At first glance, nothing substantial seems to be inside it, until Baoshan Sanren puts her fingers inside and takes out a slim piece of paper. There is writing on both sides of it, and her eyes become redder with the pressure of not being able to cry.

"It's definitely his handwriting, and thank the Universe it's not in code." She sniffs, smiling as she reads it out. "Ge hua ru ge yan. Different flowers match different eyes." She turns it around and then barks out a sudden, sharp laugh. "Ai wu ji wu. Love the house, and love the crow."

They let her sit and stare at the paper for a few minutes, not wanting to intrude upon her thoughts. The seconds tick by loudly in the silent room, a quiet hammering that incessantly beats, matching the rhythm of Wei Ying's heart.

Baoshan Sanren has long since closed her eyes, and now when she opens them, they're much clearer.

"Can you please explain, grandmother?" And then Wei Ying quickly retracts that by saying, "But it's okay too, if you don't want to. It must be something personal, just between the two of you, not for...sharing."

Her eyes are warm with love now as she smiles softly.

"This is the equivalent of a long winded love letter, complete with all the flowering tendrils, the declaration of love as hard and fast as if your grandfather had climbed on top of a roof and shouted it out to the world. As for translating it to you, I don't mind in the slightest," she says, the heel of her hand rubbing a space dead centre in her chest, as if it were aching with loneliness.

Wei Ying slings an arm around her shoulders, leaning his head against hers.

Their comfortableness around each other settles upon them like a welcome, warm blanket, soothing a frazzled soul. They give each other space to simply be, no rush to fill the void. So Baoshan Sanren takes her time to explain the note.

"The first one means that people are attracted to different flowers all the time, one that might appeal to me, might be not so attractive to you, for example. By telling me this, he's saying his eyes fell in love with me, can also mean love at first sight, and that we were meant to be." She sighs wistfully. "I am the flower meant for his eyes, so to speak."

Wei Ying is smiling at her, his silver eyes too big in his face, wide with awe.

"That's so romantic!"

"It is!" She makes a sound, and if she had been a teenager, Lan Zhan would have called it squealing.

But Baoshan Sanren is too dignified to squeal...

"Ours wasn't an ordinary kind of love." Her eyes are staring into space thoughtfully. "I knew I loved him, and I knew he loved me back, but we weren't as disgustingly weird about it. Not all over each other," she smirks then, "and not at all like you two. To us, it wasn't necessary to be in each other's pockets, we were separate people even in the relationship, individual but together, and our love was strong and true. There's no way your grandfather would ever have written me a song or a poem - we just aren't that type of couple. So when he wrote this simple line to me, it's so much better than a long letter full of unnecessary words, when a few will do the job just fine. Pages and pages of endless declarations are not needed. This," she waves the piece of paper about, "is way better."

"If you say so," Wei Ying shrugs, clearly agreeing to disagree with her opinion. "And what about the second one? Is he calling you the crow?"

She smacks his arm in warning.

"No. Again, it's a broader declaration. If you love the house, you can also love the crow that sits upon the roof. Meaning, you are loving all the parts of a person, not just the good bits that are on show, but all the parts, the good and the bad. A person is as multifaceted as a diamond, and true love will never say, 'I only like that side, or that side.' Honest, real love is all encompassing. It's about loving the whole diamond, even before it is polished and crafted into the finished product."

"Well, I'm glad he reminded you about what he had hidden away from you." Wei Ying tells her.

"So am I, Haizi. So am I."

"Do you think he was just waiting for us to discover what the HeartStone could do, like he knew we would need the extra help so he hung around? And now that he's kind of gone, do you think he'll be reborn again? And if so, would you consider meeting him again?" Wei Ying is as usual, thinking on his feet. His words have tumbled out as soon as he had that idea, and it's clearly something his grandmother hasn't considered before.

"That's such a lot of 'what ifs'!" She's astounded, and Wei Ying thinks it's good that she hasn't actually dismissed the idea. She taps the side of her nose thoughtfully. "I really don't know. I wouldn't mind having him as a companion in my life," she muses, getting used to the thought. "But I doubt I would want more than that now. People change and grow, and so do their needs." She pockets the love letter and closes the hidden drawer.

Wrapping the box again in the red silk brocade, she hands it over to Wei Ying.

"Think of this as an early wedding present from me."

"Grandmother! We can't!" Wei Ying tries to give it back to her, but she gently pushes it into his chest.

It's clearly such a personal item to her, and her selfless gesture feels too much.

"Listen, child. The person who made this gift has passed away, the person who this gift was made for, has also passed away. I have no attachment to it anymore, and that being the case, I sincerely believe it belongs to you now, both of you. Use it as it was intended to be enjoyed, and make new memories. That is all."

She leaves them sitting there in a cloud of her sweet floral perfume, the only evidence of her ever having been there.

******************

"No."

"Please, Didi! It's tradition. You cannot see your intended until you marry. Wei Ying will sleep with either myself or Uncle in one of our adjoining rooms, and you can stay here." XiChen wasn't going to budge on this.

"I don't like it."

