Chapter 2: Ghost Marriage

  Old Mr. Wu said this, his eyes staring tightly at me, I pointed to Wu Lele in the coffin and asked: "Me... with her... a ghost marriage?"

  "Yes." Old Wu nodded, looking at his expression, not a bit like joking.

  I was startled and stupidly blurted out: "She... she didn't die, did she?"

  "She's not dead," said Old Wu. "She's just asleep and needs a spirit marriage ceremony to wake her up."

  "After this ghost marriage ends, she and I... are husband and wife?"

  I've never had a girlfriend, and I've never even held hands with a girl before. Suddenly, I'm supposed to "marry" such a beautiful girl, it's both shocking and thrilling. But the thing is, I've never met this Wu Lele girl before, so getting "married" to her feels kind of weird.

  In my heart, the girl who married me is familiar to me, loving me, we are together because of love, and she is also healthy, not at all like Wu Lele, let alone lying in a coffin...

  Old Wu seemed to see through my thoughts, and forced a smile: "Child, don't worry, this is just a formality. Tomorrow morning, no matter what the situation, you can leave safely, of course, we will also give you compensation..."

  "No need for payment." I just think this is weird, holding a ghost wedding can wake up someone who has been asleep for half a year, isn't that too unbelievable? I said don't you think it's strange, if this can wake her up, then what do we doctors do?

  "I also think it's strange, but Lelai has been ill for half a year and hasn't recovered. Now we can only treat a dead horse as if it were alive." Old Wu said to Father: "Doctor Yang, you have dedicated your life to healing the world and saving lives. Now my family's Lelai is in a special condition, so please ask your young master to help us out. This is our only hope now."

  "My father said: 'Saving patients is our duty, but this blind marriage...' He looked at me, as if there was something he couldn't say."

  I thought it was a good thing to sleep with a girl, but would it still be a good thing to sleep in a coffin? Moreover, the two of us had to spend a night on the mountain, what if she was a vampire and sucked my blood dry when the moon was full?

  Old Mr. Wu saw me hesitating and forced a smile, saying: "Child, I won't force you either, just think about it first."

  At this moment, two people rushed in, and when they saw the coffin in the main room, they exclaimed in unison and rushed up.

  They are Wu Lele's parents. When Wu's mother saw that it was Wu Lele in the coffin, she burst into loud wailing.

  "My daughter, why did you leave? How can I live without a mother like you? It's all white-haired people sending off black-haired people... from now on, I won't have any daughters to call my own..."

  I heard her wailing like that and wanted to laugh, but then I saw how desperately sad she was crying, so how could I possibly bring myself to laugh?

  Old Wu hastily said: "Don't cry, don't cry, Lele is not dead yet."

  "Didn't die?" Wu's mother immediately wiped away her tears and stared at Old Man Wu, asking: "If he didn't die, why did you put Lele in the coffin?"

  Didn't I tell you? Hold a posthumous wedding for Lele.

  "Wu's father said: 'This matter is of great importance, you should wait until we return before handling it.'"

  "Time is running out," Old Man Wu said: "Today, the spirit marriage must be completed, otherwise Lele will never have a chance to wake up again." After sighing, he said to me: "Child, the fortune teller said that you are the person destined to save Lele, so please help her."

  I hesitated, looking at Wu Lele in the coffin. For some reason, an intangible fear crept up from my feet to my head. Although Old Man Wu said Wu Lele wasn't dead, she looked just like a corpse. What if he was deceiving us? Would I really have to sleep with a dead person? And even more terrifying, in the coffin, for a whole night... I turned to Father, seeking his opinion. He had been examining Wu Lele and now reached out to touch her nose, his face heavy with concern. Slowly, he shook his head, saying: "I don't agree with this ghost marriage."

  The Wu family was stunned, and suddenly, Old Man Wu knelt down in front of me and my father.

  I and my father were shocked, Father hastily helped Wu Lao up and repeatedly said: "Please get up, please get up, you're shortening our lifespan like this!" At this time, Wu's parents were also flustered, standing behind Wu Lao at a loss. They probably didn't expect Wu Lao to do such a thing either.

