Rebirth: Seven Years in a Great Dream

Chapter 32: Getting the Marriage Certificate

Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking, the Mu family’s front door was being pounded on with a loud “bang, bang.” Mu’s mother hurried out of bed to open the door. When she opened it, she saw Xiao Xiao standing there. Xiao Xiao was wearing thick clothes and a scarf. It was very cold; the breath she exhaled condensed into white frost on her scarf and the tips of her hair. A scooter stood parked beside her. Mrs. Mu’s heart ached. Poor girl—how early must she have gotten up to ride all this way on an electric bike? It was barely dawn. Xiao Xiao had no choice. She’d been anxious all day yesterday and had barely slept last night, so she hurried over on her electric bike before dawn. There were no buses running this early. When Xiao Xiao saw Mu’s mother, she asked anxiously, “Auntie, how’s Mu Dong? Is he okay?” She wasn’t married yet, so she hadn’t started addressing him by his married name. Aunt Mu said, “Xiao Dong’s fine—he’s feeling much better already. Xiao Xiao, why did you get up so early? You must be freezing. Come on in, come on in.” After saying that, she helped Xiao Xiao push her scooter inside. Xiao Xiao didn’t even have time to pay attention to Mu’s mom; she dashed into Mu Dong’s room. Mu Dong had been startled awake and was just about to get up when Xiao Xiao burst in; he froze in surprise. What time is it anyway? Xiaoxiao threw herself into Mu Dong’s arms, and tears welled up in her eyes. Mu Dong gently patted her on the back and said, “Honey, I’m fine, I’m fine—it’s just a cold. Why did you come so early? Look at your hair—it’s all frosted.” The two gently pulled apart. Xiao Xiao looked into Mu Dong’s eyes and said earnestly, “Husband, please marry me. That way, I can stay by your side and take care of you.” Mu Dong was instantly moved. “Sure, sure—I’ll marry you, I’ll marry you. I’ve wanted to marry you for a long time.” As he spoke, he burst out laughing. Mu’s mother, who had been eavesdropping outside the door, also chuckled softly and slowly slipped away. The two inside discussed it for a while and decided to register their marriage as soon as possible and hold the wedding ceremony on May Day. In another timeline, the two had also gotten married on May Day in 2009. For such a major event, Mu Dong still wanted to keep things consistent; he hoped everything would proceed as planned, and that Xinyu would appear before him right on schedule. Mu Dong was already feeling fine, though he still had a slightly stuffy nose. He had regained most of his strength and could move about freely. Mu Dong then got out of bed and went to the main room to talk with his parents. His parents were also relieved; seeing their son in such a state yesterday had nearly broken their hearts, but today he was finally back to normal. Mu’s mother began preparing breakfast, with Xiao Xiao helping her. Before breakfast was even ready, Mu Hong arrived with her entire family. Mu Hong had received the news yesterday afternoon. At first, no one dared to tell her. This aunt held a special status in the Mu family and was extremely close to Mu Dong, so no one dared to cross her. It wasn’t until Mu Dong regained consciousness that Uncle Mu San called her. As a result, Mu Hong rushed over first thing this morning. After all, visiting her parents’ home on the second day of the Lunar New Year was only natural. Seeing that Mu Dong was already fine, Mu Hong breathed a sigh of relief. When she saw Xiao Xiao there, she assumed she was spending the Spring Festival here, but upon asking, she learned that Xiao Xiao had arrived that very morning, also out of concern for Mu Dong. Learning that Xiao Xiao had ridden her electric scooter all the way here at the crack of dawn, Mu Hong’s heart went out to her. So Aunt Mu waved her hand grandly and declared, “Time for red envelopes!” Xiao Xiao then received a generous red envelope containing 1,000 yuan. Mu’s mom looked on and thought, “Right, why didn’t I think of that?” So Xiao Xiao ended up with another red envelope of the same amount. Xiao Xiao clutched the two red envelopes, feeling a bit at a loss. After a moment’s thought, she actually kowtowed to Aunt Mu and Mu’s mom—one to each—delighting them so much that they hurried to help her up. Xiao Xiao blushed and silently reassured herself: “We’re already