Zhou Ji did not expect her to reply so quickly: "Have you thought it through?"
"Yes," Xin Zhiyao's voice was firm: "I've thought it through, but I have a request."
"Go ahead."
"I don't want to tell my parents about the marriage yet."
Zhou Ji was silent for a few seconds: "This is not proper etiquette. Marriage is a major event. Although I lived abroad for a while, I know the rules for marriage in our country. The groom's family should meet the bride's parents first, get their approval, then discuss the betrothal gifts, and set the wedding date. This is the correct procedure."
Xin Zhiyao's lips were tightly pressed together: "I don't want them to know. If they find out about the pregnancy, they'll definitely make me abort the child."
Xin Wu cares a lot about his reputation. If they found out the truth, she would face scolding and beatings.
Zhou Ji did not speak on the other end.
Xin Zhiyao was afraid he would go back on his word, and said with a trembling voice: "I don't want anything else, I just want to get married immediately."
Her voice choked up at the end: "Professor Zhou, I just want a home."
Xin Zhiyao's voice, transmitted through the current, reached Zhou Ji's ears.
He seemed to see that little girl standing alone and helpless in the darkness, looking at him with pleading, helpless eyes.
Silence flowed between them, and Xin Zhiyao nervously awaited her "sentence."
After a long pause, Zhou Ji finally spoke: "This phone number is my WeChat. Add me, send me your basic information, and I'll tell you more after we schedule a time."
This was an agreement.
Xin Zhiyao smiled with joy: "Okay."
"It's a bit cool outside tonight, you should go back."
He actually knew she was outside.
Xin Zhiyao responded softly: "Mm."
"Rest early, and have sweet dreams."
Xin Zhiyao wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but Zhou Ji's voice, coming through the phone, was surprisingly gentle.
Later, countless times she would think that this phone call tonight was the most correct choice she had ever made in her life.
She rushed towards Zhou Ji with all her courage, and he, not disappointing her, gave her a home.
On Monday morning, Xin Zhiyao, for the first time, took a day off. She walked out of the school gate, clutching her household registration book.
She had asked Lin Haiying for the household registration book yesterday before returning to school, saying the school needed it. She had no idea how nervous she was when she asked. The thought of what she was going to use it for made her even more nervous, for fear that Lin Haiying would ask too many questions and she would slip up.
A black Mercedes-Benz was parked in an inconspicuous spot at the corner of the road. Zhou Ji saw the figure through the rearview mirror, opened the car door, and got out.
Xin Zhiyao froze for a moment when she saw Zhou Ji, her heart pounding.
He stood tall and straight beside the passenger seat. The well-tailored suit made him look even more imposing. His face was refined and handsome, with a straight nose bridge and calm eyes.
He was dressed so formally. Compared to him, Xin Zhiyao looked like an immature university student.
She nervously tugged at her clothes, annoyed at herself for not dressing up.
Zhou Ji might have also noticed the difference between them. His gaze shifted between Xin Zhiyao and himself, then he smiled: "I was being too serious."
Xin Zhiyao quickly waved her hands: "No, it's my fault. I, I should have dressed up. I'll go back and change right away."
After saying that, Xin Zhiyao turned to go back.
A hand grabbed her wrist. The warm touch made her hand tremble. She instinctively turned her head and met Zhou Ji's handsome and refined face.
She heard him say: "We're right on time. If we go back now, we'll miss it."
Xin Zhiyao stopped in her tracks.
"Besides, this problem is easily solved, isn't it?"
As he spoke, Xin Zhiyao watched as Zhou Ji took off his suit jacket, revealing a white shirt underneath. He loosened his perfectly tied tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt.
With this, he lost some of his seriousness and formality, gaining a bit of wildness and... sexiness.
Her gaze was burned by his prominent Adam's apple, collarbone, and further down... She quickly lowered her eyes.
"How about it? Do I look like an old cow eating young grass now?" Zhou Ji, sensing Xin Zhiyao's nervousness, teased her intentionally.
In Xin Zhiyao's eyes, Zhou Ji had always been a serious person. Who would have thought he could joke like this?
She was stunned for a moment, then the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curve upwards.
He didn't look like it, but his age was still there.
Xin Zhiyao only dared to think this silently in her heart. She heard that old men were sensitive about their age, hehe.
"We're running out of time, get in the car."
Zhou Ji gentlemanly opened the car door. After saying thank you, Xin Zhiyao got into the passenger seat.
Zhou Ji then got into the car and handed Xin Zhiyao a bag: "Breakfast."
She hadn't expected him to prepare breakfast for her. Xin Zhiyao had waited until her dormmates had left before daring to leave, not even daring to go to the cafeteria.
Actually, it wouldn't have been a problem if she had gone, but she felt guilty, like a thief.
"Thank you," Xin Zhiyao accepted it with great trepidation.
"Eat while it's hot," Zhou Ji said as he started the car.
Xin Zhiyao held the few warm steamed buns and milk in her hands. As she opened the bag, she remembered something and asked him, "Have you eaten?"
"I've eaten, don't worry about me," Zhou Ji said, gripping the steering wheel and looking ahead.
"Oh," Xin Zhiyao responded and took a bite of a steamed bun.
They were vegetable buns. Seeing that they weren't greasy, Xin Zhiyao's heart involuntarily became happier.
After eating two steamed buns, Xin Zhiyao put the straw into the milk. Unexpectedly, the white liquid overflowed from the straw.
Pa-, pa-,
Afraid of getting it on the car, she frantically looked for paper.
"The tissues are in the storage compartment in front of you," Zhou Ji's voice came from the side.
He was driving, yet he knew she needed tissues.
Xin Zhiyao thought to herself, and opened the storage compartment to take out a tissue and wipe her hands.
By the time they arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau, Xin Zhiyao had finished her breakfast.
Zhou Ji watched her throw the breakfast bag into the trash can at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau and drew a conclusion.
Well, her appetite was decent. She probably didn't have any obvious morning sickness yet.
As soon as she entered the Civil Affairs Bureau, Xin Zhiyao's head went blank, feeling an unreal sense of detachment.
She followed Zhou Ji like a puppet the entire time. When they were taking photos, he told her to smile, and she smiled. When he told her to fill out forms, she filled them out.
Zhou Ji, on the other hand, seemed very familiar with the process of getting married.
In the end, she couldn't help but ask: "Professor Zhou, have you been married before?"
At that moment, Zhou Ji was handing the completed forms to the staff. At her words, not only Zhou Ji but also the staff members looked at her.
..
Xin Zhiyao realized she had said the wrong thing and immediately felt awkward.
"Why do you ask?" Zhou Ji asked her.
Xin Zhiyao's face turned red: "I saw you were very familiar with the procedures here."
Zhou Ji smiled: "The staff can testify that this is my first marriage. I just did my homework online beforehand. I don't like to fight battles unprepared."
He then looked at her deeply: "You are the exception."
Xin Zhiyao's heart, because of his words, began to beat uncontrollably faster.
Ahhh, Professor Zhou, do you know how flirtatious those words are?
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