain, so I didn’t continue.” Seeing Yue Zhihuan’s anxious face, Bai Zhizhi said: “Don’t worry, she’s still alive. I’ve already told Lu Mingyu about this, and he should be here soon.” Originally, he wanted to tell Jiang Lin, but Jiang Lin was busy entering the energy field and probably didn’t have the time to deal with this. In any case, Lu Mingyu was quite idle. Lu Mingyu, who was driving over, sneezed, rubbed his nose, stopped at a red light, and tilted his head to look at the phone placed to the side. On the interface was a conversation with Bai Zhizhi: “Evil spirits, come quickly,” along with a location tag. Lu Mingyu laughed. How long had it been, and the fox was already able to type and send locations? This fox was truly remarkable.