engaged, so it’s okay to kowtow, right…?” After that, everyone had breakfast together. After breakfast, Mu’s father called over Uncle Mu No. 2 and Uncle Mu No. 3. The three of them brought some gifts and went to the home of Zhong Guodong’s parents. Yesterday, their daughter and son-in-law had come to the Mu family home on New Year’s Day because of the incident involving Mu Dong. Although their actions were understandable, they were not strictly proper. Today, the three brothers had come to apologize. Mr. and Mrs. Zhong were both honest and good-natured people. Since it wasn’t really a big deal to begin with, they felt deeply honored that the Mu family had come to apologize so formally. Both sides talked things through openly, and the atmosphere remained harmonious; in fact, their relationship seemed to have grown even closer. Mu’s father and the others stayed for a short while before getting up to take their leave. That morning, Mu Xiaoxia’s family officially returned to the Mu household, and shortly afterward, Mu’s second aunt and her family also rushed over. Seeing that Mu Dong was already moving about freely, everyone was relieved. At noon, the Mu family laid out a lavish banquet, setting two tables to entertain these Mu daughters who had returned to their parents’ home. Uncle Mu No. 2 and Uncle Mu No. 3 were also there to join the festivities. Mu Dong didn’t join in the feast of rich foods; instead, he pitifully sipped the millet porridge that Mu Mom had specially cooked for him. In the afternoon, Aunt Mu No. 1 and Aunt Mu No. 2 each headed back to their respective homes. Xiao Xiao stayed behind. Seeing that Mu Dong was already able to move around without difficulty, Xiao Xiao said she wanted to go practice driving. She’d come to realize that she needed to learn to drive as soon as possible; being able to drive would make things much more convenient in the future and would also be a great help to Mu Dong. Mu Dong was delighted to hear this, so the two of them went to the yard to practice driving. Once they arrived at the yard, Mu Dong told Mu Daguo to go home and rest, then stayed to help Xiao Xiao practice. Xiao Xiao’s sense of direction and speed were already quite good. After waiting for her to get used to it for a while, Mu Dong began teaching her the finer points of backing up. Reversing requires a very strong sense of spatial awareness and takes quite a while to get used to. At first, Xiao Xiao kept misjudging the direction, but after practicing all afternoon, she finally started to get the hang of it. Over the next two days, Xiao Xiao continued to practice constantly under Mu Dong’s guidance. The poor Audi sedan, after driving around the sandy yard for two or three days, was already filthy beyond recognition. Still, Xiao Xiao’s progress was remarkably fast; she could already reverse into a parking space smoothly, though she still couldn’t quite get the hang of parallel parking. On the third night, Mu Dong was working the night shift at the yard, and Xiao Xiao finally plucked up the courage to stay there. Although she was supposed to be staying in the dormitory, she ended up sneaking into the office to sleep with Mu Dong that night. Mu Dong had fully recovered, and with the air conditioner running, the room was warm. After a moment of wild passion, Xiao Xiao, worried about Mu Dong’s health, held back. The two of them huddled together on the narrow bunk bed and slowly drifted off to sleep. From that day on, Boss Mu worked the night shift every day, and Xiao Xiao, of course, stayed with him every night until the yard reopened on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. By this time, Xiao Xiao’s driving skills had improved considerably. When it came to parallel parking, as long as the space wasn’t too narrow, she could manage to park there. In fact, the time she’d spent practicing at the driving school—just those brief sessions each time she got behind the wheel—didn’t add up to nearly as much as the time Xiao Xiao had spent practicing consistently on her own. Not to mention, she had a “coach” like Mu Dong who was so dedicated and thorough. On the sixth day of the lunar month, the first day the yard opened, the workers all came to work. In reality, there wasn’t much to do, and no vehicles had come to load cargo. The workers gathered to chat and play cards. The rest of the time, they watched