Lin Yang held the camera in his hand, facing the screen towards Shu Mengyao. He flipped through the pictures one by one for her to choose from. Shu Mengyao focused carefully, occasionally furrowing her brows as if deep in thought.
"Lin Yang, I can't decide," she pouted, looking up at him for help, her voice soft and slightly coquettish. The photographer nearby nearly melted at the sight of her cuteness. "How can there be such a cute girl in the world?"
"Let's pick this one, and please send me the rest," Lin Yang smiled, choosing one from the many pictures. In this photo, Shu Mengyao was smiling brightly, like the first rays of summer sunshine, able to light up the surrounding gloom. He loved her smile.
"Alright, please wait a moment, it will be ready soon," the photographer said cheerfully. These days, digital cameras were used to take quick photos, and the prints could be produced on the spot.
Five minutes later, they received a copy of the photo along with digital versions of the others. The photographer even thoughtfully cut two pictures for them.
"Just give these two to the staff," she said as they left.
"Got it, thank you," Lin Yang replied, taking the photos from her.
After finishing the photos and completing the marriage application, they proceeded with the simple verification process. Everything moved quickly.
"From now on, you two are officially a married couple. Congratulations!" The staff handed Lin Yang two red marriage certificates.
"Thank you."
The summer sunlight filtered through the trees, casting shadows on the ground and onto Shu Mengyao and Lin Yang.
"Lin Yang, we're married now, right?" Shu Mengyao still couldn't believe it as they walked out of the marriage registry office.
"Yes, we are officially husband and wife now." Lin Yang shook the marriage certificate in his hand.
"Can I take a photo?" she asked, a little shy. "I want to remember this moment."
"Of course, let's take one together and announce it!" Lin Yang suddenly realized. Shu Mengyao was shy and lacked confidence, and had previously asked him repeatedly if he liked anyone else. Now that they were married, it was the perfect opportunity to make an official announcement.
"Announce it?" Shu Mengyao blinked. She had heard of celebrities making public declarations about their relationships, but they were just ordinary people. Did they need to announce it?
"Yes, post it on WeChat," Lin Yang said with a mischievous grin. "Let everyone envy me."
Shu Mengyao, the campus goddess who had been ranked first on the school's beauty list for four years, was the object of admiration for many boys. If they found out that she was married and even had a child, it would surely cause a stir.
"Why would they envy you?" Shu Mengyao tilted her head, not fully aware of how popular she was at school.
"Because of you," Lin Yang said with a smile, ruffling her hair. "You're the goddess of many people."
Shu Mengyao blinked in surprise, not quite believing what she heard.
"Shu Mengyao, you take one of the marriage certificates."
Lin Yang didn't continue on the subject, instead handing her one of the certificates. Both of them held one, and in the sunlight, they took a photo together.
Afterward, Lin Yang edited a post for his WeChat Moments: "For the rest of our lives, I'll be with you."
Shu Mengyao smiled and clicked "like" after enlarging the picture multiple times, taking it all in.
Even though the photo only showed the cover of their marriage certificates, without their actual photo, the post immediately attracted a flood of comments.
[Zhang Qiang: What the hell? The class stud is married? When did he start dating, and he didn't even tell us?]
[Lin Fan: I remember this guy used to like Shu Mengyao, this is great, less competition for me!]
[Wang Chao: You guys can give up. His wife is Shu Mengyao.]
[?????]
Wang Chao's casual comment set off a firestorm. Countless classmates saw it and immediately began asking questions, though Lin Yang had no idea about this.
At that moment, Lin Yang was driving toward the small apartment that Shu Mengyao had rented. Since they were married now, she would officially move into his place. He planned to help her pack up everything and take it with him, as they were driving a spacious business car.
Shu Mengyao's apartment was a small one-bedroom unit.
"Lin Yang, wait for me on the couch for a bit," she said, blushing slightly as she felt a bit awkward.
"You should rest. I'll help you with the packing," Lin Yang insisted. He didn't want her to overexert herself, especially since she was still recovering. She insisted on coming because her lease was about to end, and it would cost more to renew for another month than just to move out now.
"I don't have much stuff, just some clothes and books," she said, pointing to a neat wardrobe in the living room.
"I have a suitcase," she added, remembering and pointing to a pink suitcase under the bed, adorned with Hello Kitty and Kuromi stickers.
Lin Yang made a mental note of this. He packed her clothes into the suitcase, and then, while moving some books, he stumbled upon a strange one titled "Dog Heart." The book seemed to be about a dog turning into a human, which made him chuckle. So that's why he had jokingly referred to Wang Chao as a dog earlier, and Shu Mengyao had taken him seriously.
He looked through the other books on the shelf—mostly sci-fi. It was a bit of a contrast, and he imagined what it would be like for Shu Mengyao to read that book seriously.
"Is there something strange?" Shu Mengyao noticed him laughing and was instantly nervous, worried that something odd might be in her room.
"Everything's packed up," Lin Yang said with a smile. "Do you think we missed anything? If not, let's head home."
After confirming everything was packed, the two of them left the apartment.