"I agree," Wang Qiqi knew Han Tao was also thinking about how to proceed, or perhaps asking Fatty for advice on how to phrase the earlier speech. Wang Qiqi wanted no part of the marriage proposal ideas Fatty had cooked up. "Grand or simple, the point is the outcome."

Qiqi's words brought a pang of sadness to Han Tao's heart. Although Qiqi claimed not to care, he still remembered the longing look on her face when she heard Fatty's elaborate plan for proposing to Lu Qiaowei. Han Tao despised his own simple proposal all over again. He had intended to make it up to her by convincing Qiqi to go get their marriage license this time, hoping to compensate, but this new discussion was even simpler than before. "Maybe... I think we should make our wedding grand," he suggested. What was past could not be mended, so Han Tao thought he might make amends in a different way.

"How grand do you envision our wedding being?" Wang Qiqi countered with a smile. "It's just you and your mother on your side, and my aunt's family of eight on mine. Including us, that’s only eleven people. Add in friends—how many do you think we can invite?" Should they fly back to China for a banquet? Honestly, since graduation, she hadn't kept in close touch with many high school or college classmates. Suddenly sending them a formal invitation would surely make them wonder—they'd probably curse him for not contacting them for so long only to demand money for a gift. No one would be happy about that, and the small token gift wouldn't be worth the trouble of flying back just to treat them.

"Even with fewer people, we can make it grand," Han Tao said, looking at Wang Qiqi, who still hadn't shifted her perspective. He gently tapped her nose. "Fewer people, but we can still make it spectacular. For example, are you interested in a 'Land, Sea, and Air' theme? I think Fatty mentioned wanting to do something like that." Han Tao shamelessly stole Fatty's creative idea. The guy came up with a new notion every hour anyway, so Han Tao didn't feel the least bit embarrassed.

A Land, Sea, and Air wedding? Wang Qiqi was practically rolling her eyes. Although it sounded massive and quite impressive, something that people would fondly recall for years—friends and relatives probably talking about how magnificent the wedding was—she was the one in the spotlight. "No. Too exhausting." Weddings already involved so much for her to manage. If it was a spectacle of that scale, Xiao Rourou felt she would collapse from fatigue. "Besides, you're busy with work; asking me to organize a wedding by myself will really take years off my life."

"We can hire a wedding planning company, Fatty said so," Han Tao quickly interjected, knowing his wife preferred convenience. "We’ll find a good firm, and we'll just need to show up. It won't be that tiring."

Hearing that, she knew he hadn't grasped the situation clearly; he was just echoing Fatty's words. "Just showing up? Don't you realize we still have to rehearse? Otherwise, how would you know the flow of the whole event? Also, that scale will cost a fortune. I’d rather have a simple ceremony, or just get married at a beautiful resort and treat everyone to a getaway."

That way, everyone gets to eat and have fun, and as the bride, she wouldn't be too worn out. Thinking of this, Wang Qiqi found the idea increasingly appealing. "How about a wedding in Kyoto, Japan, when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom in April?" Wang Qiqi remembered a colleague from her previous job whose husband was well-off, and they had held their wedding in Japan during the cherry blossom season. Afterwards, Wang Qiqi saw their photos and found them exquisitely beautiful; many female colleagues at work had been quite envious then.

"A wedding in Kyoto?" Han Tao honestly didn't have a great impression of Japan. "Pass. I will not have our wedding in Japan. Are we going to make everyone eat kaiseki—just a tiny bit on each plate? That’s not good."

Japanese cuisine is too delicate. Wang Qiqi conceded that was a fair point. "How about Hawaii then? It would be easier for my sister and the others to fly there than to the US mainland, and it’s a vacation spot. My sister’s family could even stay for a few extra days of vacation while they’re there."

"Hawaii?" Han Tao considered it and didn't object. "Deal. Then the ceremony?"

"Just an evening reception should be enough; we don't need any elaborate rites. We aren't Christian. Honestly, if it weren't for worrying about Manman and the others talking, I’d be fine just getting the license and notifying them." Wang Qiqi explained her original thought process. "I attended Sister YaoYao’s and Song Ziwen’s weddings, and I thought it was exhausting—a complete family mobilization. Even with extensive preparation time, on the actual wedding day, things were still hard to manage. Looking back, there were always aspects that weren't perfectly arranged."

