My cousin advised me to cancel my Spring Festival travel ticket and take her boyfriend's car home instead.
At first, I wanted to refuse, but after her repeated persuasion, I eventually agreed.
As soon as I got in the car, I felt drowsy. By the time I woke up, I was already in a remote mountain village.
A group of men surrounded me, saying they wanted me to bear children for them.
When I saw the tattoos on their arms, I was shocked. It was the emblem of the Hastings Tribe.
My boyfriend, Albie Hastings, was the young leader of the Hastings Tribe. I never expected to end up in his hometown.
——
"This wide pelvis is definitely built for giving birth to sons."
"Pretty girl, hurry up and choose one of us to be your husband for tonight."
The men surrounding me stared at me lecherously, their eyes filled with lust, as if they were about to take me right then and there.
Panicked, I looked at the men before me and soon, my gaze caught something. Each of them had a distinctive tattoo on their arm.
I knew this tattoo all too well.
My boyfriend, Albie, had the same tattoo on his arm, but his was red, while these men’s were black.
I had asked him before what this tattoo meant.
Albie confessed to me that this was a unique emblem of the Hastings Tribe. He also revealed that he was the tribe's young leader and had even jokingly said he wanted me to become his chieftain’s wife.
"Where's my cousin and her boyfriend? What did you do to them?"
I anxiously looked around but saw no sign of the two. Worry gripped me as I feared for their safety.
I remembered Albie once telling me that the people in his tribe held very outdated beliefs. Because there were far more men than women, they practiced polyandry, allowing one woman to have multiple husbands.
Some members of the tribe even used gold veins to lure women in.
But he had clearly assured me that such things no longer happened.
Then what was going on now?
"Oh, you mean those matchmakers? They took the gold we gave them and left to enjoy their lives long ago." A bald man stroked his chin, grinning as he looked at me.
"Matchmakers? What do you mean?"
I scrambled up from the ground, trying to get away, but none of them showed any intention of letting me leave.
Growing impatient, the bald man reached out and shoved my shoulder.
"It's getting dark. Hurry up and choose. If you don't pick one, we'll all take turns instead."
"Hahaha!" The men around me burst into laughter.
"You’re from the Hastings Tribe, aren't you? Your young leader is my boyfriend!"
As soon as I said that, the laughter died and silence fell over the group.
Just when I thought I had intimidated them, the bald man suddenly slapped me hard, knocking me to the ground.
Before I could recover, he stomped on my chest, pressing down so hard that I could barely breathe.
"Using the young leader's identity to lure women here is a common trick of the matchmakers. You hear about the Hastings Tribe's gold veins and come running eagerly, don’t you? Since you refused to choose, then we’ll all take turns tonight! We’ll show you the strength of Hastings Tribe men!"
In the next second, he lifted me like a helpless chick and slung me over his shoulder.
"My boyfriend isn’t some matchmaker! His name is Albie, he’s your young leader! If you don’t believe me, call him here…!"
I pounded my fists against the bald man's back, struggling desperately to break free.
"You dare call our young leader by name? You must have a death wish!"
With that, he threw me down hard. My chest slammed into the ground and a sharp pain shot through me. I felt like my ribs were about to snap.
"You outsider woman, where did you even learn our young leader's name? Calling him by name is a punishable offense. Do you understand?"
