Lin Wanying and Gu Liansheng’s younger brothers volunteered to relay messages between the two of them. Right after both had said the word “marriage,” they’d both felt their heads spin a little, too embarrassed to face each other directly, having someone relay messages eased the awkwardness.
Gu Shuisheng was determined to make his brother’s marriage happen, because that morning he’d tailed his former sister-in-law.
Just as he’d suspected, his former sister-in-law hadn’t been living happily with his second brother because her heart belonged to someone else. She’d made his brother suffer through the hard years, and now that things had been rehabilitated and life was good, she was off living with another man instead, how hateful.
His former sister-in-law was getting her marriage certificate with the man she loved that very afternoon, so no matter who this new sister-in-law was, he had to make it happen too, other matters could wait.
Gu Shuisheng ran over, only to be blocked by the new sister-in-law’s brother. Lin Huinan knew his sister had too many principles, so since the other side had sent out their own brother, he’d step up, that way it wouldn’t count as his sister hiding anything.
Gu Shuisheng stuck his hands in his pockets and asked, “My brother just wants to know, since you’ve already told us her name and job, who introduced you two?”
Lin Huinan crossed his arms coolly and answered, “Someone you’d never guess. Can only be said after the wedding. My sister’s documents aren’t fake, any other questions?”
“Can your sister cook? She won’t give him the silent treatment, will she?” Gu Shuisheng particularly hated his former sister-in-law’s cold-shoulder treatment.
“What’s the silent treatment?” Lin Huinan asked.
“It’s when someone can go three days without talking, without eating, without even looking at you. Do you know how terrifying that is?”
Lin Huinan laughed. “Impossible. My sister can’t go half a day without talking or she’ll suffocate, and if she misses one meal she’ll bite someone.”
Sounded like a normal person then, Gu Shuisheng was somewhat satisfied, though he forgot to ask whether she was fierce or not.
“Any more questions?”
“Nope. You?” Whatever came up later could be dealt with later, if not, they’d just fight it out.
“None from me either.” The urgent priority was getting his sister married, to spite her ex-husband to death.
The two brothers each went back to report to their own sides.
Gu Shuisheng told Gu Liansheng: “Brother, the matchmaker doesn’t want to be revealed, you’ll naturally find out after the marriage. I think her conditions are a good match for you, and I like the new sister-in-law a lot too. Let’s do it.”
Lin Huinan likewise assured Lin Wanying: “Sis, everything’s been settled, you can marry with a clear conscience.”
…
Lin Wanying really did remarry into her ex-husband’s first love’s ex-husband’s family. Heaven simply wouldn’t let her have an easy time, the moment she got her marriage certificate and stepped out of the civil affairs bureau, ready to have a proper talk and get to know each other, who did she see also there to get their marriage certificate but Xu Youcheng, arm in arm with Gu Liansheng’s ex-wife, both of them smiling with eyes full of affection.
Lin Wanying grabbed Gu Liansheng and ran down the steps, ducking into a corner by the wall, feeling utterly miserable.
She was slender and pretty too, why didn’t Xu Youcheng like her? Five years, and his heart had always belonged to his first love.
Gu Liansheng was a policeman, that one glance just now had already let him identify the man Li Qiuzhen was on the arm of as the first love in the photo she treasured!
His ex-wife had been so eager to divorce because she wanted to marry her first love, but well, he’d remarried too, so they were even.
But why was Wanying hiding? Had she seen his ex-wife’s photo through the matchmaker? Then there was no need to hide, was there?
…
Even though Lin Wanying had been reborn and thought she’d let it go, seeing the scumbag smile so tenderly at his first love while treating her so poorly, her heart still couldn’t settle.
She said miserably, “The man your ex-wife is on the arm of is my ex-husband. I used to like him a lot, but now I feel nothing but disgust and hatred for him.”
Ex-husband? Gu Liansheng felt like he’d been struck by lightning. So that was it, right after his divorce, a pretty wife falls from the sky, and there’s no such thing as that good a deal in this world. Turned out she was another wronged party’s ex-wife.
Wasn’t this basically two couples divorcing and breaking apart their families, then swapping partners and remarrying? What kind of thing was this even called?
“Such a huge tangle of relationships, and you didn’t tell me beforehand?”
Lin Wanying looked at him, astonished. “Didn’t your brother tell you just now?”
