Lin Zijin followed behind him. After about ten minutes of walking, the two arrived at the entrance of a house.
“We’re here. I’ll go inside to get the documents. Do you want to come in and rest for a while?”
Lin Zijin shook her head. “No, let’s hurry. The civil affairs office staff will be off work soon.”
Lu Jingyu chuckled softly, his voice carrying a teasing tone. “Why do I feel like you’re more anxious than I am?” After saying that, he opened the door and ran inside.
That left Lin Zijin alone at the entrance, her face flushed red as she lowered her head in embarrassment, scolding herself in her mind. Shut up, mouth! Why did you speak so fast?
Do you think I’m so desperate to get married? So embarrassing.
It hadn’t even been a minute when Lu Jingyu came out. This time, he was pushing a bicycle.
He locked the door, walked over to her, and patted the back seat. “Come on, get on. We’re going to register the marriage.”
Lin Zijin’s heart was pounding. Things had already come to this point, so she took a deep breath and sat on the back seat of the bicycle. Her hands didn’t know where to go, so she ended up lightly gripping the edge of the seat with two fingers.
Lu Jingyu glanced at his watch. There were still ten minutes before the civil affairs office closed. “Hold tight, we’re leaving.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he started pedaling toward the civil affairs office.
“Ah!” Because of the sudden movement, Lin Zijin’s body leaned backward. She instinctively grabbed Lu Jingyu’s waist.
Once she stabilized herself, she realized her hands were still clutching his shirt. Her face immediately turned red again.
She wanted to let go, but she was afraid of falling. She could tell he was in a hurry, and time was tight.
The faster he rode, the more nervous she became. Just like that… she was getting married?
Cold sweat formed in her palms as she tightly held onto his clothes.
When they arrived at the civil affairs office, there were only two minutes left before closing. Lu Jingyu parked the bicycle and directly pulled Lin Zijin inside.
As soon as they entered, they attracted curious looks from the staff.
Lu Jingyu took out his documents from his pocket and placed them on the table. “Hello, we’re here to get married.”
The staff member’s mouth twitched. “Marriage registration is over there. This is the divorce counter,” she said, pointing at the sign.
Lu Jingyu remained calm and simply picked up the documents and moved to the next table. The staff member had originally wanted to scold them—they were already off work and only just arrived—but seeing how strikingly good-looking the two of them were, she swallowed her words.
“The groom’s documents are complete. What about the bride’s?”
Lin Zijin snapped back to reality. “I-I have them.” She hurriedly opened her shoulder bag and rummaged inside.
Her mother had prepared everything very thoroughly, even bringing her middle school and high school graduation certificates.
She handed over the household registration book and documents, then took a deep breath and stuffed the useless items back into her bag in a rush.
She also carefully kept the bankbook inside, afraid it might get lost—she couldn’t afford to lose it.
Once everything was complete, and since it was almost closing time, the process went very quickly.
The two of them received a certificate that looked like an award diploma.
After stepping out of the civil affairs office, Lin Zijin felt like her whole body was floating.
She had just gotten married to someone she had only met once.
“Now, are you going home or…?”
“I’m going home, I’m going home.” She needed to tell her mother, Yang Qingqiu, about this. She still hadn’t fully processed the fact that she was now a married woman.
Lu Jingyu didn’t object. “Alright then. Be careful on the way. I have something to do this afternoon, but I’ll visit your home tomorrow.”
Lin Zijin nodded. “Okay. I’ll go now.”
Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something. She raised a finger and pointed at their marriage certificate, forcing a slight smile. “This… can I take it with me?”
“I need it as an explanation when I get home.”
Lu Jingyu, who also wanted to take something back home as an explanation, handed her the marriage certificate. “Mm, here.”
Lin Zijin took it and directly put it into her bag, then waved at Lu Jingyu. “I’m heading back first.”
“Mm. If anything comes up, come to the house I brought you to today. That will be our home from now on.”
Lin Zijin’s face turned red in an instant. She softly responded, “Mm,” then shyly ran off.
After watching her figure disappear, Lu Jingyu rode his bicycle in the opposite direction.
Lin Zijin patted her burning cheeks, thinking about how she should explain this to Yang Qingqiu when she got back.
Just as she walked into the alley, a neighbor who saw her return secretly told her, “Zijin, why are you only coming back now? Your mother is furious at home—she even flipped the table.”
“What?” Lin Zijin’s eyes widened in shock. What was going on?
Who made her mother angry?
She hurried home and saw the place in complete chaos—tables and stools were overturned on the ground.
Someone was crying inside the house. Listening carefully, it was her mother’s voice.
She quickly followed the sound and saw her mother crying in her room, while her younger brother Lin Ziyou silently wiped her tears.
Panic rose in her heart. She rushed forward. “Mom! Mom, what’s wrong? What happened?”
Seeing her daughter return, Yang Qingqiu suddenly lifted her head. Her emotions became even more agitated.
“You wretched girl! Where have you been all morning?”
“Do you even know something huge has happened at home?!”
“My poor daughter… sob… they’re bullying us…”
Lin Zijin was completely confused. “Mom, what exactly happened?”
“What happened after I left? Mom, did someone from the Lin family bully you?”
Yang Qingqiu wiped her tears with her sleeve, her eyes red with anger.
“What happened? The Lin family is going too far—this is too much bullying!”
“Lin Xue, that girl… she brought a man home for lunch today…”
Hearing this, Lin Zijin had a bad feeling.
“And then?”
“And then…” Yang Qingqiu raised her voice, hoarse with anger.
“And then that man was the one Aunt Hu told you about—the blind date, the one working at the steel factory… Lu Jinyu.”
This time, Lin Zijin was completely stunned.
What did that mean?
Her mind went blank. After a long moment, she finally reacted.
Wasn’t Lu Jingyu with her just now?
What do you mean he went back to have lunch with Lin Xue?
“Mom… Mom, explain clearly. Who did Lin Xue bring back?”
Seeing her daughter’s confused face, Yang Qingqiu became even more furious and poked her forehead.
“You… I told you to seize the opportunity properly!”
“And you let Lin Xue take him instead!”
“That girl Lin Xue brought back was exactly the man Aunt Hu introduced to you—the one you were supposed to meet today.”
“Lu Jinyu.”
“I sent you to meet him, and you didn’t even know what you were meeting? Meanwhile, Lin Xue brought him home and said he was her boyfriend.”
“Everyone in the alley already knows—Lu Jinyu is Lin Xue’s boyfriend.”
“Even Lu Jinyu himself admitted it. He said he and Lin Xue hit it off. What is this supposed to mean?”
Lin Zijin felt something was off. A strange panic rose in her heart.
“Mom… Mom, what did you just say his name was? What are the three characters of his name?”
“Say it again.”