As soon as he stepped through the door, Song Li'an keenly sensed that something was off.
His father didn't seem to be home from work yet. Only Zhou Sisi was sitting silently on the couch.
"What's wrong?" Song Li'an asked as he leaned against the wall to change his shoes, his posture accentuating the vibrant lines of his youthful body.
Zhou Sisi turned her head languidly, suddenly realizing that her child had truly grown up.
She questioned him sternly, "Tell me the truth, what's going on between you and Yan? I saw when I came home from work today..."
"Yes!" Before she could finish, Song Li'an had already candidly admitted it.
Zhou Sisi seemed to have taken a heavy blow, collapsing back onto the couch.
Song Li'an sat down on the adjacent sofa, utterly perplexed as he studied his mother carefully. "Aren't you happy that I've brought Yan into our family?"
Zhou Sisi, on the verge of clawing at the sofa in frustration, took a deep breath and lamented, "Are you trying to get me killed by your Aunt Lu? My son has gone and stolen her precious daughter right under everyone's noses."
At that, Song Li'an felt relieved. He reassured Zhou Sisi with a sense of responsibility, "It's alright, I'll take the main blame."
Zhou Sisi cast a sidelong glance at her son, thinking he was acting as if it were some great feat when it was just trouble he'd stirred up himself.
With such a major event, it was only natural that Song Li'an had trouble sleeping that night. But it wasn't because they'd been found out; rather, it was because of the sounds under the tree earlier that day.
Late at night, the stars twinkled in the sky.
The boy tossed and turned in bed for a while before reaching for his phone. In the darkness, the blue light from the screen cast shadows across his face, faintly outlining his handsome features and straight nose, almost unfairly good-looking.
Something crossed his mind, and he anxiously sent a message to Jiang Yan.
[Did the place where I bit you bleed?]
Jiang Yan was secretly playing on her phone under the covers when she suddenly saw this message. She was a bit confused at first, wondering what Song Li'an was up to now.
The next message popped up immediately after.
[Do you need to get a rabies shot?]
[If I broke the skin, there might be a risk of infection. Will you go get a shot tomorrow?]
Jiang Yan didn't even bother to read the rest of the messages. She paused for a moment, deciding to revise her initial impression. Song Li'an was a rare breed of boy, almost too innocent for his own good.
...
Thanks to Zhou Sisi's proactive confession, both families quickly became aware of the situation. However, since the two families had been on good terms for so long, they couldn't bring themselves to be too harsh about it.
Lu Yuliang quickly changed her perspective, scrutinizing Song Li'an as a potential future son-in-law, and found him quite acceptable.
It was Jiang Yan's socially anxious, quiet father, who usually only enjoyed playing with his daughter, who ended up brooding over the matter.
In the past, when Song Li'an came to visit, Jiang's Dad liked to call him "little one" as he did when Song Li'an was younger. Now, behind his back, Jiang's Dad bitterly referred to him as "little deceiver."
Because they were still so young, the families didn't allow them to rent an apartment together during their university years.
It wasn't until they both had stable jobs and had held their engagement party that Song Li'an finally got his wish.
For a while, Jiang Yan became utterly enamored with cats and insisted on getting one. At first, Song Li'an was completely against the idea, not wanting their couple's space to be invaded.
After the cat arrived, he still couldn't warm up to it. He would call out to the cat whenever he came home and saw it on the sofa.
This became a daily routine after work, and even when the cat ignored him, he wouldn't give up.
Of course, this might have been because ever since the cat arrived, he had been forced to take on all the responsibilities of feeding it.
Even the most rebellious and stubborn of humans are powerless against a soft, fluffy cat, inevitably transforming into devoted cat servants.
...
Jiang Yan had been pampered since childhood, and it wasn't until Song Li'an excitedly dragged her to get their marriage license that she remembered something important.
They had already parked outside the civil affairs bureau when Jiang Yan pulled Song Li'an aside.
Song Li'an immediately became anxious, holding her hand tightly and refusing to let go. He was truly afraid, worried that she might change her mind at the last minute, that their relationship wasn't meant to be.
Jiang Yan noticed his uneasy expression and thought he might have sensed something was wrong.
Having grown up in this world, surrounded by ordinary yet happy people, these wonderful experiences had almost made Jiang Yan forget that this wasn't her original reality. She had nearly completely merged with this world.
So, instead of loving Song Li'an with the carefree and willful attitude she might have had before, in this world, she too was bound by societal norms.
She looked at Song Li'an seriously and said, "I don't want to have children." As she spoke, she braced herself for Song Li'an's bewilderment.
Indeed, Song Li'an's eyes widened, and his lips trembled slightly.
But things didn't unfold as she had anticipated.
Song Li'an pulled her into a tight embrace, letting out a long sigh of relief as if he had just escaped a catastrophe. His voice quivered involuntarily, "I thought you were going to back out! You scared me to death. That's such a small matter... If you don't want kids, then we won't have any. I was afraid you didn't want me anymore."
Jiang Yan was stunned for a good while before patting his shoulder, torn between laughter and tears as she comforted the distraught Song Li'an.
The two children from years ago had slowly grown up, their limbs stretching and their heights increasing. Time had categorized them as adults, forcing them to understand many societal norms and preventing them from returning to their carefree childhood selves.
While you were worried about not wanting children affecting our relationship, all I've ever cared about was you.
In front of the red backdrop, the staff kept calling for Song Li'an to move outward a bit, telling him not to keep crowding inward.
Song Li'an reluctantly shifted a little, secretly telling Jiang Yan to keep looking at him, otherwise their marriage certificate photo wouldn't show how close they were.
Finally, the staff member pointed at Song Li'an in exasperation: "Sir, please save the public displays of affection for home. And kindly refrain from rolling your eyes or giving sidelong glances here."
Jiang Yan couldn't help but laugh at Song Li'an's slightly embarrassed expression, earning herself an annoyed pinch from him.
The once young boy and girl had become husband and wife. While they appeared mature and composed on the outside, in private, they were still the same as before.
Jiang Yan knew that he loved her more than she could imagine. But Song Li'an's wish was to always love her even more than she could ever imagine.
