Zhou Zhijun had a basketful of shameless words. Chuntao's whole body tensed, her face burning like hot coals.
"Let me go,"
"I won't do anything, okay? Just a hug?"
A man's words are full of deceit.
"Let me go now!" Her voice was as low as a mosquito's hum, wrapped in an uncontrollable sobbing tone.
The choked sobs shattered in her throat. Tears, repressed for so long, rolled down her burning cheeks and dripped onto the rough back of his hand.
Seeing her like this, the man tightened his arms around her instead. His fingertips brushed against her face, growing somewhat stiff.
Suddenly, faint footsteps sounded from outside the courtyard, accompanied by low murmurs, drawing closer and closer.
Chuntao's heart clenched. She pushed him with all her might. Zhou Zhijun seemed to have anticipated it and released her smoothly.
She quickly wiped the tears from her face, grabbed a coarse porcelain bowl from the stove, and frantically picked up the rice spoon, pretending to serve noodles.
Zhou Zhijun had already pulled open the kitchen door. With his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed tightly, his face as tense as an iron plate.
"Sister Chuntao!" Wang Haiying's voice drifted in. She was clutching two eggs in her hand, with Zhou Xiaobao following behind her.
As soon as she reached the kitchen door, she saw Zhou Zhijun and stopped abruptly. Zhou Xiaobao instinctively hid behind his mother.
Zhou Zhijun was always serious. The women and children in the village were all intimidated by him; if there was business, he'd speak, but if not, he wouldn't spare an extra word.
Wang Haiying was naturally honest and timid. Although she was his actual sister-in-law, she rarely visited his house. If they met in the fields, they would just nod in greeting.
But fear aside, Wang Haiying genuinely felt that her brother-in-law was a good man.
Though Zhou Zhijun rarely smiled, he was generous in his actions, treating his brothers with utmost sincerity, and always responding to any requests regarding family matters.
"Zhijun!" Wang Haiying spoke first, her tone somewhat reserved. Zhou Xiaobao also timidly called out, "Second Uncle."
Zhou Zhijun didn't look at the child; he only nodded at Wang Haiying, his gaze landing on the eggs in her hand.
Wang Haiying quickly explained, "Sister Chuntao's hen is brooding, so I brought her two fertilized eggs. Our rooster is strong, so the hatching rate of these eggs is high."
Chuntao put down the bowl and forced a smile. Her hands were still trembling as she took the eggs. "Sister-in-law, you made a special trip. It's too much trouble."
"What trouble? It's just a few steps away!" Wang Haiying glanced into the kitchen. "Have you exchanged enough fertilized eggs? I saw you go to Chunxiao's house at noon. You didn't manage to swap any, did you?"
"Not yet. I'll go again tomorrow," Chuntao said. She turned and ran to the main room, grabbed two eggs from a basket, and handed them over.
"These are unfertilized eggs from my house, they haven't been brooded. Take them."
Back then, two eggs could buy a child four pencils. Everyone's life was tight, and Chuntao didn't want to take advantage.
Wang Haiying pushed her hand away. "It's just two eggs. Why are you being so polite with me?"
"Take them!" Chuntao stuffed the eggs into her hands. "Otherwise, I won't dare accept anything from you next time."
Helpless, Wang Haiying accepted them. She nodded at Zhou Zhijun again. "I'm heading back. Your eldest brother is still at home tending the stove, waiting for me to cook the noodles."
"Sister-in-law," Zhou Zhijun suddenly spoke, his voice so calm it sounded a bit stiff.
Wang Haiying stopped in her tracks. "Is something the matter?"
Zhou Zhiguo also worked as a laborer for the construction team in his spare time. He hadn't been seen the past few days, presumably because the farm work at home wasn't finished yet. "Have the sweet potatoes been planted?"
"Almost. There's half an acre left. We should finish planting tomorrow or the day after."
Wang Haiying replied and left with the child.
Zhou Zhijun pulled Chuntao back into his arms. "I missed you to death!" As he spoke, his hands started wandering.
"Let go. Do you want to ruin me and make me walk the same path as Chouni?" Chuntao choked out.
Zhou Zhijun released her and wiped the tears from her face with the back of his hand. "Don't cry. I won't do anything.
When the house I'm currently working on is finished, I'll go make some adobe bricks for you, build up your courtyard wall, and install a wooden door.
