Small town, guest house
In the small room, three people huddled together and discussed things with sad faces.
"Sister-in-law, what should we do now?" Gu Yi asked helplessly, "Should we... still go up the mountain?"
Chen Xingling glared at him and replied, "Of course!"
Zhao Xiaoxing on the side was sobbing and her face was full of tears.
"My parents must be blaming me, otherwise they wouldn't have said that. I ran away with him, and our family's reputation was ruined. My parents would rather treat me as dead... than let anyone know."
Chen Xingling handed her a handkerchief and whispered to comfort her: "Don't cry, your parents can't do anything. You and Ayi ran away, you can leave, but they are people from the mountain, they will continue to live in the mountain in the future, so they naturally don't want to spread this matter."
Zhao Xiaoxing wiped her tears and asked with a sob: "Sister-in-law, what should we do now? Should we go up the mountain?"
Chen Xingling lowered his eyes and thought seriously.
We hurried along the way and finally got off the train at the station. We took a tractor and then changed to a donkey cart. Finally, we arrived at the only small town near Mount Shuo. We took advantage of the moonlight to find the shabby guesthouse in the town.
The three were so exhausted that they had no time to do anything. After quickly eating a bowl of hot vegetarian noodles, they went to bed and fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Chen Xingling asked Gu Yi to sneak up the mountain to inquire about the news. He must find out some information about Zhao Xiaoxing's family and see how they view the fact that their daughter "disappeared in the middle of the night."
Gu Yi came back soon and explained hesitantly that Zhao Xiaoxing's family had told others that she accidentally fell into the river some time ago and was washed away.
It is spring now, and the river has swollen due to heavy rain. The water is turbulent and fierce. Even strong adult men dare not go into the river easily, let alone a young and delicate girl.
The Zhao family searched along the river for a day and a night, and then returned crying, saying that they couldn't even find the body. They all told others in one voice that their daughter had unfortunately drowned.
If she took Gu Yi and Zhao Xiaoxing up the mountain at this time, their stories would be inconsistent and the Zhao family would not be able to cover up their lie. The elopement would go from suspicion to an ironclad reality, which would surely annoy the Zhao family and make their family a laughing stock.
It is unknown whether the marriage can be successful by then. Xiaoxing's reputation will definitely be completely ruined, and her family will definitely hate her.
If we don’t go up the mountain, how can we achieve the purpose of this trip?
Gu Yi looked at his beloved with embarrassment and asked, "How about... just say that I saved you downstream? You were unconscious, and then you stayed in the hospital for a while until you woke up, and then I sent you back, and then brought my sister-in-law to propose marriage? How about that?"
Zhao Xiaoxing thought about it and quickly shook her head.
Gu Yi couldn't help but ask: "Why not?"
Chen Xingling smiled and asked back, "Your family went to the capital, how did you 'happen' to go downstream and 'happen' to save her? After saving her, why didn't you go back to the village to report the news? Don't you know the way to her home? Such a lie is full of loopholes, who would believe it? Now other people are just guessing, and they dare not conclude whether Xiao Xing really ran out to find her lover. But if you take her back with you, others will insist that it must be the case. No matter which river you jump into, you will never be able to clear yourself."
"Sister-in-law, what can we do?" Gu Yi scratched his hair, annoyed: "She is still alive, how can you say she fell into the river and died! It's too cruel!"
"What are you talking about!" Chen Xingling scolded with a smile: "If you don't say that, how can you tell the truth that Xiao Xing ran away with you in the middle of the night? When they were embarrassed and their backs were stabbed, did you ever think about them?"
The marriages of the villagers in those villages are still arranged by matchmakers, and the situation is almost the same here in Shuoshan.
There were not many young people who could freely fall in love, and they still had to follow the old rules and get married before they could become husband and wife. If someone ran away secretly with someone else, they would not be recognized, and would be seen as a joke by others, and even laughed at for the rest of their lives.
