Chapter 95 I'll get you a marriage certificate
Chapter 95
Qi Changming has been working at the Civil Affairs Office for more than four months. However, since he is new and just arrived, he is doing odd jobs.
It was only today that someone arranged for me to get a marriage certificate.
Qi Changming's thoughts were somewhat complicated. "Sister Lao, I will do my best."
Since leaving the team, he felt like he was just wasting his days. Now, even being asked to go to the front desk to print marriage certificates for people feels like a great responsibility.
Sister Lao nodded and said, "It's Monday today, so we only opened one counter. You can print marriage certificates for people properly."
"You've already learned it, right?"
Qi Changming hummed in agreement, "I've learned them all."
"I'll practice today first."
Sister Lao opened the drawer to show him, "Take a look at these stamps, don't make a mistake, or it will cause trouble later."
"This is the stamp for marriage registration, this is the stamp for adopting a child, this is the stamp for retirement, etc."
"Anyway, there are five stamps in total. Remember not to make a mistake when you get them."
Qi Changming took out all the stamps and looked at them, but while looking at the stamps, he noticed the newspaper under the cabinet.
He was somewhat stunned.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Sister Lao glanced over and, after looking at the information in the newspaper, said, "Comrade Meng from the Harbin garrison, didn't you read the newspaper at the time?"
Qi Changming shook his head.
Seeing that he didn't know, Sister Lao took out the newspaper that was lining the drawer and handed it to him, saying, "Comrade Meng is the pride of our Harbin."
"I remember seeing her in the newspaper last time. She won the championship in the Heilongjiang Province Arts Festival, and then she won the championship in the Northeast China Competition. Immediately afterwards, the organization sent her abroad to participate in some kind of exchange and study trip to the Soviet Union."
"This woman is really amazing."
Qi Changming took the newspaper and looked down at it. He saw a photo of a woman with almond-shaped eyes, peach-blossom cheeks, red lips, and white teeth.
The key is that when she looks at the camera, she smiles sweetly, as if she's about to leap off the page.
Qi Changming instinctively clutched his chest; he had to admit that this was the kind of woman he liked.
Instead of a dark-skinned, plump woman like Meng Yingying.
But as you look further down, you see Meng Yingying from the Harbin Municipal Cultural Troupe.
When he heard those words, Qi Changming felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He stood there for a long time, unable to recover.
Sister Lao called out several times, "Xiao Qi, did you hear everything I told you?"
"Basically, when you formally issue a document to someone, it involves just a few things. You only need to verify whether the other party's documents are complete. If they meet the standards, then you can proceed with the process."
Qi Changming was still a little dazed. He hadn't heard what Sister Lao was saying at all. "Sister Lao, do you think I saw it wrong?"
"What's the name of that person up there?"
"Meng Yingying, huh?" Sister Lao glanced at him subconsciously. "Comrade Meng Yingying is quite famous in Harbin now, you don't know that, do you?"
Qi Changming thought to himself that he really didn't know.
"Is this Meng Yingying from the team stationed in Harbin?"
"Isn't it written here?" Sister Lao stretched out her chubby finger and pointed to where the name was published in the newspaper. "You can read, can't you recognize this?"
know.
How could I not recognize you?
It was precisely because he knew her that he was surprised and shocked. He couldn't understand how the dark-skinned and plump Meng Yingying in his memory could have turned into the one in the photo.
He was thin and fair-skinned, with a smiling face, as if every part of him was etched into his heart.
To be honest, if he had known Meng Yingying looked like this, he wouldn't have run away from the engagement or canceled it, and he certainly wouldn't have retired from the army.
I've come to the Civil Affairs Bureau, a rather dull and uninspiring place.
"Sister Lao."
Qi Changming, who was usually indecisive, became decisive for the first time. "I have something to do today and I would like to ask for a day off."
"Could you please cover my shift for one day?"
Hearing this, Sister Lao got a little angry. "Xiao Qi, what's wrong with you? Today is your shift change, and you want to take leave? Who will cover for you?"
Qi Changming said, "Sister Lao, I really have something important to say." He pointed to the photo in the newspaper and said, "Meng Yingying, my former childhood betrothed."