the boss’s wife drive around the yard, lap after lap, tirelessly. Even though the workers had nothing to do, Mu Dong had the kitchen start preparing meals. Workers living nearby were provided with lunch, while those staying in the dormitories were provided with meals for the entire day. At noon on the seventh day of the lunar month, Mu Dong took advantage of the nice weather to wash the car with a hose. After scrubbing it down and letting it air dry, and after lunch, Mu Dong and Xiao Xiao headed into the county seat together. Mu Dong asked his uncle, Wang Shaoqiang, to schedule another appointment with Coach Zhang. This time, it was to help Xiao Xiao get her driver’s license. That afternoon, they met Coach Zhang at the driving school’s practice grounds. Coach Zhang had Xiao Xiao drive for a while and tested her reversing skills; he was fairly satisfied. At this level, she was just about ready to drive on the road; with some practice over time, she’d improve. So, following the same procedure as last time, Coach Zhang processed Xiao Xiao’s enrollment. They agreed that the driver’s license would be issued in a month. He also reminded Xiao Xiao that since the family had a car, she should practice diligently. Although Coach Zhang’s approach was against the rules, he still had a conscience and maintained certain ethical boundaries. Over the years, he’d only helped people who already knew how to drive but were short on time to obtain licenses through irregular means; if someone didn’t know how to drive or lacked proficiency, he would absolutely refuse to get involved. Some driving school instructors, on the other hand, will handle anything for a fee—which is a recipe for disaster. With the driver’s license sorted out, Mu Dong and Xiao Xiao began preparing for their marriage license. Mu Dong’s household registration was in his hometown, and he had both his ID card and household registration booklet there. Xiao Xiao’s household registration was in Quancheng, under a collective household; while she had her ID card with her, she needed to obtain a certificate of household registration. They could obtain their marriage certificate in either Quancheng or Southern Shandong. After a brief discussion, they decided to go to Quancheng to register their marriage. Early on the eighth day of the first lunar month, Mu Dong packed his household registration booklet and ID card and drove to Quancheng with Xiao Xiao. As for Xiao Xiao’s electric scooter, they hired a worker to ride it to her home, then took the bus back. There wasn’t much traffic on the highway, so Mu Dong secretly let Xiao Xiao drive for a while. Once their speed exceeded 100, Xiao Xiao completely fell in love with the exhilarating sensation of racing along at breakneck speed and was thrilled. Worried something might go wrong, Mu Dong pulled over at the next rest area and quickly took the wheel back. After arriving in Quancheng, the two first went to the police station to obtain Xiao Xiao’s household registration certificate, then proceeded to the Civil Affairs Bureau to register their marriage. The marriage registration hall at the Civil Affairs Bureau was filled with an atmosphere of happiness and sweetness. Numerous couples sat together affectionately, waiting for their moment of joy to arrive. Usually, there are a lot of people registering to get married before the Spring Festival, but after the holiday, it’s a slow period with very few people. The two waited in line for a short while before it was their turn. After their identification documents were checked and they answered a few routine questions, the couple received their bright red marriage certificate within a few minutes. They were both a little excited and a little giddy—that slightly tipsy feeling. Mu Dong said, “Honey, let’s go out for a big meal. What do you feel like eating?” Xiao Xiao smiled shyly and said, “I’d like hot pot.” “Alright, then—hot pot. It’s a symbol of togetherness and family harmony, and the steaming hot broth carries such a wonderful meaning.” The two of them went to Haidilao. Mu Dong liked Haidilao’s service, and Xiao Xiao liked the atmosphere—and, of course, the ingredients were great too. It was midday, so the place wasn’t too crowded. They had a hearty meal and then headed home. Now that they’d gotten their marriage certificate, they were officially married—so naturally, they wanted