Unfortunately, the groom did not quiet down as Li Xianglan had imagined. Instead, he ran over and slapped her hand away.
“My mother said that women who wave at men are bad women! You’re a bad woman!”
The groom, Zhang Chengye, had suffered a high fever as a child that left him mentally impaired. His intelligence was that of a young child, but he possessed tremendous strength. Striking out without warning, he smacked her hand away with a loud crack.
The force sent Li Xianglan staggering sideways, nearly knocking her to the ground.
Fortunately, the matchmaker caught her in time. She hurriedly smiled at the groom and coaxed him.
“Young Master Zhang, she’s your bride. You mustn’t hit her.”
The groom shouted, “I already have a mother! I don’t want any bride!”
The guests gathered in the wedding hall burst into laughter.
Li Xianglan’s father and stepmother flushed crimson with embarrassment. Even they hadn’t expected their foolish son-in-law to be this foolish—to make such a scene right in the middle of the wedding ceremony.
Li Xianglan was both humiliated and in pain. Tears welled up in her eyes. She could only be grateful that her bridal veil still covered her face, sparing her from seeing everyone’s expressions.
The Zhang family’s servants hurried over to calm the groom.
“Young Master, don’t you remember what Master and Madam told you? Today you have to behave…”
Having been stopped again and again throughout the day, Zhang Chengye had long since lost his patience. He tugged at his wedding clothes, ripped the large red flower from his chest, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it.
“I don’t want to wear this flower! I want to play with firecrackers!”
The servants quickly restrained him while straightening his rumpled clothes.
“All right, all right, Young Master. Just wait here. We’ll go pick up some firecrackers for you.”
Several village children found it hilarious that a grown man was throwing a tantrum like a little boy. They laughed at him, made mocking gestures, and proudly showed him the firecrackers they had picked up earlier.
Already childish by nature, Zhang Chengye couldn’t stand the provocation. He immediately charged toward them to snatch the firecrackers away.
The children were nimble. They darted through the crowd, weaving left and right, teasing him as though he were a performing monkey.
Some villagers had long been jealous after hearing how much the Li family had gained from this marriage. Seeing the groom make such a fool of himself made them feel a little better. A few malicious people even took advantage of the chaos to egg him on. Hidden among the crowd, they secretly shoved him or stuck out a foot to trip him.
With so many people packed together, no one could tell who had done it.
Caught completely off guard, Zhang Chengye crashed heavily onto the ground and immediately burst into loud sobs.
Li Xianglan’s parents and the Zhang family’s servants all rushed over to pull him up and comfort him.
In an instant, the wedding hall dissolved into complete chaos.
Han Xiuxiu hadn’t expected things to spiral so badly. She had barely taken a step forward to help when Madam Li grabbed her arm.
“Serves them right! This is the Li family’s karma! Why are you getting involved?”
With everything in disarray, there was no longer any point in holding the formal farewell ceremony.
The Li family only wanted to send their daughter away as quickly as possible.
The Zhang family only wanted to get the bride home as soon as possible.
Li Xianglan was hurriedly stuffed into the bridal sedan chair. The groom was practically carried away by several Zhang family attendants, crying the entire time.
Behind them followed a crowd of mischievous children who delighted in the spectacle, chasing after the procession while mocking him.
The Zhang family’s attendants scattered handfuls of wedding candies and lucky coins to distract the children, who immediately scrambled to collect them.
The bridal procession fled the Li family home as though escaping disaster.
The Li family had hoped to hold a magnificent wedding and earn themselves some prestige.
Instead, they became the laughingstock of the entire village.
Ashamed and furious, they had no desire to continue entertaining guests.
After laughing and gossiping for a while, everyone gradually dispersed.
As they walked home, they enthusiastically recounted every detail of the day’s farce.
Whenever anyone mentioned the Zhang family’s marriage, they inevitably brought up the Han family and Han Xiuxiu.
“No wonder the Zhang family offered a hundred taels of silver as the bride price. Every bit of it was worth it. Otherwise, how could they possibly have found him a wife?”
“They used to say the Han family’s daughter was foolish—that she’d rather jump into a river than marry into the Zhang family. Turns out she’s the smart one.”
“Exactly. She had real courage.”
