Zhou Zhijun laid a thin mat woven from sorghum stalks in the yard, spread a rush mat on top, and lay down on it.
He closed his eyes, and his mind was filled with the graceful, slender figure of Chuntao.
Her timid little manner when called, her blushing, bashful look when seeing strangers... and her helplessness and despair when she cried.
Why should such a good woman suffer like this? Heaven is too unfair!
He, Zhou Zhijun, had decided in this lifetime that she was the one. He must make her his woman, to pull her out of that bottomless well of misery.
Over the next two days, Wang Haichao didn't dare come back to stay.
Chuntao's period hadn't passed yet, and Zhou Zhijun, burning with impatience, could do nothing about it.
An old, experienced melon grower from the village taught Chuntao a few methods to tell if a watermelon was ripe.
He said: "When a watermelon is ripe, it makes a dull, thumping sound when tapped; if it's unripe, the sound is crisp.
Also, look at the bottom of the watermelon. If the rind is yellowish, it's ripe; if it's white, it's still raw.
The simplest way is to look at the tendril next to the stem; if it's dried up, the watermelon is ripe..."
Chuntao combined several methods to be more accurate.
Carrying a hoe on her shoulder, she came to the watermelon field. Seeing several large watermelons near the edge, she first tapped them with her finger, but found the sound hard to distinguish.
Then she carefully picked them up to check the color of the rind where it touched the ground. One was yellow, the others were white.
She also checked the tendril nearest the yellow-rinded melon; sure enough, it was dry. Tapping it again, it made a thumping sound. This melon should be ripe.
Months of hard work had finally borne fruit. The corner of Chuntao's mouth twitched upward slightly, but then immediately drooped again.
Liu Cuilan and Wang Xiaohong hadn't returned from the hospital yet. She had to look after the house and the melon field all by herself. If too many watermelons ripened, she'd have to pull a cart to sell them, a task impossible for one person to manage.
Her brother-in-law, Wang Xiaoming, had come back last week, saying summer vacation was near and he could lend a hand then.
Afraid someone might steal the melons, Chuntao spent her days weeding in the bean field near the watermelon patch.
That morning, seeing her go to East Gully, Zhou Zhijun also shouldered his hoe and headed to his own sesame field.
Chuntao's bean field was right next to his sesame field. Seeing him come, Chuntao's heart tightened again. She kept her head down and hoed quickly.
To the left of Zhou Zhijun's plot was Chuntao's family's land; to the right were the plots of his elder brother Zhou Zhiguo and his third brother Zhou Zhimin.
At that moment, they were the only two in the fields. Chuntao's heart was in her throat. Not far away was a sorghum field, already taller than a person.
When she was a girl, her grandmother had often warned her to be very careful when working near sorghum fields, and to avoid walking near them whenever possible.
Chuntao was terrified, fearing Zhou Zhijun might lose control, drag her into the sorghum field, and violate her.
Zhou Zhijun, seeing she didn't even dare lift her head and was hoeing so fast, understood her thoughts.
He didn't speak to her. He hoed far behind her, maintaining a constant distance.
Chuntao could feel that sticky gaze fixed on her, making her breathing become ragged.
Fortunately, Zhou Zhijun's eldest niece, Zhou Hongxia, arrived with a hoe on her shoulder, followed by his younger brother, Zhou Xiaobao.
Zhou Hongxia called out "Second Uncle!" when she saw Zhou Zhijun, but Zhou Xiaobao timidly sat at the edge of the field without a word.
With the siblings there, Chuntao's heart finally settled back into place.
No matter what, Zhou Zhijun wouldn't dare do anything to her in front of two children.
Zhou Hongxia was seventeen, a year older than Wang Xiaohong. They had been in the same class since elementary school.
They went to school together, came home together, cut grass together on Sundays, herded cattle together, and were very close.
Ever since Wang Haichao had moved into the house, Wang Xiaohong had been staying at Zhou Hongxia's home.
Zhou Hongxia hadn't seen Wang Xiaohong for days and was wondering about it, but had been too busy to go ask.
Seeing Chuntao hoeing in the field, she walked over to inquire.
"Sister-in-law Chuntao, why haven't I seen Xiaohong these past few days?"
Chuntao looked up, wiping sweat from her forehead. "My mother-in-law hasn't been feeling well these days. Xiaohong went to the hospital with her."
"No wonder!" Zhou Hongxia said, then walked to her own family's plot and started hoeing.
She thought to herself, Liu Cuilan was usually strong as an ox. Even when Wang Laohan was alive, she'd never seen her sick.
Now that she's registered her marriage with Wang Haichao, how come her health is failing?
The sun grew fiercer, the temperature climbed higher. Chuntao's clothes were soaked with sweat, sticking to her back, feeling uncomfortably damp and sticky.
Zhou Xiaobao, after sitting at the field's edge for a while, started catching grasshoppers in the nearby grass. Soon he was also sweating profusely, his little face as red as a monkey's bottom.
By mid-morning, Zhou Hongxia sat under a large tree at the field's edge to cool off. She called for Chuntao to come rest for a while too; it was almost time to go home and make lunch.
Zhou Hongxia and Wang Xiaohong got along well, and Xiaohong often stayed at their house, causing them quite a bit of extra trouble.
Chuntao thought about picking a watermelon from the field and bringing it to the shade for the siblings to eat. But she was afraid that if she started this, others might find out and come steal melons.
Hesitating, she ultimately didn't pick a melon. She went to sit in the shade too, thinking she could hoe a bit more while Zhou Hongxia was still there.
Later, when Zhou Hongxia left, she would hurry home immediately. That way, she wouldn't be alone in the field with him at high noon, lest he try to take advantage of her again.
Thinking this, Chuntao swung her hoe even faster.
After sitting in the shade for a while, Zhou Hongxia said goodbye to Chuntao and Zhou Zhijun and took Zhou Xiaobao home.
Her parents were hoeing in the south fields. She needed to go back early to cook, then bike the food to the south fields. That way, they wouldn't have to travel back and forth—a round trip of nearly four miles. It would waste time, and the weather was too hot besides.
Seeing Zhou Hongxia leave, Chuntao had only a few meters left to hoe to the end. She thought she'd finish up and head back right away.
Zhou Zhijun had violated her, but last night when Wang Haichao was assaulting her, it was Zhou Zhijun who ran over and subdued Wang Haichao. For that, she still felt some gratitude towards him.
Gratitude was one thing, but the humiliating hatred constantly tore at her heart, making it impossible to forget.
Besides hate, there was only fear left! He was such a big, rough, older man, a coarse fellow of forty who had never known a woman. When he lost control, he was fiercer than a wolf.
The bruises on her chest from days ago hadn't fully faded yet. Remembering his frenzied state made them ache dully again.
She didn't dare turn her head to see how far away Zhou Zhijun was.
Just a few more hoe strokes and she'd be done. Chuntao sped up again.
When she finished the last stroke, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to leave.
But just as she lifted one foot, before it could touch the ground, her back collided with a hard, unyielding chest.
A pair of thick, sinewy arms tightly encircled her slender waist. Scorching hot breath hit the back of her ear.
"Peach, I can't hold back anymore. I want you..."
