usatvline Chapter 452 Household Registration Plan
Chapter 452 Household Registration Plan
The next day, when the first ray of sunlight in the morning shone through the stained glass windows of the Pei family's house, Pei's mother was already standing in the middle of the living room wearing an apricot apron.
She held a list in her hand, and her pen tip moved over items such as "dust removal, change window screens, and organize storage room" one by one. Finally, she added a line of small words at the foot of the page: "Check whether the Icelandic wind chimes sent by Fanxing are hung correctly."
The edges of the list had been folded repeatedly and were frayed, obviously having been read countless times.
"Aunt Zhang, bring another vacuum cleaner!" Mother Pei walked to the entrance in her cotton slippers and pointed at the cobwebs tangled in the crystal chandelier. "We need to clean this lamp carefully. At the last family gathering, Third Aunt complained that our lamp was covered in dust and couldn't compare to her new crystal chandelier."
She stood on tiptoe and poked the crystal pendant at the bottom of the chandelier with her finger. "Look at the dust in the crack. You have to use a cotton swab to pick it out bit by bit."
Aunt Zhang, the nanny, came over with a cleaning cart and looked at the dust sheets spread out all over the room. She smiled and said, "Madam, are you treating this spring cleaning like a battle? The party is still a few days away."
"How many days is enough?" Mother Pei bent down and picked up a strand of hair from the carpet. "Luochuan said he wanted to set up an aurora-themed tent in the yard, Luonan said he wanted to put up Icelandic volcanic stone ornaments on the terrace, and Fanxing even mentioned she wanted to hang some wool tapestries she brought back—shouldn't all this be arranged in advance?"
She suddenly lowered her voice and leaned close to Aunt Zhang's ear, "Let me tell you, this party is the highlight. We have to let those old sisters see how sensible the girl our Luonan found is. She even thought about adding decorations to the house.
Look at this wool tapestry. I touched it yesterday and found that the stitches are even more solid than those sold in shopping malls.
As he was speaking, Pei's father came out of the study wearing reading glasses, holding a mahogany box in his hands: "Look at this, it's a family photo I took when I went to Suzhou last time. It's perfect for the living room entrance."
In the photo, Pei Luonan is standing on the far left in a black suit, while Pei Luochuan is hugging Pei's mother's shoulders and making faces. There is only a blank space in the middle - that is the position that Pei's mother specifically asked the photographer to reserve, saying "wait until Fanxing officially enters the house before taking another photo."
"Leave it there and clean the piano first."
Mother Pei directed Aunt Zhang to lift the dust cover on the piano, revealing a thin layer of dust on the keys.
"This piano is what Luonan used to learn piano when he was a child. Last time Fanxing came to our house, she said she liked Chopin. When she comes, let Luonan play a piece for her. How romantic."
She suddenly remembered something and turned to walk towards the storage room. "I remember there's a blue velvet piano cover that would go perfectly with the Icelandic tapestry that Fanxing brought."
Pei's mother stood on tiptoe to reach the cardboard box on the top shelf, which was labeled "Secondhand Velvet".
“That’s it!”
She shook out the velvet, and the sunlight shone on it through the air vents, giving it a soft luster.
"It's about the same color as the Starry Sky Necklace. It's sure to look good."
Pei Luochuan's exclamation came from the yard.
Pei's mother looked over and saw him using a ladder to hang a string of lights on the sycamore tree. The aurora-colored light strip in his hand was tangled into a ball.
"Mom! What's wrong with this broken lamp? Did you buy it cheaply online?"
"You're the cheap one, you little bastard!"
Pei's mother rushed out with a feather duster.
"This is a solar-powered string light that Fanxing brought back from Iceland. The local guide said it can simulate the flowing light effect of the aurora borealis. If you break it, I'll beat you up!"
She took the light strip and ran her fingertips over the cold light beads.
“You have to wrap it along the trunk and tie a knot every thirty centimeters so that it won’t fall apart in the wind.
Last time at the Zhen family banquet, everyone hung lanterns like this.
Pei Luochuan stuck out his tongue and suddenly pointed at the wind chime under the eaves: "What about this one? Should I hang it too?"
There are small pieces of whale bones hanging on the bronze wind chimes. Gu Fanxing brought them when she came to dinner yesterday. She said that "the sound of the wind blowing through them is like the waves in Iceland."
