I slept with my sister's classmate, and she turned out to be my boss.

The second weekend of March.

The weather in the provincial capital is much warmer than it was a few weeks ago.

He Ying returned from Beijing on Friday night.

The Party School courses are nearing their end.

She asked her homeroom teacher for half a day off, and the teacher asked her one question:

"What's up?"

"Getting a marriage certificate."

The homeroom teacher smiled and approved it.

He Ying did not stay in bed until 7:30 a.m. on Saturday.

After washing up, she changed into a light-colored coat, let her hair down, and didn't wear heavy makeup, only a light layer of lipstick.

Chen Dapeng is ready.

He wore a clean white shirt with a dark jacket over it, and his hair was neatly combed, making him look even more handsome.

There were two household registration books on the coffee table.

He heard He Ying come out, glanced at her, and then the corners of his mouth curved up.

"Sister Ying, let's go."

"Um."

The two went outside, hailed a taxi downstairs, and gave the address of the Civil Affairs Bureau's marriage registration office.

He Ying sat in the back seat by the window, turning her head to look out the window.

Chen Dapeng sat next to her, holding her hand.

"Sister Ying, are you nervous?"

He Ying turned her head to look at him, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly:

"I'm not nervous. How about you?"

"A little."

He Ying smiled and squeezed his hand even tighter.

The taxi stopped in front of the Civil Affairs Bureau.

The two got out of the car, stood in front of the steps, and looked up at the gray building—

The national emblem was hanging above the entrance, and there were already people queuing up at the door.

Several young couples stood on the steps, talking in hushed tones.

Chen Dapeng stood next to He Ying and also looked up at the glass door.

Then he turned his head and reached out to take her hand:

"Sister Ying, let's go."

The two walked side by side up the steps, through the glass doors, and into the hall.

There weren't many people in the hall; several couples were scattered in front of a few windows.

Chen Dapeng first pressed a button on the ticket machine and took out a queue number slip that read "A012".

He glanced down at the form, then pulled He Ying to the waiting area and found a seat.

He glanced down at the electronic screen in front of him, which showed that A008 was being processed.

"There are three more pairs."

He Ying hummed in agreement.

About fifteen minutes later, the number on the electronic screen changed to A012.

An announcement came over the loudspeaker: "Please proceed to window number 3 if you are a customer (A012)."

Chen Dapeng stood up, and He Ying followed suit.

The two walked to window number 3, where a female staff member in her forties was sitting. She glanced at the materials the two handed over and then began to check them page by page.

She entered the information from her ID card and household registration book into the system, then looked up at the two of them:

"Did you bring the photos?"

Chen Dapeng took out two two-inch red-background group photos from his pocket and handed them over.

The staff took it, checked it, confirmed it met the specifications, and then scanned it.

A preview of a photo of the two of them popped up on the screen. They were wearing red backgrounds, white shirts, and sitting side by side, with the corners of their mouths slightly upturned.

The staff member didn't ask any further questions, typed on the keyboard for a while, printed out a form, and handed it to the window:

"Check the information, and sign if everything is correct."

Chen Dapeng took it and looked at it once. After confirming that it was correct, he signed his name.

He Ying took the form and looked it over, then picked up a pen and wrote her name in the signature column.

The staff member took the signed form, did a few more operations in the system, and then pulled out two red certificates from the printer next to him.

She turned the certificate to the side with the national emblem, stamped it in the date section, and handed it over:

Congratulations to both of you.

Chen Dapeng took the two marriage certificates and glanced down at the covers—

The lettering is red and in gold, with the national emblem printed at the top.

He opened the cover, glanced at the printed name and date inside, and then closed it again.

He Ying stood to the side, glanced down at the book in her hand, her gaze lingering between the names "He Ying" and "Chen Dapeng" for a moment, and then the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

She closed the marriage certificate and put it in her pocket, then looked up at Chen Dapeng.

The two did not linger at the window and walked out of the marriage registration office hall side by side.

Chen Dapeng stood on the steps, took the two marriage certificates out of his pocket, looked at them again, and then carefully put them away.

He Ying stood next to him, watching him carefully put away the marriage certificate, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

Chen Dapeng turned his head to look at her and suddenly said:

"Sister Ying, it's legal now."

He Ying's lips curved slightly:

"It's legal now."

The two stood at the door for a while.

Chen Dapeng took out his phone, glanced at the weather and lighting, then turned his head and asked:

"Sister Ying, let's take a picture."

He Ying nodded:

"Um."

The two stood side by side in front of the Civil Affairs Bureau sign.

Chen Dapeng raised his phone, pointed the camera at the two of them, and pressed the shutter.

In the photo, He Ying tilts her head slightly towards him, with a faint smile on her lips.

Chen Dapeng stood a little straighter than her, but the corners of his mouth were also curved.

Chen Dapeng put down his phone, glanced at the photo, and then put the phone back in his pocket:

"Sister Ying, let's go home."

He Ying smiled and said, "Let's go home."

The two walked down the steps and slowly walked along the sidewalk.

……

That evening, Chen Dapeng posted a message on his WeChat Moments.

There was no text accompanying it, only a photo and a heart emoji.

The photo was taken during the day.

In a red-background photo, the two are sitting side by side in white shirts, both with smiles on their faces.

Less than a minute after posting it, Lin Chen gave it the first like.

Then he commented, "Finally..."

Chen Dapeng saw the comment, smiled, and didn't reply.

He put his phone on the coffee table and got up to pour two glasses of water.

One cup was placed in front of He Ying, and the other was taken by herself as she sat down on the sofa.

He Ying picked up her phone and glanced at the post on WeChat Moments. When she saw Lin Chen's comment, the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

She neither liked nor commented; she simply put her phone back on the coffee table, picked up her water glass, and took a sip.

After a while, He Ying picked up her phone again and scrolled to her father's family group chat.

The group chat was quiet, with no new messages.

She sent a screenshot of the post to the group chat, then put down her phone without saying a word.

……

The next morning, when He Ying woke up, she found a new message in her father's family group chat—

He Yi reposted that post on WeChat Moments without saying anything or adding any emojis, only adding a sentence when reposting:

"The children got their marriage certificate today."

After the message was sent, the group was quiet for a few minutes, and then Uncle He Jianguo replied:

"Congratulations."

Second Uncle He Jianye also followed suit:

"Congratulations! The He family has good news."

He Ying saw the sentence her father forwarded and the several replies below it, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly, but she did not reply in the group.

She placed her phone on the bedside table and glanced at Chen Dapeng, who was still fast asleep.

He lay on his side, his arm loosely draped over her waist, a faint smile playing on his lips.

He Ying looked at him for a while, but didn't wake him up.

She quietly lay back on her pillow and closed her eyes.

After lying there for an unknown amount of time, Chen Dapeng woke up.

He turned his head and saw that He Ying still had her eyes closed, so he didn't disturb her.

He looked at her quietly for a few seconds, then bent down and touched her forehead.

He Ying's eyelashes fluttered, but she didn't open her eyes. Instead, the corners of her mouth curved slightly, and she mumbled something.

"You rascal, you secretly kissed me..."