Married Thrice to Salted Fish

Jiang Xing’s high school was one of the city’s key schools. Obtaining the transfer qualifications wasn’t easy. Even though he’d used his family connections to obtain those transfer qualifications, Lin Qingyu and Shen Huaishi still had to take the transfer exam.

Lin Qingyu had no objection to this. He had checked and found that if he wanted to enter the best medical school, he had to take the college entrance examination and he had to get a fairly high score. Even had Jiang Xing not said anything, he still would have wanted to attend.

Shen Huaishi was a little uneasy. “Your Majesty, do I-do I have to go to school too?”

Jiang Xing raised the corners of his lips and smiled happily, “Of course, I’m not letting either of you escape.”

Shen Huaizhi said, “But I’m only here to protect the emperor and empress.”

Jiang Xing said, “If you want to protect us, you must at least be by our side. If Qingyu and I both go to school, how will you protect us?”

Shen Huaishi said without hesitation, “From the shadows.”

Lin Qingyu said, “I prefer that you protect us out in the open.”

Since the Empress had already spoken, Shen Huaishi had no choice but to agree. Jiang Xing hired retired special-grade teachers as tutors for the two of them, one for each subject. They studied nine to six on weekdays, with weekends off. After class, Lin Qingyu and Shen Huaishi still had to complete the homework assigned by the teachers. They had very full schedules.

Lin Qingyu learned quickly. At the beginning of the month, he had just started to learn the basics of junior high school physics and by the end of the month, he had already started to use Lenz’s law. He was a natural at languages. He had learned Cantonese easily when he was in the Dayu and now, memorizing English words was as easy as drinking water. This photographic memory skill went against the natural order. Jiang Xing suspected that Lin Qingyu’s vocabulary after two months of learning English could easily crush his.

Shen Huaishi wasn’t quite as good. Although his studies also went smoothly, he was only human after all and wasn’t a match for a god of learning. Lin Qingyu’s speed of learning was many times faster than Shen Huaishi. In order to wait for him to catch up, Lin Qingyu also took the time to pass his driver’s license test – all subjects 1 to 4 were passed with full marks in one go.

When Lin Qingyu got his driver’s license, he became the student who passed the fastest since the establishment of the driving school. For this reason, the driving school made him a pennant with the words “Most Beautiful Student”.

Winter vacation was fast approaching, which meant that finals were coming soon and then only half a year would be left before the college entrance examinations. All high school seniors work very hard and Jiang Xing was no exception. Even during the New Year’s holidays, he studied at home. With Lin Qingyu and Shen Huaishi studying along with him, he finally felt that all was right with the world.

On New Year’s Eve, the housekeeper Auntie got off work after preparing a sumptuous dinner. Guangzhou wasn’t so cold in winter and the three of them set up a small dining table on the balcony, facing the Pearl River and Slim Waist. Jiang Xing even opened one of the bottles of red wine that his father had kept for many years.

As a Dayu native, Lin Qingyu has no special feelings for New Year’s. He preferred to celebrate Lunar New Year. But Jiang Xing was so excited that he naturally decided to go along with him. He watched Jiang Xing take out three glasses for the red wine and asked, “Can minors drink?”

Jiang Xing immediately answered, “Yes.”

Lin Qingyu narrowed his eyes. “Let me check.”

“…Is there not even this little bit of trust between husband and wife?”

Lin Qingyu said, “Yes.” In matters like this, he had no trust in Jiang Xing at all. After all, Jiang Xing was also the one who told him that in modern times, people go into hot springs in the nude.

Lin Qingyu found the “Law on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency”, which stated that minors were not allowed to smoke and drink alcohol. At the same time, it prohibited businesses from selling tobacco and alcohol to minors.

“You can’t drink too much but the occasional drink at home shouldn’t hurt.” Lin Qingyu raised his chin towards the wine glass, “Pour the wine then.”

Jiang Xing feigned a burdened figure and then pretended to sigh, “I’ve finally discovered that in this family, I am but a servant.”

Hearing these words, Shen Huaishi felt as if he was suddenly faced with a formidable enemy. He quickly got up and said, “This subordinate shall serve their Majesties.”

Shen Huaishi was extremely remorseful. After living in this house for a couple of months, he had gradually gotten used treating the emperor and empress as equals; so much so that he found himself doing something so disrespectful as sitting and waiting for the emperor to pour him wine.

“Sit down.” Lin Qingyu gave Jiang Xing a look of “see what you did”. “Jiang Xing’s just putting on an act. Don’t mind him.”

Jiang Xing pressed down Shen Huaishi’s shoulder and pushed him back down to sit. “You call me ‘Your Majesty’ again while we’re here and you better believe I’m gonna make you eat this wine bottle.”

Shen Huaishi’s eyes widened and he pursed his lips. “This subordinate… Huaishi dares not.”

It was Lin Qingyu’s first time to drink red wine and for the first two sips, he found that he wasn’t quite used to the taste. After a few more sips, he was awakened to the beauty of red wine; it’s pleasant aroma, mellow taste and long aftertaste.

Once they were done with dinner, there were still a few more hours before midnight. A lot of people had already gathered in the square near Slim Waist. Counting down the New Year in front of a city’s landmark is undoubtedly one of the most traditional ways to celebrate the New Year’s. No matter how lively the square was, their residential building was still quite peaceful. Slim Waist was right before their eyes, as if they could reach out and touch.

Lin Qingyu suggested playing games to pass the rest of the time. He was still very much interested in online games. He liked playing assassin and he also enjoyed controlling the overall situation and taking the enemy’s life when they’re caught off guard.

Jiang Xing said, “But it’s already past nine o’clock.” Ever since his puppy love relationship was discovered, Jiang Xing was forced to use his own ID card to play games. Thanks to the anti-addiction system for minors, he could only play for an hour a day even on holidays.

