Chapter 72: Marriage [Extra]
When it came to marriage, Huai Dan seemed unusually insistent.
The morning after giving him the ring, Luo Jing, still half-asleep, was woken up by Huai Dan.
Because he was very sleepy, the weather was cold, and they had been a bit… intense the night before, Luo Jing didn’t want to get up at all, so he closed his eyes and obediently acted like a doll, letting Huai Dan dress him.
After washing up in a daze and being dressed, Luo Jing only managed to ask where they were going when he sat down in the passenger seat.
“To get married.”
“Oh… huh?”
Luo Jing was instantly jolted awake by Huai Dan’s casual three words.
The man’s expression was calm, his tone as casual as if he was saying, “The weather is nice today, let’s go find a breakfast place,” not “Let’s go get married.”
Luo Jing: “?”
The car started, and warm air blew from the vents. Luo Jing instinctively fastened his seatbelt, stunned by those three words for more than half a minute before coming back to his senses.
The weather forecast was accurate. It had started snowing sometime last night, and there was already a thin layer of snow on the plants by the roadside.
Luo Jing looked at Huai Dan and asked with difficulty, “Are you joking?”
This was too sudden.
“I’m not joking.” The car stopped at a red light, and Huai Dan looked at him, his expression serious. “Do I look like someone who would joke about this?”
“…”
Luo Jing believed him.
“But,” he clutched his seatbelt, feeling at a loss, “But this is too sudden…”
“You don’t want to?”
“No, I just… haven’t processed it yet.”
Was getting married this casual nowadays?
“Then hurry up and process it,” Huai Dan explained calmly. “The Civil Affairs Bureau will be closed in a few days, and we’ll have to wait until after the New Year.”
“And I’ve already asked your parents,” Huai Dan added after a pause. “Your household registration is here.”
So they could get their marriage license here.
Luo Jing: “…”
“I can’t remember the word.” Luo Jing opened his phone with a straight face, searched for half a minute, found the word he was looking for, then looked at Huai Dan and said with certainty, “Yes, desperate to get married, you are.”
Huai Dan chuckled: “A little.”
“So hurry up and marry me.”
Luo Jing: “…”
He silently lowered his head, pretending he hadn’t heard anything.
The light turned green. Huai Dan saw his red ears through the rearview mirror, a smile appearing in his eyes, then he looked away and continued driving.
Huai Dan always seemed to be like this.
Suddenly saying he wanted to meet his parents, suddenly wanting to get married, but behind every seemingly impulsive and sudden idea, he had already taken care of everything, so that he could follow him without any worries.
Luo Jing didn’t dislike this feeling of everything being arranged, he even liked it.
Just like when he couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night when he was younger and would drag Huai Dan out to watch the sunrise.
Because everything happened so suddenly, it wasn’t until they stood in front of the Civil Affairs Bureau that Luo Jing truly felt like he was about to marry Huai Dan.
There weren’t many people getting married today. Luo Jing sat in the waiting area, and after the chill gradually subsided, he felt like his mind wasn’t working properly.
“Wait, we’re really just doing this?” Luo Jing looked at Huai Dan uncertainly. “Don’t we… need to do anything, like a prenuptial agreement or something?”
A close family friend had signed a prenuptial agreement when she got married recently, and Luo Feng, perhaps because she was bored, had explained it to him when they attended the wedding.
It seemed like everyone in their circle did this, it had become standard practice.
Thinking about Huai Dan’s wealth… Luo Jing felt like they should also do it. Could they really just get married like this?
Huai Dan paused, then chuckled, slightly annoyed: “Do you really think this is a business marriage?”
His tone wasn’t very gentle, and Luo Jing immediately shut his mouth.
After thinking for a moment, he tried to explain, “That’s not what I meant…”
“I’m willing to share half of everything I own with you,” Huai Dan said, looking at him seriously, not giving him a chance to explain further. “If you want more, even everything, that’s fine too.”
“The only condition is, you have to be with me.”
His words made Luo Jing’s ears burn, and he lowered his eyes, trying to change the subject: “Aren’t you afraid I’ll run away with your money?”
Huai Dan chuckled: “Remember to take me with you when you run.”
The stamp landed on their marriage certificates, officially marking their relationship. The staff member handed them the certificates with a smile.
Luo Jing took the certificates in a daze, instinctively opened them, looked inside, then closed them, still a bit out of it.
The two of them looked good in the photo.
Even though he only found out when he saw the photo.
Because his mind was still short-circuiting.
“…That’s it?” Luo Jing asked after two seconds, a bit dazed.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem with the photo?” Huai Dan asked, then added, “The wedding is scheduled for after the New Year. I’ve already looked at some venues. You can choose one when we get back, and the wedding dress…”
Luo Jing: “…”
“How long have you been planning this?” he looked at Huai Dan.
“Not long,” Huai Dan replied, then looked back at him. “Anything else you want to say?”
Luo Jing looked down at the certificates in his hand, the reality of being married to Huai Dan finally sinking in.
Realizing this, a belated sense of joy gradually filled his heart, as if a certain part of him had finally become complete.
Although it was a bit sudden, he was truly happy.
After a pause, Luo Jing smiled and looked at Huai Dan: “Not for now.”
Huai Dan suddenly took out a ring from his pocket—the one he had put on Luo Jing’s finger yesterday.
It had been a bit chaotic at the time, and Luo Jing had taken it off not long after putting it on, forgetting where he had put it. He hadn’t expected Huai Dan to have kept it.
Huai Dan took Luo Jing’s hand and carefully put the ring on his finger.
His expression was incredibly serious, making Luo Jing also feel a bit nervous.
He was about to say something.
After putting on the ring, Huai Dan suddenly whispered, “I’ll wait until you’re ready.”
Luo Jing froze.
Then he realized something, his eyes widening slightly, his heart starting to race.
“Was that what you meant when you said those words before leaving for America?” Huai Dan asked softly, looking down at him.
Before boarding the plane, he had told Huai Dan to wait for him.
Those words might have seemed strange at the time, but he had said them with all his courage.
And they were the closest he had ever come to confessing his true feelings.
At the time, Luo Jing hadn’t expected any response.
He just wanted to say those words.
It was like he was giving himself closure, like the overflowing, uncontrollable love in his heart needed an outlet, so he had opened a small crack in his carefully constructed facade.
Quietly filling it little by little, hidden in a corner, well-concealed, where no one would find it.
But now, years later, it had been discovered.
And gently cherished by the other person, like the most precious treasure.
So it seemed, he had also waited.
“Yes,” he lowered his eyes, then looked at Huai Dan. “That’s what I meant.”
His eyes were slightly red, and Luo Jing didn’t want Huai Dan to see, so he buried his face in his chest and mumbled, “You actually remembered.”
This was a bit like that hug before, but this time, he wasn’t sad.
Huai Dan held him, gently kissed the top of his head, then pulled away slightly, looked into Luo Jing’s eyes, and said seriously, “I love you.”
The tear that had been threatening to fall finally slipped down his cheek and was caught by Huai Dan’s finger.
Luo Jing blinked, letting him wipe it away, and whispered, “Me too.”
The plain silver ring shimmered in the snow, like the most beautiful conclusion to their story.