The journey to pay respects went smoothly. Tong Zhao hadn't been back to Baisha for over two years, and looking at the somewhat familiar streets, he felt a pang of sadness.
Shan Song stared at his expression for a while: "I'll bring you here often in the future."
Tong Zhao was staring blankly at the site where a small restaurant had been converted into an arcade. Hearing this, he turned his head and his eyes squinted: "Okay, I'll show you the place where I grew up later."
Today, due to time constraints, he only had time to sweep the graves. Tong Zhao refused Shan Song's suggestion to go back and check on the neighbors. After all, they had come out without the Qin family's knowledge. Although he trusted the neighbors, there was no guarantee that someone might be caught by the Qin family unintentionally. It was better to be cautious.
Shan Song said, "I've asked the Qi family to look after my grandmother's neighbors, so there's no need to worry."
Tong Zhao gave him a grateful look and nodded.
Looking at Tong Zhao's bewildered eyes, Shan Song added, "The Qi family is quite special among the six major families. They have close ties with both the military and political circles, rarely cooperate with others, and few people would be their enemies. Although they can't openly support us, you can rest assured that these small matters can be entrusted to them."
"I'll take you to see the Qi family sometime in the future. The head of the Qi family, who is also Qi Changzhou's mother, is a very powerful omega. She helped you back then, and she will also be very helpful in dealing with Zhou Muyuan."
Dan Song seemed to have thought of something, raised an eyebrow, and said jokingly, "So don't worry about troubling me. I have no connection with the Zhou and Qin families, nor with the Geng family. I'm not isolated and helpless. I should be a bit more powerful than the small boss you thought I was."
Tong Zhao turned her head away, feeling a little embarrassed that she had been seen through. How could this person be so sure that she hadn't told him about the marriage alliance before because she was afraid of bothering him?
Shan Song stopped teasing him and instead said, "The plane will be flying for about 10 hours first, so you can take a nap and rest. When you arrive, you can take your favorite cruise ship."
"Um."
...
When Yuan Yamin was designing their wedding, he hadn't broken up with Shan Zhen yet. At the time, Shan Zhen, who was still a student, spent a fortune to buy this secluded and isolated island in the Pacific Ocean near the Caribbean Sea.
Thanks to years of careful maintenance, the island has completely transformed from the desolate place it was when it was first acquired.
The island is covered with abundant and dense vegetation, including jungles and shrubs, and is surrounded by a shallow lagoon on the south side, which occupies less than one-fifth of the island's area.
The eastern white sand beach is calm and clear, with three ports on the north and south sides. The cliffs on the west side offer panoramic views of the coastline, and in the distance, the historical sites of another isolated island can be faintly seen.
When the two arrived, it should have been almost 10 p.m. according to domestic time, but the sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the shimmering waves of the sea. Sitting on the cruise ship felt like being in a light blue fairytale dream, as if they could discover a stranded mermaid on the rocks at the shore at any moment, thus beginning a romantic and magical journey.
This idyllic scene, like a paradise on earth, made Tong Zhao's curiosity seem to overflow like tiny stars, and Shan Song couldn't help but feel a stirring in his heart when he saw him like this.
He wasn't the type to make promises before achieving his goals, but whenever he faced Tong Zhao, he seemed like a scoundrel making empty promises, or a decadent and tyrannical emperor spouting nonsense. He heard his own voice say, "I'll build you a yacht to play with later."
The little omega didn't show the expected look of surprise. Instead, she pursed her lips and looked at him with a conflicted yet slightly reproachful gaze. Then, that slight reproach turned into a complex look that resembled compromise.
"Isn't this little money-grubber really into yachts?" Shan Song leaned closer, a little puzzled, and just then overheard Tong Zhao muttering, "So what if he's a bit of a spendthrift? He's got money anyway. I'll just get more roles in the future..."
"..."
With a large, sweeping hand, Tong Zhao was pulled over. Due to the force of the movement, Tong Zhao was spun around on the spot, looking at the tall Alpha in front of him with a bit of confusion.
Shan Song bent down to look him in the eye, his eyes brimming with laughter: "The responsibility of supporting the family doesn't fall on your shoulders yet, at least not now, you little penniless wretch."
"..."
"Let's go. Those guys who're keeping an eye on us are probably here by now. Let's go take a stroll in front of them."
"oh."
Under the watchful eyes of the two families, Shan Song and Tong Zhao rehearsed twice, sometimes for three days and sometimes for two, and then simply took a break, enjoying the rare and undisturbed time amidst the island scenery.
Aside from the Qin family sending people twice to remind Tong Zhao not to dawdle and to implement the plan as soon as possible, which was extremely annoying, Tong Zhao was also reminded twice.