to experience what it felt like to be a married couple. And so, passion took center stage. Xiao Xiao threw herself into it wholeheartedly; whatever Mu Dong wanted, she gave him. There were so many surprises! Mu Dong screamed wildly inside his head: If I’d known there’d be so many perks, I should’ve gotten married sooner! All kinds of positions, all kinds of experiences, all kinds of madness… After the passion subsided, Mu Dong thought to himself: In this timeline, so many things are completely different from before. Some experiences—he hadn’t had them even after being married for several years. Come to think of it, wasn’t that exactly what he’d been looking for—a different kind of life? Mu Dong held Xiao Xiao close as he silently mulled things over. They’d get married on May Day, and the house and car were already taken care of. Hmm, once Xiao Xiao got her driver’s license, he’d buy her a car too. What else did they need to prepare? Jewelry, clothes—they could just go out and buy those. That left only the wedding photos. Mu Dong asked, “Honey, how do you want to take our wedding photos?” Xiao Xiao thought for a moment: “I want to take them by the beach. Just pick one good shot to enlarge, and put the rest in a photo album. A coworker of mine had three prints enlarged, and ended up with no place to hang them at home.” Mu Dong said, “It’s still too cold up north right now. Why don’t we go to the coast down south?” Xiao Xiao shot him a disapproving look: “Why waste the money on that? Besides, when would we have time to go that far? Let’s just shoot them in Qingdao. I don’t want to take a lot of photos—I just want to experience that feeling. I’ll just wear a thick winter coat over my wedding dress. It’ll only take a few poses—just a few minutes. I’ll just have to tough it out.” Mu Dong thought for a moment and said, “That works, but let’s hold off for now—it’s too cold. It wouldn’t be worth it if we caught a cold. Let’s wait until the weather warms up a bit and go in late March. We’ll still have plenty of time.” Xiao Xiao nodded in agreement. The two discussed the wedding arrangements some more. Since most of their relatives were in southern Shandong, they ultimately decided to hold the wedding there. They would host a few extra tables for colleagues and friends in Jinan after the wedding. With those matters settled, Mu Dong said, “I plan to buy you a car when we get married. What kind would you like?” Mu Dong had recently told Xiao Xiao about some of the matters at the yard, and since she knew he was well-off, she didn’t beat around the bush and said, “I don’t really know much about cars—just something decent will do.” “Why don’t we go take a look? We’ve got some time now anyway,” Mu Dong suggested. The two of them got ready, hopped in the car, and headed to the auto mall. By 2008, a boom in personal car purchases had swept across the country. The auto market was exceptionally hot, and car malls were springing up like mushrooms after rain all over the place. In Chinese consumer culture, people tend to make purchases in groups. For major purchases like cars, the peak sales season generally falls just before the Spring Festival. With the New Year approaching, buying a car not only boosts one’s prestige when visiting relatives and friends but also provides practical transportation for daily use. After the Spring Festival, the auto market became somewhat quiet. At the auto mall, Mu Dong and Xiao Xiao noticed that the showrooms of major brands were nearly deserted. In fact, there were more sales representatives than customers. The sales representatives were quick to read the situation. Seeing that Mu Dong had arrived in an Audi and observing the couple’s attire and demeanor, they knew right away that the two were there to buy a car. As a result, they received a warm welcome at every booth. Mu Dong’s stance was to skip Japanese brands, selectively look at domestic brands, and focus on a few major joint-venture brands priced around 200,000 yuan. Xiao Xiao’s stance was that the price should be around 100,000 yuan, and nothing else mattered. At Xiao Xiao’s school, some teachers had bought cars, and they were generally in this price range. Xiao Xiao didn’t want to come across as a nouveau riche and be the subject of gossip. Besides, buying a car was already an unexpected treat. After looking around, the two finally narrowed