“I will remember it. Don’t bring this up again in the future,” Jasper Milton said in a commanding tone.
Since she had made up her mind to get married, she should forget all the unhappy things.
Stella Grace nodded and smiled. “Let’s go, my dear Mr. Milton.”
Jasper was dissatisfied with this address. “Am I still Mr. Milton now?” Was she not willing to marry him?
“Hmm, my husband?” Stella probed.
Jasper smiled. “Hmm, not bad.”
“Let’s go.”
Jasper held her hand and walked into the Civil Affairs Bureau.
The morning sun was not too strong. It fell on them and their shadows overlapped each other.
Stella realized Jasper was actually nervous.
His palm was sweaty and sticky.
He walked in and looked around before walking to a counter.
“Hi, we are here to get married,” Jasper said to the staff at the counter.
The staff was an impatient person. “ID card and birth certificate, please. Photos will be taken later. You are not allowed to put on make up, and it will cost you nine dollars. Is she pregnant? If not, she should have a check-up done. Do you have any prenuptial agreement? Do you need any property appraisal?”
“She’s not pregnant. We don’t have a prenuptial agreement nor do we need a property appraisal,” Jasper said.
The staff adjusted her black-framed glasses and looked at Jasper.
Without hesitation, Stella handed over her ID card and birth certificate.
Jasper did the same.
In fact, he could hand her his military official’s ID, but he didn’t want to be too conspicuous, so he gave his normal ID card and his birth certificate.
The staff thought Jasper was quite handsome. She took a double take, wondering if he was a celebrity who came to get married. If that was the case, she would have the first-hand information.
Jasper was confused. “Is there anything wrong?”
“Nothing.” The staff lowered her head.
She tapped their information into her computer to confirm if both of them were unmarried, as well as to verify other personal information.
Stella stretched her neck to look at the photo on Jasper’s ID card.
“Most people have very ugly ID cards. You look too good in yours, is it edited?” Stella asked jokingly.
Jasper cleared his throat and whispered, “Be serious.”
Stella: “…”
Was she not? Jasper was looking very serious. They were just getting married but he looked like he was in a battle zone. He wasn’t even trying to talk to her.
“You should smile when you take the picture,” Stella reminded.
Before Jasper could say anything, the inpatient staff reminded her, “Don’t show your teeth when you take the picture.”
Stella was amused and giggled.
The staff rolled her eyes. “Go in for a check-up. The man will pay.”
“Oh.” Stella walked towards the room for the pre-marriage check-up.
Jasper took out ten dollars from his wallet and handed it to the staff.
“We have packages for 99 dollars and 999 dollars, do you want to consider them?” the staff recommended.
Jasper was confused. “What’s in the 999 dollar package?”
It was his first marriage, so he knew nothing about it.
“You can get a souvenir with both of your handprints in the 999 dollars package. It’s good for memories,” the staff explained.
“Okay then.” Jasper was easy-going. He took out ten pieces of one hundred dollar notes from his wallet and handed them to the staff.
The staff happily took the money and gave Jasper one dollar for change.
Jasper put it into the donation box.
“Are you a celebrity?” the staff asked.
“No,” Jasper replied, serious as ever.
“Oh, you would definitely be a popular one if you were. You’re so good looking.” The staff sighed.
Jasper: “…”
Stella Grace came out of the check-up room and saw Jasper Milton sitting on the sofa, staring at the counter.
Stella followed his gaze and saw a man and a woman standing at the counter.
“What happened?” she asked.
“They are here to divorce. Look, there aren’t any smiles on their faces. That means they are not happy to get divorced.” Jasper looked at Stella. “Don’t mention divorce to me in the future.”
Stella:”…”
“Let’s go take the picture.” Jasper took Stella to the shooting room.
It looked very simple. There were two chairs facing a camera.
Stella and Jasper sat on the chairs.
“Let’s get closer to each other,” the photographer said.
Stella leaned closer to Jasper.
“Closer,” the photographer prompted.
Stella moved even closer to Jasper.
“You need to get closer.” The photographer adjusted the angle.
Jasper held Stella’s head and put it on his shoulder.
“Okay, okay. Put your hand away,” the photographer advised.
Stella burst into laughter.
Jasper smiled too. It was the brightest smile she had ever seen.
“Okay. Are you going to get the handprint souvenir? You can go first. You can collect your marriage certificate after that,” the photographer reminded them.
Stella and Jasper went out. The staff at the counter was already waiting for them at the door. She led them to the souvenir room.
The mold was a ready-made one. It was in a heart shape, made of plastic, and sculptured with roses.
The staff tore off a layer of tempered film on the surface of the mold and said, “You can print your hands on it.”
Jasper and Stella did it together.
“It needs to be dried for about five minutes, you can wait here.” The staff took the mold away.
“Did you pay 9 dollars for all these?” Stella asked casually.
Jasper felt a little strange as he recalled Stella had gotten married once before this.
“999,” Jasper said
“Oh.” No wonder there were so many things.
Five minutes later, the staff came over and handed a gift bag to Jasper. “The souvenir, your marriage certificate, birth certificates, ID cards, as well as a set of gifts from the Civil Affairs Bureau, are all inside. Have a happy life together as husband and wife.”
“Thank you,” Stella nodded.
The staff glanced at Stella and left.
Stella took out the marriage certificate.
The photo on it showed her and Jasper smiling, looking very happy.
She recalled her previous marriage certificate.
She was forced to marry Frederick Addington. Frederick looked at the camera with disdain and anger. She was unhappy as well and was pursing her lips.
The photographer then might have realized something was wrong. He did not ask them to get closer.