Chapter 66

The civil affairs bureau doesn’t work on weekends, so Wen Tang and Zhou Jingyu went to get their marriage certificate first thing on Monday morning. Wen Tang had informed Liu Meifen about obtaining the marriage certificate a day in advance. Their relationship had been strained for a long time and hadn’t improved. Wen Tang hadn’t been in touch with Liu Meifen for quite a while.

The night before getting the marriage certificate, while Zhou Jingyu was washing dishes, Wen Tang sat alone on the sofa and thought for a long time. Liu Meifen was still her mother, who had dedicated many years to her. Although Liu Meifen’s actions were not always appreciated, she felt that it was important to inform her about the marriage.

So, Wen Tang called Liu Meifen.

On the other end of the line, Liu Meifen was not particularly emotional upon hearing the news of Wen Tang’s marriage. She didn’t even know when Wen Tang had started dating someone new. During the months they had not been in touch, Liu Meifen had been living alone in the villa, without going out or traveling. She only asked Wen Tang who her marriage partner was.

Wen Tang replied that it was her neighbor.

Liu Meifen had met Zhou Jingyu once and had some impression of him.

She simply said, “As long as you’ve thought it through.”

Wen Tang replied with a brief “Mm” and hung up.

As for Zhou Jingyu, his relationship with his father was distant, and he rarely contacted him. He had no intention of informing his father about the marriage.

Their household registration books were both independently established. Wen Tang had been left in her hometown by Liu Meifen and had moved her registration under her grandmother’s household for school. Later, she moved it to Lingcheng when she bought a house there. Zhou Jingyu, on the other hand, after his mother’s death and seeing that his father was unreliable, moved his registration under his own name to make things easier. Now, he and Zhou Donghai were living together with just the two of them on the same household registration. Zhou Donghai had always been very fond of him and had made many exceptions for him as he grew up, which naturally led to envy and resentment from other members of the Zhou family.

When it came to getting married, Zhou Jingyu returned to his old home the next day. Zhou Donghai had already handed over the keys to the safes in the old home to Zhou Jingyu. Zhou Jingyu retrieved the household registration book and on Monday, they went to the civil affairs bureau with their IDs and household registration books to register their marriage.

The process was even quicker than expected. The two red little booklets were in their hands in no time.

They each held a copy and looked at each other, feeling that things were different from before they had the red booklets.

From now on, they were legally recognized as each other’s partners, legal spouses. They had the right to sign on each other’s medical forms in the future.

There was no special celebration. When they got home, Zhou Jingyu cooked while Wen Tang just ate, and they spent the entire day at home.

Of course, since they were married, they had to inform Zhou Donghai to avoid him thinking they were deceiving him. Wen Tang specially took the marriage certificate to him.

Zhou Donghai looked at their marriage certificate from all angles, nodding in satisfaction.

But there were still follow-up issues.

“When are you planning to have the wedding?” Zhou Donghai asked.

Wen Tang and Zhou Jingyu hadn’t yet thought about the wedding. Their marriage had been quite casual, and they hadn’t considered the matter on that level.

However, organizing a wedding involved many details, so there was no rush.

Zhou Jingyu answered, “I’ll follow Wen Tang’s lead.”

Wen Tang replied, “… I’ve been busy recently. Let’s think about it when things settle down?”

For now, she was occupied with preparing for a month-long shoot in a remote mountain area. It was unlikely she would even see her husband during that time, let alone plan a wedding. In the remaining days in Lingcheng, Wen Tang did not go anywhere. Zhou Jingyu was at work, so she stayed at home reading scripts, eating, sleeping, and playing games. On Saturday, she would leave with the crew, first by plane, then by bus, and possibly a long drive on mountain roads. It was better for everyone to go together, as navigating the area could be challenging.

On Friday, Ke Xin came over to help Wen Tang pack her luggage.

In the past, Ke Xin had always packed Wen Tang’s things. Knowing Wen Tang was now dating Zhou Jingyu and would be spending evenings with him, Ke Xin came to the apartment during the day.

