Chapter 90 Silver Anklet

Cheng Ying and Long Buxi got engaged, and the engagement went very smoothly.

Cheng Ying felt very uneasy even after arriving safely.

Since Wei Muchen hadn't shown up, given his erratic personality, if she called the police to arrest him and detain him for a while, he should have been furious, run away from the police station, ruin her engagement party, and come looking for her to settle scores.

But after she got engaged to Long Buxi, several days passed and Wei Muchen remained quiet, never appearing in front of her again.

I don't know if he's still locked up in the police station or staying in the guesthouse, planning to take revenge on her.

Not wanting to be in a passive position, Cheng Ying went to the town's police station to inquire about Wei Muchen's situation.

The town's police told her that Wei Mucheng had been staying in the police station for the past few days, refusing any mediation or confession, and his attitude was extremely passive and resistant. According to the current law, he would be detained for a maximum of fifteen days before being released.

But Wei Mucheng was a soldier, and an officer at that. He said there was a misunderstanding. If the military had been in contact with him, he could have left whenever he wanted.

Cheng Ying went home in silence. She didn't know why Wei Mu was acting so unusually, not making a fuss and obediently accepting his imprisonment.

But she knew this man's personality; if things were unusual, there was something fishy going on. If he didn't come out, who knew what mischief he was up to.

Feeling extremely frustrated, he kept reminding Wan Shuhui and her husband, Cheng Xue, Sun Qinghui, and others to be careful and guard against Wei Muchen's sudden attack.

To protect her family's safety, she stopped taking Dahuang with her when she ran errands, leaving Dahuang with Cheng Jiantong and his wife to protect them.

At the same time, she also asked Long Buxi to plant some Gu worms near the Cheng family. Once Wei Muchen approaches the Cheng family and tries to harm her family, those Gu worms will attack Wei Muchen.

Only after doing all this could she continue delivering mail with peace of mind.

Ten days later, Wei Mucheng was released from the police station. The town's police notified Cheng Ying that Wei Mucheng had left Qingqu Town.

Cheng Ying didn't believe that Wei Muchen would let her off so easily, so she always acted cautiously. Sometimes when she was running errands, she would even bring Long Buxi along with her.

Long Buxi couldn't accompany her on mail runs every day. During this time, he had been collecting herbs and hunting in the deep mountains and forests near Pucang Village to earn money for her dowry.

Meanwhile, the old patriarch of Pucang Village's health deteriorated rapidly, and Sailan became insane. Pucang Village needed him, the future patriarch, to handle the old patriarch's affairs, so his free time became increasingly scarce, and he could only send his Gu worms to run errands for her.

Soon, Long Buxi gathered five hundred yuan for Cheng Ying's betrothal gifts and handed it to her, instructing her to buy the "three turns and one sound" betrothal gifts that the Han people refer to. At the same time, he gave her a large, square wooden box, saying it was her betrothal gift.

When Cheng Ying opened the box, it was full of various silver jewelry, such as bracelets, anklets, necklaces, chokers, pendants, headdresses, etc. The box was packed full, and there were probably hundreds of pieces of jewelry alone.

Among these silver ornaments are many large pieces that are worn as a single piece on the chest, head, or neck, as well as Miao costumes made entirely of silver. The sheer number of items and their exquisite craftsmanship clearly indicate that they are very valuable.

Cheng Ying was stunned. "These are all for me?"

Long Buxi nodded, "These are silver ornaments that my mother left me, saying that I should use them when I get married. Half of them were hers, but I didn't use them, so I'm giving them all to you."

Cheng Ying casually picked up a Miao costume made entirely of silver from the box, held it in her hands to examine the patterns: "What a beautiful dress! You've given me so many things, aren't you going to keep some for yourself?"

Long Buxi said, "I have no use for these. I rarely leave Pucang Village and can't buy much. These silver ornaments are fine with you. You are my fiancée, and everything I own belongs to you. Take them to your home and make your parents happy and proud."

Cheng Ying felt a warmth in her heart. "Aren't you afraid that after I've taken so many things from you, I'll turn around and break off the engagement, not marry you, and run off with another man?"

"I'm not afraid." Long Buxi's dark, narrow eyes gleamed with a distinctly cold light as he looked at her and said, "If you change your mind and betray me, no matter where you run, I will find you, lock you up, and make sure you can never leave me for the rest of your life."

His expression didn't seem like he was joking. Cheng Ying was stunned. In the instant Long Buxi spoke, she vaguely saw the shadow of Wei Muchen saying he would lock her up and make her unable to escape for the rest of her life, which made her feel inexplicably afraid.

Cheng Ying swallowed hard, put down the silver Miao costume in her hand, and said with a smile, "If I really changed my mind, betrayed you, and ran away with another man, you don't have much money, you've never been to a city above the county level, you don't know our Chinese characters, and you don't know the way. How are you going to find me?"

Long Buxi took out a silver anklet from the box, knelt down in front of her, and tied the anklet with two small bells to her right ankle. "If I want to find you, I have plenty of ways. You can't escape my grasp."

"Your solution isn't this anklet, is it?" Cheng Ying looked down at her fair ankle, where a small silver chain with a snake-like pattern was tied around it, with two small bells hanging from it, no bigger than the tip of a chopstick.

She tried to wiggle her ankle, but the bell didn't ring. She then bent down and tried to untie the anklet.

But no matter how she tried to untangle or pry, she couldn't get the anklet off.

