Chapter 50 September 28th arrived quickly…

After reading the letter in her hand, Ning Yao was already in tears.

She clutched the letter to her heart, too weak to even stand, and could only squat down under the table. Tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes, "Brother Ning..."

She never imagined that Ning Ge had been living such an unhappy life these past few years.

He broke with the literary society and searched for her alone. In the vast sea of ​​people, he feared she was dead, and even more so, he feared that something bad had happened to her. Every day he lived in anxiety and regret.

She found it hard to say whether it was more painful to live with a heart ashen after knowing the other was dead, or to search for him in this war-torn world, but she just felt sorry for him.

"Ning Yao?" Ning Yiwen stepped into the room, heard the sound of a woman sobbing inside, but did not see her. He paused for a moment and then spoke.

Then, he quickly walked to the desk and saw Ning Yao crying like a little kitten, her face covered in tears, her nose, eyes, and even her chin were red.

"What's wrong?"

Then he saw the letter that Ning Yao was holding in her hand and pressing against her chest. He shook his head and said helplessly, "How can you cry like this just by reading a letter?"

As he spoke, he knelt down and hugged Ning Yao's small body tightly in his arms, gently coaxing, "Don't cry. Uncle Zhao just told me that you'll be my bride in two days. It won't look good if you cry."

Ning Yao pouted and lightly punched his chest. "You're lying. I'm all dark-skinned now. How am I good-looking?"

Ning Yiwen chuckled and continued to coax, "Ning Yao looks best even when she's tanned."

After a few exchanges, Ning Yao stopped crying amidst Ning Yiwen's words, which were half joking and half comforting.

She lifted the letter and placed it back on the table, then snuggled into Ning Yiwen's arms, wrapped her arms around his waist, and rested her head on his chest, saying, "Brother Ning, could you... please not let me leave your side in the future?"

Ning Yiwen: "How could I dare? Don't worry, I will never let you out of my sight again." He had long since had enough of the torment he had endured over the past few years.

"You want to leave? I won't let you!"

Ning Yao could feel his strength tightening, and her heart gradually calmed down.

In the quiet room, the two embraced.

After a while, Ning Yao tugged at Ning Yiwen's sleeve and asked, "Brother Ning, can I ask you a question?"

Ning Yiwen rested his chin on the top of her head and nodded. "Ask."

Ning Yao bit her lower lip, thought for a moment, and said, "When I was in Beijing, I went to the courtyard house of Jianghe Literary Society. They told me that after the Jianghe Daily incident, many people from Jianghe Literary Society were arrested. But I always felt that with your strategic planning abilities, Ning-ge, you shouldn't have been so good at naming things. You should have avoided it, right?"

A shadow of gloom flashed across Ning Yiwen's eyes. He paused for a long time before saying, "That name wasn't chosen by me."

Or rather, that name was chosen by Yu Wang in 1920, two years later.

"Huh?" Ning Yao's eyes widened as she stood up and turned to look at him. "Then why do they all say that you named it?"

Ning Yiwen sighed, raised his hand to touch Ning Yao's head, and slowly said, "This is a long story, Ning Yao. Let me think about how to tell you before I do, okay?"

This matter is related to rebirth. He didn't know if there would be any problems if he told Ning Yao about it.

Since his rebirth, he has quietly changed many things and has been trying to prevent bad things from happening. However, what happened three years ago made him realize that sometimes, knowing too much and doing too much can also be a sin.

Looking at Ning Yiwen's lowered eyes and tightly pursed lips, Ning Yao could sense his dejection. Perhaps he felt that his decision had affected so many people in the Jianghe Literary Society? Ning Yao guessed.

But it could only be a guess. She didn't want to ask, so she could only mimic how he comforted her, hugging him, resting her chin on the top of his head, and softly saying, "Brother Ning, don't blame yourself. How about I tell you about my experiences over the past few years?"

But what she didn't know was that when she hugged Ning Yiwen so softly, his entire head and neck were buried in her upper body, and he was surrounded by the sweet scent of fruit.

Ning Yiwen's hands unconsciously moved down her back, and with a burst of strength, he lifted her up and placed her on the desk. "Hmm, go ahead."

As he spoke, he placed his fists on either side of Ning Yao, his head still buried in her neck, gently inhaling her fragrance.

Ning Yao paused for a moment, feeling that their current posture was a bit strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. She just assumed he was still feeling down.

Holding his head buried in her neck, she began to reminisce about her life over the past few years.

"I went to the battlefield." "I know."

"I've been there many times." "I know that, I've seen your article."

Ning Yao: "...Can you please stop interrupting and just finish what you've said?"

She was trying to think of things she could talk about in her life over the past few years, while forcing herself to ignore the tingling, itchy feeling on her neck. She was really busy and kept getting interrupted by him, which made her a little annoyed.

Moreover, when he spoke, his breath would brush against her neck, making it even itchier.

"Okay, I won't say." Ning Yiwen looked up at Ning Yao's flushed cheeks and bright eyes, and sealed her lips with his.

Ning Yao: "..."

She stared wide-eyed at the face that had been magnified several times in front of her, wondering how it had become like this.

