Cao Jinhua was gobbling down her food.

This morning, Seventh Auntie had come to tell her that she would be responsible for the bride’s relatives’ table, implying that she shouldn’t eat during the event but instead keep her eyes and ears open in all directions, taking good care of guests from all over and properly showcasing Cao Village’s warm hospitality.

So, filling her stomach in advance was quite necessary.

After finishing her meal and wiping her bowl clean, she even stuffed a steamed bun in her pocket and returned to her room. She seized these last moments to review this month’s client schedule—customers awaiting signatures, renewals, those needing persuasion, newly developed prospects—however she calculated it, she wouldn’t be able to meet this month’s target—unless she could quickly secure that three-birds-with-one-stone deal.

No, time is money, and there’s not a moment to waste. She needed to tell Seventh Auntie that she couldn’t attend all three days of the wedding banquet; she would have to leave tomorrow.

Just as she was pondering this, her sister-in-law suddenly called from the courtyard: “Big sister, someone’s looking for you, your colleague.”

Colleague?

Cao Jinhua was so startled she forgot to chew her steamed bun. She quickly opened the door and saw a young woman standing in the middle of the courtyard. Outside the gate were two villagers watching curiously, who had probably helped guide the visitor here.

She had filled in her hometown address on her employee information form, but with these winding mountain roads, how could a colleague find her way here? And that uniform didn’t look like the company’s standard issue either.

Cao Jinhua was full of suspicion, but her doubts quickly diminished.

For two reasons.

First, this young woman, who introduced herself as Yan Hongsha from the local branch of the Atlantic Life Insurance Company’s customer service department, immediately addressed her as “Jenny.”

Second, Yan Hongsha explained that the customer service department had received a call from a client named Henry who wanted to buy insurance for himself and his siblings, specifically requesting Cao Jinhua as his insurance agent. She couldn’t reach Cao Jinhua by phone and, after inquiries, learned she had returned home for a wedding. To avoid keeping the client waiting and potentially losing the sale, and to save time, she had made this trip to bring the client’s information, allowing Cao Jinhua to prepare insurance package recommendations.

Henry—wasn’t that precisely the three-birds-with-one-stone deal she had been thinking about all morning?

Cao Jinhua was utterly moved. Although the other woman described it casually as “making this trip,” she knew it must have been at her direct supervisor’s repeated request, for insurance agents, sometimes closing one or two deals meant determining their monthly ranking, commission percentage, and their manager’s management bonus. So sometimes, the entire team helped out, working together to secure signatures.

This was the power of teamwork!

Cao Jinhua accepted the client information, so excited that her words tumbled out incoherently: “I’ll immediately—I’ll quickly make insurance recommendations based on the client information, very quickly.”

Yan Hongsha pushed her glasses up her nose, her tone very serious: “Quality over speed; ensuring service quality is most important.”

Cao Jinhua nodded quickly, thinking to herself that people from the company’s customer service department were indeed different—they spoke with such professionalism.

However, this person soon became less professional.

After completing the routine Yi Wansan had taught her, Yan Hongsha began to look around curiously.

—”It seems you’re having a wedding here?”

—”I’ve never seen a mountain village wedding before. In the city, weddings are all handled by wedding planning companies, with the same ceremonies. They’re not as special as rural ones.”

—”I rushed here this morning, not expecting the road to be so difficult. I haven’t eaten yet, and it’s raining too…”

As an excellent salesperson, Cao Jinhua would be remiss not to understand this implicit message.

Just past eleven o’clock, Yan Hongsha was calmly seated at the place of honor at the wedding table.

Mountain village weddings truly were lively. The entire threshing ground was decorated with red and colorful ornaments. At the front, a platform with a canopy had been erected, with four armchairs on it and a speaker for sound transmission placed nearby.

Cao Jinhua explained to Yan Hongsha that both the bride and groom were orphans, so during the ceremony of bowing to parents, those four armchairs would stand in for both sets of parents.

She added that local wedding ceremonies included an additional procedure of bowing to the ancestral tablet, during which not only the newlyweds but all guests would stand.

Yan Hongsha was quite curious: “Ancestral tablet?”

Cao Jinhua couldn’t explain clearly, but gestured to Yan Hongsha: “It looks exactly like the ancestral tablets you see on TV, but instead of inscribing ancestors’ names, it has a bronze plaque embedded in the middle with an ancient character. I didn’t recognize it at first, but later looked it up online—it’s the oracle bone character for ‘earth.'”

