Abstinence Pei, don't be too sweet when chasing your wife

The next morning, Pei's mother stood behind the glass door of the kitchen, thinking of a new plan: with the household registration book, a photo of the two of them, and a recording of the two agreeing to get the marriage certificate, the next thing she needed was Fanxing's ID card.

She looked at Gu Fanxing's home address on the screen no less than twenty times. She took a deep breath and adjusted her temples in front of the reflective glass - she had not felt at ease since the party ended last night.

After the message "Get the certificate on Monday" was sent to Sister Wang, she woke up at three in the morning, staring at the ceiling and thinking about how to get Gu Fanxing's ID card.

It was not until the sky turned pale that she suddenly remembered that Gu Fanxing had mentioned that her grandmother loved her the most and was willing to help and worry about everything.

"Let's do it." She patted her thigh and sat up from the bed, rummaging through the boxes and drawers to find the souvenirs Pei Luonan brought back from Iceland.

The wool socks should be navy blue. I remember Gu Fanxing said that grandma doesn’t like bright colors. The cloudberry jam should be placed in a glass jar to make it look more delicate. The most important thing is the reindeer antler comb box. I specially asked the craftsman to carve magnolia flowers on it - this flower is planted in the Gu family garden, which will definitely please the old lady.

At seven o'clock in the morning, she was busy in the kitchen wearing an apron.

The butter for cranberry cookies needs to be softened to 23 degrees to be fluffy enough, which is a preference that Grandma Gu accidentally mentioned last time; the icing sugar in the cloudberry jam is accurate to the gram, and the calculator is clicking on the table.

"Mom, where are you going?" Pei Luonan came in wearing jogging clothes to pour water, his eyes fell on the wicker basket in the entrance.

Pei Ma's hand shook and the cookie cutter almost fell to the ground.

She forced herself to calmly stuff the plastic container into the basket. "I'm going to visit Grandma. Last week, Fanxing said she kept thinking about the cookies I made." She regretted it the moment she finished speaking—normally, she wouldn't be so hasty to explain. Sure enough, she saw a flicker of doubt in her son's eyes.

She quickly pushed him out, the sweat on her back soaking her cotton sweater: "You're going to be late! Be careful on the road!" The moment the door clicked shut, she leaned against the wall and gasped for half a minute, her heart beating in her chest as if it was about to explode.

Under the wisteria trellis of the Gu family villa, Grandma Gu was picking vegetables wearing reading glasses.

The cabbage hearts in the bamboo basket were so tender that you could squeeze out the juice. She picked them from the vegetable garden on the outskirts of the city at six o'clock this morning. When she heard the doorbell, she wiped her hands and went out to see Pei Ma standing on the porch with a basket in her hand. The amber color of cloudberry jam shone through the gaps in the wicker basket.

"Come in!" Grandma Gu pulled her to the living room, her eyes falling on the pair of woolen socks. "Look at you, always so polite."

"Of course I should." Mother Pei replied with a smile.

When Pei Ma sat down, she caught a glimpse of the photo frame on the coffee table out of the corner of her eye - Gu Fanxing was standing under the ginkgo tree, and the edges of the photo were rubbed to a pale color.

"This child has been sensible since she was young," Grandma Gu sighed as she brought tea. "She called me last time in Iceland and said Luo Nan took good care of her. He was afraid she would be cold when camping at night, so he gave her his sleeping bag."

Mother Pei tightened her grip on the teacup and secretly made up her mind: no matter what, this matter must be settled properly, and she must not let the children down.

He quickly opened the jar of cloudberry jam and scooped some out with a small spoon and handed it over. "Try this. It's made with the cloudberries that Fanxing brought back, and it has less sugar."

Seeing Grandma Gu nodding in praise, she licked her dry lips, and when she took out the flyer from her bag, her fingertips pinched the corner of the paper, creating wrinkles.

"Speaking of which, I came here today to trouble you with something."

The list for the "Nordic Cultural Exchange Exhibition" was made overnight by Xiao Zhou from the community cultural center. The edges were deliberately worn out to pretend that it had been printed a long time ago.

She stared at Grandma Gu's reaction and went over her story in her mind again and again: "Didn't I join the community cultural center after retirement? We're going to hold a Nordic theme exhibition soon, collecting special souvenirs from citizens, and the selected ones will be awarded collection certificates. Fanxing brought so many good things from Iceland, and she was chosen..."

