Wen Ci returned to the Jiang family home in the compound.
When they came back from the countryside, Jiang Chen had been disgusted by her tattered old clothes, so he had only bought Wen Ci a single new outfit for her arrival in the city.
Now that her clothes were soaked, Wen Ci had nothing else to wear. Despite it being spring, she couldn't stop shivering as she sat on the living room sofa.
Seeing her eldest son standing there, completely unmoved, Su Guilan couldn't resist kicking him and roaring, "What are you still gawking at? Hurry up and go buy your sister some new clothes!"
"Why don't you let my sister wear my clothes for now?" Suddenly, a sweet, soft voice sounded from the top of the stairs. Jiang Ye came walking down, dressed in a little white dress.
"My sister and I have similar builds, so my clothes should fit her."
"That's right, Mom. Let's have Wen Ci wear Ah Ye's clothes for now."
Jiang Chen chimed in eagerly.
Su Guilan shot him a withering glare, leaving Jiang Chen with no choice but to head out the door. Her gaze then fell upon Wen Ci, her eyes filling with compassion and pity as she said gently,
"Ah Ci, if you don't want to go to the Northwest, we can have Xiao Huo draw up the divorce papers tomorrow."
"Hm?" Wen Ci frowned. 'Why are we already talking about divorce papers?' Suddenly, she remembered the words the man had spoken by the water.
"I am your husband."
Wen Ci's face felt like it was about to explode with redness. She recalled his voice—a deep, magnetic baritone so enchanting it could bewitch a person's soul.
"Sister, why is your face so red?"
Wen Ci lowered her head and coughed a couple of times. Su Guilan said nervously, "I've already asked Aunt Wang to make some ginger soup."
As she spoke, she looked up at Jiang Ye. "Do you have any unworn clothes in your closet? Bring a set down if you do. If not, just get a pair of pajamas."
"I do..."
Jiang Ye's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
Wen Ci asked, "What's this about drawing up divorce papers?"
Su Guilan bit her lower lip. After thinking it over, she decided to tell her biological daughter the truth. "Your household registration booklet is from the countryside," she said, her voice filled with unease. "It was mailed over a few days ago, and we used it to register the marriage."
Wen Ci: "..."
She was rendered utterly speechless.
After a moment, Wen Ci's eyes widened. "I want to ask," she said, "is what you said back at the teahouse still valid?"
"What was that?"
"The part about giving me a thousand yuan for my dowry."
'She had just transmigrated and still wasn't used to things. She'd assumed the man she was marrying in someone else's stead would be some kind of military brute. Who knew he'd turn out to be a drop-dead gorgeous soldier!'
'No, it seemed he was even an officer from the Northwest Region.'
'If they had just told her how handsome her groom was, why would she have jumped into the river?!'
'Wouldn't being his wife be amazing?!'
What Wen Ci hadn't counted on, however, was that she was now officially a married woman. She and Officer Huo were legally married, even if she hadn't received her copy of the certificate.
Su Guilan was stunned. "Didn't you say you didn't want to marry him?"
Wen Ci chuckled. "I suddenly feel like the Northwest could be quite nice. Officer Huo..." Her voice trailed off. She still didn't even know her husband's full name.
"What's his name?"
"You mean Huo Jingyuan?"
"Huo Jingyuan?"
Su Guilan walked over to a nearby desk, picked up a calligraphy brush, and wrote Huo Jingyuan's name on a piece of paper. She assumed Wen Ci couldn't read.
The body's original owner hadn't even finished junior high. In the countryside, most families stopped supporting a girl's education after she completed it.
"So it's *that* Jingyuan," Wen Ci murmured to herself.
Su Guilan didn't quite catch what Wen Ci said. She went upstairs for a moment, then came back to Wen Ci's side and stuffed a small cloth pouch into her arms.
"A mother keeps her word. There's 1,500 yuan in here, plus the golden bracelet your grandmother left for you before she died. It's all for your dowry."
The golden bracelet had originally been set aside as a wedding gift for Jiang Ye.
But the golden bracelet was a family heirloom of great significance. After learning Jiang Ye was not her biological daughter, she had abandoned the thought of giving it to her.
Su Guilan glanced toward the stairs. Seeing that Jiang Ye hadn't come down yet, she leaned in close to Wen Ci and whispered, "Ah Ci, you must remember, do not sell this golden bracelet unless it's an absolute last resort. And in the future, when you have children, the golden bracelet is only passed down to daughters, not sons."
Wen Ci nodded.
'No wonder the pouch felt so heavy.'
'It was because of the bracelet.'
Jiang Ye came downstairs with a new set of pajamas. At the same time, Aunt Wang emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of steaming ginger soup, a gentle smile on her face. "Drink the ginger soup while it's hot."
Aunt Wang was a child the Jiang family elders had watched grow up.
She wasn't a servant, but a part of the Jiang Family.
Wen Ci changed into the silk pajamas and held the porcelain bowl in both hands. The ginger soup was freshly made and steaming hot, but to the thick calluses on her hands, the temperature felt just right.
Wen Ci blew on the soup twice before taking a delicate sip. Warmth instantly spread through her body, and a smile bloomed on her face. "Thank you for the ginger soup, Aunt Wang."
She knew from the original owner's memories.
That after returning to the Jiang Family, Aunt Wang was the only person who had truly cared about her.
Because of this, her fondness for Aunt Wang grew immensely.
-
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Su Guilan stood up from the sofa. 'Her eldest son wasn't that polite; the person knocking must be a guest.'
Su Guilan glanced at Jiang Ye, who immediately went upstairs.
Jiang Ye was usually coddled at home and rarely played with the other children in the compound. People in the compound only knew that the Jiang Family had a fair-skinned, beautiful daughter.
But as for what she looked like, she had never shown her face in public.
Outside the door, Huo Jingyuan stood ramrod straight, as if standing guard. He had changed into a casual suit after going home. His tanned skin was a clear sign of his excellent health.
Su Guilan beamed. "Xiao Huo, you're here."
Strictly speaking, Huo Jingyuan was already her son-in-law; it was just that Wen Ci's household registration wasn't under the Jiang Family's name.
Huo Jingyuan's tone was detached. "Aunt Jiang."
Huo Jingyuan's eyes landed on Wen Ci, who was on the sofa in the silk pajamas. His gaze was direct, without a hint of avoidance.
Wen Ci met Huo Jingyuan's gaze. His dark eyes held an unfathomable depth. 'And she should know, she'd seen plenty of capable men during the apocalypse.'
Huo Jingyuan sat down directly beside Wen Ci and said bluntly, "I only have a three-day leave for this trip back to Beijing." He glanced sideways at her and asked,
"Your household registration is currently rural. Now that we're married, you can choose to either transfer it to the Huo family's registration, or you can keep your rural one and we'll establish a separate household for you."
"Let's establish a separate one!" Wen Ci answered.
Nowadays, many people were desperate to get an urban household registration, but Wen Ci knew full well that both types had their own advantages. For a family, the best arrangement was to have one of each—one rural and one urban.
Huo Jingyuan nodded. "Alright."
Hearing this, Su Guilan quickly interjected from the side, "No, no! Ah Ci's registration can't be rural. It has to be an urban one."
If Huo Jingyuan refused to let Wen Ci get an urban registration through him, then unless the Jiang Family kicked Jiang Ye out, Wen Ci would never have another opportunity to obtain one.
"I'm choosing the rural registration," Wen Ci said.
She couldn't explain her reasoning in a short amount of time, so after a moment's thought, she decided to change the subject. "What are the family courtyards in the Northwest Military Region like? Is it very bleak?"