The woman was shocked by Venus’ beauty. She had never seen anyone who is even more beautiful
than her.
“You are absolutely stunning!” The woman exclaimed. “I should have asked for more money.”
Venus couldn’t see. She could only sit there quietly and let them put powder on her face. She wouldn’t
like her makeup if she could see.
The man walked into the room and said: “Is the bride ready? The car is......”
He stopped talking when he saw how beautiful Venus is. He only stared at her pretty face unblinkingly.
The woman slapped on the back of his head and said: “When will the lesson be learned? Where is the
groom’s car?”
The man recovered himself and said, while staring at Venus: “The car will soon be here.”
“Stop staring! Get out! Don’t let them take her away before we get the money.”
“Sure. Sure.”
Ten minutes later, the groom arrived.
Gawa jumped off the car. He was also dressed in traditional wedding dress and he couldn’t wait to see
his wife. But the woman stopped him and said: “Where is the money?”
Gawa knew nothing about the money. He ignored her and rushed into the room.
The woman then asked Gawa’s cousin: “Where is the money?”
His cousin took out a pile of money and gave it to her. He said: “Here. Count it.”
The woman took the money and smiled. “That’s not necessary. I trust you.” She said. “Now you can
take her away.”
He and a few young men then rushed into the room. When they saw Venus, they were all numb with
shock.
Gawa was staring at Venus unblinkingly. The other men all gasped and they all felt a pang of jealousy.
Because they couldn’t find anyone who is as beautiful as the bride in the whole village, or even in the
whole town.
The woman couldn’t hear any sound from the room. She was confused and she went back into the
room to see what happened. And she found everyone was staring at Venus with their jaws dropped.
She laughed and said to Gawa: “What are you waiting for? She is your wife. Take her home.”
Gawa finally recovered himself. He nodded and tried to take Venus’s hand. But Venus moved away
from him. Gawa didn’t know what to do.
The woman then said to Venus: “Why are you so shy? He is your husband. Go home with him.”
Venus shook her head and said: “No. He is not my husband.” Her brain was not functioning very well
but she faintly remembered that she has a husband, and her husband is so very different from the one
standing in front of her.
The woman’s face dropped. She said: “You will have to go with him. It’s not up to you.”
Tears brimmed Venus’s eyes.
Gawa felt heartbroken when he saw her tears. He shouted at the woman: “Why do you have to make
her cry!”
The woman shook her head helplessly. She said: “Fine! Just do whatever you want.”
Gawa summoned up his courage again and tried to take Venus’s hand. But Venus drew her hand back
again.
These young men who were present all laughed. Gawa’s cousin said to Venus: “Hey, we have lots of
delicious food and beautiful clothes at our home. Do you want to come with us?”
Venus was not in her right mind, and her expression softened when she heard the word ‘food”. Gawa’s
cousin nudged at Gawa and said: “What are you waiting for?”
Gawa then tried to take her hand again and this time, Venus didn’t resist.
A giant smiled appeared on Gawa’s face. He took the bride out of the room. There are actually many
rituals to go through before the groom could take the bride back home. But since they are all retarded,
they skipped all the rituals.
Gawa finally took Venus back home. And since then, he had never walked away from her. He stared at
her unblinkingly as if she would run away if he looked away.
“Are you hungry? I’ll bring you some food.” Gawa said.
Gawa’s mother walked into the room and found Gawa was so nice to Venus. She felt relieved. But
then, she heard Gawa saying: “Hey, do you want to go to bed? Let’s go to bed! I will hold you in my
arms.”
Gawa’s mother grabbed his arm and said: “What do you mean you are going to bed. It’s noon! Go out
and meet our relatives!”
Gawa said no. “I don’t want to. I only want to be with my wife.”
“Your wife will always be here!”
“No! I don’t wanna go! I want to stay here with my wife!”
His mother finally gave up. She poked his head and left.
Many people in the village attended this wedding. They ate abundantly and drank heartily. The man
and the woman who found Venus and sold her to Gawa’s family also came. They are the most
important guests because everyone believes the man is the bride’s cousin.
“Wang Li, I can’t believe you have such a beautiful cousin. You don’t look like each other at all.” A
person said.
Wang Li (the man’s name) was at that moment very drunk. He patted his chest and said proudly: “Of
course she is not my cousin. I don’t know who she is. I saw she fell into a river a few days ago and I
saved her and took her back home.”
Everyone was numb with shock when they heard what he said. His wife was furious. She pinched his
hand under the table very hard and hoped he could be sober. But he slapped her hand away and said:
“What are you doing! You know she is not my cousin!”
The table was in uproar. A man asked: “Where did you find her? I mean, which river did she fall into?”
“Right behind......” Before he could finish, his wife covered his mouth and said: “Don’t listen to him! He
is too drunk and he doesn’t know what he is talking about. The bride is his cousin.”
Wang was still struggling. His wife had to drag him home before he could say anything else.
After they left, the villagers talked about what he just said. And soon, everyone there was talking about
it.
“Wang Li said the bride is not his cousin. He found her in a river!”
“Are you serious?”
“Sure. After what he said, his wife dragged him away. Why was she so nervous? Besides, look at how
beautiful the bride is! Does she look like someone who is related to Wang Li?”
“You are right. But did she jump into a river? What happened?”
......
Mr Zhong heard their conversation. He suddenly remembered a few days ago, the group of people who
stayed in his house were looking for a girl. So is the bride the girl they were looking for?
Mr Zhong remembered how nervous and uneasy Kerry was that day. And he determined to ask them to
come back and see the bride. Maybe it is really her. He couldn’t allow Gawa to ruin the girl’s life.
He finished cooking the last two dishes and said to a man: “I must go home now. You serve the
dishes.”
“Mr Zhong. Why are you in such a hurry?”
Mr Zhong wore a serious expression. He left without saying another word. These people had left for
three days. He didn’t even have their phone number. How could he get contact with them?
Mrs Zhong was picking the vegetables when Mr Zhong came back. She said: “Why are you back so
soon? Is the wedding ceremony over?”
“Something big happened!” Mr Zhong said seriously.
Mrs Zhong stood up and asked: “What happened?”
Mr Zhong then told her everything that had happened, and Mrs Zhong said: “Then the bride is must the
girl! Wang Li and his wife must sold the girl to Gawa’a family! What a bunch of greedy people! They did
similar things before.”
“I know. That’s why I come back. But we don’t have these people’s number. How should we contact
them?”
Mrs Zhong paced back and forth nervously. She suddenly remembered something and said: “Did one
of them go to the police station and have a DNA test? Maybe they have his number.”
“Right! I’ll call the police station.” Mr Zhong then made the phone call and told the police what
happened. The police told him that he should contact Tianye Mu, and gave him his number. Tianye
gave the police his phone number a few days ago and asked them to contact him if something new
came up.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda