It was just around 10:30 in the morning when they arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau. Sunlight lazily sprinkled down, landing on the plane tree in front of the door.

Light and shadow were shattered by the wind, and the plane tree leaves swayed with the wind, casting dappled shadows all over the ground.

Gu Qichi was bathed in the light, a blurred glow plating his entire body, as exquisite as a piece of priceless porcelain.

The door of the Civil Affairs Bureau was pushed open, and the sultry, humid air surged in with the opening motion, a heatwave unique to summer sweeping in.

But it was then dispersed by the cool air from the air conditioner inside the Civil Affairs Bureau, setting off a chill.

Although he was just a D-list celebrity, for the sake of Wen Xi and “Lucky Azure Sky”, Gu Qichi still honestly put on a mask and hat to prevent being recognized and causing unnecessary trouble later.

Today was a workday, and there weren’t many people getting married. Bo Yu had asked Bai Heng to make an appointment in advance, but it didn’t seem to make much difference now, as there were only a few couples waiting in the hall.

There were five windows in total in the Civil Affairs Bureau, two of which were still free. Seeing this, Gu Qichi directly pulled Bo Yu over.

The staff member in charge was carefully slacking off, her fingers sliding up and down with the “Happy Match” game on her phone screen. Because silent mode was on, no sound could be heard, only the gorgeous light effects on the screen after eliminating obstacles could be seen.

Blue and green, extraordinarily dazzling.

Bo Yu’s fingertip tapped lightly on the counter, the crisp tapping sound attracting the staff member’s attention back.

The one in charge of handling the procedure was a round-faced young lady with slightly round almond eyes. Seeing Gu Qichi staring at her phone screen, she felt a bit embarrassed, hurriedly put away her phone, and put on a serious working attitude.

Bo Yu led Gu Qichi to sit down on the round chairs, took out their household registers and ID cards, handed them to the window, and didn’t forget to take out a box of wedding candies and hand them over together.

It’s common for newlyweds to bring wedding candies for the staff.

Everyone hopes their marriage will be happy, healthy, and smooth, so they bring wedding candies to share with strangers, spreading joy to receive more blessings.

So the round-faced young lady didn’t refuse either. She pursed her lips, two dimples appearing on her cheeks, accepted the wedding candies and ID documents handed over by Bo Yu, and then passed out a form.

Two copies of the “Application for Marriage Registration Statement”.

“According to Article 1047 of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China, the age for marriage shall not be earlier than twenty-two for the male party.”

“Article 1048, marriage between lineal blood relatives or collateral blood relatives within three generations is prohibited.”

“Do you meet the requirements?”

Following custom, she read out the required marriage laws and requirements, then looked up to ask them.

Gu Qichi and Bo Yu nodded, then filled in the information one by one. Under the staff member’s gaze, they signed their names in the “Declarant” column.

There was also an inkpad on the counter, bright red cinnabar color. Gu Qichi glanced at it, reached out to take it, pressed his finger pad down hard to coat his thumb evenly with the inkpad, and then pressed a fingerprint on his name.

The fingerprint was clear, a whorl pattern wrapped in layers of loops.

Exactly opposite to the direction Bo Yu pressed.

But if the two fingerprints were overlapped afterwards, surprisingly, one could see that the shape was an intertwined heart.

A bright red, beating heart.

The staff member took back the filled “Application for Marriage Registration Statement”, carefully checked and verified the information on it, entered it into the computer, flipped through the ID documents of the two brought by Bo Yu, and looked up to ask:

“Didn’t you bring three two-inch red-background ID photos?”

Flipping through several times, still none.

She saw Bo Yu shake his head, “Didn’t bring them, we can take them directly here.”

The young lady dragged out her voice, uttering an “Ah”.

Nowadays, 99% of newlyweds choose to prepare marriage registration photos in advance. After all, something printed on the marriage certificate for a lifetime, of course, they want to photoshop themselves as good-looking as possible.