Documents were needed for the trip, and Wen Tang’s various documents were kept in a locked drawer in the cabinet.

“Tang Tang, while you are at home these days, did Mr. Zhou do everything—cooking, washing dishes and mopping the floor?” Ke Xin asked Wen Tang, who was sitting on the sofa playing games.

Wen Tang, engrossed in her game, responded casually, “Mm.”

Ke Xin thought that Wen Tang had dated many people, but Mr. Zhou had been her boyfriend for over half a year. There was a reason for that.

Look at how considerate Mr. Zhou was, handling everything at home—he was a perfect example of someone who could handle both the public and the private aspects of life! He was also so handsome. Ke Xin wished she could find someone like him!

Ke Xin was genuinely envious.

Ke Xin was originally a fan of the couple, but now she was completely brainwashed by Mr. Zhou, constantly thinking about how good he was to Wen Tang.

While chatting with Wen Tang, Ke Xin did most of the talking, with Wen Tang mostly listening. Wen Tang had been very absorbed in her game lately.

After packing Wen Tang’s clothes, Ke Xin went to the bedroom to retrieve Wen Tang’s documents.

Identification and visas were necessary to carry, and Ke Xin knew these items were kept in the drawer. She went in to get them herself.

Upon opening the drawer, before she could see anything else, she noticed a red booklet prominently labeled “Marriage Certificate.”

Ke Xin’s eyes widened at the sight, and before she could react, her hand grabbed one of the booklets and opened it.

Then—

“Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!”

Wen Tang, sitting in the living room, only heard Ke Xin’s shocked scream and thought something had happened. A few seconds later, Ke Xin burst out of the room holding the marriage certificate.

“Tang Tang, Tang Tang!”

Ke Xin was almost fainting from the shock!

“When did you and Mr. Zhou got the certificate??”

Ke Xin flipped the certificate over and over, wondering if it was real. It had a number and a seal, so it had to be genuine, right?

The big star Wen Tang had quietly gotten married to her boyfriend of six months—this news would probably break the internet!

Compared to Ke Xin’s shock, Wen Tang remained calm. It had been a few days since they got the certificate, and she had already moved past the initial excitement.

“Don’t you check the date on the certificate you’re holding?” Wen Tang said lazily without looking up. She then reminded Ke Xin, “After you’re done, put it back. I’m keeping it at home for a few days. I’ll give it to Zhou Jingyu once I start shooting.”

She had planned to give it to Zhou Jingyu to keep, as it was important to both of them and, since Wen Tang was often away for filming, it was more practical for Zhou Jingyu to keep it. She had just wanted to keep it at home for a few days to look at whenever she wanted.

But, it was just a thought. In reality, it had been put in the drawer and not taken out since.

However, when the marriage certificate was seen by Ke Xin, it reminded Wen Tang that she hadn’t informed her manager about the marriage yet. It was something she needed to report.

After finishing her game, Wen Tang switched to her contacts and called her manager.

As Wen Tang’s manager, Li Yingjie was someone Wen Tang was quite satisfied with. Li Yingjie was quiet, handled matters with minimal interference, and only reached out if something needed to be discussed. Wen Tang appreciated this, especially after her previous experience with Liu Meifen, who had been very controlling.

Li Yingjie was surprised to hear that Wen Tang had already obtained the marriage certificate with her boyfriend. However, Li Yingjie was clearly more adept at managing emotions and thinking clearly than Ke Xin. She immediately began to analyze the pros and cons for Wen Tang and advised her not to make any public announcements until conditions were more favorable.

Wen Tang understood this well and agreed to it.

On Saturday morning, Zhou Jingyu took Wen Tang to the airport.

Originally, Zhou Jingyu planned to drive Wen Tang directly to the filming location in the mountains. He had two days off and intended to go on Saturday and return on Sunday. However, the mountain roads were rugged and difficult to drive, so Wen Tang didn’t want him to endure such hardship and refused, asking him to drop her off at the airport instead.