"But we broke off the engagement due to an accident. Now I've figured it out and I want to pursue her."
“Sister Lao, you are the most kind-hearted person and have always been anxious about my marriage. Now I have finally figured it out. Sister Lao, please help me out. I want to go to her, see her, and clear up all the misunderstandings from back then.”
He initially misunderstood Meng Yingying, thinking she was a 300-pound, dark-skinned, overweight woman, but when he actually saw her photo, he realized she wasn't like that at all.
Moreover, not only is that not the case, but every aspect of a person is rooted in their heart.
He didn't know, but now that he did, he definitely wanted to try. He wanted to see if he and Meng Yingying still had a chance.
Upon hearing this, Sister Lao paused for a moment, then pointed to the photo in the newspaper. "Such an outstanding Comrade Meng is your childhood betrothed, Xiao Qi? You're not mistaken, are you?"
Qi Changming smiled wryly, "No."
“Sister Lao, you know what kind of person I am. I would never lie to you about something like this.”
"I'm really out of time right now."
He regretted it; he had seen the newspaper too late. If he had seen it earlier, perhaps he would have gone to see Meng Yingying last month.
Sister Lao was still a little hesitant.
There was a knock on the door. "Excuse me, is the Civil Affairs Bureau open now?"
It was Meng Yingying's voice. She and Qi Donghan had just arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau from the state-run restaurant, but it was only a little past eight o'clock. She didn't know that the Civil Affairs Bureau was open for business.
Upon hearing that someone was outside, Sister Lao said to Qi Changming, "You can take leave, but you need to handle this business outside first."
Qi Changming hummed in agreement, thinking that ten or twenty minutes wouldn't make a difference. He sat down and prepared the necessary stamps in advance.
"Comrades, the Civil Affairs Office opens at eight o'clock, and we can handle matters now. Please come in."
Upon hearing this, Meng Yingying and Qi Donghan entered. As soon as they entered, they searched the counters of the Civil Affairs Office, which had two counters.
These are probably places where people handle official business.
However, one was empty, while the other was occupied—Qi Changming.
In reality, Meng Yingying had never met Qi Changming. Even when the engagement was called off, she only dealt with Qi Changming's parents and older brother.
So when she saw Qi Changming behind the counter, she quickly looked away and went to Qi Donghan, asking, "Which counter should we go to?"
She felt that Sister Lao seemed more reliable and more skilled in her work.
But Qi Donghan did the opposite. He took Meng Yingying's hand and walked to Qi Changming's counter. "Comrade Qi, it's been a long time."
Qi Changming was still in a daze.
He was truly dazed.
He hadn't expected that he would see the newspaper just moments before, while asking Sister Lao for leave, saying he was going to find Meng Yingying to make peace.
Then, he saw his superior, Qi Donghan, who was known for his aloofness towards women, leading a female colleague over with their fingers intertwined.
Moreover, the woman looked somewhat familiar; she resembled the person in the newspaper he had just seen.
Is she Meng Yingying?
Qi Changming opened his mouth, "Commander Qi, what brings you here?"
Qi Donghan looked up at Meng Yingying, their fingers intertwined, and the two of them, holding the completed marriage certificate, went to his counter.
Only then did he reply, "Comrade Qi, come and make us a marriage certificate."
He seemed to have known all along that Qi Changming worked here, and even knew that he was guarding this counter.
To be honest, Qi Changming was struck dumb by these words. He stood there, frozen in place. "Commander Qi, who is this person next to you?"
Even at this point, he was still unwilling to give up and wanted to ask for the answer again.
Qi Donghan led Meng Yingying to the front and formally introduced her, "Yingying, her name is Meng Yingying."
Qi Changming felt a dizzying sensation in his mind, and he seemed to lose his balance. "Qi Donghan."
The rebuke seemed to come from deep within his chest, carrying a hint of anger.
Meng Yingying also overheard this, and she was somewhat puzzled, not understanding why she and Qi Donghan had come to get a marriage certificate.
Why is this staff member in front of me so angry?
Qi Donghan pulled Meng Yingying behind him, his expression unchanged. "Comrade Qi, what are you so angry about?"
