To Get Married - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

At noon, the train arrived at its destination: Yuanchuan City.

Manzhu held Lu Yudong’s hand and made her way to the taxi stand. They queued for a cab, and when the driver asked the destination, Manzhu took a phone out of her intricately embroidered waistband.

It was a red flip-phone “elderly model”—an incredibly tacky style, complete with a stylus, and was the most durable old brand on the market five or six years ago.

Lu Yudong watched the phone, blinking unconsciously, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

Manzhu’s expression was serious, her touch on the screen clumsy. It took her a long while to pull up a single text message.

She furrowed her brow and squinted her eyes, staring at the words on the tiny screen as if facing a great enemy, reading them out haltingly, half-recognizing and half-guessing.

Then, relieved, she put the phone away. “Master, go to this place.”

Lu Yudong tilted her head in confusion, but dared not voice her thought.

It seemed Manzhu… didn’t read very well.

In truth, it wasn’t that Manzhu couldn’t read; she just hadn’t yet fully mastered the Simplified Chinese script, which had only been widely used for the past century.

The fellow who gave her this elderly phone to save money, perhaps having stayed in human cities for too long, failed to realize the issue of Chinese character reform. He only taught her how to check text messages and make calls, without considering changing the display font on the phone.

Speaking of which, times were changing, and ideas were advancing.

As the undeveloped mountain forests available to humans grew smaller, spirits and demons, to survive, also had to keep pace with the times. After negotiations between humans and yāo (spirits/demons), the Demon Clan elected representatives and signed a series of peace treaties with humans.

From then on, the Demon Clan gained the right to legally and lawfully reside in human cities. More and more yāo obtained their own “Human Realm Residence Permit” and “Human Identity Card” through the Demon Management Bureaus located in major human cities.

As long as this group of yāo who signed the treaty with humans did not break the law, they would not be harmed or expelled by human demon-slayers.

Even cultivators, those born with spiritual roots who practiced magic from a young age and were dedicated to slaying demons and guarding the human world, no longer mindlessly chanted slogans like, “Those not of our kind are sure to be of a different heart.”

Manzhu was originally a red python who had cultivated in seclusion in the deep mountains for nearly three thousand years. She was unconcerned with the mortal world, focusing only on passing her tribulation to become a Jiao (a mythical dragon-like creature).

However, just recently, with her tribulation period approaching, a group of uninvited guests—human demon-slayers undergoing trials—came to the restricted mountain forest area that had been undeveloped for millennia.

Had she not been facing her tribulation, she would have easily evaded the demon-slayers’ search and kill.

But those people came at the worst possible time—precisely on the day the heavenly tribulation descended—adding that “tiny bit” of chaos. This caused her to be accidentally struck by the continuous nighttime lightning during her frantic escape, shattering her life-soul.

All living beings have three hun souls and seven po souls. The taiguang is the life-soul; if it is lost or damaged, the soul scatters, and reincarnation is impossible.

After failing her tribulation and with her soul about to dissipate, she instinctively followed a scent of blood to the base of a high cliff.

Inside a twisted metal shell she had never seen before, two cold, contorted corpses were trapped, along with a barely breathing little girl.

The girl was firmly protected in the adults’ embrace, yet still suffered fatal injuries. Her limbs were twisted, and her body was covered in blood. It was clear she wouldn’t last long.

But the girl’s soul was intact.

An idea struck Manzhu. Using all her remaining strength, she dragged the girl out of the metal shell and slowly coiled around the child’s body.

The child was going to die anyway. It would be better to give her the life-soul…

The Demon Clan possesses a forbidden technique: Soul-Bonding for co-existence.

Those who are Soul-Bound share life span, share pain, and face death together. Furthermore, if they separate beyond a certain distance, the life-soul will spontaneously tear itself apart from being unable to supply both sides, naturally resulting in the death of both bound individuals.

She could no longer leave this child.

Because of this, two months ago, she spent considerable effort contacting an old friend who was now living a seemingly respectable human life in Yuanchuan City.