The Civil Affairs Bureau isn’t responsible for retouching photos, and the lighting depends a lot on luck. Most people can’t withstand their tragic camera.

Often, young couples forget to bring photos, tremblingly try their photographer, and then stomp out of the Civil Affairs Bureau in exasperation to choose another auspicious day.

Bo Yu’s face was good-looking, noble and cold, with a natural nobility.

Should be able to withstand Old Zhang’s lens, right?

The young lady shifted her gaze to the other protagonist of the marriage——

Gu Qichi’s face.

The young man wore a mask, covering most of his face tightly, leaving only a pair of peach blossom eyes exposed. The eye shape was beautiful, the tails slanted upwards, and the amber pupils looked like melted pine oil in the light, clear and bright.

They say eyes are the windows to the soul. Gu Qichi’s eyes were extremely lively, so his face shouldn’t be bad either.

But thinking of her photographer’s “uncanny workmanship”, the young lady took a breath and sincerely suggested: “Are you sure you want to register today and take photos here? Our photographer isn’t responsible for retouching.”

The implication was very obvious. It’s not too late to regret now; I’ve warned you!

Gu Qichi took off his mask, revealing his whole face, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips, and nodded: “Sure.”

Damn.

The young lady cursed inwardly.

No wonder they were willing to take photos here.

With these two looking like this, what angle couldn’t they withstand?

Thinking of this, she neatly packed up the materials and took the two to the photography room.

Arranged for the two to sit in front of the camera.

Old Zhang was also a bit surprised. After all, photography being his hobby but not understood by most people was indeed a bit of a blow to his confidence.

“You two want to take wedding photos?” He asked lazily.

Seeing the two nod, Old Zhang adjusted his precious equipment, aiming at the lens while speaking:

“You two, come closer.”

“Right, smile more, the one on the left, don’t pull a long face.”

The viewfinder aligned, clearly reflecting the faces of the two.

The weather today was indeed very good, could even be called a once-in-a-century occurrence.

The sky was azure, snow-white soft clouds surging on the horizon. Sunlight pierced through the cloud layers, penetrating straight into the photography room, thin shadows falling on that bright red cloth.

Sunlight slowly outlined blurry halos on Gu Qichi and Bo Yu. The thin, bright white shirts were warmed by the light, and even their hair was melted with a layer of golden glow.

In the photo, the shoulders of the two were pressed tightly together, silently gazing at the camera.

Bo Yu’s brow lines relaxed, his highly aggressive features softened. A smile emerged in his dark eyes, like the frozen ice surface in winter being broken, gushing streams of water underneath. Reaching out, it was a warm current carrying gentle warmth.

Gu Qichi’s black hair stuck up fluffily, his snow-like complexion almost transparent in the light. His peach blossom eyes curved into the shape of a new moon, his smile bright, his light-colored pupils clear and transparent, his long and curled eyelashes trembling gently.

The gloom and lethargy on him were swept away, replaced by an indescribable vitality.

The lens froze at this moment.

Old Zhang straightened up with satisfaction, flipping through his masterpiece on the camera.

This photo was taken extremely well, carrying the scorching brightness unique to summer.

The people were, and so was the scenery.

The bright red contrasted sharply with the snow-white shirts, yet combined excellently. Golden sunlight sprinkled in lightly, like a flowing, sparkling river of light. Yet it wasn’t abrupt, as if inherently merged with these two people.

This was simply the greatest work of his life!

Old Zhang widened his eyes excitedly.

After the photo was printed, the photographer scratched his head, poking his head out to glance at the two.

Then he faced Gu Qichi firmly, speaking cheerfully, his tone a bit shy: “Young man, do you mind if I keep a copy of this photo?”

He paused, then explained: “Won’t spread it, just keep it for my own appreciation. This might be the best photo I’ve ever taken, I want to keep it as a souvenir.”

The photographer’s gaze was sincere, with a kind smile on his face. Gu Qichi thought for a moment and nodded compliantly.

