Work Text:
“Mother, this is A-Yang.” Xiao Xingchen finally introduced his boyfriend to Baoshan Sanren after years of dating.
Their hands were tightly held together, fingers laced as Xiao Xingchen’s eyes shone with determination. “And we are getting married.”
Baoshan Sanren looked behind her desk at her adoptive son then took a glance at Xue Yang. The younger man looked equally determined as her son. It made her lips curved upwards before she motioned them both to sit.
“Let me get a little divine blessing to see if the both of you are,” She paused, glancing at Xiao Xingchen, “meant to be or not.” She took a teacup and poured some tea into it. “Ah...I see…” She nodded to herself before glancing up at the couple, “Do both of you really wish to proceed with this?”
“Without a doubt.” Xue Yang spoke suddenly after a long while of silence.
“Very well then.” She clapped her hands together. “Then the both of you must listen to me when I say there are certain requirements that need to be fulfilled in order to ensure that the marriage remains…” She paused for a while before adding, “long lasting.”
...and so the couple were made to hold a gatecrashing event as part of Baoshan Sanren’s requirement. But thankfully Xiao Xingchen did not have to wear a wedding dress or...he would’ve seriously considered calling off the wedding.
So the groom in white sat in his room with his — bridesmaid groomsmen...who were supposed to help dish out trivias and trials for the other groom and his bunch of gatecrashing brothers…
Xiao Xingchen had recruited his friends which consisted of: A-Qing — The young woman Xiao Xingchen met online who became one of his best friends, then there’s Jiang Cheng — whom he also met online, and last but not least — Song Zichen who had been Xiao Xingchen’s best friend since childhood. So of course Song Zichen had to be the maidman of honor!
“Leave it to me.” Song Zichen had given Xiao Xingchen his words. “I will arrange everything, down to the dress code.” He gave a thumbs-up 👍 to Xiao Xingchen, relieving the stressed-out groom from his wedding preparations…
“Err...Zichen, w-why do you all have to be in dresses? And is that a wig? Ahahaha…” Xiao Xingchen shifted nervously while he was seated on the bed, glancing up at his groomsmen.
Jiang Cheng looked obviously displeased in his purple dress as he stood with his back against the wall, crossing his arms.
Song Zichen and A-Qing were the only ones who did not seem to protest wearing the dresses. A-Qing’s dress was green, whereas Song Zichen’s was pink, with huge frills and a ribbon at the back.
Song Zichen looked suspiciously way too calm wearing something like this. Xiao Xingchen furrowed his brows, trying to contemplate why and how Song Zichen came up to the conclusion that the groomsmen from Xiao Xingchen’s side had to be...to be dressed up like this?!
“I’ve told you, I will help you decide the dress code.” Song Zichen said, giving another thumbs-up.
“I don’t mind the dress. It’s pretty cute.” A-Qing remarked before pointing at both men, “But why are the both of you in dresses?! Is this some sort of fetish or something?!”
Song Zichen felt his brows twitch🤨, “That’s rude of you. I’m just helping out Xingchen to create a memorable wedding.”
Suddenly, the door to the room swung open, “They are here!” Mo Xuanyu — another one of Xiao Xingchen’s groomsmen barged in, wearing a yellow dress.
All the groomsmen started to chatter among themselves.
“Is the preparation for the first trial, ready?” The man of honor — Song Zichen asked.
“Yup, all ready!” A-Qing chirped.
“Good, now—” Song Zichen held out his hand.
They did a hand-stack and roared, “FOR LOVE AND JUSTICE!”
Xiao Xingchen winced… What is going on??
Xue Yang came with his groomsmen, dressed in plain dark suits, and a very handsome smile on his face. “Good morning, Aunty Baoshan.” He greeted the mother of the groom upon entering the gates.
The first trial was already up and ready with A-Qing standing at the station, holding up a tray of suspicious looking liquids in tiny cups. The young woman smiled, “Welcome~” She flashed a disdain look at Xue Yang before continuing, “Well well, you have two choices to pass this trial—” She reached out her hand, “Either you give us 8888 dollars, or! One of you must drink everything on this tray.”
From Xue Yang’s side — he had Wei Ying, Lan Wangji (Who’s only here because his boyfriend dragged him along), Su She, and last but not least — the best man : Jin Guangyao.
“Aiya, Lady Qing. We are all here for this happy occasion. Let’s not make things difficult here. You know your Xingchen gege loves our A-Yang so much, how could he bear to see him having a stomachache from…” Jin Guangyao looked at the red liquids, “...drinking that.”
A-Qing chuckled, “Well, then pay up~ Or one of you has to step up for him. You don’t want the groom to have a stomach problem during their wedding night?” She raised a brow, smiling sinisterly. “So, who’s up?”