Oracle bone script? Yan Hongsha’s heart began pounding.

Cao Jinhua didn’t notice her reaction: “When I was little, I asked my family about it, but they couldn’t explain what it meant. I guess that it’s probably about thanking the earth for growing crops, allowing us to eat and drink well…”

She spoke without much conviction, since Cao Village didn’t grow large fields of crops, and their livelihood had little to do with the land.

As they were talking, the distant sound of gongs could be heard. The threshing ground became even noisier, and Seventh Auntie came running in, panting heavily.

She said, “Quick, quick, the ancestral tablet is arriving. Where’s Qing Shan? The groom needs to go to the entrance to receive it.”

Qing Shan? That’s right, he was the groom and should have been greeting guests at each table before the ceremony began. How come he hadn’t been seen for a while?

Cao Jinhua stood up from her seat, looking around, trying to find Qing Shan among the chaotic, busy, and excited crowd in the threshing ground.

Seventh Auntie gave her a push on the back: “Hurry up and find him! If the groom doesn’t receive it, the ancestral tablet can’t enter the venue. We can’t keep the tablet waiting too long.”

She pushed not only Cao Jinhua but also several people nearby to search in different directions.

Not wanting to delay the auspicious time, Cao Jinhua took the matter seriously. She circled the inner area, then went around the perimeter, but still couldn’t find him. The rain was getting heavier.

The gong sounds were approaching the threshing ground entrance. Cao Jinhua ran toward a nearby canopy with both hands shielding her head. Qing Shan was a sensible person; there was no reason for him to disappear at such a crucial moment.

This canopy was the farthest from the threshing ground, and underneath were piled unused materials bought or borrowed for the wedding. Due to the rain, besides the top canopy, it was also tightly covered with opaque canvas, secured by thick ropes. Cao Jinhua wiped the rainwater from her face and caught her breath. Just as she was about to search elsewhere, she raised her foot but hesitated and stopped.

From inside the canvas covering, there seemed to be… voices, though the patter of rain on the canopy made it difficult to hear clearly.

Was it some child who had crawled inside to play? Cao Jinhua wondered as she walked around the pile of materials. When she reached the other side, the voices became somewhat clearer.

It was Qing Shan’s voice.

—”We’re cousins after all. It’s my big day, and even if you can’t sit at the table, I still hope you can watch…”

Cousins? Qing Shan had a cousin? Cao Jinhua’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, and in a flash, she remembered someone.

Could it be… Cao Tudun?

Why hide so dramatically? Running away from home for so many years, not even daring to show his face at his cousin’s wedding, instead hiding in this plastic tent?

Cao Jinhua frowned, feeling somewhat empty and confused. After so many years, she had long since come to terms with it. Sometimes she thought that Cao Tudun’s escape was a good thing—if it weren’t for all the gossip afterward, she wouldn’t have left to work outside in anger, experiencing such a vast world.

Since he had returned, he should just sit at the table openly. Although Uncle Cao had once declared, “If Da Dun comes back, I’ll break his legs,” on such a joyous day, he wouldn’t maim someone.

Cao Jinhua swallowed and was about to call out to Qing Shan.

—”I brought you out today without telling Ya Feng. According to her, you should just starve to death in that hole. In a few days, when I find an opportunity, I’ll try to persuade her…”

Something about this conversation seemed off. Ya Feng? Wasn’t that the naturally frail, soft-spoken little bride? And what was this about starving to death?

There was movement inside the canvas, and it seemed like Qing Shan was about to come out. Cao Jinhua shuddered and, as if possessed, quickly walked away, but halfway through, she realized something was wrong and hurriedly turned back.

Qing Shan had just emerged, and Cao Jinhua ran up, panting, pretending she had just spotted him.

“Everyone’s looking for you. Quick, quick, go receive the ancestral tablet.”

Qing Shan hurriedly came to meet her, with a good-natured smile: “The rain got heavy, and I saw the canvas was loose, so I tightened it. I’m coming right now.”

The auspicious time was almost upon them. The gong sounds stopped, and the rain lessened, though it still made a dense patter on the canopy top. Accompanied by this sound, Qing Shan carried an ancestral tablet, surrounded by the villagers who had earlier paraded around the village, walking toward the platform, where the bride was already in position, wearing a red qipao, with her two bridesmaids holding a red umbrella over her.