The chain seemed to be born from her feet, an integral part of her, impossible to remove.

She felt strange; once she put on that silver chain, it was as if she were bound and locked up by Long Buxi, and could never be untied.

Seeing her movements, Long Buxi calmly stood up and looked her in the eye: "The anklet is indeed one way. Once you are in danger of death, your blood will stain the bell, and the bell will ring, allowing me to find your exact location. This anklet is less a way to find you and more a way to protect you."

"So amazing?" Cheng Ying tried shaking her ankle again, but the bell still didn't ring.

Does the bell really have to be stained with blood to make it ring?

Long Buxi lowered her eyes. "I won't lie to you. The old clan chief is dying. I have to stay in the village to take care of his funeral arrangements and won't be able to accompany you on your mail runs. You must be careful on your mail runs. If you encounter any danger, you can try staining the bell with your blood. I will sense the bell ringing and come to your rescue."

Cheng Ying nodded, "I understand. Actually, the two scorpion worms you raised that you gave me can completely protect me, so I shouldn't need this anklet and bell."

Long Buxi: "It's best if you don't need it. I'll have Gaxu find two people to help you deliver this box of silver jewelry to your house in a bit."

Cheng Ying closed the box. "No need to send it to my house. With so much silver jewelry, if others see it, I don't know how many people will be envious and jealous. Sending it to my house would make it easy for thieves to steal it. It's better to keep it at your house. Anyway, after we get married, I'll be staying at your house from time to time. It's safe to keep the silver jewelry at your house. No one will dare to touch your things."

After thinking for a moment, she added, "Giving it away is fine too. My parents won't ask for a dowry. Giving it away will let those blind people see that the man I'm marrying isn't the poor, pathetic man they think I am. Once my parents have their eye on it and it's given them face, I'll bring this box of silver jewelry back and put it in your stilted house. With your Gu worms guarding it, you can wear whatever you want from now on."

“...Whatever you want,” Long Buxi said.

Cheng Ying laughed, slung her mailbag over her shoulder, waved goodbye to him, and followed the two Miao men who had been found by Ga Suo, who were carrying boxes of silver ornaments, as she turned and left Long Bu Xi's stilted house.

When she reached the entrance of the village, she couldn't help but turn back to look at Long Buxi's stilted house, where he was still standing on the second-floor corridor, gazing at her.

Cheng Ying smiled and waved to him again, loudly saying goodbye and telling him she would be back soon with delicious food before turning away completely.

Unbeknownst to her, the instant she left the village, Long Buxi raised her slender finger and pointed in her direction. A butterfly, almost transparent in wings and half the size of a palm, took flight from Long Buxi's hand and chased after the direction Cheng Ying had left.

A breeze blew by, and Cheng Ying seemed to hear the crisp sound of bells tinkling.

She looked down and saw that the bell on her silver anklet hadn't been moved by the wind. She lifted her foot and tried to shake the bell, but there was no sound.

Did she mishear?

A day and a half later, Cheng Ying returned to Qingshui Village, where two Miao people carried the box of silver ornaments to Cheng's house.

Cheng Ying deliberately had Cheng Xue invite a few gossipy aunties from the village to her house to "view" the box of silver jewelry. She then saw Cheng Xue take out five hundred yuan and stuff it into Wan Shuhui's hand, asking Wan Shuhui to help her prepare a dowry of three turns and one ring.

Within half a day, the news that Cheng Ying's fiancé had spent a fortune on betrothal gifts and dowry for her spread throughout the entire village.

These days, an average person only earns about thirty yuan a month at work, and has to support their entire family's basic needs. By the end of the month, they can only save five or six yuan, and at most, they can save seventy or eighty yuan a year.

People in the countryside rely on farming and exchanging work points for food, so they don't have much money. At the end of the year, a family can only save up fifty yuan at most.

Five hundred yuan would take a family in the countryside more than ten years to save up, assuming no misfortune befalls the family, everyone is safe and sound, and the family doesn't get married or have children.

Long Buxi was able to scrape together 500 yuan in just half a month to buy Cheng Ying a three-wheeled radio and a speaker, which is quite an achievement!

He also gave Cheng Ying a box of silver jewelry. Although silver is not as valuable as gold, a box full of silver jewelry could be sold or exchanged for money for at least two or three thousand yuan.

Long Buxi's giving Cheng Ying so much money and silver jewelry at once undoubtedly gave Cheng Ying a lot of face and also told everyone that he was a man with a family fortune and the ability to make money.

Who wouldn't envy a man who is so handsome, rich, and powerful!

In no time, people flocked to the Cheng family's door to see the commotion, chatted with Wan Shuhui, and praised her eldest daughter for finding a good man. People who wanted to borrow money or take advantage of her came in droves.

Wan Shuhui was overjoyed to have her face restored, and she was so proud of herself that she was all smiles every day. She said that she would not take a single penny from her daughter, nor would she take her daughter's betrothal gifts. The box of silver jewelry would all be given to her daughter as part of her dowry.

I spent 500 yuan on three turntables and a radio; if there's any left over, I'll give it to my daughter.

In addition, she would also take out some money to prepare a dowry for her daughter, give her daughter some private money, etc., mainly because she would not mistreat her daughter.

On the third day, Cheng Ying carried away the box of silver ornaments, and Wan Shuhui left nothing behind.

Those people, finding no benefit in it, finally gave up their ill intentions.