Chapter 18

Zhou Hongyu was very attentive. As there were so many people in the crowded place, he grabbed Bai Ruanruan’s arm and pulled her directly to his chest.

He used his back to block the crowded crowd behind him. Bai Ruanruan seemed to be in his arms, surrounded by him, and walked into the dimly lit cinema.

They found their seats according to their ticket numbers and sat on the hard seats. The facilities at that time were certainly not comparable to those in the future, but Bai Ruanruan was not picky about them. It was her first time watching a movie in this era, and she was still a little excited.

The lights dimmed and the screen lit up.

Bai Ruanruan studied the fate of others intently.

Through the light from the screen, Zhou Hongyu looked at her face from time to time.

It has to be said that the love films at that time were very simple, and the leading actors were not a combination of handsome men and beautiful women, but it was such simple performances that could often touch people’s hearts.

Bai Ruanruan was completely immersed in the plot. The little excitement she felt when she held a man’s hand for the first time was completely overshadowed by the plot of the movie.

Both of them were watching the movie seriously. The occasional sporadic noises from the couple in front of them were completely ignored by them.

However, the second half of the movie was actually a tragedy. When the actress was kidnapped and the hero was about to sacrifice himself to save her, low sobs were heard all around.

Zhou Hongyu looked at Bai Ruanruan beside him through the light from the screen.

I discovered that not only the other female comrades around me, but even the little girl who used to be a bandit, was sniffing hard.

The plot was indeed very touching, but he still couldn’t quite understand why one would cry so hard while watching a movie?

Seeing that she was so fond of crying, Zhou Hongyu secretly made up his mind that he would never make her cry when they lived together in the future.

Even though he didn’t understand, it didn’t stop him from caring about Bai Ruanruan.

He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it into her hand.

“Don’t cry, wipe it…”

Bai Ruanruan was not pretentious, “Thank you…”

She picked up the handkerchief and wiped her tears and snot on it.

The handkerchief was stuffed back into Zhou Hongyu’s hands. The movie was over.

After leaving the screening room and the lights turned on, Zhou Hongyu could see clearly that there were tears hanging on Bairuanruan’s red eyelashes.

The tip of her nose is also red.

“Why are you crying? Don’t you like this kind of movie?”

As he spoke, he raised his hand and looked at the dirty handkerchief in his hand. Finally, he stuffed the handkerchief into his trouser pocket and raised his hand to wipe away the tears hanging from the corners of her eyes with his fingertips.

A pair of slightly rough yet warm fingers swept across the corners of her eyes, and Bai Ruanruan was instantly freed from the emotion of lamenting the fate of the characters in the play.

“It’s not that I don’t like it, I just didn’t expect such a touching movie to be made at this time. Don’t take me to watch tragedies in the future.”

Zhou Hongyu naturally helped wipe away the tears from the other corner of her eye, just like he was coaxing her when she was a child, and didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

“Okay, next time we watch a movie, let’s pick one that makes you laugh non-stop.”

After watching the movie, the relationship between the two people naturally became much closer.

“It’s getting late. I have to go back, otherwise my parents will worry.”

“Okay, I’ll take you there.”

The two of them still walked side by side, and the intimate actions like those in the cinema never appeared again.

Walking under the street lights, the yellow light stretched the shadows of the two people long and overlapped them.

Zhou Hongyu is half a head taller than Bai Runruan. From his angle, Bai Runruan lowered her head, and he could only see her full forehead and the curve of her profile.

She just walked with her head down and didn’t say a word. Her quietness was indeed very deceptive. Who would have thought that she was so bold as to rape someone in the street.

“I’m home now, you should go home early too.”

Bai Ruanruan had no idea what Zhou Hongyu was thinking at the moment. As she watched their home approach the next street corner, a smile appeared on her face.

“It’s not two steps away. I’ll take you there. It’s too late. I’m afraid you’ll be in danger.”

After he said this, the two of them looked at each other in tacit understanding.

The quiet street with few people reminded them of their two previous encounters.

As long as Bai Ruanruan is around, it’s hard to say who will be in danger…

The embarrassment that had almost disappeared before came back again.

For the first time, Bai Ruanruan realized the importance of first impression.

Although her first meeting with Zhou Hongyu was actually when she traveled through time as a child, it was still very impressive. In fact, it was her words, “I planted this tree, I opened this road, if you want to walk this road, go to the Civil Affairs Bureau with me to get a marriage certificate!”

It was not until they were almost at the door of the Bai family that the man stopped and waved goodbye to her.

“Have a good rest and see you on the weekend.”

In a blink of an eye, it was the weekend. Fu Shiting was having a day off. The two families had already agreed through an introducer to meet as relatives.

You should know that Bai Gaohan and Fu Shiting are more anxious about this matter than the Zhou family.

