Seeing Qin Yuan’s expression tighten and turn serious, Section Chief Wang assumed she was having second thoughts. He gave her a stiff smile and added,
“Xiao Qin, don’t be nervous. It’s just a formality. Once the marriage certificate is issued, Section Chief Li will make sure your friend’s treatment is properly taken care of. But if you refuse to go… and his treatment gets delayed, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He made a threat sound like friendly advice, twisting his words to hide his true intentions.
These people really were accustomed to playing mind games.
Wasn’t he simply warning her that if she refused to get the fake marriage certificate, they had ways to stop her benefactor’s treatment?
But in truth, such tactics didn’t have much effect on Qin Yuan.
After all, she had never even considered finding someone to marry. There was little chance these people could use this fake marriage to control her in the future.
In her previous life, marriage had quite literally cost her her life.
In this life, Qin Yuan genuinely felt that spending the rest of her days alone, never having to wait on another person again, sounded absolutely wonderful!
So as far as she was concerned, this marriage certificate could only be described as—
Not particularly damaging, but incredibly insulting.
She had spent her entire previous life being weak and submissive.
What she hated most now was being threatened and deceived.
Unfortunately, she still had to get this marriage certificate.
After all, if someone was practically delivering “benefits” straight into her hands, why shouldn’t she take them?
Qin Yuan gave Section Chief Wang a genuinely bright smile.
“All right, then thank you, Section Chief Wang. If you hadn’t come, I’d have had to walk there on my own two feet. I don’t even know where the Civil Affairs Bureau is. You’re such a good person!”
Section Chief Wang stared at the young woman’s smiling face.
For a moment, he couldn’t tell whether she was sincerely thanking him or mocking him.
There was something strangely unsettling about this girl.
She was so young, yet she seemed every bit as calculating as they were.
But whatever.
Only after she obtained the marriage certificate and sold the university recommendation slot would he receive what had been promised to him.
So the marriage certificate had to be issued now!
Section Chief Wang climbed onto his bicycle.
“Hop on. I’ll take you there right now.”
With her own personal “ride,” Qin Yuan reached the Civil Affairs Bureau without having to expend any energy.
She even got a brief chance to rest.
Not bad at all.
Section Chief Wang brought her into an office and told her to wait. According to him, all the procedures had already been arranged. Once they brought in the documents, all Qin Yuan had to do was sign them.
Qin Yuan looked around the room.
Spotting a thermos and a tea tin in the corner, she simply helped herself and brewed a cup of hot tea.
It had been such an incredibly long day.
She hadn’t even had a single sip of hot water.
At this moment, the tea in the Civil Affairs Bureau tasted exceptionally fragrant.
The comrades here should be preparing her money by now, shouldn’t they?
Holding the teacup in her hands, Qin Yuan slowly took a sip.
The warm tea flowed down her throat, easing some of the exhaustion that had accumulated throughout the day.
Creak—
The door swung open.
A thin man of around fifty walked inside.
He wore a neatly pressed four-pocket cadre uniform. He wasn’t wearing glasses, but his narrowed eyes practically overflowed with shrewdness.
He swept his gaze over Qin Yuan without the slightest trace of a smile.
Then he slapped a stack of papers onto the desk.
“You’re Qin Yuan? Section Chief Wang already explained everything to you, right?
“There’s no need to go over Sun Yulin’s situation again. These are the documents for the marriage registration and the transfer of your university recommendation slot.
“Sign them, and we’re done.”
Qin Yuan put down her teacup.
Instead of immediately reaching for the papers, she merely nodded calmly.
“You must be Section Chief Li. Thank you for going to all this trouble to arrange such a wonderful marriage for me.”
Her tone was polite.
There wasn’t even a hint of complaint in her voice.
If anything, she sounded as though she were sincerely thanking him.
That surprised Section Chief Li.
Xiao Wang had told him that this country girl was willing to sell her university recommendation slot for just five hundred yuan in order to save her benefactor.
He had assumed she was simply a short-sighted country bumpkin.
But now that he was seeing her in person…
She didn’t seem like one at all.
Section Chief Li sat down opposite Qin Yuan.
He glanced at the teacup in front of her and frowned.
“Comrade Qin, there’s no need for such polite words. We’re simply exchanging what each of us needs. Hurry up and sign. I have other matters to attend to.”
Qin Yuan nodded.
Calmly, she picked up the stack of documents and carefully examined them one page at a time.
Marriage application.
Declaration of voluntary marriage.
Personal information registration.
Statement transferring the Worker-Peasant-Soldier university recommendation slot.
Everything was there.
