The Civil Affairs Bureau wasn’t crowded.

Women like Hu Siqi, wearing sunglasses and a sun hat, were especially rare, making her particularly eye-catching in the hall. She had indeed become much more beautiful than before, dressed in designer clothes with an elegant demeanor that made her stand out in the crowd.

However, her attire was even more “outstanding”—a long shirt, long pants, and a thin, soft silk scarf wrapped around her swan-like neck.

Yu Hao instinctively asked, “Aren’t you hot?”

As if someone had trespassed into forbidden territory, Hu Siqi’s expression became flustered. She adjusted her scarf extremely unnaturally, covering her neck more thoroughly, and replied faintly, “It’s fine.” Then her gaze moved back and forth between the two of them, finally settling on Lu Huaizheng. She spoke softly, “Congratulations, after waiting so many years.”

Lu Huaizheng didn’t respond. Hu Siqi turned her gaze toward Yu Hao, somewhat mockingly: “I thought once you left, you wouldn’t come back. Why did you decide to return to him? Did you discover that other men aren’t as good as him?”

Yu Hao’s expression changed slightly. She wanted to say, “You don’t need to speak like that.”

But Lu Huaizheng beat her to it.

“I went to find her.”

Hu Siqi smiled self-mockingly and said nothing more. Suddenly, a hand extended from the side—slender, white, perfectly proportioned, with fingers like spring onions holding out a business card to her.

She looked at it suspiciously.

Yu Hao didn’t seem bothered at all and smiled, saying, “My business card. You can call me if you need anything.”

After hesitating for a while, Hu Siqi had just accepted it when her husband arrived.

The man hurriedly entered through the door, adjusting his tie, looking travel-worn. He stopped in front of Hu Siqi in his formal suit, casually glancing to the side. He paused, somewhat surprised: “Yu Hao?”

The other two turned to look at Yu Hao.

Hu Siqi looked at the man with a cold smile.

The man ignored her and walked directly toward Yu Hao. “Long time no see.”

Yu Hao maintained her politeness and nodded: “Long time no see.”

The man glanced at Lu Huaizheng beside her and asked Yu Hao, “Here to get married?”

Yu Hao had little patience: “What else?”

The man was very accustomed to her cold attitude and persisted in chatting with Yu Hao, completely oblivious to the atmosphere. He dismissively nodded toward Lu Huaizheng and asked frivolously, “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

That provocative glance instantly infuriated Lu Huaizheng. Who was this punk?

Nevertheless, he remained composed in his seat, first scanning the man with his eyes, then turning away indifferently and looking elsewhere, biting his lower lip and smiling.

Before Yu Hao could speak, the man continued, “Marriage is the grave of love. As someone with experience, I advise you to reconsider.”

Lu Huaizheng felt that if the man said one more word, he would draw his gun.

But then Yu Hao unexpectedly said with a sweet smile, “Reconsider whom? You? I’d rather die.”

Pfft.

The tension instantly dissipated.

Lu Huaizheng found it amusing, leaning back in his chair, his shoulders shaking with laughter. He stroked Yu Hao’s head with his hand, wearing an expression of helpless resignation.

The man was somewhat embarrassed and angry but took a deep breath and pointedly gestured at Yu Hao.

Hu Siqi could no longer bear it. She stood up, clenched her fists, and said through gritted teeth, “Enough, Di Lang!”

With that, she turned and left, her high heels clicking loudly on the hall floor. Before Yu Hao and the others could react, Hu Siqi had already headed upstairs to the divorce section.

After the two had walked away.

Yu Hao turned around to find Lu Huaizheng eyeing her suspiciously.

She volunteered without being asked, “My classmate’s brother.”

Di Lang was Di Yanni’s brother. Di Yanni and Yu Hao were classmates in the repeat-year class. Di Lang had pursued Yu Hao for a year. Later, when he learned that Yu Hao had been admitted to Beijing Normal University, he followed her there and had once used clichéd tactics like arranging 999 roses at the university entrance.

Yu Hao didn’t like Di Yanni, so naturally had no fondness for her brother.

Lu Huaizheng responded with a drawn-out “Oh,” looking as if he understood, but didn’t inquire further.

Instead, Yu Hao became restless, feeling extremely guilty. She hurriedly spilled everything about this old history: “He pursued me before.”

“I can tell. He still seems to like you quite a bit.” Lu Huaizheng sighed, pulling her neck toward him and into his arms. He looked down at her and said lazily, “When it comes to romantic entanglements, you’ve had no fewer than me. So we’re even. In the future, don’t get upset with me about these irrelevant people, alright?”

