Chapter 236: Let’s Get the Certificate First
After a rich and delicious lunch, the two sat on the sofa eating fruit, leaning against each other as they chatted.
Shi Lan thought of the Insect Clan. "By the way, He Hanshi, what happened to that Insect Mother from before?"
He Hanshi pursed his lips slightly. "We’re still not certain about its specific condition, but for now, there haven’t been any distress calls from the residents. The Insect Mother has hidden itself again, just like before, and hasn’t caused any more disturbances."
"However, I did look up some information about that mass of energy. There’s very little on it, but there was once a planet that had become a Deserted Star, its vegetation completely covered by sand. Then, overnight, it transformed. Green shoots sprouted from the desert, turning the wasteland into a forest. Scientists who studied it explained that it was likely some kind of energy produced by the planet itself that had a nurturing, restorative effect on its environment, causing the change."
"The records state this miraculous phenomenon has happened twice, which proves how truly precious this energy is. If it has the effect you described back then, Lanlan, it might cause the Insect Clan to undergo new mutations."
During this time, the Border Defense Star tightened its security measures around the Garbage Star. They even buried Insect Clan monitoring devices in remote locations on all sparsely populated planets, just in case.
He Hanshi didn’t know what changes this mass of energy would bring to the Insect Clan, nor what the consequences would be for humanity. But as a soldier, all he knew was that he had to protect the Border Defense Star.
That was why his vacation wasn’t long—only five days.
He cherished every single moment with Shi Lan.
He Hanshi couldn’t resist pulling her into his arms again, as if afflicted with skin hunger. He buried his head affectionately against her long, fair neck, breathing in her scent. Every pore in his body seemed to relax in contentment.
"Lanlan, Lanlan... can we go get our marriage license the day after tomorrow?"
Shi Lan had just been listening to He Hanshi’s explanation, sharing his concern for the Insect Clan. She never expected him to pivot so sharply from that topic straight to marriage.
She raised a hand to stroke his hair, and he naturally leaned his head closer. The man who was usually a tall, imposing Admiral in the military was now like a good dog seeking its owner’s affection, gazing up at her with gentle, deep blue eyes full of devotion.
"Why the sudden rush?"
Shi Lan was curious. Her birthday was only a few days away, and she had no objections to registering their marriage. She just hadn’t expected He Hanshi to bring it up so suddenly; her original plan had been to do it on her birthday.
"By the way, how long is your leave this time?"
He Hanshi’s hair was naturally slightly curly, but he always combed it so meticulously that you usually couldn’t tell. Now, however, as Shi Lan’s hand idly ruffled it, his hair began to form soft, fluffy curls.
Any trace of his usual cool aloofness vanished completely. Shi Lan found herself getting addicted to ruffling his hair.
"I took five days off, just enough to be here for your birthday. I’m an Admiral. Even though Bai Feng and the others are on the Border Defense Star, the situation with the Insect Clan is uncertain. I can’t be away from my post for too long."
This was despite the fact that he was entitled to this leave. If he wanted, he could take off more than half a year, using the vacation days he’d accumulated from his work.
Five days was indeed a bit rushed.
The round trip alone would take nearly a full day. No wonder He Hanshi had rushed back overnight.
Shi Lan’s heart ached for him. She stroked his cheek. "You’ve been through a lot."
"It was nothing. It’s my duty."
"So, Lanlan... can we get the license first?"
He Hanshi was desperate to make their relationship official. The wedding ceremony could wait, but Shi Lan was about to reach the official age of marriage. If they didn’t register first, the matching center could still arrange for her to be introduced to other males.
Shi Lan mulled it over for a moment. Under He Hanshi’s nervous, expectant gaze, her lips curved into a smile. "Of course we can. I was actually planning for us to register on my birthday, but if you want to do it the day after tomorrow, then let’s do it together the day after tomorrow."
"Okay."
Although he was inadvertently securing this benefit for the other men as well, He Hanshi didn’t mind.
It was perfectly normal for a female to marry several males. He shouldn’t always be so jealous and make things difficult for Lanlan.
However, even if they were just registering the marriage first, the proper rituals couldn’t be skipped.
Shi Lan announced the decision to register their marriage directly in their group chat. Since she was determined to treat everyone equally, and she liked them all, there was no reason to register with them one by one and make anyone feel left out. It was better to do it all at once.
Jiang Xia knew Shi Lan’s birthday was approaching. He also knew that to avoid the matching center, she would have to register a marriage by then. That was why he’d been a little less clingy with Shi Lan lately—he was secretly preparing for this very thing, even asking his parents for advice.
And now, this incredible news had just dropped into his lap.
Jiang Xia’s head was spinning. Awestruck and incredulous, he replied dumbly: [But, Admiral He isn’t back yet.]
He Hanshi sent a message: [I’m back. Thanks for your concern.]
Soon, Mu Tangfeng chimed in. He had recently been binging TV dramas his dad recommended, but his mom insisted he stop, saying they were useless. This left him confused, so he had switched to asking for proposal advice on the internet.
Star Network chats required real names, so Mu Tangfeng had become a minor celebrity online over the past two days. After all, he was the sole young master of the Mu Family, and the public already had a vague impression of their names from their recent return from Black Star.
As a result, Mr. and Mrs. Mu had been constantly asked about their son’s wedding plans for the past two days.
The two of them knew even less than the people asking, so they could only smile and say, "The children have minds of their own."
And now, before Mu Tangfeng could even find a suitable proposal plan, he heard Shi Lan say she wanted to register their marriage.
’Skipping the proposal? How could she? That’s not sincere at all!’
So, even though he was thrilled by the news, he still wrote: [You can’t do that. It’s not proper. We haven’t even proposed yet.]
[The internet says that marriages that start out of nowhere rarely end well. We have to do it properly: propose first, then register.]
As for the wedding ceremony, that took time to prepare, so holding it after registering the marriage was fine. Many interstellar couples did it that way.
Mu Tangfeng had a point, and everyone else secretly agreed. They hadn’t planned on just rushing to register, either. Even He Hanshi had intentionally left the next day open to prepare.
He, however, had wanted it to be a surprise. Mu Tangfeng, on the other hand, had just spelled it all out.
He Hanshi felt a little helpless but didn’t argue about it in the group chat.
Ye Ming asked, lacking confidence: [When are we meeting the day after tomorrow?]
He was worried that he wouldn’t be included when Shi Lan mentioned registering the marriage. Thankfully, Shi Lan replied to his message: [Let’s meet at He Hanshi’s house at 10 a.m. the day after tomorrow. Then we can all go to the Bureau of Civil Affairs together.]
Yan Huoshui replied with a happy sticker. [Okay, Lanlan! I’ll be there on time. My dowry list is all prepared.]
With that, he sent an image filled with dense lines of text.
He hadn’t had time to see Shi Lan in the past two days, but he had sent gifts and flowers daily. He was busy trading for suitable items to prepare his dowry. They said a male’s dowry was a female’s glory, and he couldn’t let his Lanlan be shamed.