Vollständiges Metamorphose-Handbuch

Kapitel 8

In reality, their relationship was only ambiguous; neither had openly confessed their feelings. There was no way Tian Gaigai would go to him.

Today, condoms are the last line of defense for chastity. Back then, however, there was a mountain separating men and women, as reserved as the moon, and men and women would blush.

Tian Gaigai was a gentle, sensitive, and taciturn person. One day, she finally mustered up the courage to reveal a secret from the depths of her heart to her parents.

The Invisible Son-in-Law (2)

When her parents heard that the male teacher surnamed Jiang was very poor, they immediately frowned and sternly warned her: This relationship is not realistic, and you should never see him again.

Tian Gaigai dared not resist. From then on, she was consumed by unrequited love.

Her family had three rooms. The east and west rooms each had two kang beds. Her parents and her younger brother Tianquan slept in the east room, while she slept alone in the west room.

One evening, the power went out, and Tian Quan and his father hadn't returned from harvesting wheat. Tian Gaigai's mother was sewing shoe soles by the light of an oil lamp.

Tian Gaigai is in the west room, probably reading. School's out for winter break, and she's been staying home.

However, Mother suddenly felt as if there were voices coming from the west room.

She put down her work, got off the ground, and tiptoed over. Sure enough, she heard Tian Gaigai muttering to herself in the west room, talking to someone.

The mother went over and saw Tian Gaigai sitting alone on the kang (a heated brick bed), chatting with someone opposite her. But there was no one opposite her!

The oil lamp flickered, and on the old New Year's picture on the wall, a chubby baby grinned foolishly. The colorful dragon and phoenix patterns on the cabinet appeared extremely profound. The curtains were drawn tightly shut.

"Change it!" the mother shouted.

Tian Gaigai whispered to the unseen person, "My mom's here." Then, she got off the ground, as if she had done something wrong, and asked her mother in a low voice, "Mom, is something wrong?"

"Who are you talking to?" the mother asked sternly.

"...Great Zhou Dynasty".

Where did this Great Zhou come from? My mother has never even heard of it!

"Who is Da Zhou?" the mother asked in surprise.

"My son-in-law."

"You're married?"

"You don't know? Wasn't he the one you arranged for me?" She frowned, looking at her mother with confusion.

The mother frantically pulled her into the east room and whispered, "What does he look like?" She suspected that some dead man from the village had possessed her daughter.

Tian Gaigai glanced back at the west room and said, "Tall, big eyes..."

Then, she sighed deeply and said, "Mom, actually..." She seemed afraid of upsetting her mother and didn't dare to continue.

"Actually what?"

"...I'm not very satisfied with his appearance. He's too thin, his skin is a bit dark, and his voice is a little hoarse. He's not as good as that person at all..." The "that person" she was referring to was the male teacher surnamed Jiang.

She continued, "Mom, I'm not complaining about you. He's been pretty good to me too. A woman follows her husband wherever he goes, even if he's a blockhead..."

The mother was stunned. She had never seen the person her daughter was describing. However, judging from her daughter's expression, this person definitely existed, sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the west room. He was her daughter's husband!

"Mom, if there's nothing else, I'll go back to my room now?" Tian Gaigai said tentatively.

"You, you should go back..."

Tian Gaigai turned around and floated back to her west room.

The mother looked toward the west room, where the oil lamp was still flickering.

The father and son who had been harvesting wheat finally returned.

The mother didn't mention it. Tian Quan was only 15 years old, and she was afraid he would be frightened.

After Tian Quan finished eating and went to bed, his mother closed the door, blew out the oil lamp, and whispered the story to Tian Gaigai's father.

The husband lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) smoking one pipe after another without saying a word.

As I listened to my aunt's story, I got goosebumps.

Such a story alone doesn't frighten me; my fear has another meaning.

My aunt focused intently on explaining the land reform to me and stopped burning paper money.

The wind picked up a little, and the ever-burning lamp suddenly went out!

At that moment, I felt a small creature suddenly rush out from beside me, leap onto the coffin, and dart towards the dark pigsty.

I was terrified.

I don't know if it was a cat or a mouse. Whatever it was, it jumped onto my great-aunt's coffin!

According to superstition, if the great-aunt borrows the breath, she may be able to sit up.

My aunt quickly lit the ever-burning lamp.

We both stared at the large, ornate coffin without saying a word, and after a long while, we still didn't hear any sound from inside.

My aunt continued.

The next day, Tian Gaigai did not come to the east room for breakfast.

The mother went into the west room and saw her dressed up beautifully, sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the west room looking in the mirror.

