Recently, there has been a lot of news online about bridesmaids, and even brides, being harassed during bridal chamber hazing. I don't know how much of it is true, but honestly, none of those stories are as severe as the wedding I once attended.
The groom was my cousin. We were quite close, so he asked me to be his best man. Because of this, I witnessed firsthand the most absurd wedding of my life—one that, in the end, turned from a wedding into a funeral.
My sister-in-law and my cousin had been together since college. Since she wasn't a local, the only person she brought with her besides her family was a single bridesmaid. That bridesmaid was a beautiful college student named Tu Tu, a junior of my sister-in-law's with whom she was very close.
The first time I met Tu Tu, I was captivated. I even thought about pursuing her. But as a young student in a place full of strangers, she seemed a bit shy; her face would flush after just a few words, which was incredibly endearing.
The day before the wedding, the four of us gathered in the living room to discuss how to handle the bridal chamber hazing the next day. Tu Tu was terrified because I had secretly warned her beforehand that the hazing customs in our area were quite rough and that the bridesmaid would definitely be targeted. By that evening, she was so frightened that she said she wanted to go home.
With the wedding so close, my sister-in-law naturally refused to let her leave. She insisted that while the hazing could get a bit rowdy, nothing bad would actually happen, and promised that if anyone tried to bully Tu Tu, she would be the first to step in and stop it.
After much coaxing, Tu Tu finally agreed to stay. Thinking back on my sister-in-law's words that night, I really want to slap her. "Protecting her"—what a joke. Honestly, if it hadn't been for her on the day of the wedding, things wouldn't have spiraled so wildly out of control, to the point where they became completely irreversible.
On the day of the wedding, Tu Tu wore a touch of makeup. To be honest, she was far more beautiful than my sister-in-law. She looked incredibly pure, like a delicate white flower with a unique grace. Standing next to the bride, anyone who didn't know better would have thought Tu Tu was the one getting married.
I stared at her until my throat went dry, and there was no telling what the guests were imagining. When the four of us went around to toast the tables, several of them already started getting rowdy, forcing Tu Tu to drink. She took a sip of red wine and her face instantly flushed; it was obvious she couldn't hold her liquor. I had to step in to stop them, but she still ended up drinking quite a bit.
Once the banquet ended, a crowd gathered, ready to haze the bridal chamber. As they rushed into the room, my sister-in-law immediately announced that she was pregnant and begged everyone not to touch her.
The moment I heard this, I knew something was wrong. Saying that was no different from throwing Tu Tu to the wolves. If they couldn't target the bride during the hazing, wouldn't the bridesmaid be the only one left? Besides, I knew for a fact that my sister-in-law wasn't pregnant; she only said that because she didn't want to be subjected to any embarrassing pranks.
Tu Tu, slightly tipsy and dazed, couldn't react in time. She and my cousin were dragged off to another room by the crowd, leaving my sister-in-law and me locked in the bridal chamber together.
Watching Tu Tu being dragged away, anxiety flared in my chest. I immediately turned to my sister-in-law and asked, "I thought you said if anyone tried to mess with Tu Tu, you'd be the first to step in? How can you just sit there and watch them drag her off like that?"
My sister-in-law glared at me. "Why do you believe those polite pleasantries? What's a wedding without a little rowdiness? It would ruin all the fun! Besides, do you really think she's some pure, innocent girl? Back in school, she changed boyfriends like clothes. You're worrying over nothing!"
Hearing my sister-in-law's words, I was completely stunned. Just a few days ago when I was talking to Xiu Xiu, she had told me her best friend was my sister-in-law. I never expected her to say such things about her now.
I grew increasingly anxious. I knew our local customs. During the bridal chamber hazing, let alone the bridesmaids, sometimes the pranks went so far that even the bride being raped was considered normal. That was why I wanted to go out and check on them.
But the moment I took a step, my sister-in-law held me back. "During the bridal chamber hazing, groomsmen aren't allowed in the wedding room. It brings bad luck."
That was indeed our custom. During the hazing, the bridesmaids and the groom would be in one room, while the bride and the groomsmen would be in another. It was originally split up to make things livelier, but because my sister-in-law claimed she was pregnant, everyone had crowded into the adjacent room instead—probably around twenty people in total.
Just as I was hesitating over whether to go out, my cousin managed to run out of the room next door. He looked incredibly disheveled, stripped of all his clothes except for his underwear.
The moment my cousin ran out, a miserable shriek echoed from inside the room.
"Damn it, those bastards are really crossing the line! No, Xiu Xiu is still in there. I have to go pull her out. She came all this way; we can't let her be violated like this."
He said this and tried to rush back inside, but my sister-in-law held him back. "What are you panicking for? They're all your friends. How far could they possibly go? At most, she'll get groped a bit. It's our wedding, we have to save face for our guests!"
