Famine

Chapter 27

"How could such a thing happen?" His expression changed.

I really don't want to drag this out any longer. Besides, his antics have already made me very unhappy.

“Wasteland.” I said, my face darkening.

She loves these kinds of scary things, especially since I gave her permission to do them. She appeared on my shoulder, her face slightly turned to the side.

I don't know how much the guesthouse owner saw, but he yelled and fell to the ground. He crawled away with his back to me, repeatedly kowtowing, telling me to find the key myself.

Forget about how funny it is that you kowtowed with your back to me. I have to say, among all the ghosts and monsters, Huang E is actually considered reasonably beautiful. The creature living in your house… is hundreds of times scarier than Huang E. You're not afraid of that at all, but you're afraid of the rather beautiful Huang E.

"Those vulgar people wouldn't see my beauty." She arrogantly smoothed her hair with her wing. "Tang Chen, do you think I'm pretty?"

"You have no taste! Huang'e is so cute, and you were scared like that." Tang Chen patted her back affectionately. Huang'e was practically melting into him; I felt embarrassed for her.

Ignoring them, I cautiously knocked and pushed open the door.

The seven young ladies were still hanging salted fish from the rafters, their faces half-turned, long hair covering their faces. Luckily, I don't have a heart condition, or I would have been scared to death.

I took a deep breath and bowed deeply. "Miss Jing, I apologize for disturbing you."

"What does the little sister have to say..." The young lady was halfway through her answer when she saw Tang Chen behind me and gasped in surprise, covering her face.

For a moment, the air was thick with mist, as if hundreds of tons of dry ice had been placed there. When the mist dissipated, the seven young ladies, dressed neatly with their long hair styled in exquisite buns and delicately applying rouge and powder, bowed to Tang Chen.

"I was unaware of your presence and have failed to greet you properly. Please forgive me."

Tang Chen hurriedly returned the greeting. I stood there dumbfounded. Thinking about it carefully, these young ladies had never formally met Tang Chen; even at the altar, they had only caught a fleeting glance, so they probably didn't recognize him.

Now that they've recognized him, he's giving such a grand gift...

Not only did Huang E treat me differently, but these damned hanged ghosts did too. I couldn't help but feel a little sad.

"What should we do, Hengzhi?" Tang Chen whispered.

"What can we do? Everyone likes you. Why don't you just be the matchmaker?" I said, a little defiantly.

"It's enough if you like me more than everyone else likes me," he blurted out.

…That loose tongue of his! I knew he didn't mean it that way, but my face still burned.

“I… I mean,” he said, blushing, “a lifelong friend.”

"I know." I cleared my throat. "Be quiet and don't bother me."

With a heavy heart, I explained Prince Zheng's marriage proposal and respectfully presented the marriage request letter, not forgetting to vaguely involve Tang Chen, as if I wasn't the only matchmaker.

After a moment's hesitation, the young lady declined the marriage proposal. "Our lives are as fragile as willow branches, how can we bear such a high honor? Although it is a kind gesture from a benevolent person that we cannot refuse, our mothers are still alive, and we still need our parents' permission. Please forgive us for not being able to comply."

…Ah Gui, you should speak Chinese.

"So you guys prefer hanging salted fish here?" Huang E said coldly. "Let me translate for you. These female ghosts are saying times have changed..."

"Lord Golden Wing!" the young lady cried out urgently, "You are so magnanimous...why make things difficult for us?"

Huang E's personality of liking to be flattered is hopeless; a few words of praise from someone and she becomes effeminate. "Alright, alright, I won't say it then. The Zheng Prince's family has strict rules; there's nothing good about marrying into that family."

"Can you please be quiet? Lord Golden Wing!" I snapped.

In the end, we ran into a few snubs and returned home dejected.

I asked the old man to help me deliver the results, but Prince Zheng refused to give up and instead directly begged the old man.

“…Girl, he’s a prince, I’m just a local official.” The old man hesitated. “You should go to Penghu.”

"What about my homework? What about my travel money?" I was about to cry.

"I'll tutor you and cover your travel expenses too," Tang Chen said, feeling bad. "I took on this task, so I can't just stand by and do nothing."

I was thinking of just hiding my head and pretending not to know anything. But the old man couldn't take it anymore. He sent a ghost messenger to me with a pale face, saying that the prince had sent twelve documents in a row, asking me when I would get up.

