Chapter 274

Chapter 274: Discussing the Wedding When Chu Tang and Jiang Shixu returned to the Ruan family home, Mrs. Jiang, Lin Yueying, was already seated on the sofa in the Ruan family's living room, waiting for them. The moment she saw Chu Tang, Lin Yueying couldn't suppress the smile tugging at her lips. Lin Yueying warmly took Chu Tang's hand, beaming with joy. "Tangtang, from now on, you should start calling me Mom." Chu Tang smiled sweetly and obediently called out, "Mom." Lin Yueying's smile stretched from ear to ear. "There we go." With their children getting married, both sets of parents were overjoyed. Lin Yueying said with a smile, "I had a master pick an auspicious date before I came over. The day after tomorrow is a lucky day, perfect for marriage. Why don't we have them go get their marriage certificate first?" Yang Xuelian looked at Ruan Shaodong. Ruan Shaodong looked at Chu Tang. "Tangtang, do you want to get married first or get the certificate first?" A smile rippled across Chu Tang's lips. "Let's get the certificate first." Ruan Shaodong had no objections and said gently, "Alright then, we'll do it your way." Hearing this, Chu Tang looked at Jiang Shixu, and coincidentally, Jiang Shixu was also looking at her. Their gazes met in the air, and they exchanged a smile. As for the wedding, Lin Yueying first asked Chu Tang, "Tangtang, where do you want to hold the wedding?" In fact, back when Chu Tang and Jiang Shixu got engaged last year, she had already envisioned her future wedding. She wanted to hold it at a lakeside villa where her mother used to take her often. That villa sat at the foot of a mountain, nestled between the mountain and the water, with beautiful scenery. Most importantly, it held many memories of her and her mother. Holding the wedding there would mean her mother, looking down from heaven, would see her marrying happily—and she would be delighted too. Thinking of her mother, a flicker of emotion passed through Chu Tang's eyes as she replied, "I want to hold it at Moonlit Lake." When Ruan Shaodong heard "Moonlit Lake," his gaze trembled slightly. Yang Xuelian knew what Moonlit Lake meant to Chu Tang. She felt not a trace of displeasure and only said with a smile, "Moonlit Lake is a great choice. It's far from the city's hustle and bustle, very peaceful, and picturesque all year round. It's perfect for a wedding." Chu Tang looked at Ruan Shaodong. Ruan Shaodong nodded. "That works." When Su Qingyun was alive, she had been close to Lin Yueying. Lin Yueying also knew that the Ruan family owned a villa near Moonlit Lake, and Su Qingyun had even invited her there before. Lin Yueying said, "I think Moonlit Lake is a wonderful place too. Let's hold the wedding there. Tomorrow, I'll bring the wedding planning team to check out the venue." Yang Xuelian said with a smile, "I'll come along too." Lin Yueying smiled and said, "Tangtang, you should come with us as well." Chu Tang nodded and said with a smile, "Alright." Chu Tang had many more ideas about the wedding, and she chatted animatedly with Lin Yueying and Yang Xuelian. Jiang Shixu deferred to Chu Tang on everything. The three women went back and forth, covering everything from the wedding venue, gown, hairstyle, and schedule to the guest list. Jiang Shixu and Ruan Shaodong couldn't get a word in edgewise. Ruan Shaodong glanced at Jiang Shixu. "Shixu, come with me." Jiang Shixu followed Ruan Shaodong to the tea room. Ruan Shaodong sat in a golden nanmu chair, fiddling with his blue-and-white porcelain tea set, brewing tea at a leisurely pace. "Sit," Ruan Shaodong said. Jiang Shixu sat down across from Ruan Shaodong. Ruan Shaodong didn't put on airs as an elder in front of Jiang Shixu. He loved tea and had excellent brewing skills. Ruan Shaodong poured Jiang Shixu a cup. "Try it." Jiang Shixu picked up the teacup and took a sip. Ruan Shaodong's gaze was calm and steady. "Do you remember four years ago, in this very tea room, when you came to me to propose a marriage alliance?" Jiang Shixu joined Ruan Shaodong in reminiscing. Four years ago, Chu Tang had just graduated from university. He couldn't