Back in the days when the Nicole was berthed at Xin'an Port, while the loading and unloading work on the dock was in full swing, there were two other major events being arranged: the engagement ceremony of Sun Lao and the Duchess, Hou Xianglin and Zezilia.

On April 26, the crew of the Nicole had a day off, because according to the yellow calendar, it was an auspicious day of the zodiac, so the two couples decided at the same time to hold a grand collective engagement ceremony on that day.

In the morning, a Mass prayer meeting was held in the chapel of the manor, Sun Lao accompanied the Duchess, and as soon as he finished the prayer, Sun Lao formally proposed to the Duchess in front of everyone, and took out a red satin jewelry box from his arms, and when he opened it in person, there was a huge diamond inside.

In full view of everyone, the duchess accepted the gift with a blushing face, so Sun Lao took the opportunity to propose the date of engagement and the ceremony.

According to Sun Lao's meaning, the engagement and marriage ceremonies can be carried out according to the customs of the Duchess's hometown, the Duchess is a devout Catholic, and all ceremonies are naturally held in the church, and Sun Lao said that he has no opinion on this.

This was a bit unexpected by the duchess, but also a little moved, she knew that Sun Lao actually wanted to hold a wedding in line with the customs of her hometown, but she also knew that she was a second marriage, as if according to the customs of the Chinese, it would not be a big deal, so the duchess immediately said that after the engagement ceremony of the church is completed, is it also a low-key Chinese custom wedding?

Thinking of Sun Lao, he immediately said that if the wedding of the Han family customs is to be held, it will be done in a dignified manner, and said that no matter whether it is the first marriage or the second marriage, he will never let his future wife be wronged.

This moved the duchess so much, if she hadn't needed a little reserve in front of everyone, she would have thrown herself into the other party's arms......

So the duchess proposed a new compromise wedding plan: the engagement ceremony was according to Catholic customs, and the subsequent marriage ceremony was held according to Han customs!

Sun Lao was actually a little surprised when he heard this suggestion, he looked at his future wife, the red-haired and blue-eyed duchess, and then nodded silently, and responded with a lot of emotion:

"Honey, I can't think of it...... Your mind is so thoughtful......"

At this moment, both of them knew that there was a reason for saying this.

In the eyes of others, the marriage of these two people actually has a little bit of "political marriage" flavor, although the two do not admit this, they both insist that they came together because of organic fate and emotional foundation.

However, there was nothing in this marriage, everyone thought that as the oldest "old man" in the crossing collective, Sun Lao finally met a woman he liked, although the age difference was more than 20 years, but in this era, regardless of the East and the West, the upper and lower classes, the age difference between men and women is not a problem at all, and it is a man and a woman who are twenty years old, which is not a problem.

So everyone's attitude towards Sun Lao's marriage has always been a blessing.

However, the psychology of some travelers has changed a little bit recently, and the cause of this change is the wedding ceremony.

According to Catholic marriage customs, Catholics usually marry only Catholics, and rarely marry pagan men or pagan women.

Of course, it is not for nothing, the family of the duchess belongs to the Habsburg family of Europe, and the need for political marriage is not without precedent for the destruction of this rule.

However, apparently this time Sun Lao was moved by his true feelings, or it was okay to say that the sperm worm was on the brain, in short, he actually said to the duchess that since his future wife was a devout Catholic, in order to marry a non-Christian himself, then he was not willing to let the duchess be criticized by the church, so he was willing to accept the baptism blessing of the priest at the engagement ceremony and marry the duchess as a Catholic, so the church and the community have nothing to say, right?

Well, Elder Sun's decision moved the Duchess to tears, making her feel that she had finally met the true destiny in her life.

However, the Duchess was happy, but some people in the Red Chamber felt a little embarrassed, especially some people in the Huotang Club, who did not object to the union of Sun Lao and the Duchess, but were dissatisfied with Sun Lao actually allowing himself to be baptized by Catholicism in order to cater to the Duchess.

In fact, it is understandable from the standpoint of these people, after all, Sun Lao is not an ordinary person, as the chairman of the Supreme Executive Committee, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he may be the supreme administrator - the president of the Federation, such an identity actually accepted the baptism of Catholicism, at least nominally became a Catholic, what kind of political impact will this have in the future? You must know that the people in the Huotang Club are basically atheists, and the educational background accumulated over the years makes them mostly scornful of their attitude towards religion, and even always look at religious issues based on conspiracy theories.

Therefore, many people did not understand Sun Lao's actions, at least in the feeling that they felt a little uncomfortable.

Of course, the ladies in the Red Chamber praised Sun Lao's actions, and they said that Sun Lao seemed to be moved by his true feelings, in order to make the woman he liked feel at ease, he completely ignored the opinions of the people and let himself also join the teaching......

In short, different people stand on different positions, and their attitudes towards things are completely different, but in any case, the facts are clearly there, whether the two newcomers are willing or not, admit it or not, the marriage of these two people is indeed more or less "political marriage".

Obviously, the family background of the duchess made her understand early on that this was a "sensitive" issue.

Therefore, some form of action must be taken to "balance" people's doubts, which is something that people at a certain level must take into account, no more than Hou Xianglin and Zezilia, two young people can do whatever they want, but obviously they and Sun Lao can't do this......

So, the matter was settled.

Hou Xianglin and Zezilia, who witnessed this happy moment at the scene, also brightened their eyes after hearing the decision of Sun Lao and the Duchess, and the two also announced at the same time that the engagement ceremony should be exactly the same as that of Sun Lao and the Duchess.

On the same night, the four of them announced the decision in front of the guests at a dinner at the Viceroy's Palace in Pimonton, and the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Timor, who was present, was immediately pleased to announce that he would baptize the two and at the same time officiate the engagement ceremony at the cathedral in the city of Dili!

That night, a telegram came to the Red Mansion, Xia Xiaoou Du Na and others immediately happily ran to the computer data room, turned on the computer and began to check the date, they also happily counted the eight characters on the computer for the two, and then found that the nearest auspicious day of the zodiac was on April 26, the telegram suggested that it is best to hold an engagement ceremony during the day and a wedding ceremony at night, and the celebration of the two couples should last until April 28th, a total of three days!

Well, when the call back came back to Nicole, the two couples immediately said they had no opinion, and everyone got busy.

Two days later, at 8 o'clock in the morning of April 26, in the Cathedral of Our Lady in the center of Dili City, to the sound of the organ of **, the engagement celebration of the two couples was held as scheduled.

On the morning of the wedding, the cathedral was surrounded by crowds of people, and the citizens of Dili spread all kinds of news, legends and gossip about the two women and their husbands, and for the citizens of Dili City, the two couples each had an endless story to tell, and the two brides were of course the objects of discussion, but the two grooms were even more - because they were magical Australians!