Zhou Xiaoying and Zhou Xiaomei had run all the way to Zhou Dana's house, panting heavily.
"Grandpa Dana, Grandpa Dana! We saw Li Chuntao... fooling around with a man!"
Zhou Xiaoying leaned against the Chinese toon tree in the yard, bent over and gasping for air.
Zhou Xiaomei followed behind, so exhausted she couldn't even stand straight. She rested her hands on her knees, her mouth hanging open as she panted.
Zhou Dana's wife, Wang Jinzhi, was in the kitchen tending the fire for cooking. Hearing this, her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly shoved the firewood deeper into the stove.
Dusting the ash off her hands, she hurried to the kitchen door and saw the two sisters leaning against the toon tree.
Their chests were heaving as they breathed heavily, their faces flushed red, and beads of sweat rolling down.
"You two girls, what nonsense are you spouting!" Wang Jinzhi scolded.
"Right in the deep ditch at the northeast corner! We saw it with our own eyes!" Zhou Xiaoying clutched her chest, caught her breath, and looked firmly at Wang Jinzhi.
Zhou Xiaomei nodded vigorously, her small face flushed red: "Yes! My sister and I both saw it!"
As it turned out, earlier that day, Zhou Xiaoying and Zhou Xiaomei were cutting grass in the upper field. From a distance, they saw Wang Xiaohong coming up from the ditch below carrying a hoe, but there was no sign of Chuntao.
Zhou Xiaoying rolled her eyes thoughtfully and tugged at Zhou Xiaomei's arm. "Go to Grandma's house and see if our Second Uncle is home. If he isn't, ask Grandma where he went."
"Why?" Zhou Xiaomei asked, looking puzzled.
Zhou Xiaoying lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "Don't ask so many questions, just go! Oh, and also check if Li Chuntao is home. If neither of them is there, hurry back and tell me!"
Zhou Xiaomei dropped her sickle into the grass basket and headed straight for Zhou Zhijun's house. She arrived just in time to see Wang Xiaohong pushing Zhou Zhijun's bicycle out the door.
"Sister Xiaohong, where are you going?" Zhou Xiaomei called out.
Wang Xiaohong knew very well that Huang Meili's two daughters were just like their mother—full of wicked intentions. She ignored the girl, got on the bike, and rode off.
Aunt Zhou already disliked Huang Meili's family, and Zhou Xiaomei was quite afraid of her, so she didn't dare ask directly if Zhou Zhijun was home.
She hid around the corner of the gable wall and peeked secretly into the house. She watched for a long time but didn't see any sign of Zhou Zhijun.
She then looked up toward Chuntao's yard, noting that the main room's door was tightly shut.
Just then, Aunt Zhou came out of the house and spotted her immediately, letting out a cold sneer in her heart.
This girl must have been sent by Huang Meili to snoop around again. Who knew what wicked scheme they were brewing this time.
"What are you doing sneaking around?" Aunt Zhou glared at her, her tone unfriendly.
"N-nothing!" Zhou Xiaomei trembled in fear and casually made up a lie. "My sister wanted to ride Second Uncle's bicycle!"
"The bicycle isn't here!" Aunt Zhou said. She locked the door, picked up a bamboo basket, and headed toward the vegetable fields at the west end of the village.
Zhou Xiaomei immediately knew what that meant: Zhou Zhijun was definitely not home.
She waited in place for a little while longer. Chuntao's door remained closed, and no one came out. So, she ran back to the field and told Zhou Xiaoying.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiaoying's eyes widened and she said, "Neither of them is home, so they must be down in the ditch!"
She tossed her sickle into the grass basket, grabbed Zhou Xiaomei's hand, and set off. "Let's go! Let's go take a look!"
The two sisters crept along the small path at the edge of the field, sneaking toward the deep ditch while keeping their ears pricked for any sounds.
Sneaking up to a corner, they quietly poked their heads out to look ahead, and their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
They had long resented Zhou Zhijun and Aunt Zhou for treating Chuntao so well, and they had always wanted to catch Chuntao doing something wrong. Now they had finally caught her!
"Let's go! Let's find the village party secretary! We'll have him bring people over to drag Li Chuntao through the streets, so the whole commune can see what a slut she is!"
Zhou Xiaoying gritted her teeth, her eyes gleaming with gloating malice.