"That's great news!" Grandma Gu's eyes lit up, and she stood up to go upstairs. "Her Rachmaninoff stone necklace is very special, and she also has a volcanic rock bracelet. I'll get them for you!"

"No, no, no."

Pei's mother quickly pulled her closer, her smile softer than usual. Suddenly, she lowered her voice and leaned in closer, as if sharing some profound secret. "Auntie, there's something I need to share with you—we're planning on making this certificate something special. We want to give Fanxing a surprise on the day of the event."

Grandma Gu was stunned for a moment, and curiosity immediately flashed in her eyes.

"surprise?"

"yes,"

Mother Pei clapped her hands, her tone becoming more earnest, and when she asked for a copy of her ID card, her voice dropped even lower.

“The certificate needs to have the holder’s photo and information printed on it, so her ID card is needed.

But you must not tell Fanxing about this, otherwise there will be no surprise.

You know how thoughtful this child is. If he knew about this in advance, he would definitely be so nervous that he couldn't sleep."

She secretly observed Grandma Gu's expression, and when she saw the understanding smile on the old lady's face, she felt relieved.

This was something I added after a lot of thought last night - I know that elders love to help young people create surprises, and using "confidentiality" as an excuse can not only make the other party pay attention, but also block the possibility of leaks.

"I understand!" Grandma Gu clapped her thigh and laughed, the light in her eyes brighter than before.

"This kid loves to worry about things that aren't his fault. Last time Luochuan sent her a postcard, saying 'there's a gift' in advance, and she was so worried that she couldn't sleep well for three days. I'm going to get it right now, and I promise not to let her know a word!"

Watching Grandma Gu's back as she hurried up the stairs, Mother Pei breathed a sigh of relief. The sweat in her palms wrinkled the flyer. It turned out lying was so laborious. It was even more stressful than when she had to make up the "Dad's on a business trip" story at the parent-teacher conference for Pei Luonan.

When Grandma Gu came down with the velvet box, her steps were brisk.

"Look, it's right here."

Grandma took out her ID card and pointed at the photo and smiled.

"This girl always loves to smile when taking photos. I always say that a smile makes you look ten years younger."

Mother Pei's hand trembled slightly as she took the ID card, and her heart was beating so fast that it seemed like it was about to burst out.

Looking at Gu Fanxing's smiling face on the ID card, he suddenly remembered the first time he met Fanxing and the scene when he pretended to be sick. At that time, the kind-hearted girl not only accompanied Pei Ma to the hospital, but also ran around, which made Pei Ma appreciate and satisfy her.

"Thank you, Grandma."

She carefully put her ID card into her pocket and took the comb box out of the basket.

"This is for you. Luo Nan specially had a magnolia carved for you. He said it would be the perfect match for you."

Grandma touched the patterns on the comb box and smiled until her eyes narrowed into slits: "You guys are really thoughtful. Don't worry, I will keep this secret to myself and wait until the day of the opening to see Fanxing's surprise!"

The two sat under the flower stand drinking tea, and Grandma Gu told another interesting story about Gu Fanxing's childhood: "When she was five years old, she secretly wore my red cotton-padded jacket, and the zipper got stuck on her neck. She cried and said, 'I've turned into a little dumpling.'"

As Mother Pei listened, she suddenly felt that the "conspiracy" between the two old people, which they had kept hidden from their children, was like the sweetness of cloudberry jam, concealing an indescribable warmth.

When she left Gu's house, Grandma Gu chased her to the door and stuffed a bag of freshly picked choy sum into her basket: "Go back and let Luo Nan try some. The child said last time that he likes to eat stir-fried choy sum."

As soon as the car turned out of the villa area, she sent a message to Sister Wang at the Civil Affairs Bureau: "The materials are all ready, Monday morning at 9 o'clock, thank you for your help." The moment the message was sent successfully, the Gu family villa gradually disappeared in the rearview mirror, and the cabbage in the wicker basket still had the fragrance of dew.

She touched her hot cheeks and smiled - this trip was not in vain after all. The tacit understanding between the two old ladies was much deeper than the young people imagined.

At this moment, Gu Fanxing was in a meeting at the company, completely unaware of the two old men's "conspiracy" towards her and the upcoming surprise. What she didn't expect was that this surprise would become a sweet "shackle" that would make her and Pei Luonan inseparable in the future.