After petting the cat, the two walked home slowly.
Mu Zhengqing walked a bit slowly. He needed to digest; he was too full.
But he didn’t know if Lu Yiwei was also too full, as he walked even slower.
“Be careful.”
Just as Mu Zhengqing was distracted, Lu Yiwei suddenly grabbed his arm.
“Thanks,” Mu Zhengqing said after stopping.
“You’re welcome.” Lu Yiwei released his arm and replied.
Their conversation could be described as formal, practically to the point of being official, not at all like the easy camaraderie of two people who had just fed a cat together.
Before Mu Zhengqing lowered his head, he thought that for Lu Yiwei to be this concerned, it must be a pretty deep pit or a large stone as a stumbling block.
So when he saw the almost negligible small pebbles, he fell into self-doubt.
Just this…
Was it Lu Yiwei’s eyesight that was the problem or his eyes that have an issue?
“Don’t get distracted while walking, watch the road,” Lu Yiwei said looking away, as he realised he might have been a bit overly nervous.
“Got it.”
After a few words, a strange atmosphere fell between the two.
Mu Zhengqing always felt that Lu Yiwei was looking at him, but when he looked over, he found that Lu Yiwei wasn’t looking at him at all.
Finally, when they reached the door, just as Mu Zhengqing was about to open it, Lu Yiwei grabbed his arm again.
His first reaction was whether Lu Yiwei had forgotten about the little puppy rubbing hard against his arm earlier.
He looked at Lu Yiwei with a puzzled expression.
This time, he had checked in advance. Not even a small pebble, let alone dust, was left after the cleaning lady had meticulously cleaned everything.
“The photographers have arrived. If you don’t have anything else to do, let’s take the photos first,” Lu Yiwei explained while holding his arm.
When they got married, the photo on their marriage certificate was taken casually at a photo studio.
At that time, neither of them was famous. The owner of the photo studio only praised their good looks and how well they matched, without paying much attention to them.
But times have changed. If he and Lu Yiwei were to go to a photo studio to take a photo for their marriage certificate now, it would cause quite a stir in the entertainment industry.
Actually, he didn’t care much about how the photo looked, but seeing how much Lu Yiwei cared, he was willing to accommodate him. Especially, since he was the one who lost the marriage certificate in the first place.
“I don’t have anything else to do, it’s just… Wangwang was rubbing against my arm for a long time just now.”
Seeing that Lu Yiwei still didn’t let go, Mu Zhengqing reminded him.
Although he hadn’t looked closely, he was sure that his sweater was covered in dog hair.
If Lu Yiwei were just a neat freak, it would be fine. But if he were allergic, and his fans found out that he caused their idol’s allergy, they would probably type furiously on their keyboards to scold him.
“Wait a moment.”
Hearing what Mu Zhengqing said, Lu Yiwei pulled him into his house.
As soon as they entered, Lu Yiwei found a wet wipe and handed it to Mu Zhengqing.
Seeing the wet wipe in front of him, Mu Zhengqing knew that Lu Yiwei had misunderstood his meaning, but he was too lazy to explain.
Whatever, after today, they would just be neighbours who don’t see each other often. He could tolerate this for now.
After Mu Zhengqing finished wiping his hands with the wet wipe, Lu Yiwei handed him a shirt.
He could understand why Lu Yiwei gave him a wet wipe, but he really didn’t understand the shirt.
Surely, Lu Yiwei didn’t expect him to wear his clothes.
Not to mention whether his clothes would fit, his own house was just across the street. If he wanted to change clothes, he could easily go home to do it.
“It’s new, I’ve never worn it,” Lu Yiwei explained when he saw that Mu Zhengqing didn’t take the shirt.
“I’m not saying that. Did you forget that my house is less than ten metres away?” Mu Zhengqing explained helplessly.
“Pfft…”
As soon as Mu Zhengqing finished speaking, he heard laughter coming from not far away. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw several people standing by the balcony.