  Mr. Wu sobbed: "Dr. Yang, I only have this precious granddaughter, she is very smart and filial, you must save her no matter what..."

  My heart ached and I was also excited, I didn't want to marry Wu Lele in spirit, but I hoped Father would agree with Old Man Wu, my heart was extremely conflicted.

  His father let out a heavy sigh, holding Wu's hands and said: "It's not that I don't want to save the child, but... a ghost marriage is no joke. If this ghost marriage can awaken your granddaughter, then it's good. But if it doesn't awaken her, my son may very likely lose his life."

  Mr. Wu was stunned, lowered his head, and tears flowed freely. Since my father said so, he obviously didn't want to sacrifice my life to save his granddaughter either. I had an urge to agree with him, but the words stuck in my throat.

  An old aunt suddenly said, "Dr. Yang, Li Shenniang said that this can save Lele, so it must be able to wake up Lele. This child is clever and obedient, and has good manners towards adults..."

  "Yes, yes! Lele is a good kid, Doctor Yang, you have to save her!"

  ……

  The villagers all begged my father, my father looked embarrassed, and finally looked at me. He gave the right to decide to me. I stared at Wu Lele in the coffin, she was quietly lying there, like a princess who had been sleeping for a long time. Why did she get this strange disease? Is it necessary for her to wake up only after marrying me in death? If I don't marry her in death, will she just sleep forever and never wake up again? But if I really marry her in death, I'll have to lie in the coffin, spend a night in the wilderness, what if something unexpected happens, won't my life be gone too?

  Old Wu said to me: "Child, if a ghost marriage is going to shorten your lifespan, then don't..."

  "No, I agree with this ghost marriage!" I blurted out.

  Everyone looked at me with surprise, but my father was even more surprised and didn't say anything. The Wu family thanked me repeatedly, I politely declined a few times, then found an excuse to pull my father aside and asked in a low voice if this blind date would go wrong, for some reason, I had a faint sense of unease in my heart, as if something ominous was going to happen.

  "My father said: 'Everything has its fate, doctor, since you have chosen to treat her, don't worry about it.'"

  "I know, but this spirit marriage... I feel a bit out of the ordinary." I don't know how to say it either. That a spirit marriage can awaken someone who has been asleep for half a year, I am indeed very skeptical, although I am not a thorough materialist.

  "My father said: 'Now you consider yourself a doctor, the responsibility of a doctor is to cure patients, no matter how strange the process is, as long as it's not against the law and doesn't harm morality, you can do it.'"

  I said I understand.

  Next, everything went according to plan. Since we were only holding a symbolic wedding ceremony and didn't have the hassle of bowing to heaven and earth or paying respects to ancestors, I took a bath, changed into new clothes, ate my fill, and then lay down in the coffin. According to Old Man Wu's words, all I had to do was lie in the coffin with Wu Lele for one night.

  As soon as I lay down, a gloomy haze rushed towards me, and it was icy cold inside. I felt like I was about to leave this world. Suddenly, I regretted it deeply - I'm a living person, why did I have to lie in a coffin? And to make matters worse, I was with someone who was half dead and half alive, which was really too eerie.

  However, since I've already come in, it's not good to go out again, so I can only lie down reluctantly.

  I looked at Wu Le beside me, she still had her eyebrows tightly closed and was motionless on the bed, if you didn't know what happened before, you would have thought she was dead.

  At last it got dark, and four big men lifted the coffin lid to cover me. My father hastily called out: "What are you doing?" I also quickly sat up in the coffin, opening my eyes wide with surprise, and those who didn't know what was happening thought I had come back to life.

  Mr. Wu smiled and said: "Just cover it up, just for show..."

  What if I suffocate to death with your family's Lele after covering this up?

  "It won't work...it won't work..."

  How can it not be? I said I'm lying inside now and feel like I'm having trouble breathing.

  Old Wu's face suddenly changed, and he forced a smile: "Actually, this is what the fortune teller meant. She said to put on the coffin lid...and no matter what happens outside, you two must not come out."

  I just feel a tightness in my chest, what's going on outside? Why can't we come out?