Chapter 42: Heading North to the City

Looking at my grandfather's letter, the tears that had welled up in my eyes instantly retreated.

"Seriously, even your last line doesn't rhyme... This old man must have gone mad thinking about money."

After that, there was nothing else left in the envelope. As for those last three sentences, I certainly remembered them. That final line was just typical of his unchangeable nature...

It seemed my grandfather knew a great disaster was about to strike the village and wrote this letter in advance. But the letter claimed he was dead, while divination showed they were still alive. What on earth was going on here?

And the main point was that Crazy Zhao had never shown up because he had left ahead of time, all thanks to the calculation made by the woman in the coffin. That meant the woman had known long ago that the villagers would face a massive disaster. But why hadn't she told me?

Forget it. With her temperament, I would rather die than get her to say an extra word. Other than cursing, she did nothing else. Asking her was worse than going into the city myself to find the answers.

Besides, she had said today that since we hadn't performed the wedding ceremony, I couldn't call her my wife, let alone consummate the marriage. My grandfather mentioned going to the city to perform the wedding ceremony. Could it be that once we reached the city, we could finally have the ceremony and consummate the marriage?

If I could consummate the marriage with a woman of that caliber... just thinking about it was thrilling. But... it seemed her body was a bit too stiff to change positions easily...

Never mind, beggars can't be choosers. Even though her icy personality was quite uncomfortable, I would melt it sooner or later. I refuse to believe I can't tame a woman! By then, I'd have her weeping in my arms!

With a helpless sigh, I tucked away my grandfather's letter and put it in my backpack. I took one final look around the house—it was utterly barren, with nothing left worth taking.

Because of all the chaos over the past few days, my clothes were stained with either green blood or reeked of the damp, moldy smell of rainwater. I changed into a fresh set of clothes. They were the best I had, even though they had a couple of patches. But they were already my absolute limit.

Resources in the village were limited; people would hand down their old clothes to other families, sewing and patching them together just to make them wearable. I had no idea how many hands this outfit had passed through. Fortunately, it had been washed very clean and felt dry and comfortable to wear.

After getting everything ready, I stepped out of the courtyard and went to wait for Fatty at the village's only main path.

Before long, I saw Fatty running over from the center of the village, carrying bags of all shapes and sizes, looking completely out of breath.

"Tiangang, come help me! There's just too much stuff, I really can't carry it all!"

Seeing this, I stepped forward and took a few of the large bags from him. I stared at him and asked, "What on earth are you doing, moving house? We don't even know if we'll have a place to stay when we get to the city, how are you going to travel with all this junk?"

Fatty immediately flashed a sly expression and said, "It's all good food! Our village is so remote, of course you need to bring enough provisions!"

"Just take it!" With that, he tossed two large bags at me.

Comparatively speaking, Fatty's family was indeed better off to have so much food. But my originally light-load journey instantly turned into carrying two heavy sacks.

So we just stood there and waited. We waited while standing up. Eventually, we ended up sitting on the bags while waiting. Yet that woman simply refused to show up.

Over an hour passed. If we waited any longer, it would be mid-afternoon, and we would definitely arrive in the city after dark. A wave of anxiety washed over me.

What on earth was that woman doing? Did packing really take this long? Could she possibly have more belongings than Fatty?

Fatty chimed in with a bored tone, "Tiangang, did your bride go back on her promise to marry you and run away?"

Hearing this, I immediately scoffed dismissively, "Hh, it would be better if she ran away! I was already planning to dump her anyway. Didn't you see how fierce she is? She curses and hits people at the drop of a hat, a total psycho!"

Fatty chuckled foolishly and said, "But she is drop-dead gorgeous. If I had a pretty wife who beat me every day, I'd gladly take it!"

Disgusted by his spineless attitude, I couldn't be bothered to argue with him.

After sitting a while longer, I actually began to suspect she might have really run away. My heart felt hollow. And rightly so—she had the figure, she had the face, and she was so overwhelmingly powerful. Why would she ever fancy a poor nobody like me?

Just as I was about to tell Fatty that we should just leave, before the words could even leave my mouth, a heavy thudding sound echoed from the distance.

*Thud, thud, thud—*

And it was moving quite fast.

I looked up and saw a figure hopping along the path ahead, *thud, thud, thud*.

