Chapter 53 Don't you need a household registration book to get a marriage certificate...?
Fang Xingu paused, holding the wine glass. It seemed like it took him a while to realize what Jing Yitong had said—"Raise, raise him?"
Fang Xingu sat down in the seat next to him, then slowly placed his wine glass on the table and asked in confusion, "...Do you need me to support you too?"
Jing Yitong winked at him earnestly: "Jing Quanquan is too easy to raise, but raising me is much more difficult."
Fang Xingu thought he had misheard: "What kind of reason is that? How can you talk about yourself like that?"
"That's how you'll get motivated to make money."
Jing Yitong saw Fang Xingu's beautiful eyes widen in shock. He really wanted to reach out and rub his face, but in the end he controlled himself and just clenched his fist against his nose to suppress a laugh, saying, "I'm just telling the truth. To take care of me, I need to be served with good food, good drink, and good lodging. Of course, I have to make that clear in advance."
Hearing this, Fang Xingu thought he was joking, so he replied in a casual tone, "Your sales methods are a bit mediocre. If you go out and try to sell yourself like this, no one will take you in."
Jing Yitong suddenly leaned closer to Fang Xingu: "So I'm not selling to outsiders, I'm just selling myself to you."
Looking at Jing Yitong's face, which had suddenly loomed large in front of him, Fang Xingu was truly somewhat dazed. Because of the close proximity, he could even feel the extremely aggressive aura emanating from Jing Yitong.
His heart pounded. Nervous, Fang Xin instinctively moved back, increasing the distance between himself and Jing Yitong, but his hands remained tightly gripping his knees. He asked softly, "Brother, what do you mean?"
Jing Yitong took off his glasses with one hand, but his expression became serious. He said solemnly, "Xin Gu, I want to ask you, have you thought it through now regarding the arranged marriage?"
Thump thump.
Fang Xin heard his own heart pounding; the day he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
But for a moment, Fang Xingu didn't know what tone to use to answer. Fang Xingu quietly looked at Jing Yitong and was unconsciously drawn to the other's eyes. In Jing Yitong's eyes, he sensed a little tension and unease, and he was obviously anxious about this matter.
Time passed slowly, and after an unknown amount of time, Fang Xin finally surrendered to that gaze. He closed his eyes, not daring to meet Jing Yitong's eyes again, afraid that the other would see his eagerness. He lowered his voice and said the answer he had already thought of: "Okay, I'm willing."
Upon hearing this, Jing Yitong frowned. Although Fang Xin Gu felt he had taken enough time to "think," Jing Yitong seemed worried that he was being too hasty. He reached out and covered Fang Xin Gu's tightly clenched hand, appearing quite concerned for him.
"Xin Gu, you must think this over carefully. Marriage is not a game; it will have a significant impact on your life, especially since you are a public figure. So don't agree to it lightly just because of the relationship between our two families."
Fang Xingu was surprised that Jing Yitong would say these things to him, and he was touched. Even though such a thing had happened to the Jing family, other people might have wanted the other party to agree to the marriage immediately, but Jing Yitong would consider things from his perspective and worry that he might make a decision that he would regret for the rest of his life if he was soft-hearted.
But Jing Yitong's concerns actually stemmed from his ignorance of his own feelings for him, which caused him such worries. Therefore, Fang Xingu smiled and grasped Jing Yitong's hand in return: "Brother, I have thought all of this through. Besides, you and your aunt and uncle have always been very good to me. The marriage will not affect our relationship, right?"
Jing Yitong still looked worried: "Have you ever thought about what would happen if you fell in love with someone in the future, but you were already married? In that case, you would be destined to never be able to pursue love again in your life."
Jing Yitong didn't pretend to be magnanimous and say anything like, "If Fang Xingu finds someone he likes in the future, I will take the initiative to end this marriage and give Fang Xingu his freedom so that he can pursue the person he likes."
Now that the right time, place, and people have all brought Fang Xin Gu to his side, Jing Yitong would never let him leave again.
But Fang Xin could not guess Jing Yitong's true feelings. What he thought was that Jing Yitong didn't need to worry about these things at all, because he would only ever love Jing Yitong in his life.
But he couldn't reveal his true feelings at this time, so he just pretended to be stupid and said, "Me? With my personality, I probably won't be able to fall in love with anyone again in this life. One marriage is enough."
Jing Yitong remained silent for a long time, staring straight at him. Fang Xingu felt Jing Yitong's fingertips tighten under his hand, and he felt uneasy, thinking that he had said something wrong.
But Jing Yitong suddenly said, "Xin Gu, can I hug you?"
"ah?"
Before Fang Xingu could answer, Jing Yitong had already opened his arms and wrapped them around him.
A scent belonging to Jing Yitong wafted over him, and his body was tightly embraced. Fang Xin could feel the heat emanating from Jing Yitong enveloping him, and his face flushed red. Fortunately, Jing Yitong's chin was resting on his shoulder, so he couldn't see his red face.
Fang Xingu felt like he was about to explode. Why did Jing Yitong just hug him like that?!
But the hug was so gentle and warm that after a moment's hesitation, Fang Xingu stiffly raised his hand and gently hugged Jing Yitong back, murmuring, "Brother."
