Besides being disgusting, they also want to show off, boasting that their families will give the woman a lot of things and a lot of money.
"If you hadn't sold your daughter back then, you would have lost a hundred million."
Thus, the Fang family took the first step in courting disaster.
Lu Mingran looked at the little donkey and a chill ran through her.
Jack took the blame for someone else.
On another note, if this was a donkey that the Cheng family had prepared for the bride, why did they just let an outsider ride it?
The onlookers, remembering this incident, looked at each other, as if trying to find the donkey's owner among the people around them. Just then, an elderly woman with gray hair, leaning on a cane, walked shuffling along from the other end of the village.
“It’s mine, it’s mine, we’re getting our daughter married tomorrow too.”
This time, the surroundings were truly silent.
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Marrying off a daughter? What kind of daughter? She had five children in her life, four of whom died young, and the remaining one was a blind son.
But it's not that they can't get married. On the way back, Uncle Wu told them that in their village, families like this have always helped people find and marry off their daughters.
"For example, if a girl is from out of town and her family home is too far away, she'll leave through their home. But Old Lady Chen's house is so eerie, who would want to leave through their home... cough, cough—"
Uncle Wu suddenly stopped talking.
They had arrived at Cheng Yungui's cousin's house; they were going to have dinner there that night.
The family is busy preparing for the wedding tomorrow. The bride is still inside, busy with various things, while outside, a large family of relatives are sitting together, having a lively meal.
During the meal, Cheng Yungui, as a relative who had returned from abroad, received a lot of attention and was pulled aside to drink. Only Lu Mingran remained, sitting on a small stool, watching Jack's hand warily.
Jack was using two chopsticks as a stick.
Just as he was about to stick a chopstick straight into the rice, Lu Mingran hit his hand hard with the chopstick.
"What are you doing?" Jack winced in pain, his chopsticks falling to the table. "Why can't people eat properly?"
"Are you eating? What are you doing...?"
Lu Mingran wanted to say "go to the grave," but hesitated because it was considered unlucky. He stared at Jack and said, "Either you use your chopsticks properly, or you don't eat at all."
Jack was also exasperated: "Why are there so many broken rules in this world?"
This was exactly what Lu Mingran had been waiting for.
The surrounding noise was deafening, and no one noticed them. Lu Mingran lowered her head and asked Jack in a low voice:
"Why, Jack? Do you want to see the bride tonight?"
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After the previous incidents, Lu Mingran realized that if Jack wasn't made to truly understand the consequences of his actions, he would probably never know what it felt like to hit a brick wall.
Therefore, Lu Mingran woke Jack up at night and they secretly slipped out of the house together.
The night sky in the countryside was very clear, and the moonlight was even brighter. Lu Mingran and Jack stood crouched behind a low wall, quietly watching the dirt road outside.
Jack complained, "Didn't we say we wanted to see the bride...?"
"Yes, bride."
Lu Mingran patted him, gesturing for him to look outside: "Look, who's that?"
The sound of a little donkey trotting along the road could be heard.
In Lu Mingran's eyes, the little donkey was carrying a brightly colored paper effigy. Perhaps because she had seen the paper effigy on the bus before, Lu Mingran was no longer afraid and even thought this paper effigy was quite beautiful.
But Jack was different.
He saw a woman sitting diagonally on the back of a little donkey. She was wearing a pink floral jacket, her hair was tied in a braid like a young girl's, and her lips were adorned with red rouge.
It was too red, too vibrant, which only accentuated the deathly paleness of her face.
The girl kept her head tilted, looking ahead, her small feet dangling at the sides of the donkey, occasionally lifting them up. Jack thought she was going to pass by like that.
However, just as he thought that, the woman turned her head to look at him.
To be precise, the woman, the little donkey, and the man in the melon-shaped hat in front of him all turned to look at him, and they were all smiling, with identical smiles on their faces.
"Mmm...uh, mmm!"
Jack had barely uttered a sound when Lu Mingran covered his mouth. He knew Jack must have seen something terrible, but it was his own fault. If he hadn't ridden the donkey, nothing would have happened, kid.
"How is it? Is it pretty? Is it beautiful? Is it interesting?"
Lu Mingran held onto Jack tightly and refused to let go, standing beside him with a smile as she looked down at him.
Finally, Jack lay on the ground shaking his head, his eyes pleading, before the man finally let go. As soon as he was free, Jack took a deep breath of fresh air.