"...Lend me your travel expenses, I'll go by myself," I said sheepishly to Tang Chen. I owed the old man a huge debt, and I couldn't just not pay him back.

"I'll go with you..."

"No good." Although I'm worried about leaving him here, I've seen it all. Should I drag him to find Miss Seven? I heard he got into another fight with his girlfriend. Should I then drag him to Penghu?

"Instead of wasting time running around with me, you should go find Yuzheng and explain things to him, and make up quickly," I advised him. "I heard you two had another fight? Didn't you grow up together as childhood sweethearts? This kind of relationship isn't easy to come by, what's there to argue about? You're a boy, you can usually just put up with it, but girls are naturally more reluctant to back down..."

"You're overthinking it. It's not because of you." Tang Chen lowered his head. "It's the same old story, we're arguing about the same thing... Hengzhi, I have a serious defect."

I looked at him, confused, but he refused to look at me and turned his face away.

Honestly, I can't think of any flaws in the perfect Tang Chen... At most, he might be a bit clueless about social interactions. But whatever his flaws are, he's still my best and only friend.

"Tell me when you're ready," I patted his arm. "No matter what your disability is, you'll still be my good friend."

He gave a brief smile. "Hengzhi, it would be better if you were a boy."

I shrugged. "I'm not that much different from guys... You should go and make up with Yuzheng. What's there to argue about?"

He actually lent me some travel money and didn't run away with me.

When I arrived in Penghu, I felt a bit dizzy. I was still thinking how strange this family's surname was, "Jing" (井, meaning well). Little did I know that Grandma Jing... was actually a spirit of an ancient well.

During the Ming Dynasty, pirates were rampant, and it wasn't just the Seven Beauties who couldn't bear the humiliation; many hanged themselves or threw themselves into wells. These unfortunate young girls' wronged souls wept day and night, which moved the spirit of the ancient well to pity, and she took them all under her wing as her daughters. Later, she took their names as her surname and called herself Granny Well, and these young ladies became known as the daughters of the Well Mansion.

Granny Jing, having received offerings from the temple for many years, possesses considerable supernatural abilities. She also cherishes her daughters. She worries day and night about the seventh young lady who went with Daliang, and now that she has received news of her, she is naturally overjoyed. However, when I presented her with a marriage proposal, she declined it as well.

“The girls are growing up and have gone overseas. They should decide their own marriages… What era are we living in? Why do we still talk about arranged marriages by parents and matchmakers?” She dismissed the idea completely.

This trip, besides making me severely carsick and seasick, and causing me to fall ill upon my return, yielded no other benefits.

Just as he was fretting, Huang E let out a long yawn. "I wonder if the matchmaker's gift is generous enough... If it is, I'll help you make this happen."

I looked at her suspiciously, "...This can't be solved by a pregnancy-preserving talisman."

"I'm not just good at drawing pregnancy-preserving charms," she chuckled. "You only ever think about getting things done through legitimate means. But many things can't be resolved through legitimate means."

I didn't believe her at first, but the old man was being pressured by the prince, and I was being pressured by the old man. We had no choice but to grit our teeth and agree.

"How are you going to thank me?" she chuckled.

"250cc of my blood!"

She tilted her head and considered for a moment, then said, "If I add 250cc of Tang Chen's blood, I'll finish it for you."

"Hello!"

"Then you can continue to be driven to a dead end," she said coolly.

Besides agreeing, what other choice did I have? But when I said I would only give it to her if things went well, she readily agreed.

…Am I doing the right thing? I couldn't help but wonder.

Huang E was gone for ten days. The old man sighed to me, and I sighed to Tang Chen. Those ten days were harder to endure than ten years.

The only consolation is that Tang Chen and Miss Lioness have made up. Miss Lioness even came to apologize, bringing a very expensive cake... Unfortunately, I don't like sweets, so I gave it to Shuo.

I asked Tang Chen for his blood. He readily extended his wrist without even asking any questions, showing complete trust in me.

"You need to be a little wary of people."

“I’m wary of everyone.” He smiled, his eyes crinkling.

…I really don’t know how to repay this trust.

Ten days later, Huang E returned exhausted, but in high spirits. "It's settled, let's go propose marriage. Granny Jing said that it's best for the daughter to make the decision, and let Prince Zheng handle it himself; it's none of our business."

