The village chief lives on the westernmost edge, with only two houses separating him from the wealthiest family in the village, the three Yang brothers. They were hardworking and efficient. Their houses were all made of red bricks, which surpassed all other households in the village.
To go to the village chief's house, one had to pass the three houses of the Yang brothers. As they were about to pass by the Yang's, Yu Jingting's ears perked up.
Suizi heard it too.
A rhythm of drum mingled with wailing singing sounded from the Yang's second courtyard. It was a ritualistic song, recounting tales of shifting spirits. What was happening was a common cultural activity in northern rural villages.
Commonly referred to as, "Summoning the God."
The one who made a scene in the courtyard, bounding around while drumming and singing, was her mother-in-law, Wang Cuihua.
In her past life, Suizi was not only afraid of the ruffian Yu Jingting but also her mother-in-law.
Wang Cuihua was a unique woman from the Wang family. Being a widow at an early age, she single-handedly raised her two children.
After losing her husband, she was neglected by her in-laws. To survive during those years with her young children, she had to remarry. Yet, for some reason, Wang Cuihua never remarried.
In the village, women without men were like unclaimed treasures by the roadside, prone to the advances of opportunists.
At that time, Yu Jingting was just ten years old, not as formidable as he is now, but a mere ruffian boy. Wang Cuihua, pregnant with Jiaojiao, was often disturbed by men with ill intentions knocking on her door in the middle of the night. She bolted her door with several locks and always kept a wooden stick by her side, fearing their intrusion.
Initially, she kept a dog as a guard. Later, she replaced it with three combat-ready geese. Unable to enter the courtyard, those men stood outside, shouting and hollering.
She was tarnished with a bad name, being accused of seducing men despite having done nothing wrong. The libel ran rampant through the village.
Men sought her, while women attacked her with harsh words. Had it been anyone else, they would have crumbled under such pressure.
Just when the rumors were at their peak, a loud noise thundered from Wang Cuihua's house, signaling her "entrance" (Note 1) into the divine realm.
The men, harboring ill intentions before, retreated in awe when they saw her, brandishing her drum, disheveled and distorted in expression, summoning the divine power. The women dared not call her a fox spirit anymore. After all, Wang Cuihua claimed that her guiding spirit was a fox spirit. They were invited to rebuke her if they did not fear retribution.
A real fox spirit—who dared to rebuke?
Wang Cuihua established her position in the village, supporting her children with these "peculiar rural customs."
Now that Yu Jingting had grown up and brought male labor to the family, Wang Cuihua seldom performed. However, for some unknown reason, she was stirring things up at the Yang's house today.
Her mother-in-law's "profession" was not just peculiar; she was also fiery and was known as the fiercest women in the village.
When Suizi was ten, she was frightened and fell sick after witnessing Wang Cuihua perform the "local custom."
Not long after, she saw Wang Cuihua standing and stomping her feet in defiance, ferocity incarnate. This sight also scared Suizi enough to fall ill again.
Her psychological scars were rooted from childhood.
Yu Jingting took a leaf from his mother's book, and magnified these traits, surpassing her in fervor.
This mother and son pair, one was known as the fiercest woman in the village, the other was a ruffian feared by all.
"When the sun sets and darkness falls, every family locks their doors. Out of ten houses, nine are locked, leaving one door remaining unlocked!"
The same eerie lyrics caused Suizi to surmise, but this time she felt no fear. Tears welled up in her eyes, and her heart ached.
In her past life, the mother-in-law she feared received news of her death. Wang Cuihua rushed to the wall where Suizi was buried, hopping around with her drum, hoping that Suizi could reincarnate into a better life. However, not only did this fail to make any difference, Wang Cuihua ended up fracturing her leg...
When Wang Cuihua was being placed on the stretcher of an ambulance, she cried out to Yu Jingting, wishing she indeed had Divine Powers; could bless Suizi with an early entrance to paradise, so she wouldn't have to suffer. Through her tears, she also bemoaned her fate, saying she was at fault for the early death of her husband and her son's wife.
At that moment, Suizi's soul was sitting on the wall and she discovered that her mother-in-law hadn't any Divine Power. All these years, it was all a pretense.
This was nothing but a lie made up by a woman desperate to survive, relying on this lie to raise two children.
Wang Cuihua, who had been strong for most of her life and has been heartbroken for her unfilial daughter-in-law who ran away, really wished at that moment that she had some kind of divine power to help Suizi. The divine power might be fake, but her heart was real.
Hearts are won over. Although Suizi couldn't understand why her fierce mother-in-law liked her so much, she remembered the tears her mother-in-law shed for her.
Now she had returned. She intended to get rid of the prejudices of the past life and get along well with the Yu Family.
Upon hearing that his mother was pulling off these deceptive tricks in someone else's courtyard, Yu Jingting felt a tug in his heart.
His wife was timid and currently terrified of these things. She had been like a mouse running from a cat upon seeing her mother-in-law for the past month. Now, seeing all this with her own eyes, how could everything be okay?
Looking at Suizi, with a teary face and her small fists clenched, looking dumbfounded into the distance – was she considering running away again?
"We should run when my mother isn't looking, don't let her see us," Yu Jingting whispered into Suizi's ear.
"Why?"
"If she knew that you asked for the dowry back, she will definitely have her eyes on it. This old woman is cunning, you can't beat her at this game – I mean, my mother is actually quite fond of you, she's just too used to being tough, you don't have to be afraid of her..." Yu Jingting regretted his words immediately.
What a bunch of nonsense he just spouted!
His wife was already afraid of her mother-in-law, and now he's said she's cunning, wouldn't she be even more scared?
Despite the tears, Suizi laughed at his remarks.
"Of course mother likes me. After all, you are such a mess and not dutiful, son. Who says those things about their own mother?"
Suizi quickly moved through Yang Family's property, and heard her mother-in-law miss an entire segment of her chant. Luckily, the villagers believed in these acts blindly and were afraid of ghosts and gods, otherwise her mother-in-law's full-of-loophole chants wouldn't have fooled anyone.
Now looking from a different perspective, Suizi no longer feared her mother-in-law and husband from past life. In fact, she even found them amusing.
Both her husband and mother-in-law were thwarted comedians. One of them retorted like a stand-up comedian while the other performed like a sketch artist.
Yu Jingting pondered while stroking his chin, was his wife defending his mother just now?
She wasn't scared anymore? Who was this adorable fairy who enlightened his wife?
If he didn't know that all his mother's tricks were just to deceive people, Yu Jingting would really want his mother to perform some for his wife. Regardless of which fairy enlightened his wife, he had one hope - don't stop!
"Alright, the fairy has been sent away. There won't be any problems in your home from now on," Wang Cuihua's husky voice from years of smoking echoed from the courtyard.
"Fourth Aunt, I didn't hear you sing the part about sending the fairy away?" Yang's second son asked sincerely yet doubtfully - weren't Fourth Aunt's scripts for this ritual different each time?
"Uh... the fairy is familiar with me and just went off by himself. You guys don't need to worry about these things, no need for the money, just send some sheep's milk to my house for a few months. My daughter-in-law needs to drink that because she is carrying a child."
Yang's second son was the only one who raised sheep in the village.
As Wang Cuihua wiped the sweat off her forehead, she looked out of the courtyard at the sneaky figures of Yu Jingting and Suizi.
Their positions made it look like they were playing chase. Wang Cuihua was about to swear out loud at her out-of-tune son, admonishing him not to bully Suizi.
But the next second, Wang Cuihua exclaimed, "Huh? Is that...?!"