Once you have a courtyard wall, it'll be secure." After saying this, he turned and left without waiting for her reply.
This little woman was timid, thin-skinned, and stubborn. If she took things too hard and something bad happened to her, what would he do?
Zhou Zhijun forcefully held himself back and went home, taking a cold bath to cool down.
Holding the noodle spoon, Chuntao froze in place, her heart skipping a beat.
Build a courtyard wall? Install a wooden door? Blocking out outsiders, wouldn't that just make it easier for him to bully her without restraint?
Her hand trembled, and the scalding noodle soup splashed onto her wrist. "Hiss—" She gasped in pain, finally coming back to her senses, and hurriedly wiped it with her apron.
Days moved forward one by one. For Chuntao, it was nothing but repetitive busyness.
Throughout the four seasons, chores were like locusts strung on a rope, chasing right at her heels.
Aunt Zhou always advised her, "Work a bit slower. Rest when you're tired. The work in the fields is never truly finished."
How could she not want to rest? But as a lone woman holding up a crumbling household, it was like propping up a leaky sky; the moment she stopped, the rain would pour in.
When she was a girl living at home, her grandmother always said, "Clumsiness is made up for by diligence. If you're one step slow, you'll fall behind others.
Wake up early and you'll have time for everything; wake up late and you'll be rushing in a panic. Only by being quick on your feet will your days go smoothly."
She was that clumsy person, a clumsy person with no one to rely on. She could only push forward with all her might until the day she truly couldn't bear it anymore.
Before dawn, Chuntao got up.
Feeding the pigs, cleaning the pigpen, sweeping the courtyard—she finished the chores before the sky fully brightened, and only then did she add firewood to the stove to make breakfast.
The watermelon seedlings in the field were growing rapidly and needed to be vine-pressed immediately. If they weren't secured properly, the vines would crawl everywhere, affecting the fruiting.
After breakfast, she picked up her shovel to head to the melon field, but suddenly remembered that the hen was still waiting for fertilized eggs to hatch chicks, so she stopped in her tracks.
The weather wasn't too hot yet. In a few days, when summer arrived, it would be hard for the hatched chicks to survive.
Besides, there was a time limit for a hen's brooding period. She needed to quickly gather enough fertilized eggs for the hen to sit on so she could have peace of mind.
Just as she was about to grab her basket and head to Wang Chunxiao's house, she heard voices from outside the courtyard. It was Wang Chunxiao and a few other women chatting about daily life.
Chuntao tensed up and quickly set the basket back behind the door.
The village gossip was sharper than knives. With her status, even a single glance from others could spark rumors. It was better to wait until they left before going.
A little while later, Zhou Zhijun's long legs stepped inside. In his hands, he carried a shallow bamboo basket containing half a basketful of perfectly round eggs.
The kitchen was already small. The moment he entered, his figure blocked the light from outside, and the room instantly darkened by half.
Chuntao was holding a bowl and drinking porridge. Seeing him, she shot up from the stool so fast that the rim of the bowl almost hit her chin.
"These are all fertilized eggs, enough for your hen to brood a clutch." He placed the bamboo basket on the chopping board, his tone as cold as ice shards in the dead of winter.
"There are eggs at my house, but instead of getting them, you insist on running all over the village to trade?"
"I thought... your old hen just brooded two clutches, so you wouldn't have enough eggs." Chuntao lowered her head, staring at the porridge in her bowl, her voice faint.
"We have plenty of roosters at home, it's enough." His tone softened a bit, his gaze falling on her slightly flushed little face.
His Adam's apple bobbed as he said, "If roosters hatch, keep a few. You can't do without a rooster, how else will you hatch chicks?"
These words were originally meant to be about chickens, but as they fell into Chuntao's ears, they inevitably twisted into another meaning entirely.
Flustered, she lowered her head and stirred her bowl of porridge. The tips of her ears were burning so hot they could scorch someone. She quickly changed the subject. "The house you're working on, is it almost finished?"
"Almost. In another four or five days, the roof will be finished."
He took a step closer and lowered his voice. "Once the house is finished, we..."
Chuntao froze in place, her face as red as a ripe apple.
She silently cursed Zhou Zhijun in her heart. His head was full of nothing but indecent thoughts. He really had no shame...
