“…What certificate?” Wen Jiuzhe froze for a moment.
“The one where you said, ‘It’s just a certificate, no need,’ that certificate.” The smile in Xue Ling’s eyes grew more obvious. She suddenly let out an “Ah,” “It’s so late, the Civil Affairs Bureau might already be off work. Maybe we should just forget it.”
After saying that, she made a show of leaving, only to be hooked around the neck and dragged back by Wen Jiuzhe’s arm.
“Marriage is also under the Administration Bureau. They work twenty-four hours.” Wen Jiuzhe dragged her along, turned around, and walked back into the Administration Bureau’s main entrance.
Of course Xue Ling knew. She had checked before coming—preferential placement, welfare and medal issuance, as well as marriage registration were all handled in this Administration Bureau building.
The two of them going in and out, out and in, inevitably drew attention.
When they had gone out just now, Wen Jiuzhe had been bent over, dragged out by Xue Ling with her hand covering his mouth. Now it was Wen Jiuzhe hooking Xue Ling by the neck from behind and dragging her inside.
“Relax. The way you look, it’s like you’re forcing someone into marriage. The staff might suspect I’m not doing this voluntarily.” Xue Ling pinched his iron-hoop-like arm.
“It’s all self-service registration now. There’s no staff.”
That Xue Ling didn’t know. She hadn’t had time to look into that much. “That simple? Like operating a self-service ATM at the bank?”
“No. There’s an exam.” Wen Jiuzhe said.
Xue Ling: “…” You really just say anything. Do you think I’ll believe you?
“Wait!” Xue Ling broke free from his arm and cleared her throat, “Before that, I have something to give you.”
“I don’t have anything very good to give right now, so I want to treat what I just received as a gift and give it to you.”
Wen Jiuzhe instantly guessed: “You want to give me your Heart of History Medal?”
No wonder she had come to collect the medal first—so she could exchange medals with him.
Xue Ling took his hand and, like performing a magic trick, pulled something out from inside her clothes and placed it in his palm.
A red velvet little box. That size couldn’t possibly hold the Heart of History Medal.
Wen Jiuzhe: “…”
“You gave me a necklace before. It’s a pity I lost it. After I woke up, I never saw it again. So I’m using this to replace it.”
“So, it’s a necklace inside?” Wen Jiuzhe’s expression was strange.
“Open it and see.” Xue Ling suppressed a laugh.
His hand made the box look miniature. He opened it. Inside were two rings.
“Bought it at the mall just now, while you went to find someone to deliver the goods home.” Xue Ling hooked two of his fingers and shook them, “Do you like it?”
Wen Jiuzhe glanced at the rings twice, then raised his hand to press against the back of her head. Xue Ling was instantly forced to bury herself in his chest.
Suddenly, from the side came an unfamiliar voice unable to suppress its excitement: “Come quick and see the fun! That thorn from the First Undying Squad just got successfully proposed to, right here at the registration office!”
“Really, I’m not lying to you, hurry over—”
Xue Ling and Wen Jiuzhe turned their heads at the same time. Only then did the staff member realize his voice had been too loud. Holding his communicator, he awkwardly moved away from them.
However, there were quite a few people around like him, holding communicators with gossiping expressions.
Wen Jiuzhe released Xue Ling, frowned, and thumped his chest once, looking a bit displeased as he said, “Quiet down. Why are you jumping around!”
The surrounding voices instantly quieted down.
Xue Ling: I think he wasn’t talking about you.
She also quietly reached out and touched her own chest, taking a soft breath in.
“Uncomfortable?” Wen Jiuzhe noticed immediately, his hand following to press against it.
He felt the rhythm of the beating inside that thin chest, then took out a syringe from the bag he carried with him and skillfully injected her.
“If you feel unwell, tell me immediately. You’ve only just revived not long ago; your body is still relatively fragile.”
“What about you? Is it okay for you like this?” Xue Ling also worriedly touched his chest.
“Don’t worry about it.” Wen Jiuzhe said indifferently, “If it blows up, I’ll just grow a new one.”
Xue Ling: “……”
Don’t say something that terrifying!
