Chapter 33: Only the Fool Knows

Lu Chuan genuinely wanted to help Fang Yuan solve her problems, so he looked directly at her.

Fang Yuan said, “How could you possibly have that much ability? I wanted to ask about your future schooling. I was thinking that our family definitely won’t stay in the village in the future. Will we move to the township or what? Wouldn’t we need to ask them to solve that problem?”

Then Fang Yuan said unhappily, “Since he asked, then he should definitely help solve it.”

Lu Chuan was rendered speechless by Fang Yuan’s words. The girl might be unruly, but she certainly wasn’t lacking brains. She really was thinking far ahead.

Moreover, Fang Yuan’s expression was serious. She was clearly genuinely thinking about this issue.

Lu Chuan had not thought that far ahead himself. He felt somewhat ashamed that Fang Yuan had gotten ahead of him and immediately became serious. “For this matter, we really should come to the township to inquire, but not to that department.”

Then he added, “Don’t worry about it for now. I’ll come to the township and look into it later.” Lu Chuan still had a man’s sense of responsibility. He had already fallen behind Fang Yuan once and could not afford to fall behind even more.

He was also afraid that Fang Yuan would come looking for that staff member whenever she had nothing better to do. After all, the staff member had only spoken up for his sake. No matter what, he could not cause trouble for him.

Fang Yuan snorted. “I knew that person wasn’t decent. Asking whether you were willing? He probably thought I had stolen you away. He spoke up for you, so naturally you think he’s a good person.”

Then she continued, “Did it look like I dragged you there by force to get a marriage certificate?”

Lu Chuan smiled. “Maybe they just thought our marriage happened rather suddenly.” He did not dare say that she really had forced the issue.

Then Lu Chuan naturally made a joke. “From the way it sounded, it was like I’d been stolen away by you. Why do I feel a little proud?”

After speaking, he glanced at Fang Yuan as though casually. His own face was slightly red.

Fang Yuan simply did not have that kind of romantic streak. Instead, she became unhappy. “Don’t think I stole you away. Your family compensated me with you. I’m the one who suffered a loss. Do you think having a university student in the family is easy?”

Lu Chuan looked up at the sky. The atmosphere really did not need to be taken this seriously. His intention had been to say something light-hearted now that they were married and had their certificate, to cultivate some affection between them.

Since Fang Yuan refused to follow his line of conversation, he could only follow hers. “Fang Yuan has suffered a grievance.” Then he raised his eyebrows, clearly unconvinced.

When they were almost home, Lu Chuan finally said, “I’m very happy about getting the marriage certificate. The staff member really was biased in my favour, but that isn’t why I pulled you away. I just felt that on such a joyful day, we should be happier. If you really got into a conflict with someone, I would definitely take your side.”

Fang Yuan’s reply was, as always, completely outside Lu Chuan’s expectations. “Isn’t that only natural? Otherwise, are you even a man?”

Lu Chuan was left feeling stifled.

What he had said was practically a confession, and wasn’t Fang Yuan supposed to respond tenderly?

In the future, things like this should be classified as ordinary. He should not feel proud of them, nor should he use them as confessions.

Then Lu Chuan himself blushed.

Was I confessing just now?

And after thinking carefully, Fang Yuan’s later words might not have been entirely devoid of affection. Taking her side was something he ought to do. The more he thought about it, the more meaningful it seemed.

Lu Chuan alone managed to perceive all sorts of affection from it.

By the time he entered the house, he was practically dizzy.

It even left Fang Yuan puzzled. They had only gone out for a while, yet he came back looking dazed. Was his health not very good?

Fang Yuan had never been particularly satisfied with Lu Chuan’s physical condition.

At the Fang family home, Mother Lu, Father Lu, and Fang Dalen were all gathered around staring at the marriage certificate.

Mother Lu’s face was full of envy. “So this is a marriage certificate. With this piece of paper, having children becomes legal. And the township officially recognizes us as husband and wife?”

She had question after question.

Wang Cuixiang finally realized that her in-laws truly had never seen a marriage certificate before.

Fang Dalen followed with a sigh of amazement. “Honey, we should go get one too. Otherwise, when I look at our eldest and the others, I feel guilty. Could it be that the children aren’t even legal?”

They had been married for decades and had only just learned that such a thing was required.

Mother Lu said, “Old man, we should get one too. The eldest damaged the family’s reputation. We need to be more careful. A relationship with a certificate behind it gives you confidence when talking about it.”

Father Lu actually agreed. “That’s true.”

Wang Cuixiang felt dizzy.

She seemed to have ended up in the wrong place, surrounded by people who were anything but ordinary.

Where am I? Who am I?

Fang Yuan was still speaking. “Go ahead and get one. When we got our certificate, they even asked whether we had any difficulties. If you have difficulties, bring them up. Maybe they’ll help solve them.”

Mother Lu grabbed Fang Yuan’s hand, her face full of astonishment. “There’s such a good thing? Then we absolutely have to go.”

Lu Chuan turned to look at his mother-in-law.

The calmest person there was Wang Cuixiang. Seeing her daughter and son-in-law get their marriage certificate had put her mind at ease.

Watching her husband and in-laws marvel around a single piece of paper gave her a slight headache. If they wanted to get certificates, then let them. It only cost a few mao.

But the more she listened, the more something felt wrong.

Was there really such a procedure when obtaining a marriage certificate?

She cast an inquisitive look at Lu Chuan.

At last, the eyes of the mother-in-law and son-in-law met.

Sure enough, intelligent people did not need many words. A single glance was enough.

From now on, they would probably be the only two people in the household capable of discussing serious matters.

Wang Cuixiang’s face was full of embarrassment. “Son-in-law, you’ll have to bear with the family matters in the future.”

Lu Chuan replied, “Mom, we’ll be relying on you to worry about many family matters in the future.”

There was no helping it. One look at Fang Yuan was enough to tell that she was not someone who enjoyed using her brain.

After dinner, Fang Dalen took Wang Cuixiang, while Mother Lu dragged Father Lu along. Before the township office closed, they went and came back with two marriage certificates.

Of course, they were all honest people.

They all asked the staff member whether he would help solve their difficulties.

Fang Yuan had clearly said such a thing existed, so why wasn’t the staff member asking them?

To tell the truth, the staff member was on the verge of collapse.

Especially when Mother Lu asked him, “Can you help solve any difficulty at all?”

“If my family doesn’t have money, can you solve that?”

Mother Lu had spoken too briefly because she was nervous. What she had really meant was whether they could help if her family lacked money to support a child’s education.

The staff member was left completely dumbfounded.

What exactly had these people come here for?

Fortunately, Wang Cuixiang was there. The moment they got their certificates, she brought everyone home.

Even so, the next time those marriage certificate clerks saw this group, they would probably walk the other way.

On the way home, Mother Lu was still complaining. “The certificate is pretty good, but they don’t actually help solve problems. And their attitude wasn’t very good either.”

Fang Dalen chimed in, “Exactly. The way they looked at us was like we were fools. Why did that make me so unhappy?”

Wang Cuixiang felt utterly exhausted.

Weren’t they looking at them like fools indeed?

Another thing Wang Cuixiang had realized was that trying to outthink people like this only made her look especially foolish.

She was the one lacking sense.

Lu Chuan had already heard from his mother-in-law about the difficulty his own mother had raised. Scratching his head, he looked at Fang Yuan, who was walking beside his mother and joining in the complaints.

You really can’t blame the staff member for having a bad attitude.

Who could maintain a good attitude when faced with a combination like this?

And he had encountered three of them in a single day. Getting through a workday really wasn’t easy for him.