Wei Ying raised his hand. “I’ll handle this!”
...and they groomsmen breezed through the first trial thanks to Wei Ying’s abnormal tolerance for spicy food.
Next up, Jiang Cheng and his physical exercise games. “Everyone has to do handstands for 1 minute! Whoever fails~” He smirked, holding a whip in his hand, “Will have to go through this.” Shrugging, he added, “Or just pay up. You stingy bastards.”
“W-wait, why are you in a dre–” Wei Ying tried to speak but was suddenly interrupted when Jiang Cheng whipped the floor right next to him.
Xue Yang gave a huff before cracking his knuckles. “Heh, that doesn’t sound hard. Ready, boys?”
The groomsmen all stretched their hands, some of them doing lunges, preparing for the task.
“Oh boy…” Jin Guangyao’s smile cracked before he let out a long sigh. “Wait! I’ll pay!” Saying this, he took out a bunch of notes from his breast pocket and handed it over to a smugly smiling Jiang Cheng.
“Heyy~” Xue Yang pouted. “We were just about to have some fun.”
“I am not doing a handstand in this.” Jin Guangyao said, implying about his suit. “Now, let’s move to the next station.”
“Tsk...I’m not paying you back though.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Jin Guangyao gave the groom a pat on his shoulder.
The next station stood Mo Xuanyu, smiling meekly at the gatecrashers. “Welcome~” He said, holding up a stack of papers. “The groom requests for poetry that could touch his heart.” He took a glance at Xue Yang, “...to be recited. And when he is pleased with it, you shall have—” He held up a key, “—this to unlock the bedroom door. And you cannot bribe your way this time.”
“Lan Er-gege, you should be good at this.” Wei Ying said with a smile, taking the paper from Mo Xuanyu’s hand and handing it over to his boyfriend, “Go on, write something.”
“Mnn.” Lan Wangji nodded before complying.
Each of the groomsmen wrote something on their paper and handed it over to Xue Yang who squinted at the word choice and went, “No way. This is not gonna work. Nuh-uh.”
Jin Guangyao’s smile faltered. “Come on now, why don’t you try. Maybe Xiao Xingchen would like it.”
Su She chimed in, “Yea, I think the one I wrote is pretty good too.” He glanced at Lan Wangji, “At least it’s better than his.”
“Heyyyy, don’t speak bad about my boyfriend.” Wei Ying scolded before passing his own poetry to Xue Yang. He winked, “Sure to melt his heart, and his—” 😏
“Wei Ying!” Lan Wangji yelled.
“Alright, alright.” Wei Ying shrugged. “Anyway, what have you written?” He took a glance at Xue Yang’s paper that was left blank. “Seriously, you are having writer’s block right now?”
Xue Yang glared at him before chewing the back of his pencil and furrowing his brows. He needed to come up with something good. All those...pretentious sounding poems, despite being all flowery and well-structured, will not be able to get through to his Xiao Xingchen.
Xue Yang knew it had to be...sincere.
After a long while, Xue Yang’s pencil began to glide across the paper, scribbling something down in his ugly handwriting. It took around a couple of minutes before Xue Yang finally smiled, satisfied.
He picked up the paper, clearing his throat. Then glanced sideways at his groomsmen, “If you say a word about this. Imma kill you.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I have this all recorded.” Came A-Qing’s voice from behind, holding up her phone. She had a smirk on her face.
Xue Yang rolled his eyes. “Ah, fuck it!” He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.
Xiao Xingchen, who was at the other side of the door with Song Zichen, giggled to himself.
“Poems are not my thing, you know it too.”
Xiao Xingchen’s smile widened as his future husband continued.
“I don’t know what to write, but you know my feeling is true.”
Song Zichen winced, twirling a lock of wig with a finger, “The whole thing doesn’t rhyme.”
Xiao Xingchen placed a finger over his own lips, motioning his friend to keep quiet.
“I love your smile, and the little cute snorts when you laugh.”
The more Xue Yang went on, the less it sounded like a poem, but Xiao Xingchen paid no heed as he listened to the heartfelt love letter from Xue Yang to him. His heart felt warm and fuzzy. He stood up and walked towards the door.
“I know I could write thousands of words but none of them will be enough to describe—”
Xue Yang was cut off when the door opened and Xiao Xingchen stood at the doorway, smiling from ear to ear. “Hey…”
“I promise to make you laugh every single day.” Xue Yang said, “Will you allow me to?”
Xiao Xingchen nodded, “Yes.” before wrapping his arms around his future husband. “Gladly.”
And then they kissed.
A-Qing groaned loudly, turning off the recording. “Let’s go now. The elders are waiting for the tea ceremony.”
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