It’s not that they are in a hurry to marry their daughter off, but the bus to the countryside doesn’t wait for anyone.

The state-owned restaurant is crowded at noon on weekends.

In a relatively quiet partition, the Zhou family and the Bai family sat face to face.

The introducer sat in the middle with a smile on his face.

“I didn’t believe it when Lianxiang told me. I never thought your two families could become relatives so quickly.”

The two families smiled at each other, and Qi Lianxiang spoke first.

“If you ask me, this is a match made in heaven. It’s rare for our Hongyu to have such a moment of enlightenment. The more I see of Ruanruan, the more I like her.”

The introducer was right. When Fu Shiting asked her to help find a partner for her daughter, she just said she was keeping an eye out.

It’s not easy to find someone you like.

Who would have thought that these young people would be talking about marriage after only meeting each other twice?

The two families are of equal status. If they really become relatives, it would be a good marriage that others would envy, and the matchmaker would also be proud to tell others about it.

“Look at what you said. Ruanruan is the best kid. We hit it off right away the first time we met.”

Qi Lianxiang looked at Bai Ruanruan with a smile on her face.

At first they thought that this young comrade was a little young.

But when they saw Zhou Hongyu’s expression, they knew something was wrong.

The son has been serving in the army, and the old couple are worried about his marriage.

It was rare that a girl caught his eye, and she was introduced by an acquaintance whom he knew well.

In Qi Lianxiang’s view, this was a marriage sent by heaven.

“Mrs. Qi, you are really too kind. My girl is very naughty. Please be more tolerant in the future.”

Bai Gaohan looked at his daughter, then at Zhou Hongyu who was sitting opposite him with his back straight.

He looked at it with the scrutiny of his father-in-law, and always felt that his own good cabbages might be taken away by the pig across the street, and he felt unhappy no matter how he looked at it.

Although he had to admit that the pig opposite was very good-looking and had a good figure, it was also a pig that only cared about its own cabbage!

It is human nature for the girl’s family to take a higher stance to prevent their daughter from being bullied when she marries into another family.

Qi Lianxiang still had a smile on her face, but she glanced at the introducer beside her meaningfully.

The introducer understood and immediately came out to smooth things over.

“I’m an old acquaintance of both your families. They’re both good families. I heard that both of your children are anxious to get married, but preparing for the wedding is very complicated. Why don’t we get the wedding certificate first and hold it later?”

“Yes, let’s get the certificate first. We can’t rush the wedding. We have to take good care of it.”

Fu Shiting nodded in agreement. She only had this one precious daughter, who had been raised like a treasure in the palm of her hand. Marriage was a big deal, so naturally she couldn’t let her be wronged.

“That’s what my family thinks too. It’s very troublesome to arrange a wedding banquet. Team Hongyu is quite busy and can’t take care of it here, so I and his father need to help with the arrangements. It will take some time to prepare for the wedding.”

Of course, the parents of both sides wanted to take charge of all these matters and did not give Bai Ruanruan and Zhou Hongyu the opportunity to intervene.

Just when the two families were discussing heatedly, Bai Ruanruan frowned and looked at Zhou Hongyu, who had an expressionless face.

There were some things in her heart, and she had been thinking about whether to say them.

“Um…Auntie, Mom, we two thought that getting the marriage certificate would be easy. The wedding is really too troublesome, so let’s keep it simple.”

“How can that be possible…”

The first person to raise objections was naturally Bai Gaohan.

He always felt reluctant to let the daughter he had raised get married like this. Now that he heard that the wedding would be simple, he glared at Bai Ruanruan with anger.

Zhou’s parents also looked at each other in bewilderment.

“Dad, don’t be angry first. You know I’m not in good health. Auntie just mentioned the wedding. Hongyu is a soldier and is busy in the army all year round. If the wedding is to be a big one, I can’t handle it alone. I have to ask you elders for help.”

“You also have your own jobs. It’s really troublesome to be busy with work and prepare for these things at the same time.”

After she finished speaking, she looked at Zhou Hongyu, who was still sitting there without saying a word. Seeing that he had no objection, she mustered up the courage to continue speaking.

“I don’t mean to get married in a gloomy way. I want us to invite fewer guests. It’s better not to invite those who are unnecessary and don’t sincerely wish us well. Besides, if there are too many people coming to the wedding, I think it will be too much trouble.”

After she said this, she did not continue, but looked at the elders on both sides.

Both parties seemed to be thinking about it. At this critical juncture, it was indeed not a wise move to hold a grand wedding.

In addition, Zhou Hongyu had a special status as a public servant, so they could fully understand the little girl’s request to keep a low profile.

“We don’t have much to say. Everything will be done according to the wishes of the girl’s family. We will help you with whatever you want to do. After all, it’s your family marrying off their daughter and our family marrying a daughter-in-law. You should be polite when you have to contribute.”