Chapter 83
There wasn't enough time to discern the multiple layers of meaning in those words.
Jiang Li's brow twitched, and he asked in a deep voice, "Guan Nan, are you playing me?"
His face was blurry in front of her. Guan Nan couldn't describe her feelings at that moment. But after saying those words, she felt much more relaxed.
In that instant, all musical notes vanished into a silent sonic illusion.
"I'm serious," Guan Nan said solemnly, her body no longer tense.
“You’re serious,” Jiang Li nodded, then sat down in another chair, picked up a bottle of wine, took a sip, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. He didn’t look at her, and his tone was calm and unwavering. “Why are you serious now? Why did you only come to me about this after that Qi fellow announced to the world that your good news was coming soon?”
Guan Nan panicked for a moment and hurriedly looked at him: "What good thing is coming? I don't know."
However, Jiang Li kept his eyes down for a long time.
Just when Guan Nan thought he wouldn't say anything more.
Suddenly I heard him say, "Is it fun?"
"What?" Guan Nan asked, puzzled.
"You all come here strutting around in front of me, is that fun?"
Guan Nan frowned and remained silent.
"You think you can bully me all these years, one by one, just because you've been doing it all?"
"..." Guan Nan's throat felt dry.
"Sorry," Jiang Li suddenly laughed, reverting to his usual nonchalant manner, and leaned back. "I'm not playing with you guys anymore. Didn't you come here to drink? Drink, and leave on your own after you're done, remember to close the door behind you."
Guan Nan hadn't expected him to say that. All her tension returned to her pocket, ran through her hands, seeped into her eyes, and seeped between her teeth.
But he also shared his unapproachable and aloof attitude with her.
To prove her decision and show him her attitude, Guan Nan took out the square-shaped object she had been repeatedly checking in her pocket and placed it on the glass table.
"Is this okay?" Guan Nan took out her ID card and placed it on top of the card.
Jiang Li glanced at it casually, then raised his eyelids and said, word by word, "Explain clearly, what can you say?"
“Is my sincerity enough?” Guan Nan looked at him.
“Explain what sincerity you’re talking about,” Jiang Li asked.
Guan Nan: "Get married."
"Explain it more clearly." Jiang Li clasped his hands together, clenching them into fists, trying to control himself.
"Jiang Li".
"Let's get married."
"Household registration booklet, ID card."
"Look, could you consider me?"
Jiang Li's fingertips turned white, his heart pounded, and he didn't know if it was because he drank the wine too quickly and the choking sensation came too late, but he couldn't help coughing a few times.
He turned his head away, covered his lips with one hand, and coughed a few times.
He was still coughing a bit, which looked like the onset of a cold.
"Do you want to go to the hospital to get checked out first?" Guan Nan unbuckled her seatbelt and hesitated before asking.
Jiang Li put down the water bottle, turned on the screen, and glanced at the time displayed: "You still have time to change your mind."
Seeing his reaction, Guan Nan swallowed back the words she was about to say and looked down at the screen.
——04:29.
There are still four and a half hours left.
They just sat in the car doing nothing.
Time ticked by, and the two sat in the car without saying another word. The sun shone brightly through the clouds as the sky turned white. Guan Nan was awakened by an alarm clock; she hadn't slept soundly to begin with, and the ringing of the alarm jolted her mostly awake.
She instinctively sat up straight, combed her long hair with her fingers, and touched up her makeup.
As soon as the door opened, the two got out of the car right on time and headed towards the stairs.
Ascending the steps, passing through the dense banyan trees, not far ahead, large, bright red characters read "Fuling Civil Affairs Bureau Marriage Registration Office."
Before she entered, Jiang Li grabbed her hand, his voice hoarse from a sleepless night: "Think it over. Once you're inside, it will be too late to leave."
Guan Nan took his hand and walked straight inside, answering him with her actions.
Take a number, get a pen, and fill out the forms.
Submit the materials, sign and press your fingerprints, the staff stamps the document, the two take an oath at the registration desk, and finally take a photo.
After receiving the certificate, Guan Nan stared at the person in the photo, not daring to blink. This sense of unreality felt like it would disappear at any moment. It was like having just experienced a grand yet absurd dream.
