Ghost Marriage Horror Five
During the spring planting season, the fields are bustling with people sowing seeds and weeding.
As the sun rose higher into the sky, smoke began to rise from the chimneys of every household.
To ensure I have the energy for the day, I need to prepare a solid lunch.
Wang Pan'er sat on a tree outside the backyard wall of the original owner's house, watching the matchmaker and the nanny enter the door.
She gritted her teeth, suppressing the urge to jump out of the yard and go crazy, constantly telling herself to stay put and watch those bunch of bastards fight like dogs.
The lazy, scumbag father and his good-for-nothing brother each sat on a long bench in the middle of the yard, basking in the sun. Their movements, even raising their right legs, were remarkably synchronized.
My grandmother was busy in and out of the kitchen. She was old and her sense of sight and taste was not as good as before, so the food she made was a mess.
Normally, the old hag would have made the original owner run around like a headless chicken, and would have nitpicked over every dish served. Now that the original owner is dead, she has no choice but to cook herself.
The scumbag mother wasn't there; it seemed she'd been sent to the fields to busy herself with spring planting.
That makes her seem quite pitiful.
However, Wang Pan'er knew perfectly well that this mother was no good either.
Being treated like a servant by this bizarre family, she was furious but dared not speak out, venting all her anger on the original owner's even more submissive daughter.
The villagers didn't have the habit of locking their doors during the day. The old woman stood at the door, looking at the messy yard with a furrowed brow.
They were genuinely disgusted, but they couldn't ignore the task assigned by their master. Seeing the old woman's hesitant feet, the two maids went in first and swept away the scattered trash on the ground with their feet.
After cleaning up a bit, the old woman felt a little better. She walked to the center of the courtyard and kicked the leg of the stool where her scumbag father was lying: "Still sleeping? Your good daughter has run away."
"Ran away?" The scumbag father suddenly sat up. "Who are you saying ran away?"
"Your daughter, my mistress's wife, Wang Pan'er, has run away." The old woman said, enunciating each word clearly. "Wang Pan'er, did you hear me?"
"Ha!" The scumbag father breathed a sigh of relief when he heard it was Wang Pan'er. He crossed his legs and shook them. "How could she run away? She was dead, you checked her yourself before carrying her out of my house."
"That's funny." The old woman smirked. "Don't pretend to be honest, you family. I knew you were ruthless when you were poisoning your daughter. Turns out you were faking your death to scam the bride price."
The nanny revealed that she had come to demand the return of the dowry. The scumbag father realized that her purpose was to get the dowry back. They had married their daughter off to the other party, but they were playing the trick of denying everything. They only knew how to bully and exploit honest farmers like them. No wonder they were rich.
Enraged, the scumbag father pointed at the nanny and cursed, "I lied to you? You heartless shrew! You said oleander could kill people, and after feeding her a whole bowl, she was already cold. A living person was dead! Now you're saying you don't acknowledge her? Give me back my daughter!"
He cursed as he revealed his large yellow teeth, spitting foul saliva, and the maidservant moved away as if avoiding a plague.
The matchmaker held her breath and fanned herself in the air with a handkerchief: "You put your fingerprints on the marriage contract, so many guests watched, and the couple didn't even enter the house. Even if you were to go to heaven, you wouldn't get this money for nothing."
The old woman, standing at the far end, winked at the doorway: "Come in and search."
Hearing the commotion in the courtyard, Grandmother smeared her flour-covered hands on her apron and was about to step out to support her son when she saw two burly men enter. She then cowardly withdrew the foot that had already been poking out the door.
Two burly men, one on each side, held down the scumbag father and the useless younger brother. Two maids, having received their orders, rushed into the room.
The family was destitute, their poverty was palpable; even their dining table was broken and covered in grease.
The only thing worth looking at inside was a small cabinet with a lock.
The money was neatly placed in that barely presentable cabinet.
The nanny looked at the grandmother: "Where's the key?"
