Chapter 43 She was just making a casual joke, but he…
Cheng Ying was somewhat surprised. Long Buxi was not the old clan chief's grandson, yet he became the young clan chief of Pucang Village. Could it be, as she suspected, that Long Buxi had achieved the position of young clan chief by refining Gu and controlling more Gu worms?
Why won't he admit that she saw those colorful poisonous creatures the day she fell off the cliff?
Seeing that she was silent again, Long Buxi smiled brightly at her, "You've asked me so many questions, now it's my turn to ask you some questions."
"What do you want to ask?" Cheng Ying frowned. "If it's about your letters, emails, and packages, I'll have to go home and ask my dad before I can find out."
“It’s not about mail or packages. My parents are both dead, I have no siblings or friends, I rarely leave Pucang Village, and basically no one writes to me or sends me packages.” Long Buxi’s long, narrow, affectionate eyes were filled with loneliness.
He said, "I wanted to ask you how old you are, whether you have someone you like or a partner, and whether you have any plans to get married."
Cheng Ying was bewildered. Why was he asking her all this?
On second thought, she had asked him these questions, and he had asked her the same questions in return; it was a matter of reciprocity, which was quite normal.
She said, "I'm 20 years old, just like you. I don't have anyone I like right now, I don't have a boyfriend, and I have no plans to get married."
"Oh? Why don't you plan to get married?" Long Buxi's lips curled up unconsciously. "In our village, many girls your age are already married and have children."
After washing all the dishes and putting them in the cupboard, Cheng Ying shook the water off her hands and walked towards the open space in the living room. "If I don't want to get married, I just don't want to get married. There's no reason."
She was unwilling to talk much about herself, mainly because she felt she had nothing to say.
Long Buxi, however, did not understand and persistently continued to ask, "Why?"
Seeing the questions in his eyes, Cheng Ying knew that if she didn't explain it to him clearly, he would keep asking. So she could only say helplessly, "Because marriage is not the only way out for us women. I've been to school and received an education. I don't want to be like the girls in the mountains, just marrying any man, having a bunch of kids, and revolving around a man, losing myself. I'm a rather selfish person. I always put myself first. I want to be a postman and do my own thing. If I get married and have children, men and children will inevitably hinder what I want to do. I'd rather not have such a troublesome situation."
Long Buxi suddenly realized: "So, you plan to never get married?"
Cheng Ying shook her head: "No, if I meet the right person, I will still get married. If I do meet the right person, he will be the one to move into my family as a son-in-law, not the other way around. I will marry that person and have children in his family."
Long Buxi's dark eyes flickered: "In our village, there is also a custom of Miao girls having their husbands move in and marry into their families. I heard from the elders in the village that it is rare for Han Chinese men to move in and marry into their families, especially in the nearby Han Chinese villages, where there is basically no such thing as a man moving in and marrying into the family. I thought that this custom of marriage and marriage is not popular among Han Chinese people."
"I didn't expect your village to have the custom of men marrying into the family. I thought your village didn't allow marriage with outsiders." Cheng Ying was quite surprised that Pucang Village, such a feudal and backward village, allowed Miao women to have sons-in-law move in with them.
“Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, intermarriage with outsiders was indeed not allowed. After the founding of the PRC, we lived deep in this place. There are only a few hundred households in the village, and they are all related by blood. If we continue to intermarry within the clan, everyone will be related by blood, and it will be easy to produce monsters. No matter how feudal and stubborn the old clan chief is, for the long-term development of the village, he has to agree to the villagers intermarrying with outsiders to improve the close blood relationship within the clan.” Long Buxi seemed to have thought of something, and a cold look flashed across his handsome face.
Cheng Ying didn't miss the expression on his face, and the image of Zhuo Zuilan came to mind.
Zhuo Zuilan left Pucang Village about 26 years ago to marry someone else. She was the first Miao woman from Pucang Village to marry someone else. In fact, she left in the third year after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Perhaps it was after Zhuo Zuilan resolutely left Pucang Village with her husband to marry and have children elsewhere that the Miao women in the village were moved by her bold actions and began to emulate her, wanting to marry out of the village. In addition, there were indeed too many close relatives in the village, so the old clan chief allowed the Miao people in the village to intermarry with outsiders, and the village gradually opened up to the outside world, accepting the presence of public officials dispatched by the state.
Cheng Ying had no intention of probing into the bloodline of Pu Cang Village, and changed the subject by asking, "Long Buxi, what month were you born in?"
Long Buxi thought for a moment, "It should be the last day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. My mother once told me that the day she gave birth to me was the day that Han Chinese celebrate the Spring Festival."
Cheng Ying nodded. "Then you are two months younger than me. I was born in the tenth month of the lunar calendar, so you should call me 'older sister'."
Long Buxi raised an eyebrow, a playful look on her face. "Being my older sister comes at a price. Are you sure you want me to call you 'older sister'?"
Cheng Ying: ......
She made a casual joke, but he seemed to take it seriously.
If he were an ordinary person, she would have continued to joke with him, after all, teasing a handsome young man is really fun.