She mustered all her courage, stood in front of Jiang Li, and said to him, "Let's get married."
Jiang Li had doubts and questions.
After glaring at her fiercely, he got up in a disheveled state and went upstairs. When he came down, he had changed his clothes and was wearing a white shirt. He walked up to her and they went to the Civil Affairs Bureau that night, staying until dawn.
Sitting in the car, Guan Nan clutched her marriage certificate tightly. She turned her head and saw Jiang Li's lips moving, but she couldn't hear what he was saying.
The next second, she nodded emphatically and looked at the marriage certificate again.
Certificate Holder: Guan Nan
Registration Date: August 23, 2023
This certificate is just like every exam paper they exchanged when they were in school.
The names of the two people were written on it.
At this moment, Guan Nan felt as if she had returned to her student days, with the boy from her memories still by her side. Everything seemed just like before, and nothing had changed.
They still sat at the same table, they still stood side by side.
After staying up all night, the two parted ways at Hecangyuan, and Guan Nan returned home to retrieve her identification documents.
She changed her clothes, removed her makeup, took a shower, and climbed into bed. When she woke up and saw the red certificate on her bedside table, she finally believed it—
She really did marry Jiang Li.
After being in a daze for several days, Guan Nan continued to live her life as usual, going to get off work and coming home in the same routine.
Suddenly, they reached out to that WeChat account where they knew each other but pretended not to.
She and Jiang Li did not exchange contact information.
They didn't even leave a phone number.
Hearing Zhang Hong jokingly suggest that the route should be changed, Guan Nan sat at her workstation, her thoughts returning to her seat. She smiled at the rapidly increasing likes and traffic without saying a word.
The idea came from when I was out looking for inspiration that day and saw Sister Wen taking pictures of He Jiafen giving birth.
In the video, a woman holds up her phone, filming a child walking out. The camera then pans to Zhang Hong, who is wearing headphones. With a gentle tug, she transforms from a bare-faced woman to one with flawless makeup in just one second, leaning towards the camera with an inexplicably alluring and seductive air.
From menswear to womenswear, the reversal happened so fast that the comments section was filled with people asking for tutorials, saying, "Those of us who are terrible at makeup need help!"
If last time it was a stroke of good fortune, this time the data is truly unexpected.
"Congratulations," Xiao Shuwei said with a smile, "You've got another 500 yuan in your pocket."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Min chimed in, "Not only that, but a new announcement came out last month that it seems data bonuses can be stacked."
Guan Nan didn't see the announcement: "Really?"
"This is it, I found it and forwarded it to you." Xie Qiao forwarded the screenshot of the announcement to her. "A reward of 500 will be given for a hit product. The data will be accumulated up to 100,000, 100 for 100,000, 200 for 200,000, and so on."
"So you can get a bonus of 1200 this month!"
“Zhang Hong also took on a few advertising deals this month, each priced at 88,000 yuan. You’ll take 0.5% of that.” After doing the calculations, Zhang Min exclaimed, “You should be able to get around 20,000 yuan this month.”
Xie Qiao's eyes widened: "So tall!"
“Nonsense, she’s a team all by herself, while we’re just a small workshop,” Xiao Shuwei said, his voice trailing off as he glanced toward the office. “She does the work of several people, and no matter how much she earns, it’s all hard-earned money.”
Guan Nan smiled and said generously, "I'll treat you to dinner tonight."
The group laughed heartily, showering each other with compliments without repeating a single word.
Because of the noise, the boss in the office was also disturbed. He walked around their desks, answered a phone call, and then left the company.
Seeing that everyone had left, Xie Qiao hurriedly peeked over, smiling ingratiatingly, and said, "Sister, do you think I'm lucky enough to see my brother today? Can I have that kind of luck?"
"Huh?" Guan Nan paused in clicking the mouse, thought for a moment, and said, "Why don't you ask him?"
Xie Qiao: "I dare not."
"..." Guan Nan glanced at her and awkwardly told the truth: "Actually, I'm not very confident either, because I'm not very familiar with him, and we haven't seen each other for many years."
"How about we send him a message saying thank you for queuing up last time, and invite him to dinner today?" Xiao Shuwei suggested.
