Xue Ling felt that after Wen Jiuzhe appeared, the voices of the few people from the Household Registration Administration had weakened a bit.
The two younger ones standing at the back were visibly restrained. When Wen Jiuzhe walked past them, they hurriedly stepped aside, as if Wen Jiuzhe were some kind of dangerous figure.
Thinking of that group of people at the First Research Institute, Xue Ling thought to herself, could it be that Wen Jiuzhe had “tormented” them too?
“Come in and sit first, don’t stand at the door, I’ll pour you some water.” Xue Ling remembered the etiquette of hosting guests from when she was human and hurried to rummage through the cabinet for cups.
“Sorry to trouble you.” Several people filed in one after another, and under Wen Jiuzhe’s gaze, squeezed together and sat on the only sofa in the living room.
“Wen Jiuzhe! Why are there no cups in Wen Jiuzhe’s house?” Xue Ling called out from the kitchen side.
“I don’t need to drink water, why would there be cups.” Wen Jiuzhe walked over.
Facing the long row of empty cabinets, Xue Ling turned back in suspicion: “There’s nothing at all, do you really live here?”
She stood up and pushed at Wen Jiuzhe’s back, urging him toward the door: “Go buy some cups now.”
Wen Jiuzhe looked back at the few people on the sofa uneasily: “You go buy them, I’ll stay here.”
Xue Ling: “I don’t even know where to buy them, ah! Hurry up and go!”
Wen Jiuzhe was forcibly pushed out the door by her, still asking, “What kind of cups should I buy? Disposable cups or regular ones, how big should I get…”
The few people sitting on the sofa watched the ace of the Anomaly Squad being shoved and pushed out of his own house and sent off to buy things, and there was a bit of shock in their eyes.
—So you have such an obedient side?
The young man squeezed at the edge of the sofa whispered, “It’s been a few years since we’ve seen this big shot. Has his temper gotten better?”
Xue Ling shut the door with a “bang” and walked back, saying, “Sorry about that, do you need me to cooperate with any work, about that identity certificate?”
The leader hurriedly said, “Actually, we just came today to go through a procedure. The identity certificate was already processed long ago. We just need to confirm whether it has been activated by the person herself, then write a report to explain to our superiors. Since your situation is special, we hope you can understand.”
“Mm, that’s only right.” Xue Ling’s easygoing manner even made several of them show grateful expressions.
“May I ask, when was my identity certificate processed?”
“It was nine years ago, processed together with Mr. Wen Jiuzhe.”
“But at that time I was still… It didn’t require me to appear in person to process it?”
“Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be possible, but…” The person from the Administration wiped his forehead, smiling somewhat stiffly.
Xue Ling understood: “What did he do to get my identity certificate approved?”
“Well, that, we’re not very clear either, but Mr. Wen Jiuzhe joined the top Anomaly Squad in Area A and received many City Contribution Medals…”
༚༅༚˳ . . ˳༚༅༚
Wen Jiuzhe came back carrying a bag of cups and found that those people had already left.
He casually set the bag on the table and saw Xue Ling sitting by the window.
“They left pretty quickly. They didn’t give you any trouble, did they?”
His protectiveness was becoming more and more pronounced. Xue Ling smiled: “They’re all afraid of you, how would they give me trouble.”
Wen Jiuzhe leaned against the sofa: “I didn’t do anything to them.”
Xue Ling pulled him up: “There’s still a lot to do, and you’re already thinking about resting.”
She failed to pull him up and instead was dragged down to sit on the sofa. One of Wen Jiuzhe’s legs pressed over her.
“What’s the rush? There’s plenty of time. Right now, everything can be done slowly.”
Xue Ling braced against his knee and suddenly asked, “You received a lot of City Contribution Medals?”
“In the bedroom, in the bedside table drawer. Go get them yourself, they’re all in there.”
Xue Ling pushed aside his heavy leg and soon carried back a large box of things—big medals, small badges, ones that could be worn around the neck—all mixed together.
She picked up a golden badge sealed in glass: “Heart of History, what kind of medal is this?”
“Those who were frozen and later awakened, and meritorious martyrs once recorded in history all have one. This is mine. You have one too. If you want it, you can go collect it in a couple of days.”
“You even handled my identity certificate for me, why didn’t you collect my medal on my behalf too?”
“Don’t you like this kind of thing? Didn’t you want to collect it yourself?”
Xue Ling was silent for a moment. Seeing him starting to look a bit lazy again, she said, “Actually, when I heard you talking to the smart housekeeper earlier, I thought you might have taken care of our marriage certificate along with it.”
Wen Jiuzhe let out a disdainful laugh: “It’s just a certificate. No need.”
Seeing his proud expression, Xue Ling couldn’t help but push him and remind him, “You still remember, right? We broke up and haven’t gotten back together yet.”
Wen Jiuzhe looked at her. He looked for a long time before saying, “Didn’t we already get back together long ago?”
Xue Ling: “When?”
Wen Jiuzhe reached out and grabbed the rounded back of her head: “Did sleeping too long muddle your brain? You and me, in our situation—do you know what that’s called? A de facto marriage. For more than three hundred years. The current marriage law and the Civil Affairs Bureau haven’t even existed as long as we’ve known each other.”
Xue Ling: “But we still haven’t gotten back together.”
Wen Jiuzhe: “……”
“Pfft.” Xue Ling found his expression too amusing and covered her face as she laughed out loud. “Hahaha—”
She was pulled off balance and fell onto Wen Jiuzhe, her hand braced against his chest.
Wen Jiuzhe’s hands were especially large, his fingertips rough. When he slid them into the hair at the back of her head, the base of his palm could press against her nape. With a slight push downward, Xue Ling involuntarily leaned into him.
“Forget about others acknowledging it. You tell me—what are we?” He narrowed his eyes. There was a curve of laughter at the corners, yet also a hint of threat.
Xue Ling wasn’t afraid of him at all and deliberately said, “Ex—”
Wen Jiuzhe bit down on her lower lip, then released it. “What did you say?”
Her hair was already a mess from his grip. She stifled a laugh and lowered her head, rubbing carelessly against his neck. After only a couple of rubs, she felt a tugging force in her hair.
“Let go! You’re even biting my hair—are you a dog?”
With one hand, Wen Jiuzhe brushed her messy hair aside and kissed and nipped at her cheek, nose, and ear.
“I’m a dog, so I don’t understand what you’re saying.” He let out a dissatisfied, laughing snort through his nose, biting half her face until it was damp and flushed red.
Actually, when they were together before, aside from the first time, Wen Jiuzhe rarely left any overly obvious marks on her.
That had been his inexperience back then, because he felt those marks looked like signs of being beaten, so usually he was the one who restrained his strength and movements.
On the contrary, Xue Ling preferred leaving marks on him, especially on his chest; she often bit him.
But after Xue Ling turned into a zombie, every time they touched, they were cautious. Even holding hands required considering whether there were any wounds on their hands.
After Wen Jiuzhe also became a zombie, their lives were constantly turbulent, filled with uncertainty and partings. Whether pain or happiness, it could only be expressed through embraces.
But now, it seemed that along with revival, their bodies had awakened again.
When she was speaking with the people from the Household Registration Administration earlier, hearing them talk about that stubborn Wen Jiuzhe who had exhausted every means just to obtain proof that she was alive, Xue Ling suddenly very much wanted to kiss him.
But after he came back, he just lay on the sofa, not thinking about her at all.
“Wen Jiuzhe,” Xue Ling lowered herself a little, somewhat embarrassed, and asked softly, “I want to bite you. Is that okay?”
With one hand braced on the sofa, Wen Jiuzhe instantly pulled her up into his arms and sat upright, frowning as he stared at her mouth: “What kind of bite? Are your teeth itching, or are you feeling unwell somewhere? Do you still want to bite people like before? Did something go wrong with the revival treatment they gave you?”
Xue Ling: “……”
She hooked her arms around this Wen Jiuzhe who had instantly grown wary and suspicious, and bit his pursed lips.
There was still a faint red mark on her face from earlier. Her gaze was evasive, shy, and moist as she looked at him, yet her hands were already very honest, lifting his shirt.
Wen Jiuzhe: “……”
“Don’t tense up. Relax. I want it softer.” She urged in a low voice, brushing against his taut chest.
Xue Ling heard again the clear sound of his heartbeat inside his chest. Passionate—making her want to pierce through his skin and take a bite to taste it.
“Hiss……”
“Ding-ling, ding-ling, the smart housekeeper warmly reminds you, there are guests visiting.”
