Chapter 22: You Should Call Me Husband

Chapter 22: You Should Change It to "Husband"

Not wanting to be outdone, Jian Ye took a photo of the marriage certificate as soon as he got in the car.

Right under Yi Siyu’s nose, he sent the photo to the Jian family group chat.

No one knew who'd thought of the name—"Grow the Jian Family Empire"—so cringeworthy it left everyone at a loss for words.

It might seem casual, but the group had strict rules: all relatives had to change their nicknames, or Old Mr. Jian wouldn’t recognize them.

"Jian Ye": [Image]

Yi Siyu: "..."

Jian Ye smirked and said sincerely, "Sorry, I just really wanted to share this joy with my family as soon as possible. They’d all been eager for us to get married."

Yi Siyu: "Yeah, I get it."

After thinking for a moment, Yi Siyu also took out his phone.

Suddenly realizing his own family didn’t have a group chat, he quickly made one, adding his parents, siblings, and even Jian Ye.

Jian Ye: ⊙_⊙!!!

This couldn't be happening.

Then he watched as Yi Siyu lined up his certificate with Jian Ye’s.

Click—

The photo showed two marriage certificates and their hands nearly touching.

"Yu": [Image]

"Yu": @everyone

Jian Ye: "..."

Sorry, I lost.

Not only did this man take a better photo than mine, but he also @'ed everyone.

System 748: Ehehehe.

Jian Ye: Is it too late to leave the group now? I don’t want to interact with the Yi family elders this early.

System 748: You could just lurk.

Jian Ye: Smart. I'll just play dumb.

Jian Ye turned off notifications first, then checked the Jian family group again.

He found that many replies had already poured in.

"Jian Song": This is obviously Photoshopped. Hey, Jian Ye, you can’t forge a marriage certificate to trick Grandpa into thinking you’re married!

"Jian Shishi": I think so too. Is that guy from the Yi family really this handsome? Did you deepfake a celebrity's face onto him?

"Jian Zhengqing": Xiao Ye, this isn’t funny. If the Yi family finds out you forged a certificate, they’ll hold it against our whole family.

Jian Ye: Hah, screw your grandma’s legs!

"Jian Zhenghua": Retract it before Grandpa sees—you swore to him last time you’d behave from now on.

Jian Ye: It’s been over two minutes—even a dumbass knows you can’t retract it now.

"Zhu Yan": Faking a marriage certificate is illegal. Listen to your auntie—destroy the evidence and apologize to Grandpa.

Jian Ye: Wow, China’s legal expert, huh? Look at you, Judge Judy.

"Tao Xuemei": I just compared it with my own certificate—it doesn’t look fake. Xiao Ye! You didn’t just pick some random guy to marry, did you?

"Jian Song": Auntie, that’s even worse! If this certificate is real, you’re dead meat! Grandpa will break your legs!

"Jian Shishi": I think the guy from the Yi family is called that name. Did you find someone with the same name? @Jian Ye @Jian Ye @Jian Ye

Jian Ye: Quit spamming me! You think the main character’s name is that generic?!

...

After reading through the messages, Jian Ye turned to the man beside him who was about to start driving.

He asked, "Can I record a video? You’ll be in it."

Yi Siyu rested his hands on the steering wheel. "Sure."

The video started recording.

Jian Ye waved the two red marriage certificates, then flipped them open, clearly showing the raised seals.

Then the camera shifted sideways, focusing on the driver’s profile.

From off-camera, a sugary-sweet voice piped up: "Brother Siyu, where are we going now? Are you driving back to the Yi family home?"

Yi Siyu’s grip on the steering wheel faltered, nearly swerving.

He had zero resistance to Jian Ye’s cutesy, sing-song tone.

Catching on, Yi Siyu smoothly played along. "Do you want to go to my place? I’ll show you around."

Jian Ye: Yay!

Finally, the camera switched to front-facing mode, revealing his refined, handsome features.

"Uncles, aunties, elder cousins—you all heard it just now. My husband’s taking me home to the Yi family. If you see Grandpa, let him know: I’d never defy Grandpa, no matter who else I ignore."

After recording for a minute, he sent the video directly.

Jian Ye locked his phone, letting out a satisfied sigh.

He shot a glance at the driver and noticed the man looked tense—his body oddly stiff.

Jian Ye: ?

Was being on camera really that unnerving? Maybe he just didn’t like being filmed.

After a pause, Jian Ye said, "Thanks."

Yi Siyu steadied himself. "I said no need for thanks."

Jian Ye thought to himself, fair enough—everyone gets what they want.

He had only wanted to annoy those relatives earlier and hadn’t really planned to go to Yi’s house.

He intended to wait until they reached a subway stop before getting out.

“System 748: The green tea points suddenly increased by 100 just now, and the system didn’t get to report it.”

“Jian Ye: ?”

“System 748: It started increasing when you began recording the video.”

“Jian Ye: Oh? So I must have said some keyword that triggered it.”

“System 748: The host never fails to surprise me~”

“Jian Ye: Er Tong, you’re starting to get into the green tea spirit too.”

“System 748: All thanks to the host’s leading by example~”

“Jian Ye: …”

“You should get some sleep. You look a bit tired.” Yi Siyu’s voice brought Jian Ye back to attention.

He had yawned several times earlier. He’d woken up quite early in the morning. He could have pushed through, but the car was too comfortable, and the temperature inside was perfect.