"WangJi-"

"XiChen-Ge, please, can I talk to him?" Wei Ying enters the room, already dressed in his pyjamas.

"Very well. I shall be right outside," XiChen says, and they know it should be taken as the warning it is.

No hanky panky.

But the moment he steps outside of Lan Zhan's room, Wei Ying gently pushes Lan Zhan to sit on his bed. Then he climbs on top of him, straddling his lap.

"My love-"

Lan Zhan pouts.

Wei Ying is here in his arms, freshly showered and filling his senses with warm vanilla and bergamot, perhaps a mix of his body wash. He is everything Lan Zhan could possibly want, and admittedly, personal time with just the two of them has been sadly lacking, these past few weeks.

It's not fair. He does not want to spend even a single second away from Wei Ying, and in his mind, it really should not matter, especially since neither of them are innocent in the traditional meaning of the word, and that being the case, there should not be a reason they have to sleep separately, Lan Zhan thinks petulantly.

Wei Ying covers Lan Zhan's mouth with his hand, giggling brightly.

It remains Lan Zhan's favourite sound in the world.

It's right up there, next to the way Wei Ying smells of vanilla and lotus flowers. Though the boys are very close to it, and the girls might even be beating them because they have that clean, newborn scent that all babies do.

"Look, it's already past ten o'clock. That means in about twelve hours, we are going to get married." He does squeal then, throwing his arms around Lan Zhan's neck in a tight grip. "Twelve hours is NOTHING! NOTHING, my love! And if it means keeping the peace here, won't you consider it? I for one, I really want to have the full impact of seeing my beautiful, brilliant husband, waiting for me by the altar." And then he unleashes his secret weapon: it's the Wei Ying Pout (™).

Lan Zhan doesn't stand a chance.

But as long as Wei Ying is here, Lan Zhan is not going to waste a second of possibilities.

His hand traces the back of Wei Ying's neck, caressing the sensitive skin with his fingertips, bringing their faces closer. He registers the anticipatory shiver just before those dazzling starlight eyes flutter shut, and then there's the sweet bliss of their lips meeting.

Wild and free, as if Wei Ying is pouring pieces of himself into Lan Zhan's mouth, and he greedily absorbs them because of the love they share, and Lan Zhan is reminded of Baoshan Sanren's words: to love properly is to love all the person in his arms, and Lan Zhan is confident of this.

Even as Wei Ying deepens this kiss, making him gasp with pleasure, Lan Zhan has an inkling of what he wants his vows to say to this most generous of people. Wei Ying, who deserves to be worshipped in all the ways there are.

In return, Wei Ying is kissing him with the intention of leaving him with a gift to sustain Lan Zhan until tomorrow. This absence is going to be difficult for both of them, but he doesn't want to worry his husband-to-be any more than necessary.

When they part, Wei Ying makes himself smile.

"Will you be okay?"

"No." Lan Zhan says on purpose, meaning it. But he's instantly contrite when Wei Ying's face falls, and he knows he did that.

He lifts Wei Ying's face with the whole of his hand, and lets himself feel as he normally does when the weight of shimmering silver eyes rests upon him.

"I will only be alright tomorrow when Wei Ying returns to me," he replies honestly, trying for a smile to make Wei Ying feel better. "They will keep me busy," he adds, nodding towards the cot where their daughters are sleeping peacefully.

"I'm sure they will!" Wei Ying giggles softly. "They are a lot of work but so worth it!"

"Mn."

Wei Ying climbs off him, and Lan Zhan misses him immediately. He watches as Wei Ying tiptoes to the cot and gently kisses both of the girls, careful not to wake them.

"I'm sleeping with the boys tonight," Wei Ying says.

"Good night, Wei Ying," Lan Zhan tells him, sitting on his hands lest they grab him voluntarily.

"Good night, my love. See you tomorrow."

And with that, Wei Ying is gone.

The room seems larger, emptier than normal now.

Lan Zhan looks around wistfully, praying that the minutes pass quickly and the sun can rise faster, anything to make tomorrow happen sooner.

It's going to be a long night.

**************

Wei Ying knew that he had become accustomed to sleeping with Lan Zhan, and his body would have missed the presence of someone else next to him; that was why he decided to sleep next to A-Yuan and JingYi.

Their room had two beds, but he knew that once the boys were alone, even if they began sleeping separately, they would invariably end up sleeping together. Maybe JingYi was still too anxious, subconsciously missing his parents, and maybe A-Yuan had gotten used to sleeping with him. Regardless of the reason why, both of his boys were always woken in the morning with their chubby arms around each other, and Wei Ying saw no reason to stop that.

Whatever comforted his children was okay by him, and he understood that need more than ever as he tossed and turned, trying to sleep now.

He regrets supporting XiChen now; if it's at the cost of his sleep, he's about ready to crawl into bed with Lan Zhan right now.

But he still has to come up with vows that hold true, that won't sound contrived or fake in front of their guests, and the thought of doing that makes him shiver. He'd much rather it was just the two of them standing in front of whoever would marry them tomorrow, no one else, and Wei Ying knew Lan Zhan felt the same, but Shifu had told them that a few hundred guests WAS small, and politely in other words, told them to suck it up.

