ALSACW – Chapter 58

“How did you and Xiao Yun meet?”

Downstairs, Chu Yuexi took a sip of tea and asked softly.

Ever since he saw Yun Chuji driving Tang Jianxi’s car outside the Imperial Library, he had a faint inkling about their relationship—he didn’t know how deep it was, but they certainly weren’t strangers.

Tang Jianxi wouldn’t let a mere acquaintance drive her favorite car.

Especially not an alpha.

He just hadn’t expected Tang Jianxi to bring her home so soon. Chu Yuexi wasn’t one to discuss important matters over the comms, so he had planned to have a good talk with his daughter when she came home.

Tang Jianxi looked at her father with a complicated expression.

If you hadn’t mentioned her to me a couple of times, saying she had good character and high talent, I wouldn’t have even met her, she thought.

Even if the second young lady of the Tang family needed to find an alpha with a clean background to use as a tool, she didn’t necessarily have to choose Yun Chuji. After all, she was a student, her personality still developing, prone to impulsiveness.

If it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t find a suitable candidate with a high enough pheromone compatibility, Tang Jianxi wouldn’t have randomly thought of this person. As it turned out, their pheromone compatibility was surprisingly high, and her personality seemed decent enough, sufficiently calm. That was what ultimately led to her and Yun Chuji entering that hotel.

And that led to everything that followed.

Of course, Tang Jianxi wouldn’t dare let Chu Yuexi know the truth. She knew her parents wanted her to settle down soon, and if she told him that her relationship with Yun Chuji originated from a transaction and a conspiracy, it would surely damage the current relationship between Yun Chuji and him.

The person responsible was already gone, and Tang Jianxi had no intention of pursuing the matter further.

Tang Jianxi threw out the simplest answer: “It was love at first sight.”

Chu Yuexi was an open-minded parent. Perhaps because he had seen too many monsters and demons in high society growing up, he had spontaneously distanced himself from that world of fame and fortune as an adult, dedicating himself to the dusty archives of history. He didn’t place much importance on material things. For the first person his daughter had ever brought home, Chu Yuexi only cared about one thing.

“Are you serious about it?”

Tang Jianxi nodded as a matter of course. She had tried to escape it, to ignore it, but in the end, she couldn’t deny that this soul from thousands of years ago held an incomparable attraction for her. She thought that perhaps, to some extent, she had inherited her parents’ love for antiques.

Even if this antique was a soul.

“I think she’s the one.”

Chu Yuexi raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly. “That’s quite rare. I thought you were going to be alone for the rest of your life.”

Faced with her father’s overly direct concern, Tang Jianxi didn’t know what to say. She could only take out the vase her mother had instructed her to bring and use it to shut her father’s mouth.

When Tang Ji came downstairs, she was pleased to see Chu Yuexi seriously admiring the vase she had spent a fortune on. She thought to herself that this was now her home turf.

But then Chu Yuexi saw the two of them, beckoned, and said, “Xiao Yun, take a look at this vase. Is it from the Great Liang Dynasty?”

Tang Ji scoffed. “How would she know about that?”

To make it in the world of antiques, both discernment and knowledge were indispensable, and both required time to accumulate. It wasn’t something a fledgling alpha like Yun Chuji could understand just by reading a few books.

What Tang Ji didn’t know, however, was that when it came to the Great Liang Dynasty, Yun Chuji truly did know.

Yun Chuji carefully examined the patterns on the vase and concluded, “This is not from the Great Liang Dynasty.”

“The patterns on it are in a style favored by the Wei Dynasty. The ancestors of the Great Liang imperial family died due to the exploitation and slander of the Wei royal family. Since the reign of Emperor Taizu of Liang, the circulation of Wei Dynasty paintings and curios has been banned among the populace. The entire Wei royal family and nobility were demoted to commoners. The Wei style vanished completely within five years of the Great Liang’s founding.”

The reason Yun Chuji knew this so clearly was because Qingling County was located within the former territory of the Wei Dynasty. Most people in Qingling County could say a thing or two about this piece of history from the previous dynasty.

Chu Yuexi looked at the patterns for a while, lost in thought. The scholar’s mind quickly took over, and he heedlessly opened his comms to start researching.

Tang Ji didn’t understand this history, but she was quite knowledgeable about porcelain firing techniques. She frowned and retorted, “This vase has a faint bluish-green hue on its surface, which is due to the limitations of the firing process at the time, making it impossible to remove the iron from the clay body. This type of ceramic was only popular over two thousand three hundred years ago.”

At this point, Tang Jianxi, who loved to find fault, raised her own question: “Two thousand three hundred years ago could also be the Wei Dynasty, right? It’s not necessarily from the Great Liang.”

Stabbed in the back by her own precious daughter, Tang Ji suddenly understood why her father-in-law had been so hostile towards her back then. She now felt like being just as hostile towards Yun Chuji.

My wonderful daughter!

But Tang Ji naturally had more than just this one piece of evidence. She was about to elaborate further when Tang Jianshen, who had appeared at some point, suddenly spoke up: “Don’t you people have machines?”

Tang Ji had a bad feeling. Sure enough, after saying this, Tang Jianshen took a small black ring from his pocket and pointed it at the vase.

