Zhao Jingxiang was not intimidated at all. He stepped forward, patted Zhou Jiuzhen's arm, which was taut under his military uniform, and smiled with a playful look. "It's not a threat, but I, Zhao Jingxiang, have never gotten what I wanted before. You just wait and see!"
After saying that, he blatantly winked at Ling Huanwu right in front of Zhou Jiuzhen, which infuriated Zhou Jiuzhen so much that he rolled up his sleeves, ready to punch him. "Who do you think you are? Say it again..."
Ling Huanwu clung tightly to Zhou Jiuzhen's waist, barely managing to stop him from attacking.
Zhao Jingxiang bypassed the two men, picked up Ling Huanwu's luggage from the ground, and carried it into the house, completely ignoring the two angry people.
Zhou Jiuzhen's eyes were bloodshot. He rushed over, trying to snatch the luggage back. Ling Huanwu had no choice but to yell at him, "Stop messing around, okay?"
At that shout, Zhou Jiuzhen's eyes instantly reddened, his lips trembled as tears welled up, and he looked like a wronged wife being scolded.
Ling Huanwu thought that the big kid would stomp his foot and run away to hide somewhere and cry his heart out.
But this guy didn't play by the rules. He simply hoisted her onto his shoulder and ran away.
His speed was comparable to that of a running champion from his previous life. Zhao Jingxiang reacted from behind and chased after him while shouting, but he could never catch up.
Zhou Jiuzhen dashed to the beach like a cannonball.
As the world spun around, Ling Huanwu's head was practically turned to jelly, and she was so dizzy she couldn't find her way around.
It felt like my buttocks had just touched something solid when a deluge of kisses rained down on me.
"Nine tremors, I'm dizzy..."
"I'm dizzy and heartbroken too. My wife is about to be stolen away..."
"Then stop kissing me! My lips are getting numb!"
"Why are there so many candies here..."
A cool sensation on her lips made Ling Huanwu groggily open her eyes, only to realize that this guy had come to the seaside "little home" she had brought him to last time.
Inside was a box of candy that Zhou Jiuzhen had left for her.
"Here you go." Ling Huanwu took a piece of candy from the tin box and stuffed it into Zhou Jiuzhen's hand, her ear tips as red as hawthorn balls in a jar. "You once said that you eat this when you're feeling bitter."
Zhou Jiuzhen didn't take it. Instead, he lowered his head and leaned closer, his nose almost brushing against her burning cheek.
“My hands are dirty,” he said in a low voice, with a hint of a laugh, “you feed me.”
Ling Huanwu's hand trembled, and the candy rolled into her palm.
She slowly unwrapped the candy, and the sweet aroma of oranges immediately filled the air, like the first warm breeze of early summer.
Just as she was about to put the candy to his lips, her wrist was gently gripped...
Zhou Jiuzhen tilted his head slightly, his warm lips brushing against her fingertips. Instead of biting the candy, he bit her fingertip.
"Ugh!" She abruptly pulled her hand back, but he licked the candy away with the tip of his tongue.
The orange candy collided between his lips and teeth, and the sweetness exploded instantly, mingling with the refreshing scent of soap on his body, making it sticky and gooey.
Ling Huanwu's eyelashes trembled like startled butterflies. Before she closed her eyes, she saw his Adam's apple move, and the candy was slowly brought closer to his tongue.
The sugar slowly melted in their mouths, so sweet it was almost cloying, but neither of them was willing to let go.
The sweetness brushed against her heart like a feather, making her heart pound wildly, hotter than sugar.
Only after all the sugar residue had dissolved did Zhou Jiuzhen press his forehead against hers, panting, his voice hoarse: "I really don't feel bitter anymore."
"Comrade Ling, let's... go get our marriage certificate tomorrow, that way no one can separate us!"
Ling Huanwu buried her face in the crook of his neck, clutching his collar tightly, listening to his pounding heartbeat, while her own heart pounded even louder.
She used to fear betrayal, but now she only wants to follow her heart and cherish the present.
*
The next day.
Ling Huanwu got up in her little home in the stone cave, picked up the small mirror she carried with her, and found herself becoming more and more radiant.
Zhou Jiuzhen, however, had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept all night.
The candy in the metal box by the bedside had long been eaten up.
All she remembered was that this clingy guy had been hugging and kissing her all night, practically making her feel like she was on fire, but he was all talk and no action, insisting that he could only have her after they got their marriage certificate.
She was so angry that she could only give up and eventually fell asleep.
As soon as Zhou Jiuzhen saw that she was awake, he came over and clumsily helped her braid her hair. "Let's hurry up and go to the street office to get our marriage certificate. It was my oversight. I thought you were pregnant, so I wasn't in a hurry. I should have taken you to get the certificate as soon as we were in the city."
Ling Huanwu was both amused and exasperated, and let him half-drag and half-carry her to the street office.
Little did the two know that the soldiers and the villagers were frantically searching for them.
Zhou Jiuzhen carried Ling Huanwu on his back until they reached a corner not far from the island's civil affairs office. He reluctantly put her down, took her hand, kissed it, and muttered, "After we get our marriage certificate, I'm going to carry you back. No, I'm going to carry you to the educated youth settlement so that Zhao Jingxiang can see that his fiancé is just a decoration, and that I, his legal husband on the marriage certificate, am the only one worthy of standing beside you."
"Oh, right, I also need to carry you to the family compound to clear Shuyao's head and stop him from trying to take advantage of his sister-in-law every day!"
Ling Huanwu was both amused and exasperated. She couldn't bear to imagine Zhou Jiuzhen carrying her on his back in public with one hand. The image was too much to bear, and she was afraid she would never be able to go out in public again.
As the peeling red wooden door of the Civil Affairs Office slowly opened, Zhou Jiuzhen and Ling Huanwu held hands tightly.
Sunlight filtered through the sparse sycamore leaves, casting dappled patterns on their clasped hands.
Ling Huanwu looked at his straight back and at his hand with its distinct knuckles and a reassuring warmth. Her heart felt like it was holding a freshly peeled candy, sweet and tingling, spreading from the tip of her tongue all the way to her burning ears.
The wind carries the scent of grass and dew, and the faint crowing of roosters can be heard in the distance.
They walked side by side, their shadows stretched long by the morning light, like two vines finally intertwined, growing joyfully in the same direction.
Just as Zhou Jiuzhen eagerly strode into the Civil Affairs Bureau gate, a series of urgent shouts suddenly came from behind them.
"Zhou Tuan, what are you doing here? Get back to the unit quickly! Something's happened! The political commissar and a few of us have been looking for you all night!"
Guard Wang hurriedly ran over, grabbed Zhou Jiuzhen, and pulled him out of the Civil Affairs Office.
Zhou Jiuzhen gripped Ling Huanwu's hand tightly, opened his mouth as if to say something to comfort her, when Qiao Hui and Lin Xiaoqin rushed over from the other side, both with expressions of "I knew it!" "You really are here, Comrade Ling! Your two fiancés, the real and the fake, are fighting! Someone's almost killed!"
Lin Xiaoqin was out of breath from running, "And another thing, your uncle who calls you 'wife' every day also went to join the fight. He probably got beaten up pretty badly this time, lying on the ground barely breathing!"
As she spoke, she reached out and took Ling Huanwu's hand.
Zhou Jiuzhen and Ling Huanwu's clasped hands were forced apart, and they were each pulled away in different directions.
Unbeknownst to them, a strange figure swept past the entrance of the civil affairs office, which was just inches away, and slipped into the small room where marriage certificate files were stored, avoiding the crowd...
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