Zhou Zhijun caught a glimpse of the thing in Liu Cuilan's hand at the door, and his heart suddenly tightened.
Fortunately, the one Liu Cuilan was clutching in her hand was the new one.
Just now, Liu Cuilan and her gang searched far to the north along the ditch, and didn't even find a single hair of Chuntao's.
Zhou Pandi suddenly shouted, "We fell for a trick! Li Chuntao must be hiding nearby, and slipped away while we were looking over here!"
The group of people woke up as if from a dream, and ran back in a panic, but when they rushed to that patch of grass, let alone Chuntao, even Zhou Zhijun was gone.
Zhou Zhaodi pointed at the messy grass nest on the ground, spitting everywhere, "Look! The two of them must have rolled around here! Shameless!"
"Everyone come over and dig around! We'll definitely find that filthy thing! We found it in the wheat straw stack last time."
A group of people surrounded the area, scrambling to dig around in the grass, but didn't find the "dirty thing" like the one in the wheat straw stack, but touched a balloon instead.
"Look! What is this!" Zhou Zhaodi snatched it away.
"This thing is evidence? Zhou Zhijun and Li Chuntao, this pair of adulterers, must have been fooling around here!"
The group of people's eyes widened, cursing out of anger, they had been played by Zhou Zhijun again.
However, with this "ironclad evidence," they felt a bit more confident, but since they didn't catch the two of them on the spot, they didn't dare to go directly to Zhou Zhijun to settle accounts, and could only come to find Chuntao.
When Wang Xiaohong saw the thing in Liu Cuilan's hand, she burst out laughing with a "pfft," raising her eyebrows, "Isn't this just a balloon! How is it evidence?"
As an unmarried young woman, how would she know the true use of this thing, only thinking it was a balloon to coax children to play with.
The village women's director had a box of these things, and no one came to claim them, so she sold them to the village children to blow up as balloons for a penny each.
Yesterday, Wang Xiaohong even saw a group of half-grown children blowing them up bigger than washbasins, running around the threshing floor with them.
At this time, Aunt Zhou pushed through the crowd and walked over. Having lived for more than half her life, how could she not recognize this thing?
She glared coldly at Liu Cuilan, and said in a deep voice, "Liu Cuilan, can't you wish her well? Always making trouble out of nothing!"
"Chuntao is such a good girl, working from dawn to dusk every day without a single word of complaint.
If you don't feel sorry for her, that's fine, but you try to find ways to bully her and ruin her reputation. Will you be satisfied when you really break up this family?"
Liu Cuilan looked at her sideways, speaking stubbornly, "This is our Wang family's business, it's not for you outsiders to interrupt!"
Zhou Zhaodi raised her dark, plump face, shouting to back her up, "This is the evidence of Li Chuntao having an affair! Ironclad evidence!"
Zhou Ergan also chimed in from the side, "That's right! Someone clearly saw the two of them fooling around there, this thing is stolen goods!"
Wang Haichao and his brothers also joined in the jeering, but their eyes sneaked glances at Zhou Zhijun in the next yard.
Muttering, "Do you really think our Wang family has no one left? Easy to bully?"
Aunt Zhou coughed heavily, her voice cold and deep, "Family matters must also be reasonable! If you're unreasonable, this old woman insists on meddling!"
"What right do you have to meddle?" Liu Cuilan said, also sneaking a glance at Zhou Zhijun.
Seeing Zhou Zhijun's face as gloomy as if there was going to be a snowstorm, and his eyes freezing cold, she felt timid in her heart, and her voice lowered a bit, "Could it be... the one having an affair with Li Chuntao is someone named Zhou?"
"Liu Cuilan! Shut your stinking mouth!" Aunt Zhou suddenly raised her voice, "If you talk nonsense again, I'll tear your mouth off!"
With Zhou Zhijun standing nearby, Liu Cuilan didn't dare to really clash with Aunt Zhou.
Her eyes darted around, and she turned to shout at Wang Haichao and his brothers, "What are you still standing there for? Drag Li Chuntao out for me!"
Saying that, she took the lead and rushed towards the house, a group of people followed behind, and the onlookers also stood on their tiptoes to get closer, making the yard instantly chaotic.
Zhou Pandi had sharp eyes and had already seen Chuntao in Zhou Zhijun's main room. She quietly tugged at Zhou Zhaodi's sleeve, lowering her voice, "Sister, Li Chuntao is in Zhou Zhijun's house!"
Zhou Zhaodi's footsteps suddenly stopped, and she turned her head to look towards the door of Zhou Zhijun's main room, meeting Zhou Zhijun's cold gaze. She shrank her neck in fear, completely afraid to go up and drag her out.
