Chapter 323: His Name is Guan Shan

Chapter 323: Chapter 323: His Name is Guan Shan

"So that’s the long and short of it. We need a marriage certificate, and we also need to deal with your household registration..."

Ji Huan’s voice lacked confidence.

’After all,’ she thought, ’the wanderer only agreed to marry into my family after a whole song and dance of threats and promises. I swore to him it wouldn’t be much trouble, but this is more than just trouble. One misstep and we’ll be breaking the law.’

But now she was in too deep to back out.

She could only swallow her pride and continue her spiel. "Don’t worry. In a backwater place like this, they aren’t exactly strict about household registration. Plus, you’re a vagrant. I’ll just tell the village chief you can’t remember your original home or name. We can just think of a new one."

Ji Huan knew perfectly well that the wanderer wouldn’t have told her his real name anyway.

’Which is perfect,’ she thought. ’I don’t want to know either.’

This way, when their arrangement ended and he left the Northern Land, they would truly be complete strangers.

"Give me a name."

Just as she expected, the wanderer had no intention of offering his real name. He didn’t give her a fake one either, just saying, "You pick."

Ji Huan shot the wanderer a sidelong glance, deliberately teasing, "How about ’Whatever,’ then?"

The wanderer kept walking without breaking his stride, his hand still supporting her elbow as he led her forward.

"You choose."

’I know you don’t need to put much thought into a fake name, but this is a little too careless. Doesn’t he know I’m terrible at picking names?’

"You’re the one who told me to choose! Fine, let’s do as the locals do and pick something rustic. How about Tiezhu, Iron Bolt, Lucky, or Doggy? Which one do you like? No answer? Fine, I’ll choose for you. It’ll be..."

The wanderer finally couldn’t take it anymore. He stopped and shot Ji Huan a deep frown.

Ji Huan suppressed a laugh. "Alright, how about Guan Shan? It’s a bit plain, but it has a nice ring to it."

The wanderer paused, nodded slightly, and asked, "Da Guan Mountain?"

His name was indeed taken from the Da Guan Mountain range—the great barrier of the entire Northern Pass region, which lay just past Guai Mountain and a few villages.

It wasn’t much more creative than Lucky or Doggy, but at least it was easy to remember and had some meaning.

’At least, that’s what I think,’ Ji Huan mused.

’Then again, how would he know about Da Guan... oh, right. He was a soldier. He must be intimately familiar with this kind of terrain and these borders.’

"Guan Shan it is, then. Now tell me your age."

"Twenty-six."

It wasn’t far off from her previous guess, but hearing his actual age from his own lips, she still couldn’t help but shake her head.

"That’s a bit too old..."

Twenty-six wasn’t actually that old. In her previous life, she was about the same age as him.

The key was that this body of hers was only sixteen.

One twenty-six, one sixteen... a full ten-year difference.

’Good thing this marriage is fake.’

The wanderer, however, suddenly stopped, turning to look down at her with a dark expression.

Ji Huan instantly got the message.

"Whoa, don’t get me wrong! I’m not saying you’re old. You’re in your prime! This is a man’s most charming age. It’s all my fault for being too young. You know what they say, a three-year age gap is a ditch, and a five-year gap is a chasm. Go on, count how many chasms are between us."

If her mental age wasn’t close to his, they wouldn’t have anything to talk about at all.

’Not that we have much to talk about now, anyway...’

Outwardly, Ji Huan was consoling him, but inwardly, she was secretly delighted.

’You never know until you make a comparison. I really am young! For the first time, I feel like I’ve really lucked out by living a second life.’

Just as she was getting carried away with her glee, she glanced at his deeply furrowed brow and quickly reined in her expression.

"Ahem. Don’t you worry. After we’re married, I promise I’ll give you plenty of respect. Respecting your elders is a traditional virtue, after all... Hey, slow down!"

Before Ji Huan could finish, the wanderer let go of her and walked off on his own.

Ji Huan stood where she was, laughing uncontrollably. Once she’d had her fill, she put on an act and shouted as she chased after him.

The two of them came down from Guai Mountain and went to the earthen hut together.

Because Guan Shan had also been copying books lately, there were brushes and ink at the hut.

Ji Huan picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote on the household registration paper: "Guan Shan, age twenty-six, able-bodied male, face disfigured, married into the Ji family and added to the register in the sixth year of Wandai."

She put down the brush and showed it to the wan... ’No, I should call him Guan Shan now.’

She showed it to Guan Shan, but he didn’t seem to care, merely glancing at it before looking away.

Back at Village Chief Meng’s place, he inspected the document, pointed to the blank half, and told her to simply write down the size of her homestead and the fields she owned.

