Chapter 40:

Midnight surprise

“But, why does the weird little girl look exactly like Xu Siya?”

Everyone had the same doubt in their hearts.

Jing Qizhen recalled the time when he was communicating with the strange little girl. The girl’s childishness, innocence and ignorance did not seem to be faked.

Jing Qizhen pondered for a long time. “She said that the music box was a gift for her fifteenth birthday, but her personality and experience showed that she was just a simple child.”

Lu Lingxi: “Yes! I noticed that too!”

As the person who had been in contact with that weird little girl for the longest time, Lu Lingxi was actually the one who bears the greatest burden.

That weird little girl watched Lu Lingxi sewing cotton-padded clothes for a whole afternoon, and she didn’t feel bored at all. With her various behaviors and characteristics, she was indeed like a simple child who suddenly found a new toy that she never got tired of.

Manman also thought for a moment. “The character of that weird girl is consistent with her age and appearance, but she has memories when she was at least fifteen years old, so her personality and memories are separated.”

Hearing her, Jing Qizhen suddenly asked, “Have you ever felt that that weird little girl doesn’t have a deep sense of identity with the memories in her mind?”

Manman repeated, “A sense of identity?”

Jing Qizhen nodded. “The first time the girl appeared, she asked Lu Lingxi why she lived in a tree, exactly like a child would. The second question was about why we appeared when it was different from the memory in her mind. To be honest, I feel as if the little girl is not a witness to a memory but more like she is reading a book or a movie. When the development of things is different from the plot she knows, she wanted to ask because of curiosity.”

As he spoke, Jing Qizhen’s eyes fell on the music box on the table. “And tonight, she was asking why I took her music box, instead of asking me to return what belongs to her.”

Manman suddenly said ‘Huh’ and wondered, “After you summarized it like this, why do I suddenly feel that the weird girl seems to never express her opinion clearly, but has been asking questions all the time?”

Old Xiao: “I know this. From a psychological point of view, people who keep asking questions are often hesitant. They are doubting their next decision.”

Lu Lingxi: “Huh? That’s not it! When I asked her what color she liked, she chose it very easily, and they all looked different from the one Xu Siya had.”

Manman: “At that point, the color she chose is not the color she likes, but the fact that it is different from Xu Erya.”

Jin Guijuan hesitated. “But if she is Xu Erya, then logically speaking, they are sisters who are several years apart. With the obvious age difference, most people will not care so much about the similarities and differences between them, right? ”

Grandma Fang reminded, “In fact, even if they are identical twins, they do not necessarily look exactly the same. The reason why outsiders think they are the same is because twins usually wear the same clothes, dress up the same, and have almost the same living habits and routine movements. Under such circumstances, it’s easy for family members to tell the difference. If the two twins are separated and allowed to grow up in different environments, even outsiders can often tell the difference at a glance. ”

Jing Qizhen affirmed, “Actually, Xu Siya and that weird little girl look exactly the same, but they give people the impression that they are two different people.”

Jing Qizhen lightly crossed his hands and tapped his middle finger twice. He said, puzzled, “The music box and the age of fifteen match up. Plus, considering the memories she mentioned, I personally still lean toward the idea that the strange little girl is Xu Erya. But why did Xu Erya end up looking exactly like Xu Siya, even to the point of her temperament regressing to that of a child? I just can’t figure that out.”

Old Xiao: “Of the four daughters of the Xu family, Daya died of illness first while Sanya was sent away. This matter should have nothing to do with them. Then there are the disgraceful things that happened to Xu Erya that the villagers refused to say. And now there’s Siya.”

Yan Hong said in his deep voice, “With the halved tombstone in the mountain and the music box in the tomb, I’m guessing that there is a high chance that Xu Erya died because of the so-called ‘disgraceful’ thing before.”

Manman: “But there was only a music box in the tomb. We didn’t see the coffin or the bones in the tomb.”

Jin Guijuan, who also grew up in a remote village, thought for a long time and suddenly shared, “You may not know much about this but in some villages, if a girl who has not yet grown up or is not yet married dies of illness or accident, the family will dig a grave next to her parents and elders. They are usually buried without tombstones, so there are many unnamed graves next to ancestors in the cemetery.”

Jing Qizhen looked at Jin Guijuan subconsciously, and so did the others. They all had similar reactions.

The oldest Grandma Fang and Old Xiao, who had rural life experience in his early years, nodded in agreement.