Yan Hongsha set her phone to camera mode and zoomed in as close as possible. When Qing Shan walked by, she captured an image of the tablet.

Indeed, just as Cao Jinhua had said, it was an ordinary wooden tablet with an old bronze plaque embedded in the center. The strokes of the character were raised, showing the oracle bone script for “earth.”

But this shouldn’t be the evil bamboo slip; Yi Wansan had said the slip should be attached to Qing Shan himself.

As she was pondering this, she heard the sound of a chair being moved beside her. Cao Jinhua, who had just gone to find Qing Shan, had returned.

Yan Hongsha wanted to gather some information from Cao Jinhua.

She put away her phone and asked in a conversational tone: “This Qing Shan, the groom? What kind of person is he?”

Cao Jinhua seemed distracted, increasingly thinking that what had just happened was strange. Hearing Yan Hongsha’s question, she casually brushed it off: “An ordinary person… a good person.”

Yan Hongsha gave her a look. Cao Jinhua also felt her answer was odd and laughed awkwardly.

Yan Hongsha pretended to be casual: “Where did he go just now? I saw several people searching for him all over the place.”

Cao Jinhua hemmed and hawed: “Who knows? He disappeared in the blink of an eye and then suddenly reappeared.”

As they were speaking, crackling sounds came from the speakers. It was Old Man Cao holding the microphone, announcing in off-key Mandarin that the wedding ceremony would officially begin. First, he asked everyone to stand.

The sound of chairs being dragged echoed across the ground. Following local custom, Yan Hongsha also stood up. As she rose, she noticed Cao Jinhua nervously glancing back.

What was in that direction? Yan Hongsha took note and, when no one was paying attention, quickly glanced over.

It was merely the plastic canopy where materials were stored.

The first ritual: bowing to the ancestral tablet.

Accompanied by a long string of phrases about favorable weather, family well-being, continuous prosperity, and eternal happiness, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief when the recitation ended—Yan Hongsha felt that although the couple’s vows hadn’t begun, the most important part of Cao Village’s wedding ceremony had already passed.

This custom was indeed peculiar.

Next came bowing to parents, to heaven and earth, the couple bowing to each other, candy being scattered on the platform, and people scrambling below. Then the loudspeaker announced the start of the feast.

During this time, Yan Hongsha noticed that Cao Jinhua’s gaze drifted toward the plastic canopy where materials were stored several more times.

Under several distant canopies, makeshift stoves were set up, now burning at full strength. Steam rose from the large woks as the newlyweds, surrounded by Seventh Auntie and others, began carrying wine cups to toast each table. Inevitably, they were also made to play games as punishment at each table, with many people crowding around to watch.

A thought occurred to Yan Hongsha. She pretended to accidentally break a porcelain bowl and, while Cao Jinhua was bending down to clean up, picked up a shard and squeezed it tightly in her palm. Then she quickly squeezed through to the edge of the crowd watching the festivities.

When no one was looking, she took an open bottle of white liquor from a nearby table, covered the bottle’s mouth with her bleeding palm, and shook the bottle up and down a few times with her other hand.

The liquor seeped into her palm, causing a burning pain. A few drops of blood dissolved into the alcohol, too faint to notice.

Yan Hongsha casually put the bottle back in its place and quietly backed away. She took out her phone again, set it to camera mode, and kept it focused on that table.

Finally, the toasting couple reached that table. The whole table erupted in laughter as Seventh Auntie took the liquor bottle and filled the cups for Qing Shan and Ya Feng.

Yan Hongsha felt a bit tense, her fingers moving on the screen to zoom in, then zoom in further.

Qing Shan, his face flushed, threw his head back and drained his cup in one gulp, then proudly showed the empty cup bottom.

Ya Feng raised her cup to her lips but suddenly stopped.

Yan Hongsha saw her nostrils flare twice, her brows suddenly furrowing. Then, as if alerted, she sharply raised her head.

Before Ya Feng’s gaze could sweep in her direction, Yan Hongsha quickly turned away, swiftly grabbing a duck leg and pretending to eat with great gusto, her mouth dripping with oil.

However, she soon stopped chewing.

She saw Cao Jinhua’s figure disappearing behind the canopy where the materials were stored.