…
The two of them stared at each other, not quite believing it, clearly, both brothers had failed to say anything. Well then, time to discipline both of them.
Lin Wanying dragged her brother aside and pulled his ear, asking, “Why didn’t you tell them our actual situation?”
Lin Huinan’s ear was nearly falling off, and he pushed the blame elsewhere: “It’s your brother-in-law’s brother’s problem, I answered everything he asked. If he didn’t ask, why should I have said anything? Go blame him.”
Gu Liansheng punished his brother by making him do a horse stance, forbidding him from getting up until he explained clearly: “Is my marriage some kind of chip in your revenge scheme? It’s not like your wife divorced you, where’s this attitude even coming from?”
Gu Shuisheng wasn’t having it: “You got a pretty new wife right after your divorce, and it’s all thanks to me as your brother, and you’re scolding me for it? That’s not fair. Ex-wife or not, someone married your ex-wife too, what do you have to complain about?”
…
No one could really blame Lin Wanying, it was the two brothers who’d deliberately kept things from each other, so Gu Liansheng didn’t know what to say.
Lin Wanying, being fair-minded, said to Gu Liansheng, “Why don’t we just get divorced? Quietly, or you name a time and I’ll cooperate.”
Divorce again? Gu Liansheng was already twenty-five, colleagues his age already had kids calling them “Dad.” If he divorced, remarried, then went and filed for divorce again all in one day, his master would beat his head in.
Gu Liansheng felt awkward just thinking about it, and Lin Wanying felt awkward too. Gu Liansheng’s job and looks were actually quite good, among remarriage candidates, his conditions were solid, it wasn’t as if he couldn’t find anyone. Ending up married so muddleheadedly like this must be very unsatisfying to him.
Gu Liansheng looked at this pretty girl, no need to ask, her ex-husband’s heart clearly still belonged to his ex-wife too. She was a wronged party as well, how could he bear to blame her.
“How about this, why don’t the two of us try living together for a while?” Gu Liansheng suggested.
“Sure. Not even trying would be an insult to the marriage certificate in our hands.” Lin Wanying liked this kind of straightforwardness, if it really didn’t work out, they’d deal with it then.
“You’ve seen my brother, he’s slippery and hard to manage. His former sister-in-law wouldn’t even look at him. Let me tell you now, you might get so angry at my brother you’ll want a divorce.”
She believed the “hard to manage” part, though being angered to tears seemed unlikely. Lin Wanying said, “My family has a martial arts tradition. I got beaten plenty as a kid myself, so let me tell you too, if your brother is really like you describe, he’ll get beaten.”
That would be great, Gu Liansheng said: “What boy doesn’t get beaten sometimes? As long as you don’t beat him crippled or chase him off, beat away as you like.”
That settled that, how naughty could he be compared to how naughty she’d been as a kid?
Lin Wanying asked, “Any other questions?”
Since they were already making do with each other, what else could there be. Gu Liansheng said, “Can’t cover everything at once, we’ll discuss things as they come up.”
…
The two had just finished talking when the ex-husband and ex-wife also came out, marriage certificate in hand, arm in arm, laughing so loudly it grated on the ears. In five years, neither had ever seen the other look this happy.
Had the previous Lin Wanying and Gu Liansheng really made them this miserable?
Unluckily, they were spotted. Xu Youcheng felt guilty toward Lin Wanying, but being chased all the way to the capital upset him. Afraid Lin Wanying would hurt the one he loved, Xu Youcheng hurried to shield Li Qiuzhen behind him, bursting out with grievance:
“Lin Wanying, I never loved you, not from beginning to end. After the divorce, marrying is my own freedom, please don’t take your anger out on the woman I love.”
Lin Wanying was hurt by this ungrateful man’s words, and asked in disbelief, “Back in the village, you always hid behind me. Today you’re rushing in front to protect her? Do you really think I’d hit her, or that her ex-husband would hit you?”
Xu Youcheng glanced at the still-handsome, stern-faced ex-husband beside her, and said, “You two should just accept reality. Stop clinging to us. We’re truly in love, we overcame every obstacle to finally be together, and we’re not turning back.”
…
This was truly too much. A man ought to protect his wife, if Xu Youcheng could protect his new bride, couldn’t Gu Liansheng do the same?
Gu Liansheng grabbed Lin Wanying’s hand, fingers interlaced, standing firmly by her side, and said, “We’re both already divorced, each with our own life now. Let’s not rehash old rights and wrongs. You live your life well, we’ll live ours well, that’s all there is to it.”