Grandmother was dull-witted and only knew how to bully her own family. When the nanny scolded her, she instinctively covered the front of her clothes: "The key isn't on me."
"Heh." The old woman made a contemptuous nasal sound. The maidservant deftly hooked the key from the grandmother's neck, pulled it off, and unlocked the small kitchen cabinet.
The cupboard contained some uncut scraps of cloth, a mud jar, and two pieces of cured meat. The maidservant grabbed the jar and handed it to the old woman.
For an ordinary family, offering thirty taels of silver as a betrothal gift would be considered quite generous. But Landlord Zhang, desperate to save his life, directly offered a one-tael gold ingot, more than tripling the original amount.
The old woman poured out the sparse copper coins at the top of the money box, revealing a small pouch at the bottom. She pulled it out, peeled back the layers, and there it was—the gold piece she had placed as a deposit.
The old woman carefully placed the gold in her hand, then turned and left the courtyard without looking back.
The grandmother collapsed to the ground, wailing and crying, "That heartless landlord! He killed my granddaughter and even tried to steal the bride price! My poor granddaughter, I have no face to face you! How am I supposed to live from now on..."
Tears streamed down the old man's cloudy eyes. Wang Pan'er, who was hiding nearby, rolled her eyes and thought to herself: "Cat crying for a mouse, all pretense of compassion."
The good-for-nothing younger brother loosened his arm, which had been pressed so hard, and spat at the burly man's retreating back menacingly: "Don't let me run into you guys again!"
Grandmother grabbed her younger brother's arm: "You're such a disappointment! If it weren't for the need to raise money for your dowry, why would we let your third sister go through this damned ghost marriage? What a disgrace to our family!"
"If you don't have one, you don't have one. What's the point of having a wife? She's so long-winded." She's not even a fraction as beautiful as the courtesan in the brothel.
He dared not say the second half of the sentence. He pulled his arm away from his grandmother's hand and said fiercely, "I told you to give me this money, but you wouldn't listen. See? In the end, it's all gone."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Grandmother's face was covered in snot and tears. She slapped her grandson's back hard and yelled, "If you don't get married, who will take care of you in the future?"
The good-for-nothing younger brother had no patience. He casually picked up the copper coin that the old woman had taken out but hadn't taken with her: "Aren't you and Mother here?"
Then, ignoring his grandmother who was clutching her chest in disbelief, he strode out the door without a second thought to find some fun.
The scumbag father sat on the threshold, his previous ease completely gone. He took out a match, lit his pipe, glared fiercely at the floor, and took a deep drag.
Seeing this, Wang Pan'er felt much better and happily slid down from the tree.
What a spectacle of dogs fighting each other!
In her opinion, there was no need to interfere at all; this family had plenty of bad luck ahead of them!
She clapped her hands, preparing to go back to find Mu Chuan, when she saw Uncle Wang from next door leading San Ya, hurrying after the direction the old woman had left in.
Uncle Wang brought Sanya to the old woman and asked breathlessly, "Pan'er is gone, look at my Sanya."
Sanya instinctively tried to back away, but her back was pressed against hers by her father. She clearly realized what the outcome would be if she were sent there, and terror filled her eyes.
The old woman lifted the messy strands of hair that Sanya had covered her face and examined her closely.
The matchmaker chimed in, "This isn't a good match. The woman has masculine features and is destined to bring misfortune to her husband. The young master has a mild temper and can't control her."
Sanya breathed a sigh of relief, but her eyes welled up with tears of lingering fear.
Uncle Wang was unwilling to give up, and continued to fawn over the old woman, saying, "My Sanya is strong, works quickly, and is very capable."
The old woman looked at the obsequious man before her with disdain: "Then burn those ten taels of silver for my young master to use as a maid."
"Ten taels!" Uncle Wang pulled Sanya back: "No matter how masculine my girl is, she's not worth only ten taels of silver."
While he was rambling on and on, trying to negotiate a good price, several more families, each with their daughters in tow, caught up with him.
