Chapter 126: No Marriage Without This
The main problem right now is ti.
From early autumn last year to now, it’s still too short.
If they stayed for three to five years, when the household registration staff co around for visits, Xu Qing could even push back her arrival by another two years—neighbors aren’t that sharp, especially for people who aren’t that important. They’ll just rember that soone has lived here for a long ti.
As for the exact year, a little guidance could blur it out.
“Ti, huh…”
Xu Qing tossed the phone onto the table, sighed, and hugged Jiang He again.
“Maybe one day, we’ll just split up?”
“The timing’s not right. You can’t apply for a household registration yet.”
“I understand.”
“If you handle the details well, your chances will improve. Besides ti, when you actually apply, you’ll need to avoid busy periods for the registration office, like the school season when lots of people are filing paperwork for their kids… stuff like that.”
Xu Qing squinted as he mulled over the matter. The idea sounded great initially, but when it ca to execution, there were still too many moving parts to manage.
Winter lon swished its tail as it strolled by, casting the two a sidelong glance before crouching and leaping onto the table. It settled on the mouse pad and lay down.
“Aiming for perfection—get past this hurdle, and you, a thousand-year-old granny, will have successfully integrated into modern society.”
“I’m not a granny.”
“Then what are you?”
“I’m… I’m a lady knight.”
Xu Qing chuckled. “Alright, lady knight, go fetch so paper and a pen.”
At his words, Jiang He crawled off the couch, went to the computer desk, grabbed a notebook and pen, and scooped up Winter lon before returning to Xu Qing’s side.
“You’re a native Han Chinese, born and raised here. That’s a fact no one can deny. What we need to do is explain the blank period in your life over the past decade or so.”
Xu Qing took the pen, spread the notebook on the table, and started drawing a line while speaking. Using paper and pen during the thought process often revealed overlooked blind spots, a habit he had always maintained.
“You ntioned wanting to stream your gaming to gain visibility. This has pros and cons. The benefit, as you’ve thought, is that it could deepen your presence in multiple ways. If we start the plan in a couple of years, videos of you online could serve as evidence of your life here...
But there’s sothing else you didn’t consider: if you gain a little fa and so influence, it could act as a social card—like a form of clout. At that point, your identity would no longer be that of a nobody.”
As he scribbled on the notebook, Jiang He hugged Winter lon and interjected, “Can gaming really give you… status?”
“It’s sothing like that. The more people who know you, the greater your influence, for better or worse. It’s not just gaming—so people get famous from a single photo or a laugh. Then they go on to sell… Never mind that tangent.
If you were to go viral, like, ‘This strear turns out to be an undocunted citizen who’s been wandering since childhood and was taken in by kind souls—now making a living through gaming,’ it creates public attention. Suddenly, people you don’t know are eating up the story. At that point, both of us might face so trouble, but your identity issue could be resolved without you running around with a stack of docunts begging for help. Instead, people would co to you.”
Xu Qing considered various possibilities, drew a circle on the paper, and then extended a line from the beginning.
“There’s another possibility: going viral puts you in the spotlight, and your streaming channel gets temporarily suspended. anwhile, applying for registration, because of its complexity, drags on… Eventually, once the hype dies down, you end up fading into obscurity.”
“Fading into obscurity… isn’t that pretty much like now?” Jiang He asked.
“Kind of, but not quite.” Xu Qing paused, looking at her sideways. “By then, you’d already be exposed, so you couldn’t just use money to quietly grease the wheels and get yourself registered.”
“Using money… you said we’d do it the proper way, right?”
“Obviously not.”
Xu Qing drew another line through the middle of the notebook. “The best approach is to have multiple plans. If you gain so fa, you’ll likely make so money too. Before things blow up, you can try using money to pull so strings and see if it works. If it doesn’t, then you can intentionally expose your situation, thrust yourself into the lilight, and use hired PR and trending topics to apply pressure.
This is an era where making noise gets results. Culture and knowledge can’t compare to shaless drama. It’s ugly and undignified but… effective.”
He twirled the pen in his hand, looked at Jiang He’s slightly puzzled expression, and smiled. He circled the notes he had just made, then tore the page out and set it aside. “This is the last-resort plan. We won’t use it unless we have to.”
Jiang He sat quietly with Winter lon in her arms, saying nothing. Her understanding of the situation here couldn’t match Xu Qing’s.
“Now for the downside—if you don’t beco famous, then it doesn’t matter what you do. It’s as if nothing happened. So let’s analyze what happens if you do make it big. We’ve talked about the advantages, but there are always unforeseen risks. For example, if your undocunted status gets exposed before you’re popular, you wouldn’t have made much money yet. Being noticed early ans we’re unprepared…”
“Would I be arrested?”
“Of course not… You can’t be arrested now.” Xu Qing stopped writing, turned, and explained. “Once you understood the basics of how things work here, you were already safe. At most, you’d be questioned and released—assuming you haven’t committed any cris, no special thods can be used to investigate you.”
“Oh…” Jiang He relaxed a bit.
“But if you beco famous and your undocunted status gets exposed, then it wouldn’t be a normal situation. You’d face thorough scrutiny, which is a downside. You can’t withstand a detailed investigation. Once they dig into your past, there’s nothing before the storm that day. You appeared out of nowhere, and that won’t hold up.”
“And then would I get arrested?” Jiang He’s anxiety flared again.
“No, but you’d be put on a watchlist. That black-fat cop and his boss would suspect you might be a fugitive.” Xu Qing shrugged. “That would make it even harder to register you.”
“Oh…” Jiang He cald down a little and, after thinking for a while, asked, “Then can I just skip getting registered?”
“That’s not an option. Registration isn’t just about your identity here—it’s proof of your right to access resources.”
Xu Qing squeezed her hand gently. “Most importantly, without it, you can’t get married.”
“…”
After a pause, Jiang He said, “So I shouldn’t stream, right?”
“This is just an analysis of what could happen if you beco very popular. After all, the priority is stability, and this is one of the risks.”
Jiang He took the notebook he had written in and looked at it. “This multi-plan preparation… is it really not an option?”
“Do you really want to stream?” Xu Qing asked.
“You don’t seem very willing.”
“I… Fine, you’re right. I’m not very willing,” Xu Qing admitted with a sigh.
Reviews
All reviews (0)