Chapter 132: Belated Rebellion
“I said we should get married. Straight away.”
He Yunzhi looked at him decisively. Her eyes held certainty, reckless abandon, and a sliver of anticipation so faint it was almost impossible to notice.
She wanted to go crazy—completely crazy.
Her parents wanted her to get married, didn’t they? Fine. She would get married. Immediately.
They wanted a good son-in-law? Well, the man in front of her was exactly that.
He was handsome, well-educated, and came from an excellent family.
He was perfect in every way. Surely that would satisfy them!
Even when someone who was usually calm went off the rails, there was still a certain rationality to her considerations. At the very least, he was good-looking, well-born, highly educated, and appeared gentle and polite.
She had assumed Gu Jingchen would think she was insane. Instead, he merely looked at her and asked, “Are you sure?”
She nodded firmly. “I’m sure.”
A wild, uninhibited exhilaration began surging madly from the depths of her heart. She was certain she wanted to do this.
“All right.”
Gu Jingchen put away the résumé and stood up. “Let’s go.”
This time, it was He Yunzhi’s turn to stare at him in shock. “Go where? What are we doing?”
Gu Jingchen smiled gently. “Aren’t we getting married? We’ll buy wedding rings, then get our marriage license. You brought your ID card, right?”
He Yunzhi nodded blankly. “I did.”
Then she shook her head. “But today’s Saturday. The Civil Affairs Bureau is closed.”
“That’s not a problem.”
He tapped his phone and dialed a number. Not far away, Liang Zheng’s phone immediately began to ring.
When Liang Zheng saw the name on his screen, he turned around in surprise and glanced at him. What was he up to?
Still, he answered. Gu Jingchen’s voice came through, carrying an annoyingly smug lilt. “We’re going to get our marriage license in a little while. You can take care of it, right?”
“You two? Getting married?”
Liang Zheng raised his brows in astonishment. Although he had carefully matched the two of them, wasn’t this moving a little too fast?
Gu Jingchen glanced at Meili, then asked, “Just tell me whether you can handle it.”
“...I can.”
For Young Master Liang, a minor matter like this only required one phone call.
After hanging up, he nodded toward Gu Jingchen with an unpleasant expression.
He had wanted to eliminate all potential rivals, but seeing how smoothly everything was going still made him unhappy.
After all, he and Qi Meili had kissed just moments ago, only for her to delete him moments later...
If Han Mo could hear his thoughts, he would have wiped away tears of sorrow. He hadn’t even managed to kiss her on the lips!
But He Huanhuan’s situation was special. He simply couldn’t convince himself that, because her body was already twenty, they could take things any further.
She was, after all, only eighteen. That was truly very young.
Sometimes Han Mo felt that when he took her and Qi Meili out, he looked less like their companion and more like an older relative taking two children outside. Whenever they brought up some newfangled topic, he couldn’t understand a word of it.
If he tried to force his way into the conversation, he always said something wrong. He constantly felt that growing older meant everything he did became painfully awkward.
For example, right now, they were following Gu Jingchen and He Yunzhi to buy wedding rings.
He Huanhuan and Qi Meili were leaning over the counter, choosing with utmost seriousness. He Huanhuan turned to him and asked, “Do you think the bow-shaped one looks good?”
He nodded. “The smaller one looks better.”
The large one seemed a little too flashy.
The moment he finished speaking, the two girls suddenly covered their mouths and giggled.
He was even more confused. “Then we’ll get the bigger one? More eye-catching?”
The two of them burst into louder laughter. He was genuinely baffled. “Then should I buy both for you?”
He Huanhuan’s eyes curved with laughter. “Meili and I just made a bet. I said that if I didn’t say anything, you’d help me buy both of them. Meili didn’t believe me.”
She looked at him, her eyes full of triumphant certainty. “I won! Hahaha!”
He couldn’t help laughing along. “What’s the prize?”
He Huanhuan swiftly leaned close to his ear and announced in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, “For the next month, you’re not allowed to kiss Liang Zheng!”
Young Master Liang, who had been dragged into the crossfire for no reason: ...
Cancel the contest. Immediately. Right now.
He Yunzhi didn’t have much of an opinion about the wedding ring. What she was really looking forward to was her parents’ reaction after they got the marriage license.
