Received A Wife From The Civil Affairs Bureau Ch.34

Time passed and Jiang Ziquan and Lin Cuo’s trip came to an end. Although Steven was reluctant to let them leave, they eventually returned to Beijin shortly after the Lantern Festival ended [1]. They came back during the season when the school had started again and the third-years were drowning under the heavy workload. 

Although Shen Yumo didn’t say anything about their relationship during that fateful New Year Eve’s day, Jiang Ziquan knew that their relationship definitely has changed for the better. 

“In three months’ time, the college entrance exams will begin. Third-years, do not be discouraged and continue to work hard. Do not be nervous and believe in yourself, for that is the only way to win!” 

The teacher, who was the head of the third-years, spat out his words fiercely from the podium. Meanwhile, the students were freezing their butts off below, the words flying straight over their heads. The kids had just returned from winter vacation and after being let alone for so long, they still haven’t recovered to being back to school. 

“I wonder how they’ll motivate the kids this year?”

“I think it’ll be better to ask, how will they motivate the teachers?”

Xu Yan shrank into her scarf as a cold wind softly blew by. This small circle consisted of teachers who were familiar with each other, so they whispered amongst themselves without fear even as the man on stage continued to talk. Xu Yan huddled closer to Shen Yumo and said with a bitter face, “I heard that this year they’re going to make them run about 3000 meters. 

Shen Yumo was in the middle of a daydream and it took her some time to process the words spoken by the person next to her. 

At Mingxing, they had a tradition of ‘motivating’ the students with special activities a few months before the entrance exams. For example, a few years ago they made every third-year climb the snowy Tianfeng mountains, and last year they were forced to compete in a marathon. Each and every time it would end with the students in a half-dead state, and it really made one wonder what the true purpose of these activities was.

Furthermore, since Shen Yumo and Xu Yan were on the younger side, they had to participate as well. So they were quite curious about this year’s activity as well. 

“3000 meters? That’s a lot simpler than last year.” Shen Yumo’s physique was not bad, but to suddenly run 3000 meters without any preparation and to encourage students at the same time was a bit tiring. 

Xu Yan sighed and looked around before whispering again: “Although the distance is much shorter, I heard that they added some cruel rules this time. Apparently they are asking for parents or relatives to participate with the students. They said this was to show the kids that they are not fighting alone and that there is always someone supporting them. They’re also going to tie a red ribbon around the parents and students so it’ll force them to run together.” She continued, 

“Just who was the person that came up with these rules? I’m betting that the parents will end up dead by the end of it.” Xu Yan complained bitterly but then felt a chill go down her back. She turned around to see Teacher Zhou Kairui giving them an intense glare. 

Shen Yumo and Xu Yan glanced at each other. They got caught red-handed. 

“Teacher Shen, Teacher Xu, I guess I will be with you guys this time.” Xu Yao whispered quietly beside them. If he remembered correctly, Xu Yan’s husband was not very athletic and would definitely not participate in this activity. Additionally, Teacher Shen’s wife seemed like an unreliable womanizer who probably wouldn’t even show up to the activity. Plus, he believed that the photo he sent last time probably caused a crack to form in Shen Yumo’s already unstable marriage. 

Xu Yan examined him. Xu Yao seemed like a gentleman and a man in great shape. She also didn’t care too much and just nodded. 

“I need to see if any of the parents of my students can’t come first. If they don’t have a relative that can participate then I’ll need to help them.” Shen Yumo glanced at the crowd of students. Generally, the students at Mingxing came from better backgrounds than most so it wasn’t rare for their parents to be working abroad. It would also be too exhausting if they made their grandparents participate, so she can be their replacement. 

“Ok. If there aren’t any, you’re welcome to join us.” Xu Yao nodded sullenly. After being rejected, again and again, his heart felt so tired. 

“Alright, this concludes today’s speech.”

After saying that sentence, the students looked like they were injected with chicken blood as they broke off into all four directions. The teachers could only patiently wait for the students to disappear before slowly making their way to the cafeteria. 

---

Jiang Ziquan stopped the brush in her hand and looked up from her painting. She stood up and glanced outside to see that it was already dark. She opened the window and felt that the air was a little humid like it was about to rain. 

Recently, Shen Yumo has been going out every night to exercise for a while so she can prepare for the school’s special event. Jiang Ziquan knew that she wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon and grabbed her umbrella before running out. 

Her house is located in the city’s center and she followed her own running route to look for Shen Yumo. She had noticed that Shen Yumo didn’t like running in crowded places, a trait they both shared. 

