Chapter 16 Misunderstanding: Zhong Yingcai is unwilling to jump from one puddle into another...
When Deng Xia learned that Zhong Ying had secretly gone to see Liu Hongyan, she also thought that Zhong Ying was still stubborn and unrepentant. Deng Xia was so angry that she grabbed her daughter's ear and scolded her, "Is that Li boy bewitched by you? He made you reckless when he was alive, and you still can't forget him even after he's dead. Is he a reincarnated vixen?"
What fox spirit? She's clearly a seductive ghost, but Zhong Ying couldn't say it out loud, only thinking it to herself.
Zhong Ying was scolded and then Deng Xia handed her a little burden. Clearly, her mother knew the trick of giving a woman a child to hold her back.
Without any hesitation, she dumped the child-watching duties back on Hongtang. Xiao Guoqiang and the big black dog played to one side, while Zhong Ying rubbed her bright red ears, bent down to spread the firewood she had gathered in the yard to dry, and muttered under her breath, "How about it? Has your mother given up on the idea? I've sacrificed so much for all this nonsense of yours! Not only do I inexplicably have a persona of being unable to forget you in your mother's eyes, but I've also earned the reputation of being hopelessly devoted to you in my mother's eyes. Look at my ears!"
Li Linshi's gaze fell on her ears, which were so red they looked like they were about to bleed, and he said softly, "...My mother said we should hurry up and get it done."
Doesn't he also have a ridiculous accusation of being a "one-sided barber"?
"Huh?" Zhong Ying straightened up, utterly exasperated. "What kind of mess is this?"
Nothing was accomplished, and the misunderstanding only deepened.
Even though she and this deadbeat had nothing going on, in other people's eyes, and even now with their parents, they were considered a couple who would never be apart.
What kind of mess is this?!
However, things took a turn for the better.
Hu, sitting in the main room of the Li family, said with a troubled expression, "My dear in-law, you can see how much effort I put into this matter. I secretly went to ask around in the production teams of the surrounding villages. Most of the girls in their early twenties are already married. As for the girls who are eighteen or nineteen, they are all married and ready to get married. There are none of them who have died. There are quite a few girls who are eight or nine years old, or even younger."
Liu Hongyan frowned, "How can that be? That's a generational gap."
Her eldest granddaughter is only eight years old this year. How can she arrange a ghost marriage for her youngest son with such a big little girl? It's just too mismatched.
"So this is really difficult to handle; my legs are practically worn out from running around these past few days." Hu said, clenching his fist and patting his still aching calves. "If the second son's daughter had also drowned in the river back then, that would have been perfect. The two children were about the same age, so a ghost marriage would have been arranged—"
Hu Da heard this offhand and was startled. He quickly spat twice, "I just blurted it out! I didn't mean it that way, I didn't mean any harm. Please don't tell anyone, if Zhong Lao Er's wife finds out, that shrew will come to my door and tear my mouth off!"
Hu, still shaken, patted his chest and slapped his own mouth, saying, "I've been talking too much; I dare to blurt out anything!"
Liu Hongyan could only manage a weak smile. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
The matter of arranging a ghost marriage had to be left unresolved. Liu Hongyan deliberately interrupted the conversation when many people were chatting, repeatedly saying "there's no suitable match" and "we can only forget about it," which finally dispelled the Zhong family's vigilance and brought the ghost marriage to a close.
However, Zhong Ying had another new "ghost came" order.
As the sun hid behind Yingshan Mountain, the clouds, like the sky, turned a purplish-red. Wisps of white smoke drifted from the village, and the Ganlin River, not far from the village, was bustling with activity, with some people diving into the river to bathe and others washing clothes on the riverbank.
After dinner, Zhong Ying joined Deng Xia in washing clothes by the river.
On the riverbank, a young girl was washing clothes for her family of three. The female ghost floating behind her was filled with heartache. When she saw Zhong Ying coming over, the female ghost's eyes lit up and she immediately floated over.
“The fourth son of the Li family is a man, how would he know about us women’s affairs? I want to help my daughter pick a good young man, but I have no one to discuss it with. I’m so frustrated.” Cao Fang found Zhong Ying. “My dear niece, it’s good that you’re here. Can you give me some advice? I haven’t been a human being for too long, and I don’t know what kind of young men you young girls like.”
Upon hearing this, Zhong Ying nodded subtly, then said to her mother, Deng Xia, "Mother, I'm going to wash the clothes over there."
Deng Xia was so engrossed in the gossip she had overheard that she had no time to pay attention to anything else. She quickly took a few more pieces of clothing from the basin that Zhong Ying was holding and said, "You can wash your two pieces of clothing. I'll wash the rest. Be careful with the water, don't slip and fall in."
"Yes," Zhong Ying smiled sweetly at her mother and responded.
Floating in mid-air, Cao Fang glanced at Zhong Ni, who was still bent over washing clothes. The familiar feeling of helplessness surged into her heart again. If she were alive, she could help her daughter like Deng Xia, but she was dead, and there was so little she could do.
