Chapter 9: The Ghost Marriage

  Yin Lao Liu hung up the phone after saying that, and he didn't think about it anymore. But I couldn't put my mind at ease, and my heart suddenly felt suspended.

  I don't know why I suddenly felt a sense of foreboding when I heard these words, but I always feel that this matchmaker's business is not as simple as it seems...

  The next morning, before I was even awake, my mother woke me up. She told me that a noble guest had arrived at our home and asked me to hurry out the door to greet them.

  Honored guest? When did my home have an honored guest?

  As I thought of this, I got up and took a glance out the window towards the yard. Ah! It really was a noble person, I saw that in my family's yard there was a high-end BMW X6 parked. Whoever can afford to drive a BMW X6 must be a noble person, right?

  I'm really curious, all our relatives around the house are poor to the point of being destitute, when did any of my relatives become rich enough to afford a car like this?

  It's hard to say, you have to see the real thing to know. So I quickly got up, wiped my face with my hand, and scratched my messy hair, and followed my mother into the courtyard.

  But when I walked out of the yard and took a look, the noble person in front of me was stunned by the outside being crispy and the inside being tender.

  The owner of this BMW X6 is actually Yin Lao Liu! What's even more surprising is that the Yin Lao Liu in front of me now looks as stylish as can be.

  A sharp black suit, black leather shoes, and a pair of black sunglasses. Two unknown beaded bracelets on his wrist, and another one hanging from his neck. With this outfit, if he walked around in the city center, people who don't know him would think he's some kind of underworld boss!

  I rubbed my eyes in disbelief and then asked Yin Laoliu in front of me

  "Uncle Yin, why are you dressed up like this? Are you going on a blind date?"

  Listen to me, Yin Lao Liu took off his sunglasses and said to me: "Little guy, don't talk nonsense, I'm so old now, what kind of relative are you? This isn't going out on a long trip with you, I have to dress up properly, can't let others laugh at me!"

  Hearing Old Six Yin say that, I took another look at the car behind him and asked him again: "Old Master Yin, is this car yours too?"

  "Alas! This was given to me by an old boss who came to buy a cemetery from me. In order to be able to buy a piece of land in my cemetery, he had to give me a car. I said it's not good manners to refuse someone's kindness, so I reluctantly accepted."

  "Fine... I'll reluctantly accept it?!"

  Listening to Yin Lao Liu speaking so calmly, I really want to slap his face. Who can make me barely hold back?

  But anyway, someone is willing to give this old man a ride, and it's such an expensive car, which shows that Yin Lao Liu is extremely famous in this circle.

  As it was still early, Yin Lao Liu didn't even have time to eat breakfast. So under my parents' enthusiastic invitation, this old fellow came to our home and freeloaded a meal of breakfast.

  Don't mention it, this old man may look thin and frail on the outside, but when it comes to eating, he can eat more than anyone else. A table full of dishes, at least half of them ended up in his stomach...

  After dinner, Yin Lao Liu had me tidy up a bit before preparing to take me and him on a long trip by car. Upon learning that I had a driver's license and driving was no problem, Yin Lao Liu directly let me drive the car...

  I've never even sat in a car like this, let alone drive one! When I sat down in the driver's seat, my heart started racing and my palms began to sweat. No way, for someone like me, driving a BMW X6 is just a dream come true.

  I took a deep breath and started the car, driving carefully towards the village entrance.

  At first, I drove extra carefully, afraid of making any mistakes. But as I continued driving, I became numb to it, after all, they're just cars, and this BMW X6 is just better performing and more comfortable to drive.

  "On the way, I curiously asked Yin Laoliu: "Grandpa Yin, where are we going? You called me last night and told me to come out and see the world, and also to learn about matchmaking. What's going on?"

  Old Yin Liu smiled and replied, "Hey kiddo, have you ever heard of a ghost wedding?"

  "What's a ghost marriage? I've never heard of it." I replied honestly.

  I've never heard of it, but Yin Laoliu replied to me: "Ghost marriage is also called nether marriage, yin marriage, that is, the marriage in the nether world. It originated very early, at least as early as the pre-Qin period. There are many names for it, such as nether pairing, bone pairing, ghostly marriage, and round mound."

