Chapter 9

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Before the sun had risen, a gentle pale light already stretched across the eastern horizon.

As Lingze Xia opened his eyes, the silent village of Guiyi seemed to come alive all at once: birds joyfully sang from the branches, morning dew sparkled in the fields, rice swayed in the breeze, roosters crowed and dogs barked in turn, and a thin mist floated over the river’s surface. From the villagers’ homes came the sounds of coughing, cooking, and conversation—a symphony of daily life.

After getting up, Lingze first glanced at his mother, who was still asleep. He quietly slipped on his jacket, picked up the toothbrush and cup resting on the windowsill, and went outside to wash.

It wasn’t until after he had washed his face and fed the chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs in the backyard that Lingze realized something was missing.

His father hadn’t come home last night. His mother said he was probably staying at Qin Jinhua’s house and there was no need to worry.

Lingze was puzzled. They lived in the same village, not far apart—why wouldn’t he come home?

His mother replied calmly that his father was working on a large commission that required communication, so it was perfectly normal for him to stay with the client. It wasn’t a matter of distance. Moreover, Qin Jinhua had no relatives; his father not only had to craft the item but also help organize things, keeping him very busy. Staying there saved a lot of trouble.

Besides, his father’s legs were weak. What might take Lingze only ten minutes to walk from their home to Qin’s would take his father an hour.

Lingze thought about it and agreed. Although they had a wheelchair at home, it wasn’t fair to ask his anemic, frail mother to push it.

Of course, he could help, but his parents had strong pride and firmly refused to let Lingze act as their “transport.”

Qin Jinhua’s wedding was scheduled for August; it was only June now, so about two months remained.

Lingze planned to finish inspecting the fields and check on the cattle and sheep grazing on the mountain before visiting Sister Qin. He wanted to see if she needed any help and, at the same time, find out what kind of person her fiancé was—whether he would move to Guiyi Village or take her away.

Because his mind was occupied with Qin Jinhua’s wedding, Lingze completely forgot about the bear cub he had brought home.

It was only when he saw Uncle Hu’s big dog wandering through the village, his usual inspection route, that he remembered the bear cub was missing.

Just as he was about to look for it, Tiedan approached, noticing Lingze’s anxious expression.

“What’s wrong? You look worried,” Tiedan asked.

Lingze said, “The bear cub is gone—the one I brought back yesterday.”

Tiedan waved a hand and said with righteous certainty, “It probably wandered off somewhere. After all, it’s wild, not a pet. Bears aren’t like dogs; even if you raise one from a cub, it doesn’t necessarily recognize you as its master. Looking for it won’t help; it depends on whether it wants to come back. We can’t ignore an animal’s own will. You can’t force it to stay.”

Hearing this, Lingze lowered his head in guilt. He thought Tiedan was right—no wonder he was the most educated person in the village, always speaking profound truths. He wished he could speak as eloquently as Tiedan.

In fact, he had asked Tiedan once how to gain such eloquence.

Tiedan said that the key to eloquence was knowledge. A person who has an empty mind will only offer empty talk, no matter how well they speak.

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Lingze eagerly asked where he could gain knowledge. Tiedan’s expression turned serious as he said, “There are teachers outside the village. I learned all this because I studied abroad.” He sighed deeply and lamented, “Our Guiyi Village is too remote and poor; no one wants to come here.”

...

“All right, then I’ll go see Sister Qin.”

“You’re going to look for Qin Jinhua? Why? She doesn’t hang out with us.”

“Sister Qin is getting married. I want to see if she needs help.”

“Hah, no need. Everything’s ready; just waiting for the groom.”

“My mom said the groom’s from outside. Do you think he’ll look down on us? I asked Sister She at the market this month to help keep an eye out for a wedding dress and such. Things from outside are more precious than what we have here; it should help make a good impression,” Lingze worried aloud.

If she married outside, and her natal family didn’t support her, Qin might suffer mistreatment.

—This was something Lingze had heard from Tiedan.

He told a story about a woman married away three years ago. Her family thought she was doing well, but she lied to spare them worry. In reality, she was treated like a servant and abused daily... Eventually, she was beaten to death. The husband’s family coldly informed her family to come and collect the body, then immediately remarried.

Lingze’s fists clenched upon hearing this.

No matter what, the natal family’s support had to be strong. If Qin married away, he would visit from time to time. If her husband treated her badly, he could help her separate and return home.

Tiedan almost laughed out loud.

Worried about Qin Jinhua being mistreated? That was the funniest joke he’d ever heard.

But Lingze knew nothing of Qin’s formidable nature. Suppressing a smile, Tiedan cleared his throat and reassured him, “No worries. Nowadays, people outside are chasing handmade, all-natural things, a return to simplicity. Qin Jinhua’s dowry alone would be worth hundreds of millions outside. Don’t overthink it.”

“Then... Uncle Tiedan, do you know what kind of person Sister Qin’s fiancé is?”

At this, Tiedan’s lips curved into a brilliant smile. His pale skin gleamed under the sun, almost lifeless, like a corpse lying in a coffin. His voice was light, full of meaning: “A... hopeless romantic (or a heartbreaker).”

“So you’ve met him?” Lingze asked curiously. “If he’s a hopeless romantic, he must treat Sister Qin very well.”

“Well, how could he not? So well that Sister Qin can’t forget him. Knowing he was about to do something good, she prepared a big surprise for him.”

“A super big surprise.”

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July.

July 7th was Lingze Xia’s birthday.

The whole village had prepared gifts for him, and Lingze thanked everyone sincerely.

A month had passed, and the bear cub still hadn’t returned. Just as Uncle Tiedan had said, the cub belonged to the wild and would not come back.

Lingze was downcast for a few days but quickly regained his spirits because the market day in July had arrived.

Although Uncle Tiedan said that wedding dresses from outside couldn’t compare to the handmade ones from the village, Lingze still exchanged with Sister She, since they had agreed from the start.

“By the way, this is the axe of the pig-headed man. It’s been cleaned. He had something to do today and couldn’t come, so he asked me to hold onto it,” Sister She said without changing her expression.

“Is that so?” Lingze didn’t think much and traded two of his domesticated chickens for it.

Next was Brother Yang.

Brother Yang carried a monkey’s head several times larger than normal, about the size of his sheep head mask.

“Wow, thank you, Brother Yang!” Lingze took out two domesticated geese as agreed for the exchange.

Yang Mo forced a smile. “No need to thank me. Just don’t want it back.”

But Monkey Trick had also suffered serious injuries in their fight. It was fast and clever, sly and cunning, often mistrusting others’ intentions... and it had just exposed its trick.

In the end, it narrowly lost.

Happily clutching the items he’d exchanged, Lingze returned to the village and found Uncle Tiedan to ‘evaluate’ their value.

Tiedan looked thoughtfully at the left side’s A-grade wedding dress from the Trick Spirit, the right side’s A-grade monkey head from the Monkey Trick, and in the middle, a paper doll spirit’s paper with a couplet written using the shadowy body of the Little Trick, alongside incense from the Candle Guest...

He fell into deep thought.

He could already imagine that a terrifying rumor must be spreading among the spirits lately.