The couple arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau a quarter before 6 in the evening.
Most employees were already cleaning their work desks and some were already leaving. Zhang Yixing and Zhou Yuexi were the only ones that they were waiting for to finish their work.
The officials in charge of their wedding were pissed with them showing up that late but they didn't show it in their faces because they don't have the guts to offend the mighty Zhang Yixing. They just swallowed back the complaints that were stuck at their throats and put on their best smiles to please the great man in front of them.
The couple's wedding procedures were processed quickly. In just thirty minutes, they were handed their marriage certificate, one for the each of them.
Zhou Yuexi felt surreal upon receiving her copy of the brightly-colored certificate. From now onwards, she's no longer living just for herself. She's already somebody's wife, Zhang Yixing's wife. She felt a foreign emotion bloom from within her, an emotion which she cannot explain the reason nor the feeling with words. She just knew that right at that exact moment, she was unexplainably happy.
After they accepted their marriage certificates, they went straight to the Zhou Family Villa where they will celebrate with their families. All the remaining necessary documents that needed to be finalized were left for Lu Han to handle which he was really grateful for.
Lu Han swore that he couldn't last a minute more with the newly wedded couple or else he would surely die due to excessive intake of dog food. They were so low key at flirting that they probably didn't notice themselves doing it but for people around them like Lu Han who was watching and listening, it was so obvious and sickening to the point that it was close to unbearable. So having to do work is a blessing in disguise.
...
At the Zhou Family Villa.
The mother and daughter pair, Wang Lingyu and Zhang Qingyu, were busy all day decorating the spacious Zhou Family Villa's garden. They were so hands on in everything, starting from the color of the lights to the selection of food to be served, up to the tiniest details of what shade the flowers for the centerpieces should be, whether they were all exactly the same shade or not. The servants were drop dead tired of all the preparations they did following suit to the mother and daughter's tastes.
At 7:30 in the evening, everybody are already present at the garden, sitting in their preferred seats.
When Zhang Yixing and Zhou Yuexi walked into the guest filled garden, everybody stood up and clapped their hands in congratulations to the newly wedded couple.
"Even though your wedding was such a rush, still, congratulations to you! May the two of you live your lives together happily! Best wishes to the both of you!", said Zhang Yixing's First Aunt.
"May you have a blessed future with you! I hope the two of you last till the day your hair turns gray. Congratulations Yixing, Yuexi!", Zhang Yixing's Third Aunt congratulated.
"I wish you guys all the best! May you live harmoniously together for the rest of your lives! Congratulations!", the Fourth Aunt greeted.
Everyone said their best wishes for the couple and they answered everyone with the sweet smiles they wore on their faces. However, Elder Zhou was just sitting in his wheelchair, silently watching as everybody cheered for his precious granddaughter and grandson-in-law.
Zhou Yuexi noticed that her grandfather remained quiet despite the happy and lively atmosphere so she approached him, Zhang Yixing followed suit.
"Grandfather, we're already married, don't you want to congratulate us? I'm starting to feel your regretting your decision.", Zhou Yuexi teased.
"You brat! I'm happy for you and I'm definitely not regretting anything. I just can't compete with the amount of energy you young people have so I stayed quiet.", Elder Zhou reasoned. "Young man, always remember what I told you. Take care of my granddaughter. From now on she's your responsibility."
Zhang Yixing bowed to the elderly man. "Yes, I will grandfather."
"What are you doing here with this old man here? Go and entertain your guest! I'm fine on my own.", Elder Zhou reprimanded.
The dinner was such a joyful celebration which everybody enjoyed very much. So much that they didn't notice how fast the time ticked by. It was already past ten in the evening when they all decided to go home.
By 11 pm, the only ones remaining in the Zhou Family Villa were Elder Zhou, Zhou Yuexi, Zhang Yixing and the servants who were cleaning up in the garden.
"It's nearing midnight it would be better if you get going now. Any sooner and you'd get sleepy, it's not safe to drive if you're sleepy.", the old man shooed the couple.
Elder Zhou was tired and asked one servant to wheel him back to his room so he can rest.
Zhou Yuexi misunderstood her grandfather's words as she also urged Zhang Yixing to leave. "Grandfather is right. You should get going, drive safely."
Zhang Yixing deadpanned at Zhou Yuexi's words. He stared at her skeptically. He couldn't believe that his wife whom he married just a few hours ago was planning to send him off on their wedding night! Zhou Yuexi was probably the first in history to ever do this to her newly wedded husband.
Not noticing the offended look on Zhang Yixing's face, Zhou Yuexi stood up from the sofa she was sitting on and turned to go to her room upstairs.
