Rebirth from the Ashes

Pretended she saw nothing, Fu Junqiu clapped her hands and urged, "Hurry up. Places, everyone. Let's not waste time."

Shen Xi clenched her fists. The nerve of Aunt Junqiu to ignore her!

The rehearsal went smoothly. However, Shangguan Yanqiu, Yun Jinping, and a few of the elders ushered the brides-to-be away right after the rehearsals, forbidding the grooms-to-be to come along.

That night, Shen Xi and the girls stayed at home while Li Yuan, the grooms, and groomsmen were left at the Li family's house.

The former students of the international class were back. Ye Weiyang and members of the girl group ditched the glitzy dresses for bridesmaid's dresses on the wedding day.

As expected, the sudden announcement of wedding bells from a popular idol like Song Wenye rocked the entertainment community to its core. The public did not take the news too well.

Song Wenye was called out for being brainless and a hopeless romantic to jump into marriage when her career was taking off.

Yu Yuanxi was put on blast for riding on his girl's coattails and finding his fifteen minutes of fame through the relationship and marriage. He was shameless and bad news. If he really did love Song Wenye, he should not choose to marry her right now for her sake.

At the peak of public criticism, Shen Xi published a Weibo post. [ShenXi: Let me introduce you to my big brother @YuYuanxi.]

Li Yuan followed up with another post. [LiYuan: @YuYuanxi. Big Brother, here's to a happily ever after with my sister-in-law.]

The big guns of the Fu family got in on the act, tagging Yu Yuanxi and giving their blessings.

That was enough to stop the trolls. Although frustrated, they had to cease fire on Yu Yuanxi.

Yu Yuanxi getting media attention through Song Wenye, getting his photo opportunity, and milking her dry were all bullsh*t. The trending posts on Weibo were a real eye-opener.

Li Yuan, the world's wealthiest man, called him Big Brother.

The three young masters of the Fu family took roles as Yu Yuanxi's bros and backed him up against the trolls.

With the trolls making a hasty retreat, the rest of the keyboard warriors gave it a rest. It was not like any of them had the guts to get in these big shots' faces. That would be playing with fire while walking on thin ice.

Who was the Fu family? They owned the most influential talent management agency in the world with the knack for making superstars. Be it in China or anywhere else in the world, they had the power to cancel anyone out of showbiz.

Shen Xi was the head of Cosmos Entertainment, China's top entertainment company; Ms. Cai Ni the renowned designer; Screenwriter Cloud Seven; and top composer, Xixi. Since everyone in showbiz wanted to rub shoulders with her, no one would dare step on her toes.

It was enough to shut everyone up about Yu Yuanxi and Song Wenye's union.

The figures of show business, fashion world, corporate circle, and political scene sent their best regards and blessings.

The fans continued to show their support for Song Wenye as her happiness was above all else.

The trolls and keyboard warriors had to swallow their bitterness, unable to stir drama via comments even if they wanted to as their electronics had been hacked. Such was going out for wool and coming home shorn.

To this day, Song Wenye's popularity continued to soar, so did Yu Yuanxi's following. He became the subject of envy for getting famous before his movie even hit the screens and gaining over five million fans.

Song Wenye blew up on social media because of her social standing and connections. Glitzy Girls was caught in the storm of media attention too. Despite being constantly thrown into the limelight, the girl group did not suffer a loss to their reputation and received plenty of endorsement deals instead.

Any artist would fight tooth and nail to get into Cosmos Entertainment because that was their surefire ticket to stardom.

It never occurred to Shen Xi that Song Wenye and Yu Yuanxi's wedding announcement would become such a big deal. Still, she was glad that it was a big deal in a positive way.

Ye Weiyang and the other girls were chatting, joking, and fooling around with Song Wenye in the living room.

A fan of the girls, Mrs. Yu happily held a poster and asked for their autograph when they came over.

In fact, Shen Tang had gotten their signed merchandise on Mrs. Yu's behalf, but she was over the moon to see her favorite idols.

The house was looking festive with the decorations up. The living room had been converted into a banquet hall for a bachelorette party where Fu Junqiu planned to say one last goodbye to her singlehood.

Nevertheless, it was not the best decision to organize the bachelorette party a night before the wedding. Shangguan Yanqiu and the other ladies were worried the brides-to-be might miss their own wedding after a night of drinking and partying, so they took away the alcohol and replaced it with non-alcoholic beverages.

Still, the group of young girls had fun until midnight. Having kicked up their heels, they called it a night and headed to bed arm in arm.

There were far too many people in the house to accommodate everyone even if a few were squeezed into one room. Li Yuan's villa next door was cleared to be used as guest rooms.

Shen Xi and the other brides-to-be were sleeping in Shen Xi's bedroom. Another bed was moved into the room and put next to the existing bed so that all four of them could sleep together.

They lay in bed without shutting the curtains, allowing the moonlight to shine through a warm bask.

Tossing and turning, Song Wenye finally sat up and held her chest. "Xixi, Tangtang, Aunt Junqiu, do you feel nervous?"

Fu Junqiu was calm. "No."

Although Shen Xi hummed a single utterance, it was not known whether she heard the question as she could not even open her eyes. She was tired and about to fall asleep after a long night of fun.

Shen Tang got up and held Song Wenye's hand. Looking like she found a confidant, she nodded. "I can feel that I'm exhausted physically and should get some rest, but my heart is beating fast, and my mind is awake. I can't sleep."

She was nervous and rightfully so since she would be walking down the aisle tomorrow. Her palms were clammy during the rehearsal.

"Settle down." Fu Junqiu detachedly comforted them. "It's just a wedding."

Once again, Shen Xi responded with a single syllable before faint snoring was heard. It seemed she had fallen asleep.

Fu Junqiu pointed at her and smiled. "Take it from her. She doesn't have a heart. Look, she dozed off in the middle of a conversation."

"She's just tired from last night." Song Wenye glanced at Shen Xi. Judging by the love bites behind her neck, she must've had a wild night with Toffeecito's Dad.

Shen Tang affectionately grinned and bobbed her head. "Xixi's worn out."

Shen Xi would have caught some sleep in Li Yuan's arms if Aunt Junqiu did not keep an eye on her during the rehearsal.

It was a good thing someone was capable of invoking fear in Shen Xi. The latter was able to look sharp as she went through with the rehearsal. She had been on her best behavior.

Apart from Shen Xi who was fast asleep, the rest could not sleep. They had girls' talk, and soon Shen Tang together with Song Wenye drifted into dreamland.

Despite telling others to settle down and saying she was not at all nervous, Fu Junqiu was wide awake. Time passed until she finally crashed.

The alarm clock went off before the break of dawn, followed by a knock on the door. The ever-energetic Ruan Sisi had come to wake them up to get into hair and makeup.

By the sound of the noise at the door, it appeared that Ye Weiyang and the girls as well as Chu Ying and other International Class students, who had flown in from all over the world, were there and getting more worked up than the brides-to-be.