Chapter 3

With You, Mountains and Seas Can Be Leveled

**

I was quite busy last week, so I'll write about how we got our marriage certificate last Monday in this chapter.

Before Brother 6 proposed, we decided to get the marriage certificate on November 19th. The old man had calculated it was a good date that matched both of our birthdays. Also, the homophony of the word "要要要久" (want to ask for a long time) is also called "要要要久". Brother 6 said that the three "要"s emphasize its importance and it means it will definitely last a long time.

Because we were worried about having to queue, we arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau at around 8:30 in the morning. The security guard at the door said it would open at 9 o'clock. Shanghai was very cold those days, and we shivered in the cold wind for half an hour before we were able to sneak in. What was even more unexpected was that there was unexpectedly no one queuing that day. The Civil Affairs Bureau was empty, probably because it was Monday. After entering, we went to the check-in desk at the door to find the aunt to get a number. We were number 1001, so we went directly to the counter to handle the matter.

To be honest, every time I heard people talking about going to the Civil Affairs Bureau, or read about the process of getting a marriage certificate in novels, I actually just had a mentality of watching the fire from the other side of the river, and had no idea how the actual operation was. But when I really wanted to get a marriage certificate myself, I found that it was surprisingly simple.

When we arrived at the counter and submitted the documents, the staff started to help us. They asked us to fill out the forms and sign with our fingerprints. After a while, two red books were printed out with our marriage certificate photos (we took them twice and chose the second one) on them.

"Well, congratulations to both of you," the whole process was unexpectedly fast. The staff handed us two thin red books and said with a smile.

My brother 6 and I took the red book and strolled to the oath-taking room in front. We stood behind the podium with the time and place written on it. We held the red book and asked the staff to take a few photos of us. We then took two selfies with our mobile phones and left.

To be honest, the whole process of getting the marriage certificate didn't really feel like a ceremony, nor did it feel very real - I went from being a young girl (? ) to a young woman (? ) in an instant, and I really didn't feel anything at all.

After leaving the Civil Affairs Bureau, Brother 6 and I stood by the curb and stared at each other for two seconds.

Then he laughed and hugged me.

"From today on, I am a married man," he called me in my ear, smiling happily, "Wife."

I hugged him back and smiled like a fool.

Looking back, perhaps it was from this moment that I slowly began to feel the reality. In the true sense, after getting the marriage certificate, we were truly husband and wife in the legal sense. From now on, we would really be the only pair of people for the rest of our lives. We would walk with this person from youth to old age, see each other in all aspects, experience all the ups and downs of life together, and walk together to the end.

And for me, this person is Brother 6.

Because we were going to have a small engagement ceremony on that day and invite our closest relatives from both sides to celebrate with us, so after getting the certificate, we went back home to prepare.

Brother 6 sent me a WeChat message on his way home.

[From today on, I will be a married man. When she's thirsty, I'll bring her water. When she's tired, I'll rub her legs. If my mood had a color, it would be the color of my baby. We'll be together, hand in hand, and love each other over the mountains and seas.]

I admit that I was touched. He has always known that my favorite saying is "Love can flatten mountains and seas", and even the name of this book is "Can Flatten Mountains and Seas". But I didn't expect that he would modify my favorite saying and give it to me as the first solemn promise after marriage.

You see, he is just that kind of person. He never says much, but he silently sees and remembers everything I do, and he will make promises and give me feedback.

Later, I replied to him, "I will make you feel that marrying me is the happiest thing in the world. I hope we can be happy and sweet like this for the rest of our lives."

At 11:19, Brother 6 and I posted photos of our marriage certificate on WeChat and Weibo respectively. For my readers, you are actually the first people to know the love story between Brother 6 and me. As I have said before, in real life, except for family and close friends, we have never posted photos together on social platforms. To a certain extent, I really have a very demanding and cautious sense of ritual. I think the identity of the person who is to be posted on my circle of friends for everyone to see must be my real husband.

As expected, as soon as the photos came out, WeChat Moments went viral. This world is very small, especially the circle where we studied when we were young. We had many mutual friends and classmates. Many people knew that Brother 6 and I were first love, so they were stunned when they saw our wedding photos. They all sent me private messages to ask about the gossip and to wish us well. I happily replied to the messages and thought it was really funny. Not to mention that they were surprised, even I felt it was unreal. We had come full circle, and had been apart for more than ten years, and then returned to the starting point. Who would believe such a dramatic plot?

My old junior high school classmate Xiao Zhou sent me a WeChat message from Australia, saying, "I still remember how many times I passed notes to you two during class."

I laughed out loud: "Yeah, we always ask you to pass notes to us in class. It's not just you, but others too. There are three or four people sitting between me and Brother 6, so many people have passed notes to us."

Xiao Zhou said: [That's great! I never thought you two would get together again.]

Me: [Yeah, it was really good. I think everyone in our district was stunned.]

Xiao Zhou said: [Hahaha, I guess the people in our district believe in love again today.]

Of course, many close friends came to express their well wishes, gloating over my early arrival into married life. I felt a sense of regret. When I was single, almost all my friends were married, but I was the only one. At the time, some people predicted that I might be the first one to get married, and surprisingly, that turned out to be the case. I guess it all comes down to fate and luck. None of us knows what will happen next, but if fate does come, we have to hold on tight.

In the afternoon, Brother 6 took me to his home to meet and chat with his family. In the evening, relatives and friends from both families gathered in the hotel banquet hall. We chatted and drank together happily. Brother 6 and I, as the protagonists, cut the cake and gave speeches before the dinner started. I stood next to Brother 6 and listened to him speaking with the microphone in hand. I felt inexplicably comforted.

I think the boy's former taciturn and introverted appearance is still in front of my eyes. Now, as a husband, he stands by my side so responsibly and will hold my hand to continue walking with me. It feels so good.

During the dinner, I was allergic to alcohol and couldn't touch any wine. Although Brother 6 didn't like drinking, he had to drink a few glasses with the elders out of courtesy and to take care of me. After the dinner, although he was sober, he was still a little dizzy. After seeing off the relatives, we stood on the side of the road waiting for a bus to go home. After he drank some wine, he looked very, very well-behaved, his face slightly flushed, and his eyes sparkling as he looked at me, against the backdrop of the stars at night.

"Baby," he called me after a while, then pulled me into his arms and said to me seriously and gently, "I love you the most."

The two of us just stood on the side of the road hugging each other and talking in a trance. This was the first day after we became husband and wife, and there were many more days to come.