He sighs and tries to find a cool place on his pillow.

He must have fallen asleep because two children land on his chest and squeeze the breath out of his lungs so suddenly, Wei Ying is dazed into wakefulness.

"Oomfph!" He wheezes as XiChen laughs.

"C'mon, Baba! It's our wedding day!!" The boys shout, making his head pound.

The lack of sleep is going to be a problem unless he gets some kind of caffeine in his system right now.

"Okay, boys! Let's go down for breakfast now that you've woken up your Baba!" XiChen sounds way too happy and amused.

Wei Ying closes his eyes and groans dramatically, as his boys both kiss either side of his face.

"But Bofu!! He's going to sleep again!" A-Yuan calls him out on it!

The little traitor!

Wei Ying is not above swift retribution and he grabs both kids, tickling them mercilessly until they both cry out because too much laughing makes them want to pee. Now Wei Ying only has to wiggle his fingers and he gets titters from both boys.

XiChen is wiping his face, no doubt because A-Yuan called him Bofu* (*uncle, father's brother).

He holds their hands and while the boys chatter excitedly, their voices fading away as they go further, Wei Ying makes himself rise out of bed.

Joy replaces his fatigue as he realises that today is the end of his being single.

Today, Wei Ying is going to marry the best man in the world.

He has to take a moment to absorb the emotions that are threatening to overwhelm him.

It is the happiest day, because today, Wei Ying gets to marry Lan Zhan.

*************

Wei Ying shrieks when he comes out of the adjoining bathroom.

He's just showered and dried his hair, taking care of it perhaps not as well as Lan Zhan does, but he's trying, okay?? Only to find Mo XuanYu waiting for him.

Wei Ying is mostly dressed, in his defence but it's still a bit of a surprise. He darts back into the bathroom to do up his shirt, before scowling back into the bedroom.

"What are you doing here?" He tries not to sound too hostile.

"I'm here to transform the raccoon into a runway worthy man," Mo XuanYu waves his makeup brushes in Wei Ying's face. "It's my duty as your didi." His voice is gentler then, less indignant.

Wei Ying softens immediately, and now his protests are half-hearted at best.

"Lan Zhan has seen me at my worst already," he retorts, as Mo Xuanyu pushes him into the chair in front of the dresser.

"Right! But we shouldn't do that to him today. It's his wedding day as well, you know!" He grins cheekily at Wei Ying in the mirror, his arm still resting on the back of his chair. "All you have to do is close your eyes and let me work my magic. I'll be quick," he promises.

That does the trick, and Wei Ying settles back. He's far from relaxed, but he's going to do his best.

Mo XuanYu hums while he works, and despite how he feels, Wei Ying finds himself asking him questions.

"How did you get into makeup?"

"In our gang, in the beginning when they never let me go out and before they started to trust me with their tech, I used to watch the girls get ready to go out. And I thought, 'I can do better than that', so I did. And they let me use their stuff if I returned the favour by doing their makeup for them, so it worked out in the end. I could practise and they looked better than if they did it to themselves, so..."

"Do you like doing it? I usually don't get past a bit of foundation and mascara if I'm pushed to it," Wei Ying admits. And that was only for the bartending job, because he'd noticed a marked difference with how people treated him with and without makeup as a buffer.

If painting his face with the minimum of colour got people to be nicer to him, then Wei Ying wasn't going to complain. Plus, he liked the way he looked with a smoother complexion and redder lips.

"Yeah, I like it," Mo XuanYu sounds confident. "In the beginning, my efforts looked clownish, but the more I experimented, the more I learned about it. The 'less is more' rule is true, by the way. And it became my stress relief. I don't think about anything else except the look I want to recreate, and that really helps. Better than forking out hundreds of dollars to 'talk to someone' would be." He makes a face at the thought.

Wei Ying can relate.

The idea of baring his soul to a stranger had never appealed to him, but therapy in and of itself didn't seem to be so bad. Any form of self improvement should be supported though, maybe it was all about finding the one that worked for you the best.

"Okay, I'm done. You can open your eyes now."

Wei Ying feels Mo XuanYu step away from him, although that could be out of fear of Wei Ying's reaction when he sees the final outcome of his trust.

"Wow!"

The word spills out of his mouth before Wei Ying can stop it.

He hasn't blinked once yet.

Mo XuanYu has made his silver eyes look even more captivating, if that was possible, by applying the lightest coverage of eyeshadow, a smoky light into dark shimmering glow, every time he does blink. He lined them, making Wei Ying's eyes look even bigger. His smooth face has the faintest sheen of a luminescent glow around his cheeks, and the more Wei Ying blushes, he's surprised to find that his face stays the same.

"If you wanna change anything, now's the time to say," Mo XuanYu brandishes a fixing spray in his hand like a taser. "Don't touch it!" He screeches as Wei Ying lifts a trembling hand up.

He quickly stops and smiles sheepishly at Mo XuanYu.

"Sorry."

"Ahuh..." Mo XuanYu nods sagely back at him. "Now, close your eyes."