Zhang Meng saw that she looked unwell, so she poured her a cup of sugar water. "Have a sip of sugar water. You look like you didn't sleep well. How can the child in your body handle this?"
Zhu Xiaoqian raised her head in surprise, "You knew I was pregnant?"
Zhang Meng was about to say that she saw her holding her belly yesterday, but before she could finish her words, she suddenly heard her explaining to herself, "By the way, you're a fortune teller, there's nothing you don't know."
Zhang Meng was at a loss for words. "You've misunderstood. I'm a fortune teller, but I'm not omnipotent. I knew you were pregnant because I saw you and Zhang Lihua arguing yesterday, and your hand was on your belly. If a woman is so concerned about her belly, it must be her own flesh and blood. Am I right?"
Zhu Xiaoqian lowered her head to look at her belly, and a smile full of maternal love appeared on her face.
After a while, she suddenly grabbed Zhang Meng's arm with force, her tone pleading, "Comrade Zhang, I know you are very capable. You are the one who is talked about the most in the military region now. They all say that you are a ghost-catching master. I really have no other choice but to ask you to come and help me."
Zhang Meng patted her trembling arms and comforted her, "Don't get excited yet. We can talk slowly if you have anything to say."
Zhu Xiaoqian shed tears and said, "I can't talk about it slowly. My sister will be sent to marry He Bo tomorrow."
Zhang Meng frowned slightly, "What do you mean, He Bo?"
At this time, Zhu Xiaoqian was crying and telling Zhang Meng about her mother's family.
It turned out that Zhu Xiaoqian's parents' home was in a small village more than 20 kilometers away from the military area.
Because their village is relatively backward in information, many customs are still circulating.
One of the customs is the River God marrying a bride. Every ten years, the village must offer an eighteen-year-old girl to the river at the entrance of the village.
In this way, their village can be blessed with good weather and harvests within the next ten years.
After listening to this, Zhang Meng really wondered if the people in this village were living in ancient times. Now that the country has been founded for so many years, this custom is still passed down to this day.
"Then there has been no resistance in your village?" Zhang Meng asked with a frown.
Zhu Xiaoqian gave a bitter laugh. "Of course we haven't resisted before. But if we did, the river would flood. I remember one year, when I was very young, there was a flood in the village. Half the people died, and our homes were all gone. We starved for half a year before we had anything to eat. Because of this lesson, the villagers no longer dared to resist. They obediently offered a young girl to the River God every ten years as his wife."
Zhang Meng sneered, "How can this be He Bo? He's a god. Gods wouldn't do such evil things. I think you've all been deceived. He's just a ghost that eats people without blinking an eye. You're so foolish as to actually give him a bride. How ignorant!"
Zhu Xiaoqian immediately burst into tears. "I know that, but the people in the village don't believe me and insist on sending my sister to He Bo as his wife. I only have this one sister. If she dies, my parents will be gone too. I really don't know what to do. Just when I was worrying about it, I suddenly heard everyone in the military region say that you are a great ghost catcher. So, I came here to ask for your help. See if you can help me catch that He Bo, so that my sister won't have to be sent to him as his bride."
Zhang Meng immediately took a piece of paper and wiped her face. "Don't cry for now. If I didn't know about this, I could have refused to help. But now that I know, I have to help you. Wait for me for a moment. I'll go in and get some things. We'll go to your mother's house later."
Zhu Xiaoqian choked up and said, "Comrade Zhang, thank you for helping me."
"Why are you so polite? Wait for me for a moment."
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhang Meng entered the room where she slept.
A few minutes later, when she came out, she had a backpack on her back.
"Let's go!"
Seeing that she was leaving now, Zhu Xiaoqian asked a little uneasily, "Should we talk to your grandma?"
Zhang Meng immediately took out a note from her backpack and placed it on the table. "No need. I've already left this note for them. They'll see it when they come back."
Without waiting for her to speak, Zhang Meng took her hand and walked out of her home.
Coming downstairs, Zhang Meng pushed a half-new and half-old bicycle under the stairs.
"Come on, I'll give you a ride." This bicycle was bought for her by Gu Mingtai yesterday. She didn't expect to use it so soon.
Zhu Xiaoqian hesitated for a moment, finally nodded, and got on the back of the car behind Zhang Meng tremblingly.
Seeing her face pale with fear, Zhang Meng smiled and comforted her, "Don't worry, I'm a pretty good driver. I won't throw you off."
Zhu Xiaoqian blushed a little embarrassedly and responded softly, "Yeah."
Before Zhang Meng started to explain, she was really afraid of being thrown down.
Seeing that she was much more relaxed, Zhang Meng started riding the bicycle.
In her previous life, she used a bicycle as her means of transportation to go to work and rode it every day.
Even if she were reborn now, she would still be familiar with the technique of riding a bicycle with her eyes closed.
Under Zhu Xiaoqian's guidance, the two rode bicycles for nearly an hour before reaching Zhujia Village, a village surrounded by mountains.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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