Gu Qichi: “As long as it’s not exposed, it’s fine.”

The photographer cheerfully continued to admire his stunning work.

Bo Yu was still holding Gu Qichi’s hand, turned his head, his tone softened, voice low and husky: “Can you send me the digital file? I also want to keep it as a souvenir.”

The photographer put down the camera, took out his own phone, brought up the WeChat interface, and showed the QR code.

“This photo doesn’t need retouching, I’ll send you the original directly.”

Bo Yu took out his phone, successfully added the photographer on WeChat, received the beautiful wedding photo of himself and Gu Qichi, then neatly pressed the save button, adding it to his album.

Even his phone, which hadn’t changed wallpaper for years, finally got a new skin, kicking away the default wallpaper that had followed him for years, replaced by this wedding ID photo.

Not just Old Zhang, Mr. Bo was also satisfied however he looked at it.

On the other side, the photographer had already developed the photos. Three were sent outside to the staff, and he gave them two extra, packed in a narrow, small white paper bag.

When the round-faced young lady got these three red-background wedding photos, she almost shouted in disbelief: “Damn.”

Then, while Gu Qichi and Bo Yu were away, she handed the photo to the girl next to her, looking exceptionally excited.

“Can you believe this is a photo taken by Old Zhang???”

“And it’s the original straight out, not retouched even a tiny bit.”

???

The previous three couples had already got their certificates and left. The Civil Affairs Bureau was empty, directly causing a burst of exclamations.

Working here for so many years, everyone knew exactly how much skill Old Zhang had. Usually, people came out looking crooked-mouthed and squint-eyed, angering away several young couples. Even they had been poisoned.

But the two people in this photo looked as good as if taken by a professional photographer.

Can’t see any trace of Old Zhang’s previous photography.

Staff at further windows also had their curiosity piqued. Since they were getting off work soon anyway, they just wanted to run over to see who these sacred beings were, when they saw the two protagonists of the topic walking out of the photography room.

Still the maskless version.

The Civil Affairs Bureau was silent for a moment, countless pairs of eyes staring at the two, glued tightly.

Only the two parties involved didn’t notice anything. Nothing else, just used to being stared at.

The round-faced young lady awkwardly retracted the hand holding the photo, quickly pasted it, and went to the machine next to her.

The red-covered marriage certificate was placed under a specific machine, stamped with a steel seal.

Officially effective.

Gu Qichi quietly watched her operate. When he received the marriage certificate, his mood was a bit complicated.

Actually, everything around him now was illusory, like a boundless dream.

Long ago, he had accepted his fate, stopped meaningless struggles, just peacefully trapped himself in this shell, coldly watching everything in this world.

But the world was broken, his consciousness fully awakened, able to control this body.

Even, on the day he just regained control, he met Bo Yu.

Then by a strange combination of circumstances, step by step, he walked with Bo Yu to today.

Warm touch came from his palm. Bo Yu held his hand again, holding the marriage certificate belonging to him in his hand, lowering his brows, appreciating it very carefully.

Like appreciating some peerless treasure.

Gu Qichi turned to look at him. Bo Yu pinched his fingertip and looked back.

His gaze was black and heavy, something hidden within, gently swirling up a vortex, making people sink in unconsciously.

Having processed the procedures for them, the round-faced young lady’s almond eyes curved: “Wish you a happy marriage. By the way, we also have pre-marital checkups here, free of charge, do you want to do it?”

Bo Yu looked at her, shook his head, “No need, we’ll do it at the hospital.”

After the two left, Old Zhang emerged from the photography room calmly, unable to hide the pride on his face.

Still holding that wedding ID photo of the two in his hand.

“See that? This photo, I took it!”

“I’ll see who dares to say I take bad photos in the future!”

Someone sneered disdainfully, pointing a finger towards the door from afar: “It’s obviously because that young couple just now are good-looking that this photo turned out well. Has nothing to do with you.”

Old Zhang disagreed and started arguing with her: “Didn’t I find this lighting, this angle?! Is this finished picture not taken by me? Ah?”