“Who’s getting upset with you?”

“Then why were you looking at me like that earlier? Someone not in the know might think something happened between Hu Siqi and me.”

Now it was Yu Hao’s turn to sigh: “Let me put it this way, you’ve been in contact with her these past few years, right?”

Lu Huaizheng didn’t avoid the question and nodded frankly.

“We haven’t been in contact these years, right?”

“Mmm,” he nodded faintly.

Yu Hao frankly said, “I don’t suspect anything between you and her. If there was something, it would have happened long ago, not waiting until today. I’m not jealous either. I just feel it’s such a pity. Just a pity. I don’t know if you can understand this feeling. Of course, I know it’s not your fault. I only blame myself. Why was I so impulsive back then? If I hadn’t been so impulsive…” At this point, she turned to look at him, her eyes sparkling as she suddenly asked, “If I hadn’t left, would you have made your feelings clear?”

“I sent you a note through Jia Mian. Did you not receive it?”

Lu Huaizheng looked at her.

“What note?” Yu Hao asked suspiciously.

“During those days when you weren’t speaking to me, I was in training, so I asked Jia Mian to bring you a note. He went to your classroom to find you but said he couldn’t, so he gave it to Shang Qing.” After saying this, he glanced at her. “What, Shang Qing didn’t give it to you?”

“No.”

Silence fell. After a while, Yu Hao asked, “What did you write in the note?”

“Forgot,” he said casually.

Yu Hao twisted his ear. “Tell me or not?”

Lu Huaizheng raised his arm to block her hand. “We haven’t even gotten our marriage certificate yet, and you’re already being fierce.”

Lu Huaizheng was typically someone who responded better to gentleness than to force. Yu Hao reacted quickly, softening her tone, “Then will you please tell me?”

The man leaned close to her ear, biting it and teasing her slowly: “I won’t tell you.”

Yu Hao glared at him fiercely. “One more thing.”

The man had finished teasing her and straightened up, sitting properly to listen to her story.

Near the end of their first year of high school, a citywide high school basketball tournament was held. The 18th Middle School had made it to the finals for the first time in many years. The school leaders granted special leave to the school team members, excusing them from all classes except for a few core subjects. They even closed the basketball court for their exclusive use during training.

Lu Huaizheng’s notes and homework were all done by Yu Hao.

She bought a small notebook and copied the notes twice each day. For his copy, she specially used red and blue pens to highlight and organize important points, delivering them to the basketball court for him every evening. One day, after dinner, Yu Hao suddenly remembered she hadn’t given him the notes. Assuming he would still be training on the court, she went to deliver them but saw Lu Huaizheng and his friends sitting at a barbecue stall by the roadside, presumably having just finished playing. He wasn’t eating much, just sitting in a white shirt, leaning back in his chair, smoking, and looking at his phone.

Sitting beside him was a girl, Hu Siqi. In the stifling summer heat, with a beautiful sunset overhead and crimson clouds gathering above them, the scene looked particularly harmonious and peaceful. The girl had taken off her school uniform and hung it on her chair, wearing only a black tank top while eating barbecue skewers. As she ate, she fanned herself with her hand, causing her round breasts to rise and fall quite spectacularly.

The boys were all looking at her chest with somewhat improper intentions. Someone nudged Lu Huaizheng, who was looking at his phone. He raised his head, not understanding. The person gave him a suggestive look and pointed beside him. Lu Huaizheng looked over briefly, then turned back. Then he extinguished his cigarette, leaned back lazily in his chair, and whispered something to that boy, making them both laugh.

The flirtatious look in his eyes was something she had never seen before.

That smile was particularly alluring.

Yu Hao’s aversion to the opposite sex was something Lu Huaizheng understood. She had originally thought Lu Huaizheng was different from other boys. Seeing him that day, behaving like the other boys, that look made her shudder with disgust and rejection from the bottom of her heart. The cold war started from that moment.

Although she tried to persuade herself otherwise, she couldn’t. That’s why she had been avoiding him during that time.

Lu Huaizheng listened in bewilderment.

“Just because of that?”

“For me, this issue is punishable by death.”

By this time, they had been invited by the staff into the marriage registration office.

They sat on opposite sides. Lu Huaizheng’s posture was relaxed, his legs spread wide, leaning back against the chair. Yu Hao sat properly upright.

