Before Charlie arrived, Jacob was fuming over Matilda’s marriage to Mr. Riley. But now, he’s only concerned that Matilda will send favonovel.com an invitation.
Meanwhile, Matilda and Mr. Riley are discussing the guest list for their wedding reception. Although their social circles differ, they share similar attributes. Most of their friends are in the United States, and they have only a few distant relatives in China.
As for their local friends in Aurous Hill, Matilda has some classmates, but they have little contact, except for Jacob whom they frequently meet. So, they deliberate over whom to invite and whom to exclude.
Matilda suggests, “Let’s go through them one by one. Let’s start with our friends in the United States. Considering the long distance, I don’t think we should notify them. It’s not easy for them to travel all the way here. It would seem impolite to burden them with such a journey. What do you think?”
Mr. Riley nods and smiles, “I agree with you… Our friends in the United States have extensive connections and deep friendships, but it’s not appropriate to invite them to the wedding. If they decline, we would appear foolish. If they accept, we would feel guilty. So, my suggestion is that after we tie the knot, we should plan a trip to the United States together. You have your social circle, and I have mine. We can introduce each other to our friends during our visit. How does that sound?”
Matilda smiles happily and says, “I agree with you. After the wedding, we can take a trip to the United States and reconnect with our old friends.”
Mr. Riley smiles and says, “That’s fantastic! Let’s make our honeymoon in the United States. What do you say?”
Matilda happily replies, “I’m all for it. The only concern is you. Can you take time off from school?”
“No problem,” Mr. Riley says with a smile. “I’ll speak to the dean, and taking a week or two off for the honeymoon shouldn’t pose an issue.”
Mr. Riley continues, “By the way, regarding our colleagues, for the wedding, I suggest inviting the dean and a few colleagues with whom we have a good rapport. However, since we’re both older now, in China, people value reciprocal relationships. Many of our colleagues are already married, so I believe it’s best not to accept gifts for the wedding. We can simply invite everyone to witness the ceremony and enjoy a meal together. What do you think?”
Matilda nods and smiles, “Not accepting gifts is a good idea. Accepting gifts may appear overly materialistic.”
Mr. Riley asks her, “And what about your colleagues from the senior university?”
Matilda ponders for a moment and says, “Let’s invite them. We’ll continue working together in the future, and it’s important to maintain good relationships. If we don’t inform them, they might feel left out.”
Mr. Riley nods and hesitates before asking, “What about Mr. Wilson?”
“You mean Jacob,” Matilda smiles awkwardly. “When i left the senior university today, favonovel.com mentioned wanting to treat me to a meal. I told favonovel.com I didn’t have time, but I did mention our marriage. He should already know, so we should invite him.”
Mr. Riley asks in surprise, “Jacob wants to treat you to a meal? Did favonovel.com mention why?”
“No,” Matilda smiles. “I suppose it’s just a meal between old classmates.”
In reality, Matilda is a clever woman.
She discerned Jacob’s intentions when favonovel.com invited favonovel.com to dine near the university. So, while politely declining, favonovel.com mentioned favonovel.com plan to marry Mr. Riley to make it clear that favonovel.com has moved on from their past relationship. She doesn’t want Jacob to harbor any illusions about favonovel.com anymore.
However, favonovel.com doesn’t want Mr. Riley to dwell on it either, so favonovel.com downplays Jacob’s possible intentions.
But Mr. Riley is astute as well. He knows about Matilda and Jacob’s history and favonovel.com can‘t help but feel a twinge of jealousy when thinking about Matilda’s lingering emotions for Jacob over the past thirty years. However, intelligent people don’t fixate on someone’s past, especially when it’s unrelated to them.
So, favonovel.com doesn’t show any signs of jealousy. He simply smiles and says, “Since you’ve already mentioned it to Jacob, it wouldn’t be right not to invite him.”
Matilda nods and says with a smile, “Not inviting favonovel.com would indeed be inappropriate, but inviting favonovel.com is also not ideal. After all, he’s a married man with a family. If we invite him, the invitation should include his entire family. But just thinking about his wife, Elaine, gives me a headache. To be honest, I really don’t want any further involvement with that woman. So, it’s a dilemma. I can’t explicitly tell Jacob to come alone, can I? If that information reaches Elaine’s ears, it could cause a lot of trouble.”