I couldn't help but smile. This time, it wasn't a mocking smile. I hadn't expected her not to abandon me after all. By now, I was even starting to cherish her a little. Apart from constantly hopping around, she really didn't have any major flaws.

"Come over here! Do you have any idea how exhausting it is for me to hop all the way there?" the woman called out sternly from afar.

"Coming! Right away!"

I immediately jumped to my feet, grabbed our bags along with Fatty, and walked over.

The female corpse stood in place, her icy gaze sweeping over the large and small bags piled behind us. Her lips parted slightly, though no words came out. She was probably cursing us for bringing so much junk.

And who else could we blame but Fatty, the foodie? I could have traveled so light.

The route was simple: head all the way south to reach the county town, which required a two-hour walk, and then catch an unlicensed taxi from the county town into the city. That was roughly the plan.

We had only walked a few steps when Fatty suggested, "Tiangang, I think it looks pretty tiring for sister-in-law to keep hopping like that. Why don't you give her a piggyback ride?"

"What?" I stared at Fatty, my eyes wide.

She weighed a hundred pounds! And you expect me to carry her on my back for two hours?

The woman also decided to join in on the fun; she raised both her hands and stood motionless right where she was.

"Miss, it's a two-hour walk. Can you hop for a little longer, and I'll carry you once we reach the county town?"

If she kept hopping like this all the way, there would be a lot more people once we reached the county town, and it would definitely draw unwanted attention. It was far too bizarre. To save trouble, I probably really did have to carry her. But if I carried her now, I'd collapse long before we even arrived.

Fatty didn't care about any of that; he simply retrieved his belongings from my back, turned around, and kept walking on his own.

I looked at Fatty's retreating back, and then back at the female corpse standing there with her arms raised, refusing to budge. I knew there was no getting out of this.

Looking at her raised arms, I couldn't explain it, but I managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of playfulness in the demeanor of this cold, aloof woman.

With a final helpless sigh, I walked over to her and squatted down halfway.

A moment later, those two familiar, soft mounds pressed against my back once again. I grabbed the backs of her thighs and started walking forward, my hands intentionally giving her thighs a firm squeeze. Since I was doing coolie work, couldn't I at least take a little advantage?

The female corpse didn't stop me, acting as if she didn't care at all. I adjusted the position of my hands, moving them just a fraction higher.

"Keep those greasy paws of yours still!"

I had no choice but to drop it and obediently carry her toward the county town.

Two hours later, inside the unlicensed passenger van in the county town, I leaned against the car door feeling utterly lifeless, my legs completely sapped of strength. Looking at the woman, she sat beside me looking completely relaxed.

Fatty was sturdy to begin with, and how heavy could food really be? Could it weigh a hundred pounds? So the two of them were in great shape, while I alone looked like I had been wrung dry.

This unlicensed transport was a commercial van capable of seating eight people. The driver wore a cheap leather jacket and an outdated pair of black sunglasses, shouting at us, "Just need two more passengers and we'll hit the road! Everyone, hold on for a minute."

An eight-seater, and he wanted two more? The passengers instantly grew unhappy.

A burly man with bare shoulders grumbled, "I say, there are already eight people here. Where are the new passengers supposed to sit? On my lap?"

The others immediately chimed in.

"Exactly, it's already packed to the point of suffocation!"

"In this scorching weather, we're going to bake to death!"

A few middle-aged women also began to complain angrily.

The driver in the black sunglasses grinned and said, "Bear with me a little, folks! Otherwise, with such a long trip, this run won't even cover my gas money... Hey? Look, aren't those passengers?"

With that, he hurried over and called out to two young girls, "Hey beauties, are you heading into the city? We're just two passengers short of leaving!"

I looked up, and the moment I did, my brow furrowed deeply.

The two girls looked to be in their early twenties, dressed in a youthful and vibrant style. One of them had short hair and wore a short skirt, exposing a pair of fair, slender legs. Beside her was a long-haired girl dressed somewhat more conservatively.

The short-haired girl asked, "Are we leaving right away?"

"Yes, hop in and we go!"

The two girls immediately walked over.

As for the burly man who had been complaining the loudest earlier, his eyes curved into slits from smiling so widely.

"If that's the case, sitting on my lap wouldn't be out of the question either. Haha..."