Let's Get Married on the First Day of Rebirth - Chapter 10

“Mercury’s Tale” probably had some effect too.

The next day, as Qu Ange groggily boarded the high-speed train, this thought crossed her mind.

Last night, after she mentioned wanting to buy the train tickets early, Xu Mi had shaken off her hand and retreated to her room. Qu Ange hurried over to knock on the door, but Xu Mi coldly told her from inside to finish washing the dishes first. Not daring to disobey, Qu Ange washed the dishes and then knocked again. Xu Mi ignored her completely, so she pleaded, “Sleeping in the living room is fine, but I sweated so much today. Can I at least take a shower?”

The apartment had one bedroom, one living room, and one bathroom, with the only bathroom attached to the master bedroom.

Leaning against the door as she knocked, Qu Ange suddenly found the scene eerily similar to a certain dramatic soap opera moment and couldn’t help but chuckle. Just then, Xu Mi opened the door, saw her grinning like an idiot, and gave her an exasperated look.

Qu Ange said, “I knew you’d be the best.”

Xu Mi replied, “Shower only. Leave right after.”

Qu Ange thought to herself—first, get inside, then play it by ear. Maybe a post-shower “temptation” could earn me a stay in the room. But the moment she stepped out wrapped in a towel, Xu Mi threw pajamas at her face and said, “Out. Now.”

Qu Ange caught the pajamas and tried to sweet-talk her way back in, but Xu Mi cut her off: “Or should I leave instead?”

Qu Ange persisted, “Can’t we just chat a little longer?”

Xu Mi turned to walk away.

Qu Ange quickly relented, “Fine, I’ll go to the living room. Your spine isn’t great. You can’t sleep on the sofa.”

Xu Mi pursed her lips at that but remained stern. Qu Ange dragged her feet, glancing back every few steps, but when she reached the doorway, Xu Mi stepped forward. Thinking the situation might change, Qu Ange opened her mouth to speak only to see Xu Mi brace one hand against the doorframe, ready to shut it.

Qu Ange muttered under her breath, “No need to rush me out that fast.”

Xu Mi raised an eyebrow. “What was that?”

Qu Ange shook her head frantically. “N-Nothing!”

She lingered at the door, reluctant to leave, but just as Xu Mi was about to close it, she paused and asked, “What was the name of that song?”

Qu Ange blinked. “Huh?” It took her a second to realize. “The one I sang on the street?”

Xu Mi stared at her silently.

Qu Ange hurriedly answered, “It’s called Mercury’s Tale.”

As soon as she said it, a thought struck her—wait, has this song even been written yet? She couldn’t remember. A lot of old songs had resurfaced a decade later, but now she panicked. What if this song doesn’t exist yet? What if Xu Mi asks where it’s from? How do I explain?

Luckily, Xu Mi only asked for the title before shutting the door. Qu Ange exhaled in relief, momentarily forgetting she’d been kicked out, and curled up on the sofa to search for Mercury’s Tale on her phone.

The bad news? The song didn’t exist yet.

She tossed and turned late into the night, worried about the matter, unsure when she finally fell asleep. In her dream, Xu Mi asked her where she had heard that song from. Drenched in cold sweat and at a loss for an answer, she rolled off the couch in her sleep. It took a long time before she drifted off again. The next day, she was awakened by the sweet aroma of porridge and saw a suitcase placed by the door. Xu Mi, dressed neatly, sat at the dining table and said, “If we miss the high-speed train, then forget it.”

Though her mind was as muddled as a pot of glue from exhaustion, Qu Ange sprang up from the couch upon hearing this. Brushing her teeth, washing her face, getting dressed, and eating took her only fifteen minutes. Then she asked Xu Mi, “How much time do we have left? Are we leaving soon?”

Xu Mi glanced at the clock on the wall and said, “Still early. There’s an hour and a half to go.”

Qu Ange: “…”

Even so, she didn’t dare go back to sleep. Yawning, she made it to the high-speed rail station and dozed off the moment she hit the seat. By noon, hunger woke her up. Turning her head, she saw Xu Mi leaning against the window reading a book, the curtains drawn with only a sliver of sunlight falling on her face, illuminating the fine down on her delicate skin. Her slightly plump cheeks were tinged pink, like ripe peaches, tempting one to take a bite.

