Chapter 3 Obtaining a Certificate

◎Return to school◎

The abuse continued. Jiang Siyue held her phone, waiting for Zhao Yan's reply, her heart pounding. Given Zhao Yan's conditions, marrying him was definitely not the best choice.

Since that’s the case, we might as well take a gamble. As long as Zhao Yan is unwilling, no matter how much Zhou Hong tries to persuade him, it will be of no avail.

Her phone vibrated and she couldn't wait to open it.

【Zhao Yan: Why do you ask?】

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured down on Jiang Siyue, extinguishing all her emotions and making her calm down instantly.

As one of the parties involved, Zhao Yan should also understand the deeper meaning of his question, but his answer... avoiding the important and focusing on the trivial is also a kind of answer.

The sound at the door had disappeared, and he slowly sat down on the chair.

Jiang Siyue: I'm just a little surprised. I don't think you'd like someone like me. We don't seem to be from the same world.

"The other party is typing" stayed for a long time before a new message interface popped up.

【Zhao Yan: Don’t think too much.】

Jiang Siyue sent an emoticon in return, but the other party did not reply.

Did Zhao Yan approve of this marriage? Could it be that what Meng Zhuqing said was true, and Zhao Yan had something to hide?

After much thought, Jiang Siyue gave up. She had a 7:00 a.m. train the next morning, so she set her alarm for 5:00 and lay down.

There were several trains to Yunjing, and she chose the earliest one because she didn't want to run into anyone else. Afraid of being discovered by Zhou Hong, Jiang Siyue only turned on her phone light. After fumbling to pack herself, she carefully carried her suitcase and walked out.

As soon as she opened the door and the room was bright, Jiang Siyue turned around and met Zhou Hong's angry face. "You're sneaking around like a thief, aren't you?!"

Jiang Siyue clasped her hands together, lowered her head and said nothing.

Zhou Hong was furious when she saw her like this. Jiang Siyue had grown up in the countryside with her grandparents and had only been brought to her in middle school. She had scolded her for her timid behavior for a long time, but Jiang Siyue just couldn't change. There was really nothing she could do about it.

Zhou Hong walked forward angrily and stuffed something into her hand. "I've seen it all. The Lantern Festival is on Saturday. You and Zhao Yan should get your marriage certificate in Yunjing first, and we can talk about the wedding later."

"I don't want to have a wedding." Jiang Siyue said indifferently, stuffing her things into her bag and turning to leave, but was pulled back by Zhou Hong. Jiang Siyue glanced at her hand expressionlessly, exerting force on her wrist to break free from the restraint, "You can have it if you want to collect the gift money, but I won't go."

"Why do you miss me so much?" Zhou Hong's eyes sparkled with tears. "The wedding is to give you a decent marriage, so that the Zhao family won't look down on you."

Her heart was instantly churning. It was normal for the Zhao family to look down on her for repaying a favor. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back. Jiang Siyue blinked and pulled the corners of her mouth, "I'm almost too late, I'm leaving now."

Holding the suitcase with his right hand, he left without looking back.

*

Upon learning that Jiang Siyue had returned to school early, Meng Zhuqing also rushed back to Yunjing without stopping. The two of them stayed in the hotel every day to revise their papers. Afraid of making Jiang Siyue unhappy, Meng Zhuqing waited until the last day to ask about marriage.

"Let's get the certificate tomorrow." Jiang Siyue closed the computer and rubbed her aching brow. She was exhausted from revising the thesis. If Zhou Hong hadn't reminded her every day, she would have really forgotten about it.

"Ah..." Meng Zhuqing sighed very long, leaned forward and rubbed Jiang Siyue's cheek, "Luckily, Zhao Yan is a normal person, otherwise I really would have called the police for you."

"Just think of it as a marriage of arrangement. Marrying into a wealthy family, you will have money and leisure from now on." Jiang Siyue pushed her hand away and handed her the almost cold takeaway.

"That's true." Meng Zhuqing nodded. "What does he do?"

