Chapter 46: CH 46

Father Bai’s funeral was held three days later at a funeral home in the outskirts. There were some relatives that Bai Zhen Zhen had never seen before, as well as several colleagues from Father Bai’s old company who came to pay their respects.

The police had already publicly announced the investigation results regarding the case where Bai Meng Ru and Yang Su Ping conspired together to poison Father Bai. Thus, other than coming to express their condolences, the guests also expressed their regrets about the case to Bai Zhen Zhen.

Father Bai’s grave and funeral proceedings were paid for using the the savings in the original owner’s bank account, amounting to a few tens of thousands of dollars. She wasn’t aware of the original price of the grave, neither was she aware of whether or not Huo Xiang had contributed to it. Either way, she didn’t ask any questions, merely using the money to buy the grave. Thinking of Father Bai in the afterlife, he probably wouldn’t blame her for “sullying” his morals.

To avoid any unnecessary troubles, Bai Zhen Zhen prevented Huo Xiang from appearing at the funeral. She handled the entire process, from the ceremony till when he was buried. It could be considered as helping the original owner to give her father a send-off.

As for Bai Meng Ru and Yang Su Ping, they were yet to be convicted. However, they wouldn’t be able to get away with murder, and would face a minimum of ten years in prison.

In addition, the court case for Jiang Mu Yu’s kidnapping was about to begin. Bai Zhen Zhen was so busy liaising with the lawyer that she didn’t even realise that Huo Xiang hadn’t appeared in front of her for almost a week.

She only realised it after Su Meng reminded her.

“What? You haven’t seen each other since the funeral?!” Su Meng listened to Bai Zhen Zhen incredulously, “Aren’t you about to get married? You don’t need to try on the wedding dress? The day after is your wedding ceremony!”

“The wedding dress has already been made.” Bai Zhen Zhen said, “Xiang Xiang invited an Italian designer last week to take measurements. He showed me the final product yesterday, and I’ve tried it. It’s pretty good.”

“He didn’t accompany you for the fitting?”

“Nope! The wedding dress was sent directly to the hotel. After trying it on, I sent it back to them.” Bai Zhen Zhen replied without thought.

Su Meng rested her cheeks on her hand, deep in thought.

“It still feels strange. Isn’t he curious how you look like in your wedding dress? Does he really intend to keep it a surprise until your wedding?!”

“Maybe…” Bai Zhen Zhen nodded, “Although he didn’t appear before me, we chat every day over texts. He’s also quite concerned about my recent state.”

“But you’re about to have your wedding the day after. He hasn’t informed you of the rehearsal yet?” Su Meng continued questioning.

“Rehearsal?!”

Bai Zhen Zhen, who had never been married, was completely unaware that there was still a rehearsal to be done.

“Yeah!” Su Meng frowned, “Huo Xiang is the heir to the world’s richest man! Wouldn’t your wedding shock the entire world?! If anything went wrong, it would be reported on the news!”

“You’re right!” Being reminded by Su Meng, Bai Zhen Zhen was also stunned, “How could he not mention a word about the rehearsal? I only know that I’m getting married the day after, and nothing else!”

Su Meng’s lips flattened out into a line, looking at Bai Zhen Zhen in worry.

Bai Zhen Zhen responded with a helpless expression.

“Why aren’t you moving! Quickly, give him a call!” Su Meng slapped her forehead.

Bai Zhen Zhen finally reacted: “Right, you’re right. I have to ask…”

Su Meng gave a deep sigh — This woman truly was blinded by love!!

Bai Zhen Zhen dialed Huo Xiang’s number.

This time, Huo Xiang picked up the phone quickly. The moment the call connected, he greeted her sweetly.

“Baby, you missed me?”

“I want to ask you something…” Bai Zhen Zhen hesistated.

She glanced at Su Meng again. Su Meng gave her a firm look at motioned her to continue asking.

“Yes? What is it?”

“That… Don’t we need to rehearse for our wedding? What is the process like? Do you need me to prepare anything?”

Huo Xiang fell silent for a moment, before ringing out clearly and naturally: “Baby, you can just focus on getting ready to be a bride! As for why a rehearsal is not needed… That’s because I want to give you a surprise. Don’t worry, everything has been arranged. You just need to wait at the hotel for me to pick you up!”

“Is that so…” Bai Zhen Zhen didn’t doubt his words, “Then I’ll just wait for you. You’d better give me a surprise, not a fright, if not you’ll get it from me!”

“Relax, baby!”

Hanging up, Bai Zhen Zhen smiled at Su Meng, saying: “He said he wanted to give me a surprise, so everything has already been arranged for. I just need to wait for him to pick me up.”