Guan Nan: "...Thank you so much?"
"Please understand, please understand," Zhang Min said with a smile, waving her hand and pointing at Xie Qiao, who looked pitiful. "She's chasing after her brother."
A few jokes later, time flew by.
Just before leaving work, Xiao Shuwei took it upon himself to create a group chat, naming it "Drunken Foodies." Guan Nan watched as she joined the group, then looked...
—It's hard to explain in the group chat
It's difficult to explain why the group name was changed to "1".
Xiao Shuwei invited "I don't know what you're talking about, just laugh it off" to join the group chat.
Xiao Shuwei changed the group name to "Fanzui Group"
I don't know if I wanted to change the nickname or the nickname in the message, and I can't tell if I was panicking or in a hurry, because I changed the group name twice in a row.
After that, aside from the "hmm" in response to the invitation, nothing more was said.
Guan Nan echoed and spoke in the group chat.
But when she thought about what he had just done, she couldn't help but laugh. The person next to her asked curiously, "What are you laughing at?"
"What's it to you?" After a few drinks, Xie Qiao's true nature was revealed. She completely forgot that her 'brother' was still at the table. "Give me a drink. Don't even think about escaping a drop of alcohol under my nose!"
Hei Zi reluctantly made her drink it.
This time, the two sat neither too close nor too far apart, nor facing each other; they sat almost next to each other.
Sizzle.
A message came in, Guan Nan opened it and glanced at it, then looked diagonally across the room.
He was looking down at the screen.
Not sure what to say, so I'll just laugh it off: 【Did you already know?】
Guan Nan honestly replied: 【No.】
Not sure what to say, so I'll just laugh: [Then why don't you laugh?]
Seeing this, Guan Nan looked up at him again, noticing his expressionless and somewhat annoyed expression: [Can't I even smile?]
If you don't know what to say, just laugh it off: [Laughter is okay]
Guan Nan received the message and thought everything was fine. Just as she was about to reply, she saw his next message arrive.
I don't know what to say, so I'll just laugh it off: [You can't make fun of me.]
Guan Nan: 【······I wasn't laughing at you.】
Not sure what to say, so I'll just laugh: [Then why don't you laugh?]
The conversation has come full circle.
Knowing she couldn't win an argument with him, Guan Nan simply pretended not to see the message, exited the chat window, and muscle memory led her to click on her Moments.
After scrolling down for a long time, I saw a post on WeChat Moments that I didn't know what to say but just laughed at.
Many people liked the post; almost everyone at the table who was eating at the time liked it and congratulated him, seemingly unaware of the reason. Then, a comment below stood out abruptly.
Lin Rui: [Spring has arrived.]
She and Lin Rui became friends after Yu Shu proposed; everyone was added except for Jiang Li. At the time, it wasn't awkward for anyone, but now it seems they might all be in the know.
Guan Nan paused, then opened Jiang Li's WeChat Moments again and browsed through it.
No acquaintances liked it, and no one commented.
The latest post on WeChat Moments features a picture of a pomegranate tree in the background of Building 26, and the accompanying text makes it look particularly festive.
This post on WeChat Moments is publicly visible to everyone.
And the publication date, upon closer inspection, was actually 13:14 on August 23, 2023, a very subtle time.
Guan Nan hesitated for a moment, then sent Ye Na a message, tentatively asking: "Nana, do you know Jiang Li's WeChat?"
Yena on the other end retracted the message, and it went back to typing...
Guan Nan paused for a long time while typing. She put down her hand and looked up. The person sitting next to her pulled her to drink a glass. She glanced to the side and saw that he was constantly tapping on the screen, as if he was chatting with someone.
After a few drinks, Guan Nan finally received a message from Ye Na: "I know."
After reading the message, she typed a question mark, then felt something was off: "Why haven't I heard you mention this before?"
Yena seemed to have prepared her reply in advance, responding very quickly, as if she had already coordinated with the person and knew how to answer: "[The WeChat contact I gave you at Green Camp, I think it was his, don't you remember?]"
Have you forgotten?
Guan Nan was all too familiar with this ability to turn the tables on someone else, so familiar that he even hallucinated for a moment.
She looked up and glanced to the other side.
"·····"
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