The marriage certificate was already obtained, completing a major event from the original story. Now completely relaxed, he felt sleepier by the minute.

The young man mumbled, “Then wake me up at a subway station later. I’ll skip going to your place for now.”

The man gave no clear response—neither yes nor no.

Jian Ye took it as silent agreement and let himself drift off with peace of mind.

Young people could fall asleep anywhere—he was asleep almost before his eyes closed.

His messy-haired head tilted toward the driver’s seat, his slightly parted lips facing Yi Siyu.

Yi Siyu paid less attention to driving, occasionally glancing at the boy’s vulnerable, innocent look, which softened his heart involuntarily.

Out of this private whim, Yi Siyu had no intention of dropping him off at a subway station.

So he drove past one subway entrance after another, heading straight for Shuixie Xuanting.

...

The Yi family valued family harmony highly. Even after their three sons grew up, none moved out. Shuixie Xuanting was a massive estate—there was plenty of room.

They might stay at the company when busy, but whenever possible, they always came home.

The main reason was that none of them had married yet, so they wanted to show their filial piety for their parents as much as they could.

But now there was one less.

They hadn’t even formally met each other’s parents yet, but today, the red marriage certificates were already issued.

Earlier, when he saw Jian Ye sharing pics of their marriage license in the Jian family group, he found himself doing the same without a trace of embarrassment.

Now, he felt a sudden urge to bring him home.

He wanted to show his family how adorable the puppy he adopted was...

Meanwhile, Yi Siyu didn't check the group chat because he was driving.

The group was going crazy.

"SZ": Did you and that guy from the Jian family really get your marriage license today?

"SZ": So what you said when you left wasn't a joke after all.

"Code’s Not Hard": ???

"Code’s Not Hard": Bro! You must know something, right? Why didn’t you tell me!!!

"SZ": No insider information here.

"Heart4Cheng": This kid, seriously, didn’t even inform us?

"Code’s Not Hard": Wait, does Mom not know either? @Heart4Cheng

"Heart4Cheng": Yep. I thought we’d meet him first and then pick an auspicious wedding date for them.

"SZ": Xiao Yu has never acted so impulsively.

"Heart4Cheng": Guess he really likes him after meeting in person. Look at the photo—this kid is hotter than most TV actors. Honestly, they look surprisingly good together. [smile]

"Code’s Not Hard": Mom, please don’t use that smile emoji—it secretly creeps me out.

"Heart4Cheng": Oops, my bad. [stick tongue out]

Shortly after, Yi's father joined the group, clearly just noticing this new chat.

"ChengHearts": Did our son create this group? Why hasn't it been named yet?

"Heart4Cheng": A-Yu made it. Probably too lovesick to name it yet.

"Code’s Not Hard": Mom, Dad, your matching names are making me nauseous.

"Heart4Cheng": O(∩_∩)O haha~

"SZ": He added that guy to the group.

"Heart4Cheng": Oh! Just noticed! We’ve been chatting nonstop—this poor kid must be super embarrassed.

"Code’s Not Hard": @YeNotDude

"Code’s Not Hard": New bro, why so quiet? Is that awkward? Never mind, I’ll stick with “little brother”—you're basically a baby compared to me.

"SZ": That guy’s literally still in school.

"ChengHearts": Where’s A-Yu? Bring him over already.

That finally received a response.

"Yu": [Image]

The image showed the boy sleeping peacefully like a baby in the car.

"Yu": Stop the noise. Let him sleep.

"Coding Isn't That Hard": ……

"SZ [abbreviation]": ……

"Yi Xin Xiang Cheng [translator's note: A motto meaning 'Devote sincerity to the core']": ……

"Cheng Yi Wei Xin [translator's note: A motto meaning 'Sincerity as the heart’s foundation']": ……

Yi Siyu had already parked his car outside the Waterside Terrace. Seeing the boy sleeping soundly, he couldn’t bear to wake him, so he just stayed in the car and opened his phone to chat in the group.

He remembered accidentally catching a glimpse of the Jian family group earlier, and decided to go ahead and change everyone’s nicknames based on the members listed there.

"Second Brother": Xiao Yu, are you two still in the car?

"Second Brother": What the?? Why did my nickname change?

"Eldest Brother": ……

"Mom": Oh! Did Xiao Yu do this?

"Dad": Who else would do it?

"Yu": He doesn’t know you all yet.

Meaning, labeling their relationships would help the boy recognize who everyone is.

The three Yi brothers’ names were nearly identical—Yu worried the boy might get confused and feel awkward, so he didn’t use their full names either.

"Second Brother": That’s classic Third Brother thinking. But you changed everyone else’s—what about yours?

"Yu": He won’t mistake me.

[Mom]: If we’re seeing this from the child’s perspective, Xiao Yu, you should’ve changed yours to “husband.”

"Second Brother": LOL! [Bull emoji][Beer emoji]

"Dad": Your mother's right! [Thumbs up]

"Eldest Brother": [Melon emoji]

"Yu": …………

"Author's Comments"

Er Tong: Boss, boss, I checked—it started spiking when you said "husband." Green Tea Points unlocked +1.

Third Young Master Yi: Shh, quiet now. He’s asleep.

Jian Xiaogou: Zzz… (soft snores) _(-ω-`_)⌒)_…… [sleeping emoticon] [Translator's Note: "Green Tea Points" refers to a system measurement similar to reputation or charm points commonly seen in online novels and games.]