"Hmph! Let me go!"
Zhou Zhijun had no intention of letting go. With one arm he hoisted her up by the waist, and in his other hand he carried a string bag.
"I came to bring you some sanitary paper!"
Chuntao struggled like a little chick, unable to break free, her limbs flailing uselessly as she pleaded in a low voice, "Let me down, quick! I don't want your things!"
Zhou Zhijun wasn't about to let her off. He carried her all the way to the inner room and set her down on the bed.
"They're coming back today! You need to leave now!" Chuntao tried to push him away, but her body felt weak and limp.
Zhou Zhijun walked out of the room and bolted the door from the inside. "Liu Cuilan is seriously ill. They've gone to the county hospital. They won't be back for a while."
Chuntao's heart tightened. "How do you know?"
"I ran into them on the street!"
Thinking he knew the reason Liu Cuilan had gone to the hospital, Chuntao's face flushed an even deeper red.
Zhou Zhijun took a package of pastries from the string bag, unwrapped it, and held a piece out to her. "Here, eat."
Chuntao hadn't had any soup and was already feeling hungry. Seeing the pastry he offered, her stomach began to growl.
"I won't eat it!"
"What's wrong? Afraid I drugged it?"
Chuntao sat on the bed while he squatted in front of her, watching her blushing face.
Chuntao turned her face away, refusing to look at him. "You should leave. I don't want your things! I'm tired, I need to sleep."
One of his hands suddenly gripped her ankle, while the other brought the pastry to her lips. "If you don't eat, I'm not leaving."
Chuntao fell silent, her eyes welling up with tears again. Her life was already so bitter, why did these wretched troubles always cling to her?
Was it because she was too weak, too afraid of causing trouble, that people dared to bully her so freely?
A tear spilled from her eye and dropped onto his arm. Zhou Zhijun's heart gave a sharp twinge.
"Peach, why are you crying? I just want you to get some nourishment, that's all. Your health is weak to begin with, and now with your monthly troubles, how can you manage without eating something nutritious? Hmm? Take it!" His voice had lost its usual cold hardness and was much gentler.
He took one of her hands. "Take it! I'll go make you a bowl of brown sugar water!"
He got up and went to the kitchen, poured a bowl of hot water, scooped some brown sugar from a packet into it, and stirred it with chopsticks as he said, "Eat up, and drink the sugar water in a bit. It's good for your blood."
Chuntao just sat there holding the pastry, frozen, neither moving nor speaking.
Zhou Zhijun sat down beside her, pulled her into his arms with one hand, and used the other to wipe her tears.
"What are you crying for? I'm not going to eat you. I just want to be good to you! Because I fancy you, understand? I'm forty years old, Zhou Zhijun, and you're the woman I fancy most in my whole life. You're the only one who makes me feel this way!"
Chuntao sniffled and cried, "You're talking nonsense. If you fancy me, it's just to bully me! You're trying to buy me off with these things..."
As she spoke, she placed the pastry on the dresser. "Take your things and go. I don't want them!"
Zhou Zhijun's face darkened, his voice turning hard and grating again. "Won't eat, huh? If you won't eat, then I won't be polite!"
With that, his hand moved towards the waistband of her trousers. "I'll change your sanitary belt for you!"
The memory of last night's events filled her with unbearable shame. She couldn't let him succeed this time.
"I'll eat... I'll eat, alright?" Chuntao said tearfully, and with her tears, she ate the piece of pastry.
Zhou Zhijun then brought the bowl of brown sugar water to her. His voice was cold, hard, and hoarse. "It's not hot anymore."
Chuntao could only obediently drink the bowl of brown sugar water, feeling her body regain a little strength.
Zhou Zhijun forced her to eat two more pieces, saying, "You have to take care of your own body."
Chuntao said nothing. She just silently stood up, put the brown sugar and the remaining pastries back into the string bag, and held it out to Zhou Zhijun. "You should go."
Zhou Zhijun pulled her onto his lap. "Do you dislike me that much?"
His large hand began to wander again, sliding up under her clothes from the hem.