In front of each of them was a “Marriage Registration Declaration Form.”

Yu Hao was reading it word by word and said as she read, “Anyway, I felt at that time that all you boys were similar, so any previous good feelings I had for you completely disappeared.”

The staff member, seeing Yu Hao’s seriousness, rarely saw people bringing up old accounts during marriage registration, and couldn’t help but ask with a smile, “So how did you find your way back?”

Yu Hao reflexively replied, “Later I thought, you’re so handsome—”

She realized her mistake and abruptly stopped. Looking up, she saw the staff member smiling at her. Turning her head, she caught sight of Lu Huaizheng casually holding the declaration form, the corner of his mouth slightly raised. Embarrassed, she lowered her head, focusing intensely on the form, unwilling to say anything more.

Lu Huaizheng only briefly scanned the declaration form without reading further, then signed his name with a flourish in the declarant section. He spoke openly, not at all concerned about others being present: “Then you misunderstood me. I did look, I admit that, but it wasn’t intentional. If Fat Hui hadn’t pointed it out, I wouldn’t have known what was going on. What Fat Hui and I were laughing about was something else. I’ll explain later. Of course, you don’t need to think of me as too noble. I’m just an ordinary man, and what goes through my mind is just what goes through any man’s mind.”

Even the staff member gave Lu Huaizheng a thumbs-up for his honesty! Admirable! Military men are indeed different—so straightforward!

Unexpectedly, Yu Hao suddenly raised her hand, still holding the pen between her fingers. “You’re not ordinary. You’re not ordinary at all.”

She turned to look at him. “I checked last night. Ours is considered a military marriage. According to Article 26 of the Marriage Law of the People’s Republic of China, if the spouse of an active-duty military person wants a divorce, they must have the military person’s consent. For example, if our relationship breaks down and I file for divorce, if you don’t agree, even if I appeal to the court, I’ll lose the case unless you’ve committed a serious fault. These serious faults include bigamy or illegal cohabitation with someone else, drug addiction or gambling habits, or domestic violence—these three conditions. Ordinary people don’t have such complicated divorce procedures.”

“…You checked this last night?” Lu Huaizheng leaned back, his arm casually draped over the chair back, his other hand resting on it. He narrowed his eyes and hissed, with a somewhat mischievous voice: “What are you implying?”

It was information that several military wives in the Military Wives Alliance had sent her last night.

“No, I’m just worried in case we have conflicts or disagreements in the future,” Yu Hao explained.

“If we have conflicts, we resolve them. If we have disagreements, we seek common ground while preserving differences. We haven’t even gotten married yet, and you’re already thinking about divorce?”

Yu Hao looked at him cautiously. “I was wrong?”

Lu Huaizheng raised an eyebrow, mimicking her questioning tone: “Wrong?”

Yu Hao said decisively: “I was wrong.”

He was satisfied, pinching her face with his hand. “Sign.”

The staff member watched in amazement.

This man was quite the sweet-talker! Just a minute ago they were discussing his historical issues, and in the blink of an eye, he had her completely charmed. Thinking of this, he looked at Yu Hao with some pity.

Was this girl a bit too gullible?

Before stamping the red seal, the staff member wanted to ask, “Miss, maybe you should reconsider?” But looking at Lu Huaizheng’s title, he didn’t dare offend him. He simply stamped firmly twice with the large steel seals, effectively binding their fates together.

Outside the Civil Affairs Bureau, the spring light was radiant.

Lu Huaizheng looked down at the red booklet in his hand, feeling more surging emotion than when he had sworn the oath upon joining the military. From now on, he would no longer be alone. Whether in poverty or wealth, there would always be someone by his side.

Suddenly, his heart felt soft, as if brushed by a feather.

Yu Hao also found it incredible.

“That’s… that’s it?”

He tilted his head to look at her, holding the booklet as if just realizing: “Ah, that’s it.”

Yu Hao sighed, “Ah, was I too impulsive…”

Thinking of Feng Yanzhi’s face, Yu Hao felt somewhat anxious.

Her shoulder sank as the man beside her already had his arm around her neck, saying casually near her ear: “Comrade Yu Hao, rest assured, now that we’ve elevated our revolutionary friendship, you’re my person. If anyone bullies you, your husband will back you up. Your task is to work hard and bear children for our motherland’s socialist cause…”

Husband…

Hearing these words, Yu Hao’s face burned, and her heart raced rapidly.

“How did you become such a rogue as soon as we got married!”