"And what does a grand wedding even matter? Look at Diana's wedding—a wedding of the century—and it still ended miserably. Whether a wedding is grand or not has little bearing on the subsequent life together." Wang Qiqi genuinely felt spending money on that was a waste.

Han Tao saw Qiqi was insistent. "Then should we just register at the consulate?"

"Can the local community office handle our registration?" Wang Qiqi wasn't entirely sure about that. But since everyone was planning to immigrate eventually, there was no point registering at the consulate only to cause trouble later. "I'll go ask around." She thought about how busy the man was with work; it was better if she handled the inquiries.

Wang Qiqi was staring at documents in her office when she heard a knock. After calling out for them to enter, she saw it was Fatty. She was about to ask why he was there when he said, "John called for you." Fatty then hurried out.

John was at the office? Wang Qiqi felt puzzled. John had called a few days ago saying he needed a few more days to recover, so why was he rushing to the office today? After tidying up her things, Wang Qiqi quickly made her way to John's office. Upon entering, she found Han Tao and Fatty already there. "Hi, John, you look well today. In a good mood, I take it?"

John was indeed in a very good mood. He could have just posted the news online, but he felt it was improper not to announce such significant news in person. "We have news from Richard. His new plan is full of holes, and his cash flow has completely dried up." Although John was recuperating at home, he hadn't stopped monitoring Richard’s progress. There had been no news from that side for a long time, leading John to worry that the other party might have discovered Tao’s trap and neutralized it. Now, finally, there was good news that let John breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Fatty and Han Tao had guessed something when John rushed to the office to discuss matters. Now that John confirmed it, they were genuinely delighted. "No news for so long, I thought they succeeded this time," Fatty joked while taking a sip of coffee. In truth, it wasn't just John who had been anxious lately; Fatty and Han Tao were also nervous because, according to their original projections, Richard’s company was desperately short of funds and should have unveiled the project quickly. Instead, they delayed again and again. Fatty had begun to suspect Richard had caught on to something, but they had managed to make a colossal fool of themselves after all.

John looked relieved too. "Apparently, they tried to secure a few more investors and delayed the public announcement. They didn't expect the first test run to turn into such a huge joke." On his way over, John had wondered why they delayed the announcement until now. "There were a few investors who hadn't partnered with us—hmpf, they thought they could easily benefit from our efforts. But this time, Richard has absolutely no chance of recovering." If a person resorts to stealing someone else's source code, and fellow programmers fail to spot the built-in traps, what investor would put money into that?

After John detailed how the test run went, everyone laughed heartily. "Richard wouldn't have just taken the code, run a quick simulation, and then tweaked a few data points, would he?" Fatty was astounded. "Didn't he mind hiring people? Doesn't he have Sam? Sam is supposed to be highly capable, not some simpleton. How could Richard make such a basic mistake? Even if the highly skilled people left, surely not everyone remaining is an idiot, right?"

"I don't know about that," John omitted the fact that he had bribed a programmer inside. If not for that inside help, Richard might not have been so unlucky; the situation might have turned out slightly better. However, John felt he couldn't let Richard off so easily, so he intervened, not expecting the guy to be quite that capable.

Fatty and Han Tao noticed John’s expression flicker, sensing he wasn't telling the whole truth. But they also knew that pressing him further wouldn't yield a confession, and it was better not to ask; the result was the same anyway. "Even Heaven isn't helping him; there's nothing to be done. By the way, Richard suffered such a major loss in reputation—what about Sam?" Han Tao pressed John, as Sam was the one who stole the code. How would Richard not blame Sam? Han Tao worried the man might do something rash, perhaps even target Qiqi if he got desperate.

"As soon as Sam realized things were going south, he vanished," John’s initially excited expression soured when Han Tao brought up Sam. He, too, recognized the implication. "You two should keep an eye out recently and be careful." Although Sam appeared delicate and unlikely to resort to violence, people pushed to the brink of disaster can unleash potential far beyond their normal capacity, so caution was necessary.