Chapter 935 - 277: Fierce Ghost
You, if you keep haunting me every night and harming me... don’t blame me for being ruthless and digging up your grave one day!!
Even in death, you’ll find no peace!!"
After these harsh words, Li Guohua listened carefully, waiting in the dark. Finding no response, he felt a bit relieved.
He sighed, his tone softened a lot: "Let this settle things between you and me. I’ll burn some joss paper for you. In the future, during Qingming, when my family visits the grave, we’ll burn some for you too. Let’s just call it even."
He took out a stack of yellow paper from his bag and set it on fire, quietly waiting for it to burn to ashes, then carefully extinguished the flames.
He had come well-prepared, taking out a small spatula from his bag to clean up all the ashes of the burnt joss paper, scooping them into a nearby dirt pit he dug and covering it with soil.
After returning, he packed away the bowl and rice he brought, even rolled up his sleeves to wipe away traces on the ground in front of the grave.
Seeing that he had cleaned all traces of someone having performed a ritual, Li Guohua finally felt at ease.
After staring at the tombstone briefly, he said in a low voice, "Don’t you forget what was said today!"
Once Li Guohua limped away from the grave and disappeared, Chen Yan emerged from the shadows.
He walked to the grave, looking at the mound of earth.
The grave was very simple, not covered in cement, merely an earthen mound.
Even the tombstone looked like a hastily made, low-quality product.
Chen Yan sighed, gazing at the inscription on the tombstone.
·
The name on the tombstone was "Li Xin."
A very ordinary and common girl’s name.
Died five years ago.
Chen Yan glanced at the dates of birth and death on the tombstone—this woman, Li Xin, was only nineteen when she died.
·
The next day, Chen Yan went to the small shop at the village entrance, using an excuse to inquire about accommodations in the town, he chatted with the talkative shop owner and learned some news about "Li Xin."
Li Xin was from Yang Er Village, belonging to the large Li family in the village.
Her family was quite poor.
Her parents were also from the village. Her father’s elders had passed away. Her mother’s family had one elder left, Li Xin’s grandmother.
Her parents left the village early to work, later had a falling out outside, each starting their own families, never returning to the village, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother.
Occasionally sending some money—less and less over time, eventually stopping.
She was a typical left-behind child.
Li Xin grew up in the village with her granny—locals called her granny "Apo."
This girl named Li Xin lived a very tough life.
Even initially attending school was a problem because... she was not a legitimate child.
In the countryside, marriages happen early. When her parents married, they were not of legal age, but the rural areas didn’t care. They held a banquet to announce to relatives and neighbors, considering it a marriage.
The plan was to get a marriage certificate when they reached legal age.
But then, even after a child was born, they hadn’t reached the legal marriage age.
Later, the couple went to work, falling out, and the matter of the marriage certificate was left unresolved.
Li Xin was born into this family known as a "married" couple known by neighbors far and wide.
Yet she became an "illegitimate child."
The policies were not as lenient back then. When granny raised Li Xin to school age, there was no household registration for her.
Granny, being unaware, hadn’t sorted it out.
By the time Li Xin was to enter elementary school, she had no registration, leading to a dilemma.
Li Xin’s granny, kind-hearted, albeit frail, made repeated trips to the village committee to seek help, eventually securing the registration.
It is said she even went multiple times to the county petition department.
Eventually, it got settled.
But... it delayed two years.
When Li Xin started elementary school, she was already nine years old.
At this age, starting school isn’t ideal—her peers had already entered school, leaving her behind. At this age, she understood some things, failing to develop discipline in learning at the correct age.
Her heart was already set on freedom, and re-entering school, she could no longer focus on studies.
It was a struggle to push through, barely making it to seventh grade, and she could not continue.
During Chuyi, at sixteen, Li Xin was already a beautiful young woman, very attractive.
Unable to study, and at sixteen, Li Xin began skipping classes, eventually dropped out.
Then, it was said, she had a boyfriend and went with him to work in a big city.
Later, she reportedly broke up with her boyfriend, but Li Xin seemed to be doing well outside.
She was dutiful to her granny, returning two or three times a year with large packages.
All those high-end gifts and supplements from the city.
She herself was fashionable and well-groomed.
Gradually, rumors in the village surfaced, suggesting her work outside might be questionable.
Li Xin wasn’t one to be bullied. Upon hearing the rumors, she stormed to their doors, cursing those badmouthing her, forcing two meddling village women to close their doors and hide.
·
Five years ago, during summer, a family in the village held a wedding banquet—the groom was Li Xin’s distant cousin.