Xu Youcheng and Li Qiuzhen were both stunned. By all logic, Lin Wanying and Gu Liansheng shouldn’t even know each other, how could they be married?
Li Qiuzhen stepped forward. “Liansheng, I’m very grateful for the five years you took care of me, but please, don’t say something out of anger just because you’re upset. How can the two of you possibly get married?”
“If you two can get married, which law says we can’t?” Lin Wanying shot back.
Li Qiuzhen couldn’t answer that, she just felt it was somehow wrong. Thinking about it carefully, she realized it was fear deep down: if Gu Liansheng and Lin Wanying built a good life together, it would upset her.
But that wasn’t a reason to stop someone else’s marriage. Li Qiuzhen asked, “You’re holding hands, is this really a marriage?”
Gu Liansheng took out the marriage certificate he’d just gotten: “Just like you two, we’re really married.”
…
Nothing left to say then. Li Qiuzhen’s face went pale, and she said coldly, “If you two insist on this disgusting thing, and end up unhappy, don’t come crawling back to embarrass yourselves in front of us.”
Lin Wanying was truly furious now. She used to like Xu Youcheng enough to tolerate his coldness, but she wasn’t about to tolerate someone else’s.
She scolded, “Xu Youcheng never did housework, couldn’t even carry water, and you managed to live well with him. What makes you think I can’t live well with Gu Liansheng? We’ll definitely live better than you two!”
Li Qiuzhen didn’t want to argue and only said, “There’s no need to carry water in the city, and no shame in not doing housework, you can hire a maid. Gu Liansheng only ever talks about work and cases, with no romance in him at all. You’ll never get a shred of emotional connection from him, but sure, you two can shack up together, that’s fine.”
…
That was exactly what Lin Wanying was preparing to do, shack up together. As long as it wasn’t worse than her life with Xu Youcheng, she’d make do.
The marriage certificates were done, and Gu Liansheng’s godmother had already pasted a double happiness sign on the door. The courtyard compound didn’t give each family much space, Gu Liansheng’s family had two rooms, one main room, with the kitchen built under the eaves, and to use the toilet you had to go to the public facility outside the alley, not a big deal, since rural areas had dry latrines too and she was used to it.
Gu Liansheng said he was almost due for a housing assignment, could get a two-bedroom with a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom, so eventually they’d have proper living conditions with a gas stove, running water, and a private toilet, assuming he lived long enough to get to his turn for housing.
…
Since she now had her marriage certificate, and the man beside her had changed to the remarried Gu Liansheng, she felt a bit unused to it. Lin Wanying lay with her back to him, thinking over everything that had happened that day.
Xu Youcheng hadn’t liked her, but he still had physical needs, once or twice a month, never lasting long, over in ten minutes, and then he’d turn his back to her like a stranger. This had bothered her for five years. Now she understood, it was a sign he didn’t like her. So infuriating.
Between her and Gu Liansheng, there wasn’t even any liking to speak of, especially since it was only after they’d gotten their certificate that he’d found out about the ex-husband and ex-wife business, thanks to the two brothers’ scheming, his heart must be quite resistant to it all, probably not even willing to do that kind of thing.
She sighed deeply and didn’t want to say anything more.
Gu Liansheng was flushed red with a physiological reaction, feeling stimulated. With his ex-wife’s cold indifference, he’d never once lost control like this. What was going on today?
If his body was reacting, did that mean he liked her in his heart? It had only been a day, where would liking come from so soon?
But his hot face and hot body couldn’t lie. He kept himself pressed against the edge of the bed, not daring to get closer, they were just making do together after all, it wouldn’t do to think about that sort of thing on the very first day. It would scare her.
Neither of them could sleep. Lin Wanying waited for Gu Liansheng to make a move, Gu Liansheng, afraid of scaring her, kept holding back.
Lin Wanying tossed and turned uncomfortably, Gu Liansheng was suffering just as much from holding back. As long as she wasn’t asleep, how could he possibly sleep?
Gu Liansheng took the initiative and started talking: “My godmother suggested we host a few tables for a small wedding banquet. What do you think?”
Of course Lin Wanying was willing. The law recognized the marriage certificate, but relatives and neighbors still cared about a proper wedding. She said, “I’m out of money, but if you’re willing to spend on the banquet, then let’s do it.”