Although I was completely clueless, I still mustered up the courage to propose marriage. The Seventh Miss, who had previously kept everyone at arm's length, accepted the marriage proposal with a shy and hesitant air this time.

Before I could even figure things out, the Zheng and Jing prefectures were already holding celebrations.

That winter, a mysterious, continuous rain fell for over ten days. The rain carried a faint scent of sandalwood, a rare occurrence in the drought-stricken south. I also took over ten days off, working day and night to accompany them, almost to the point of exhaustion.

You know my constitution. And these are all spirits of the underworld. After this joyous occasion, I almost lost my life. It was only thanks to a gust of auspicious wind from Lord Zheng that I was brought back. I thanked him profusely and even personally went into the shrine to thank the old man, which startled all the ghosts and spirits in the mountain, and the old man was almost scared to death.

I went back to Shuo's place and was sick until the winter break started, so I couldn't get up and even missed my final exams. I was originally sobbing in my pillow when Tang Chen gave me my report card, and my eyes widened in disbelief.

I not only got good grades on the final exam, but I got high scores in every subject. I didn't even take the exams.

But the students who heard me say this were completely confused. "Are you delirious from your illness? You went to the exam while sick; I see you every day. Is being sick actually stimulating your potential? Your grades are so good—can you teach me a thing or two…?"

…Is this part of the thank-you gift for the matchmaker?

I thought that truckload of paper money was a thank-you gift for the matchmaker. Finally, the prince showed a little common sense.

That truckload of paper money really caused a sensation throughout the school. It is said that a spirit medium from a Wangye Temple in Tainan suddenly requested a truckload of paper money to be delivered to the Land God Temple at Lianhu University, which caused quite a stir in the local news for a while.

I gave all the paper money from that truckload to the old man as a favor. Otherwise, tell me, how am I supposed to use all that paper money?

However, I did ask the Prince for a proper thank-you gift for the matchmaking. I would appreciate it if He would ask me to be a matchmaker for anyone else... I'm too unlucky and my life is too short to handle another happy event.

But I'm really puzzled as to how the desolation was created.

She received blood from me and Tang Chen, saying she needed to properly digest and cultivate it, so she was almost always sleeping. When I asked her about it, she chuckled lazily a few times.

"Oh dear, girls in those days were all a little bit heroic~" she wouldn't tell me.

Later, as the gossip spread, Master Zhao told me that the mountain spirits and water monsters on the Seventh Miss's side had returned, causing great disturbance. Just when things were in dire straits, seven military commanders from the Zheng family happened to be patrolling and saved the day.

The hero and the beauty instantly fell in love. Upon inquiring, they discovered they had previously been engaged. They were both shy and delighted. So when I proposed, it was a perfect match, and they joyfully celebrated their wedding.

…I mean, isn't the timing just too perfect?! Those mountain spirits and water monsters pretending to be thugs were probably beaten and scolded by Huang E, and somehow ended up with bruised and swollen faces, putting on this bandit show so that those military commanders could have a chance to become heroes?!

"What a mess!" I yelled, grabbing her ear. "Isn't this extortion?!"

She opened one eye. "You don't understand, that's how a girl's heart is. By the time she realizes she's being blackmailed, it's too late...hehehe..." She then fell asleep again.

…I can only pray that Miss Seven will never find out about this. If anyone's going to beat someone up, it should be her husband at home, or at most Huang E, please don't beat me up.

"...I never want to be an unlucky matchmaker again." Sitting on the edge of the bed, I started to cry.

(End of Divine Media)

Part Four Winter Vacation

On the first day of winter vacation, Ms. Lioness personally went south and dragged Tang Chen home. Before leaving, Ms. Lioness asked me with a forced smile, "Want to come to my house for the New Year? Tang Chen's house is just across the street."

…I'm not particularly interested in treacherous banquets, and I certainly don't want to be handed over to someone who will disembowel me.

"I'd like to spend the New Year with Shuo, thank you for the invitation." I forced a smile, "Wishing you a Happy New Year."

Tang Chen waved to me with a smile, "I'll call you again."

…An idiot who can't be taught. "No need," I lied without batting an eye, "My phone's broken. See you when school starts."

Hurry up and get them out the door.