A Different Way

14 - Blood is Thicker Than Water

Shanghai, China 

The Beijing trip was over after Mrs Wu finally met her distant family in the sub-urban of the capital city. At first, both Zachary, as well as her second cousin Beatrice, were awkward at the family reunion since they did not speak their language plus, they were the only white people inside the house. Luckily, he got Beatrice to experience the same so he would not feel like an intruder inside the humble house. Since China could be considered one of the densest countries in the world, the majority of its citizens live inside compact high-rise apartments.

And now all of them would be taking a high-speed train to the populated city of Shanghai, south of Beijing. Reanna took a seat beside his fiancé and they conveyed a boring conversation so the time could be killed instead of sitting on the train full of boredom. Zachary gulped the mineral water that had been bought earlier until Reanna asked something that made in a real shocked.

"Alright, where do you think our wedding should take place? My great-aunt asked me yesterday but I totally forgot to ask you about that. Plus, she wanted us to get married full of Chinese tradition." She remarked about the things that kept on lingering inside her mind. So far, Beatrice has done a good job of finding several dresses that she could wear later on her big day that she still did not know the date yet.

"I don't know. So many suggestions were out from different people. My father wanted us to get married in our mansion, mother did not mind while my sisters somehow desired for me to say I do in Switzerland. How about you?" He sighed and then asked for her suggestions. And her opinion seems matter to him now.

"I thought of somewhere that has water on it but seriously I don't want to do it on the beach or anywhere on the island since Bryan already did that because I seriously don't want to be overshadowed by them." Reanna said with full thoughts about her wedding location's opinion.

"How about Venice? I just love the ambience of that city. Great architecture and it is also located nicely on the Venetian Lagoon with so many canals flowing within it. What do you think?" With a twinkle in his eyes, Zachary suggested the Italian city be the venue of their wedding day.

"Venice? Okay, you really got me, Owens. I never thought about that place before and Venice seems like a nice city." Reanna said in a shocking tone. Never in a million years that the north-eastern city of Italy could be the venue of her nuptials. And Venice seems like a perfect place to achieve her wedding dream.

And she accepted his suggestion of taking Venice as the venue of their upcoming wedding that would be managed by Beatrice. A few hours later, they arrived in the spectacular Shanghai and instantly rode a cab and checked into the hotel since everyone seemed pretty exhausted by the trip. Before getting asleep, Zachary kissed Reanna on the cheek only to be given a death glare by Mr Wu that thought his action somehow inappropriate for an unmarried couple.

"Reanna, you should listen to me. No kissing or hugging with your fiancé until both of you are married. Understood." And then, she was given a lecture by her mother regarding Zachary's behaviour. Beatrice who also overheard the conversation gulped at how strict her mother-in-law was. Fortunately, Bryan and she never got caught red-handed whenever she tried to kiss him not on the cheek but the lips before they were married.

"Ma, please be reasonable since Bea can overhear us. Plus, Zac would be my husband soon." She said in Mandarin so Beatrice did not have a clue about her conversation. Reanna was embarrassed towards her sister-in-law due to this incident, hence she wanted to divert her mother to another topic.

"Fine. But if your father and I see both of you do the same thing or even worse, do you know what I will do to you, Wu Jia." She stated firmly in a very thick Cantonese accent. Even though they had already lived in America for a very long time, Wu's couple always upheld the old rules and raised both of their children conservatively.