The homestead was easy, but the fields were more trouble.

Not only did she have to write down the area and type of land, but she also had to clearly describe the boundaries to the east, west, north, and south, as well as which family’s farmland it bordered.

Ji Huan only knew that one side of her three acres of wasteland on Nanshan bordered Shi Yong’s family land; she didn’t know the rest.

She was just about to run off and ask Shi Yong when Village Chief Meng remembered that her land was wasteland and didn’t need to be registered in the Fish Scale Book for the time being. This saved Ji Huan the trouble.

Village Chief Meng checked it over one more time and, finding no more faults, only asked her to add a line at the very end.

"...The foregoing is a true statement. Should any person later bring an accusation, and it is found that I have concealed or failed to report a household member, I plead to receive the penalty for violating the imperial edict. Respectfully declared."

This meant that she had truthfully reported all the people and land in her household, and if there were any errors or omissions, she was willing to bear legal and criminal responsibility.

Finally, she signed her name and added her thumbprint.

’To be honest, my heart was pounding as I signed my name and pressed my thumbprint.’

’If we ever get exposed, this is going to blow up into a huge mess...’

Once the household registration paper was filled out, regulations required Village Chief Meng to go and observe this newly registered vagrant to confirm that his age and appearance matched what was written on the paper.

This step was a physical inspection. Afterward, he would also have to ask some questions and explain a few things.

Because once you had a household registration and land, you had to start paying taxes and performing labor service. To evade these duties, some people would intentionally report their age as younger or older, or even falsely claim serious illness or disability. All of this relied on the village chief’s inspection to correct.

If the village chief was careless and overlooked some important information that was later discovered, he would be the first one to be held responsible.

So this step had always been indispensable and handled with extreme caution.

Village Chief Meng told himself he had already seen the wanderer.

Although that time he had only taken one step inside before being scared away, he hadn’t actually gotten a very clear look.

But the "face disfigured" part was certain, and the age was probably about right.

As for questioning him... ’There isn’t much to ask. Ji Huan has already said everything that needs to be said for him. No need for me to make another trip.’

He was getting old and tired easily. Of course, the main reason was that he didn’t handle frights well.

’Best not to mention that. It’s too embarrassing.’

’Young people really have a better attitude. Just think of Ji Huan. Not only will she have to see that man day in and day out, but she’ll even have to share a bed with him.’ Village Chief Meng was thoroughly impressed.

Since he had skipped the physical inspection, it was tantamount to tacitly agreeing that the person matched the registration.

Ji Huan took out two strings of coins she had prepared earlier and handed them to Village Chief Meng.

This was also part of the regulations. If a commoner needed to have their household register recompiled for personal reasons, they had to pay for the brush, ink, paper, and labor costs themselves.

The fee was charged per person: three cents each, plus another three cents for the household.

Ji Huan’s household now had three members. Originally, this expense wouldn’t have been necessary.

Village Chief Meng accepted the money, but hesitated. "Twelve cents would have been enough."

Ji Huan said, "I feel bad for making you run all the way to Yeyang for my sake. Please, take the extra for some tea."

It wasn’t that Village Chief Meng was short on cash. The gesture was just a pleasant one, and the amount was small enough that it couldn’t be considered a bribe.

"I’ll go to Yeyang first thing tomorrow morning. I guarantee I’ll get this handled for you properly."

In truth, this matter of adding someone to the register wasn’t a big deal, just very tedious.

He had to organize all the household registration papers for the entire village and send them to the county office.

The clerks in the county office would then have to compile and register them all over again. Only then would it become an official household registration.

The household register then had to be copied three times: one copy sent to the Ministry of Revenue in the Capital City for archiving, one kept by the State Mansion, and one kept by the county.

Only when all of this was completed would Guan Shan truly shed his status as a vagrant.

Because it was so tedious, he only encountered such a case once every few years. He would usually delay as long as possible, and it wasn’t out of the question for him to drag it out until the next population census.

But Ji Huan was so polite that it made him feel bad about procrastinating.

Besides, Ji Huan’s household registration issue was tied to the marriage certificate, so it really couldn’t be delayed.

Ji Huan didn’t know about these procedures, nor his internal thoughts. The extra money she gave wasn’t to urge Village Chief Meng to hurry with the registration, but so that she wouldn’t have to go and pick up the marriage certificate in person.

Guan Shan was a deserter. It was best to stay far away from a place like the government office.

"Uncle Village Chief, there’s one more thing I need to ask of you. Since you’re going to Yeyang, could you also help us get the marriage certificate... As you know, the ceremony is the day after tomorrow. We’re really running out of time."

Village Chief Meng waved his hand. "Leave it to me. Just focus on being a bride and don’t you worry about a thing."