"So, tell me, child. Why are you here?" Ba Susan asked curiously since he was still unaware of the reason why Calista would be at his home.
Calista grinned mischievously as she looked at the elderly man who had treated her pretty well ever since she started living in Cropville.
If it was someone else, they would have refused and rejected her, but he took her in, offered his hill where she was staying and supported her even when the rest of the village didn't like it.
He was like a father to her and the kind who would always spoil her and accompany her in doing whatever she wanted. And for that, she was very grateful.
"Uncle, I am getting married!" however there were still some words that were just too strong to let the elders hear in the morning, but what could she do when she was in a hurry?
"You are getting what?"
"Calista, what are you saying?"
"What?"
The room was filled with gasps and exclaims the moment Calista revealed her purpose of coming to the chief's house.
Calista remained calm despite the chaos surrounding her. A smile was pasted on her face as she utterly enjoyed how shocked the three people were.
"You …. Calista, you are not teasing me again, are you?" Ba Susan took a deep breath before asking hesitantly, hoping that he didn't hear pretty well what she had just said.
Unfortunately, Calista's response was enough to make his mind go blank for a while.
"Uncle, I am not teasing you this time. I am really serious!" Calista answered seriously, her firmness speaking volumes.
"You …. Cali, this … where did you find the groom?" Susan couldn't help but ask, confusingly.
As Calista's best friend of five years, there was never a single day she heard anything about Calista having an affair or seeing another man.
Ever since her late husband died and got kicked out of her former village, Susan could swear that Calista had maintained her chastity and never done anything to wrong her late husband.
There was a long queue of many men who wanted to remarry Calista. After all, not only was she beautiful, and well learned but she was also rich. She was the richest woman she had ever seen, especially in the eight villages forming their district, though at times she liked lying low.
However, despite all that, not even once did she hear about anything. She was even with Calista the previous day, so how did she suddenly think of marrying?
"Cali, is it because of Benita? You don't need to take her words seriously. You know that girl has issues!" Susan asked, showing her concern.
As she was one of the people who saw Benita confronting Calista rudely before, she was worried that Benita's words might have affected Calista to react this way suddenly.
However, Calista simply shook her head, a smile pasted on her face before responding, "although her words didn't sit well with me. I am not doing that because of her. I have realized that I am still young and if I re-marry early, I might be holding my own babies in a couple of years."
"Besides, I have finished all mourning rituals and was chaste and filial for five years. What more could they ask from me?" Calista nonchalantly stated, recalling how a widow was supposed to mourn her husband for three years before even thinking of remarrying.
Upon hearing that, Ma Susan looked at her husband with a helpless expression, wondering how he was going to tackle this.
"This is nice since you have made up your mind. Do you want me to help you find a groom, or do you have someone in mind already?" Ba Susan wasn't a fool.
He was able to govern the village properly without any major problems because he was good at what he did.
Ever since meeting Calista, a young woman who went against the norm all the time, he was starting to think outside the box.
Whenever Calista suggests something, he knows that she will have already completed everything. It might sound like a suggestion, but to him, he knew that she was just informing him and all he needed to do was play along.
When Calista heard Ba Susan's response, a big smile blossomed on her face.
"Uncle, you really understand me the most!" she cooed happily as she looked at the older man with a smile.
Seeing her acting like that, Susan rolled her eyes, completely baffled by how shameless and thick-skinned Calista was at times.
"Just tell me, quickly!" he urged, seeing how playful she was becoming.
Calista scratched her nose sheepishly as she prepared to drop a few mini bombs on the family of three.
"I already have someone in mind. He is my childhood fiancé!" Calista responded.
"He is what?" it was Susan's turn to exclaim surprisingly upon hearing that.
Susan couldn't believe that Calista had someone like that in her life. In the ten years, everyone had known Calista, there was not even a single human being they had seen who had a past with her.
"Alas, you won't believe it, but someone he found me and I left him home," Calista sighed dejectedly as if she had been wronged.
"He is at your house? What's going on?"
"I don't know how he found me, but since our families had an agreement before which made me run away and end up here, I can't ignore it this time. Besides, he is the only family member remaining in his family and since he isn't afraid of marrying a widow, I thought of not letting my ancestors down once again."
When the three heard that, at first, they couldn't believe it. After all, Calista was pretty well known for her pranks and teasing others.
However, seeing her sounding dejected and as if she was leaving everything to fate, they all began to believe that she was telling the truth.
"This…. Are you sure that's what you want?" Ba Susan hesitatingly asked once again.
Calista raised her head and looked at Ba Susan. She didn't even feel guilty to lie and answered faintly, "At least by marrying him, I don't have to fear anyone calling me names or implicating you. It's not like I am committing a sin or a crime!"
"That's true. You aren't doing anything against the customs at all!" Ma Susan sighed as she thought of how flexible the laws were nowadays.
"If that's what you want, then I will help you. What kind of wedding do you want?" Ba Susan said after a thought.
Since she was determined, there was no reason for him to dissuade her. It was her life and just like she said, having a man with her would also solve a lot of problems for all of them.
When Calista heard the answer, she had been waiting for, she smiled gratefully at Ba Susan and said, "How about in three days? I don't want anything extravagant. Just a small wedding. After all, I am a widow and can't go around flaunting much."
"A small one is good as long as the ceremony is done. Just prepare what is needed and I will officiate the wedding for you!" Ba Susan nodded his head, agreeing to Calista's ways of doing things.
Calista beamed at him when she heard him agreeing with him. "Thank you, uncle."
"That's what I should do. Do you want me to invite other people?"
"No. just your family is enough. I am not that close to others."
"Okay, I will follow what you have said."
Just like that, the wedding issue was solved quickly and all that remained was for her to gather everything needed and in three days, she would be marrying her handsome stranger.