Published: August 15, 2025
Chapter 99: Leaving
In the end, Han Li still walked step by step into the village.
As soon as he reached the village entrance, he heard a burst of joyful music from instruments. Walking along the village path, he didn’t see a single villager’s figure.
Han Li’s heart stirred. This scene and sound were nothing unfamiliar to him from childhood. This was clearly a household holding a wedding celebration, and all the villagers had gone to congratulate or join the fun.
Han Li straightened up and slowly extended his spiritual perception. He found that indeed, all the villagers—young and old—had gathered in one place. But the spot where they gathered was so familiar to Han Li; wasn’t this where his own family lived?
Han Li was shocked.
“Could it be...?” Han Li vaguely guessed something.
He quickened his pace, swiftly bypassing several houses and turning around a few corners. Suddenly, his eyes brightened.
He saw hundreds of villagers gathered in front of a courtyard made of earth.
Inside the courtyard were several tiled houses that looked much better than the ones nearby. On both sides of the courtyard gate and the front doors of the tiled houses, a big double happiness character was pasted. In front of the gate, a small troupe of musicians was playing lively tunes.
The villagers were standing, squatting, or some even casually sitting on the ground. They clustered in groups of three or five, some whispering to each other, some loudly debating, while others kept glancing inside the courtyard with envious eyes.
Beside the villagers, many children surrounded the adults, playing and chasing each other.
Seeing this familiar scene, Han Li felt a momentary daze. It was as if, in an instant, he had returned to the past, becoming one of the children, running and playing alongside them.
“tsk tsk! The fourth girl of the Han family is really lucky. I heard the groom is a talented scholar from the city, a man of great learning.”
“Isn’t that right? She used to be just a concubine, now she’s the wife of a respected scholar!”
“I heard the Han family’s dowry is frighteningly lavish, worth dozens of taels of silver!”
“So rich!”
...
The loud gossiping of the village women snapped Han Li out of his trance.
“The fourth girl of the Han family—that’s my little sister! Could it really be her wedding day?” Han Li’s heart was flooded with indescribable emotions, churning endlessly.
For some unknown reason, Han Li quickly hid behind a nearby big tree, staring fixedly at the courtyard gate.
Suddenly, a shout rang out from afar: “The flower carriage is here! The groom has come to fetch the bride!”
At this news, the villagers erupted into a commotion! The noise immediately became deafening!
“The bride is coming out!”
“The new wife is coming! Come and see!”
...
Even the children yelled eagerly. Han Li’s spirit revived, his gaze toward the gate grew intense.
With a creak, the wooden courtyard gate opened, and more than a dozen men and women stepped out. Among them, a young girl wearing a bright red wedding dress was surrounded.
This girl had a pointed chin and delicate features, about sixteen or seventeen years old, her face shy at this moment.
Han Li widened his eyes and carefully observed the girl’s face, trying to find some trace of his little sister from his memories.
Apart from a faint familiarity in her eyebrows and eyes, nothing else could make Han Li think of the sister he knew.
“Ahem! The saying ‘A girl changes a lot by eighteen’ really holds true!” Han Li chuckled bitterly, then began scanning the people beside her.
“That chubby man is Third Uncle, I can tell at a glance. Still as fat as before!”
“The tall dark fellow here is Big Brother Han Tie, and the woman right next to him must be his sister-in-law!”
...
Han Li named them one by one, mumbling to himself, as if this made him feel easier.
When his gaze landed on a white-haired elderly couple, Han Li fell silent.
He stood behind the tree motionless, his expression extremely complicated.