Wen Jiuzhe, as if nothing had happened, pushed her to a machine, tapped open marriage registration, scanned both their identification documents, and applied to register their marriage.
Then Xue Ling discovered that what he had said earlier about “an exam” was not nonsense at all. There really was an exam?!
“Why do we actually have to answer questions? What if we fail?” Xue Ling’s many years of student test-taking DNA instantly activated, and she grabbed Wen Jiuzhe to ask.
Wen Jiuzhe lowered his eyes to look at her slightly nervous expression; the deep folds of his eyelids curved even more as he smiled, “Impossible to fail.”
There were many questions on the “test paper.” At a glance, they included things like “Are you aware of the other party’s physical health condition?” “Are you aware of the other party’s debts and credit status?”
Beside them were portable “Apply for Inquiry” buttons, as well as property notarization and template marriage agreements.
There was even a question asking whether an agreement had been reached on the issue of having children.
Of course, the two of them could not have children now.
Below was a row of reminders stating that the questionnaire would be archived. Please fill it out carefully, as it would serve as evidence in the future if marital disputes arose.
Scrolling down, there were even more detailed daily-life questionnaires—“Date and place of first meeting,” “The other party’s likes and dislikes in taste,” and so on.
After this section was completed, the two parties to the marriage would exchange and score each other.
If the score was too low, there would be a reminder asking whether they wanted to reconsider. (TL: Damn we need this in real life)
Xue Ling felt dazzled from looking at it. She turned to see how Wen Jiuzhe was filling his out and discovered that he was almost finished ticking everything off.
“So fast? Are you just randomly checking and writing without even reading the questions?”
Xue Ling hated encountering seatmates like this during exams. She was still reading the questions, and the person next to her had already flipped the page.
She could only hurry and bury her head to write as well.
After finishing, they exchanged to review each other’s answers. Xue Ling saw Wen Jiuzhe’s selected property-sharing option, then watched as he directly swiped the page all the way to the bottom, gave full marks in the scoring section, and finally signed to complete it.
Xue Ling: “……You didn’t even read.”
Wen Jiuzhe: “What’s there to read? No matter what you wrote, I’ll give you full marks.”
He even urged her, “Hurry up, don’t dawdle.”
What’s the rush? Could she still run away?
Xue Ling wrote her name and saw the registration success page pop up on the machine.
“That’s it?” Xue Ling reached out and tapped the congratulatory words on the screen.
Wen Jiuzhe pinched the finger she was using to tap the screen and, in one smooth motion, put the ring on her. “Now it’s done.”
“And mine? Should I put it on myself, or will you?”
As if that even needed asking. Xue Ling pulled over his hand and, holding the base of his finger, complained, “Do you know how thick your fingers are? It was so hard to pick a ring that fit.”
Luckily, the one she had hastily chosen was still a fairly suitable size.
A plain band encircled the faint scar on his finger. The brand-new, bright ring didn’t quite match his hand—it was like a wild leopard from the grasslands being fitted with a collar.
But Wen Jiuzhe himself was very satisfied. He pushed the ring further down toward the base of his finger.
“Let’s go. We’re going back.”
The items delivered home from the mall had already been roughly arranged and stored by the smart housekeeper. What greeted the newlyweds was a clean, tidy home full of the feeling of everyday life.
The lights turned on, and a large bouquet in the living room came into view.
“Did the smart housekeeper prepare the flowers?” Wen Jiuzhe asked.
“I did. They’re for you.” Xue Ling said.
Wen Jiuzhe fell into a strange silence. He didn’t look happy. On closer inspection, one could even sense a hint of vigilance and suspicion in him.
He gripped Xue Ling’s hand, suddenly examined the hand wearing the ring, then leaned closer to smell her scent, and after that glanced around this somewhat unfamiliar home.
Xue Ling was completely confused by him. She patted his arm. “What’s wrong with you?”
Who reacts like this when receiving flowers?
Wen Jiuzhe didn’t speak. He took out his communicator and contacted someone.
“This morning, I picked up Xue Ling from your place. That’s correct, right?”
The voice on the other end sounded startled. “Yes, that’s right. What’s wrong? Is there a problem with Xue Ling’s body?”
