Dark clouds covered the city, and the sky seemed to be within reach.

Li Man stood by the window, watching the rain slide down the glass, leaving behind traces.

The clock on the wall ticked, and the dull time flowed quietly in the cabin.

"It's five-thirty, and we're off work." Li Man stretched, moved the succulents on the windowsill into the house, and walked to her desk.

She put the sign with the words "Marriage Registration Office" on the table into the drawer and took a look at the big words on the wall - Administration according to law, civilized service.

"It's raining so hard today, no one will come to register for marriage."

Li Man hummed a song and began to clean. She was the only one in the empty marriage registration office. The employees of the divorce registration office next door had left work fifteen minutes earlier.

"Hello, is this where we get our marriage certificate?" The door was pushed open, and a mature and magnetic male voice came from the door.

With such a nice voice, he must be very handsome too.

Li Man looked up and saw a man in a black raincoat standing at the door of the marriage registration office.

He looks ordinary, but he has an indescribable temperament.

"Yes, do you... want to apply for a marriage certificate?" Li Man looked at the man carefully. It was the first time she saw someone wearing a raincoat and carrying a heavy mountaineering bag to apply for a marriage certificate.

"Well, I made an appointment online to come and do it today."

"Let me check, what's your name?"

"Chen Ge."

Li Man typed the name Chen Ge into the computer and saw his appointment application. "I'm about to get off work, so let's make it quick. Have you brought everything? The household registration books of both parties, ID cards, and proof that you two are not blood relatives or collateral relatives within three generations."

"I brought them all." The man opened his backpack and began to search inside.

Li Man vaguely heard a cat's meow, and she looked into the man's backpack with some curiosity.

The bag was stuffed with a tape recorder, comic books, dolls, ballpoint pens, and a big white cat.

"Thank you for your help." The man handed two household registration books and two ID cards to Li Man: "Everything is here. I have met the woman's family, and they are very satisfied with me."

"It seems you have made a lot of preparations." After Li Man finished registering the man's information and was about to start registering the woman's information, she suddenly found that the magnetic stripe on the ID card was no longer usable. She looked at the name on the woman's ID card and suddenly realized something.

The man in front of me came to register for marriage, prepared all the information, and even brought a cat, but the only thing I saw was his girlfriend.

"Wait a minute, sir." Li Man stopped what she was doing. "Are you here to get married?"

"kindness."

"What about your girlfriend? How are you going to get married alone?" Li Man said with a wry smile: "You must be present in person to get the marriage certificate."

The clock on the wall ticked, and the rain outside was getting heavier. The man pursed his lips gently and looked up at Li Man: "She's here, standing behind me."

Raindrops hit the window violently, and the air in the house gradually froze.

"Sir, stop joking. Both parties must be present in person for the marriage to take place. I can't help you with this." Li Man covered her chest with her hands. She didn't know why she suddenly felt a little breathless.

"She really came, and we are inseparable. Wherever I am, she is there." The man's eyes were clear, and there was a hint of stubbornness in his tone.

Looking at the man's serious expression, Li Man held the ID card that had long been demagnetized in her hand, and she suddenly thought of a possibility.

Opening the woman's household registration booklet, on the page with her name, there was a stamp from the police station declaring her death, and the time of death was several years ago.

“Sir…” Li Man wanted to say something, but she was moved by the man’s stubborn expression.

Li Man glanced at the man's backpack and looked at each item in the bag.

Are these things that the girl used to use? Are these things that have been preserved and treasured the memories of the two of them? Is this cat the cat that the girl raised when she was alive?

In an instant, Li Man understood why the man brought a lot of things to the marriage registration office, and also understood why the man said that the woman had always been with him.

With sore eyes, Li Man held the girl's ID card in her hand. She didn't know what to say, whether to comfort the man or tell him the cruel truth.

Li Man slowly opened her lips, but she couldn't say what she had prepared. She looked at the man in front of her who seemed like a child, and felt a little complicated.

She forced herself to smile: "Sir, you must love her very much, right? How did you meet?"