“And that hunter she married—he’s such a tall fellow. I saw the two of them together the other day. They’re a perfect match.”
“Poor girl from the Li family. Her life was miserable before marriage, and it’ll probably be miserable afterward too.”
“…”
Although Han Xiuxiu didn’t hear these conversations herself, judging by what had happened, she knew this incident would be talked about in the village for decades to come.
The Li family would never be able to hold their heads high again.
Han Xiuxiu’s emotions were complicated.
Although Li Xianglan had acted out of some selfish motives, Han Xiuxiu had genuinely hoped she would find peace and happiness in the future.
She had never imagined things would end like this.
At the same time, she silently gave thanks that the man she had married was Lu Yunfei.
Han Xiaoxiao couldn’t stop thinking about how close her elder sister had come to marrying that fool.
A grown man crying and throwing tantrums like a child, rolling around on the ground until his wedding clothes were filthy and wrinkled…
She tightly held Han Xiuxiu’s hand and whispered,
“Big Sister… I like our brother-in-law now.”
Han Xiuxiu gently stroked her head.
“So do I.”
She meant those words with all her heart.
Compared to Zhang Chengye, Lu Yunfei had far too many good qualities.
Although it hadn’t rained the previous night, the mountain air was heavy with mist. Fallen leaves were damp beneath their feet, soft and springy to walk on.
Lu Yunfei took Black Panther into the mountains to inspect the traps he had set a few days earlier.
This was breeding season for many wild animals, so they were more active than usual, making hunting slightly easier.
The farther they ventured into the forest, the denser the trees became and the quieter the surroundings grew.
Lu Yunfei checked several traps in succession, but every one of them was empty.
The leaves covering the pits showed no signs of disturbance.
These traps were dug along trails frequently used by wild animals. Deep pits were lined with sharpened wooden stakes pointing upward. Once an animal fell in, escaping was nearly impossible, so they had to be inspected regularly.
Black Panther was thoroughly familiar with this patrol route.
The large dog ran ahead, occasionally distracted by squirrels leaping through the trees, barking excitedly at them.
By noon, they still hadn’t caught anything.
Lu Yunfei stopped beside a small stream to eat some dried provisions and refill his bamboo water flask.
Suddenly, he heard the fluttering of wings.
He froze instantly, carefully listening for the direction of the sound.
He silently made a hand signal.
Black Panther immediately lowered its body, its ears twitching attentively.
A grayish-brown pheasant emerged from the woods and began pecking at the ground not far away.
Lu Yunfei removed his bow, took careful aim, and released the arrow.
The pheasant fell instantly.
Black Panther sprinted forward and proudly retrieved the bird.
It was a plump pheasant.
Lu Yunfei patted the dog’s head in praise before continuing deeper into the forest.
Along the way, he discovered fresh signs of wild boars rooting through the ground.
The hoofprints were scattered everywhere, clearly belonging to more than one animal.
Wild boars usually traveled in family groups.
After examining the tracks, Lu Yunfei determined they were very fresh.
Normally, wild boars stayed in the deeper parts of the forest.
He hadn’t expected them to expand their territory this far.
He had never seen their tracks here before.
Wild boars were notoriously fierce.
Traveling in groups, they could be every bit as dangerous as wolves.
Even experienced hunters considered them troublesome prey.
Following the tracks for some distance, Lu Yunfei carefully kept downwind, hiding his scent.
Soon, he heard movement coming from a patch of dense underbrush.
It was an entire sounder of wild boars.
For Lu Yunfei, this was excellent news.
A single wild boar could be sold for a substantial amount of silver.
The previous year, he had hunted several, keeping plenty of meat for himself while earning a tidy profit from selling the rest.
Unfortunately, it was already too late in the day.
There wasn’t enough time to set traps along their regular path.
He would have to return tomorrow with the proper tools.
There were quite a few boars in the group.
It would be unwise to confront them head-on.
Wild boars possessed an exceptionally keen sense of smell.
He absolutely couldn’t alert them.
Just as Lu Yunfei was preparing to quietly leave—
An arrow suddenly shot through the air.
It struck the large tusked boar squarely.
The boar let out a piercing, agonized squeal.
Instantly, the entire herd flew into a frenzy…