The old friend rushed to her side, and after hearing what happened, he looked astonished: “So you Soul-Bound with a… with a child that small?”

“What else? The two big ones next to her were already stone-cold,” Manzhu said. “This child grew up in a human city. I can’t take her back to Shennongjia; it would ruin her… I need to stay in the human realm. You take me through the process.”

“Fine. You wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to convince you to come before, but now, all for a child…” The old friend said, pinching his brow in a headache. He lowered his voice and asked, “Do you know how much the child’s hospitalization and medical fees are? Do you know how much it costs for a demon to apply for a human realm residence permit and a human identity card?”

“…” Manzhu clearly had no concept of money.

She was about to ask humbly when her two-thousand-year-old friend started rattling off questions like a machine gun.

“Do you know how much a house costs? Or do you know how much the monthly rent is for a temporary place to live?”

“Do you know how much the tuition, book fees, and stationery costs are for a junior high student every semester?”

“Besides your own food and clothing, and the utility costs for electricity and water, you also have to take care of the child’s food, clothing, housing, and transportation. That’s no small expense.”

At this point, he finally stopped his chatter, picked up a glass of iced water—ordered to save money—and casually asked, “I say, Honghong, do you have any money on you? Do you know where money comes from?”

Manzhu looked up and countered, “You have money, right?”

“I have money, but it doesn’t come out of thin air. I can’t just give it away…”

“Consider it a loan. I will repay it,” Manzhu interrupted.

“Don’t tell me it’s going to be installment payments over a few hundred years? That would…” As the man spoke, he saw a hint of impatient anger flash in Manzhu’s eyes. He suddenly choked, seemingly recalling some unpleasant past experience, and his expression turned slightly fearful.

Manzhu’s lips curved into a dangerous arc. “Mu Chensan, think carefully before you say another word.”

Her voice was utterly seductive, yet contained a chilling, bone-deep frostiness.

The demon, addressed as Mu Chensan, immediately slammed his hand on the table, shedding his previous hesitant and stingy attitude. He declared magnanimously, “Loan! As long as I have it, I’ll lend you whatever you need! Leave this to me; rest assured, I’ll prepare everything properly for you. Don’t worry about work either. I have a small shop. If you don’t mind, you can come and help out.”

After half a month of waiting, Manzhu obtained her residence permit, identity card, a bank card, and the red Nokia flip-phone—an elderly model worth 138 yuan.

After teaching Manzhu how to check text messages and make calls, Mu Chensan finally handed her a set of keys.

“This is an old apartment I used as a transition place years ago. It’s been vacant for a while and hasn’t been rented out. The floor number is lucky, the transportation is convenient, it’s fast to buy things, and it’s close to the school. The child can walk there in just over twenty minutes,” Mu Chensan said, raising an eyebrow. “A cozy little home, fully equipped, move-in ready, you know.”

“There are three keys in total: the community gate, the building gate, and your apartment door. You can try them all yourself when you get there.” With that, Mu Chensan turned to leave, but after only a few steps, he turned back and signaled Manzhu to call him if she needed anything. “When the child’s wounds are fully healed, contact me, and I’ll buy your train tickets.”

It sounded pretty good.

But when Manzhu finally found the rental unit, guided by the detailed address in the text message, leading Lu Yudong in tow, she couldn’t help but inwardly ‘Peh!’ with disgust.

Room 606. The floor number was indeed lucky, but the inside was a bit… humble.

It was a studio apartment—living and bedroom combined—with a kitchen and a bathroom.

The clothes, bedding, and sheets that had been bought and shipped in advance were all piled up by Mu Chensan right at the doorway. The moment she opened the door, Manzhu couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

The room was so cramped she could barely step inside.

The lack of space was one thing, but it was poorly ventilated, and the only window was right next to the integrated bed-cabinet.

And this was called a “cozy little home, fully equipped, move-in ready?”

Whether it was cozy or not, she couldn’t tell, but for two people, the room was truly tiny.

