In order to save time, Jian Bianlin had Chu Jian stay in the car while he took the keys to their two families’ homes to get their hukou[3] [document identifying one’s household and permanent residence] booklets. Chu Jian’s heart felt as if it was still floating somewhere in the air and had not landed on solid ground yet. Right as she pushed open the door to get some air, she saw a woman who lived on the first floor of the building walking over with a little boy. “Chu Jian?”
Chu Jian paused blankly.
“Auntie Chen.” Jian Bianlin stepped in and replied first.
Ah, right, the auntie’s surname was Chen. “Auntie Chen.” Chu Jian followed suit and greeted her.
Ever since he was a young, Jian Bianlin had a photographic memory when it came to people, unlike Chu Jian, who was practically face blind. As a child, she could run into the same neighbour several times and still be unable to sort out whether she should address that person as shu shu [a younger uncle] or bo bo [an older uncle][4], and she was even more unclear on what each auntie’s surname was. Regarding this problem, she had actually had quite the little method for dealing with it. When they went to each home to pay Lunar New Year’s greetings, she would trail right behind Jian Bianlin, and if Jian Bianlin gave greetings to “Auntie Chen, Uncle Du,” she would also address the people as “Auntie Chen, Uncle Du.” She never went wrong this way. Who would have thought? Even though he had left Hangzhou for so long already, he still distinctly remembered all these old neighbours.
“You two came back together?” The elderly auntie smilingly looked them both over. “I just saw your dad not long ago. He mentioned that he was going to Shanghai and would be staying there for a while? Why are the two of you back? You have something to do?”
Jian Bianlin was straightforward in his answer. “We came back to register our marriage.”
……
Silence.
Auntie Chen choked on this for quite some time before bursting out rather excitedly, “You two are married?!”
All the joking that was normally tossed around was still only joking. Since Jian Bianlin became a celebrity, they all felt that he would marry a… Anyway, it would be some sort of weird person whom he would marry and, no matter what, that person would not be Chu Jian, the childhood friend whom he had grown up with.
A single sentence managed to successfully draw all the people who were moving about in the community compound over to them.
Everyone gave various displays of surprise and excitement: “I knew way back that the two of you would get married.” “Oh my, now your two families are going to be even closer.” “When are you planning on having the reception? You can’t not come back to Hangzhou to have it.” “Little Jian is a famous star. Will you hold a—what is that called? Oh, right!—a press conference?” …
Jian Bianlin showed utterly no emotion on his face. He merely stated that he was worried that they would be too late so he dared not delay any further, and then he told Chu Jian to get into the vehicle. While he was still outside the car, he was grabbed at again by some people and pressed with a few more questions. Hurriedly, he hopped inside as well.
Turning on the map navigation feature, he drove away.
After entering the gates of the Marriage Registration Centre of the Civil Affairs Bureau, he shut off the engine.
Unfastening his seatbelt, he leaned over, reached his arm around in front of her waist, and pressed her seatbelt release button. In that instant when he lifted his hand back up, he touched it against her forehead, saying in a low voice, “We’re off to get married.”
Your Smile that is Even More Enchanting (4)
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