"Yeah, I thought he was joking at the time."

"Just ask around. Judging from the girl's behavior just now, she doesn't seem to dislike Er Lengzi."

"Yes, it would be best if it could work out. Although the people around me are all orphans, they were all raised by my grandfather and father-in-law. They are all very capable people, and we know them well. How wonderful."

Liu Maocai coughed, clearly not wanting to hear their nonsense. "I'm taking Pengfei to play in the yard."

Hu Aifen couldn't help but laugh, "Your uncle and older brother should be coming over at noon, so don't be upset."

Liu Maocai took the child and went into the yard.

"Dad, shall we go to the house and take a look? Is there anything else we need to prepare?"

"Okay, we'll send the child back, then it'll just be the two of us."

Less than ten minutes later, Liu Changhe's family entered the living room.

"Mom, where are Dad and Aiguo?"

"I went to Er Ya's house with Mao Cai."

Now only the four generations of them remained in the living room, chatting about village gossip. Zhang Hongmei, tired, leaned back on the soft couch, finding the gossip particularly interesting.

Aunt Yang brought over five bowls of bone broth and a steamed bun the size of a child's fist.

Only the old lady and Zhang Hongmei each ate one; the other three didn't eat any snacks, but they all drank the bone broth.

That evening, Cheng Guangxu picked up Er Ya. The two were going to get their marriage certificate the next day.

With only three days left until May Day, Li Guihua and Hu Aifen discussed with Aunt Li what groceries to buy that evening. They planned to have two tables, one for the men and one for the women.

"This is fine too, it saves trouble."

"Cuihua, don't overthink it. Luckily, we held a wedding banquet for their engagement, so it's not unfair."

"Sister-in-law, I really didn't think much of it."

The three of them discussed the menu together. Aunt Li knew this family's tastes best, so they basically listened to her.

The next morning, Cheng Guangxu didn't even wait for breakfast. After Zhang Shouyi left, he drove Er Ya to the Civil Affairs Bureau to wait.

Why so early?

"I heard them say that the first person to get a marriage certificate will have a happy and fulfilling life."

"Heh, you still believe in this?"

"Of course I believe you. I married you because I want to be with you for a long, long time."

"Me too," Er Ya said, blushing and a little shyly.

Cheng Guangxu bought steamed buns at a breakfast stall along the way and put them in his lunchbox.

Er Ya: The preparations are really complete.

When the two arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau, they were indeed the first ones there.

"Er Ya, you eat in the car, I'll queue outside. It would be such a waste if someone else came and got ahead of us in line."

"Okay, I'll eat first, then it'll be your turn."

The two waited until the Civil Affairs Bureau opened at eight o'clock, and there were indeed several other couples getting their marriage certificates after them.

However, no one cut in line; everyone lined up obediently and properly.

Cheng Guangxu handed over all the paperwork, but before it could be processed, the leaders from the Civil Affairs Bureau arrived.

"Excuse me, whose car is that outside?"

"Ours." Cheng Guangxu looked at the leader in confusion. The car had parked itself on the side of the road and wasn't blocking the way, was it?

"Oh! Nothing else. Congratulations to you both. Xiao Tang, get it done for them as soon as possible."

"Yes, Director." The leader spoke, and since it was a military marriage with all the formalities in place, the two received their marriage certificate three minutes later. They also received sugar coupons, cloth coupons, and cotton coupons.

Cheng Guangxu then remembered that he still had wedding candy in his pocket. He quickly took it out and gave it to the staff.

"Thank you, congratulations!"

Congratulations to you!

Er Ya tugged at Cheng Guangxu's clothes from behind, and only then did he calm down a bit.

The two left the Civil Affairs Bureau. Cheng Guangxu grabbed Er Ya's hand, "Now you're my wife, and I have a wife too."

"You should tone it down; people are watching us."

"Let's look! I'm happy, I'm willing. Honey, let's go take pictures, we'll take lots of them."

"Don't we have a camera at home?"

“That’s different, I want to go to a photo studio to take the picture.”

Finally, the two took more than twenty photos at the photo studio before Cheng Guangxu was satisfied.

The two arrived home. Dinner was about to be served.

"Mom, Dad, we got our marriage certificate and we even took photos."

"Okay, everything went smoothly, right?"

"Yes, the bureau chief even congratulated us."

"Hongmei, does the bureau chief recognize your car?"

"I have no idea!"

"He asked us whose car it was."

"Hmm, maybe he really does know him."

The matter was over, and everyone happily ate their meal. In the afternoon, Cheng Guangxu drove her to school again. "Wife, I'll pick you up tonight."

"Okay. I'll ask Brother Zhu to go back together."

In the afternoon, Cheng Guangxu went to the new house to oversee the fire. Although it wasn't cold, the kang (heated brick bed) was probably still damp, so he came over every day to tend the fire. It should be comfortable to lie there like that.

Wang Ying dropped Zeng Zhongkang off and drove away.

The two men sat in front of the stove, and Zeng Zhongkang talked to Cheng Guangxu for a long time.

"Have you memorized everything?"

Cheng Guangxu blushed, but his eyes sparkled. "I understand."

Cheng Guangxu was distracted the whole time. Thinking about what Zeng Zhongkang had said, he realized he was getting a little anxious and was really looking forward to May Day.

Thinking about it, I smiled again. The day after tomorrow is May Day, I can just wait one more day.

That evening, Zhu Zi came over and specifically arranged for Han Mei to meet with Li Cuihua.

"Hehe, after Er Ya gets married, you two need to hurry up too. If Han Mei has time during summer vacation, she should come home. Your grandma is worried about taking the train. She gets carsick."

"Yes, Auntie, we had planned to go back during summer vacation, but Hongmei might not be able to go back then."

“Yes, if it doesn’t work, I’ll have your grandma come, and I’ll go to the pharmacy to buy her medicine.”

"Han Mei, your auntie won't mince words. Zhu Zi is already twenty-five. You two should discuss whether you should get married before the new year?"

"Aunt, I have no objection, but it has to be because Zhang Hongmei's place is quiet first."

"I know, good boy, Zhuzi will definitely be good to you."

"Yes, Auntie, I know."

"Zhu Zi, I'll call your grandma. If that doesn't work, we can come over and get engaged. The wedding date will be before the new year."

"Auntie, let me call my grandma."

"You haven't forgotten?"

How could I forget?

The next day, Cheng Guangxu took the two of them to school. They would have a holiday after school that afternoon. Moreover, Er Ya still couldn't get Cheng Guangxu to give her the three-day holiday, and then asked for two more weeks off.

"Honey, I'll give you lessons at home. Although I haven't studied accounting, I've looked at the books before."

"Okay, I understand."

"I wish I could take the same amount of vacation time as you."

"So, am I still going to take the exam?"

"Hehe, that's exactly what I've been hoping for."

Zhu Zi sat in the back and thought the couple in front of him were really quite interesting.