MHWFYYTMDF Chapter3

Registering a marriage certificate with someone he had only met twice was undoubtedly the craziest and most daring decision Song Li had made in his thirty-one years of life.

The moment he hung up the phone with He Muyan, he left the cafe. He wanted to ride this wave of impulsive adrenaline and hurry off to a certain place.

When he arrived at Fujia Gardens, it was roughly 5:30 PM. Just as he entered, he crossed paths with a neighborhood auntie out walking her precious dog. She greeted Song Li warmly, saying it had been a long time since she last saw him back here before asking if he had started dating anyone recently, blah, blah, blah.

Song Li automatically ignored certain parts of her questions, asking with a smile if his mother was currently home.

The auntie nodded, her face glowing with health. “Yes ah, yes ah, she’s home playing mahjong! I was playing with them too, but I had to come out and walk my baby, so I left the table first.”

Song Li looked at her. “Auntie, you must have won quite a bit today.”

“Aiyo.” Although she waved her hands frantically, she couldn’t close her mouth from smiling. “Just small change, just small change. Compared to what I lost before, this is nothing.”

Song Li exchanged a few more polite words with her without lingering too long.

The old residential community didn’t have an elevator. He walked up the stairs to the fifth floor, and he could hear the loud clack-clack of mahjong tiles being shuffled inside even through the metal security door.

Using his spare key to open the door, he saw the aunties in the living room playing amidst a bustling, heated atmosphere.

Song Li walked over, placed the fruit and health supplements he had bought on the adjacent coffee table, and greeted each of them with a smile.

He Rong drew a Two Dots, discarded it, and took a moment to glance over at him. “Son, you’re back.”

Song Li nodded. “I’m back to pick up a few things. Mom, you guys keep playing.”

He Rong clearly had no intention of getting up to welcome him either. She drew another tile, her eyes suddenly lit up as she called out loudly, “Hu!”

Right after came a chorus of sighs and complaints from the other three players.

Song Li shook his head with a smile and went into his own bedroom. Walking over to the drawer by the bed, he opened it and rummaged through it, and sure enough, he found that purplish-red booklet.

Flipping open to his own page, he looked at it carefully. Thinking back, the last time he had used it was when he bought his apartment. He never would have imagined that the next time he used it would actually be for registering for marriage.

When he walked out of the room, He Rong was still immersed in the joy of collecting her winnings, her face thoroughly flushed with excitement. Song Li couldn’t bear to ruin her mood, so he quietly slipped out.

In reality, he hadn’t yet sorted out his own feelings on how to break this piece of news to He Rong either.

After putting his household register booklet back into his pocket, he returned to his own apartment. Thinking about what he would have to do tomorrow, he unexpectedly stayed awake the entire night.

This directly led to his sluggish state the next day, with dark bluish circles appearing beneath both his eyes, making him look completely worn out and lacking any energy.

The moment He Muyan laid eyes on him, he knitted his brows with exceptional clarity.

Song Li hunched his shoulders. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. It’s just… I was too nervous and didn’t sleep well…”

He stammered as he spoke while covering his face, not daring to look at He Muyan.

A hand gripped his wrist, pulling it away with a slight firmness. Immediately after, his chin was pinched by two fingers, forcing Song Li to tilt his head up.

He Muyan lowered his eyelids, sizing up the dark circles under his eyes expressionlessly.

“How are we supposed to take a marriage photo with your grooming in such disarray? Cover it up.”

Song Li asked like an idiot, “How do I cover it?”

He Muyan released his hand, turning his head to look at the person beside him. “Is it possible?”

Li Xiu adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose, replying calmly, “I recall there is a photo studio next door; they should offer this service.”

Only then did Song Li notice the person standing behind He Muyan. This person was also dressed in a suit and was far less flashy and eye-catching than He Muyan, standing quietly behind him like a secretary or an assistant.

He Muyan nodded. “Ten minutes. Go ahead.”

Li Xiu stepped forward, bending his waist and extending his arm to guide him. “Mr. Song, this way please.”

Song Li stole a glance at He Muyan, but He Muyan didn’t look back at him.

Letting out a sigh, he resigned himself to his fate and followed Li Xiu out.

It wasn’t until he entered the photo studio that Song Li understood what He Muyan meant by “cover it up.” After Li Xiu explained the requirements to the staff, a young girl walked over holding a black acrylic makeup box.