"GaiGai, why aren't you eating?"

She said embarrassedly, "Mom, I'm already married, why am I still eating at my parents' house? Da Zhou will be back tonight, he'll bring me food."

Tian Gaigai didn't eat lunch either.

She still wouldn't eat dinner that evening.

Her father grew impatient, went to the west room, and shouted at her, "Do you want to live anymore? Go eat your food right now!"

Tian Gaigai said timidly, "He'll be angry when he comes back..."

The father stopped trying to reason with her, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her outside.

Tian Gaigai looked at her father in fear, but clung tightly to the door frame, refusing to let go: "Dad, please, you can't force me. I'm too scared to eat it!..." She argued and cried at the same time.

...That evening, neither Tian Gaigai's parents nor Tian Quan ate well at dinner.

It got dark, and everyone went to sleep.

Tian Gaigai's parents listened carefully to the sounds coming from the west room. Tian Gaigai didn't speak, seemingly sewing shoe soles, "Shh—shh—shh—."

After an unknown amount of time, it suddenly seemed as if someone had returned, and she began to speak again, in the tone of a married couple. The three people in the east room dared not breathe, listening intently.

The sound grew fainter and fainter until it could no longer be heard.

Then, they heard Tian Gaigai eating something in bed, "crunching," like she was eating carrots.

Two more days passed, and Tian Gaigai still refused to eat a single bite of food, as if she wanted to cut off all worldly desires.

The Invisible Son-in-Law (3)

She took out all the clothes she usually couldn't bear to wear and changed them several times a day. After dressing herself up in bright and beautiful clothes, she sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) in a daze.

Every evening, she would mutter to that person, saying things that were hard to understand.

That night, her parents pulled her into the east room and let her sleep next to them.

She exclaimed in alarm, "He'll be angry!"

My father said, "I'll take responsibility if anything happens!"

That night, her father and mother slept on either side of Gaigai, sandwiching her tightly in the middle without any space between them. They wanted to see what would happen.

The next day, before the wet, red sun of Northeast China had fully risen, Tian Gaigai's father woke up. He turned his head and was startled—there was an empty space between him and Gaigai!

Was it Gaigai who forced him out?

Did he roll away after he fell asleep?

That night, someone came in, moved him aside, and slept next to Gaigai.

After not eating a single grain of rice or drinking a drop of water for several days in a row, Tian Gaigai became as thin as a paper doll.

However, the makeup on her face became thicker and thicker, her eyebrows and eyes became darker and darker, and her lips became redder and redder, making her look extremely terrifying.

Her parents hitched up the horse-drawn carriage and took her to the hospital in the town of Juelundi.

A one-eyed doctor examined her but couldn't diagnose anything substantial. He gave her some glucose and told her to make sure she got plenty of nutrition when she got home.

Back home, Tian Gaigai's parents were almost in despair.

They felt as if a man truly existed in the west wing, but he was invisible; they could never see him except for Tian Gaigai. They didn't know where he came from, his name, or what he truly was.

They could all sense the unfamiliar aura emanating from him, and his tall, thin shadow. He seemed to be out during the day and back at night.

That day, they brought in a shaman. The man had a goatee and his eyes darted around.

However, just as he and Tian Gaigai's father entered the Tian family compound, he suddenly turned around and walked out.

Tian Gaigai's father caught up with him and asked, puzzled, "Why don't you go inside?"

The person said in a panic, "Don't look for me anymore!"

Tian Gaigai's father desperately grabbed him, saying, "Please, save my daughter! I'll kowtow to you if I have to!"

The man's eyes darted around, and he said, "To be honest, I can't cure this. You'd better find someone else."

"But who is more skillful?"

"...There's a Flower God in Little Snake Village, he's amazing."

Xiaoshetun is 30 li away from Julongtun. Tian Gaigai's parents hitched up a horse-drawn carriage and took her there.

Tian Quan followed along; he already knew about this, and he dared not live at home with that person.

The flower master was an old man. He listened to Tian Gaigai's parents recount the whole story, remaining silent and lost in thought.

After a long pause, he said, "I can't beat this thing either; it's too powerful. But I have an idea—my house is quite deep. If you hide in my house for a few days, it won't be able to find you and will leave on its own."

So, the family of four settled down at the Flower God's house.

Strangely enough, Tian Gaigai's illness seems to have improved a lot in the past two days. She has stopped muttering to herself and has started eating again.

On the evening of the third day, as soon as it got dark, Tian Gaigai suddenly looked out the window in terror and whispered, "Oh no! He's here!"

Then, she ran around in fright, looking for a place to hide.

Everyone was stunned.