Lin Qingyu threw a sympathetic look towards the male high schooler. “Then you can only watch me and Huaishi play.”

Jiang Xing forced a smile on his face. “That doesn’t sound very interesting.”

“Then would a math exercise sheet be more interesting?”

Shen Huaishi was moved to pity by Jiang Xing’s expression that he cracked and he offered to accompany Jiang Xing to do his homework. “I’ve also fallen behind on my homework. So, I’ll go work on those with Jiang Xing.”

In order not to disturb the two of them, Lin Qingyu put on headphones. Jiang Xing couldn’t see the game screen or hear the sound, so he could only judge the battle situation by the expression on Lin Qingyu’s face.

At the beginning of the game, Lin Qingyu frowned unhappily. It must be because he’d been robbed of the jungler position and was forced to make do with a different role.

Lin Qingyu’s expression became colder and colder, indicating that the game was going against them.

Killing intent floated in his eyes… Was he being camped or had he been killed in retaliation?

At the end of the game, Lin Qingyu took off his headphones and threw his cell phone. He took a deep breath, suppressed his anger and said, “Idiot.”

While Shen Huaishi was taking a shower, Jiang Xing left his half-done exercise sheet and sat down beside Lin Qingyu. “What’s wrong?”

“Some idiot robbed me of the jungler position and I was forced to play a marksman. He also had the support follow him so I often wound up fighting two to one, sometimes even three or four would gang up against me. And despite all that I was able to kill a few. Then that idiot actually had to gall to put the blame on me, saying that my marksman isn’t even fit to clean toilets.”

Jiang Xing: “…” It’s over. He felt a little like laughing. What should he do?

Jiang Xing tried his best to hold back his laughter. His intuition told him that if he laughs now, he’ll probably lose his wife.

“That overconfident noob actually has the gall to try and teach me how to do things.” Lin Qingyu became angrier and angrier as he spoke. He stretched out his arms to Jiang Xing.

Jiang Xing picked up the beauty who wanted a hug and put him on his lap. “Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. I’ll help you report him.”

“What’s the use of reporting him?” Lin Qingyu rested his forehead on Jiang Xing’s shoulder, “I want this person hunted all across the country and disposed of as soon as possible.”

Jiang Xing deliberately went along with it, “Sure. Then, send me his in-game account page and I’ll help you arrest him.”

Lin Qingyu hesitated and felt that his plans might be a bit too much. “Forget it, it’s just a game.”

Jiang Xing laughed. Lin Qingyu’s reaction was exactly as he had imagined.

“Why am I still so angry?” Lin Qingyu closed his eyes, “I’ll go answer an English exercise sheet to vent.”

Once Shen Huaishi came back, they became three students sitting in a row, diligently doing their homework. After Lin Qingyu finished his English exercise sheet, Jiang Xing helped him check the answers. Seeing that all the objective questions were correct, Jiang Xing couldn’t help but ask, “Qingyu, how did you do it?”

Lin Qingyu said lightly, “What do you mean? You can do it too, can’t you?”

“For sure. But how long have I been studying and how long have you been studying…”

Lin Qingyu said, “To me, these words are no different from Chinese characters. When I look at this paper, it’s like I’m reading a Chinese test paper for the third graders.”

Jiang Xing was silent for a full half minute. He then suddenly grabbed Lin Qingyu’s hand and said sincerely, “I’ve truly wronged you by making you my wife.”

Lin Qingyu: “…”

Shen Huaishi smiled and said, “If Qingyu were to take the Dayu’s imperial examination, he would definitely take first place.”

While Jiang Xing was proud of his wife, he also felt a little guilty. If he really fails to score higher than Lin Qingyu in the future, would Lin Qingyu not find him handsome anymore?

Lin Qingyu then started to do his math homework. Jiang Xing saw that he was stuck on a geometry problem and felt that he could finally show his skills – he only had the barest advantage in these subjects that didn’t require rote memorization.

Jiang Xing leaned over and pointed the pen tip at the question. “Qingyu, this question is actually not difficult, you just need to draw an auxiliary line between point A and point H…”

Lin Qingyu looked up at him. “You also want to teach me how to do things?”

“…I wouldn’t dare.”

Jiang Xing slid back to his chair. Lin Qingyu looked down at the geometry problem, and after thinking deeply, he reluctantly made an auxiliary line between point A and point H.

Three minutes before midnight, Jiang Xing sent his dad a Happy New Year message. They were in different time zones but he didn’t bother to time it, simply following the domestic time. His dad replied to him right away.

[Happy New Year. I heard from your aunt that you’re dating?]

[En.]

[Will it affect your studies?]

[It won’t.]

[Okay, I’ll double your living expenses starting this month.]

[No need, I’m not short of money.]

The inheritance left to him by his mother was being managed by a trust while he was yet of age. The monthly pay out was quite substantial.

[It will always come in handy.]

Jiang Xing no longer refused. Who wouldn’t want money?

[Thank you, Dad.]

At 11:59, a 60-second countdown appeared on Slim Waist. Both Lin Qingyu and Shen Huaishi were immersed in the sea of questions and had no intention of doing anything else. Jiang Xing stared at the numbers outside the window and suddenly exclaimed, “Fuck! Huaishi! Look over there!”

Shen Huaishi’s first reaction was that there was an assassin. He stood up abruptly and looked in the direction Jiang Xing pointed at. “Who is it!”

Jiang Xing’s “Fuck” was full of emotion. Lin Qingyu thought that if it weren’t assassins, it would be aliens. He was about to turn his head to look when his lips were suddenly kissed.

“Happy New Year, Qingyu.”