After receiving first-hand intelligence from her younger son, Chou Feiqian immediately stopped her shopping spree at the mall, dragging a completely bewildered Yin Hexiang straight to the Dawu City Civil Affairs Bureau.

However, despite their rush, the two of them were ultimately a step too slow.

By the time they finally made it through the heavy traffic and arrived at the Dawu City Civil Affairs Bureau, Yin Yan, under Yin Le's 'you're a madman' gaze, had already taken Yu Zhen to Dawu City's only relatively high-end and classy jewelry store to buy wedding rings.

Regarding Yin Yan's insistence on buying a "contractual token," Yu Zhen numbly expressed: 'You're a Great Power, you call the shots. It's all up to you, all up to you.'

To stay alive, he would do anything.

One of them wasn't completely familiar with the environment of this world, and the other didn't care about the marriage, so the process of choosing the rings was very simple and swift.

"Please give me the pair of rings in your store with the strongest contractual meaning. Men's rings, thank you."

Yin Yan spoke with immense dominance. The clerk's eyes lit up upon hearing him. They sized up his attire, and quickly pegged him as someone with 'too much money to burn.' Twisting around, they brought out the store's crown jewel.

"These are custom rings our boss transferred from the main store in F Country. There's only one pair in the entire world. They not only uphold our brand's tradition of 'only one custom piece per lifetime,' but also feature the designer's original interlocking clasp design. Once put on, no one but the partner can take them off."

Of course, if one really wanted to, they could be taken off, but with rings, it's all about the symbolic meaning. No need to sweat the details!

Yin Yan looked at the diamond rings, which shone brilliantly under the light. He wasn't very satisfied with their cheap main material, diamond, but was very pleased with their symbolic meaning. Combining the two factors, he turned to look at Yu Zhen and asked, "How about these?"

Yu Zhen was already stunned senseless by the rings' price and couldn't react.

"These then, wrap them up."

Yin Yan gave the order and reached for his pocket, but suddenly stopped mid-motion. He lowered his gaze silently for two seconds, then turned to Yu Zhen again and said, "These rings, you will buy them."

"???"

Yu Zhen started cleaning out his ears, suspecting he had just misheard something.

Yin Le, who was standing two steps behind them pretending to admire the scenery, whipped his head around to look at his big brother upon hearing this, his face a picture of utter disbelief and existential crisis.

'Big Brother must be crazy! Forcing the marriage is one thing, but since Brother Yu has already agreed, he should at least try to be nice to him! But what the hell is this situation now?'

'You're the one who wanted to buy the rings, you're the one who picked them out, and after everything's been chosen, you turn around and make Brother Yu, who obviously doesn't have that much money, pay? Is that something a human would do?'

'I never realized Big Brother was so stingy before. When he was chasing Han Ya, wasn't he quite gener—holy crap! Don't tell me Big Brother's personality got twisted from chasing Han Ya, and now he plans to make Brother Yu pay for all of Han Ya's misdeeds?'

'But Brother Yu is innocent!'

"Brother!"

Yin Le yelled, decisively inserting himself into their conversation before Yu Zhen could speak. He darted forward, deftly plucked the wallet from Yin Yan's pocket, opened it, pulled out a card, and handed it to the clerk, saying, "Swipe this, use this to pay."

The clerk suppressed their excitement about the big sale and reached out with both hands to take the card, but was intercepted by Yin Yan.

"You can't use this one."

Yin Yan grabbed Yin Le's hand, turned to the clerk to apologize, and then took the card from Yin Le's hand. He stood up, bent down to take Yu Zhen by the hand, and gestured for him to go outside with him.

Without a second word, Yu Zhen immediately stood up and followed him out, paying no mind to his held hand—the price of the rings was too terrifying, he couldn't afford it. Leaving was the best course of action.

The two walked hand in hand out of the store. Before Yin Le and Weng Xiping could follow, Yin Yan explained in a low voice, "The contractual tokens must come from our own hands. My situation is special, so the tokens must be purchased by you."

Marriage binds the futures and destinies of both partners. The original Yin Yan was dead, and the future and destiny represented by this identity would now be written by the current Yin Yan. Therefore, his marriage contract with Yu Zhen was acknowledged and validated by the Heavenly Dao.

But for something like a contractual token, if one wanted to pursue purity and achieve the level of perfection Yin Yan required, it could not be tainted by anything connected to the previous Yin Yan, such as—money.

In short, the wedding rings could only be bought by Yu Zhen.

Although his soul was incomplete, from beginning to end, his body was his own, and the money was also what he had painstakingly earned and saved by growing and selling flowers; it belonged completely to him.

Yu Zhen instantly understood his meaning, so he: "..."

As a newcomer to society who had graduated less than a year ago, Yu Zhen's savings were rather pathetic.

Actually, they wouldn't have been so pathetic, but during this period, he had to organize a funeral and go to the hospital for check-ups. He also transferred his flower seedlings at a low price. Because it wasn't a normal lease termination, he lost his rental deposit and the nursery deposit. After all that messy business, his savings balance wasn't looking so good.

"Um... can we buy the rings later?" Yu Zhen asked in a slightly awkward and embarrassed whisper.

Yin Yan looked at him quietly, gently shook his head, and said, "Sorry."

A sour, swelling feeling suddenly rose in Yu Zhen's heart. He glanced down at his chest in confusion. Seeing Yin Le and Weng Xiping striding out of the store in his peripheral vision, he quickly pulled his thoughts back, lowered his voice, and asked quickly, "You want to buy rings, is it because they have some other use?"

