1323 I Only Want You 21 (2/2)
Madam Wang hushed her and said, ”Lower your volume. We generally avoid talking about this in the village. Rumors about our village have been spreading like wildfire. They've been affecting us negatively. Those villagers who have moved away don't even dare to admit that this place is their hometown. We really don't know what's going on.”
An Xiaoning nodded and asked, ”Did it have something to do with the food and water supply?”
Madam Wang hurriedly explained, ”Sister, there's nothing wrong with our water supply at all, really. We drink straight from the tap every day and nothing has happened to us at all.”
”Good that nothing has happened. However, this is a village. Where does the water supply come from?” asked An Xiaoning, who had been dying to ask that question.
”It comes from the entrance of the village.” Pointing in the direction of the east, Madam Wang continued, ”There's a large reservoir over there, and all the water comes from that main tap. There are technicians in charge of tending to the water supply and checking the pipes so the water is absolutely safe.”
An Xiaoning too felt that the problem probably didn't lie with the water supply. After all, all the other villages received water from the same reservoir.
Madam Zhang said, ”But… it's true that there are ghosts in that reservoir.”
”Sister, are there really ghosts?” An Xiaoning asked curiously.
”Of course there are. A drowning incident took place a few years ago. A child drowned in that reservoir by accident when he was playing with his friends nearby. The rest of the children came back crying and claimed that they had heard sounds coming from the reservoir and, thus, the child who had drowned looked inside the reservoir out of curiosity. In the end, he was grabbed by the neck and pulled into the water.”
An Xiaoning did hear stories about water spirits attracting the attention of others by letting out crying sounds and taking the chance to pull the innocent humans into the water.
An Xiaoning found that the stories she used to hear in the past seemed to be true.
If there were ghosts in the water, would the water really be safe for consumption?
The discussion ended because it started pouring and everyone left to head back to their own homes.
An Xiaoning and Madam Wang entered the house to see that Fan Shixin was cooking some food. Madam Wang laughed and said, ”Your husband can cook? My husband is a far cry. All he does is wait for me to serve him like he's a prince. You're so lucky. I'm so envious of you.”
”Frankly speaking, I'm not a great cook and my husband does the cooking most of the time. It's your husband's blessing to have a wife like you.”
Green with envy, Madam Wang said, ”Look at you, your complexion is so good. It's time for me to cook. By the way, tell your husband to return to the town as quickly as possible after dinner. I'm doing this for your own good.”
”Thank you, Sister.”
An Xiaoning entered and sat on the chair while watching Fan Shixin cook.
”Fortunately, you know how to cook. Otherwise, we're going to starve. However, did you use the water from the tap or the bottled water we brought here?”
”The water we brought.”
”I can put my mind at ease, then. I heard from the villagers that the water supply comes from the reservoir, in which there are ghosts. It sounds rather real, though. However, I still think we should be careful with what we consume. It's better to be safe than sorry.”