“Let’s test the age of the dye on it.”

“One thousand one hundred and fifty-three years ago.”

“Mm, it’s a fake.” Tang Jianshen ended the dispute with an air of nonchalance.

Then he handed the small ring to Tang Ji. His intention was kind, but his expression could only be read as mocking. “This is for you, Mother. Don’t get scammed next time.”

Tang Ji didn’t know what to say, only that she routinely suspected Tang Jianshen was just impatient to inherit the Tang Group.

Ms. Tang was a seasoned veteran, not an alpha who could be defeated by such a small setback. She resolutely turned her head to Chu Yuexi, who was still researching, and said, “Wife, let’s eat.”

She didn’t know what was wrong with her parenting methods. Why were both her little sweethearts so eager to let the wind in? Weren’t omega children supposed to be the most well-behaved?

Tang Ji was eager to escape the scene of her humiliation and was determined to make the antique dealer who had cheated her pay the price. Yun Chuji naturally sensed Tang Ji’s current awkwardness, but she was extremely intrigued by the magical device that could measure age, which Tang Ji had deliberately ignored.

So she quietly approached Tang Jianxi and whispered, “What is that?”

Tang Jianxi whispered back, “Because Mom often gets scammed by antique dealers, Tang Jianshen specially made that anti-scam device. It’s much better than the age-testing machines sold on the market, and it can even test living organisms.”

“Wow—”

“Do you like it? If you do, I have one too. I’ll give it to you to play with later.”

“Something so precious, I’ll just borrow it for a bit.”

“It’s not that precious. Tang Jianshen filled the house with them back then. My mom even destroyed a lot of them.”

Tang Ji’s steps faltered slightly.

She was a bit conflicted. Should she tell these two that as an S-rank alpha, her hearing was superb?

Or should she tell them that when it comes to pleasing one’s wife, the authenticity of an antique isn’t important? What matters is the historical knowledge and stories it brings, so she wasn’t really that much of a sucker?

Tang Ji took Chu Yuexi’s hand and slowly strolled towards the dining room.

Forget it, let them talk.

I’m magnanimous—Xiao Yuexi can’t hear them anyway.

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The Tang family’s dining table was the most down-to-earth one Yun Chuji had seen since coming to this era. At the very least, its wooden material added a considerable sense of warmth.

Compared to the dining table in Tang Jianxi’s home, from which dishes would occasionally emerge, and the one in her own home, from which utensils would appear, the Tang family’s dining table produced nothing. It was simple and unadorned, though it did require a bit of work from the AI robots.

This feeling of being served brought back long-forgotten memories of her days as a young lady in her boudoir. When the AI delivered the final dessert, both Chu Yuexi and Tang Ji were secretly astonished by Yun Chuji’s etiquette. In their impression, only nobles from extremely ancient lineages would have such strict standards of deportment.

Especially Tang Ji. She now found this young alpha increasingly unfathomable. Both her mind and her actions were difficult to comprehend, rendering the sharp eyes she had honed through a lifetime of experience utterly useless.

Then she relaxed. An alpha like this, if she were her own child, would need to be taught a good lesson. But as her son-in-law, she was a perfect match for her daughter.

The Tang family observed the rule of not speaking during meals. The dinner passed without incident. After the meal, it was supposed to be family activity time. However, due to work, Tang Ji needed to return to A-District early. Coupled with the fact that her two little sweethearts had been so eager to cause trouble, she felt it was not a good day for much conversation. So, she decided to follow her heart and accompany her wife.

Tang Jianshen had no objections. He wiped his mouth and went back to work.

Tang Jianxi, on the other hand, took Yun Chuji back to her room, fiddling with something or other.

Watching the two young people go upstairs together, Chu Yuexi looked up at his alpha and said, “The two of them are a good match.”

This time, Tang Ji didn’t argue. She only said, “We’ll see.”

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After Tang Jianxi gave Yun Chuji the detector, Yun Chuji mysteriously requested a guest room. When Tang Jianxi asked what she was going to do, she was vague, saying it was nothing important.

After waiting in her own room for over half an hour, Tang Jianxi couldn’t sit still any longer.

She had always respected others’ privacy, but she had also always made exceptions for Yun Chuji.

Just a peek, to see what she’s doing.

What could she be doing? In such a hurry.

She had even refused her offer to go play in the snow nearby.

Facing the guest room door, Tang Jianxi hesitated.

Because it wasn’t very high-tech, it was a very easy door to open.

Tang Jianxi hesitated for five minutes before finally pressing the handle.

As expected, Yun Chuji didn’t have the habit of locking doors from the inside.

And then, she saw a naked Yun Chuji.

She was holding that small black ring, testing every single corner of her body with it.

Her expression was utterly dejected, probably because the ring kept repeating, “Biological entity detected, approximately 21 years of age.”

Tang Jianxi quietly closed the half-opened door.

She leaned her back against the wall and took a deep breath.

She had always thought that this was a much better world compared to Yun Chuji’s original era. Moreover, she was an alpha, which made it even better for her.

But Tang Jianxi couldn’t deceive herself. In that fleeting glimpse just now, she had clearly seen a loneliness on that usually gentle and serene face, a loneliness so thick it was impossible to ignore.

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