Chapter 32: Registering the Marriage

Zhou Lin drove steadily and quickly.

Before long, they arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau.

Once inside, the process of obtaining the marriage certificate was even faster.

Shen Nanzhi followed Jiang Jinnian, and within ten minutes, she held a bright red marriage certificate in her hands.

Shen Nanzhi felt a bit dazed.

When she finally came to her senses, she found herself standing on the steps outside the Civil Affairs Bureau, holding the red booklet.

Zhou Lin personally handed out wedding candies and came out from behind.

As he reached the steps, he took out a specially prepared bag of new wedding candies and cheerfully offered it to Shen Nanzhi, who was staring blankly at the marriage certificate in her hands.

“Miss Shen, wedding candies.”

“Congratulations to you and Mr. Jiang for a harmonious union and early blessings with children.”

“…” The corners of Shen Nanzhi’s mouth twitched.

Under Jiang Jinnian’s sidelong glance, she stiffly pinched a candy from the bag and praised, “Assistant Zhou, you really have a sense of ceremony.”

Zhou Lin smiled at her compliment.

He seamlessly changed his wording.

“Since you and Mr. Jiang are only registering the marriage once, the sense of ceremony must be fully prepared.”

Shen Nanzhi forced a chuckle.

Back in the car, the partition rose again.

Looking at the separated front and back seats, Shen Nanzhi suddenly remembered the young couple who had registered their marriage behind them.

Those two looked like a couple deeply in love.

However, it seemed that before their registration, they had only exchanged emotions, with no physical intimacy involved.

When Shen Nanzhi came out holding the warm marriage certificate, she happened to see the young man affectionately holding the blushing girl in his arms.

He spoke softly, saying that as soon as they received the marriage certificate, they would head straight to the wedding room to carry out the first steps of “marriage.”

In that moment, Shen Nanzhi suddenly thought about her and Jiang Jinnian.

After marrying Jiang Jinnian, a platonic marriage seemed unrealistic.

There would definitely be a sharing of the same room.

But…

How would that happen?

They were really not familiar with each other at all…

When Zhou Lin came over to hand out wedding candies, he interrupted Shen Nanzhi’s thoughts.

Now that she was in the car, the partition rose, and the spacious back seat turned into an enclosed space. The intrusive thought resurfaced at an inopportune moment.

Shen Nanzhi’s body began to stiffen.

Her palm, which was holding the warm marriage certificate, started to sweat.

In this absolute enclosed space, she swallowed hard and softly said to Jiang Jinnian, “Jinnian, I have class this afternoon, so I’ll head back—”

“Nanzhi.” He called her name.

Shen Nanzhi’s unfinished words got stuck in her throat.

Instinctively, she turned her head to look at him.

Their gazes met directly, and Shen Nanzhi’s lips pressed together, her fingers gripping the marriage certificate tightening. Just as she was about to look away, she heard him ask:

“Today is the family banquet. We need to return to the old residence. Did you forget?”

Shen Nanzhi froze.

She suddenly realized that today was the first day of the lunar month.

It indeed was a family banquet.

A few days ago, she had been at Shen Huaiyan’s place abroad, constantly on edge, fearing her brother would question her about the engagement. After returning to the country and registering her marriage, she hadn’t relaxed her nerves at all and completely forgot that today was the family banquet.

However…

The scene of her unhappy breakup with Jiang Tingxu before going abroad was still fresh in her mind, and in the past few days, she had subconsciously avoided the trending news about Jiang Tingxu and Su Wu.

During these two years, during the cold war, she and Jiang Tingxu had reached a consensus: they would not see each other.

Although the family banquet was no longer mandatory for the younger generation to attend in recent years, Shen Nanzhi still worried about running into Jiang Tingxu, let alone having to eat together in an awkward and strange atmosphere.

She tightened her fingers, feeling reluctant to go.

She asked Jiang Jinnian, “Do I have to go too?”

Jiang Jinnian took the wrinkled marriage certificate from her hand and placed it in the storage compartment before saying:

“Today is also your birthday, and Mom wants to celebrate it personally for you.”

Shen Nanzhi fell silent.

Jiang Jinnian looked down at the girl beside him, noticing her delicate brows slightly furrowing, and even her fingers, which were obediently resting on her lap, were tightly clenched.

He glanced at her slightly bowed profile and gently grasped her wrist with his warm hand.