Unfortunately, Lu Mingran was still a little too soft-hearted, or perhaps the author gave Jack too much of a reckless nature. Once Jack caught his breath, he slammed his forehead against Lu Mingran's forehead and ran back while Lu Mingran was still dizzy.
That night, Lu Mingran lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) touching her bruised forehead. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. With a thud, she punched Cheng Yungui's leg next to her.
Cheng Yungui almost coughed up a mouthful of blood from being hit by him:
What are you doing?
"Lend me the hammer." Lu Mingran said angrily.
Cheng Yungui stared blankly for a long time before finally remembering what he wanted.
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Tonight, Jack found another empty house and planned to spend the night there. He tried to contact the Earl, but failed.
After his struggle with Lu Mingran, he was in a sorry state. His neatly tied hair was all messed up and haphazardly draped over his shoulders, making him look quite like a girl at first glance.
Jack stood up irritably, grabbed a basin that looked fairly clean from the room, and went outside to get some water to wash his face.
The problem arose because of this basin of water. The well water was cursed, and he had even ridden a donkey with it.
Jack took the water back. He hummed as he splashed water and washed himself comfortably. As he washed, he became sleepy, his head nodding as he fell asleep.
He had a dream in which he saw a woman wearing a dark purple cheongsam.
Jack stared intently. The woman was sitting in front of a dressing table with her back to him, her slender hands caressing a dressing case.
At the same time, Jack vaguely heard two men's voices, one old and one young.
The younger one said, "Master, something's not right. Does the Cheng family's daughter look like this? She's a foreigner, isn't she?"
The old man said, "I think she's quite pretty. Hey, didn't they say they have some foreign relatives? Maybe this girl is mixed race."
Amidst the quiet murmur, the voice of a little girl drifted in:
"Sister, Fang Liulang has given you engagement jewelry. Why don't you take a look?"
The woman lowered her head slightly. Jack couldn't see her face, but he could sense her shyness.
She touched the dressing case, slowly opened it, and took out the first piece of jewelry.
A golden phoenix hairpin.
If Jack were an expert, or if he were a woman, he would be completely mesmerized by this exquisite gold phoenix hairpin.
Unfortunately, Jack's reaction was just, "Oh."
Earrings, jade bracelets, love locks... one by one, these items, which could be considered works of art, were placed on the table, and Jack had only one reaction:
"oh."
Little did he know, the woman opposite him was showing off.
"Look, I'm getting married! I have so much jewelry as part of my dowry, every piece is beautiful and valuable!"
Jack's reaction: "Oh."
In the end, the box was empty; there was nothing inside.
The woman awkwardly rummaged around in the box a couple of times.
Jack wondered if she would put everything in and then do it all over again.
Then the woman finally spoke, her voice high-pitched yet gentle: "Aren't you envious?"
Jack: "Oh."
...
Finally, the awkward silence was broken by the sound of a hammer hitting a basin.
Lu Mingran strode in carrying the blood-dripping murder weapon. As soon as she entered the room, she saw Jack standing in front of the basin like he had lost his soul, and he was bent over, about to bury his head in the water.
Seeing this, Lu Mingran didn't say a word. She grabbed Jack's face, pulled him up, and pushed him aside. Then, Lu Mingran picked up the hammer and smashed it against the basin.
The sound of that hammer hitting things was really nice. While Lu Mingran was hammering, she could also hear the panicked voices of the old man and the child:
"Hey, hey, if you're envious of other girls having lots of stuff, just be envious. Why are you smashing a washbasin!"
The younger one said:
“Master, you don’t understand. This is called jealousy, which makes people unrecognizable.”
Chapter 58 Want to be the King of the Night? No way (10)
Inside the room, jealousy had completely ruined the washbasin.
Actually, Lu Mingran didn't have to save him.
In the novel, after Jack's face was submerged in the basin, he was only half-choked to death. In his struggle, he overturned the basin, attracting Cheng Yungui.
However, Lu Mingran would not let him lure Cheng Yungui, nor would she let Cheng Yungui use those two dice to save him.
So Lu Mingran arrived, strutting around with his hammer, full of bravado and pride.
The next morning, when Jack woke up and opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Lu Mingran's face.
Lu Mingran squatted down in front of him, holding a thick book titled "Studies on Chinese Folklore" in her hand.
A minute later, the following conversation took place in the room.
"I saved you last night, do you need me to help you remember?"