Zhao Xiaoxing glanced at her beloved and whispered, "I'm going with you. I plan to abandon my family and live with you forever... Am I not cruel? My parents gave birth to me and raised me, how could they bear to let me die? They are just afraid that the news will get out and no one will hear it. It's not easy for them to raise me, and now that I'm gone, I am the cruelest one, right?"
Gu Yi didn't dare to say anything else and buried his head.
Chen Xingling rolled his eyes and discussed: "First, we must make up for Xiaoxing's family's lie and cover up the fact that Xiaoxing disappeared for no reason. Then, Ayi and I will go up the mountain to propose marriage and propose marriage, and try to get Ayi out of it and take the opportunity to cover up the fact that you eloped."
"How can I cover up my lie?" Zhao Xiaoxing asked with a red face, "How about...I go back by myself first? I can say that I am not dead, but was saved by a kind person. I will go home after I recover from my injuries?"
Chen Xingling shook his head: "No, someone has to take you back, preferably someone unknown to your village, who claims to have saved you from the bottom of the river and will take you home. This person should not have any relationship with our Gu family, so as not to arouse suspicion."
Gu Yi stood up with a start and said, "Then I'll go find it right away!"
"Don't." Chen Xingling frowned and stopped him, whispering, "It would be time-consuming and laborious to look for someone too far away. If we look for someone too close, the villagers will probably recognize him. If that person is unreliable and he asks us questions all the time, it will be easy to be exposed. This plan is the most foolproof. If it fails, our trip will be in vain."
Zhao Xiaoxing swallowed and asked, "Then... who should we look for?"
"Me." Chen Xingling replied.
"No!" Gu Yi reminded with a smile: "Sister-in-law, aren't you going to ask me to marry you? How can it be you? Won't it be exposed by then?"
Chen Xingling put down his hand, stood up and walked towards the suitcase.
"Luckily, I brought an old-fashioned cheongsam that I had kept in the bottom of my closet. Please go out and wait for me for ten minutes. I will dress you up."
Gu Yi and Zhao Xiaoxing were a little overwhelmed.
"Sister-in-law? What's the disguise?"
Chen Xingling didn't bother to explain. He drove the two of them out and quickly closed the door.
Then, she hurried into the supermarket, went straight to the beauty area, found a silver-white short hairdo to put on, then ran to the clothing area to find an old lady-style cheongsam to put on, and ran to the shoes and socks area to find a pair of beautiful old people's cloth shoes to put on.
She found a high-end fur waistcoat and put it on, then turned around and ran back to the accessories area to find a pair of reading glasses and put them on. She instantly turned into a noble old lady with silver hair.
After looking carefully, I found that the skin of the person in the mirror was too smooth and fair, so I had to go back to the beauty area to put on makeup.
More than ten minutes later, she came out of the supermarket, looked at her outfit with satisfaction, and then opened the door to let Gu Yi and his wife in.
The two of them stared at her in stunned silence, unable to react for a long while.
"Sister-in-law? Sister-in-law?"
"Who are you? Why are you in the room?"
Chen Xingling smiled and blinked, "How is it? Even you can't recognize me, right? I used a little rouge and eyebrow pencil to paint some wrinkles. I look like an old lady, right?"
"Sister-in-law! You look so much like me!" Gu Yi laughed in surprise: "How did you get this silver hair? If you didn't say anything, I wouldn't have recognized you at all!"
Chen Xingling stopped and started telling lies.
"When I was cutting my mom's hair, I couldn't bear to throw away such soft white hair, so I collected them one by one. Later, I glued them together with fish glue and cut them into a wig. You must not touch it, or it will fall off. I hope I can hold on for a day or so to make up for this lie."
"Oh oh." Gu Yi nodded hurriedly.
Chen Xingling hurriedly urged: "Don't just stand there! Go and rent a horse-drawn carriage. I want to take Xiao Xing up the mountain right away."
"Why!"
…
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