Chapter 1.2 - Ghost Marriage I

Wang Li was used to worming her way into befriending people around her. So, she took the opportunity to talk to Tang Tian while she was all alone, without anyone to take care of her. She actively went out of her way to show concern and care for her well-being.

After a few days, at the right time, she brought up the topic of ghost marriage to her.

Wang Li was ready to be berated and shouted at since it was gravely inauspicious to speak of such things when she was still alive. As a young lady, she wouldn’t believe in such superstitions.

Tang Tian was, of course, beyond furious. She hollered and told her to get out. Wang Li, who was already used to dealing with society, didn’t take her words to heart. She still meticulously and diligently took care of her by bringing her food, pouring her water, and accompanying her for checkups. Despite Tang Tian’s cold demeanor, she would find the right opportunity to say certain words that would leave a poignant impression on her.

“You mentioned before that you borrowed money from your friends to pay for your medical bills. Have you paid them back yet?”

“The old man who was in the adjacent ward passed away yesterday. Tsk, tsk… funeral fees these days are sky-high. It costs tens of thousands just for a spot at the cemetery. Not to mention cremation fees and other miscellaneous things. Altogether, it becomes a big sum.”

“I just bumped into Nurse Li, she asked me to remind you that you’ve been delaying paying your medical bills. If you don’t pay them anytime soon, you might just have to leave the hospital.”

After a few days of hearing these, Tang Tian fell silent and no longer resisted her care.

Sensing a slight change in her attitude, Wang Li took the chance and frequently boasted to her about how great her client’s family background was. How his family owned a real mine. How the young man just came back from overseas studies, when, unfortunately, he perished in a car crash due to drunk driving.

“He was the epitome of good-looking and his family is rich. If nothing bad were to happen, only a beautiful, rich lady of the same stature could stand next to him.” Wang Li had attended the young men’s funeral, as the rituals were conducted by her husband.

It sounded as if it was great luck for someone of her social status to have such an opportunity. Tang Tian snickered to herself and ignored the chatty ghost matchmaker.

But, somehow, she suddenly asked the next day, “Do you have a picture of the man?”

Wang Li thought she changed her mind and was elated. Just a simple picture. She requested for one to be sent over, and sent back to her clients a photograph of Tang Tian that she secretly snapped, along with her personal details. Her clients were beyond satisfied and ordered her to fulfill their ghost marriage request with this match.

Tang Tian sat on the hospital bed while she stared at the young man’s black and white posthumous photo and silently contemplated silently for a while. Then, she agreed to the ghost marriage.

Only on one condition, that she could visit the young man’s house first.

Wang Li asked for the reason behind it, but the young lady just gave her a small smile, “I was never sure whether I truly believed in the supernatural. When I go to a temple, I still say a few prayers, albeit not as piously as others.”

“If I have any regret, it would be that I’ve never been in a relationship throughout my twenty-two years of living.”

“I’m dying anyway. I don’t know what life after death is. So, I was thinking, since I’m going to be involved in this ghost marriage with a not so bad looking young man, why not try to understand him a bit more?”

“Everyone that comes into this world has a hard time making it to this point. For one more person to remember that I existed, it would, at the very least, grant my life a little more worth.”

In this hospital grey, everyone seemed to have caved into the never-ending gloomy grey. But, only this young lady, donned in a hospital gown, sitting by the bedside, seemed to have an air of calmness and indifference that was beyond her age and maturity.

Wang Li reported back to her clients about Tang Tian’s condition. They hesitated but still agreed.

As she was in the last stage of cancer, it was a fact that her days were numbered. Once she arrived and dropped dead, they could just hold a funeral immediately and save themselves the trouble.

Later on, they signed a contract. Wang Li requested her clients to transfer a ten thousand deposit to Tang Tian first. After receiving the money, Tang Tian paid off her hospital bills and everything she owed her friends.

Then, she took off with Wang Li, leaving everything she once had behind, and went on a flight to Shanxi Province.

The man’s family home was situated in Fen City¹ where he was buried. There was no direct flight to the city, so once she arrived in the province, she had to continue on tirelessly by rail.

Wang Li looked away from the young lady, and glanced at the phone in her hand. There was a WeChat message from her husband. He was wondering where they were at the time and then went on to excitedly chat about their plans to spend the money they were going to get from this job.

Usually, when she completed a match, she would be elated beyond words. Only this time, she was barely in the mood. Maybe it was because she was dealing with a person who was still living and breathing. That moment when someone sealed the contract to sell themselves to a dead person… it would make anyone’s heart waver. Or maybe it was because she knew, deep down, that she signed the contract only to pay back her friends.

Wang Li leaned her back against the hard leather chair and turned her head to look aimlessly at the view outside. She pondered, what was the point of being rich, being young? One’s fate was sealed regardless.

In the end, that was what differed everyone from each other.

Tang Tian jolted awake from a dream.

Initially, she was still a little sleepy. She then slowly became aware of her surroundings. She wanted to get up, but she realized she couldn’t move.

It was as if something was pinning her down firmly. Something that was so heavy, she couldn’t even lift a finger.

So chilly…

She instantly felt something was wrong. It was the peak of summer, and despite having air conditioning in the coach, it wasn’t supposed to be this cold.

At this moment, the train was passing through a tunnel. It was pitch black outside. The lights in the train coach were dimly lit. The sounds of wailing children seemed to have disappeared along with the voices of people talking and the noise of the train alerts… there was nothing at all. As if only Tang Tian existed in the entire coach. Nothing else but dead, eerie silence.

But, something was still not right. With the reflection in the window glass, she could see that the other passengers were still in their seats.

Under the dim lighting, she could make out the blurry silhouettes of other passengers in their respective seats who all seemed unmoving as if they were dead.

Wang Li… Tang Tian was facing the window and was unable to move, so she tried to scream out her name. A struggling voice escaped her throat but, suddenly, it was lost in her own fear.

As she could see, through the window glass, the figure sitting next to her was definitely not Wang Li!

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