There would be many more filming trips in the future, and he couldn’t possibly take her every time. If she made an exception once, she would expect him to do it every time.

She didn’t want to be so greedy.

Wen Tang’s luggage was so extensive that Zhou Jingyu could hardly imagine. She brought four suitcases this time! Just the clothes and shoes filled up a large suitcase, and there were many other miscellaneous items packed into another suitcase, making it almost impossible to fit everything into the car’s trunk.

Zhou Jingyu dropped them off at the airport entrance and did not get out of the car, saying goodbye to Wen Tang from inside the car.

The conditions in the mountains were even harsher than Wen Tang had imagined.

Not only did it take several hours of winding mountain roads to get there, but once there, the car couldn’t go directly to the location. She had to carry her suitcase for about an hour. Despite having help, Wen Tang still had to carry one of the lighter suitcases herself.

By the time she arrived, her back and shoulders were sore, and she was exhausted.

The accommodation provided by the production team was very basic. The best option was the type of house Wen Tang stayed in: a red-brick bungalow that had been simply painted, with about ten such houses in a row. They looked brand new, having been recently constructed. Out of the over a hundred people in the crew, only a few got to stay in such houses.

Others had to stay in thatched cottages, tiled houses, or mud brick houses with muddy floors that weren’t level. There weren’t enough houses, so the crew also set up many tents.

The problems with the accommodation were numerous. There were many mosquitoes, and the temperature difference between day and night was significant—one had to wear light clothing during the day but needed a down jacket at night.

There were no shops to buy things, food was filling but not good, the area was remote with poor signal, and power supply was insufficient, resulting in occasional power outages.

The crew encountered a power outage on their first day.

Wen Tang was lying on the bed, sending a message to Zhou Jingyu when the video call suddenly became choppy. Text messaging wasn’t affected, though.

Suddenly, the entire room went dark.

Screams erupted from several places not far away. Some of the timid girls were frightened by the sudden blackout.

The darkness in the mountains was different from city darkness—it was truly pitch black.

Fortunately, they had a backup generator.

But the generator provided only limited power, just enough for a few essential people.

Overall, it was a chaotic day.

Adjusting to the situation was challenging at first, but everyone was working hard to adapt for the sake of making a good film. After about a month and a half, things started to improve.

At this time, a piece of news suddenly broke on Weibo.

Top star Liu Yan was rumored to be in a relationship with up-and-coming actress He Luoran, with paparazzi capturing them holding hands while entering and exiting a hotel.

Although this was someone else’s business, it was related to Wen Tang because Liu Yan was one of her many ex-boyfriends. They had been together for about two months before breaking up after filming ended.

They had once been trending together.

While this should have been Liu Yan and He Luoran’s matter, the negative public opinion towards He Luoran, who was not very popular outside the industry, led to overwhelming criticism.

In the midst of this, someone unexpectedly dragged Wen Tang into the spotlight.

People started to say that since Liu Yan’s ex-girlfriend was Wen Tang, if he were to find a new girlfriend, she should at least be as exceptional as Wen Tang!

It was known that Wen Tang was unique in the entertainment industry—there was really no one more beautiful than her.

However, her reputation was widely known, and many had feared that their idols might be affected by Wen Tang.

To her surprise, many people actually supported this notion.

Then, attention shifted to recounting Wen Tang’s past boyfriends, showcasing her illustrious history.

The focus gradually shifted away from Liu Yan and his rumored girlfriend, with everyone reminiscing about Wen Tang’s past.

Strangely, Wen Tang once again topped the trending list, overshadowing Liu Yan’s new romance and other new topics.

It was quite a feat.

Soon after the trending topic emerged, Zhou Jingyu sent a message:

“Tang Tang, I didn’t know you had so many ex-boyfriends. Do you have any insights to share?”

“It seems like others know more about your past than I do. When will you tell me more about it?”

Wen Tang was left speechless.

It felt as if her old house suddenly caught fire!

It seemed that after obtaining the marriage certificate, Zhou Jingyu’s jealousy became even more blatant, and his control over her tightened.