Chapter 33: Only a Fool Knows

Lu Chuan was genuinely trying to help Fang Yuan solve her problems, so he kept his eyes on her.

Fang Yuan said, “How could you possibly have that much ability? I want to ask you about your schooling in the future. I was thinking, our family definitely won’t stay in the village forever. Are we going to move to town or what? Either way, we’ll have to ask them to help us sort things out, right?”

Then, Fang Yuan, clearly unhappy, added, “Since he asked, of course he should help solve the problem.”

Lu Chuan was left speechless by Fang Yuan’s words. This girl might be tough, but she definitely wasn’t dumb—she was thinking way ahead.

And Fang Yuan looked serious, clearly giving this matter real thought.

Lu Chuan himself hadn’t thought that far ahead, and he felt a little ashamed for falling behind her. He immediately put on a solemn expression and said, “You’re right, we do need to ask the town about this, but not this particular department.”

Then he added, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll go check it out in town later.” Lu Chuan still had a sense of responsibility—he’d already fallen behind Fang Yuan and couldn’t afford to fall further.

He was also worried Fang Yuan might keep bothering the staff for no reason. After all, they were only trying to help, and he didn’t want to cause them any trouble.

Fang Yuan huffed, “Hmph, I knew that woman wasn’t being sincere, asking if you were willing or not. She probably thinks I stole you. She speaks up for you, so of course you think she’s nice.”

Then she said, “Do I look like I dragged you off to get our marriage certificate?”

Lu Chuan laughed, “Maybe they just think our marriage happened a bit suddenly.” He didn’t dare say that, in fact, she really did drag him off.

Then Lu Chuan joked naturally, “Listening to you, it does sound like you snatched me up. Why do I feel a little proud?”

After saying that, he snuck a glance at Fang Yuan, his own face turning a bit red.

But Fang Yuan didn’t pick up on it and, a little annoyed, said, “Don’t go thinking I stole you. Your family owed me, so I’m the one who got the short end of the stick. Do you think it’s easy having a college student in the family?”

Lu Chuan looked up at the sky. The atmosphere didn’t really need to be this serious. His intention was that since they were now married and had their certificate, they could relax a bit and build some affection.

But since Fang Yuan didn’t go along with his banter, he could only follow her lead. “Sorry you had to put up with this, Fang Yuan,” he said, raising his eyebrows to show he didn’t really mean it.

As they were almost home, Lu Chuan finally said, “Getting our marriage certificate makes me really happy. Sure, the staff did favor me, but that’s not why I brought you out today. I just thought it’s a big day, and we should be happy. If you ever get into a conflict with someone, I’ll definitely take your side.”

Fang Yuan’s reply was, as always, completely unexpected: “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? Otherwise, are you even a man?”

Lu Chuan was left feeling stifled. Wasn’t what he just said basically a confession? Shouldn’t Fang Yuan have responded with a bit more affection?

From now on, he decided, things like this should be treated as normal, not something to get excited about or use as a confession.

Then Lu Chuan blushed again. Was he really just confessing his feelings?

But thinking it over, maybe there was some affection in Fang Yuan’s words after all. Of course he should take her side—if you thought about it, there was something sweet in that.

So Lu Chuan decided, all on his own, that he’d gotten a taste of her affection. When he walked into the house, he was still a little dazed.

Fang Yuan was puzzled. He’d just gone out and come back all spacey—was he not feeling well?

Fang Yuan had never been too satisfied with Lu Chuan’s health, anyway.

At the Fang house, Lu Chuan’s mother and father, along with Fang Da Leng, were all staring at the marriage certificate.

Lu Chuan’s mother was full of envy. “So this is a marriage certificate! With this piece of paper, having kids is legal. Only then does the town recognize you as husband and wife?”

The questions just kept coming, one after another. Wang Cui Xiang finally realized that her in-laws really had never seen a marriage certificate before.

Fang Da Leng exclaimed, “Mom, we should go get our certificate too! No wonder the older boys always seem a bit guilty—turns out their kids aren’t even legal?”

They’d been married for decades and only now realized you needed this thing.

Lu Chuan’s mother said, “Let’s go, your father and I should get one too. Our eldest has already ruined the family’s reputation, so we’d better be careful. With a certificate, we can hold our heads high.”

Lu Chuan’s father actually agreed, “That’s true.”

Wang Cui Xiang felt dizzy. She must be in the wrong place—none of these people were normal. Where am I? Who am I?

Fang Yuan chimed in, “Go ahead. When we got our certificate, they even asked if we had any difficulties. If you do, just tell them—they might help you out.”

Lu Chuan’s mother grabbed Fang Yuan, her face full of surprise. “There’s such a good thing? We have to go!”

Lu Chuan turned to look at his mother-in-law. The calmest person in the room was Wang Cui Xiang. Seeing her daughter and son-in-law get their certificate, she finally felt at ease.

But seeing her husband and in-laws crowding around a piece of paper in awe, she felt a headache coming on. If they wanted to get their certificate, let them—what’s a few cents, anyway?

But the more she listened, the more something felt off. Was there really such a process to getting a certificate? She shot a questioning look at Lu Chuan.

Finally, mother-in-law and son-in-law made eye contact.

And truly, smart people don’t need many words. With just a glance, they understood: from now on, the only ones in this family you could actually discuss things with were the two of them.

Wang Cui Xiang blushed with embarrassment. “Son-in-law, you’ll have to take care of things at home from now on.”

Lu Chuan replied, “Mom, I’ll be counting on you to handle things too.” There was no helping it—just looking at Fang Yuan, you could tell she wasn’t the type to worry about such things.

After dinner, sure enough, Fang Da Leng took Wang Cui Xiang, and Lu Chuan’s mother dragged his father, and while the town office was still open, they went and got two marriage certificates.

Of course, being honest folks, they asked the staff if they could help with any difficulties.

But Fang Yuan had said there was such a thing—so why didn’t the staff ask them?

Honestly, the staff were about to lose it, especially when Lu Chuan’s mother asked, “Can you help with any kind of difficulty?”

“My family has no money—can you fix that?”

Lu Chuan’s mother was just nervous and didn’t explain clearly. What she meant was, “If my family doesn’t have money to send the kids to school, can you help?”

The staff were left dumbfounded. What exactly were these people here for?

Luckily, Wang Cui Xiang was there to steer them away after they got their certificates. Even so, the next time these folks come in, the staff will probably avoid them.

On the way home, Lu Chuan’s mother complained, “The certificate is nice and all, but they didn’t really help solve any problems. Their attitude wasn’t great either.”

Fang Da Leng agreed, “Exactly! The way they looked at us was like we were idiots. Why does that bother me so much?”

Wang Cui Xiang was exhausted. Weren’t they just looking at idiots?

She also realized something else: trying to outsmart people like this only made her look like the real fool. She was the one lacking sense.

Lu Chuan had already heard from his mother-in-law about what his own mother had said to the staff. He scratched his head and glanced at Fang Yuan, who was joining in the complaints, and thought, no wonder the staff had a bad attitude. Who could stay polite after dealing with this group?

And to run into three of them in one day—those staff really had it tough.

Thank you all for your support."