The sisters bolted toward the village. As they ran, they couldn't help but grin, imagining the miserable sight of Chuntao being paraded through the streets after being caught.
They didn't dare go home; instead, they ran straight to the house of the village party secretary, Zhou Dana.
Wang Jinzhi looked at the two girls. They didn't seem to be lying, so she asked again, "Is this really true?"
"It's true!" Zhou Xiaoying patted her chest, guaranteeing it.
"It's true! I saw it clearly, it was Li Chuntao!" Zhou Xiaomei chimed in, her small face full of excitement.
But Zhou Dana had gone to the commune for a meeting today, leaving Wang Jinzhi in a dilemma.
She had no grudge against Li Chuntao and had no reason to get involved in this mess.
After mulling it over, Wang Jinzhi waved her hand. "You two must have seen wrong. Hurry on home and stop shouting nonsense here!"
"We didn't see wrong! It was Li Chuntao!" Zhou Xiaoying stamped her feet in anxiety, rushing to defend herself.
Just then, Zhou Zhaodi returned, her face long and looking furious. As she walked through the door, she rolled her eyes at the two sisters, having nowhere to vent her pent-up anger.
"What's wrong?" Wang Jinzhi asked. Seeing her like this, she knew Zhaodi must have had another fight with Wang Qingshan.
Ever since Wang Qingshan had hit Zhou Zhaodi on the first day of the Lunar New Year, her temper had mellowed quite a bit.
But a leopard cannot change its spots. Whenever things didn't go her way, she still couldn't help but open her mouth and curse.
Just earlier at home, she had been making snide, indirect remarks to scold Old Man Wang and his wife. It just so happened that Wang Qingshan overheard her as he was coming back from the fields.
Wang Qingshan flew into a rage and stepped forward to kick her. Terrified, Zhou Zhaodi quickly dodged and ran out of the house.
With her shrewish nature, Zhou Zhaodi used to only fear Zhou Dana and Zhou Zhijun. Now, with Wang Qingshan daring to strike her, she felt incredibly stifled and frustrated.
With her old temper, she would have long ago made a scene and threatened for a divorce, but she couldn't bring herself to leave Wang Qingshan.
Her late husband had been sick for so many years that she had been utterly frustrated and pent-up inside.
Although Wang Qingshan was ugly and had a bad temper, he was very capable of satisfying her in that aspect. Zhou Zhaodi was quite pleased with this; no matter how angry she got during the day, all her fury would dissipate by nightfall.
"Nothing!" Zhou Zhaodi pouted her thick lips, plopped down heavily onto a stool in the main room, and stayed silent with her head down.
At that moment, Zhou Pandi also returned from the fields carrying a vegetable basket. Spotting the Zhou sisters at the door, she asked casually, "What are you two doing here?"
Zhou Xiaoying and Zhou Xiaomei were at their wits' end because Wang Jinzhi didn't believe them.
Seeing Zhou Pandi return was like catching a lifeline. They hurriedly gathered around her and recounted exactly what they had seen, leaving no detail out.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Pandi's eyes instantly lit up, and a faint smile of excitement appeared on her face. "Is what you two are saying really true? You didn't see wrong?"
"It's true! I swear to the heavens! If it's a lie, may lightning strike me down!" Zhou Xiaoying quickly raised her hand and swore an oath.
Zhou Xiaomei blinked her small eyes and nodded along. "My sister and I saw it with our own eyes, it can't be fake! Aunt Pandi, we came specifically to get Grandpa Dana!"
Zhou Pandi shot them a meaningful glance and lowered her voice. "Your Grandpa Dana has gone to the commune, so don't wait for him! You two go get my Second Uncle, and call Baldy Zhang as well. Oh, and Wang Haichao and the others too. We'll all go together!"
Hearing this, Zhou Xiaoying and Zhou Xiaomei instantly perked up and split up to go fetch the others.
Seeing Zhou Zhaodi sitting in the main room with a long face, Zhou Pandi hurriedly relayed what the two sisters had told her.
Upon hearing this, all the pent-up frustration inside Zhou Zhaodi vanished in an instant. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head with excitement as she clenched her fists and stormed outside.
"Perfect! Li Chuntao, you shameless tramp, let's see who can protect you now that I'm going to catch you red-handed today! I'm going to drag you through the streets and let the whole commune know exactly what kind of trash you are..."
