Chapter 1
Hanging Herself Again
Jiang Xi had been carried back again. Three times he had been engaged, three times he had broken off the engagement, three times he had hung herself, and three times she had broken someone’s beam. Now, the entire village was on guard against Jiang Xi, afraid that she would take things too hard and hang himself in front of their house. Hanging herself was a small matter, but he had broken the beam every time. Who had he offended? It was a lot of money to repair a beam!
A woman with a headscarf and a capable aura walked in front with a face full of sweat. From time to time, she would turn around and shout, “Be gentle! Who will be responsible if you wake him up? Old Jiang family! Old Jiang family, hurry up and come out! Your Jiang Xi hung himself again! It’s so early in the morning, how unlucky!”
Behind the woman were two dark and muscular youths with honest looks. The two of them were carrying a stretcher made of bamboo strips. On the stretcher lay a sickly little girl. She was seventeen or eighteen years old and was thin and pale. Her slender eyebrows were slightly furrowed, making her look even more delicate, as if the wind could blow her over. The little girl’s fair skin made the deep purple mark on her neck look even more terrifying.
“Old Jiang, hurry up and come out! Your Jiang Xi is courting death again! Last month, he hung the beam of the Wang family’s house. Today, she came to my house to hang herself and almost smashed me to death! Can you control him! If she wants to hang herself, she can do it at her own house…” The woman placed her hands on her hips and looked fierce. She wanted to say that she would die in her own house, but she suddenly heard a low moan from the stretcher behind her. She was so frightened that she quickly stopped. It was over, it was over. This little ancestor was about to wake up!
Jiang Xi’s mother, Yang Fen, had just stepped out of the door when she saw the woman’s expression as if she was facing a great enemy. She was so angry that her entire body was trembling. “My good daughter, why are you so stubborn? If you cancel the engagement when you’re not lucky… How are father and mother going to live like this?!” Yang Fen cried as she rushed to Jiang Xi’s side. One look at Yang Fen’s dressing and one could tell that she was poor. Her clothes had been washed until they turned white, and there was also a lot of white hair at her temples. She was probably malnourished all year round. After crying, she wiped her tears and looked at the woman. “Mrs. Lin, I’ve really troubled you. Our Jiang Xi has a hard life. The marriage that was finally settled was canceled three days ago…”
The two youths saw that Yang Fen was crying sadly and felt even more embarrassed. After putting down the stretcher, they jumped away.
“Tough life? If your Jiang Xi’s life is tough, then wouldn’t we, who are unlucky for no reason, have an even tougher life? Your Jiang Xi hung herself three times and collapsed other people’s roof beams three times. Why didn’t Jiang Xi hang herself in your own house? Did she specially picked on us so that we could be bullied? Let me ask you, aren’t you afraid to see a snow-white little girl with a bruised face lying at your door so early in the morning?” Mrs. Lin’s attitude was very mean because she had to waste more than 100 yuan to repair the roof beams again. Just thinking about it made her grit her teeth in hatred. She did not feel that human lives were more important than 100 yuan.
Mrs. Lin seemed to be still angry after scolding them. She turned around and scolded her silly son, “The two of you are also useless! I told you to stay at home and watch. Don’t let Jiang Xi, this girl, come and harm our house! Look at what you’ve done!” The way Mrs. Lin gritted her teeth frightened her two sons so much that they hurriedly took two steps back.
Yang Fen was originally crying on Jiang Xi’s body, but when she heard Mrs. Lin’s words, she could not hold it in anymore. She immediately took out 200 yuan from her pocket and hesitated for a long time with her calloused palm touching the money. Then, she gritted her teeth and stuffed it into the Lin family’s daughter-in-law’s hand. “This… This beam was broken by our Jiang Xi. We can’t let you repair it yourself… Take this 200 yuan. The rest of the money is for the two children to buy something to nourish them. Our Jiang Xi has caused you trouble.”
After Mrs. Lin took the money, she also had a smile on her face. She took the money and looked at it lovingly before putting it away. She looked at Yang Fen and said earnestly, “Well, Sister Yang Fen, it’s not that I want to say this, but it’s time for your Jiang Xi to go to the temple to take a look. I’m telling you this because I treat you as someone I’m familiar with. Look at the people around you. Which family’s marriage is as complicated as your Jiang Xi’s? Three times she were engaged and three times they broke off the engagement. Jiang Xi even hung herself three times and didn’t die three times… Ahem, this matter is too fantastical. It’s better to go to the temple to take a look and pray. If there’s a problem, shouldn’t it be resolved sooner?”
Mrs. Lin’s words were like a knife stabbing into Yang Fen’s heart, making her unable to maintain her expression.
“Cough, cough…” At that moment, a faint cough sounded.