Chapter 25

“Talk about what? Last night you invited the two of us to dinner, then you left us and went off for something, so it was just the two of us drinking. I woke up this morning, and that’s it.”

Tang Yashan looked completely confused, still groggy, clearly having no memory of anything else.

Tang Yajun pressed her hand to her forehead. So in the end, he really remembered nothing at all?
She had gone to all that trouble last night—arranging the meal, pouring the wine, even making herself scarce to leave them space—and it was all for nothing.

Now she could only hope that Lu Chongyun remembered what had passed between them.

She went next door to look for Lu Chongyun, but Auntie Liu told her she had left early for work, didn’t even have time for breakfast.

So she returned empty-handed. Lu Chongjin, however, seemed unsurprised, almost as if he had foreseen this outcome.

Tang Yashan was busy in the lab when someone called him outside—someone was waiting downstairs.

He stripped off his gloves and walked out of the building.
It was Lu Chongyun, with a document in hand.

“Here, take a look at this.”

He accepted it and saw that it was a certificate of introduction—used for registering a marriage license—already stamped with the official seal.

He frowned in confusion. “What’s this?”

Lu Chongyun studied his expression; it didn’t look feigned.

“You’ve really forgotten? Last night you begged me to marry you. You said if I didn’t save you, you’d end up homeless, even sent back to some remote mountain village. That’s why I reluctantly agreed.”

“Did I really say that?” Tang Yashan’s face was blank; he had no memory whatsoever.

“If you’re unwilling, then forget it. If not for pitying you, I’d never even consider marrying you.” Her face hardened as she snatched the paper back from his hands and turned to leave.

Tang Yashan took a quick step forward to block her. “You’d really marry me just to help me stay in the city?”

“The problem isn’t me—it’s you. If you keep hesitating like this, then it’s off.”

“I’m willing!” he blurted, raising both hands in surrender.
“I’ll go draw up my own certificate of introduction right now. Once it’s sealed, we’ll go register immediately.”

At that, Lu Chongyun quietly let out a breath of relief. She had come today prepared for a do-or-die gambit—getting him drunk last night was all to set up this exact situation.

When Tang Yajun later saw the marriage license in Tang Yashan’s hands, she nearly toppled off her stool in shock.

“Say that again?” She rushed over, snatched it out of his hands, examined it carefully, then shoved it at Lu Chongjin. “See if this is real.”

Tang Yashan puffed up with pride. “How could it be fake?”

He recounted everything he and Lu Chongyun had agreed on.

Yajun and Chongjin exchanged a look. Something about it was off, but since the outcome was good, the process no longer mattered.

“When will you tell both families? And what about the wedding?” Yajun asked.

Tang Yashan said, “Since this is really just a marriage of convenience, for Chongyun’s sake it shouldn’t be too public. If someday she finds someone she truly likes and wants a divorce, I wouldn’t want to ruin her reputation.”

Yajun nearly rolled her eyes. They were already about to become a legitimate married couple, and he was still worrying about reputation?

She said, “You’d better ask Second Sister’s opinion. No bride wants to marry without a proper wedding. At least both families and relatives should gather to celebrate—it makes future relations smoother.”

Then she fixed him with a look. “Besides, you’re marrying to apply for housing through your work unit. That only works if you make the wedding big—invite the director, colleagues, everyone. Then Director Liu will have reason to approve your application for an apartment. Don’t make things difficult for him.”

Tang Yashan realized she was right and went off to discuss it with Lu Chongyun.

As it happened, Lu Chongyun had also wanted a wedding. Hearing his suggestion, she readily agreed to follow Yajun’s advice.

The two families soon met. Bride price and dowry were set at the prevailing standards of the time.

The Lu family, having only this one daughter, provided an especially generous dowry.
The Tang family matched them—Tang Linong gave nearly all the savings he and his late wife had put aside, aside from what had already been divided off at Yajun’s marriage.

Almost overnight, Tang Yashan went from penniless to well-off, grinning ear to ear every day.
Not to mention that Yajun, wealthy in her own right, often slipped him extra money.

He was curious where she got it all, but she only said it was from Lu Chongjin. Since the two of them hardly had expenses, she managed it as she pleased.
And since he would never go directly to his brother-in-law to ask, he left it at that.

The wedding date was set. With fewer relatives on the Tang side, both families agreed to hold a joint ceremony at the Lu household.

Many of the Lu family’s relatives traveled from afar, including the Fu family.

Since her last visit, Fu Peirong had missed Chongjin all the more. Now, with this chance to see him again, she begged her parents to bring her along.

The Lu elders also contributed many fine items to Chongyun’s dowry.

Even Lu Zhengang brought things out—but when he went to his hidden storeroom to select a few inconspicuous pieces, he nearly fainted from rage.

All the treasures he had hoarded for years were gone. Worse, the thief had carefully concealed any sign of tampering, so he hadn’t noticed until now.

He had been so cautious—never telling even his wife and children about this cache, deliberately storing it in the Lu household.
Other than the Lus themselves, no one should have been able to enter freely.

For days he secretly watched the family members, suspecting every one of them.

No matter how he puzzled it over, he couldn’t figure out how the items had been taken out from under their noses.

He even tried to test them—everyone swore nothing large had been moved out recently. The only exception was when the Fus had visited, and the Lus sent them off with a few boxes of specialty goods.

Zhengang’s suspicion took root. He decided to use the wedding as his chance to probe the Fus.

At first glance he saw Fu Peirong wearing a jade bracelet—almost identical to one from his cache. Her hairpin too, looked familiar.

Once might be coincidence. Twice, suspicious. But when he spotted the earrings dangling from her ears, he was certain—those were his.

Which meant there was no longer any doubt about who had stolen from his storeroom.

He could not wait another moment. He began making plans on the spot, determined to force the truth from them and reclaim his treasure.