"I don't know." Jiang Siyue's eyes flashed with confusion. She had been very busy these days since she came to Yunjing. On the first day she arrived, Zhao Yan suggested going out for dinner, but she was busy revising her thesis and did not go. Later, Zhou Hong nagged her for a long time.

"He should be the boss of his mother's supermarket." Jiang Siyue stuffed a mouthful of rice into her mouth. The phone rang, and Jiang Siyue thought it was another paper to revise. The food in her mouth tasted dull. She picked up the phone with a bitter look on her face. When she found it was Zhao Yanhou, she stood up and walked aside to answer it.

"How was your rest? Do you need to postpone getting your marriage certificate?"

"No need." Jiang Siyue quickly rejected it. Zhou Hong had been talking about this day for a long time. If it was really postponed, she would be scolded to death. Zhang Min'an alone was enough for her to bear.

"See you at the Haicheng District Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow morning at nine o'clock."

"good."

After the phone was hung up, Zhou Hong called immediately. Jiang Siyue sighed, put the phone aside and continued eating.

Meng Zhuqing: "Where are you planning to submit your paper this time?"

"It's good enough to have one." Jiang Siyue sighed, "Only a handful of my senior brothers and sisters have ever had a core. I'm just taking a gamble now."

"I think you can do it." Meng Zhuqing patted her shoulder.

*

The Civil Affairs Bureau of Haicheng District was some distance away from the hotel where Jiang Siyue was staying, so when she arrived, she was still a little late.

Jiang Siyue's face turned pale as she apologized to Zhao Yan: "I'm sorry, I'm late."

"It's okay, don't worry." Zhao Yan pulled a packet of tissues from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Siyue. Her slender, neat fingers looked like they had been plucked out of a comic book. Perhaps because they had been kept in her down jacket pocket, her fingers were white and soft, without the red and purple tinge of cold.

Jiang Siyue took the tissue and thanked him quietly.

Zhao Yan: "Have you had breakfast?"

Jiang Siyue shook her head. She didn't sleep so soundly last night. Several alarm clocks didn't wake her up. Today, she woke up as soon as she opened her eyes and had no time to think about breakfast.

"What do you want to eat?" Zhao Yan extended his hand. Jiang Siyue took a moment to react before realizing that he wanted to get her bag. Of course, she couldn't let Zhao Yan do it for her, but it seemed awkward to refuse.

Through her down jacket, Jiang Siyue gently pulled Zhao Zhan's outstretched hand and said, "Get the certificate first and then eat."

"OK."

Jiang Siyue had no doubt that if she didn't get the certificate by 10 o'clock, Zhou Hong would call immediately to urge her. □□ was very fast. Coming out of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Jiang Siyue looked at the red booklet and felt a strong sense of unreality.

Zhao Yan put the red book into his pocket and asked, "What do you want to eat?"

"No." Jiang Siyue pretended to glance at her phone and said apologetically, "I have a meeting with friends later."

Zhao Yan nodded without further persuasion, "The house over at Shanshuiju has just been renovated, so it will probably be vacant for a while. You——"

"I can live on campus!" Jiang Siyue quickly retorted. Fearing that Zhao Yan would think she was overreacting, she added, "I have a paper to work on recently, so it would be convenient for me to live on campus."

"Yeah." Zhao Yan nodded, no extra emotion visible in his dark eyes. "Where did you meet your friend? I'll take you there."

Zhao Yan drove over. Jiang Siyue wasn't particularly surprised, but having dinner with friends was just an excuse. When he asked her that, she could only make up an excuse. "Just drop me off at the Yiyang Shopping Mall in Jinyang District."

"Wait a minute, I'll go drive." Zhao Yan turned and walked towards the parking lot. He was very tall, and the bulky long down jacket looked neat on him.

It's gray today, which weakens the festive atmosphere of the New Year. The trees on both sides of the street are bare, with only a few leaves scattered around. When the wind blows, the leaves swirl and fall, like a winter ink painting.

Zhao Yan walked in the middle of the picture with his hands in his pockets, slowly blending into the cold surroundings, appearing to be a natural scene.

While Zhao Yan was driving, Jiang Siyue took a photo of the red book and sent it to Meng Zhuqing along with the dinner invitation message.

