Gu Shi Yi was greatly startled,
"What, you... you... even harbored such thoughts?"
She always had to go to the town a few times every month, and she also needed to drop by the Niu family to buy liquor. However, her relationship with Niu Da was nothing more than nodding and making small talk. When had he taken such a fancy to her and even mentioned it to the Old Taoist Priest? The Old Taoist Priest hadn't breathed a word of it!
Niu Da said,
"When the Old Taoist Priest came down the mountain last year..."
He continued,
"Shiyi, I know you have feelings for me too. Now that the Old Taoist Priest is dead and you have nowhere to go, why not marry me!"
Gu Shi Yi's eyes widened,
"You... When did I ever have feelings for you?"
Niu Da said,
"If you had no interest in me, why would you come over and over again to our house to buy liquor?"
"Isn't it... There are only two families selling liquor in town. If I don't go to your place, then I go to the Li Family's. What's wrong with that?"
"Of course there's something wrong. You know full well that my dad waters down the wine he sells to you, yet you still buy from us every time. You always find a way to talk to me when you come. If it's not because you're interested in me, then what is it?"
Niu Da wore an expression that read 'you don't have to be shy, we're all adults here,' while Gu Shi Yi felt like a great injustice had just come crashing down on her head,
"Nonsense!"
She was so angry her face turned red,
"What nonsense are you talking about? I go to your family's place to buy wine because it's the cheapest there. As for talking to you, it's because... because..."
In the moments when you weren't paying attention, I'd pull a Blinding Trick so I could get an extra two taels!
She couldn't possibly say that, and seeing her stammering, Niu Da laughed aloud and said,
"Don't be shy! We're all grown-ups here. Who doesn't know whom? Come on, let's go home with me. I'll have my dad look for a matchmaker tonight. Although it'd be a remarriage, you won't lack anything owed in dowries or formalities!"
"I... Pah! Even if I were desperate for a man, I wouldn't fancy you!"
Gu Shi Yi was furious, but she managed a laugh on her face and nodded repeatedly,
"Alright, alright, you... you go ahead!"
Niu Da, seeing her nod, was overjoyed,
"We'll walk together..."
"You... you go ahead..."
Gu Shi Yi lowered her head and feigned shyness,
"You've been married before. I'm still an unmarried maiden. It wouldn't look proper this way!"
With that, she shook off Niu Da's hand,
"You go ahead, and I'll follow!"
Niu Da laughed heartily,
"Right, you're right, Shiyi. It's not good to be seen like this!"
Saying so, he really let go of her and walked ahead. Gu Shi Yi, seeing her chance, flashed a fierce look in her eyes and kicked hard at the back of his knee,
"Thump..."
Niu Da immediately tumbled forward, his face buried in the muddy road. Gu Shi Yi approached and spat at him,
"Bah! Dream on about me marrying you!"
Having said that, she picked up her broken pot, slung her big bundle on her back, and clattered away...
Not until Gu Shi Yi dashed wildly out of the small town and into the woods by the side of the road did she catch her breath and sit down on a big, blue rock, looking back to see,
"He's not chasing after me!"
"Huff, huff, huff, huff..."
Gu Shi Yi wiped off her sweat,
"Hahaha..."
A burst of laughter came from the cloth bag on Gu Shi Yi's chest. She was both angry and annoyed, pulling out the clay figure from her bag,
"What's so funny?"
Li Yaner stood on the big, blue rock, doubling over with laughter,
"Shiyi, you're always complaining about not being able to get married, but here's one ready for the taking, isn't it?"
Niu Da wasn't particularly good-looking, but he was tall and should fit within Shiyi's aesthetic, right?
"Pah!"
Gu Shi Yi, in a rage, spat repeatedly on the yellow mud,
"His last wife was actually poisoned to death at their place. Do you know why he hasn't remarried for two years? It's because his bad reputation is well-known, and no girl in town dares marry him!"
The Niu family was dishonest in business, and they were harsh to their daughters-in-law, too stingy to throw away spoiled rice and unwilling to eat it themselves, so they fed it to their daughters-in-law, which ended up causing a tragedy. Initially, they complained of stomach pains but refused to call a doctor. After suffering for three days and seeing it was hopeless, they finally called for a doctor, but by then, uh the doctor could do nothing but shake his head.
"Do you think their house was haunted for no reason? It was that daughter-in-law coming back for revenge. I had to talk her into passing on to reincarnate!"
But the sins committed by the Niu family were already recorded in the Underworld's Book of Life and Death, waiting for their karma to catch up with them!
"I'd be an idiot to marry him!"
Li Yaner was initially amused, teasing her friend about the incident, but when she heard about the true nature of that family, she couldn't help cursing,
"Just now you should have kicked him a few more times!"