Call the police, brother. Let’s get this done.

As for the pheasants and rabbits, they were small and easy to keep, so there was no need to worry about them for now. They could be raised in captivity and slaughtered only when the family wanted to eat them. Besides, on their last trip into the mountains, they had caught so many wild animals. The larger ones were not suited to confinement, so they had no choice but to slaughter them first and keep the meat to eat slowly. Stored in the mysterious space, it would never spoil.

Jing Qingxin sorted through the game meat and found that their current stock included one large wild boar, one small wild boar, two roe deer, and one spotted deer. Satisfied, she nodded. Their reserves were more than enough, enough to last them a very long time.

After putting away everything in the space, Jing Qingxin slipped out and lay down on the wooden bed, planning to take a nap before getting up later to prepare dinner.

Meanwhile, Gao Shen was busy running from place to place, unlike Jing Qingxin, who was resting in comfort.

He first went to the police station and found an old comrade named Zeng Lin, hoping to ask him to help mediate and handle the matter of Qingxin's household registration.

Zeng Lin was a few years older than Gao Shen and had once been his company commander. Since they had come from the same region and got along well, the two had maintained a good friendship. But three years earlier, Zeng Lin had left the army and been assigned to work at the Ning City Police Station, where he now served as a squad leader.

"You rascal! When did you get back?" Zeng Lin said brightly, striding up the moment he saw Gao Shen in the reception room and giving him a punch on the shoulder.

When a subordinate told him someone was looking for him, he had been puzzled. Who would come all the way to the station to see him? Yet when he entered the reception room, he found his good brother, whom he had not seen in years.

"It's been a while. How have you been, Commander?" Gao Shen asked.

"Still calling me commander? I've been out of the army for more than three years now. I'm doing fine. Look at me. Without army training, I've even put on a layer of lazy flesh. But what about you? Back on leave to visit family?" Zeng Lin joked.

The work at the station was easy and leisurely. They occasionally handled a case, though nothing of great importance. Most of the time they stayed at the station, or went into the city to keep watch for any sudden incidents.

Compared with the grueling intensity of military training, Zeng Lin felt that life now was truly much lazier.

"Brother Zeng, I'm getting married," Gao Shen said. He had always regarded Zeng Lin as a true brother. Zeng Lin was four years older than him, so calling him Brother Zeng was only proper.

"Well done, kid! Not bad at all! From the cold face you used to wear, I thought you had no intention of ever taking a wife. Getting married is a good thing. When is the wedding? Your brother has to come drink a celebratory cup!" Zeng Lin said with delight, clearly pleased.

"I'm here to see you because of that. I may need your help," Gao Shen said quietly.

Zeng Lin immediately turned and shut the door to the reception room. Though years had passed, the understanding between brothers remained.

Then, with a serious expression, Zeng Lin said, "Go on. What is it? As long as I can do it, I'll handle it for you."

Gao Shen then explained his wife's unusual situation. Of course, he did not say much, only the essentials, and even the wording had been carefully considered.

In short, the woman he was marrying was the adopted daughter of his former teacher. But because of the upheaval that had occurred earlier, and because his wife had not been registered during the census at the time, she had never obtained household registration and could not be moved under the old couple's registration either.

Gao Shen merely emphasized the difficult problem they were facing. As for Qingxin and the two elders, he mentioned them only in passing.

Zeng Lin was his good brother. The two had once spoken about everything under the sun and had even fought enemies side by side. Their bond was naturally deep. But this time, the person involved was Jing Qingxin, the one Gao Shen held in the deepest part of his heart, the person he had resolved to cherish and protect for life.

Keeping things from his brother, and even using him a little, left Gao Shen feeling somewhat guilty. But Qingxin's identity was special. Anything involving her had to be handled with the utmost care. He did not want the slightest mistake, nor the faintest trace of anything suspicious.

Between the two, he naturally had to be cautious. Nothing mattered more than Qingxin's safety. Aside from his foster father and foster mother, he did not want to explain Qingxin's situation to anyone else.

"Oh, I thought it was something serious. From the look on your face, I guessed it was a troublesome matter. But this is easy enough to handle. Our country has a complicated population. Between the famine years and the turmoil a few years back, there were plenty of people who were never registered. Even for the station, it's a headache, and all we can do is keep expanding the census," Zeng Lin said frankly. For him, it really was not difficult.

"Yes. The main issue is that my teacher can't find proof to help my wife get registered. Before, she was living with my teacher's relatives, but last year those relatives also passed away, so there is no one to provide proof anymore. The place they lived is also very remote and difficult to reach, so the old couple have not been able to find a solution," Gao Shen said in an even tone. His expression carried a hint of trouble, as though he too were worried about the matter.

"Don't worry. I happen to know someone on the household registration side. We've dealt with each other a few times before. Leave this to me. Tell your teacher and his wife not to worry. It's nothing complicated. I'll go and coordinate with them shortly. Bring them here tomorrow morning," Zeng Lin said confidently. For ordinary people, the matter might be troublesome, but for him it was truly no issue at all. He was in the same system, after all.

"Then I'll be troubling Brother Zeng this time," Gao Shen said plainly, sincerely grateful.

"What are you being polite for? Between the two of us, who is anyone to whom? Still, is that wife of yours someone you chose for yourself, or...?" Zeng Lin asked delicately.

He knew Gao Shen's family situation, including the upheaval they had suffered. He also knew that Gao Shen was not very close to his family. Gao Shen had come from an old and distinguished household, and the education he had received, as well as the environment in which he had grown up, had naturally been superior to that of many other children.

Even if his family had fallen from grace, the things etched into a person's thoughts and blood would not vanish. Yet from Gao Shen's explanation just now, Zeng Lin had the feeling that his brother was about to marry a village girl, a peasant woman, and one who had been adopted by someone else at that.

No matter how he thought about it, Zeng Lin could not figure out why his brother Gao Shen would be willing to marry a rural orphan girl.

Among all his brothers, Gao Shen was the one he admired most. He was not only outstanding in ability, but also handsome and well built. Moreover, he was extremely popular with women. The female soldiers from the cultural troupe, as well as the doctors and nurses, all had a soft spot for him. Whenever there was a performance, there were always women quietly asking about Gao Shen.

Even when Gao Shen treated them with a cold face and sparse words, those women never backed down. On the contrary, they charged forward with even greater courage, so much so that Zeng Lin and the others were often driven to shout that they wanted to spar with Gao Shen.

Zeng Lin pulled himself back from his wandering thoughts, still quite puzzled. With Gao Shen's conditions, finding a city girl would have been entirely reasonable. Even several leaders in the army had wanted to take Gao Shen as a son-in-law, but Gao Shen had shown no interest.

Could it be that there was some unavoidable hardship involved?

This book was first published by Xiao Xiang Academy. Please do not reproduce it.