This is a variety show, so attracting attention is essential. He also has a strong desire to perform in front of his loved one, which motivates him to win first place.
At the village chief's house, the two met the village chief's wife.
She was a very young woman, holding a small child in her arms, and you couldn't tell at all that she was a mother.
When she saw the two of them arrive, a smile spread across her face.
She answered all of Gu Yueyue and Xu Yi's questions without reservation.
"Please sit down. Come, have a cup of tea. It's made from tea grown in the village's fields. I learned how to make it from the villagers. Please try it."
“I’m not a local,” the village chief’s wife said with a smile. “A-Ming is a country boy who grew up on the charity of many families. After graduating, he wanted to come back and contribute to the development of the village, out of gratitude to his neighbors.”
“We were together in college, and got married right after graduation. This is our daughter, Xiaoxiao, who is four years old this year.”
“A village banquet? I’m not too sure. Wait a minute, Ah Ming has a notebook with local customs written in it. I’ve seen it before, I’ll go look for it for you.”
"Here, this is the notebook. Take a look."
Gu Yueyue took the old notebook, its pages filled with both messy and neat handwriting.
It records many local customs and traditions, as well as some snacks, entertainment, shops, and households.
The woman picked up the child and sat down in front of Gu Yueyue and Xu Yi.
“Ah Ming said that now that everyone’s material life has improved and every household is quite wealthy, we should get rid of the outdated cultural practices that the older generation still insists on, and improve the spiritual life of the villagers as well.”
"He had conflicts with several households in the village because of this. His trip to the city this time was also for these reasons."
“Actually, I advised him not to bother. These old feudal dregs will eventually be forgotten in the long river of history. He has already done a great job leading the villagers to prosperity.”
The woman sighed, "Making money for everyone is a good thing for the villagers. But changing their mindset and persuading them to abandon their old ideas is a bad thing for them. Ah Ming's life here is getting harder and harder. His work is restricted everywhere, and he has lost a lot of weight."
Gu Yueyue chatted casually with the woman, her hands moving constantly as she gradually turned to the last page.
"A ghost marriage?" Gu Yueyue's brow twitched as she looked at the slightly hastily written line in red ink. "People are holding ghost marriages here?"
The woman's expression changed; her faint smile vanished, replaced by anger.
"Yes. This happened last year. I thought this kind of thing only happened in the last century. I never expected it."
"When Ah Ming tried to stop them, he was surrounded and beaten by a group of people. If I hadn't called the police in time, sigh!"
Gu Yueyue glanced at the few lines of text. "What happened last year?" But the last page had a date written on it, and the year, month, and day corresponded to today.
The son of the bride's family is getting married through a ghost marriage. I can't let things continue like this; I must stop it.
The woman nodded. "It was last year. The Yue family's son was going to have a ghost marriage, and our A-Ming went to stop it."
Xu Yi was naturally looking at the notebook with Gu Yueyue, and after hearing their conversation, she couldn't help but make guesses.
"Sister-in-law, can you tell us about your marriage last year?" Xu Yi asked her, then added, "It wasn't like in the movies, where they force a living person to marry a dead one, was it?"
The woman's expression changed, and she sighed, "It was last year. But it wasn't exactly forced; the woman received money, and it was voluntary."
"According to the village, it is a ghost marriage, which has little impact on the living. The marriage is only considered complete after the woman dies."
"So some people will become ghost brides for money. It's nothing more than bowing to a rooster, and that way they can get paid."
Gu Yueyue shuddered as she listened, unable to imagine such a thing—marrying a dead person. How terrifying that must be.
Xu Yi understood that in her era, it was common for humans and ghosts to form contracts.
However, the kind of marriage based on mutual consent and understanding is definitely different from the ghost marriage they are facing now.
"And then what happened?" Xu Yi asked her, her intuition telling her that there was more to this story, and that the aftermath was not simple.
The woman sighed, then said with a wry smile, "Last year, that woman was known as the 'ghost bride' for miles around. She was practically a mourner; that was her business."
“Originally, this kind of thing was just a ritual, a psychological comfort for the living. But the Yue family said that their son came back to them in a dream from the underworld, saying that the woman was bad, that she cheated on him in every way, and that he wanted to divorce her and marry a new wife.”
Gu Yueyue's eyes widened slightly. They can still get a divorce?
"And then what?" Xu Yi became even more curious.
The people in the live stream are also getting better.
Some of the comments were even quite chilling.
—Holy crap, I think I heard an older family member mention something similar. The story was about a family who secretly abducted a young girl to hold a ghost marriage. It terrified the girl; she went completely insane.
—I vaguely recall what the person upstairs said. Later, the woman's brother came to their door and was beaten up by several of the man's relatives, leaving him paralyzed. Only his seventy-something-year-old grandmother was left at home, caring for a paralyzed grandson and a mentally ill granddaughter. It's truly tragic.
—I know that too. Later, the police came, and the people who beat people up were arrested and sentenced.
—I knew Yin Yu's shows were never simple, but I had no idea what the story would be like this time. Before I even saw the whole story, my blood pressure was already soaring. Superstition is a killer!
A note from the author:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2022-02-04 23:15:51 and 2022-02-05 21:04:28!