But he is no ordinary person; he is the young clan chief of Pucang Village and the future Miao King. Every word and action of his is full of profound meaning and is not suitable for jokes.
"Never mind, forget I said anything." Cheng Ying dried the water stains on her hands and went upstairs. "I feel like I'm almost fully recovered today. I need to finish my work and deliver the envelopes and mail from your village. You go about your business and don't worry about me."
“I also need to go to the village to do some things. I’ll go with you,” Long Buxi said, standing at the top of the stairs.
Cheng Ying didn't object, thinking that if he was going the same way as her, he could help her translate the Miao language if they encountered Miao people who couldn't speak Mandarin.
Soon, Cheng Ying shouldered her mailbag and went downstairs with Long Buxi, heading towards the outer village on several hills opposite.
It was still early, around eight o'clock in the morning, and most of the stilted houses on the other side of the river were emitting smoke as people cooked.
Wisps of smoke drifted upwards on the morning breeze, creating a picturesque scene amidst the valleys, green mountains, and clear waters, much like a beautiful landscape painting.
The two walked side by side across the swaying suspension bridge. A gust of wind blew, and Cheng Ying lost her balance, instinctively reaching out for the railing.
As she reached out, she didn't grab the railing, but instead grabbed a warm hand.
Cheng Ying turned her head and saw that Long Buxi was standing to her right at some point, holding her right hand with his pale, long, slender, and beautifully knuckled left hand.
"Be careful." Long Buxi's gentle and pleasant voice rang out, "The wind in the village is a bit strong this morning, making this suspension bridge sway. You're not from the village and have no experience crossing this suspension bridge, so it's easy for you to fall. Let me help you across."
Cheng Ying looked at their clasped hands. Long Buxi's skin was very fair, so fair that it was transparent under the sunlight. Her skin was a honey color, the kind of skin that had been tanned from years of training in the army and sweating under the sun.
It has been more than a month since she was discharged from the army and returned to her hometown. Her skin is a little fairer than before, but because she worked as a postman and was always on the road and in the sun, her skin will not become as fair as it was when she was a child.
The two hands, one white and one black, clasped together, which not only looked particularly strange, but also gave Cheng Ying an indescribable sense of unease.
She always felt that Long Buxi's actions towards her were too intimate, as if they had crossed a certain line, making her, who was always perceptive, feel somewhat uncomfortable.
On second thought, he wondered if Long Buxi's actions were because he and the Miao people in the village were all like that, cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
Could it be that Long Buxi hasn't had much contact with people from other ethnic groups and doesn't know the proper boundaries between men and women, or perhaps she's overthinking it?
She pulled her hand back, held onto the railing, and said, "It's okay. I don't have any experience walking across suspension bridges, but I'll get the hang of it after a couple more times. I don't need anyone's help. Besides, I'm a retired female soldier. I endured a lot of hardship during my training in the army. If I really fall, it'll just hurt for a bit, but nothing serious will happen. Thank you for your kindness."
As she spoke, she gripped the railing and strode forward.
Long Buxi gazed intently at her departing figure with his dark eyes, then looked down at his empty left hand, where the warmth of her hand seemed to linger.
He slowly clenched his fist and muttered, "Still so wary." Then he followed her.
Just as the two stepped off the bridge, shouts came from halfway up the second low hill: "Brother Arno—Brother Arno—"
Cheng Ying looked in the direction of the sound and saw a young girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old wearing a light pink Miao costume, lying in front of a large, impressive-looking second-floor corridor with yellow wood and black tiles, waving happily in their direction.
Even from a distance, Cheng Ying could see that the girl was exceptionally beautiful. She had snow-white skin, red lips, large eyes, a high nose, and an air of pride about her. She wore a typical Miao silver crown with carved flowers, birds, and butterflies, a beautiful silver necklace around her neck, and many carved silver bracelets on her arms. The Miao clothing was embroidered with various exquisite patterns in silver thread, making her look particularly dignified and beautiful.
This was the first time Cheng Ying had ever seen such beautiful and elaborate Miao costumes in real life. In her memory, such elaborate Miao women's attire usually appeared on television at various large-scale events or in conjunction with television productions.
The Miao people revere silver, believing that silver possesses spiritual properties. They believe that silver items such as silver bells and silver horns have the power to ward off evil and disaster. In addition, the Miao people have undergone many large-scale migrations, and in order to carry wealth easily, silver was made into silver ornaments, which were layered and worn on the body. They traveled with the people, so there was no need to worry about losing them. They could also be sold as currency at any time. Since they were not as valuable as gold, they would not be too heartbroken if they were lost. During the migration, there was no need to worry about anyone stealing the silver ornaments. Therefore, the Miao people like silver more than gold.
In daily life, Miao people usually wear silver bracelets, necklaces, earrings, etc., which are not only beautiful but also convenient for their movement. They don't wear layers of silver ornaments like that pretty girl.
Wearing such silver jewelry signifies that she is about to get married, or that there is some activity or ceremony going on in her village that requires her to dress so formally.
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