The two people tangled together on the sofa paused in their movements. Wen Jiuzhe clenched his fist and punched the sofa, a little irritable: “I said long ago this stupid thing should be turned off.”
But Xue Ling had already released his neck and ran toward the bathroom, clutching her messy hair: “You go open the door.”
Wen Jiuzhe sat up with a dark expression, picked up the T-shirt tossed on the floor and pulled it on casually, sat on the sofa for a moment before getting up to open the door.
“You’d better have a reason.”
The captain and vice-captain, along with three young team members who had come to join in the excitement, stood outside the door. Seeing the team tyrant’s aggressively fierce expression, as if he were about to devour someone, their hearts all skipped a beat.
Wasn’t it said that the team tyrant had finally found the person he was looking for, and that he should be in an extremely good mood now? Why did he still look so terrifying? Could it be that they had heard false news?
They had even brought things to celebrate—hopefully they wouldn’t hit a sore spot.
“Wen Jiuzhe, who is it? Are they here on official business again?”
Xue Ling’s voice came from behind. Wen Jiuzhe pulled the door open wider and stepped aside.
“Members of the Anomaly Squad.”
Xue Ling saw several people standing at the doorway. Their skin was uniformly pale and cold, their eyes red—they were thawed ones like them.
Xue Ling did not recognize them, but they seemed to recognize her. Every one of them looked at her with strange excitement and enthusiasm in their eyes.
She couldn’t help but glance down at herself, wondering whether there were still any traces from earlier that she hadn’t tidied up.
“Oh, so you’re Xue Ling! I’ve long admired you, long admired you! I’m the squad captain, Xiong Xiyuan.”
“Ah, hello, hello to all of you. I’m Xue Ling. Come in and sit, have some tea…” Remembering that they didn’t drink tea, Xue Ling swallowed back the polite words. “Sit first, sit first.”
Seeing that the living room had only one sofa, Xue Ling couldn’t help scratching her cheek.
They really should add some furniture.
“I’m the squad’s vice-captain, Xiong Wenhuan. I’ve been curious about you for a long time—finally got to see you today.”
“My name’s Dong Yang, just call me Xiao Dong. I’ve heard Brother Wen mention you long ago. Can I call you Sister Ling? I really admire Brother Wen. From now on, you’re—”
Before the young man could finish, the Brother Wen he admired pressed down on his head.
Wen Jiuzhe’s expression was terrifying. “You can leave after saying hello.”
The remaining two team members: “……” We haven’t even introduced ourselves yet.
Dong Yang, whose head was being pressed down, couldn’t quite figure out the situation, but he sensed something was off and said cautiously, “Brother Wen, after searching for so long, you’ve finally made it through hardship to sweetness. This is such a great thing, shouldn’t we celebrate? Why do you seem not very happy?”
The vice-captain had the sharpest eyes. Noticing the veins bulging on the team tyrant’s arm, he quickly pulled Dong Yang over.
“We just came to say hello and meet her. Xue Ling just arrived; she must still have many things to handle. We won’t disturb you, we’ll be going!”
They set down a bag of old-style fireworks and festive streamers with red “double happiness” characters, then filed out of the bright and tidy house.
After the door closed, the previously silent group instantly began chatting animatedly.
“When I walked in just now, I thought I’d gone to the wrong place. Last time I came here to call Brother Wen out on a mission, the house was pitch-dark and smelled of dust.”
“So that’s Xue Ling? She’s a bit different from what I imagined. She seems to have a very good temper—completely different from Wen Jiuzhe!”
“I’ve read the historical records about them. I thought she’d be a fierce female warrior like Wen Jiuzhe, but she looked quite shy just now, her face kept turning red, and she spoke gently and politely.”
“Vice-captain, did I say something wrong just now? Why did Brother Wen seem a little angry?” Dong Yang asked uneasily. “I just felt happy for him that Brother Wen finally doesn’t have to live as a widower anymore.”
“That’s not called a widower in that way, don’t spout nonsense and nothing will happen to you.”
After sending off another group of guests, the room grew quiet again.
Xue Ling rubbed her still-flushed face. “Why do I feel like everyone who knows you knows me too?”
Wen Jiuzhe walked over from the doorway. “Isn’t that good? Everyone who knows me knows you. When they remember me, they’ll also remember you. Didn’t you say before that you wanted to be remembered?”
Even if she had never awakened in this new world, her name would still have left traces here.