Thank you to the little angels who threw landmines: Yueqing and Anonymous (whose lives are one longer than others);
Thank you to the little angels who watered with nutrient solution: 2 bottles of Nanjin;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter Seventy-Three
The two left in silence.
Xu Yi was used to such things. The sinister cultivators and ignorant mortal priests of her past life, as well as the brutality of the demon race, made it difficult for her to be moved by these things anymore.
Her silence was a reflection on the story's veracity. If it was true, then did this posthumous marriage in the real world actually exist, and did its existence conform to the laws of nature?
If Heaven allows it, then there's nothing for her to do.
If it goes against the natural order, then she will have to step in to stop it.
Gu Yueyue's silence was a sign of heartache, heartache for that little girl she had never met, who had been forced into a ghost marriage. This feudal cancer still existed, poisoning the world in places where the sun did not shine.
"Teacher Gu! Watch your step." Xu Yi pulled her back and wrapped her in his arms.
Gu Yueyue felt pain in her ankle and looked at the small stone on the side of the road, just big enough to trip her.
"Ouch. Be gentle." Gu Yueyue felt the pain in her ankle, and supporting Xu Yi's body, she slowly bent down to check.
"Teacher Gu, don't move, let me take a look." Xu Yi squatted down and gently pressed her fingertips on it. Gu Yueyue gasped in pain.
"I twisted my ankle." Xu Yi glanced around. The cameraman was following them, but he didn't come to help. It was clear that the production team didn't intend to help.
Xu Yi: "Teacher Gu, let me carry you back."
"No, no need." Gu Yueyue quickly refused. She knew Xu Yi's strength; lifting her up was no problem for him, but she was too embarrassed to do so in front of the camera.
Xu Yi frowned. "Teacher Gu, if you walk back like this, the sprain will get worse."
Fans are already flooding the screen with messages urging the production team to call a doctor.
The idol is already injured, and the production team is still indifferent. It's really too much. This entertainment variety show has just gone through a dark story, and now they have to deal with the idol getting injured. They must be exhausted.
"Teacher Gu, let me carry you on my back." Xu Yi rarely noticed the shyness that Gu Yueyue was deliberately showing, so she came up with a good compromise: if she couldn't hug her, she would carry her on her back.
Gu Yueyue hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded.
With the soft, cuddly Miss Gu on her back, Xu Yi felt the walk ahead become much easier.
In a place unseen by the camera, Xu Yi gently channeled spiritual energy from her fingertips, healing Gu Yueyue's sprained ankle.
Perhaps because it was too comfortable and warm, Gu Yueyue didn't feel any pain in her foot injury.
Upon arriving at the courtyard, the program's doctor quickly came over.
Xu Yi glanced at the time; it was already past 3:10, almost time to meet Zhao Yuan.
The doctor came over, examined Gu Yueyue, and was somewhat surprised. He then smiled and said, "It looks quite serious, but it's not a big problem. I'll prescribe some medicinal wine and massage it for you."
Xu Yi wanted to help Miss Gu rub her hands, but she couldn't bring herself to ask, so she could only stand by and watch longingly.
Yin Yu's voice came through the doctor's earpiece. She smiled and handed the medicinal wine to Xu Yi.
"You're her boyfriend, right? I'll tell you how to massage her, it's very simple, come and watch."
"Ah?" Xu Yi looked at the things in her hand and listened to what she said, and her heart warmed. She then looked at Miss Gu and saw that Miss Gu had her eyes lowered and was not saying a word.
If there's no rebuttal, does that mean they agree?
Xu Yi chuckled and enthusiastically learned the massage techniques from the doctor.
It's not difficult at all. Apply the medicine to your palm and gently massage it along the meridians.
In fact, even if the doctor hadn't taught her, Xu Yi would have known how to do this little thing, but she still studied it very seriously.
It was almost 3:30, and the doctor signaled her to stop.
"It's fine now. Just rest for one night and you'll be fine tomorrow. As long as you don't run, jump, or do any strenuous exercise, walking will be no problem."
After the doctor left, Xu Yi poured Gu Yueyue a glass of water.
Gu Yueyue glanced at the time. "It's almost time for your appointment with Teacher Zhao. Go and keep her company. Don't keep her waiting."
Xu Yi was reluctant to part with her and told her to rest well and not to get out of bed.
Before leaving, I poured her a glass of water and thoughtfully inserted a straw, and then brought up a fruit platter from upstairs.
"I'm leaving now. Call me if you need anything. Don't go out and move around too much, take good care of yourself."
Gu Yueyue liked her thoughtful advice, but was embarrassed that this scene was being shown in front of the camera.
"Okay. I understand. Go ahead and get busy. Don't worry about me, hurry up and go."
Gu Yueyue urged her to leave quickly, otherwise she was afraid that if she continued to linger and chatter on, she would be unable to resist getting up and shutting up that incessantly chattering little mouth.
Xu Yi felt a little sad, as if Miss Gu was looking down on her.
When Xu Yi arrived at the entrance of the courtyard, Zhao Yuan was already waiting there. His expression was not good, and it was obvious to anyone that he was angry. He exuded an aura of fury.
Surprisingly, Chen Sha and Han Muzhou also came over.
The two of them walked over, chatting as they went.
I was a little surprised when I saw Xu Yi.
Chen Sha smiled and said, "What a coincidence, I didn't expect to run into you again."