Song Li was pressed down into a chair facing a massive mirror. The girl lifted his face, studied it for a moment, and praised, “Sir, your skin is truly wonderful! It’s so delicate and practically poreless. You must have stayed up late last night, right? You’ve got a bit of dark circles and look a little tired, but it’s fine. A bit of base makeup will do; it’s an easy fix.”

As she spoke, she began tossing and turning things on Song Li’s face with her powder compacts and brushes. He didn’t even know if ten minutes had passed, but by the time the girl finally stopped, his body was aching from sitting so rigidly in the chair.

Li Xiu swiped his card to pay, then brought him back to the Civil Affairs Bureau.

He Muyan was currently on the phone, he hung up the moment he saw them return.

Song Li walked up to him and looked up, unsure if this would satisfy him.

“I-Is this okay?”

He Muyan stared at him for a moment, his gaze turning somewhat deep.

Song Li’s heart sank a little. No way, right? The girl spent so much time fussing over it and it’s still not good enough? Just how hideous is my face today?

Just as he slumped his shoulders in discouragement, He Muyan suddenly spoke, “Let’s go.”

Huh?

Song Li looked up, watching He Muyan’s silhouette as he had already started walking inside. Did I pass?

The registration process was very simple. They took photos, read their vows, and the exact moment the little red booklets were handed to them, Song Li discovered something that left him utterly shocked.

Looking at He Muyan’s date of birth, then at his own, and repeatedly checking them several times, he finally had no choice but to helplessly accept the reality before him.

He Muyan was a full five years younger than him.

This was a massive blow; one couldn’t tell at all just by looking at him.

How could this man, with his big-boss aura who looked like a highly successful figure, not even be thirty yet?

More importantly, He Muyan was only twenty-six years old at most. What on earth was his family pressured him to marry for? Where did that leave someone like him, an old bachelor who had already entered his thirties and was still unmarried!

Five years younger… then what did that make him? An old cow eating tender grass?

Song Li was amused by his own thoughts. Clutching the little red booklet in his hand, his mind was still completely blank.

That’s it?

He was married?

From this moment on, he and this man beside him, who was so handsome he could make people lose their minds, were legally wedded husbands?

Song Li felt light-headed as if he were walking on air with absolutely no sense of reality.

Flipping open the little booklet, he took another glance at the photo glued inside. The two of them weren’t sitting very close together, and their shoulders were cleverly kept from touching; it was obvious their relationship was indeed unfamiliar.

But, but He Muyan looked so incredibly good in the photo.

And this incredibly good-looking man was now his husband.

A sweetness welled up in his throat, then he looked up at the person across from him. “Um…”

He Muyan was currently loosening his tie, turning around slightly to look at him upon hearing his voice.

Song Li’s breath hitched; he found himself captivated once more by the way he loosened his tie.

Seeing that he didn’t speak, He Muyan spoke first, “I need to return to the company for a meeting. Where are you going? I’ll have Li Xiu drop you off.”

Song Li rejected the offer instinctively, “No need, no need! I drove here myself.”

He Muyan nodded and didn’t say much else, “We will leave it at that then. I am returning to the company.”

Having said that, he bent down and slid into the car.

Li Xiu closed the car door behind him. As he walked past Song Li, he gave him a polite nod, and Song Li responded politely as he took two steps back.

The black car drove away smoothly and straight ahead, disappearing from his sight, leaving Song Li standing frozen in place for several seconds.

A gust of cold wind blew past, lightly rustling the hem of his suit jacket, and he suddenly felt like a massive idiot.

This guy just left! He just left like that!

They were legally wedded husbands who had literally just registered their marriage, yet he walked away without even turning his head! Shouldn’t they sit down properly to get to know each other and deepen their relationship?!

He had risked his life to request a whole day off from school for this very day, even though his schedule was packed with classes!

Fuming, Song Li didn’t care that he was wearing newly bought leather shoes and kicked the adjacent steps hard.

This kick caught his big toe, and the sheer pain brought tears to his eyes on the spot.

When he stepped into the school office dressed in a sharp, tailored suit, the gazes of the other teachers practically bored several holes through him.

Song Li pretended not to notice while returning to his desk to turn on his computer.

Seeing that his mood was off, the teachers exchanged glances, yet they couldn’t suppress their curiosity. Ultimately, Xu Shanshan, who possessed the strongest taste for gossip, couldn’t help but speak up. “Teacher Song, didn’t you take the day off today?”

Song Li let out an “en.” “My business finished early. I’d only be idling around at home anyway, so I came back to teach.”

