The woman took out a large red ink pad from the side, opened the lid, and pointed at the location on the marriage certificate.
“Press your fingerprints here, next to your names. Both of you need to press them.”
Lu Shiyan first extended his thumb, pressed it firmly into the ink pad, then steadily stamped it beside his name.
The bright red fingerprint stood out vividly on the snow-white paper, carrying a festive air.
He pushed the ink pad toward Su Wanqing and said softly, “Take your time, don’t get it on your hands.”
Su Wanqing looked at the bright red ink pad and suddenly felt a little nervous. Her heartbeat sped up.
She extended her thumb and gently pressed it into the ink. Her fingertip was dyed red.
Then she carefully pressed her hand beside her name. Just next to Lu Shiyan’s fingerprint, the two red marks were tightly connected, like two inseparable people.
The woman picked up the marriage certificate, carefully checked it, and once she confirmed there were no issues, she took out a red official seal and stamped it heavily.
The bright red seal landed on the marriage certificate, instantly giving it a strong sense of ceremony.
She handed one copy to Lu Shiyan and one to Su Wanqing, a faint smile appearing on her face.
“Alright, from today on, you are legally husband and wife. Congratulations.”
Su Wanqing took the bright red marriage certificate and looked down at it carefully.
Her name was written on it, along with Lu Shiyan’s name and today’s registration date. The large red seal in the center looked striking and festive.
She stared at it for a long time before carefully folding it and placing it inside her inner pocket, afraid of damaging it.
Lu Shiyan also put away his copy, then took her hand again.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you to the supply and marketing cooperative.”
The two of them walked out of the commune office building. Standing at the entrance, the sun felt warm and the breeze gentle.
Su Wanqing turned to look at Lu Shiyan and suddenly smiled, still a little incredulous.
“Lu Shiyan, are we really husband and wife now?”
Lu Shiyan looked at her bright eyes and smiled broadly.
“Yes. We really are husband and wife now. Legally.”
Su Wanqing blinked and lifted her chin playfully.
“Since we are husband and wife, you have to listen to me from now on. My father used to listen to my mother about everything.”
Lu Shiyan chuckled and pinched her hand.
“Alright. No problem. From now on, I’ll listen to you. Whatever you say goes.”
Su Wanqing smiled in satisfaction and pulled him toward the supply and marketing cooperative.
The two walked along the street, and Su Wanqing kept looking around, full of curiosity.
“What shop is that? What do they sell?” she asked, pointing.
“That’s a shoe repair shop. It fixes shoes,” Lu Shiyan explained patiently.
“And that one with the long line?”
“That’s the food shop. Probably something rare just arrived, so everyone is rushing to buy it.”
Su Wanqing tugged his arm.
“Should we go queue too? See what good stuff it is?”
“No need,” Lu Shiyan shook his head. “The supply and marketing cooperative has it too. It might be a bit more expensive, but no need to wait in line. We can save time.”
Lu Shiyan found it a little strange. These things, Su Wanqing should have seen them in the city before. Why did she act like she had never left the village?
Of course, he did not know that the current Su Wanqing had already been replaced by someone else. Everything here was new and unfamiliar to her.
When they arrived at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, Su Wanqing stopped and peeked inside.
It was large, with rows of glass counters. Inside were all kinds of goods: cloth, candy, tobacco and alcohol, soap, matches, kerosene lamps… everything imaginable. Her eyes lit up.
Lu Shiyan led her inside.
Behind the counter stood a saleswoman in her thirties, permed hair, white blouse, lazily cracking sunflower seeds with an impatient expression.
She glanced at them.
“What do you want?”
Lu Shiyan said directly, “Two jin of fruit candy, and two jin of White Rabbit Candy.”
The saleswoman froze for a moment, then looked him up and down.
“Two jin of White Rabbit Candy? That’s premium candy. It’s not cheap. Are you sure?”
Lu Shiyan said nothing. He took out a stack of money and ration coupons, counted them, and placed them on the counter.
“Sure. Hurry up, please.”
The woman’s eyes immediately lit up. She smiled instantly, put away the sunflower seeds, and got to work.
Soon she weighed and wrapped the candies in kraft paper.
“Two jin of fruit candy, two jin of White Rabbit Candy. Total eight yuan and six mao, plus three jin of candy coupons.”
Lu Shiyan paid and handed the two bags to Su Wanqing.
She hugged them, her eyes curving into crescents. She even leaned in and sniffed.
“So fragrant. It must be very sweet.”
“What else do you want to buy?” Lu Shiyan looked at her, eyes full of indulgence.
“Just say it.”
Su Wanqing wandered slowly along the counter.
“I want red paper,” she said, pointing. “We need to paste double happiness characters for the wedding. But we don’t have our own house…”
Lu Shiyan nodded and bought it.
She also pointed at sunflower seeds and peanuts.
“We should buy these too and share them with everyone in the brigade. Share the happiness.”
He bought two jin of each.
“Also cigarettes,” she added. “For the men in the team.”
He bought two cartons of Da Qianmen cigarettes.
Then she spotted cloth.
“I want to buy cloth. Make a new outfit for the wedding.”
Lu Shiyan looked at it. Red floral cloth, bright and pretty.
“Buy it,” he said without hesitation. “As long as you like it.”
Then she pointed at a plain blue cloth.
“This one is nice too. Make you a shirt. You always wear old clothes.”
Lu Shiyan froze.
“For me?”
“Yes,” she said matter-of-factly. “You’re my man. Isn’t it normal for me to make you a shirt?”
Lu Shiyan looked at her, his eyes softening instantly.
This little troublemaker had never cared about him before. Now she was thinking about making him clothes.
That feeling of being cared for was… really good.
He smiled.
“Alright. I’ll listen to you.”