The term "makeover", originally a Buddhist term, refers to the fact that sentient beings remain unchanged in reincarnation, but only change their faces.
Later, after the TV series and movie "Liaozhai" became popular, as long as the makeover was mentioned, everyone would think of the scene where Zhu Erdan changed his head for his wife and painted a leather ghost for love.
But no matter how popular movies and TV series are, the audience never thinks it's the real thing, just when a story is finished. However, in a border town in the last years of the Republic of China, a drama of changing faces for love was staged.
This story has been circulating in the anecdotes, and was later recorded in the book "Chinese Anecdotes".
During the last years of the People's Republic, many places began post-war reconstruction, and some people who fled their hometowns, as well as small soldiers who had been on the battlefield, returned to their hometowns to rebuild.
The protagonist Yang Congjia joined the army in his early years and was wounded on the battlefield before retiring to his hometown to rebuild. Yang Congjia had married a wife before joining the army, but his wife was unfortunate and died after a serious illness, leaving Yang Congjia and an old mother.
After returning to her hometown, Yang's mother Zhang Luo married a daughter-in-law to her son, passing on the yang family's lineage, and happened to have a crush on the neighbor's daughter Jian Xuemei.
Because the two families are neighbors who know the roots, the woman saw the Yang family come to the door to propose to the family, and did not twist the consent on the spot, and then began to organize the wedding, so that the two people could get married as soon as possible.
However, on the eve of the big wedding, He Xiaofen, an orphan daughter from abroad who had long been supported by the Yang family, found Yang Congjia, showed her admiration, and begged him not to marry Jian Xuemei.
Yang Congjia was a loyal and honest person, who could do such a ruthless and unjust thing, he immediately rejected He Xiaofen's confession, and let her stop thinking about herself, he would only have a wife in the future.
Yang Congjia originally just did what a man should do, but he never expected that because of his refusal, not only harmed Jian Xuemei, but also let He Xiaofen reveal her true nature.
Before marriage, Jian Xuemei was a beautiful-looking, slightly shy girl, which made Yang Congjia very happy. And after the marriage of Jian Xuemei, let Yang Congjia a little elusive, not only less silent, all day to lock themselves in the house embroidery, rarely go out, especially at night when the two get along, never light the lamp, asked the reason she only said that she was shy.
Yang Congjia thought of the two newly married Yan'er, and it was normal for the other party to be shy, so he didn't think much about it.
Shortly after the two married, Yang Congjia remembered that He Xiaofen, who confessed to himself, had not appeared for a long time, and he went to her house to look for several laps but did not find anyone, thinking that she had left alone because of sadness.
However, the longer Yang Congjia spent with Jian Xuemei, the more he felt that There was something wrong with Jian Xuemei.
Jian Xuemei was originally a lady of a large family, although the family road fell in the middle, but also by her parents in the palm of her hand, rarely doing rough work. But since she married herself, she has done any rough and heavy work, even embroidery has been particularly chic, and her hands, which were originally delicate and tender, have become rough.
At first, Yang Congjia thought that she would become like this in order to run the family, and she became more and more distressed about her.
A year later, just as Jian Xuemei was giving birth, Yang Congjia found the clue from her neck. Yang Congjia clearly saw that there was a thin red line around Jian Xuemei's neck, and when he touched it with his hand, a piece of something like human skin fell instantly, frightening him to retreat one after another.
It was also from this time that Yang Congjia suspected that his wife Jian Xuemei had been transferred, and even began to stay away from Jian Xuemei, but where did he know that he had never owned Jian Xuemei, and it was actually He Xiaofen who married him, and when he learned the truth, He Xiaofen had committed an unforgivable crime.
Yang Congjia began to stay away from his wife since he suspected that Jian Xuemei was transferred, and he initially guessed that Jian Xuemei was possessed by He Xiaofen, so there would be such a big change, plus their son had a scar on his face, like a scar on He Xiaofen's face, which deepened Yang Congjia's suspicions.
So he began to stay away from his wife and son, and every time he saw his son's face, a feeling of disgust arose in his heart. Gradually, Yang Congjia no longer returned home and stopped communicating with his wife.
One day, "Jian Xuemei" saw Yang Congjia and the new accountant in the factory walking on the road with a smile, and she could no longer bear her husband's indifference to herself.
At night, Jian Xuemei asked Yang Congjia: Is I good-looking, or is the accountant of your unit good-looking, if you like her, I can become her appearance, so that you can see that face all day.
Yang Congjia was startled by his wife's inexplicable and asked her what she meant by this, and Jian Xuemei told Yang Congjia about her origins.
It turned out that Jian Xuemei's ancestor had an embroidery lady who was skilled in embroidery, and specially embroidered wedding dresses for the newlyweds. The embroidered lady fell in love with a rich man and had always longed to marry him, but the rich man had a crush on an official lady.
In order to get the rich man's son, the embroidered lady made a trick on the wedding dress, causing the young lady to scream for her life, and she changed the face of the official lady and became the wife of the rich man.
Later, the rich man discovered that his wife was just an embroidered woman, so he threw her out of the house and left her. And He Xiaofen is the descendant of this embroidery lady, inheriting the craft of sewing dough.
Yang Congjia asked in disbelief: Since you are He Xiaofen, where has Jian Xuemei gone?
He Xiaofen smiled and said: I used her face, where else do you think she can go?
Yang Congjia felt that her wife must have been crazy, not only hurt Jian Xuemei and deprived her of her face, she also scared her mother to death. Thinking of this, Yang Congjia did not dare to think further, because he did not believe that the person who slept with him was actually a wicked person.
Just as Yang Congjia was stunned, He Xiaofen knew that he had no way to retreat, so he tore off Jian Xuemei's face and threw it at him: Originally in half a year, you could merge into one, and I didn't think that you were a negative person. Or, you will keep this skin for the rest of your life!
After saying that, He Xiaofen hugged her son and fled the Yang family.
Later, no one had seen any trace of He Xiaofen, and some people speculated that she should have changed her face again, depriving others of their lives and continuing to survive.
The "Strange Embroidery" in "Chinese Strange Stories" ended here, no one can say clearly about He Xiaofen's craft of embroidering the skin, and the rumors about changing faces are also spreading more and more, but there is no specific conclusion.
"Chinese Strange Stories" is a book that records strange things, each story in it has its origin, and it is also very attractive, it is a book that I want to read in one breath when I pick it up.
For many readers, the word "strange news" is enough to arouse their curiosity, and they want to explore the phenomena that science cannot explain through words, such as ghosts, such as aliens, and so on.
Each story in the "Chinese Anecdotes" set has its own advantages, so that you can't help but explore its authenticity, such as the immortal nature of the weasel, whether it is good or evil, because it can hurt people and save people. One puzzle after another that cannot be solved jumps out of our minds through words.
In addition to being mysterious, there is also a darkness in the glory of human nature. In the book, we can not only see family affection and love, but also feel a trace of compassion between people and animals.
In the Anecdotes, there is an unchanging purpose, that is, "good is rewarded with good, evil is rewarded with evil", no matter when and where we are, goodness can always help us get rid of pain and help us succeed.
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