Grandma Fang: “This is true in many rural areas, especially when children die early. Parents and neighbors usually don’t mention it at home. Many children grow up often not knowing that they have a brother or sister.”

Old Xiao: “Actually, it’s understandable that parents do not mention the child who dies early. It also happens nowadays. Regardless of whether it is in urban or rural areas, a child’s early death saddened the parents, to the point they don’t speak of it. Tombstones are different. People in the cities don’t pay much attention to this. In rural areas, they are treated as children until they get married and have a family. Parents usually don’t put tombstones for their underage children.”

“Yes.” Jin Guijuan nodded and continued, “Moreover, the older families in the village will have their own ancestral tombs or cemeteries. If the tombstone Little Jing and the others saw in the ravine is Xu Erya’s, someone must have built it privately for her. All the cemeteries in the village are close to each other. How can there be a solitary grave like that?”

Manman suddenly asked, “Could the most secretive and disgraceful thing in the village refer to the relationship between men and women?”

Jin Guijuan’s lips suddenly started twitching in sarcasm. Her smile did not reach her eyes. “Absolutely. But most of these disgraceful things between men and women that cannot be disclosed to outsiders are secret relationships between young people. If the parents agree, it will be fine.”

Manman grasped the point directly and keenly. “In other words, Xu Erya’s disgraceful reputation in the village actually depends on her parents’ attitude?”

Jing Qizhen: “To be more precise, it depends on the attitudes of Xu Erya’s parents and the man’s parents.”

Jin Guijuan: “Well, if both parents agree, it means the marriage has been decided. However, there’s also a possibility that a young man and woman have a relationship openly, but when the woman becomes pregnant, the man suddenly refuses to get married. In that case, the woman is unlucky because she’s considered a disgrace, and of course, the man will also be scolded for acting inhuman.”

Yan Hong said, “According to the information written in the description of the music box, that tombstone might have been set up by Xu Erya’s lover for her in private and he also put the music box inside.”

Jing Qizhen couldn’t help but whisper, “Xu Erya was only fifteen years old. Wasn’t she too young…?”

Manman and Lu Lingxi both nodded silently. Yes, they were too young, they were still children!

Jin Guijuan was a little dumbfounded. She was obviously younger than them, but in terms of mentality, she was the opposite of Jing Qizhen and Manman.

Jin Guijuan: “…the growing environment is different, but you are right. Puppy love is really not good.”

Jing Qizhen suggested, “Let’s visit the cemetery in the village tomorrow. I don’t know how big the cemetery is, so everyone can take a look!”

They all nodded.

Jin Guijuan reminded him softly, “Even if there is a cemetery, I think it’s unlikely to see Xu Daya’s grave in this village’s cemetery…”

After everyone said good night, they arranged the night vigil. The others then lay down and fell asleep.

The cold wind howled outside the window and the chill was intrusive. However, by midnight, the temperature in the house was getting higher and higher.

There was a crackling of flames heard from the distance. Before the night vigil could warn the others, Jing Qizhen had already woken up from his sleep and his eyes opened suddenly.

When Jing Qizhen sat up, Lu Lingxi next to him also woke up. His eyes, which were usually innocent and naive like Bambi’s, were now filled with extremely sharp sobriety.

Jing Qizhen whispered, “Something’s off outside.”

Lu Lingxi nodded silently.

Immediately, the other people who had fallen asleep were also shaken awake one by one.

Manman lifted her hair with one hand, fanned herself, and frowned. “The weather has suddenly become hotter. The temperature is off.”

Jing Qizhen had already walked to the window and was about to open a corner of the curtain to look out.

At that moment, Jin Guijuan, who was sleeping next to Xu Siya, suddenly exclaimed in a low voice, “Xu Siya is missing!”

Everyone was shocked.

Jing Qizhen turned around instantly and glanced at the place where Xu Siya had been lying. The bedding there was uneven and it was obvious that someone had slept there before.

Yan Hong and Old Xiao, who were in charge of the vigil that night, also frowned.

Yan Hong said solemnly, “We didn’t see her leave.”

Manman had already tied up her hair quickly and signaled Jing Qizhen to check his bag.

“What about the book ‘Journey to Hell’ and the music box?”

Jing Qizhen turned around, checked the bag, and shook his head. His face became a little ugly. “The music box is still here, but ‘Journey to Hell’ is gone.”

Manman’s face turned sullen as she directly stated, “It must be Xu Siya! Yesterday, she must have deliberately told us the story about ‘Journey to Hell’ to get us to help her retrieve the book out of the Xu family’s yard!”