Their expressions were varied, but they could be categorised into two types: those holding back laughter and those who couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Mu Zhengqing didn’t know what they found funny.
Although he didn’t know their exact reason for laughing, he was familiar with them.
They were the top names in the entertainment industry: a top makeup artist, a top designer, a top photographer…
He felt like he was about to shoot for a luxury magazine rather than a marriage certificate photo.
“Isn’t it a bit of an overkill to have them here?” Mu Zhengqing whispered to Lu Yiwei.
Of course, what he really wanted to say was, how much did this cost?
Although he had made quite a bit of money in recent years, this wasn’t how he intended to spend it.
“They are very discreet,” Lu Yiwei glanced at the people on the balcony and said, still disappointed that he couldn’t wear matching outfits with Mu Zhengqing.
“That’s true,” Mu Zhengqing nodded.
As top names in the entertainment industry, they had heard all kinds of gossip and seen all sorts of dramatic stories. Although his marriage to Lu Yiwei was a big deal, judging by their expressions, apart from holding back laughter, they weren’t surprised at all.
This money was indeed well spent.
However, he soon felt that some of the money could have been saved.
Since the photo was for their marriage certificate, the makeup couldn’t be too heavy, the clothes couldn’t be too flashy, and there were no elaborate poses.
In simple terms, the top makeup artist’s role was to blow-dry his hair and help Lu Yiwei remove his makeup.
The top designer’s role was to remove the dog hair from his sweater and urge Lu Yiwei to change into a different sweater.
The most useful person was the top photographer, who, perhaps to justify his value, kept giving them instructions throughout the photo shoot.
He either complained about their stiff expressions or that they were standing too far apart.
By the time they finally finished taking the photos, Mu Zhengqing’s face was almost stiff, feeling more exhausted than shooting for a magazine.
Of course, he noticed that Lu Yiwei wasn’t doing much better, his face slightly flushed with frustration.
After getting the photos, they went straight to the civil affairs bureau.
The process of reissuing the marriage certificate went relatively smoothly, except for the staff who kept staring at them after seeing their names.
To quickly get the marriage certificate, Mu Zhengqing was about to take off his mask to satisfy the staff’s curiosity, but Lu Yiwei beat him to it.
With the marriage certificate in hand, Mu Zhengqing said to Lu Yiwei, “Let’s go to the other line.”
Seeing the long line, Mu Zhengqing felt a headache coming on. If he had known there were so many people getting divorced, he would have hired someone to stand in line for him in advance.
“Why are we going to the other line?”
Holding the freshly issued marriage certificate, Lu Yiwei tried to control his expression and asked in confusion.
If he wasn’t mistaken, the other line seemed to be for divorces.
“Divorce, of course. Since we’re here, we might as well get it done,” Mu Zhengqing said as he walked forward.
After taking a few steps, he noticed that Lu Yiwei hadn’t followed. Turning back, he saw Lu Yiwei standing still.
Mu Zhengqing waited for a while, but seeing that Lu Yiwei had no intention of moving, he walked back and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Did you reissue the marriage certificate just to divorce me?” Lu Yiwei asked, looking into Mu Zhengqing’s eyes.
“Yes… yes,” Mu Zhengqing stuttered, feeling like a jerk under Lu Yiwei’s gaze.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that Lu Yiwei looked very aggrieved under his mask, though it seemed unlikely. After all, it was just a divorce. Why would Lu Yiwei feel aggrieved?
“I don’t want to divorce,” Lu Yiwei said loudly, unable to control his volume.
“Shh, keep your voice down. People are looking at us,” Mu Zhengqing quickly reminded him, noticing people glancing their way.
“I won’t divorce,” Lu Yiwei repeated in a lower voice.
“Let’s talk in the car.”
Mu Zhengqing didn’t expect Lu Yiwei to refuse the divorce. To avoid being recognized by others, he grabbed Lu Yiwei’s arm and walked out. He didn’t want their marriage to be unknown but their divorce to be publicized.