Unable to resist, Qu Ange leaned closer. Xu Mi turned her head and blocked Qu Ange’s face with the book.

Qu Ange’s nose bumped against the hardcover, and she sheepishly retreated, rubbing her nose as she said, “Morning.”

Xu Mi replied, “It’s not morning anymore.”

Now feeling the reality that they were on their way home, minor setbacks couldn’t sway her mood. She believed that Xu Mi’s willingness to go home with her meant she was willing to get married. Checking her phone, she said, “We’ll probably get home by 3 p.m. Let’s hurry and find the household register. We’ll definitely get the marriage certificate before the civil affairs office closes.”

Xu Mi side-eyed Qu Ange.

Truth be told, even now, she wasn’t entirely sure if Qu Ange was serious. Marriage had been something she’d never even considered just a day ago. For one, they had just graduated and were still young. Secondly, Qu Ange hadn’t even been willing to acknowledge their relationship before. How could they suddenly be talking about marriage?

No matter how she thought about it, it didn’t make sense. Lost in thought, she remained silent. Qu Ange continued, “Let’s hurry and get the certificate first. As for our parents, we can tell them a bit later, right? If we tell them first, it’ll probably cause a lot of trouble. Let’s just act first and explain later.”

“What if they get angry?”

“Once we have the certificate, there’s nothing they can do even if they’re angry. Besides, my parents won’t be mad. They’ve always liked you.” At this, Qu Ange’s eyes lit up. “You’re already thinking about this, so it seems we’ve reached a consensus on getting married.”

Xu Mi smirked. “I thought you were joking. Of course, I’d play along.”

Qu Ange was about to say more when she noticed someone staring at her. She knew she was attractive, but since she wasn’t famous yet, the person’s gaze was far too brazen. Puzzled, she turned around and saw two girls whispering to each other while looking at her. When they noticed her gaze, they quickly looked down as if nothing had happened. Qu Ange glanced down at her outfit nothing wrong there, her clothes weren’t even on backward.

She asked Xu Mi, “Is there something strange about me? Those two girls over there keep staring at me.”

Xu Mi replied, “Maybe it’s because you’re pretty.”

Qu Ange was instantly overjoyed upon hearing this. She glanced back at the two girls, who were still looking her way, but this time she didn’t feel offended. Instead, she spread her hands and asked, “Is there something wrong with me?”

The two girls exchanged glances. After a moment, one of them walked over with her phone and pointed at the screen. “Are you the girl in these pictures?”

Qu Ange looked down and saw several blurry images. Clearly screenshots from a video showing her sitting somewhere yesterday, strumming a guitar and singing. The girl zoomed out and said, “These were posted on Weibo last night. A lot of people said you’re beautiful.”

Qu Ange recognized the familiar Weibo account. It would later become a marketing account, though she wasn’t sure if it already was one now. In any case, the post had already been reposted over 5,000 times. This wasn’t the later era of inflated engagement 5,000 reposts at this time was genuinely high traction.

After the initial shock, Qu Ange couldn’t help but feel secretly delighted. She feigned ignorance and said, “Huh? I had no idea this happened.”

But at the same time, she quickly pulled out her phone. Weibo didn’t have a trending list back then, but she soon found the post in the popular section. The original poster had captioned it, [“Beauty can be found among the people.”] She clicked in and saw numerous comments marveling at her beauty, fragility, and melancholy. Qu Ange enlarged the images to admire herself, thinking that despite the blurriness, the shot of her smiling through tears was even better than in her past life.

Excited, she showed it to Xu Mi. “Look, I’ve gone viral online.”

Xu Mi frowned, not quite understanding the situation. “Why did they post your photo? Isn’t this a violation of your portrait rights?”

Qu Ange muttered to herself, “It’s fine, but none of these comments really hit the mark. I’ll have to do it myself.”

She opened the post and reposted it with her own comment.

[“Is this what they call a fairy shedding tears?”]

Xu Mi watched the scene unfold, utterly dumbfounded.