Zhong Ying, carrying her basin, walked further and further away from the crowd, moving from the bustling area to a secluded one. She secretly glanced at the male ghost in the river. The hem of his clothes fluttered slightly with the ripples, and his face appeared pale and terrifying in the reflection of the emerald green water. Such a bizarre scene would have terrified anyone else, but Zhong Ying remained calm and indifferent. In fact, after the ghost in the river ignored her, she moved even closer with her basin.
"It's so cool," Zhong Ying thought to herself, noting that the water ghost's cooling effect was better than her aunt's.
Avoiding the crowd, Cao Fang continued speaking to Zhong Ying, "I won't mince words with you. You know what kind of person your uncle is; he's not a good man. He's made my daughter raise her younger brother since she was little, acting as both father and mother. I'm not too worried about your cousin Shuanzhu; he's just a boy, and your uncle will take care of him no matter what. It's only my daughter. I just hope she can have the same good fortune as your sister-in-law and marry into a family like yours, marrying a good young man."
Zhong Ying suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and was having trouble breathing. She turned her head and looked around, but it wasn't some evil spirit that had climbed on her.
Seeing her suddenly turn her head to look behind her, Cao Fang asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Zhong Ying shook her head. "It's nothing, Auntie, please continue."
“Oh, okay, my grave is on Ying Mountain. I can’t go too far. I can only look for it in the Tonggan production team,” Cao Fang said.
“Wait a minute,” Zhong Ying keenly grasped a piece of information, “Do ghosts have restrictions on their range of movement?”
Cao Fang didn't think much of it. "Yes, I've tried. I can't even get to Lawangou, the closest place to our production team."
Zhong Ying's heart raced instantly. Did this mean that as long as she escaped the ghost's territory, she would never have to worry about her personal safety again, never have to face watermarks that appeared out of nowhere, and never be thrown into the river without warning at some point?
But the thought only lingered in Zhong Ying's mind before she quickly gave up on it.
The various "roads" leading out of Tonggan Village each have their own predecessors who have gone out to explore them.
The first "path" is to join the army like her brother Zhong Cheng, but it is extremely difficult for a rural girl to be selected as a female soldier, especially in this era when the whole nation takes pride in it. It is no exaggeration to say that it is one in ten thousand. Zhong Ying searched her memory throughout the entire Liuzhang Commune and even the entire Chaolan County, and found that there was only one female soldier who was selected as a medic over the years.
The second "path" is like Li Linshi's, which is to go out into the world by passing the college entrance exam. First of all, regardless of how Zhong Ying, a rural girl who only attended a village primary school, suddenly gained the ability to take the college entrance exam, the most crucial thing is that she was "born at the wrong time" after her rebirth. The outside education system is currently completely paralyzed, universities have stopped enrolling students, and it will not be restored until nine years later in 1977. This path is now blocked.
The third "path" was that of Li Linshi's sister. Few young girls in Tonggan Production Team and several surrounding production teams did not envy Li Rou for being lucky enough to marry the projectionist who came to the production team to show movies. The village girl married into the county town, and people called this "leaping over the rural gate".
Zhong Ying suddenly understood the strange feeling of panic she had just experienced. Living in this era, the paths available to girls are too narrow. For most ordinary girls, marriage is the only option left.
Cao Fang wants her daughter Zhong Ni to escape the hardships of her original family, so she can only pin her hopes on "rebirth" so that her daughter can marry into a good family.
Zhong Ying wanted to escape the shadow of the dead ghost, and there was only one way: to marry far away from the Tonggan Production Team and leave the ghost's territory.
But in order to escape the dead, Zhong Ying was unwilling to risk her entire remaining life on another man. She was determined not to jump from one pit of water into another of fire. Since she was going to die anyway, she would rather die in the pit of water.
Zhong Ying glanced at the figure in the river again, seemingly discreetly; at least for now, it appeared she wouldn't drown.
Just like now, although Zhong Ying didn't know who would have the upper hand if her aunt and Li Linshi, the two ghosts, were to fight, she knew that even if Li Linshi wanted to take her life right now, her aunt would definitely not stand idly by.
So for now, she's not "drowning".
Cao Fang counted on her fingers, "There aren't many young people in our production team who aren't married yet and are around the same age as my daughter. If we take away those who are related to us, there are only six left."
"One of them is Nie Xiaolong, the younger brother of the second sister-in-law of the fourth son of the Li family. That kid has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he always has a smile on his face. But he snores loudly when he sleeps."
"Li Changgui, the son of the fourth son of the Li family, is also quite good. However, there's one problem: he's the only son in his family, and his parents dote on him like the apple of their eye. If Ni'er marries into that family, she'll probably have to tolerate and compromise on many things. Besides, I think this child seems a bit lazy..."
“Liu Qiang has many sons. The eldest and second eldest are already married. I think the third and fourth eldest are more suitable in age. One is twenty years old this year and the other is eighteen years old. Their younger brother is a bit too young.”
"And then there are the two male educated youths who were assigned to our production team this year. The one named Cheng Bin is better, but he seems a bit arrogant. I don't think he's the type to be interested in a rural girl. The other one is a young man named Qiu Yucai who always wears glasses. He's just too thin. Looking at his small frame, with all those ribs, how can a man who's this thin support a family?"