In front of outsiders, Qi Donghan is always that cold and solemn man.
He never showed any weakness to the outside world.
This is it.
Qi Changming pointed at Meng Yingying, his eyes reddening, "You know perfectly well who she is?"
"Qi! Dong! Han!"
He gritted his teeth and said, enunciating each word clearly, "You knew perfectly well whose she was, how could you do this?"
"How could you do this??"
How could he possibly marry Meng Yingying?
How could he bring Meng Yingying to his face and ask him to sign their marriage certificate?
Qi Donghan's expression was indifferent. He didn't answer, but instead asked Meng Yingying to go out and buy a roasted sweet potato. Meng Yingying already had a guess in her mind.
His surname is Qi.
And the fact that the reaction was so strong makes it obvious who this person is.
Meng Yingying nodded, "Don't fight anymore. Call me in to get the marriage certificate when you're done."
Throughout, she remained frighteningly calm, and didn't even glance at Qi Changming.
In Meng Yingying's eyes, from the moment she and Qi Changming broke off their engagement, the two became strangers.
Her decisive departure, her dismissive attitude, and her calm expression all challenged Qi Changming's heart.
His heart couldn't take it, and he clutched his chest, crying out, "Meng Yingying!"
He shouted, as if venting his anger.
Meng Yingying stopped and turned around. She was wearing a white cashmere coat, with delicate features and fair skin.
Even though it was deep winter and she was dressed quite warmly, the cashmere coat didn't look bulky on her at all.
Instead, it added a touch of slenderness and delicacy.
This made Qi Changming even more dazed, as this was completely different from the Meng Yingying he remembered.
In his memory, Meng Yingying was dark-skinned and plump, and also quite fierce. When she was eight years old, she could sit on her bottom so hard that her eyes would roll back.
The woman in front of me was slender, delicate, and strikingly beautiful.
If he had known Meng Yingying would look like this, why would he have broken off the engagement and run away?
Meng Yingying stood there for a while, and when she didn't hear Qi Changming call her, she nodded and said in a light tone, "If there's nothing else, then I'll go out first."
"Qi Donghan, call me in after you've sorted things out."
Qi Donghan nodded. As soon as she left, Sister Lao looked around, noticing that she was worried about Qi Changming and wanted to stay. However, Qi Changming pointed to the door and said, "Sister Lao, could you please go out for a bit?"
There aren't many people at the Civil Affairs Office, and most of them are only there sporadically, so there are only two people working every day.
Today it's just him and Sister Lao; the rest of the people probably won't arrive until after 10 o'clock.
Sister Lao hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
Qi Changming took a deep breath. "Sister Lao, don't worry, I won't fight with him."
Because he couldn't beat them either.
After Sister Lao left, Qi Changming finally calmed himself down. He never smoked, but since leaving the army and coming to the Civil Affairs Office, the huge sense of loss had made him feel somewhat dejected.
Adding to his despair after being tricked by the Song family, he became even more depressed.
As a result, people also became addicted to smoking.
He bent down and took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from the drawer. He first handed it to Qi Donghan, who shook his head and refused decisively, "Yingying doesn't like me smoking."
What he said was indeed somewhat hurtful and thought-provoking.
Qi Changming paused, his hand, which was about to light a cigarette, hesitated. In the end, he twitched the corner of his mouth and threw the cigarette on the table.
When did this happen?
It's rare that he's calmed down like this.
The person also asked the key question.
Qi Donghan retorted, "Does it make sense?"
Qi Changming looked up, his eyes red-rimmed, "Yes."
"Boss, you know perfectly well that I admire and respect you the most, but in the end you stole my childhood sweetheart."
Don't you think you've gone too far?
Qi Donghan straightened up and walked around from behind the counter to stand in front of Qi Changming, looking down at him. "Did I steal your childhood sweetheart?"
Are you sure?
His eyelids were thin, without a trace of fat, his pupils were black, and his gaze was steady, making his look at people very sharp.
Coupled with that brief rhetorical question, Qi Changming's pressure suddenly increased exponentially.
Qi Changming wiped his sweat. "Boss, isn't that right?"
"Isn't Meng Yingying my childhood betrothed?"