It also looked rather dirty, suggesting it hadn’t been lived in for a while, and the cleaning before handover was clearly perfunctory.

Manzhu lowered her head, looking a little awkwardly at Lu Yudong, who was still by her side. Seeing no dissatisfaction in the child’s expression, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Come here.” She led Lu Yudong to sit on the wooden sofa, and began to speak sweetly. “I’ll take you to register at school in a few days. This place is very close to the school I found for you. We’ll… stay here temporarily so it’ll be much more convenient for you to go to and from school.”

Lu Yudong nodded emphatically.

“Then you sit and rest for a bit,” Manzhu said, looking around. She rolled up her sleeves and began tidying up this “move-in ready” cozy little home, as described by a certain friend.

Lu Yudong had realized when they entered the complex that this was not Manzhu’s home.

No one would be so unfamiliar with their own home, fumbling for a long time just to open the complex’s main gate with only three keys.

If a thief weren’t so fairy-like and beautiful, the guard sitting in the security booth might have thought a burglar had arrived.

Manzhu’s unfamiliarity with the area didn’t scare her—that would be a lie.

She wasn’t a small child who understood nothing. A complete stranger kindly adopting her, bringing her away from her familiar city, yet not even knowing the way “home” made it difficult not to think of the word “trafficker.”

But for some unknown reason, despite being afraid, she couldn’t overcome the inexplicable trust she felt. She simply took careful note of the address, kept her head down, and silently followed Manzhu up to the sixth floor of this old building.

She initially had many doubts she wanted to ask but didn’t dare. Hearing Manzhu’s explanation now, she finally relaxed.

So this was just a rental apartment Manzhu specifically found for her convenience in attending school. The unfamiliarity was simply because Manzhu herself hadn’t been here much.

Thinking of this, Lu Yudong’s tightly pursed lips couldn’t help but curve into a slight smile.

She looked up, sneaking a peek at Manzhu, who was busy cleaning the room. She subtly wiggled her fingers, got up quietly, walked into the bathroom, soaked an old rag, and then tiptoed back to Manzhu’s side, helping her wipe down every small corner of the room.

Manzhu was initially surprised, glancing at Lu Yudong, but then said nothing, simply smiling warmly and accepting her help.

After most of the afternoon had passed, the small room was not only clean, but the arrangement of furniture had also changed significantly. This was the layout they had discussed together, which left Lu Yudong panting from exhaustion.

The small room, transformed according to her wishes, suddenly felt a little like home.

Manzhu glanced at the old wooden clock on the wall. “I didn’t prepare any groceries in the room. What would you like to eat? I’ll go downstairs and get it.”

Lu Yudong rubbed the corner of her now-dusty clothes with her grimy little hand. “I’ll go too.”

Manzhu chuckled. “I’ll go. You, you’re filthy, like a little stray kitten. Go take a bath first.”

Lu Yudong pursed her lips, thought for a moment, and nodded obediently. “I’m not a picky eater.”

“Then I’ll buy whatever,” Manzhu said, turning and walking out the door.

Lu Yudong watched the door close, sighing internally: Manzhu’s body is so good. She worked all afternoon and isn’t complaining about being tired or sweating.

After washing off all the grime, Lu Yudong changed into soft new pajamas. Sitting on the newly made bed by the window, she unconsciously swung her slender little legs.

Bored while waiting, she lay back and stretched her arms out on the bed.

Her left fingertip seemed to brush against something. She turned to look and found the red flip-phone near the pillow.

Lu Yudong blinked with a hint of hesitation. With a thought, she hooked it with her fingers and pulled it into her hand.

Flipping it open, she saw a draft message that had been written but not sent, exceeding the character limit for a single SMS.

The message started with “Remember to buy,” followed by a list of essential items for daily life and school, including soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, towels, school bag, stationery…

…and the cotton pajamas she was currently wearing.

After pondering for a few seconds, she couldn’t help herself. She kicked her feet and rolled twice on the bed, hugging the phone.

A certain place in her heart warmed up slightly.