But her eyes were quickly covered by his hand.

Suddenly, everything went dark.

In a dark world, the eyes are no longer needed, so the other senses are magnified infinitely.

She could feel her eyelashes brushing against her palm when she blinked. She could also feel her lips being turned, pressed, and sucked, a tingling sensation rising from her spine to the back of her head.

The soft tip of his tongue explored her lower lip, trying to pry open her tightly closed door.

Ning Yao was caught off guard, and the door was wide open.

His tongue slipped into her mouth, gently gliding over her teeth, delicately licking her tongue tip, as if teasing her, or inviting her to dance, until his sensitive palate was slowly scraped...

Ning Yao suddenly closed her eyes, her hands weakly clutching the clothes of the person in front of her, her whole body throbbing with an electric shock-like sensation.

Feeling both relaxed and joyful, she could only follow her feelings and utter weak, indistinct sounds.

But this seemed to further provoke those in front of him.

Ning Yiwen, contrary to his previous gentleness, sucked on her lips with a bit of force, even gently nibbling with his teeth, as if he wanted to swallow her whole.

...

When Ning Yiwen withdrew, Ning Yao's lips were slightly swollen and red. He moved his hand away from in front of her eyes.

Ning Yao looked at him with teary eyes, her expression a mix of confusion and complete trust, which made Ning Yiwen's throat tighten.

He had originally planned to take it slow, but seeing her like this, he felt like he was torturing himself.

He could only hold the person tightly and say in a low, hoarse voice, "Don't look at me like that. If you keep looking at me like that, I won't be able to hold back."

Ning Yao was a little slow to react, but she gradually recovered.

She blushed instantly with embarrassment, pushed him away abruptly, ran out of the room, and quickly slipped back into her own room.

She ran back to bed, burrowed under the covers, and cupped her cheeks in her hands. She could feel her cheeks burning and her heart pounding rapidly.

"Calm down... calm down..." Ning Yao comforted herself while breathing slightly. "Ning Yao, this is normal. Don't be nervous, don't be nervous."

She's educated and has read books; these are perfectly normal things between husband and wife, so why should she be shy...

But she still couldn't help burying her head in the blanket.

Ahhh, I'm still so shy...

She really wanted to scream, but she was afraid of attracting Ning Ge's attention.

That scene just happened on the table, and now she's on the bed. To rashly attract people here... Ning Yao didn't dare to think any further.

All I could do was clutch my head and mutter to myself, "Don't listen, don't look, don't think... don't listen, don't look, don't think..."

*

Two days passed quickly, and September 28th arrived soon.

It must be a truly auspicious day. The sky is exceptionally clear today, with a clear blue expanse without a single cloud, and the sun shines warmly on the earth.

Ning Yao wore a cheongsam with a light ink-wash print today, which she specially bought on the street yesterday.

The soft and light fabric of the cheongsam accentuated her slender waist.

As I left my room, Ning Yiwen from next door also stepped out of his room.

Ning Yao turned around and saw that he was wearing the same black Zhongshan suit as her. The fabric was crisp and the ink-black color made his figure look even more upright.

He looked up, met her gaze, and smiled, his smile as gentle as a spring breeze that touched Ning Yao's heart, making her heart skip a beat.

Ning Yiwen walked in, reached out and took her hand, "Ning Yao, are you ready?"

Ning Yao pursed her lips and nodded slightly.

Following his lead, the two of them stepped out of the courtyard together and headed towards the registration area.

The street was bustling with people, and the two's striking outfits attracted frequent glances from passersby.

Ning Yao felt a little uncomfortable. She held Ning Yiwen's hand tightly and whispered to him, "Brother Ning, a lot of people are watching us."

Ning Yiwen smiled, "They are blessing us with their eyes."

Ning Yao scolded him, "You're joking with me again."

To her surprise, when she turned around after speaking, she saw a seven-year-old child dressed in festive red, holding a red rose in his hand, which he handed to her.

Seeing her gaze fall on him, he said loudly, "Wishing you, sister, peace and joy year after year."

Ning Yao paused, stopped, and turned to look at Ning Yiwen: "?"

Ning Yiwen blinked. "It's a blessing, so why aren't you accepting it?"

Ning Yao blankly accepted the roses, but before she could thank him, the child turned and ran away, disappearing into the crowd.

Before Ning Yao could even process what was happening, Ning Yiwen took her arm and led her forward.

After crossing half a street, another child dressed in red appeared, but this time he held a white lily in his hand.

Ning Yao was mentally prepared this time, and sure enough, as soon as she approached, she received his blessing: "Wishing you, sister, auspicious stars and joyful clouds, may you see happiness wherever you look."

Ning Yao smiled and quickly said "thank you" before taking the lilies from the child's hand.

Sure enough, he ran away as fast as the first child.

Ning Yao turned to look at Ning Yiwen, put her hands on her hips, and asked, "Did you arrange this?"

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Author's Note: During the Republic of China era, marriage registration seemed both required and didn't, depending on the marriage certificate. I've thought about it, and since there are already a lot of my own interpretations, I'll just go with the one that required registration.