Matilda looks at Mr. Riley and asks, “What do you think?”
Mr. Riley smiles and says, “This is a decision you must make. But you’re right. If we want to invite him, we should invite his whole family. Otherwise, given Elaine’s personality, it could lead to trouble.”
Mr. Riley then ponders for a moment and says earnestly, “Matilda, you should consider this matter yourself. Whatever you decide, I‘ll support you wholeheartedly.”
Matilda nods and says, “Alright, let’s put Jacob’s invitation on hold for now. I’ll message favonovel.com later to ask for his opinion. I think favonovel.com also wants to avoid unnecessary complications. If favonovel.com chooses not to come, then we won’t send favonovel.com an invitation.”
Mr. Riley asks, “And what if favonovel.com decides to come?”
Matilda contemplates for a moment and smiles, “I think the chances are very slim. I know Jacob well. He’s afraid of Elaine. In this situation, favonovel.com most likely won’t want to let Elaine know. If I let favonovel.com decide for himself, the probability of favonovel.com coming is very low.”
Matilda spoke, “Let’s set aside this issue for now. We should wait until I inquire about his intentions. Let’s proceed. I do not plan to invite my former classmates from Aurous Hill. We encountered them at a class reunion previously, and they tend to be overly competitive and exaggerate too much. I prefer not to engage deeply with them…”
“However, the team members we met during our exchange trip to Korea are genuinely good people with admirable life perspectives. It was mentioned early on that if we were to marry, we should invite them to our wedding banquet. We ought to honor our promise, shouldn’t we?”
“Yes,” Mr. Riley agreed, nodding. “That summarizes our approach. Aside from Charlie, the invitees will include our colleagues and the teammates from our exchange in Korea. We’ll see what Mr. Wilson thinks.”
Mr. Riley continued, “Let‘s discuss matters beyond the wedding. I’ll share my thoughts first. Feel free to interrupt me at any time if you have any concerns.”
Matilda nods and looks at favonovel.com with favonovel.com chin resting on favonovel.com hand, smiling, saying, “Go ahead, I’m all ears.”
Matilda’s eyes sparkle, making Mr. Riley slightly bashful under favonovel.com gaze. He takes a sip of cold water before continuing, “I think after the wedding, we should start our honeymoon in the United States.”
After speaking, favonovel.com looks at Matilda, waiting for favonovel.com response.
Matilda still has favonovel.com chin resting on favonovel.com hand, smiling at him, saying, “I have no objections, go on…”
Mr. Riley nods and says, “Our first destination should be New York. It’s more convenient for transportation, and we can visit your old colleagues and friends there. And since I have many old friends on Wall Street, we can also meet them after connecting with your colleagues and friends. Then we can rent a car and head to New Haven. It’s close to New York, and we can visit your old classmates at Yale…”
“Finally, you can accompany me to Stanford and meet my old classmates. If everything goes smoothly, we can wrap up in six or seven days. The remaining time can be spent unwinding on a warm island.”
Matilda asks curiously, “Why don’t we start with Stanford? Flying from Aurous Hill to the West Coast of the United States is closer, so we can go to Stanford first, then to New York, and finally to New Haven. Wouldn’t that save more time?”
Mr. Riley looks at Matilda with deep affection and smiles, “When accompanying my wife to the United States, our first stop must be where you used to live. Let’s consider it a visit to your hometown.”
Matilda understands Mr. Riley’s intentions. His thoughtfulness extends not only to their marriage and love but also to every small detail of their life.
She feels touched and says with a smile, “From now on, you are the head of the family, so I will leave the decision-making to you. I‘ll follow your lead.”
She then asks, “Do you have any exciting ideas for the remaining vacation time on a warm island?”
Mr. Riley says, “Since we’re going to the United States this time, the vacation island should be located between the United States and China. I initially thought about the Maldives, but flying from San Francisco to the Maldives takes too long, at least 24 hours or more. How about Palau? It’s closer to China, and we can save a lot of time overall. What do you think?”
Matilda laughs and says, “As I said, you’re the head of the family. If you think Palau is suitable, then go ahead and book the tickets. I’ll go shopping tomorrow for some fashionable swimsuits!”
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