  "Oh?" Old Yin Liu said directly to me, I don't know why, but I feel that this ghost marriage is very unusual.

  In ancient times, people attached great importance to the coming-of-age ceremony. Men were considered adults at 20 years old and women at 15 years old. However, if they remained unmarried, they would not be able to enjoy ancestral worship after death. Moreover, those who died without getting married were pitied by the living as being lonely in the afterlife.

  Ghost marriages were similar to weddings for the living. As recorded by Song Dynasty scholar Guo Pu in "Erya": "In Jin custom, when a man and woman reached marriageable age but died before marrying, their families would ask matchmakers to arrange a ghost wedding, which was called 'ghost matchmaking'. The two families of the deceased would interact with each other as if they were related by marriage."

  "What? Is there such a saying? So, according to what you said, our purpose in going this time is to help two dead people get married and be their matchmaker? That's what they call a ghost matchmaker?"

  Listen to me, Old Yin nodded at six o'clock: "Right, you're not wrong, this is also part of your job. Since you already know that you are a substitute for the dead person's matchmaker, then you should have such awareness. This time I'll take you to experience it, next time when you receive such a task again, you'll have to complete it yourself."

  Matchmaking for the dead? This sounds like utter madness. I'd say when people are dead, what's the point of all this nonsense! Let them rest in peace, that's the most important thing, this is just poor etiquette!

  But in that case, I'd rather just think about it in my heart and not dare to say it out loud. Although I regret taking the job arranged by Old Yin Liu, there's no way around it - I've already signed the contract, and breaching it would cost a fortune. I don't want my parents to suffer because of me. Besides, when all is said and done, my ability to do such crazy work has an inseparable relationship with my late grandfather...

  Yin Lao Liu also told me that the family we were going to propose to was a wealthy one. The deceased was the youngest son of the family's master, and he was 23 years old this year. As for who the late woman he was going to marry was, Yin Lao Liu didn't know, and would only find out when they arrived at their destination.

  However, Yin Lao Liu told me that the person who married the young son of this family was a girl one year older than him. It is said that she was very beautiful when she was alive, but her death was miserable, and she was also an unmarried woman before her death. Yin Lao Liu also told me that the host's family spent 600,000 yuan on betrothal gifts to facilitate this "marriage".

  Sixty thousand bucks!

  This is not a small amount, in the relatively backward rural areas now, it's not difficult to spend 600,000 yuan to marry a living person. At the same time, the host also said that after the couple is buried together, he will use his own connections to find a good job for the bride's father. In the future, the two families will be close relatives, and he will help with anything.

  Anyway, no matter how Old Yin Liu spoke to me, I listened as if listening to a story. Whatever he said, I just listened...

  About half an hour later, we finally drove close to the location of this so-called big family.

  However, before we arrived at the house, Old Six Yin asked me to stop the car and then took out some paper things from the trunk.

  I took a rough look, and most of these paper-made things were funeral objects for gold and silver jewelry, as well as several clothes that looked like real ones. So I asked Yin Lao Liu: "What are you preparing these for?"

  Yin Lao Liu said to me, "Of course, a ghost wedding can't lack some gold and silver jewelry, but after all, it's a ghost wedding, so real gold and silver aren't necessary. Using paper-made ones is more suitable. As for the other things like 'goose baskets', 'wine seas', dragon and phoenix auspicious cakes, as well as pork knuckles and auspicious fruits, these are all real. After you see them later, you'll understand. There's a lot to prepare during the day, and I forgot to tell you that this ghost wedding has to be held at night to follow the rules."

  "Will it be at night? Won't I be able to not go to the small wooden hut for work after 12 o'clock tonight?" Hearing him say that this ghost marriage will take place at night, I felt a little secretly delighted.

  "Good! Since you've accompanied me here during the day, let's take a break at midnight tonight. However, don't think about taking time off casually in the future, or it'll be against the rules and taboos, which would be unfortunate."

  I'm so thrilled to hear that Old Six has spoken up! At least I can avoid going to that haunted wooden house tonight. It's always good to delay it by a day. If you think this is great, please share our website with your friends and let's all enjoy it together!