That person was rebutted by him, secretly pouted, crossed her arms, still unconvinced: “You obviously just got lucky.”

The round-faced young lady watched them argue, finding it funny, and stepped out to smooth things over: “Alright, stop arguing, come eat wedding candy. This candy is a brand I haven’t seen before.”

A box of wedding candies soon bottomed out. The candies were filled, the sweet scent of cherry melting in the mouth, refreshingly sweet.

Old Zhang, biting the candy while holding the photo, couldn’t help sighing:

“If not to protect their privacy, I’d want to frame this photo in my office…”

“It’s just too perfect.”

Before returning to the car, Bo Yu had already packed up both their marriage certificates. Stuffed into his bosom, not even a shadow of red could be seen.

As if afraid Gu Qichi would snatch them away.

Time passed quickly. In a blink of an eye, it was noon. Gu Qichi’s earlier sleepiness was completely stirred away. having eaten a lot in the morning, he was exceptionally energetic.

Just as he wanted to speak, his phone rang first.

The screen showed the caller was Wen Xi.

Wen Xi’s voice was a bit hurried, coming from the receiver: “Baby Chi, did you see the message I sent you? Today ‘Lucky Azure Sky’ officially announces. As the lead actor, you have to forward that official Weibo post.”

Gu Qichi frowned. He hadn’t used Weibo for a long time. This morning he had been tossing about with Bo Yu and hadn’t had time to check the message Wen Xi sent him.

“Sister Wen, I remember you are managing my Weibo account. You can forward it for me.”

He didn’t really want to log into Weibo. Seeing those unspeakable insults and high-and-mighty reprimands in the private messages, even if he tried his best to ignore them, annoyance would still breed from the bottom of his heart.

Wen Xi usually took care of his emotions, but today she rarely disagreed, her attitude somewhat tough:

“No, this is your own Weibo, you have to manage it yourself. Lin Shuangyi has high requirements for artists. Plus now IP addresses are directly displayed. If I post for you, it will be exposed directly, and fans won’t be happy.”

Gu Qichi smiled bitterly, really wanting Wen Xi to recognize reality. He basically had no fans now. If there were, they were anti-fans he had offended.

Words came to his lips but were swallowed back. Just posting a Weibo, no need to make Wen Xi unhappy.

Gu Qichi lowered his eyelids, his long eyelashes casting a fan-shaped shadow on his face, and downloaded the yellow app he had long thrown into the trash from the app store.

Haven’t used “Big Eye” (Weibo) for too long, even forgot the account and password.

Gu Qichi stared at the login option, trying hard to scrape up scenes about the account and password from his memory.

Unfortunately, didn’t remember a single one.

He was a bit frustrated, so he had to switch to WeChat and message Wen Xi:

【Baby Chi】: Sister Wen, do you still have my account and password there?

Wen Xi on the other end of the phone was silent for a rare moment, took a deep breath, and turned to look at Luo Qianqian who was scrolling “Big Eye”:

“You’re sure the recent private messages are all praising him, right.”

Luo Qianqian wore a cap, black-rimmed glasses covering most of her face, looking a bit dull. Coupled with the way she nodded vigorously, even duller.

Wen Xi braced herself and sent all of Gu Qichi’s account and password over. Then held her breath, waiting nervously for Gu Qichi’s reaction.

With this information, re-logging was fast. The browser spun twice, logged in successfully.

The flashy page and mandatory options made Gu Qichi a bit annoyed. After fully logging in, a screen full of little red dots came into view.

Especially the private message box column, a string of bright red numbers going down, simply impossible to count clearly.

Usually, inside were words cursing him as very vicious. Gu Qichi was too lazy to pay attention, directly copied and pasted the string Wen Xi sent him, planning to edit a Weibo post and send it out when the time came.

Suddenly, his gaze paused, moving to the “Me” column. Surprisingly, there was an extra red dot on it.

