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In the hospital, a doctor in a white coat was treating the wounds on Ye Tingtong's face.
"It's just a scrape, just disinfect it," the doctor said, putting away the alcohol swab. "Be careful not to get it wet; it'll heal in a few days."
Ye Tingtong pressed his tongue against his cheek, clearly feeling the swelling on the right side of his face, and asked uncertainly, "I didn't get disfigured, right?"
His face hurt so bad that when the alcohol was applied, it felt like it was going to explode.
"You've asked me that three times now," the doctor was a bit annoyed, but seeing the anxious look in the other's eyes, he swallowed his impatient words.
He was just too good-looking; even with a small part of his face red, it didn't affect his outstanding looks.
"If you're really worried, stick to a light diet, and if you feel any discomfort, you can come back to the hospital."
After all, these two clearly weren't strapped for cash, especially the one standing behind the patient, dressed in clothes that suggested wealth and status. He had this commanding presence just standing there quietly.
The doctor thought, even if this little patient was being a bit fussy, he probably wouldn't snap at him.
He didn't have the guts.
After leaving the hospital, Ye Tingtong got into the passenger seat of Shen Jin's car. Seeing that Shen Jin was about to start the car, he nervously asked, "Where are we going?"
He moved his lips, mustering up the courage, "Um... did you take care of it?"
Shen Jin heard his deliberately lowered voice, "What?"
"Just—" Ye Tingtong made sure the car window was tightly closed before continuing, "The tattooed man you smashed into the car hood, did you have someone deal with him?"
Shen Jin understood the implication in Ye Tingtong's words and remained silent for a moment, "You mean, getting rid of the body?"
Ye Tingtong didn't expect him to say it so directly, and in shock, he went to cover Shen Jin's mouth, but halfway there, upon meeting Shen Jin's dark eyes, he chickened out and pulled his hand back awkwardly, whispering, "Is he really dead?"
Unlike his usual calm and collected self, Shen Jin was decisive and fierce in a fight. At that time, he heard a loud bang, and the car hood was dented; the tattooed man fell to the ground.
He thought the guy had just passed out, but after arriving at the hospital, he saw Shen Jin go to wash his hands, and the dried blood on his hands was still visible.
Shen Jin didn't expect Ye Tingtong to believe it so easily. Looking at the other's pale face, he was about to explain, but Ye Tingtong beat him to it.
"Shen Jin, you..." Ye Tingtong hesitated for a moment, then said something shocking, "You're seriously amazing!"
He knew Shen Jin had a lot of power, but he didn't expect it to be to this extent.
? Both sides of the law?
Shen Jin: "."
He looked at Ye Tingtong's suddenly bright eyes, sensing that Ye Tingtong had the wrong idea.
Before the misunderstanding could grow, Shen Jin explained, "That kind of injury wouldn't kill anyone."
"Ye Guodong was hiding not far away at the time, and he took care of the rest," Shen Jin felt it necessary to teach him a bit about the law, "No one can just kill someone, including me."
Ye Tingtong listened to his slightly serious tone, his hanging hand picking at the car seat, "I just thought he was a real piece of work, and if he died, he deserved it. I wasn't trying to downplay the value of a life."
Shen Jin heard the apology in Ye Tingtong's words, slightly lowering his head, revealing the round hair whorl on his head.
"I'm not blaming you," Shen Jin said slowly, "Did you know him?"
Ye Tingtong nodded gently, "He confined me with Ye Guodong, denied me food, and beat me."
He covered his stomach with his hand, "He enjoyed kicking me in the stomach."
Ye Tingtong's tone wasn't accusatory but rather calm and narrative. He lowered his head, and Shen Jin just quietly watched the boy beside him.
As they were preparing to register their marriage, Ye Tingtong had spent quite some time blowing his hair in the morning, leaving his hair soft and fluffy, glistening slightly in the sunlight.
"Actually, there are exceptions," Shen Jin spoke up, breaking the silence in the car. "In the earlier situation, you could have protected yourself by any means."
Ye Tingtong looked up, his eyes slightly widened.
Shen Jin implied that it would be acceptable even if he eliminated such scum, it was self-defense, and Shen Jin would support him.
Ye Tingtong wasn't sure if he misunderstood, but Shen Jin's firm words made him inexplicably happy, "So we can ignore them, right?"
When Ye Guodong saw Shen Jin take action, he certainly wouldn't dare to utter a word, and could only slink away.
He wouldn't dwell on past hurts or indulge in self-pity.
Ye Tingtong quickly cheered up, "Where to next?"
Shen Jin asked, "Where do you want to go?"
His question left Ye Tingtong slightly puzzled, "Aren't we heading to register our marriage? Are we still going?"
The household register and ID card were still in the backpack on the back seat.
Ye Tingtong picked up his phone and glanced at the time, "The civil affairs bureau closes in an hour. How long is the drive? Is it too late?"
