Chapter 24: Are You Trying to Trick Me Into Marriage?

Xiang Yu waited at home for another forty or fifty minutes. With only twenty minutes left until three o'clock, and with her parents, Xiang Fuqiang and his wife, still asleep, she felt confident that her sister would surely make it onto the bus to the county seat. Relieved, she took her wood-cutting blade and an English textbook and headed up the mountain.

By dusk, Xiang Yu returned, panting as she dragged two dead pine trees behind her.

As soon as Li Meilan saw her, she rushed over in a panic. "Where did your sister go? Did she go wood-cutting with you?"

Xiang Yu looked at her with a blank expression. "No. She was still home doing chores when I left to cut wood. Why don't you call her cell phone?"

Li Meilan had already discovered that Xiang Di's clothes and luggage bag were missing. In a foul mood, she snapped, "I already did. That wretched girl has her phone turned off." She then threatened Xiang Yu, "If you know where she is and don't tell me, I’ll beat you to death."

Xiang Yu dropped the trees heavily to the ground; the two large, withered trunks were incredibly heavy. She retorted angrily, "Beat me, beat me! If you’re so capable, kill me right now! I’ve been up on the mountain cutting wood, working until now without even a drop of water, while you and Dad were sleeping like logs at home. If you two didn't know where she went, how on earth would I know?"

Xiang Yu’s righteous indignation actually made Li Meilan believe she had nothing to do with it. Too preoccupied to fuss over Xiang Yu’s attitude, she hurried off to find Xiang Fuqiang, who was out inquiring around the village.

After asking around, they found someone who had seen Xiang Di heading to the street just after two o'clock, carrying a fertilizer bag and claiming she was going to get a cotton quilt processed and buy sesame oil.

Once Xiang Fuqiang started asking, the entire village knew. Everyone began to whisper and speculate: had Xiang Di run away? It surely had to do with the engagement. Li Meilan had been bragging all morning about her daughter’s two-hundred-thousand-yuan dowry. With such a high price, there had to be something wrong with the arrangement. Some guessed that Xiang Di might have a secret lover at the factory and refused to marry.

Others argued that Xiang Di had always been a quiet and dutiful girl, unlikely to do such a thing. Regardless, the atmosphere in Kapok Village that evening was buzzing, with everyone offering their own take. Since everyone views the world through the colored lenses of their own experiences and prejudices, the rumors were endless.

Xiang Fuqiang and Li Meilan, no longer caring about the cost, quickly rented a motorcycle in the village and rushed to the street. Unfortunately, they couldn't find out where Xiang Di had gone; the people processing cotton and pressing oil insisted they hadn't seen any young woman that afternoon. They had no choice but to wait for the three o'clock bus to return from the county seat the next morning to question the driver.

Xiang Fuqiang and Li Meilan cursed and grumbled for half the night before falling asleep, fully embodying the irony of being unable to sleep in the early hours after spending the entire day lounging in bed. They didn't give Xiang Yu much trouble, as they couldn't fathom that their dull and taciturn daughter would have the nerve to orchestrate such a thing. They preferred to believe that Xiang Di had simply picked up bad habits and learned how to be deceitful.

Xiang Yu thought the crisis for her and her sister had been averted for the moment, but it soon proved she had let her guard down too early.

Li Meilan and her husband, unwilling to give up the massive dowry, delayed calling the Liu family to cancel the engagement, hoping instead to successfully track down Xiang Di the next day.

Early the next morning—the earliest Li Meilan and Xiang Fuqiang had ever risen—the couple set out on foot toward the street. They never expected that, before they could even wait for the bus, they would run into Liu Gang’s family.

Liu Gang was riding his motorcycle with his parents on the back when they passed by. Liu’s mother, sharp-eyed, tapped her son. "Stop! Isn't that your future mother-in-law and father-in-law?"

The Liu family had assumed that Xiang Fuqiang and his wife were there, just like them, to buy fresh produce and meat. However, during the pleasantries, they noticed the couple’s shifty eyes and strange demeanor, assuming they had run into some trouble. Liu Gang, quite satisfied with Xiang Di’s height and purity, was very enthusiastic. He smiled obsequiously and asked, "Mom, Dad, is something the matter? Can I help?"

The sound of "Mom and Dad" made the couple shudder. They looked at each other, terrified. How could they keep hiding it?

Xiang Fuqiang offered a forced smile. "Liu Gang, our Xiang Di had something come up and went out. She didn't tell us, and her phone isn't going through."

This half-truth immediately revealed the malice in the Liu family. Liu Gang’s face changed instantly, his eyes turning cold and furious. "What is the meaning of this?"

His mother let out a sharp shriek. "Are you trying to swindle us with a fake marriage?"