Cao Fang sighed as she finished speaking, "Of course, the best one is still the fourth son of the Li family. He doesn't snore when he sleeps, he's clean, he takes a bath every day, and he's not the kind of skinny, bony guy. He looks thin but he's muscular in the right places. He also looks like the Liu family on his mother's side. He's good-looking and tall."
Zhong Ying's expression grew increasingly strange as she listened: snoring in her sleep, a bony figure, showering every day...
"Aunt, you wouldn't have... sneaked into these young men's houses to observe them, would you?" Zhong Ying asked hesitantly.
Cao Fang smiled sheepishly, "It's not that others can't see me. I just wanted to see some aspects of these young people that others can't see, to see them more clearly. But I didn't see anything I shouldn't have. I still know my limits."
Zhong Ying fell silent, mourning for these young men. They were oblivious, unaware that a female ghost, with the intention of choosing a son-in-law and scrutinizing them with the critical eyes of a mother-in-law, had seen through their hidden flaws...
Cao Fang said to Zhong Ying ingratiatingly, "Yingnier, I'll help you pick one out. I'm actually better at judging people than your mother is now. Pick one good one out of these young men for my girl, and then pick another good one out for you."
“This isn’t like dividing up carrots…” Zhong Ying couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
Cao Fang suddenly noticed something and patted Zhong Ying on the shoulder, "Niece, look, that's one of the young men I was just talking about, the cousin of the fourth son of the Li family!"
Zhong Ying clutched her shoulder in pain; her aunt's grip was really strong.
Cao Fangcai realized what she had done unconsciously in her excitement, and she quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't know my own strength..."
"It's nothing." Zhong Ying shook her head, then looked up at the person Cao Fang had just mentioned.
Although this young man did not have the deep and handsome features of Li Linshi, he had similar smooth facial lines because they were cousins, and could also be described as handsome, only with a touch of melancholy in his eyes.
His mother dragged him to the riverbank. After a few words of arguing, Li Changgui reluctantly went into the river and walked towards the adults and children who were bathing and playing there.
Zhong Ying looked at him thoughtfully, but to others, her expression appeared as one of unwavering stare.
“My cousin has been with me since he was little; you could say I raised him. Although he didn’t go to Liuzhang Middle School, he did finish the village primary school.” The water ghost that suddenly appeared behind her whispered in her ear, its voice chilling and venomous, “Doesn’t he look a bit like me? So what methods are you planning to use this time? Do you need me to help you push you into the river so he can save you?”
Zhong Ying turned her head, rolled her eyes at him speechlessly, and retorted without any politeness, "Are you sick in the head?"
Li Linshi's dark, deep eyes seemed to tremble, and the icy, damp aura spreading around him instantly froze.
"Who's trying to lay a hand on your cousin?" Zhong Ying was truly exasperated with this sex-obsessed man. "You said he grew up following you around, didn't you realize he's sick in the head? He looks completely ashen!"
With one sentence after another, "Are you sick?" and another, "Can't you tell he's sick?" Cao Fang was completely confused. Who was sick here?
She didn't have time to think much; all she knew was to step forward and mediate, saying, "Hey, stop arguing, calm down."
Cao Fang pulled Li Linshi away and looked at him disapprovingly, "How can you, a grown man, be so petty? Everyone in the production team knows about Yingni'er. She only glanced at your cousin a few times, and I was the one who pointed him out to her. What are you doubting?"
She turned her head, wanting to advise Zhong Ying not to speak so impulsively to men, but when she saw Zhong Ying's face, which resembled that of her hot-tempered sister-in-law, Cao Fang swallowed her words.
Deng Xia has a fiery temper that flares up easily, yet she lives a good life.
Cao Fang herself had a good temper, but she died very early.
She suddenly couldn't help but think, shouldn't women have some temper and not be so submissive?
Zhong Ying glanced at the silent male ghost. It wasn't what Cao Fang thought. The ghost wasn't suspicious that she had fallen in love with someone else, but rather that she was worried that she would, like the original owner, extend her "claws" to his dear cousin again.
"Smack—" Zhong Ying threw her soaked clothes onto the rocks by the river, then swung her mallet, treating it like a fickle and unpredictable ghost, and beat it mercilessly.
Li Linshi once used the river as a mirror to see his current appearance: pale skin devoid of color and jet-black hair and eyes, as if all that remained of him was extreme white and extreme black.
He looked up at Li Changgui, who was scooping up a handful of water from the Ganlin River and pouring it over his head. He looked at him from left to right but couldn't see the "completely ashen" look that Zhong Ying had described.
Li Linshi wanted to ask Zhong Ying what she meant by what she just said, but seeing her swinging the mallet and beating the clothes, he inexplicably hesitated to go forward.
"Mother, sister—"
Zhong Xin ran to the riverbank, sweating profusely with anxiety. He shouted, "Hurry home! My sister-in-law's family is here!"
A note from the author:
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The male and female protagonists are constantly bickering and calling each other crazy, lol.
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