After taking a few steps, she heard the dull rumble of thunder in the distance. A few moments later, the rain started pouring down. Her heart started to feel anxious and she quickened her pace, but still couldn’t find Shen Yumo. She reached into their pockets to fish out her phone but found that in her rush she had forgotten it at home. 

She could only wander around before she finally spotted Shen Yumo in one of the alleys. However, she stopped dead in her tracks. Shen Yumo didn’t notice her and had a smile on her face as she conversed with a male student who held an umbrella over the two of them. 

Jiang Ziquan’s heart felt stuffy as she looked at the two and her feet seemed to be glued to the ground. She knew that she shouldn’t be feeling jealous over something so trivial, but she still felt extremely uncomfortable. It was like watching her beloved treasure being snatched away by another. She sighed and silently watched the two drift away before turning around to go back home. 

On the day of the event, the sun was high up in the sky and the weather was perfect for running. 

Chen Feng naturally didn’t want to run with his parents and had called in her brother, Jiang Zitao, to run with him. She had also come to watch the commotion and even personally helped wrap the red ribbon around the two, double knotting it before nodding in satisfaction. 

Chen Feng hadn’t been paying attention and when he looked down, he realized that the ribbon was tied up in a big, girly bowknot. He pulled a face: “Sister Quan, I am a man, so why did you have to tie it into a bowknot?”

“What, it looks good on you. Look around and you’ll see that every man and woman is staring at you. Isn’t that great?”

Chen Feng rolled his eyes but didn’t dare to rebut, instead, he changed the topic and pointed, “Teacher Shen’s class is right over there. Aren’t you going to run with her?”

“Yes, Ziquan, you should go to your wife. We don’t need you here.” Jiang Zitao waved a hand. He also wanted his sister to go chase after her wife instead of being here. 

Jiang Ziquan followed Chen Feng’s finger and her eyes easily locked onto Shen Yumo. She was wearing bold red and white sportswear and her face looked quite serious as she said something to the parents. 

Seeing that red ribbon about to be tied around Xu Yao, she felt annoyed and quickly made her way over. She noticed Shen Yumo’s gaze glance her way for a second, before looking away again. 

“Why are you over here?” Shen Yumo avoided her students’ curious eyes and looked down at her white sneakers instead. She was feeling a bit embarrassed with an audience watching them. 

Jiang Ziqun didn’t answer and only pulled on the red ribbon wrapped around Shen Yumo’s body, ignoring the sudden whispering around her. She focused on tying the ribbon around herself and Shen Yumo, but noticed something stopped her from the final knot. A fair hand was on top of her own and she looked up with a puzzled expression at Shen Yumo. 

She only saw a blushing face staring back at her, “What are you doing?”

“Tying the ribbons together.” Jiang Ziquan was still somewhat upset that the ribbon was about to be tied around Xu Yao so she answered indifferently. 

“Yes, but does it have to be so tight?” 

Jiang Ziquan blinked and glanced down. She was lost in her thoughts earlier, and had only thought about getting closer to each other but didn’t realize she had tied the ribbon so tightly that they could hardly swing their arms anymore. Most people would have it tied so that there was enough distance between one person. 

“Haha.” 

Shen Yumo only rolled her eyes and then adjusted the distance by herself. Seeing that the red ribbon was not fastened properly around Jiang Ziquan, Shen Yumo also moved forward to help her. 

Jiang Ziquan was fiddling with the ribbon when she looked up straight into Shen Yumo’s eyes. Reflected in those eyes was the image of a young woman who almost looked like a student. 

That person was herself. 

Shen Yumo fixed the ribbon and then stood beside Jiang Ziquan as they waited for the race to begin. 

Xu Yao fell into a trance as he watched the silent couple. Standing together like that, one felt that the two’s auras suited one another’s rather nicely. He also never expected that the usually seductive like Jiang Ziquan would actually look so dependable. 

“They match each other well, and they look like they’re filming a movie just by standing next to each other.” Xu Yan narrowed her eyes and watched them. 

Xu Yao stayed silent. 

The head of the third-years gave another speech and then the race officially began after a shot was fired into the air. 

For most of the students, this was the first time they were running with their parents. They watched as their always strong parents struggled to keep up with them. Some were panting for air, some were struggling to keep up, and some even had their hands on their knees as their hips gave out. However, as they straightened their backs and smiled at their children, not an ounce of pain in their pampering expressions. Many of the children felt a sour feeling in their nose and tears started falling from their eyes. 

“Let’s go, Dad will always support you.”

“En, I know.”