"Of course!" Mother Pei took the ladder handed to her by Aunt Zhang and climbed up to the eaves herself to adjust the position of the wind chime.
"The left side is a little higher, it needs to be symmetrical—yes, like this, so that when the wind blows it can hit the hydrangeas next to it, and the sound will be beautiful."
She nearly twisted her ankle when she came down, but Pei's father held her steady and said, "You old woman, you're still climbing up and down at your age."
"I'm doing this for the children." Mother Pei smiled and patted the ashes on her hands, her eyes falling on the greenhouse in the corner of the yard.
"By the way, how are the Aurora Blueberry seeds that Luo Nan planted? Will they sprout in time for the party?"
"Just a few green tips."
Pei's father took her to the greenhouse. In the glass house, the seeds that Pei Luonan had planted three days ago were covered with insulation film, and next to them were the maintenance notes drawn by Gu Fanxing.
There was a small whale pattern drawn on the edge of the note, which clearly showed that it was done with great care.
"This kid is so attentive even to planting seeds."
Mother Pei poked the water droplets on the insulation film.
"When the fruits are ripe, let Fanxing bring some to her grandmother to taste, and tell her that Luonan planted them himself—how kind of her to her."
When I returned to the living room, Aunt Zhang had already cleaned the piano.
Mother Pei suddenly remembered something and ran upstairs: "I have to move the old books from Luo Nan's room."
Pei Luonan's room was kept tidy all year round. The books on the bookshelf were arranged by color, and a locked wooden box was hidden at the bottom. Pei's mother took out the key from the drawer of the bedside table.
She had secretly made this keychain when her son wasn't paying attention. There was also a small whale pendant hanging on the keychain, which was made to imitate the wind chime that Gu Fanxing had given her.
The moment she opened the box, she was stunned: in addition to Pei Luonan's "secrets" from childhood to adulthood - the apology letter he wrote to his deskmate in elementary school, the trophy for the high school physics competition, and a repeatedly folded photo (a silhouette photo he secretly took when Gu Fanxing came to his house for dinner for the first time), in the deepest part of the box, there was a small red notebook.
"This is..." Pei's mother took it out and took a look. The words "Resident Household Register" on the cover made her breathe suddenly stop.
Turning to the first page, Gu Fanxing's photo is embedded in the upper right corner, and her smile is as bright as the sunshine in Iceland.
She suddenly remembered what happened last month: Pei Luonan said he would help Gu Fanxing get a visa to the North Country, and he specially went to Gu's house. It was Gu's grandmother who handed the household registration book to him personally, and also asked "Please Luonan take good care of our Xingxing."
There is also a layer of soft cloth in the box, obviously to prevent wear and tear.
Pei's mother covered her mouth and giggled, with smiles in the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.
She put the household registration booklet back to its original place, tapped the lid of the box with her fingers, and a careful plan unfolded in her mind: on the night of the party, she would first let Pei Luochuan hold up the aurora projector and cheer, "Brother, look how romantic this light is. It would be unreasonable not to take the opportunity to propose to me."
When Pei Luonan blushed and waved her hands, the third aunt immediately responded, "How can you propose without getting a marriage certificate? I think this weekend is a good day."
Grandma Liu then added, "Fanxing, since you two love each other, get the marriage certificate quickly and don't let my older sister worry about it."
She calculated that the two children were shy and would be too embarrassed to refuse directly under the gaze of everyone, so she had to agree.
She had even thought of her next plan: as long as Luonan and Fanxing agreed to apply for the certificate first, she would then find a way to get Fanxing's ID card.
Then I took our household registration books and ID cards to the Civil Affairs Bureau to find my best friend, Sister Wang. She has worked in the marriage registration office for more than ten years and is sure to be able to get it done.
After getting the red book, he hid it in the deepest secret compartment of the wine cabinet, where there was a safe specifically for important documents. The password was Pei Luonan's birthday.
When going downstairs, Pei's mother deliberately stopped in front of the mirror at the corner of the stairs. There was a smile in the corner of her eyes in the mirror, and the pride in her eyes could not be hidden.
She quickly restrained her expression and put on a normal one - this secret had to be kept until the last moment.
She looked at the warm light coming from the living room, and seemed to have seen Gu Fanxing and Pei Luonan standing side by side in front of everyone, holding the red book in their hands, with shy and happy smiles on their faces - this secret hidden in the fireworks was finally about to bear fruit.