their search down to two models. One was the Volkswagen Bora, and the other was the Volkswagen Lavida. Both models have the same wheelbase and similar performance; while they exceeded Xiao Xiao’s budget, they were within Mu Dong’s. Most importantly, Xiao Xiao liked them. The Bora is about 20 centimeters shorter than the Lavida. Mu Dong assumed Xiao Xiao would prefer the smaller Bora, since female drivers generally tend to favor cars that are easier to handle. Instead, Xiao Xiao said she liked the larger Lavida. Upon learning that the Lavida was about the same length as Mu Dong’s Audi A4, she began to lean more toward the Lavida during their discussion. All right, then it’s the Lavida. As for engine displacement, Mu Dong wanted to go with a larger one, but this time Xiao Xiao refused to budge—she insisted on the 1. 6L. In terms of trim level, Mu Dong chose the top-of-the-line automatic model. The dealership quoted a final price of 148,000 yuan. However, there were no cars in stock. They’d have to wait a month for delivery, or pay an additional 8,000 yuan to take a car off the lot right away. Mu Dong just laughed. Coming from a sales background, he knew all too well about these little tricks in the business. Besides, they were only there to look at cars today—it wasn’t time to actually take delivery yet. The real purchase wouldn’t happen until Xiao Xiao got her driver’s license. So, Mu Dong simply left his phone number and walked out, without even paying a deposit. The sales representative was utterly frustrated. The two of them had been talking so animatedly—discussing models, configurations, and even engine displacement—acting as if they were about to buy a car right then and there. So why did they just walk out in the end? Had he said something wrong? Fortunately, they’d left their phone number. He quickly began mulling over how to address any oversights and secure this customer. That evening, after they’d spent some intimate time together, Mu Dong asked Xiao Xiao, “Honey, why did you want a longer car?” Xiao Xiao curled up in his arms and said, “Because of you. That way, when you drive it occasionally, you won’t feel cramped.” It turned out to be that reason—Mu Dong really hadn’t expected it and was left a bit speechless. After a moment, Mu Dong asked again, “Then why did you choose a smaller engine? Wouldn’t a 1. 8-liter have been better?” “The 1. 6 is more fuel-efficient. Gas is so expensive these days.” Mu Dong just pursed his lips and said nothing. He thought to himself, “Gas prices just went down, right? Of course, they’ll go back up eventually. The world may be vast, but my wife is more important than anything—if she likes it, I’ll go along with her.” On the ninth day of the first lunar month, the two drove back to southern Shandong together. Along the way, unable to resist Xiao Xiao’s pleading, Mu Dong let her drive for a stretch at the two rest stops in between. Xiao Xiao was so excited her face turned bright red, and she was beaming with joy. Mu Dong sat in the passenger seat, looking tense, his muscles stiff. He silently muttered to himself, “Honey, our lives are in your hands now…” Watching Xiao Xiao drive was way more exhausting than driving myself! At the very least, he managed to get Xiao Xiao out of the driver’s seat at the next rest stop, and Mu Dong settled comfortably behind the wheel. Finally, the ordeal was over. Setting safety concerns aside, letting a novice experience driving on the highway can actually enhance their driving skills. The danger lies in the fact that beginners often can’t handle unexpected situations properly. The two of them went to Xiao Xiao’s house first. Xiao Xiao had already discussed the marriage registration with her parents over the phone, so now that they’d obtained their marriage certificate, Mu Dong was officially paying a visit to her family. As the car pulled up to the front gate and Mu Dong was unloading gifts from the trunk, he saw Xiao Xiao’s older brother coming to greet them. Xiao Xiao’s older brother—who is also her older sister’s husband—had been working out of town and couldn’t get a train ticket, so he’d only just returned after the holiday. Mu Dong had met Xiao Xiao’s older brother before when he visited her home, but at that time, he had introduced himself as Xiao Xiao’s classmate. This was their first meeting since they’d officially become in-laws.