“Tell me, why don’t you agree to the divorce?” Mu Zhengqing asked after they got in the car.
He really couldn’t think of a reason why Lu Yiwei would refuse the divorce.
“Why do you want a divorce?” Lu Yiwei didn’t answer his question, but asked in return.
“We no longer need the marriage certificate to protect ourselves. Maintaining the marital relationship doesn’t benefit either of us… What are you doing?” Mu Zhengqing stuttered as he saw Lu Yiwei leaning towards him.
In those brief two seconds, a chilling thought popped into his head: “In my world, there’s no divorce, only widowhood.”
Lu Yiwei shouldn’t have such a twisted idea, right? It shouldn’t be. It’s just a divorce! It shouldn’t be… right?
He stared wide-eyed at the approaching Lu Yiwei.
Then he watched as Lu Yiwei fastened his seatbelt and started the car.
Wait, they hadn’t gotten divorced yet, why were they leaving?
“We haven’t finished our business yet, why are we leaving?” Mu Zhengqing asked.
“The important business is already done,” Lu Yiwei replied, looking straight ahead.
Without the mask covering his face, Mu Zhengqing noticed that although Lu Yiwei’s expression seemed normal, if you looked closely, you could see his lips were pressed tightly together, as if he was really a bit upset.
“Our task today was to reissue the marriage certificate.”
Seeing that Mu Zhengqing wasn’t speaking, Lu Yiwei, with one hand on the steering wheel, took out the marriage certificate from his pocket with the other hand.
Mu Zhengqing looked out the window, feeling annoyed.
If he had known that Lu Yiwei was driving, he would have realized that with the steering wheel in his hands, whatever he said would go. If it weren’t for the fear that the trending headlines would read “Two celebrities got into a car accident due to an argument in the car, and doctors are now trying to save them,” he would have argued with him a bit more.
They drove in silence and soon arrived at the underground parking lot of their apartment complex.
After parking the car, neither of them got out.
Mu Zhengqing was waiting for Lu Yiwei to explain why he didn’t want a divorce.
He waited and waited, but Lu Yiwei showed no intention of explaining.
“Let’s talk. Why don’t you agree to the divorce?” Mu Zhengqing couldn’t help but ask.
He was afraid that if he didn’t speak up, they would be stuck there forever.
“Are you asking for a divorce because you’re angry about the rumours of me with other people?” Lu Yiwei asked.
He had thought about it the whole way and could only come up with this reason.
“Not exactly, but it did remind me,” Mu Zhengqing replied.
Otherwise, he would have forgotten that they were even married, he added in his mind.
“If you don’t like me being involved in rumours with others, I promise it won’t happen again,” Lu Yiwei assured.
“Actually, it doesn’t matter whether you’re involved in rumours or not. Have you forgotten why we got married in the first place?” Mu Zhengqing kindly reminded him, seeing that Lu Yiwei was getting stuck on the issue.
“Do we really have to get divorced?” Lu Yiwei asked, unwilling to give up.
“Yes,” Mu Zhengqing answered without hesitation.
Although he didn’t know why Lu Yiwei didn’t want a divorce, his own determination to get divorced was unwavering.
In fact, he shared the same thoughts as Gu Da. If he and Lu Yiwei continued to stay in a hidden marriage, it might blow up at any time, causing even more trouble.
“Divorce is fine, but you need to agree to one condition,” Lu Yiwei said after a moment of silence.
“What condition?” Mu Zhengqing asked.
If it was about money, as long as Lu Yiwei didn’t ask for an exorbitant amount, he could give it to him. After all, Lu Yiwei had helped him during his most difficult times.
If it was about resources, as long as he could manage it, he would agree. Although they were on different paths, he didn’t know what resources Lu Yiwei might want.
“I’ll give you my answer in three days,” Lu Yiwei said before getting out of the car and leaving.
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