Trapped In Paradise
Volume 3 Chapter 49 / Chapter 554: Husband and Wife
Filling out forms, verification, taking photos, saying their vows...
By the time they walked out of the Civil Affairs Bureau, the smile on Ning Chu's face hadn't faded once. She chattered excitedly the entire time.
"That was so fast. It took less than half an hour."
"You actually wanted to get a premarital medical checkup. Do you not trust me, or were you fooling around before?"
"You were obviously still a virgin before college~"
Ning Chu chirped away beside him like a little sparrow.
Wen Yang looked up at the bright sunshine outside the building. For some reason, the joy in his heart suddenly settled into a quiet calm.
He gently took his wife's hand in his own, wrapping it tightly in his palm without realizing he'd tightened his grip.
"What's wrong?"
"I suddenly feel like the responsibility is enormous."
He lowered his head and looked at her pretty face.
"From now on, you're my wife. It's too late to regret it now."
"You've got that backwards."
Ning Chu pulled Wen Yang down the steps, out from beneath the building's shade and into the golden sunlight.
Feeling the warmth of the sun and the heat of Wen Yang's hand, her surging emotions gradually calmed.
She looked up at the tall figure standing straight beside her. The tenderness in her eyes was almost tangible.
"Wen Yang..."
"You should call me something else now."
"...Husband."
"I'm still not used to it."
She paused, brushed a strand of hair away from her face, lowered her head, and asked softly,
"Doesn't it feel... kind of strange?"
"Nothing has really changed. It's just one extra certificate, but somehow... somehow..."
She couldn't quite find the words.
Wen Yang understood what she meant.
"Like you've suddenly become capable of anything?"
"Something like that."
He gently wrapped an arm around Ning Chu's shoulders, as though he were embracing the whole world.
Looking down the straight road ahead, he murmured, "It's like... having family. Suddenly there's this deep sense of security inside me. It feels like nothing ahead of us is impossible anymore."
Pressure.
Burden.
Responsibility.
They weighed on him like towering mountains.
Yet unexpectedly, he felt neither fear nor uncertainty.
Instead, he was filled with the motivation to keep moving forward, as if someone were supporting his shoulders and an extra heart had begun beating inside his chest.
Having grown up without a family, he'd always carried a bit of insecurity.
But now he was convinced that as long as Ning Chu remained by his side, no hardship lying ahead would be insurmountable.
It felt as though he'd grown up in an instant.
Only now did he truly feel like an adult.
Only now did he truly feel like a man.
"Let's wander around for a while, hubby~"
Ning Chu deliberately drew out the last syllable playfully.
She looked up, only to find Wen Yang staring at her face the entire time, the possessiveness in his eyes so intense it seemed as though he wanted to swallow her whole.
Instead of shrinking away, she became even more affectionate.
Standing on tiptoe, she offered her soft lips to his.
They were still out on the street. Thin-skinned as ever, Ning Chu merely brushed her lips lightly against his before immediately lowering her head as though she'd been shocked by electricity.
Her cheeks flushed a vivid crimson almost instantly.
"I also... borrowed my mom's VIP card."
"Didn't I satisfy you enough last night?"
"It's like eating~ Just because we ate yesterday doesn't mean we don't eat today."
Holding Wen Yang's hand, Ning Chu led him toward the couples' hotel that both she and her mother frequented.
In high spirits, she skipped along on her tiptoes, her steps so light she looked like a little fairy.
"It's a shame we still don't have a house. We're still missing a home."
Wen Yang sighed with some regret that his plans had been disrupted.
"I wanted to marry you properly and welcome you home with all the ceremony. But now... we don't even have a wedding."
"Isn't wherever I am your home?"
"I suppose that's true."
"I don't mind at all~"
He laughed and teased, "Then don't bring this up someday when we're arguing."
"Do I look like the kind of person who digs up old arguments?"
Ning Chu poked him in the waist in mock annoyance.
The morning sun wasn't too harsh, and a cool breeze drifted through the streets.
Hand in hand, they strolled leisurely beneath the shade of roadside trees.
Ning Chu talked nonstop, hardly pausing for a single moment.
"Hubby, hubby~ When do you think we should have kids? Maybe after we've bought a house? But I've heard giving birth really hurts... I'm kind of scared."
"Hubby, hubby~ I want to travel to northern China someday. I want to play in the snow."
"Let's buy a huge apartment in the future! One like Lily's! Really spacious, with a floor-to-ceiling window so we can look at the city lights at night!"
Wen Yang simply nodded the whole time, agreeing with everything Ning Chu said and quietly committing each of her wishes to memory.
"If you're afraid of the pain, then we don't have to have children. It's not like our family has a throne to pass down anyway."
His eyes kept drifting back to Ning Chu.
For a fleeting moment, it was as if he could see that delicate, handsome young woman from years ago. He clearly remembered the scene of Ning Chu collapsing in the bathroom with blood covering her legs, and he also remembered the sight of her back as she had lost all hope and tried to run away.
He couldn't remember exactly when he'd fallen in love with her.
Perhaps it was the first time she'd shown him genuine care and concern.
Or perhaps it was the first time he saw her face flush red with jealousy...
In any case, the college roommate he had once lived with had now become the roommate who would accompany him for the rest of his life.
"Wife."
"Hm?"
Ning Chu looked up.
Her lightly made-up face was still tinged with pink, and curiosity shone in her peach blossom eyes. There was always a faint rosy hue at the corners of her eyes, making her look both playful and alluring.
"Nothing. I just wanted to call you that... to get used to it."
"Honestly, it sounds kind of strange."
She shook her head with a troubled expression, causing her waist-length ponytail to sway.
"It makes me feel old."
"Then how about calling you wifey?"
"Whatever. I'll get used to it after hearing it enough."
The road should have felt long.
Yet with Wen Yang holding his wife's hand, it seemed as though he had only drifted off in thought for a moment before they were already standing at the entrance of the couples' hotel.
"Where's my mom's card..."
Ning Chu lowered her head and searched through the shoulder bag Wen Yang was carrying until she found the VIP membership card.
As she searched, she said, "My mom ignored her own parents back then too. She stole the household registration booklet and went off to marry my dad."
"Now she's standing where my grandparents once stood. I wonder how she feels. It must be pretty funny~"
Wen Yang wasn't quite brave enough to joke about his mother-in-law.
"I don't think she's having that much fun."
"She might even be waiting to laugh at me. Maybe she's thinking that in a few years you'll dump me, and I'll come crying back to her."
"That'll never happen."
"True."
Ning Chu finally found the card and smiled.
"Even if I had a child, I still wouldn't go back and admit I was wrong."
"Wouldn't that make me exactly like my mom? Raising a child all by myself?"
Pretending to be angry, Wen Yang lightly knocked her on the head.
"You really have that little faith in me?"
"Ow! That hurt!"
"Don't worry. Even if I were starving to death, I'd still save you a bite to eat."
"I was only joking!"
Pouting, Ning Chu rubbed her forehead and huffed as she walked ahead into the hotel, leaving Wen Yang behind.
But by the time they reached the front desk, all of her indignation had vanished.
A little shyly, she slipped the membership card into Wen Yang's hand.
"You do it."
Whenever she wasn't caught up in the moment, she was incredibly thin-skinned.
"We're legally husband and wife now. What's there to be embarrassed about when we're checking into a couples' hotel?"
"You go!"
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Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/HannibalNotBarca/posts/trapped-in-172547056?collection=234094
[2] https://www.patreon.com/HannibalNotBarca/posts/trapped-in-172547056?collection=234094