Chapter 459: Just like that, they got the certificate

11:00 AM.

The sunlight was exceptionally bright, the light spots left by the plane tree leaves swayed with the wind, and occasionally one could hear the crisp chirping of cicadas; the atmosphere of midsummer was rushing toward them.

In the lobby of the Civil Affairs Bureau, two young people in white clothes were each holding a red booklet.

"Hiss~ why are you pinching me!" Xu Qingzhou grinned and covered his waist.

"Seeing if it's a dream."

Song Yao's expression was both excited and somewhat dazed: "We just... got married?"

The moment the stamp was covered, she and Xu Qingzhou were husband and wife. Clearly, they only had two more red booklets, but this feeling was very wonderful.

"Yes, if you hit me again now, it counts as domestic violence."

Xu Qingzhou was also filled with emotion. In the morning, he just suddenly thought that he was 22 years old today, and it seemed he had reached the threshold to get a certificate.

As a result, they really got the certificate.

In the red booklet, the two young people were all smiles, as if bathed in the spring breeze. At this moment, the past, present, and future, time and space seemed to blur, leaving only a plain and beautiful life.

"This is called being reasonable." Song Yao hummed, took the marriage certificate from Xu Qingzhou's hand, put the two little booklets together to take a photo, and pulled Xu Qingzhou to take a group photo.

"Perfect."

Song Yao pointed at the photo; both of them looked very good, and the photo didn't even need to be retouched.

After she finished admiring the photo, she held the marriage certificate and couldn't put it down. After a long while, she tugged on Xu Qingzhou's hem, "Xu Qingzhou, they all say that what is obtained too easily won't be cherished. Will you cherish me?"

"Are you worried about this?"

Xu Qingzhou pinched Song Yao's hand and walked out, feeling greatly surprised.

"Mm, worried..."

Song Yao nodded and pondered, "Worried that you'll be hurt too badly because if that's really the case, I'll definitely beat you up."

"..."

Walking out of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Xu Qingzhou rubbed the school beauty Song's face, pulled her into his arms, and said, "When we were together, I had already made up my mind. Anyway, I've set my heart on you for this lifetime, the kind that can't be shaken off. Besides, someone once said before that she would only be widowed, not divorced."

He had thought it through a long time ago; since they were together, he definitely had to be responsible for the school beauty Song to the end.

Song Yao surprisingly didn't resist Xu Qingzhou pinching her face. She scanned the surroundings—it was a workday, and there weren't many people—and tilted her head, her eyes moist and bright, "Do you want to kiss me?"

Xu Qingzhou lowered his head and kissed her.

Proud ghost, clearly it was she who wanted to kiss.

After a while, the two separated, their breathing a bit rapid.

Behind them, a pair of young people who had also just finished getting their certificates walked past, all smiles, whispering sweet nothings, calling each other "baby" and so on.

Song Yao raised her eyebrows; she and Xu Qingzhou seemed to have no intimate nicknames.

Baby?

Hiss~ cheesy.

Song Yao imagined it herself, rejected it, and the image of Xu Qingzhou calling her "baby" in a cheeky way appeared.

Xu Qingzhou put the certificate back into his pocket, thinking that he and Song Yao were now in a new relationship, and he was eager to try, feeling it was very exciting: "We're already married, shouldn't you call me husband to hear it?"

"Hus..."

Song Yao couldn't quite say it. Scanning Xu Qingzhou's gaze, she took this guy's arm and said in a muffled voice, "I'm not calling you that."

Although she could indeed call him that, this guy had a teasing look, and she felt she couldn't let him get his way.

"Sooner or later you'll have to call me that."

"We'll talk about sooner or later later."

"..."

It was almost noon, and the heat was at its peak. The two didn't wander around outside; they first took a taxi to return the household registration book to Song Yao's home, then went to buy some groceries and went to Xu Qingzhou's home.

Wutong Residential Compound.

Xu Qingzhou was busy in the kitchen for a while, and after stewing the ribs, he came out to huddle on the sofa with Song Yao.

Song Yao was typing, saying, "A message from Auntie Wang."

"What Auntie Wang, it's a message from our mom."

Xu Qingzhou sniffed her hair fragrance and said lazily.

Song Yao's typing hand paused, gave a punch to this person who always wanted to tease her, and said coldly, "Don't think I don't know, you only changed how you address her because we're getting married."

"What did she say?" Xu Qingzhou changed the subject, mentally complaining that this girl said she wanted to be a lady just a few days ago.

"She said there's some work that needs to be processed urgently this afternoon, so she might be a little late."

Xu Qingzhou nodded, leaned back, and muttered, "If Uncle Song finds out, will he hack me into eight pieces?"

Song Yao said with sympathy, "You might be done for."

"Hmm? No, that's said as if it has nothing to do with you at all." Xu Qingzhou's hand slid across the school beauty Song's thigh; the jeans felt like a different sensation.

"I'm his daughter; if he wants to beat someone, of course he can only beat you."

Song Yao said it with reason and evidence.

"..."

Xu Qingzhou felt it was very frustrating, let out a breath, and stared at the ceiling, pondering how to bring it up next.

Song Yao finished replying to Wang Xiaping's message and poked her boyfriend who was in a daze: "What are you thinking about?"

"How to tell our dad and mom."

This time it was Song Yao's turn to give him an idea. She sat up and played with Xu Qingzhou's hair, saying, "When we eat tonight, when you see them, you just call out 'Dad, Mom, you're here,' it's guaranteed to be effective."

In the system, when they are busy, they are really busy, and when they are free, they are really free. At 4:30 PM, Xu Shouyun was already brewing a cup of tea, tapping on his phone, leisurely waiting to get off work.

Knock, knock~

A knock sounded at the office door.

"Come in."

His colleague Shen Ming walked in with a smile. Xu Shouyun stood up, knowing that Shen Ming was likely bored and had come to slack off with him, so he immediately poured a cup of tea for his guest.

The two chatted about work for a while before the topic quickly shifted to their children.

"Old Xu, when is your son getting married?"

"Still a long way off," Xu Shouyun said with a chuckle as he sipped his tea.

"It's not that far off. Time flies so fast these days."

Shen Ming sighed, "Especially with these young people. Sigh, it feels like just yesterday they were children, and in the blink of an eye, they're all grown up. Then you have to consider his future marital home; once the house is bought, there has to be a car, right?"

"You're telling me."

Xu Shouyun felt the same way. He didn't need to worry about money anymore, but in terms of time, his own kid was also—as Wang Xiaping put it—suddenly acting like a real person.

In high school, he was a slacker who couldn't even be bothered to say a word, spending all day fooling around with Guo Ziyang.

His current achievements were the kind that the old couple wouldn't have even dared to dream of.

"Exactly. Everyone talks about late marriage and late childbearing, but how late can you really go? You have to start thinking about these things by twenty-five or twenty-six. Look at Xiao Zhang and Xiao Liu; a few years ago they said they weren't in a rush, but this year they're out looking for blind dates everywhere."

Shen Ming shook his head with a smile. In the past, when he tried to introduce people to those two, they refused point-blank. People really do reach an age where, once they realize they are the only ones left around them, they only start to panic after feeling lonely.

Xu Shouyun was just about to close his phone when a new message popped up on his social media feed. He tapped it open and sighed, "Whoa~ there are quite a lot of people getting married lately. Someone else on my feed just got married. *Cough*—"

Xu Shouyun choked until his face turned red, his eyes widening in disbelief as he stared at the screen for a long time, unable to process it.

(End of chapter)