At first glance, the paperwork seemed flawless.
But when Qin Yuan reached the final page—the declaration transferring her university recommendation slot—her pen suddenly stopped.
She looked up at Section Chief Li with a faint smile.
“Section Chief Li, there’s something I need to confirm with you first. Otherwise, I really don’t dare sign this.”
Section Chief Li’s expression immediately darkened.
“What is it? Didn’t Section Chief Wang explain everything to you?”
“He did. Section Chief Wang told me that Sun Yulin has been missing for five years. He was registered under a neighborhood office within your jurisdiction, his household registration is still active, and all his personal files are complete.”
Qin Yuan put down the papers and leaned slightly forward.
Her tone remained calm, and there was even a faint smile at the corners of her lips.
But the question that came out of her mouth caught Section Chief Li completely off guard.
“In that case, I’d like to ask something.
“During the five years that Comrade Sun Yulin has been missing, who’s been collecting his grain and cooking-oil ration booklet? His cloth coupons? His non-staple food coupons?
“Oh, and what about the industrial-goods coupons he’s entitled to each year and the special supplies distributed during holidays?
“Who’s been collecting all of those?”
The moment she finished speaking, most of the color drained from Section Chief Li’s face.
His previous arrogance disappeared without a trace.
He slowly straightened in his chair and pressed his hand firmly against the desk.
His knuckles turned white.
“Why are you asking about that? Those things have nothing to do with you!”
Seeing his reaction, Qin Yuan became completely certain.
She almost laughed inwardly.
The truth was…
She had merely been bluffing.
At noon, Qin Yuan had asked Section Chief Wang to find a way to arrange an identity for her benefactor.
Less than twenty minutes later, Wang had returned with a message from Section Chief Li.
Apparently, there just happened to be a missing man named Sun Yulin registered under a neighborhood office within Li’s jurisdiction.
And Section Chief Li knew the man’s personal and family circumstances in astonishing detail.
Qin Yuan had lived two lifetimes.
She had never encountered a leader who knew so much about someone who had already been missing for five years.
That meant Section Chief Li had been keeping a close eye on Sun Yulin all along.
There were usually only two reasons for one person to pay such close attention to another.
Either there were deep personal feelings involved…
Or there were benefits to be gained.
Obviously, Section Chief Li’s interest in Sun Yulin could only be about benefits.
But what benefits could possibly come from a missing person?
Even thinking with one’s toes would provide the answer—
The various rationed supplies available exclusively to urban residents!
Originally, Qin Yuan, as someone from the countryside, wouldn’t have understood such things.
But in her previous life, she had cared far too much about the Xia family.
After Xia Min went to university, Qin Yuan would secretly listen whenever she came home and talked about life outside the village.
After becoming a newly registered urban resident and transferring her household registration, Xia Min often talked about the benefits she could receive.
She had even mentioned that schools sometimes retained certain students’ enrollment status so they could continue receiving supplies allocated by higher authorities.
That was why Qin Yuan had been able to accurately suspect that Section Chief Li was most likely secretly pocketing the rationed supplies belonging to Sun Yulin.
Following that line of thought, she had even figured out another possibility.
The reason Section Chief Li and his people insisted that she enter a fake marriage was probably because they wanted to use her—the “wife”—as a convenient shield.
With an official family member in the picture, they could continue embezzling Sun Yulin’s allocated supplies with an even more legitimate excuse.
So Qin Yuan had simply thrown out a question to test the waters.
Whether there were dates on the tree or not, there was no harm in taking a swing at it.
And incredibly…
She had hit the mark.
Judging by Section Chief Li’s nervous reaction, there was definitely something shady going on!
Qin Yuan suppressed the laughter rising inside her.
She picked up her teacup and took another sip before looking at Section Chief Li with perfect confidence.
“How could it have nothing to do with me?
“The moment I sign these papers today, I’ll become ‘Sun Yulin’s’ wife.
“He’s lying unconscious in the hospital right now. From now on, I’ll be responsible for his food, clothing, and daily necessities.
“Naturally, as his wife, I should be the one holding his grain and cooking-oil ration booklet, along with all of his ration coupons.”
She paused.
Watching Section Chief Li’s expression grow increasingly tense, Qin Yuan smiled sweetly and added,
“Otherwise, wouldn’t it look terrible?
“I’ll have just gotten married, only for my husband to be lying in the hospital while I can’t even collect his food rations.
“If word gets out, people might say Section Chief Li didn’t handle matters properly—that you couldn’t even take care of a missing resident registered under one of the neighborhood offices in your jurisdiction.
“Wouldn’t you agree?”