Xu Shanshan nodded, taking several looks at his suit. “It’s rare to see Teacher Song dressed so formally. Very handsome, very handsome.”

Song Li smiled. “Thank you.”

Seeing that his spirits were truly low, Xu Shanshan didn’t intend to ask for a snub either. She turned around, shrugged at the others, and continued working on her lesson plans.

When school ended that evening, Song Li suddenly received a phone call. At first, he thought it was his unreliable, newly registered husband, and his heart even fluttered with a tiny bit of excitement. He never expected that when he pulled out his phone, it would turn out to be another unreliable, bratty kid.

Feeling somewhat annoyed, he picked up the call and gave a gruff “Hello.”

On the other end, Xue Sang let out a sharp wail, wailing and complaining to him repeatedly.

Song Li forced himself to listen for a while, gathering the general idea that his boyfriend had done something to break his heart, and he wanted a divorce or a breakup or something along those lines.

It was an old story. In the past, Song Li would have hung up on him directly, but it just so happened that he was in a bad mood today too and needed someone to vent to. So he said directly, “Come over to my place. Bring beer too.”

With that, he cut the line.

Xue Sang arrived roughly an hour later while carrying two bags of Budweiser. His eyes were entirely bloodshot, and his face looked a whole size smaller than the last time they met.

He really had been hurt this time.

Song Li let him in, and the two of them set up the beer and side dishes on the coffee table in the living room. Ignoring the perfectly good sofa, they insisted on sitting cross-legged on the carpet.

Cracking open two cans of beer, they raised their hands and clinked them together, gulping down more than half in one go before letting out a clean, sharp beer burp.

Song Li looked at the person across from him. “Alright, spill. What happened between you and your newly minted little boyfriend this time?”

Xue Sang gave him a melancholic look, bending one leg to rest his sharp, narrow chin on his knee. “There is no newly minted boyfriend. It’s still the old one.”

“The old one?” Song Li knitted his brows, thinking about it. “The old one… I remember he was the guy you met at the bar half a year ago, right? Wow, you’ve actually broken your record. I never thought you’d manage to date him for this long.”

Xue Sang let out a huff. “Unexpected, right? I didn’t even expect it myself.”

Seeing him chug another large gulp, Song Li knew this close friend of his had always faced a rocky road in romance. Though most of the time it was due to Xue Sang’s own drama, seeing him this heartbroken still didn’t feel great regardless.

He reached out and patted his head. “Spill it. I’m listening.”

Song Li had prepared himself to play the listener just like countless times in the past, but who would have thought Xue Sang would suddenly knit his brows and crush the can in his hand. “I didn’t come here to vent today. I just feel miserable and simply wanted someone to keep me company.”

Song Li raised an eyebrow. Now that was a novelty.

“Then that’s perfect.” Song Li cracked open another can. “Your big brother isn’t in a great mood today either. Let’s get dead drunk and tell all this bullshit to go straight to hell.”

Xue Sang wiped his nose. “Ge, why are you acting so weird today?”

Song Li clinked his bottle against his. “Are you drinking or not?”

“Of course I am! I’m not going home without getting drunk!”

The two of them began drowning their sorrows deep into the night, and before long, empty beer cans piled up all over the floor.

Meanwhile, there were two other people who were also dealing with a hectic night.

Having wrapped up an evening of high-intensity work, He Muyan sat inside the car, unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt to catch his breath as his fingers lightly pinched the bridge of his nose.

Li Xiu stole a glance at him through the rearview mirror. “Boss, you overextended yourself today. Hurry up and close your eyes to get some rest.”

He Muyan exhaled. “I did overextend myself, but I constantly feel like there’s still something left unresolved. Check the itinerary again; did we miss an important matter?”

Li Xiu raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, Well, no kidding. It’s a miracle you actually remember you missed something important. After pondering for a moment, he carefully phrased his words and spoke up. “Boss, you literally just registered your marriage certificate today, so technically it is your first day of marriage. Although it is very late right now, it hasn’t passed midnight yet. I was thinking… perhaps you should go and pay Mr. Song a visit?”

He Muyan’s hand massaging the bridge of his nose paused. Lowering his hand, a fleeting look of realization crossed his face. “Ah, yes. I went to register for my marriage today.”

Li Xiu: “……”

He suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for that honest, responsible teacher.

He Muyan fell silent for another moment before asking, “Where does he live?”

“The Platinum Community on Yangwan Road.”

“Let’s head there first then.”