My cousin still tried to force his way in, causing her expression to sour completely. "I've always known you used to sneak glances at Xiu Xiu back in school. Do you have feelings for her or something?!"
At this point, how could I not see through my sister-in-law's intentions? She had invited Xiu Xiu here just to watch her get tormented. What a vile bitch! I wondered if my cousin had been blind to choose a woman like her to be his wife.
Silenced by my sister-in-law's accusation, my cousin didn't dare go over there anymore. Just then, loud sobbing echoed from the next room. I grew frantic—something must have really happened!
I quickly rushed out. My sister-in-law still tried to pull me back, but knowing her true intentions, just looking at her made me sick to my stomach. I forcefully shoved her aside, knocking her to the floor.
When I ran out, I could no longer hear Xiu Xiu's crying from the next room, which made me even more anxious. I shoved the door twice, but it wouldn't budge. Looking around, I luckily spotted a large hammer in the kitchen. I ran over, grabbed it, and began pounding violently on the door.
Despite the loud noise, there was still no response from the people inside. It wasn't until I smashed the door open that they finally looked guilty. The ringleaders even shoved me, asking what the hell I was doing with annoyed, resentful expressions.
Afterward, my cousin ran over to apologize. Only after he practically begged them did they finally leave. It was only then that I saw the state of the room. Xiu Xiu's clothes had been completely stripped off, and her entire body was covered in bruises. Seeing that everyone had left, Xiu Xiu staggered to her feet, her eyes vacant, unable to even stand steadily. I noticed a streak of bright red blood on her inner thigh, with a stream of white fluid trickling down from above.
How could I not understand what had just happened? Letting out a frustrated cry, I quickly took off my coat and wrapped it around her. Only then did she seem to come to her senses, sobbing uncontrollably.
After apologizing to the guests, my cousin and his wife returned to the room. My cousin froze when he saw her. He never expected that the wedding hazing would rob Tu Tu of her virginity. Those bastards didn't deserve to be called human!
While I was still trying to figure out how to comfort Tu Tu, my sister-in-law spoke up, looking thoroughly displeased. She snapped at Tu Tu, "Today is my wedding day! You crying and making a scene like this makes it look like a funeral. You can't even handle a simple task. If I had known, I would never have invited you!"
I had already been suppressing my rage, and hearing her words made my blood boil. Disregarding any family ties, I slapped her hard across the face. "Damn it, are you blind? How can you mock her at a time like this? I don't know what kind of blindness possessed my cousin to marry you! A vile woman like you—even if you threw yourself at me, I wouldn't want you!"
She began to wail and curse at me, while Tu Tu stopped crying and quietly retreated to her room. I was about to follow and comfort her, but my cousin held me back, saying it was best to leave her alone for now.
The wedding ended on that miserable note, and my cousin and I went to take care of the remaining chores.
As I worked, my mind was in a complete mess. I never expected things to escalate to this point. I kept wondering how I would comfort Tu Tu when I got back. If all else failed, I decided I would propose to her. I didn't care about her lost virginity anyway, and without it, she would find it hard to marry anyone else in the future.
My thoughts drifted as I resolved to take responsibility for Tu Tu. I promised myself I would treat her well and never hold this against her. By the time we finished wrapping everything up, it was already around six or seven in the evening. As dinner was being prepared, my aunt went upstairs to call Tu Tu down to eat. But the moment she opened the door, she let out a blood-curdling shriek of terror.
My cousin and I rushed upstairs and ran into Tu Tu's room. When I saw what was inside, my pupils constricted in sheer shock.
Tu Tu had committed suicide!
Dressed in her freshly washed red bridesmaid gown, she sat quietly on the sofa. She had plunged a pair of scissors, wrapped in red cloth, straight into her own throat. Fresh blood had poured from her neck, pooling all over the floor.
She had clearly been dead for some time; the blood had already turned a dark, coagulated black. Terror seized me. My entire body froze, and my limbs shook uncontrollably.
I wasn't afraid of what had happened, nor was I afraid of the corpse.
It was Tu Tu's eyes, which remained wide open even in death!
I don't even know how to describe the look in her eyes. It was so deeply traumatic that even now, I still cannot forget it.
I recognized the sheer, boundless resentment in that gaze!
A death is a grave matter, let alone one occurring at my cousin's wedding. Total chaos erupted. My sister-in-law, who had been so busy scolding Tu Tu earlier, was now dumbfounded with fear, never expecting things to end like this.
But back then, I was too overwhelmed by shock to realize that after Tu Tu's death, the crowd who had participated in the wedding hazing would not only fail to reflect on their actions, but would go on to commit acts worse than those of beasts.
And it was because of this that everything, step by step, spiraled completely out of control.