wait to marry her and had personally come to her home to ask for her hand, requesting that Ruan Shaodong give him his daughter's hand in marriage. It was in this tea room that he and Ruan Shaodong had talked for an entire afternoon. In the end, Ruan Shaodong agreed to let him marry Chu Tang. But he never imagined that Chu Tang would resist marrying him so fiercely, even going so far as to fall out with her family and leave alone for Haicheng. On the day she refused the marriage alliance and ran away from home, he had nearly lost control and chased after her. In the end, he still let her go. Letting her go wasn't giving up on her. It was giving her time to calm down, to think clearly about what she truly wanted, so that she would return to him willingly. When Chu Tang first arrived in Haicheng, Ruan Shaodong had cut off all her cards. She was alone in an unfamiliar city, with no one to turn to, finding her own place to live and her own job. During the year Chu Tang worked as a trainee lawyer, her monthly salary was only four thousand yuan. His heart ached unbearably. He had gone to Zhou Xueluo and Chen Yuanyuan many times, transferring them money and asking them to help support Chu Tang. Back then, Chu Tang was nursing her anger—angry at Ruan Shaodong for remarrying, and angry at him for making decisions on her behalf and forcing her into a marriage alliance. So at the time, she must have been dead set on cutting ties with Ruan Shaodong. She knew that once she severed ties with Ruan Shaodong, she would no longer be the young miss of the Ruan family, and she would no longer be in the same social class as her former friends. If she accepted other people's money, she would have to pay it back someday. But with her salary at that time, the money he had initially given would have taken her years of scrimping and saving to repay. So she didn't accept the large transfers, only the small ones that matched her salary at the time, and she paid those back later. She would rather live a harder, more tiring life than accept the "sugar daddy" arrangements from Chen Yuanyuan and Zhou Xueluo. He had actually been to Haicheng many times, each time only watching her from a distance, not daring to go up and greet her, afraid of startling her, afraid of being hated by her. After all, she had come to Haicheng to escape the arranged marriage. Later, Chu Tang started dating. He remembered the night he first found out—he was so jealous he wanted to strangle that man named Gu Zechuan. What did that man have to deserve her? He wasn't as handsome as him, nor as capable or outstanding, and more importantly, that man changed women like changing clothes—a frivolous playboy who was already tainted. He simply didn't deserve Tangtang. He had people investigate Gu Zechuan. He learned that Gu Zechuan had a beloved White Moonlight named Chen Wan. What disgusted him was that Gu Zechuan's previous girlfriends all bore some resemblance to Chen Wan, and coincidentally, Chu Tang also looked somewhat like Chen Wan—though of course, Chu Tang was far more beautiful. Gu Zechuan actually dared to treat the girl he loved as someone else's substitute. He could have easily set a trap for Gu Zechuan. With his status as the young master of Jiangcheng, countless people in Haicheng were eager to curry favor with him. He only needed to drop a subtle hint, and someone would do the work for him. Whenever Gu Zechuan went out to socialize and have fun, there was always someone sending women to him—every single one of them with hot figures and beautiful faces. Gu Zechuan was naturally a womanizing playboy who never refused. Gu Zechuan slept with those women, pestered again and again, and had no energy left to cling to Chu Tang. Later, someone secretly sent Chu Tang photos and news of Gu Zechuan's infidelity, but Chu Tang chose to turn a blind eye. From that point on, sometimes when Gu Zechuan wanted to kiss Chu Tang, she wouldn't let him anymore. The string of problems with Gu Group's projects that eventually led to the funding chain breaking—that was also his doing. Even Chen Wan's return to the country had something to do with him.