Elder Zhou haven't gone far and he heard what his granddaughter have said so he asked the servant to turned him around.
"Where do you think you're going young lady?", Elder Zhang asked with raised eyebrows.
Zhou Yuexi who was already on the first few steps of the stairs halted and turned to look at her grandfather. "Um... Upstairs? Because you know, my room is there?", Zhou Yuexi answered like it's the most obvious thing on earth.
Zhang Yixing fell into further disbelief at his wife's answer. She really was planning on staying the night and leave Zhang Yixing all on his own.
"And you forgot that you're married?", Elder Zhang countered and then pointed at Zhang Yixing. "You're going to send your husband away on your wedding night?"
Zhou Yuexi then felt embarrassed as her grandfather knocked some senses on her. She got so used to her life as a single person that she forgot she needs to spend her nights with someone else now.
Snapping out of his skeptic state, Zhang Yixing finally found his voice. "It's fine, grandfather. It seems like my wife wants us to spend our first night together here."
Hearing what Zhang Yixing said Zhou Yuexi became further mortified of her self and her cheeks instantly flushed in a bright red color.
"I never said that!", Zhou Yuexi protested.
"I never said you did, darling. Since you don't want to spend the night here, we should get going. I already had my villa in Regal Palace prepared for our arrival.", Zhang Yixing smartly answered.
"But I don't have my stuff there..."
Zhou Yuexi wanted to reason out but her grandfather cut her off. "Oh, I forgot to tell you that I had the servants vacate your room this morning. All your things are in your suitcases."
Elder Zhou asked the servants to get the said suitcases and they quickly complied.
"It's already late, you should really get going. I'll have Xiao Yue's things boarded to your car. Just wait for it in the car.", the old man sent them off.
Zhang Yixing bowed to Elder Zhou. "Goodbye, grandfather. We'll come visit you frequently."
"Yes, you should."
"Come along now, darling. It's nearing midnight, it's hard to drive this late.", Zhang Yixing urged Zhou Yuexi as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and dragged her with him all the way to his car.
When the servants finished loading all of Zhou Yuexi's belongings into the car, Zhang Yixing sped off.
When the servants finished loading all of Zhou Yuexi's belongings into the car, Zhang Yixing sped off.
"You really planned to ditch me on our first night together, darling?", Zhang Yixing teasingly asked.
"Stop teasing me! I didn't mean to do it, okay? I was just used to doing that for more than twenty years. Do cut me some slack!"
Zhang Yixing chortled at her which just added to Zhou Yuexi's annoyance. He really enjoyed watching his wife acting all embarrassed. He himself couldn't understand why but he always finds Zhou Yuexi cute whenever she acted out of her usually calm and collected self. It's like a never ending metamorphosis, she switches to different emotions in just a simple stir of events.
Zhou Yuexi also found Zhang Yixing interesting whenever he laughs at her reactions. It has long been a talk of the town that Zhang Yixing is a big block of ice that is very hard to crack. It was even rumored that his smile was rarer than a blue moon. But whenever they were together, he was always laughing and smiling, a far cry from what the rumors say. Though there were times that Zhang Yixing kept his straight face, Zhou Yuexi never felt his icy aura. He was always gentle and attentive around her that she started to doubt the reviews about Zhang Yixing's personality.
"Fine. Fine. As you wish, darling.", Zhang Yixing complied.
As he said, Zhang Yixing stopped teasing his wife and Zhou Yuexi sighed in relief.
Zhou Yuexi took the time on the road to organize her thoughts. She reminded her self all the things that she should change now that she's married. She also took note of the things she should familiarize her self with, especially the endearment 'darling' which her husband was so adamant in using.
After gathering her thoughts, Zhou Yuexi decided to apologise for her mistake. That was her principle, 'always admit to your doings and be brave enough to accept the consequences' because that is a sign of being responsible and mature.
"Um... Darling. I'm sorry, I know I screwed up earlier. It was so disrespectful of me to do that to you."
Zhang Yixing who had fun teasing her as revenge for her mistake suddenly felt guilty when he heard how she reflected on her self.
"Hey, It's no big deal. I know that this are all new to you so I understand. There's no need to apologise.", he soothed.
"No, that's no excuse. I still did what I did and I want to make up to it. Is there anything I could do for you in return?"
Zhang Yixing felt bad even more. "I told you there's no need to do that. Besides, I already got back with all the teasing I did. I'm really fine with it."
"Well I'm not and that's final. Now request something or else I won't be able to have a peace of mind knowing I owe someone, specially you."
Zhang Yixing didn't now what to say since his wife was being so persistent until an idea passed his mind.
"Since you insist, how about reserving your weekends for me? We could go out on dates or anything. You know, so we can get to know each other."