"Don't... please, I'm begging you, don't treat me like this, alright?" Chuntao tried to stop his hand, but he grabbed her wrist with his other hand.
"I'm just touching. I won't do anything else."
He just held her like that, sitting quietly for a long time.
"You need to leave now!" Chuntao struggled to stand up from his lap, pointed towards the door curtain, and choked back a sob.
"Fine, I'll go." He stood up, ready to leave. "Oh, and remember to change your sanitary paper. It's soft."
Chuntao looked at the sanitary paper in the string bag, her nose tingling with emotion.
Before she was married, she would usually dig up medicinal herbs or embroider shoe insoles to sell on the street. With the money she earned, besides buying oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, she could still afford to buy some sanitary paper.
But ever since she entered the Wang household, she had endless work every day.
During the slack farming season, she managed to pick some herbs like teasel and dandelion to sell on the street. When she came back and bought a little sanitary paper with the money, Liu Cuilan gave her a fierce scolding.
"Think you're so delicate, do you? Born without a lady's fate, but suffering from a lady's ailments! I've used coarse cloth my whole life, can't you use it too?"
After that, she never dared to buy sanitary paper again. The old, rough cloth chafed her painfully.
What kind of man was Zhou Zhijun, really? She understood him less and less.
If you said he was a good man, he bullied her so roughly. If you said he was a bad man, the things he did for her also gave her a faint sense of warmth.
If Liu Cuilan came back and found this sanitary paper, along with the brown sugar and pastries, she would surely curse her out.
Chuntao hurriedly put the things away in the dresser. She remembered her grandmother's words: "Never take advantage of others. Small gains lead to great losses."
She had never wanted to take advantage of anyone, but that man insisted on making her accept his favors, otherwise he would... Zhou Zhijun was doing this precisely to make her suffer a great loss.
The next day, Wang Haichao and his brothers returned. Only Wang Xiaohong remained at the hospital.
As dusk fell, Chuntao came back from the fields and saw Wang Haichao sitting in the main room smoking.
Chuntao ignored him and didn't go into the main room. She leaned her hoe against the kitchen door and went inside.
She just cooked a porridge of dried sweet potatoes, warmed up two cornbread buns, and fished out a bit of pickled vegetables from the jar to eat with them.
Wang Haichao, smelling the food, came over. "Chuntao, is this all you're eating? There are eggs in the chicken coop. Boil a couple to get some nourishment! Look how thin you are! It pains me to see it."
Chuntao paid him no mind. Carrying her bowl, she went out into the yard and saw Zhou Zhijun squatting in his own yard, drinking soup. She quickly turned her face away, her back towards him.
Wang Haichao went to sleep after finishing his soup. With no one else at home, she felt uneasy and didn't dare go into the room to sleep.
She thought of going to the melon field, but was afraid Zhou Zhijun might follow. So, she used a stool and two pieces of wood to barricade the kitchen door from the inside.
Busy all day long, and with her monthly troubles, her whole body felt weak. She lay down on the pile of firewood and fell asleep.
Suddenly, she heard someone pushing against the kitchen door. Terrified, she sat up immediately.
"Who's there?"
No answer came from outside. The kitchen door was about to be pushed open. Chuntao trembled with fear and rushed over, throwing her weight against the wooden bar.
But her strength was no match. With a loud "bang," the door was pushed open anyway.
"Chuntao, it's just the two of us at home tonight. Don't run away, let me love you properly... The truth is, I fancy you. The only reason I married Liu Cuilan was because of you..."
"Wang Haichao! You shameless brute, get away from me!" Chuntao shouted at him with all her might.
"Then let's get away together!"
As he spoke, he lunged at Chuntao, pinning her down on the pile of firewood...
Chuntao screamed for help, struggling desperately. Wang Haichao moved one hand to cover her mouth while the other fumbled to undo her belt!
"Chuntao, I want you. Every night, I pretend Liu Cuilan is you..."
"Ah...!" Suddenly, Wang Haichao let out a piercing shriek and abruptly released his grip on Chuntao.