"Half an hour," Shen Jin started the car, "We'll get there in time."
*
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They were the last couple before the civil affairs bureau closed, and the staff were verifying their identification documents. Shen Jin went aside to answer a phone call, while Ye Tingtong stood with the assistant waiting.
No wonder Shen Jin said they would make it; the assistant had everything ready beforehand, and they only needed to personally submit the documents.
"Who retouched this ID photo?" Ye Tingtong looked at the festive red background photo in his hand, "The swelling on my face is entirely unnoticeable."
He feared he'd look unattractive beside Shen Jin, but at least on the surface, they looked well-matched.
The assistant stood aside and carefully explained, "Our company's tech team handled the editing. As long as you are satisfied."
When the senior retoucher heard that it was a task personally requested by Boss Shen, he was ready to roll up his sleeves and do a big job. But when he received the photo, he chased after him and asked more than ten times, "Does this make sense?"
After asking, it seemed like he realized belatedly, "Wait, Boss Shen is tying the knot?!"
Since it was a matter that needed to be kept confidential, the person spent ten minutes in the bathroom with the door closed, seriously completing the task.
Ye Tingtong was admiring the photo when he suddenly noticed Shen Jin glancing at him while on the phone.
He blinked and silently mouthed, "What's wrong?"
Shen Jin listened to the plea on the phone, looked away, and signaled that it was nothing.
"Uncle, please, can you help Ye Tingtong?" Shen Minghuai's voice on the phone was urgent, "Recently, my mother has been watching me closely, not allowing me to use the family's resources to help Tingtong. I really have no other way."
"I only recently found out that the Ye family is after him. The only person I can think of is you, uncle. In the future, if you need anything from me, just say it."
Last time on the cruise ship, he heard about Shen Jin asking Ye Tingtong to help him with a bet, guessing that Shen Jin didn't have a bad impression of Ye Tingtong, which is why he came here to ask for help.
Shen Jin listened to his string of words and suddenly asked, "What's your relationship to him?"
Shen Minghuai was taken aback, "Uncle, what are you getting at?"
Shen Jin was straightforward, "Who is Ye Tingtong to you? You're really asking me for this?"
He never got along with his older brothers, and although he didn't involve the younger generation, he wasn't close to Shen Minghuai either.
Shen Minghuai must've already decided to give up something in return.
Shen Minghuai, who'd been talking fast, suddenly went quiet. After a while, he reluctantly said, "Tingtong's my roommate and my friend, so of course—"
The line went dead.
Ye Tingtong saw Shen Jin returning after the call and casually asked, "What's up?"
Shen Jin's expression was as usual, "Just work stuff, it's taken care of."
The two of them came before the staff together, and when it was time to stamp the seal, the staff looked at Ye Tingtong uncertainly, "Are you both here willingly?"
Ye Tingtong was stunned. He glanced down at his clothes.
Because he had fallen hard in the underground garage, his nice outfit was now dirty. No matter how much he tried to clean it, it still looked messy.
He sneaked a look at the guy next to him.
Even though he'd been in a fight, Shen Jin looked perfectly put together, wearing a black coat of an unrecognizable brand. He looked impressive.
The two of them sitting side by side looked like night and day.
Ye Tingtong always thought he didn't care what people thought, but being judged by someone who didn't know the truth still stung.
He was about to snap back when he heard Shen Jin slowly say, "Relax, I'm not going to hurt my partner. We're both here by choice."
Ye Tingtong: "?"
The staff wasn't convinced by Shen Jin's answer. She looked steadily at Ye Tingtong, "Are you doing this voluntarily? We're here to help if you need it."
Ye Tingtong then remembered that he'd shown up to get married with half his face swollen, and they thought he'd been forced into this.
"No, you've misunderstood," Ye Tingtong shook his head quickly, "He didn't hit me, my face is like this because I fell."
The staff still looked unsure. She had seen too many cases where people were threatened and didn't dare to tell the truth.
"That, Shen—" Ye Tingtong changed his words mid-sentence, "My husband treats me really well."
After saying that, his ears turned red.
Finally, they successfully got the red book, and after leaving, Ye Tingtong saw something and suddenly grabbed Shen Jin's sleeve, "You said before, after getting married, you'd give me 100,000 a month."
"Can I get a little advance?" He looked up at Shen Jin, using his thumb and forefinger to indicate a small gap, "Just ten yuan is fine."
Coincidentally, the assistant had some change and gave Ye Tingtong ten yuan.
Ye Tingtong took the ten yuan and ran into a nearby wedding shop, then ran back to the civil affairs bureau with a plastic bag, handing the bag of candies to the helpful staff at the window.
Even with his face messed up, everyone could see the curve of Ye Tingtong's mouth and his smiling eyes.
Shen Jin waited quietly at the door.
The assistant glanced at the cheerful figure inside, then turned to look at his boss, somewhat puzzled.
Wasn't it a contractual marriage?
Why does it feel so real?
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