Shen Nanzhi’s fingertips paused, her long, dark eyelashes fluttering slightly.

“What are you afraid of?”

She shook her head, not looking up, maintaining her posture. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

She was unwilling to speak, and Jiang Jinnian did not force her.

He simply said, “There will be several elders attending today, just stick with me, and you won’t have to worry about anything.”

When the car stopped at the old residence, Mrs. Jiang, Mr. Jiang, and several uncles from the Jiang family had already arrived.

People were chatting on the sofas in the main villa, and the atmosphere was lively.

As they got out of the car, Jiang Jinnian took the two marriage certificates and led Shen Nanzhi through the courtyard and into the hall.

As soon as they entered the hall, everyone on the sofa stood up one after another, smiling warmly to greet Jiang Jinnian.

“Jinnian is back?”

“We haven’t had a chance to talk properly these past few days. It’s perfect timing for the family banquet today; let’s catch up.”

Jiang Jinnian’s lips curved into a slight smile.

He engaged in conversation with everyone.

After he sat down, several relatives followed suit.

Mrs. Jiang hadn’t seen Shen Nanzhi for several days, and as soon as they entered, she called Shen Nanzhi over.

While Jiang Jinnian was conversing with a few uncles, he observed this scene but did not intervene, merely following her with his gaze as she went to her mother.

The guests present were primarily elders.

There were hardly any younger ones.

Shen Nanzhi sat beside Mrs. Jiang, chatting with her while scanning the entire hall.

As expected, Jiang Tingxu was not present.

Shen Nanzhi felt a bit of tension ease.

The uncles and elders who came today primarily wanted to discuss business matters with Jiang Jinnian. Since he hadn’t returned for a while and held significant power over the Tiansheng Group and E.R. headquarters, it was the perfect opportunity for them to discuss business during the family banquet.

Perhaps due to it being the first family banquet, the younger generation from the uncles’ families didn’t show up.

Shen Nanzhi didn’t need to exchange pleasantries with the older relatives, and since her peers didn’t come either, including Jiang Tingxu, who she had just had an unpleasant breakup with, she felt quite relaxed.

They snacked on fruits and drank beverages while continuing to chat with Mrs. Jiang.

Soon, it was time to start the meal.

After finishing lunch, the family banquet was nearing its end.

The servants arranged the dishes on the large round table in the main hall. Just as Shen Nanzhi was about to go over with Mrs. Jiang, a tall figure entered from outside.

“Sorry, I’m late.”

The familiar voice caused Shen Nanzhi’s mind to freeze momentarily.

Turning around, she met Jiang Tingxu’s gaze as he just stepped into the hall.

In that instant, Shen Nanzhi quickly averted her eyes.

The trending topic about “Sheng Ye” had not been retracted by Jiang Tingxu, and after so many days of fermenting, not only had it caused a stir in the entertainment circle, but even the elite circles were speculating whether the second young master of the Jiang family was serious about marrying the young star he had been promoting.

Mrs. Jiang did not have discrimination against occupations.

However, she did not like Su Wu at all.

With her extensive experience in the socialite circle, she could see through the intentions of someone like Su Wu at a glance.

But unfortunately, her younger son was utterly unmanageable.

He insisted on associating with a star with dubious intentions.

Mrs. Jiang’s expression was not particularly good.

But with so many people around, she suppressed her temper and did not express her frustration.

Several uncles came to the family banquet mainly to reconnect with the recently returned Jiang Jinnian and to discuss business matters.

Now that the emotional connections were reestablished, and business discussions concluded, the atmosphere during the meal was quite pleasant.

Except for Shen Nanzhi, who sat beside Jiang Jinnian and hardly looked up at her.

As the meal was coming to an end, one of the uncles casually brought up the topic of the engagement between the Jiang and Shen families.

The lively chatter at the dining table noticeably paused with these words.

Third Uncle Jiang reacted the quickest, elbowing his younger brother, who had drunk too much and was speaking without thinking.

In recent days, the trending topics had been overwhelming, and even those of them who usually didn’t surf the internet had heard the rumors.

At this moment, bringing up the engagement between Jiang Tingxu and Shen Nanzhi was tantamount to openly embarrassing the Shen family.

Fourth Uncle Jiang also realized he had misspoken.

Just as he was about to laugh it off and smooth things over, Jiang Jinnian set down his wine glass and spoke first, his tone calm.