Chapter 85 – Obtaining the Marriage Certificate
The next day, Lu Xia woke up at the usual time, just like before.
After having breakfast and when everyone had gone to work, Lu Xia went to town with Jiang Junmo.
Their household registrations had already been transferred here, so it was convenient to get the marriage certificate after obtaining the necessary documents and introduction letters.
When they arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau, there weren’t many people there. They went in and came out within ten minutes.
Then they had a certificate in their hands that looked like an award.
Lu Xia didn’t expect that marriage certificates in this era would look like this. It was quite interesting, so she curiously took a closer look.
She turned to look at Jiang Junmo, who had blushed since the morning, finding it somewhat amusing.
So she teased him, saying, “What’s wrong? Feeling shy? Or can’t accept the fact that you’re married?”
Jiang Junmo felt embarrassed and looked away. He changed the subject, saying, “What should we do next?”
Seeing his reaction, Lu Xia decided not to tease him further and thought for a moment before suggesting, “We don’t have to work today. Let’s wander around the town and buy some wedding candies. We won’t have a wedding ceremony, but we should still have some wedding candies to celebrate.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Junmo felt a bit disappointed because he hadn’t given Lu Xia a wedding ceremony. So he immediately wanted to buy more things.
He suggested, “How about we go to the county town? There’s a variety of goods in the department store.”
The county town was larger, offering more places to explore. Lu Xia naturally wanted to go there, but she asked, “But we don’t have a car now, right?”
It was already past nine o’clock, and the passenger bus had already left.
Jiang Junmo smiled and said, “No problem, there are tractors going to the county town from the village every day. If you don’t mind the bumpy ride, we can take a tractor.”
Lu Xia was surprised and asked, “How do you know that? I don’t mind the ride, but can you handle it? I remember someone stumbled and couldn’t walk properly when they first arrived.”
Jiang Junmo felt a bit embarrassed and coughed. “Well, my health has improved a lot now. I’ll be fine.”
Since he said so, Lu Xia didn’t want to delay any further. The two of them went to the agricultural machinery station in the town and happened to catch a tractor heading to the county town.
Each of them paid one dime and got on the vehicle.
The tractor was still bumpy as before, and covered in dust. By the time they arrived in the county town, they both had dirty faces.
Fortunately, it wasn’t as uncomfortable as when they first arrived.
Lu Xia brushed off the dust from her clothes and felt a bit distressed. She had changed into a new dress specifically for the certificate ceremony, and now it was a bit dirty.
Jiang Junmo was in the same situation. He had also dressed up for the occasion, and now he had a dirty face. But at least his appearance was still refined.
They helped each other brush off the dust and looked cleaner. They exchanged smiles.
Afterward, Jiang Junmo suggested, “It’s already noon. Let’s have lunch first?”
Lu Xia nodded and said, “Sure!”
The two of them went to a state-owned restaurant. Since it was their wedding day, they wanted to celebrate, so they indulged and ordered two meat dishes and one vegetable dish.
Although the taste was average, they ate to their heart’s content.
After the meal, Lu Xia originally planned to go directly to the department store, but Jiang Junmo suggested taking a commemorative photo.
Lu Xia looked at him unexpectedly.
Originally, she viewed the certificate ceremony as a way to get rid of trouble, but Jiang Junmo seemed to attach some importance to it.
Thinking about this, Lu Xia felt inexplicably good, so she went with him to the photo studio.
Upon arrival, the photographer, an elderly man, took one look at them and said directly, “Are you two here to take wedding photos?”
*
Chapter 86 – Taking Photos
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Lu Xia and Jiang Junmo blushed upon hearing the photographer’s words.
The elderly man immediately understood the situation; they were probably a newlywed couple and felt a bit embarrassed.
He smiled and said, “What kind of photos do you want? Do you need to change clothes? We have military uniforms here, but it’ll cost an extra dime.”
Knowing that Jiang Junmo wasn’t talkative, Lu Xia took the initiative and said, “No need to change. We’ll wear our own clothes and take a group photo, as well as individual photos.”
The photographer didn’t insist, as their clothes didn’t have any patches on them, so there was no need to change.
They started with the group photo. The photographer asked them to sit down and took a photo of their upper bodies.
However, Jiang Junmo looked a bit stiff and sat far away from Lu Xia.
The photographer directly said, “Young man, don’t be shy. Sit closer to your wife.”
Hearing the word “wife,” Jiang Junmo’s ears turned red, but he moved closer.
However, the photographer was still unsatisfied. “You should have your shoulders touching, lean your heads together, and young man, smile a bit. Don’t look so serious. Smile a little bit.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Xia glanced at Jiang Junmo and indeed saw him looking like he was about to go to the battlefield, with a serious and tense expression. One would think he was extremely unwilling.
She couldn’t help but feel speechless and said, “If you can’t smile, just say ‘cheese.'”
Jiang Junmo obediently nodded, and when the photographer was ready to take the photo, he said, “Cheese.”
The photographer finally seemed satisfied with the result and smiled at Lu Xia. “Your idea is good. You look more natural when you smile like that. I’ll teach others the same trick from now on.”
After saying that, he looked at the attractive couple and suggested, “Your photos must have turned out great. Can I make a large print and display it outside?”
Lu Xia immediately refused after hearing that. No matter how much the photographer tried to persuade her, it was not going to happen. In this era, there wasn’t much concern for portrait rights, but Lu Xia valued her privacy, so the photographer had to give up.
He then took individual photos of both of them and issued a receipt for them to pick up the photos in a few days.
Jiang Junmo carefully kept the receipt.
Lu Xia thought that after taking the photos, they could finally go shopping. However, Jiang Junmo took her to the post office. He intended to send a telegram to inform his family about their marriage and looked at Lu Xia expectantly.
Lu Xia didn’t expect him to value their marriage so much.
He was in such a hurry to inform his family, which made her feel somewhat ashamed of her previous thoughts.
She also knew what he meant, but after thinking about it, she decided not to hide anything and told him about her family and how she ended up going to the countryside.
“That’s how things are. Later, my family wrote me a letter, severing all ties with me. They acted as if I no longer existed as their daughter, so there’s no need for me to inform them about my marriage.”
Jiang Junmo felt a pang of heartache upon hearing that. He didn’t expect Lu Xia to have such a family and experience.
He had thought that Lu Xia’s family treated her well since she brought many things with her when she came to the countryside. He had assumed that they were prepared by her family, but now it seemed that she had prepared everything herself.
She probably earned the money by selling her work.
Thinking about this, Jiang Junmo felt even more heartache. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but considering they were still on the road, he withdrew his hand and simply promised, “Don’t worry, I will treat you well in the future. Moreover, my family treats me very well, and they will regularly send me things. I can take care of you.”
Lu Xia laughed upon hearing that. “Since your family treats you so well, why did you come to the countryside?”
Jiang Junmo didn’t hide anything and briefly explained his family’s situation to her.
Aw, he’s really sweet! I hope the author gives us a glimpse of their meeting and marriage from his perspective at some point. I suspect he liked her early on, probably before she fed him. Otherwise, how would he have noticed that she had hid & was curious enough about it to go find her? Mmmhmmm! T
Thank you for the chapter ♡(∩o∩)♡
Welp, again it’s just weird this all happened cuz they’re into how they each look, but that’s a privilege for beautiful people ill never know I guess.
Still like I thought the male lead attaches importance to this and isn’t really just being casual about it like mc haha, I mean vmon this is the 70’s and in China, dovorce was just a myth there really.