She was afraid that Zhou Zhijun would expose her scandalous affair with Baldy Zhang in the broken cowshed, and even more afraid of his temper. If she angered him, she would be the one to suffer.
In the main room, Chuntao sat on the bench, her body trembling like a sieve, her mind in a mess.
Hearing Wang Xiaohong say that it was a balloon, she understood in her heart.
Although that thing wasn't hers, things between her and Zhou Zhijun had been unclear for a long time.
Feeling very guilty, she bit her lip tightly, not daring to go out and confront Liu Cuilan.
But on second thought, the weaker she was, the more Liu Cuilan would hold on to it. Today's matter couldn't be avoided.
Chuntao gritted her teeth, slowly stood up from the stool, and walked towards the door.
Her eye sockets were red and swollen, but she forced herself not to shed a single tear.
Seeing her come out, Zhou Zhijun didn't stop her, but instead gave her an encouraging look, as if to say, "Don't be afraid, I'm here!"
"I'm here!"
Chuntao gathered all her strength and shouted these three words. The voice wasn't loud, but it had a stubbornness of risking everything.
Chuntao walked step by step from Zhou Zhijun's yard, every step carrying the stubbornness of not wanting to endure anymore. Everyone's eyes were fixed on her.
Zhou Zhijun followed closely behind her, like a door god, with a cold face and eyes full of hostility.
Liu Cuilan felt a chill in her heart, and her curses involuntarily weakened a bit, "Li Chuntao! You slut! Shameless vixen..."
"Liu Cuilan! Shut up"
Chuntao suddenly raised her head, her eyes bloodshot, looking straight at Liu Cuilan, "You make things out of nothing every day, spouting nonsense, framing my innocence for no reason..."
Chuntao and Zhou Zhijun walked towards Liu Cuilan one after the other.
Looking at Zhou Zhijun's murderous eyes, Liu Cuilan retreated in fear, and Wang Haichao and his brothers behind her also shrank their necks and hid back.
"I... how did I frame you?" Liu Cuilan forced herself to be confident, and shook the thing in her hand again.
"Look! This is the evidence of your affair! Do you still dare to be stubborn?"
Just then, with a loud "bang," the door of Chuntao's main room was violently pulled open.
Everyone looked towards the sound, only to see Wang Jieshi holding onto a bench, standing unsteadily at the door, his face flushed.
He looked at Liu Cuilan and roared loudly, "All of you get out!"
Wang Jieshi's voice was rough and hoarse, and also trembling. Everyone was stunned by him.
"Jieshi? What are you doing?" Liu Cuilan froze for a moment, then raised the balloon in her hand again, waving it in front of Wang Jieshi.
"Look carefully! Li Chuntao, this shameless woman, is having an affair with a wild man in the ditch! This is the evidence!
I'm helping you vent your anger! Why don't you know what's good for you?"
Wang Jieshi's eyes widened, staring fixedly at Liu Cuilan, his chest heaving violently.
"I know better than anyone what kind of person she is! None of you even think about throwing dirty water on her head!"
"I was the one who was confused back then! I'm the one who let her down!"
"I was gone for four years," Wang Jieshi's voice was thick with sobs. "As a woman on her own, she worked from dawn to dusk and never took a single step out of the Wang family home!"
"Now that I'm left with nothing but a crippled leg, she still hasn't abandoned me. She is wholeheartedly devoted to living her life with the Wang family.
"She serves me tea and water, cooks and does the laundry, and helps me up at night to wash my body...
"Tell me, could a woman with a wandering eye go to such lengths..."
Wang Jieshi's words left everyone in absolute shock. They stared at him with wide eyes, as if they had just seen a ghost in broad daylight.
Liu Cuilan and her gang, in particular, looked as though their eyes were about to pop out of their heads, their mouths hanging open wide enough to fit a whole egg inside.
The watching villagers began whispering among themselves. "Wang Jieshi actually has a bit of a conscience."
"Isn't that the truth! Who in the village hasn't seen how much Li Chuntao has suffered these past few years? Liu Cuilan picking fights every day is just going too far!"
In the crowd, a fleeting, barely noticeable coldness flashed through Zhou Zhijun's eyes. He thought to himself that this guy Wang Jieshi must be brewing some wicked scheme.
Chuntao never in her wildest dreams imagined that Wang Jieshi would actually stand up and speak for her today.
Chuntao felt as if a ladle of hot water had been poured over her head—so warm it made her flustered, yet scalding enough to make her feel a pang of guilt.
A sudden wave of sourness surged in her heart, along with a trace of relenting that she didn't even dare to admit to herself.
She raised her eyes to look at the disabled man propping himself up on a wooden stool, and a sense of bewilderment she had never experienced before blossomed in her heart.