Gu Qichi pursed his lips, his heart contracting suddenly, fingers trembling slightly, and clicked in.

The fan column could be called skyrocketing, having increased by over three hundred thousand fans.

And his most recent Weibo was posted more than half a year ago. The content was simple, a photo of snow in Dongcheng he took casually.

Maybe because the memory was very close, Gu Qichi could quickly recall what comments he received when he posted this Weibo:

[gqc why aren’t you dead today: Still in the mood to take photos here? Daddy looks at this photo of yours and feels you’ve tainted the snow.]

[Gu Yuning’s outsider girlfriend: Please, how do you still have the face to live on? If not for our Ningning’s kind heart, you would have died eighteen thousand times already 【Smile】]

[Not more not less fake just right: Pure passerby, asking if I don’t understand, why so much malice towards him?]

[Come kowtow three times to your daddy: Because he’s disgusting 【Cute】【Cute】【Cute】]

[Most beautiful fireworks in the sky: Because he’s vicious 【Vomit】]

[One one two two three three: Because he’s a fake person]

[A salted fish: Let me educate you. Gu Qichi, the number one fake person in the entertainment industry, completely plastic surgery from head to toe, all silicone. Deeply scheming, heart rotten and smelly, even dared to drip glue into the contact lenses of fellow cast actors. If not for his sugar daddy protecting him, he would have entered the orange (police station) long ago]

[A salted fish: Such a person, better go to hell early 【Husky】]

[cool: Don’t know if his sugar daddy feels gross holding this kind of silicone person…]

Gu Qichi recalled for a while. Apart from these remarks, he hadn’t seen a few fair words.

But today, when he clicked on that Weibo again, the style changed drastically.

Those vicious words in the front row were reported and forcibly deleted by someone, or pushed to the very bottom, leaving absolutely no trace of bad comments for him to find.

[Love Chichi Love Life: My Baby Chi, when can you attend to your weed-overgrown Weibo? Mom has waited until the flowers withered…]

[Period: Ahhh my good cub, can Mom still wait until you and Zhaozhao appear on a show together again? 【Pitiful】【Pitiful】【Pitiful】]

[Cheezy Grapefruit: Baby, post a selfie. The selfies in the variety show are really getting patinated ahhhhh 【Crying】]

[Oops OMG: May I ask if this is the account of the little brother in “Traveling with Dad”? Found it after much hardship, how come can’t even see a selfie 【Crying】【Crying】]

[Did my cp sleep together today: Sorry, I’m here to ship Chen Xu and Gu Qichi’s cp. Did no one notice?!! That poisonous-tongued monster Chen Xu actively followed Gu Qichi!!!]

[Still not giving out candy: Noticed, but our wife Chichi hasn’t followed back yet 【Dog head】]

[Stay where it’s cool: Sorry am I the only one shipping Chichi and the man in black cp? But really so compatible oh, kswl (kills me with sweetness)]

Gu Qichi’s hand stopped, gaze pausing, brows knitting slightly.

Man in black?

cp?

Wearing black clothes and in the frame that day…

He shifted his gaze to Bo Yu’s face, then looked at the phone again.

Is this talking about Bo Yu?

But if he remembered correctly, when he stood together talking with Bo Yu at that time, it didn’t exceed three minutes in total…

A question mark slowly rose above the beauty’s head. Can this also be shipped?

The next second, a WeChat message popped up from the top, Wen Xi’s message coming into view:

【Sister Wen】: Gu Qichi, see that? Actually, there are many people supporting you, liking you

【Sister Wen】: Although the number is small, I believe, one day, there will definitely be many, many people liking you

Gu Qichi inexplicably remembered the reason he agreed to sign with Wen Xi that year.

At that time, Wen Xi was bright and dazzling, not old, like a burning peony in full bloom. She held Gu Qichi’s hand. Although begging, her tone was indescribably proud and unrestrained:

“Gu Qichi, as long as you follow me, I swear, one day——”

“A sea of stars will definitely shine for you!”