The saleswoman did her best to make a recommendation. “Miss, your fingers are long and slender. Why not try this pear-shaped diamond? It would really complement your—”
But He Yunzhi merely shook her head. “They all look about the same. Just pick one.”
Gu Jingchen could tell that her mind was elsewhere, so he nodded at the saleswoman. “Please choose a larger one that suits her.”
The saleswoman’s eyes lit up instantly. “Of course, no trouble at all...”
Naturally, it wasn’t any trouble. What was that saying again? The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish!
No, wait—the bigger the diamond, the higher the commission!
She immediately selected an even larger pear-shaped diamond and held it out for them to see. “What do you think of this one?”
Money had to be made, but her sense of aesthetics still had to be upheld.
He Yunzhi’s fingers were long and slender, and the pear-shaped diamond made them look even more delicate.
He Yunzhi glanced at the ring and couldn’t help frowning. “Isn’t it a little too big?”
It seemed rather extravagant.
The saleswoman’s face stiffened for a second. Oh no, she had been too greedy.
Gu Jingchen, however, shook his head with a smile. “There’s nothing wrong with a larger wedding ring. If you like smaller ones, I’ll buy you a few more later.”
He Huanhuan nodded in agreement from the side. “Bigger is better. It’ll be more noticeable. People will be able to see it from far away!”
He Yunzhi paused.
That was true. A bigger ring would be more noticeable. A bigger ring would be more brazen.
Wasn’t that exactly what she wanted?
She unconsciously tightened her fist, then held out her hand. “This one, then. Put it on for me.”
She was going to wear this ring to get their marriage license, and wear it home afterward.
She was even a little impatient to see her parents’ reactions—shock, anger, panic...
She was looking forward to every bit of it.
After buying the ring, they drove to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
At the back entrance stood Gao Ming, an old acquaintance of Liang Zheng’s. Beside him was a woman in her forties, her face pulled into a deep scowl. She looked extremely displeased.
No one was happy about being called in to work overtime on a weekend.
Gao Ming nudged her with his elbow. “Don’t look so miserable. Smile a little.”
The woman’s expression darkened further. “Secretary, I can’t smile.”
It was a rare weekend, and an even rarer occasion when her husband had been thoughtful enough to take her to the cinema. Then she had been summoned here. How could she possibly smile?
“You...”
Gao Ming was just about to lecture her when, from the corner of his eye, he spotted several cars approaching. He hurriedly pulled her forward to greet them.
“Oh, Zheng, you’re here! Was the traffic bad? Who’s getting married? You even had to trouble yourself by calling me...”
The woman’s obsequious attitude stirred a little curiosity in her. Exactly who had enough influence to make their secretary treat them like this?
Before she could investigate further, a thick red envelope was held out in front of her. It was substantial—and utterly mesmerizing.
Her eyes went wide. “Th-this...”
Gu Jingchen extended the envelope toward her. “Sorry to make you work overtime on your day off. Just a little wedding cheer. Please accept it.”
The woman’s eyes shone. She whipped around to look at Gao Ming. “Secretary, what do you think...?”
Gao Ming smiled and nodded. “Take it. It’s fine.”
For a minor matter like this, it couldn’t be considered a bribe.
The woman hesitated. “Secretary, I don’t dare.”
After thinking it over, she added, “You hold on to it for me.”
She wanted the money, but she wasn’t willing to take on the risk.
Gao Ming could only sigh helplessly. He accepted the red envelope, then handed it back to her. “Take it.”
The woman’s eyes darted toward the corner. “Secretary, go over there and give it to me.”
There were no surveillance cameras there. It would be safer.
Gao Ming was speechless. “The surveillance cameras at the back entrance aren’t on Saturdays!”
Big Sis nodded. “Mm-hmm. Go over there and give it to them, give it to them...”
It absolutely has to be foolproof!
[Girls, I’m feeling a bit better today, so here’s the update I owed you. Thank you for your concern, and thank you to Sister Yierlin for the Great God endorsement, to Sister “I’ll Definitely Get Rich” for the Xiu’er gift, and to Sister Lu Jie from Dimen Dao for the character summon. Thank you for all your gifts, everyone. I’m going back to write tomorrow’s chapter now!]