Tong Zhao wondered if Qin Siyuan had thought of this, which was why he gave him the medicine so early, hoping that he would take advantage of the situation and try to win over Dan Song during their time alone together these next few days.
But is it something to be proud of to be marked before an unmarried omega's wedding and then discovered?
According to Shan Song, Qin Siyuan is someone who cares so much about the interests of the Qin family, so how could he possibly use this method to slap the Qin family in the face?
Even if they were to resort to any means necessary, such as drugging him, they should at least lock him up behind closed doors and lock him and Shan Song together.
To be honest, he felt something was off from the very beginning.
Didn't they consider the possibility that Shan Song might not fall for their tactics and might later renege on their promises? Wouldn't all their previous "strategy progress" have been wasted? This approach would be difficult to use a second time, unless—
Tong Zhao held the vial of medicine, frowning in deep thought: "Is this medicine really that effective? Can it work in just one dose?"
"What can hit the target?" Shan Song asked from behind him.
Tong Zhao spread out his palm: "Some kind of illegal drug, given to me by Qin Siyuan before."
Dan Song frowned and took it to look at it.
"Qin Siyuan said he wants to see me marked by you after we get married, and he's reminded me several times. Aren't they being a little too hasty?" Tong Zhao said.
"It's a bit out of character for him."
Tong Zhao tensed up: "Did he discover something?"
Dan Song remained silent for a while, then carefully examined the reagents and medicine before pouring them all into the sea, leaving only the outer shells in his hand: "It's probably not that serious; it's likely just a test."
"Should we do as he says?"
Shan Song nodded and gave him a deep look: "After the wedding."
Tong Zhao pondered for a moment: "Is Qin Siyuan trying to turn you against him, to get you to help the Qin family deal with the Zhou family? If you like me, that's fine. If you don't, he can use this to test your attitude towards the Qin family, to find out if you can be a partner. Is that why he had me monitor you?"
"Yeah, that's basically it. The other thing is to see if I'm just pretending to be weak to take advantage of others, or if I really am just a pig."
"You're not a pig."
Dan Song's complicated gaze fell on Tong Zhao's solemn face: "...There's no need to argue about such an indisputable issue so seriously."
"Don't tell lame jokes at times like this," Tong Zhao said seriously.
"Heh~" Shan Song chuckled.
"What are you thinking? It seems to me that you're unwilling to cooperate with the Qin family?"
"Well, the Shan and Qi families are enough to deal with Zhou Muyuan. There's no need to let the Qin family get a share. Besides, if we cooperate with the Qin family, they'll definitely take the lion's share. Letting them get involved would guarantee our victory, but it would complicate things and wouldn't be good for us. We might not only be unable to extricate ourselves, but we'd also have to spend our energy dealing with the Qin family. It would be a losing proposition."
"Oh." Tong Zhao thought for a moment, then asked, "So what do we do now?"
"If I had any sense, I wouldn't let people discover that the Qin family's omega was marked at the wedding, making both families lose face and be trampled on. Unless I'm really an idiot, but such behavior is too suspicious."
"So after the wedding, we'll mark the location, then show our refusal, and the Qin family will naturally observe and see how things go."
Even after Shan Song finished speaking, his brows remained furrowed.
"What's wrong?" Tong Zhao asked.
"Qin Siyuan may also be testing you."
Tong Zhao asked, "Does he suspect that I've been turned by you? We haven't done anything recently that would make him suspicious, have we?"
"Not necessarily, maybe it's just a test."
After pondering for a long time, Shan Song said, "Just in case, let's agree on our story. You gave me the drug on the last night of the wedding banquet. Although I marked you, I was very dissatisfied with the matter afterwards and left without a word. If the Qin family asks about it in the future, you can say that the reason we were intimate a few days ago was because you and I reached a cooperation agreement. You pretended to be affectionate with me to disgust Zhou Muyuan, and you concealed this situation in order to deal with the Qin family's mission."
"Now that you've been marked, the Qin family won't make things too difficult for you, but you'll definitely get a scolding. Can you handle that?" Shan Song asked.
Tong Zhao nodded firmly: "Yes, that's fine."
Shan Song patted his head: "After we get ashore, I'll find an excuse to leave. Since I'm not here, the Qin family can't force you to go looking for me. Just bear with it for a few more days, and we'll go home after the wedding."
"Um."
After gazing at each other for a moment, they smiled slightly, the serious atmosphere dissipating and replaced by a near-synchronous heartbeat.
"Oh, right, let me show you beforehand." Shan Song took out a vintage velvet box from his pocket.
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