"She was the one who pursued me. The first love letter I ever received in my life was from her." The man's eyes wandered, as if he was recalling the past: "Our first date was at the abandoned school."

"Abandoned school? An abandoned school for the first date?"

"West City Private Academy, where her obsession and past are. I stood in the hall where she used to practice dancing, with my back to the mirror and my back to hers, and we talked to each other."

Li Man listened silently, and a picture emerged in her mind.

On a quiet night, the two were reminiscing about the past in their abandoned alma mater. The academy used to be beautiful and lively, but now there are only two of them, leaning against each other with their backs. What a tragic love!

"The second date was in a mental hospital. She was wearing a red dress. She was stunningly and flamboyantly beautiful."

"Asylum?"

"Because of my parents, that day I..."

"I see. Sorry." Li Man apologized before the man finished speaking. She didn't like to open other people's scars. Perhaps his parents were another pain in this man's heart.

"The third date was in a building. I trapped the man who had made her unhappy in the elevator and taught him a lesson he would never forget."

"You really dote on your girlfriend. I think she will be very happy when she knows this."

"She was right next to me at the time." The man looked gentle, and thought of the elevator wrapped in black hair in the Ghost Story Association building.

"That scene must be very romantic and warm." Li Man felt that the man in front of her was extremely manly.

"The fourth date was in the underground morgue of the Forensic Medical College. She was injured but didn't tell me. She sat with me quietly and even hugged me secretly." The man's voice was very nice, hoarse and with a mature charm. He was reminiscing about the past. That faint feeling even made Li Man subconsciously ignore the special date place of the underground morgue.

"The fifth date was on the rooftop of a small town. That day was very similar to today. It was raining heavily outside, and she and I leaned against each other."

Compared to the abandoned school, the mental hospital and the underground morgue, the normal date location this time made Li Man a little uncomfortable: "Did you confess to her that day?"

The man nodded gently: "I stood at the highest point of the town and shouted out my thoughts to that strange world. I don't believe there is anything more romantic than being inseparable for a lifetime."

"Wow." Li Man had heard many people's stories, but none of them were as shocking as Chen Ge's. This might be because she had seen the death certificate on the household registration book and already knew the result in advance: "What happened next?"

"Later..." Chen Ge took a deep breath, "She fell asleep and it took a long time for her to wake up. I kept waiting for her."

The death certificate on the household registration booklet seemed to pierce Li Man's heart like a steel needle at this moment, and her tears unconsciously welled up in her eyes.

Li Man lowered her head and pretended to look for something. When the computer covered her face, she secretly wiped away her tears. She already knew the ending of the story.

No one spoke in the room. After a long while, the man broke the silence. He gently placed his hand on the empty seat next to him, as if his girlfriend was sitting there: "Our sixth date..."

What the man said afterwards was no longer important. Li Man knew that this man had trapped himself in a cage called love after his wife got into trouble. He thought his girlfriend was still alive.

Because of deep love, I refuse to believe that the other person has left.

Li Man clenched her hands together until her fingertips turned white. She wanted to tell Chen Ge the truth, but she couldn't bear to say it.

She buried her face behind the computer and entered all the information on the application form. She wanted to help the man in front of her fulfill his dream, but when she pressed the OK button, a page popped up on the computer saying that the household registration information did not match.

The girl died many years ago and there is no such person in the household registration data.

Reality poured down on Li Man like a basin of cold water. She looked at the man's face that was lost in memories and bit her lip. "Sir, our data is incomplete. The system is being upgraded. We can't help you for now. Please come back in a week."

Li Man wanted to help the man in front of her, even if it meant making a similar little red book that had no legal effect.

"Okay, thank you for your help." The man slowly stood up, packed up all his things and walked out. When he reached the door, he suddenly took off his raincoat and held it over his head, as if there was another person standing next to him at this moment: "Zhang Ya, don't stay too far away from me, the rain is getting heavy."

Li Man could see clearly from inside the room that there was no one else under the man's raincoat except himself.

Looking at the man's receding back, Li Man wiped her eyes and said, "Maybe this is love. I am devoted to you, loyal to you, and devoted to you, and it ends with you."