By the time they arrived in town, it was almost lunchtime.
Having ridden all the way, Chen Zhicheng was also quite tired, so the two of them discussed going to the state-run restaurant first. When they arrived, there weren’t many people inside. Looking at the menu board showing today’s dishes, they asked for Yang Tao’s opinion and ordered two dishes: braised pork and stir-fried pork with long beans. The meal cost 2.4 yuan and one grain coupon. After paying, they chose a seat by the window and waited.
Since there were few customers, the dishes were served quickly, along with two bowls of rice. The portions were quite generous. Yang Tao tasted it and found it surprisingly good. The two of them ate happily.
After finishing, they didn’t delay. They originally planned to go register their marriage first, but at this time the office staff were likely on their lunch break. So they decided to first visit the photo studio and take a few pictures as keepsakes—and also send one to Chen Zhicheng’s family. Earlier in the city, they hadn’t taken photos because they were worried it would be inconvenient to collect them later.
At the photo studio, only an apprentice was there. He said the photographer had gone home for lunch and would take about an hour or so to return.
There wasn’t much to do in the town, and they had already bought everything they needed in the city. So they decided to wait at the studio.
Yang Tao took a handful of candies from her bag and gave them to the apprentice, asking if they could sit inside and wait for the photographer. The apprentice brought them a long bench and placed it near the door. The two thanked him and sat down.
They waited for nearly an hour. Around one o’clock, the photographer finally returned.
They borrowed the studio’s space and changed into the new clothes they had bought in the city—white shirts. Yang Tao wore her black skirt. She also fixed her hair, which had been messed up by the bicycle ride. Then they sat in front of the backdrop as instructed by the photographer.
For the couple photo, they took two shots: one sitting side by side, and another with Yang Tao sitting while Chen Zhicheng stood beside her with one hand on the chair back.
They also each took individual portraits.
Three copies of the couple photo were developed—one for themselves, and one each to be sent to Chen Zhicheng’s grandparents and parents.
After paying, the photographer gave them a receipt and told them to return in five days to collect the photos.
They changed back into their old clothes and then left the studio, heading straight to the commune office.
At the office, staff had already returned from lunch. They were the only couple there to register.
They handed in the marriage certificate documents from the brigade, filled out the required forms, and followed the staff in reciting a slogan. After that, they received their marriage certificate.
In this era, the marriage certificate looked like a certificate of honor, listing names, ages, and other basic information. Along with it, they also received ration coupons—sugar coupons, cloth coupons, oil coupons, and quilt coupons.
Yang Tao held the marriage certificate in her hands, finding it somewhat magical. This single sheet of paper had now tied her to the man beside her.
She suddenly realized she had never asked how his name was written. Only now, seeing it clearly, she stared at it for a long time—so long that Chen Zhicheng took the certificate from her and folded it into the bag.
“What’s wrong? Were you staring at it that long because you found a flower on it?”
He teased her lightly while putting it away.
The reason she froze was because his name was exactly the same as the male lead in the novel she had stayed up reading before transmigrating. No wonder she felt it sounded familiar when Zhou Yan called him “Brother Yi Chen.” At the time she hadn’t known the exact characters, so she thought it might just be a homophone and didn’t think further.
But now, not only was the name identical, even his family background was very similar to the novel’s male lead. The only difference was that in the book, his grandfather had already passed away, and it mainly described events after he returned to the city in 1978.
Hearing his question, Yang Tao forced herself to stay calm. Her mind was in chaos, and she didn’t sound very enthusiastic, but she also didn’t want him to notice anything unusual.
“I was just curious about the marriage certificate, so I looked at it a bit longer. Let’s head back now.”
Originally, after getting the marriage certificate and receiving the coupons, she had planned to use them in town to buy more candies, fabric, and other things.
But now she had no mood at all—she just wanted to go back and sort out her thoughts properly.