"Isn't she going to marry you now?"
"Boss, tell me yourself, did you steal my childhood sweetheart?"
In particular, he had only just learned what Meng Yingying really looked like.
Qi Donghan stood in front of the counter. He was a head taller than Qi Changming, and he was tall, strong, and full of masculine energy.
He simply stood there, exuding a silent pressure.
"When you wanted to break off the engagement, didn't I try to persuade you not to?"
"When you wanted to leave the army to run away from your marriage, did I suppress your discharge application and then go to Xiangshi District to visit Lao Zhou?"
"But how did you do it?"
Qi Donghan stared at Qi Changming with sharp and penetrating eyes. "I advise you not to break off the engagement. This is not the behavior of a true man. But you insist on breaking off the engagement, saying that you can't stand your childhood sweetheart from the countryside."
"I wanted to de-escalate the situation and leave room for maneuver, so I turned around and used a business trip as an excuse to leave the team. What did you do then?"
His voice was frighteningly calm: "While I was away, you quickly submitted your discharge report, acting first and informing me later."
"After I came back, Meng Yingying traveled a long way to come to you, but you turned into a coward and made me solve the follow-up problems of the annulment of the engagement."
"Qi Changming, you know that Meng Yingying just lost her father and was forced by her relatives to come to you to fulfill her marriage contract. What did you do? You retired from the army, you ran away from the marriage, and you told your mother to kill Meng Yingying. You are cold-hearted and unjust."
"Now that you see Meng Yingying is doing well and doing well, you're telling me that I stole your childhood sweetheart and that you like Comrade Meng Yingying."
"Qi Changming, can you stop being so childish?"
"Get this straight, no one ever tried to take Meng Yingying away from you. It was only after you and Meng Yingying broke off your engagement that I got together with her."
"Ask yourself honestly, did I really steal Meng Yingying from you, or did you push her away?"
"Ask yourself honestly, if it weren't for me, would Meng Yingying have agreed to be with you if you went back to her?"
Will it?
Every sentence in this book is a soul-searching question.
Will it?
Qi Changming's face turned ashen. He knew it wouldn't happen. He knew it from the moment Meng Yingying appeared. When he called her, she was unmoved, indifferent as if she were a stranger.
He knew that even without Qi Donghan, he would still go back to find Meng Yingying.
Meng Yingying would not agree to it.
Because once you miss it, it's gone.
While he despised Meng Yingying, Qi Donghan treated her like a treasure.
Anyone who isn't stupid knows how to choose.
Qi Changming murmured, "If I hadn't broken off the engagement, hadn't left the army, and had just fulfilled the marriage contract so earnestly, would the outcome have been different?"
Qi Donghan looked at his former capable subordinate, shook his head, his upright face full of sympathy, but his tone was extremely cruel, cruelly stating a fact.
"Won't."
"I forgot to tell you, from the very beginning when Meng Yingying came to you for help, she didn't want you to fulfill the marriage agreement, but rather to break off the engagement in exchange for a spot in the cultural troupe."
Upon hearing this, Qi Changming's face turned deathly pale. "What did you say?"
Qi Donghan repeated, "She never intended to fulfill the engagement with you from the beginning; she only wanted to annul the engagement."
He could have stayed at the garrison.
He could have had a very bright future.
However, fear, imagined fear, and the instigation of his relatives led him down this path.
How good are the civil affairs offices?
For ordinary people, it is definitely a good place to retire.
But for someone like Qi Changming, who is ambitious, this is like being in prison.
The long periods of leisure and the predictable nature of his work were eroding his ambition and drive every day.
Qi Changming couldn't listen anymore. He covered his ears, feeling like he was going crazy and wanted to scream.
But that won't work.
This is his workplace. If he goes crazy here, he'll lose his job.
Qi Changming thought to himself that he would go crazy if things continued like this.
But no, his work wasn't finished yet.
His voice was somewhat wooden and desperate, like a tamed machine mechanically completing a task: "Comrade Qi, show me your documents, and I'll issue you a marriage certificate."
-----------------------
Author's Note: On National Day, Yingying and Lao Qi got their marriage certificate to celebrate with everyone.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