Wen Jiuzhe hung up and dialed another call. “Just now, Xue Ling and I registered our marriage at the administration office. Did you see it?”
“Of course I saw it. My office is right next door. So you’re contacting me now to find someone to share your joy? You’re not trying to get me to send a gift, are you?”
After confirming, Wen Jiuzhe hung up.
The tension in his body eased a little. He looked at Xue Ling again. “Why were you suddenly so good to me today? You didn’t get angry at me all day, you took the initiative to register our marriage, and you gave me rings and flowers?”
Xue Ling was exasperated. “You think you’re still dreaming?”
“I just think you’ve been looking for me for so long, it was too hard. I wanted to give you some gifts. Is that so strange?” And he actually went and suspected her.
Xue Ling was speechless and wanted to laugh, and also felt he was a little pitiful. She pulled his head down and kissed his cheek.
“What are you thinking? I’m standing here alive and well. Could I possibly be fake?”
“……”
“Wen Jiuzhe, have you gotten a little stupid?”
“Yes, my brain was eaten by you.” Wen Jiuzhe held her and sat down on the new sofa. “If it’s not fake, then let’s continue.”
Now it was Xue Ling’s turn to be suspicious. “You’re not pretending to be pitiful to trick me into taking the initiative, are you?”
༚༅༚˳ . . ˳༚༅༚
Wen Jiuzhe rarely slept. For the Thawers, using special drugs to maintain energy was a more convenient and efficient method than restoring strength through sleep.
But occasionally, he would return to a house he didn’t often stay in and sleep once in the dark.
Usually, he would sleep for a long time, until someone from the team reminded him it was time to go on a mission.
Long stretches of sleep would cause memory confusion. Sometimes he would think he was still in the apocalyptic era long ago, still on the road searching for Xue Ling.
At the moment of waking, his mind would habitually recall the unfinished task, the person not yet found.
So before his eyes even opened, his brows would unconsciously furrow first from that sense of urgency.
Within those few seconds of memory confusion, light pierced through the gaps of his eyelids through white gauze curtains.
Not the dimness he was used to. Wen Jiuzhe raised the back of his hand to his forehead and felt a slight cool touch pressing against the center of his brows.
In the first second after opening his eyes, he saw the ring on his hand. He suddenly woke fully and turned his head to look beside him.
Next to him lay a person, back facing him, only long black hair spread across the pillow.
It was Xue Ling.
She had come back.
They had done many things together yesterday.
Newly married.
Yes, it was real. No need to search anymore.
Wen Jiuzhe confirmed it to himself once, and his shoulders slowly relaxed back onto the bed.
Xue Ling was still fast asleep. From Wen Jiuzhe’s angle, he could only see her ear and cheek. The fine down on her cheek rose and fell slightly with her breathing.
After watching for a while, Wen Jiuzhe leaned closer and reached out to pull her, along with the blanket, into his arms.
Woken by being squeezed by him, Xue Ling narrowed her eyes and, because of the overly bright indoor light, buried her head under the pillow.
A moment later, she suddenly lifted her head. “Wait! What time is it? Weren’t we planning to go visit Sister Yi’s grave today?”
She turned her head to look at Wen Jiuzhe and found him peacefully closing his eyes.
“Wen Jiuzhe? Wen Jiuzhe, wake up. Don’t sleep anymore. Get up.”
She called him several times, but Wen Jiuzhe didn’t respond at all. Tugging his ear and pinching his face also got no reaction.
“You’re still pretending?”
“I’ve never heard of anyone going to sweep graves the day after getting married.” Wen Jiuzhe said with his eyes closed.
Xue Ling sat up, the quilt shifting a few times, wind slipping into it. She leaned close to Wen Jiuzhe, her fingers brushing his eyelashes. “Get up. Get up.”
Wen Jiuzhe opened his eyes with a smile and saw her sitting leaned toward him in the bright light nearing noon. Her uncovered skin had the luster of ointment, her hair hanging down in front of her chest, faintly revealing a red undertone.
His hand unconsciously covered her smooth shoulder and back. Wen Jiuzhe bit down on the tip of her hanging hair.
“Let’s not go out today, okay?”
Xue Ling snatched her hair back from his mouth and stepped over him. “Not okay.”