After returning to the main message interface, Jiang Siyue looked at the bunch of red dots next to Zhou Hong's avatar, hesitated for a while, and sent her a copy of the red book photo.

When she left home that day and was on the train, she discovered that there was a bank card in the bag holding her household registration book.

【Mom: Now I feel relieved.】

[Mom: There's 10,000 yuan in the card. Buy some nice clothes and tidy yourself up. You're so unkempt every day...]

It was the same old sermons again. Jiang Siyue closed her phone and turned on the Do Not Disturb mode.

A black car slowly stopped in front of Jiang Siyue. The dark window rolled down and Zhao Yan sat in the driver's seat. He took off his bulky down jacket and put it on the back seat, leaving only a dark blue shirt with a slightly open collar, which added a touch of noble and lazy air.

Jiang Siyue couldn't understand more and more why Zhao Yan wanted to rely on blind dates to get married.

"Come up."

A deep voice rang out, and Jiang Siyue suddenly came back to her senses. She hurriedly opened the car door and sat down. The seat belt was difficult to tighten. After pulling it several times without any effect, she got anxious and suddenly pulled the seat belt out with her left hand. She lost control of the strength in her hand and punched Zhao Yan on the forearm.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, my hand slipped." Jiang Siyue apologized while enduring the pain. While lowering her head to fasten her seat belt, she secretly observed Zhao Yan's expression with the corner of her eyes.

There was no expression on his face. Jiang Siyue cursed the seat belt eight hundred times in her heart.

"It's okay." Zhao Yan took in her regretful expression, put his right hand on the gear, and slowly started the car. "I'm not that stingy."

Jiang Siyue didn't know what to say, so she smiled and remained silent.

Half an hour later, the car stopped at the entrance of the shopping mall. After thanking Zhao Yan, Jiang Siyue got out of the car in a hurry and ran towards the entrance of the shopping mall.

Zhao Yan watched her and another girl enter the mall side by side, then started the car and left.

*

Since they had to check out today, Jiang Siyue and Meng Zhuqing had a simple meal and then rushed back to the hotel to unload their luggage. After sending Jiang Siyue to the entrance of Hua University, Meng Zhuqing squeezed her palm and said, "If that young lady roommate recruits you again, call me and I'll scold her for you!"

The eldest lady is Jiang Siyue's roommate. Because she always likes to order people around and has a eldest lady syndrome, she makes trouble for Jiang Siyue every day. Meng Zhuqing gave her the nickname of the eldest lady.

Jiang Siyue's eyebrows curved, and she teased, "Why, after just one winter break, your quarreling skills have surpassed others?"

"Tsk." Meng Zhuqing said disdainfully, "If you don't want to find me, you can find your husband. After all, you two are a family now."

"Looking for you, looking for you." Jiang Siyue lowered her head quickly, "Men are not as fragrant as sisters."

She got off the car with her luggage, waved to Meng Zhuqing, and the car turned around. Meng Zhuqing's school was in the opposite direction of Huada University. Jiang Siyue smiled and walked towards the dormitory with her suitcase.

The phone rang. Jiang Siyue used all her strength to throw the suitcase up and took out the phone from her bag. When she saw that it was Zhou Hong, she suddenly felt not only physically tired, but also mentally tired.

"Mom, what's going on?"

"Where are you now? Your dormitory? Why don't you live with Xiao Zhao?"

Jiang Siyue rubbed her swollen head and said, "I have things to do at school. Besides, the new house is not renovated yet."

"Forget it, you're too shy. I'll talk to Xiao Zhao myself."

The call was urgent, and the hanging up was even more urgent. Jiang Siyue leaned against the wall, panting softly. A moment later, the phone rang again. Jiang Siyue was exhausted. After picking up the phone, she said impatiently, "I told you that the new house was being renovated. Why didn't you believe me? What's the point of looking for Zhao Yan? Is he an air purifier? Can he absorb formaldehyde?"

Zhao Yan held the phone in his hand and remained silent for a long time.

The author has something to say:

Jiang Siyue: Is it an air purifier? Can it absorb formaldehyde?

Zhao Yan: ...This is my problem.