The matchmaker darted her eyes around, sizing up the girls.
What kind of feng shui is this Wang family? None of their girls are malformed. Even Sanya, whom they dislike for her masculine appearance, is praised for her good looks and slender figure, even if she doesn't quite meet the criteria of being considered beautiful.
The old woman whispered to the matchmaker, "Pick someone obedient, so that nothing goes wrong again."
"Then choose the smallest one." The matchmaker nodded. "She's obedient, easy to please, and will take the goods away as soon as she gets paid, so there won't be any complications."
The old woman looked at the girl on the far right, who still had her hair in two topknots. She was only about eight or nine years old, which was a bit too young.
The matchmaker continued to sow discord: "Eight or nine years old is fine. We've visited so many villages but haven't found a suitable girl. As for the older ones, who knows what tricks they'll pull? Going down there will only make the young master wait a few more years. Besides, this little girl has a full forehead, which is a sign of good fortune for her husband."
The matchmaker's words made sense; this eight- or nine-year-old rural girl was very easy to coax.
Walking up to the little girl Juan'er, the nanny squatted down, put on a kind smile, and said softly, "Little girl, would you like to come with me to live a good life? There will be meat to eat, new clothes to wear, uncles and aunts who love you, and no one will hit or scold you anymore."
The girl glanced at her father, then hesitated.
The old woman magically produced a few candies from her sleeve, peeled off the wrappers, and fed them to Juan'er.
Having tasted the sweetness of success, Juan'er's eyes lit up, and she sweetly replied, "Granny, I'm willing!"
Sanya suddenly broke free from her father's grasp and stumbled towards the lesbian. She clutched Juan'er's braid tightly, a broken sob escaping her throat: "You can't go..."
Eight- or nine-year-old Juan'er was really easy to coax. She pouted and shook her head: "No way, candy is so precious. Granny gave me three at once. Granny must be a good person!"
The old woman took out the gold ingot again with satisfaction and handed it to Juan'er's father.
Juan'er, led by her nanny, skipped and hopped across the paddy field ridge.
The old woman's shadow enveloped her frail body, and the little girl happily followed them away.
Juan'er's father reverently stroked the gold ingot, licked his missing tooth with the tip of his tongue, and then bit it. After confirming that it was pure gold, he was overjoyed and chuckled smugly as he passed by Sanya.
As Sanya watched everything unfold, she felt as if she had entered an ice cellar. She suddenly understood why Sister Pan'er had said that this village was a place that devoured people.
The rich prey on the poor, men prey on women, mothers-in-law prey on daughters-in-law, and in the end, they devour these defenseless girls.
Sanya's father was provoked by Juan'er's father's smug face, and slapped Sanya hard on the head: "What are you standing there for, you good-for-nothing? Go home and cook."
The air around Sanya's ears swarmed like bees buzzing in a hive, and drops of blood dripped from her nose, staining her coarse cloth clothes with crimson marks. Her mind was spinning, and she felt nothing, instinctively following behind Uncle Wang with a blank expression.
Wang Pan'er could no longer take a step, her fingernails digging deep into the tree bark, unaware that dry twigs and debris were getting between her fingers.
In the distance, Juan'er's bouncing figure gradually shrank into a dot, like a drop of water falling into a deep pool, and she could only watch the ripples dissipate.
In this world, girls are treated so cheaply; a living, breathing life is so easily snatched up and sold by even one's closest relatives.
However, she was powerless to stop it from happening.
As long as Landlord Zhang still wants to arrange a ghost marriage, there will always be a girl who dies young, and there will be far more than one Landlord Zhang in the world.
Greedy adults, deceived children, and powerless girls.
The departing Juan'er and the Sanya whose nose bled from being slapped were like two hands, piercing through her chest and gripping her heart tightly.
Wang Pan'er could no longer hold on. She squatted on the ground, holding her head, letting the salty, fishy smell fill her mouth.
Why are innocent girls always the ones who suffer persecution?
This world is truly despicable.
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