"A great use." Yin Yan also answered briefly and cooperatively.

Hearing this, Yu Zhen pursed his lips, looked up at him, and nodded in agreement. "Alright then, I'll buy the rings. But I probably can't afford very expensive ones, so don't look down on them."

Under Yu Zhen's guidance, the two entered a national chain gold shop. Yu Zhen found a sales associate, told them his approximate budget, and then chose the most expensive pair of men's rings with the best symbolic meaning that was within his budget.

"These don't have any 'one-of-a-kind' gimmicks, but the design is not bad. Are they okay?"

When the sales associate turned to help another customer, Yu Zhen picked up a pair of simply designed men's rings and asked for Yin Yan's opinion in a low voice.

Yin Yan looked at his unreservedly trusting eyes, and without even glancing at the rings, nodded directly. "Very good, they're perfectly fine."

Rings bought with the conviction of 'giving you everything I can offer' were far better than that previous pair of flashy, expensive stones piled high with all sorts of additional meanings.

Much better, so much better.

That sour, swelling feeling welled up in his heart again, much more distinctly than before. Even his heart started beating a little faster.

Yu Zhen raised a hand to clutch and rub his chest, frowning in confusion.

'What's going on? Is the Soul Loss Disorder manifesting new symptoms?'

Yin Yan noticed his action, put his hands in his pockets, and took a discreet step back, maintaining some distance from him.

The sales associate finished with the other customer and returned. Yu Zhen found that the strange feeling in his chest had come and gone quickly, so he lowered his hand, stood up, called over the associate, and pointed at the pair of men's rings to indicate they could be rung up.

The rings were soon in their possession. The two walked out of the gold shop and stopped by the roadside. Yin Yan took out one of the rings, rubbed it in his hand a couple of times, and bent down to take Yu Zhen's hand.

"Do we have to do it like this? I... I can put it on myself."

Yu Zhen felt it was a bit strange and timidly tried to pull his hand back.

Yin Yan looked up at him, his expression still calm, but he held onto his hand without yielding an inch.

'Perhaps it's another necessary ritual to fool the Heavenly Dao.'

Yu Zhen convinced himself, suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, and offered his hand toward him.

Yin Yan lowered his eyes, held his hand, and gently slipped the ring onto his finger. He gave it a slight squeeze before letting go, then held out his own hand in front of him, along with the other ring.

"..."

Bracing himself, Yu Zhen took the ring. With slightly trembling hands, he lifted that beautiful hand he had once mistaken for a ghost's claw. His heart inexplicably beat a little faster. He singled out the ring finger and quickly slipped the ring on.

The instant the ring was on, Yin Yan suddenly took a large step back and stuffed his hand into his overcoat pocket.

Yu Zhen's hand was suddenly empty, and his chaotic heartbeat quickly calmed down. He looked up at him, a bit dazed, and asked foolishly, "Why did you step back?"

'Disdain.'

Yin Yan didn't answer his question. Instead, he turned to look at the roadside and said, "Someone is peeking."

Yu Zhen followed his line of sight and came face to face with a pair of eyes that seemed to gleam like a wolf's. He couldn't help but take a step back as well.

'When did this car get here? It's parked illegally, peeking through a half-open window. A pervert?'

Seeing that she had been discovered, Chou Feiqian's eyebrow twitched. She quickly rolled up the window and retracted her gaze, straightened her hair and clothes, then kicked her husband, who was still in a daze beside her. Picking up her handbag, she got out of the car, striving for an elegant exit.

Yin Le, who had been waiting on the side and witnessing the evil drama of Yin Yan 'abducting a common man and then extorting his property,' saw his mom as if she were his savior. He immediately ran forward, hugged her arm, and loudly accused, "Mom! Big Brother isn't human!"

Hearing this, Yu Zhen shuddered in disbelief—this peeping 'pervert' was actually Yin Yan's mom? No, she was the mother of the 'victim' whose body 'Yin Yan' had stolen?

'It's over. I just helped a villain do evil, marrying a 'robber' who used her son's household registration and ID card. This, this...'

"You're here."

Yin Yan, however, was very calm. He took a step forward to greet Chou Feiqian, then walked to Yu Zhen's side, took his hand, and calmly introduced him, "Mother, this is my legal partner, Yu Zhen. We're already married. I hope we have your blessing."

Chou Feiqian's bellyful of 'official-speak' and Yin Le's bellyful of accusations were all stopped in their tracks by his righteous and calm face. One of them fell silent while the other was mentally spamming comments. The atmosphere became strangely quiet.

No one spoke. Still no one spoke. And still, no one spoke.

...

Yu Zhen, who was timid and not the sharpest tool in the shed by nature, found his thoughts short-circuiting again due to this sudden situation. He tightened his grip on the 'robber's' hand, drawing a little warmth from him. Suddenly, he let go, took a step forward, bowed ninety degrees to Chou Feiqian, and apologized solemnly, "Auntie, I'm sorry!"

'I'm terribly sorry for occupying your son's body and his marriage destiny.'

Chou Feiqian suddenly tightened her grip on Yin Le's arm, her face serious, her eyes filled with confusion.

'What's going on? She hadn't come here to play the role of the evil mother-in-law. This situation now... Could it be that she had the face of an evil mother-in-law and had scared this little florist?'