Then he heard Jing Yitong take a deep breath, wrap his left arm around him tighter, and raise his right hand to gently stroke the back of his head, saying in a slightly hoarse voice, "Xin Gu, thank you."
Fang Xin's voice was a little muffled: "Why are you being so polite with me?"
"Of course," Jing Yitong said after a long while, releasing his arms from Fang Xingu's back. He smiled and pinched Fang Xingu's cheek. "I must cook a big meal to thank you today."
Fang Xingu stood up with him, wanting to go to the kitchen to help him, but Jing Yitong pressed him back into his seat: "How can I let you do anything at a thank-you banquet? You just wait here."
So Fang Xingu waited in the restaurant with his legs up until the four dishes and soup were served, along with two glasses of red wine and a cake. It was a dinner that was half Chinese and half Western, but Fang Xingu ate very happily. The scene from earlier kept replaying in his mind, and he could hardly suppress the smile on his lips.
While cutting the cake after dinner, Jing Yitong suddenly asked, "Should we tell our family about this first?"
Fang Xingu was slightly taken aback: "Hmm? It seems I should tell my family."
“If you haven’t thought it through yet, you can say it later,” Jing Yitong handed him a piece of cake and smiled, “I’m giving you a chance to change your mind.”
This low-level provocation actually worked on Fang Xin. He curled his lip and said, "Who said I would go back on my word? I'll tell them right now."
He picked up his phone and opened the group chat for his family of three. Just as he was about to type, Jing Yitong quickly reached out and pressed his hand down: "I was just kidding, there's no need to be in such a hurry."
Fang Xingu, however, had already made up her mind and slapped his hand away: "It's okay, I've already decided anyway, I have to tell them sooner or later."
Fang Xingu typed a simple message in the group: I agree to the marriage.
It's a concise line of text, yet it carries a sense of "I'll make a statement if I don't want to be outrageous."
The first reply he received was from Ying Zhen.
Yingzhen: ...
Yingzhen: Oh, Xiaotong told you?
Fang Xingu: Yes, I agreed after considering it a few days ago.
Not long after, Fang Zhiheng replied. He was clearly surprised that Fang Xingu would agree so readily and asked uncertainly: Xingu, you did it voluntarily, right?
Fang Xin Gu: Of course, no one can force me to do this.
Fang Zhiheng replied dryly: Oh...that's good.
Ying Zhen weakly added from behind: "Yeah, it's pretty good."
Fang Xin looked at the "It's fine" his parents had typed and felt that he could see their panicked emotions through those two words, as if they were somewhat unwilling.
Fang Xingu asked curiously: You disagree?
He thought his parents would be happy to see it happen, otherwise they would have rejected the marriage proposal from the Jing family long ago. Instead, his mother awkwardly asked Jing Yitong to talk to him herself, which clearly indicated that she was more inclined to agree. However, whether it would work out in the end still depended on Fang Xingu's own decision.
This time, after a long while, Fang Zhiheng suddenly called. Fang Xingu and Jing Yitong exchanged a gesture, and Fang Xingu returned to his room before answering the phone: "Hello, Dad?"
Fang Zhiheng asked, "Xin Gu, you've agreed to Xiao Tong's request?"
"Yes, he brought up the marriage proposal again today, so I agreed."
Fang Zhiheng caught a key point: "I remember you guys finished filming your variety show, right? You've been together recently?"
Fang Xingu replied, "Yes, I have some work in Beijing and I need to stay there for a while, so I've been staying at his house recently."
Fang Zhiheng: ...
There's a strange feeling that my son has been kidnapped by someone with ulterior motives.
Fang Zhiheng laughed awkwardly a few times, then got down to business: "It's alright, your mother and I didn't mean to oppose it. We're just afraid that you'll miss out on your true love because of an arranged marriage. Your mother and I were also together because of an arranged marriage back then, and we know best that it's hard to cultivate real feelings in an arranged marriage. You should know that too, since when you were little, your mother and I only had a so-so relationship."
Fang Xingu knew this. He heard that Fang Zhiheng and Ying Zhen didn't have much affection for each other when they first got married. They only got married to fulfill their families' requirements. Both of them were career-oriented and busy with work all year round. That's why Fang Xingu didn't see his parents much when he was a child and was raised by his grandmother.
But that's all in the past. Fang Xingu smiled and said, "But aren't you two getting along very well now?"
Fang Zhiheng chuckled softly, "Yes, who would have thought that a marriage of convenience could lead to true love? But it is indeed a rare occurrence, so we think it's better for you to have a more stable and happier path."
"Don't worry, Dad. How do you know that the path I've chosen now isn't the path I've always wanted to take?" Fang Xin felt his heartbeat, and he had never been more certain than he was that he was on the right path.
Fang Zhiheng paused, seemingly still pondering the meaning behind those words, but Fang Xingu remembered something else and asked, "By the way, Dad, is our household registration in Shen City or Jiangcheng?"
Fang Zhiheng casually replied, "In Jiangcheng, what's wrong?"
"Oh, then I'll have to go back to Jiangcheng sometime soon."
Fang Zhiheng hadn't reacted yet: "Huh?"
Fang Xin: "Don't we need a household registration book to get a marriage certificate? I'll go home and get my household registration book."
Fang Zhiheng: ...
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Author's note: Fang Zhiheng: ...Why do you seem a little impatient?
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