Who knows who started the chant, but soon many cheering voices resounded, strings of ‘Fighting!’ and “We can do this’ could be heard everywhere. 

Meanwhile, Jiang Ziquan glanced sideways at Shen Yumo. She was sweating profusely already and both her cheeks were flushed a light red. Shen Yumo was also a more sentimental person and even had a few tears in her eyes as she watched her students help their parents. 

“Are you tired? Do you want me to carry you?” Many of the male students were carrying their mothers on their backs, so it wouldn’t be weird if she did it. 

Shen Yumo looked at her in surprise. She hadn’t expected Jiang Ziquan’s physical strength to be so good that except for a few hitches, her breath was still quite smooth. She wiped the corners of her eyes and shook her head, “No, I can hold on.”

“Good. Fighting!” Jiang Ziquan didn’t force it, although she did slow down and they started lagging behind. 

Around the last 500 meters, most of the parents were exhausted but clenched their teeth and continued on. They refused to be the reason why their child was falling behind. 

“Get on.” Jiang Ziquan could see that Shen Yumo legs were starting to stumble and that every step she took was two steps for Shen Yumo. The originally pink lips had turned pale from dehydration, as well as fatigue and she hunched over in front of Jiang Ziquan as she tried to catch her breath. 

Jiang Ziquan would’ve never expected that one day she would offer to carry someone on her back for a 3000-meter run, but here she was doing exactly that. 

“Your students wouldn’t want you to be last.” Jiang Ziquan teased as Shen Yumo continued to gasp for breath. A little while later, she climbed onto her back. 

Shen Yumo certainly wasn’t heavy, but Jiang Ziquan was roughly at her limit so the little weight felt like a ton of bricks on her. However, she didn’t voice her thoughts and only gave her a reassuring squeeze, “You’re so thin.” Then she took off.

Jiang Ziquan’s back was not as wide or broad as a man’s, but it was soft and comfortable to lie on. One could smell a nice scent coming from her. Shen Yumo helped to wipe the seat on Jiang Ziquan’s face with her own handkerchief and then placed her head over Jiang Ziquan’s shoulder, 

“You got this, we’re almost there.”

Jiang Ziquan could barely hear anything by now and could only grit her teeth as she approached the finish line. 

Ten meters, five meters, three meters, one meter. 

She crossed the finish line and then Jiang Ziquan carefully placed Shen Yumo onto the ground. She then grabbed Shen Yumo’s hand and had her walk around a bit to steady her heart rate. Shen Yumo would cough from time to time. 

They separated after a few minutes, Shen Yumo went off to get some water. Jiang Ziquan only grunted and then plopped down onto the green grass with no consideration at all for her image. 

Suddenly, she felt a shadow block the burning sun from her face and barely opened her eyes to watch Shen Yumo sit down next to her. Shen Yumo’s meticulous ponytail was now a bird’s nest and she was coughing a little. 

“Here, drink some hot water.”

Jiang Ziquan accepted the plastic cup. The water’s temperature couldn’t be considered hot, but lukewarm which was just the right temperature for her.

“Why haven’t you been talking as much recently?” Shen Yumo asked, brushing a few pieces of stray hair behind her ears, revealing her reddened ears. 

Jiang Ziquan only squeezed her cup, not knowing how to answer as she stared blankly up at her. 

Shen Yumo had thought that the kiss during the New Year was a clear enough reply to Jiang Ziquan. But after Jiang Ziquan came back, both of them had been so busy that they wouldn’t be able to see each other often. However, even during her free time, she didn’t see Jiang Ziquan and felt that she was hiding from her, whether it be intentional or unintentional. 

Shen Yumo couldn’t figure out the reason why and felt wronged and angry. Thus, the two of them had lived very awkwardly with each other for the past few days. 

However, today when Shen Yumo laid on her back, she suddenly realized that she had missed Jiang Ziquan’s presence over these past few days.

Perhaps she had lost her mind, but she suddenly leaned forward to kiss Jiang Ziquan on the cheek. The other party was shocked and her cheeks were flushed, but in comparison, Shen Yumo was calm as she no longer felt embarrassed anymore. Jiang Ziquan was still in shock and only looked dazedly and sluggishly up at the beautiful woman in front of her.

---

T/N notes: 

[1] Lantern Festival: the final event of the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year)

*Note: (if you were confused:)

Xu Yao = annoying guy 

Xu Yan = female friend of Shen Yumo’s.

I’m guessing that the race had the ribbon tied around the wrists, so Jiang Ziquan might’ve tied it tight like this: 

---

< Previous |TOC | Next>