“Then it’s fine!” Su Meng also relaxed, “I’m really looking forward to the surprise that Huo Xiang prepared for you! Ah, how could you not even have some bridesmaids? Otherwise I join in the fun as well… But it makes sense as well. Your wedding will be a grand and luxurious one, it wouldn’t be like normal weddings…”

Bai Zhen Zhen couldn’t help but chuckle as she listen to Su Meng’s remarks.

The anticipation in her heart gradually grew stronger.

She also wanted to know what the wedding of the richest man in the world would look like.

****

On the other side, the wedding preparations were just about to be finished. Everything was as Huo Xiang mentioned earlier. The entire process had been designed and rehearsed earlier. According to the plan, he would walk hand-in-hand with Bai Zhen Zhen down the red carpet when the time comes, and complete the entire wedding ceremony under a romantic atmosphere.

However…

Huo Xiang hung up his phone, his emotions becoming more complicated.

According to the system settings, the moment Bai Zhen Zhen’s happiness points exceeded a hundred points, he would immediately return to reality. His only resurrection chance had been used, and he had no other way of getting out of it.

However, that day, the system told him of another method that would allow him to stay in this world longer.

— If the current side mission failed, the system would reset and he would return to the point of time when he just arrived in the world. The female lead happiness points would also be reset.

At the same time, the plot of the novel would continue to develop. However, those characters who knew about Huo Xiang’s existence would lose all memories about him.

In addition, characters who existed due to the system’s side mission, such as Elder Huo, would also cease to exist.

In other words, once the side mission fails, Huo Xiang would wake up in the hospital that he was at when he first arrived. The novel’s time wouldn’t be turned back. Everyone would simply forget about him.

Huo Xiang would also have the identity of an orphan, similar to when he first arrived in this world.

Afterwards, he needed to look for the female lead again, and start accumulating happiness points from the beginning.

This way, he could extend his stay in this world, and he could accompany the female lead. The moment he realises that the happiness points was about to reach the target, he could immediately fail the side mission.

Cycling through like this continually.

The only downside was that every time he reset, everyone would forget about him.

— System: “Actually, I still can’t understand to this day. Since the female lead no longer has any memories with the knight, what meaning is there to staying on? Knight 666 continually failed three side missions, and gained three opportunities to get to know the female lead again. Out of the three times, there was two times that he didn’t manage to get the female lead to fall in love with him. Even in the last attempt, he could only silently watch over the female lead as she passed from old age…”

— Huo Xiang: “You only know of data and programs, of course you don’t understand! When you truly fall in love with someone, you would want to stay by her side and protect her no matter what.”

— System: “So are you going to do that too?”

— Huo Xiang: “Isn’t it just doing it one more time? I believe with my charisma, Zhen Zhen will definitely fall in love with me again!”

— System: “Knight 666 also said so back then…”

— Huo Xiang: “Even if things doesn’t work out, it’s fine. As long as I can see her, I will be happy.”

After Huo Xiang spoke up, he felt tears welling up in his eyes.

He had never been a sentimental person, but at this moment he actually felt sad.

He wasn’t sad due to worries about whether Zhen Zhen would fall in love with him again. He believed that as long as Zhen Zhen remained the same Zhen Zhen that he knew, they would definitely get together again.

Rather, he was sad because he couldn’t give Zhen Zhen a grand wedding this time.

According to the current situation, his accumulated happiness points had already reached 96.5 points. Thus, while there was still a side mission in progress, he had to take the opportunity to immediately fail it.

Otherwise, if Bai Zhen Zhen’s happiness points rose again, he would most likely be sent back to reality.

He didn’t dare to take the risk.

Thus, this time, he could only give up on the wedding. Holding the wedding was Grandfather’s third task for him, and was also the last part of the fifth side mission. As long as he didn’t appear at the wedding venue, the system would judge the side mission to be a failure, and reset the main mission.

— Huo Xiang: “System, I want to confirm with you again. After the system resets, it will be as if the wedding had never happened, right?”

— System: “Yes. The timeline in the novel world will continue to move forward, but the novel characters will not retain any memories of you.”

— Huo Xiang: “That’s good. If Zhen Zhen found out that I ‘ran away from the marriage’, she would be heartbroken. It’s good to let her forget these unhappy memories…”

— System: “But I must remind you: Every day in the novel world is equivalent to one minute in the real world. If you remain in this world for too long…”

— Huo Xiang: “Don’t worry, I’ve already calculated it!”

— System: “Huh?”

— Huo Xiang: “Even if I stay here for a year, only a few hours would have passed in reality. So if I accompany Zhen Zhen for my entire life, I would only be missing for up to half a month in reality. I can let my parents understand the importance of their son as well.”

— System: “…Knight, are you certain?”

— Huo Xiang: “Yes!”

— System: “Ok. Then I wish you… good luck!”