As soon as Chuntao stepped over the threshold of the main room, she heard Wang Jieshi calling her from the inner room where Xiaohong usually slept.
"Sleep in the big bed tonight!" His voice was not loud, but it had a slight tremble at the end.
Chuntao was groggy and didn't go in, but instead entered the inner room where she originally slept.
She didn't even take off her clothes, collapsing onto the bed and falling dead asleep, soon becoming motionless.
Wang Jieshi supported himself on a stool, moved to the next room, heard Chuntao's even breathing, and called her a couple of times, but she didn't react at all.
He didn't go to sleep in the big bed again, but lay down on his small bed.
The room was pitch black, and Wang Jieshi stared intently at the ceiling, but couldn't see anything.
That guy Wang Haichao was up to no good. He claimed to be helping borrow someone else's seed, but he hadn't even seen a shadow of who that person was.
What if Wang Haichao was lying to him, and the child born would be Wang Haichao's, or Wang Haibao's...
The more Wang Jieshi thought about it, the more confused his heart became, and he regretted it so much that his intestines turned green. Why didn't he force Wang Haichao to bring the person over for him to see in the first place?
But even if he really brought him, he couldn't follow along. Who the seed was borrowed from was just a matter of Wang Haichao's word.
But as things stood, he could only bite the bullet and move forward.
As for Zhou Zhijun, he tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, his mind full of Chuntao's image.
From the wheat harvest to now, he hadn't been near her for more than a month, and his heart itched like a cat scratching it.
Zhou Zhijun racked his brains but couldn't come up with a foolproof plan.
The weather was sultry and sweat poured out of his body. He scrambled out of bed, grabbed a flashlight, and headed to the east ditch.
It was so dark outside that he couldn't see his fingers in front of his face. Only the beam of the flashlight flickered back and forth on the ridges of the fields, and the intermittent chirping of insects in the surrounding grass made the night seem even quieter.
Zhou Zhijun jumped into the river dam and took a bath. The heat in his body immediately subsided by more than half, and a gust of wind blew by, making him feel cool and comfortable.
He wasn't in a hurry to go home, but instead walked towards Chuntao's melon field.
Chuntao's watermelons were almost ripe. A few days ago, he had just helped her build a melon shed and moved his unused bamboo bed over.
Although the bamboo bed creaked when pushed, it was sturdy, and he wasn't afraid of it collapsing when they did something on it.
Zhou Zhijun got into the melon shed, sat on the bamboo bed, and started smoking. The light of the cigarette butt flickered, just like his mood at the moment.
Chuntao's attitude towards him had changed too much, from desperate resistance at the beginning to obedience now, and even taking the initiative to cater to him. This made him very gratified and much brighter in his heart.
But she was too stubborn, refusing to leave with him, afraid that if she left, Wang Lanhua would refuse to live with her brother.
No matter how much he wore out his lips, she wouldn't let go, which made the little light in his heart sink to the bottom of the valley instantly.
It was late at night, and the insects in the fields gradually fell asleep. Zhou Zhijun could only hear his own frantic heartbeat.
He thought that when Chuntao came to the field to check on the melons in a few days, he would definitely advise her again not to go down the dark path.
He even wondered if he should use some extreme measures if it really didn't work out. But he was also afraid that she wouldn't be able to figure it out and that something bad would happen. What should he do then?
Here, Chuntao was sleeping soundly. Mosquitoes buzzed in her ears, and she had several large bumps bitten on her exposed skin, but she didn't react at all.
The mess in Wang Jieshi's heart became tighter and tighter, tangling him up so much that he could hardly breathe.
He struggled to sit up from the bed, then lay down again, tossing and turning like this several times, tired and sweaty.
He turned his head to look out the window, but it was as black as ink outside, and he couldn't see anything.
Suddenly, a sound of fine footsteps came, followed by Wang Haichao's voice, "Jieshi!"
Wang Jieshi shuddered, suddenly sat up from the bed, and reached out to touch the matches.
With a "sizzle", the match was struck, lighting the kerosene lamp in the room.
Wang Haichao and Wang Haibao were standing in front of Chuntao's bed, and Wang Haibao's hand was already on Chuntao's waist.
"What are you doing?" Wang Jieshi's eyes were red, and he gave a low roar, scaring Wang Haibao to quickly withdraw his hand.
"Jieshi, let Haibao carry the person away, finish it quickly and send her back. It's not safe to come back late!"
Wang Haichao said as he winked at Wang Haibao, telling him to act quickly.
"Wait! If you dare to play tricks, even if I fight for my life, I won't spare you!" Wang Jieshi panted heavily, staring intently at the two.
Wang Haichao naturally knew what he was thinking, and quickly said, "Jieshi, I'm your uncle, don't you trust me?"
"If you two dare to touch a finger of hers, even if I die, I'll fight you!"
If Chuntao was ruined by the two of them, and the child born looked like them, wouldn't it be a mess? The spit of the villagers could drown him.
Borrowing a stranger's, even if the child doesn't look like him and Chuntao, as long as that person doesn't come looking, it's still his, Wang Jieshi's seed.
"Are you done? We didn't sleep in the middle of the night to come and help you, but you're doubting us!"
Wang Haibao had long been anxious and impatient, and seeing Wang Jieshi like this, he was also annoyed, glaring and roaring.
Wang Haichao glared at Wang Haibao and scolded, "Say a few words less! Hurry up and carry the person, they are still waiting!"
Wang Haibao picked up Chuntao and was about to leave, when suddenly, the dog in Wang Chunxiao's house in the west yard barked "woof woof woof", and the sound grew louder and louder, as if it had seen a thief.
He quickly stopped, looked at Wang Haichao and said, "Big brother, go out and see if there is anyone?"
"Wait!" Wang Haichao sneaked out of the room and looked around for a long time, but it was dark outside and he couldn't see anything.
The dog in the west yard was still barking, and Wang Haichao didn't dare to act rashly, so he had to tell Wang Haibao to put the person down first and wait.
Wang Jieshi was panicked and confused. If this matter was discovered by Zhou Zhijun, he would definitely not let it go, and he would have to instigate Chuntao to leave the Wang family.
"Forget it tonight, let's do it another day," Wang Jieshi gritted his teeth and said.
As soon as he said this, Wang Haibao was immediately annoyed again, "Are you still a man? Mother-in-law, you can't accomplish anything big!"
Unexpectedly, Wang Haibao's words hit Wang Jieshi's sore spot.
His eyes were red, and he stared fiercely at Wang Haibao, "I'm not a man, I also have a wife! What if you are a man? You're still a bachelor!"
"Wang Jieshi... you are a turtle!" Wang Haibao's eyes also turned red, and he roared at the top of his voice.
Seeing the two arguing until their faces were red and their necks thick, Wang Haichao was afraid that the noise would be too loud and attract others, so he quickly advised, "What are you two doing? Do you want the whole village to know what's going on?"
Only then did the two shut up.
Wang Jieshi suddenly stared at Wang Haichao and asked in a deep voice, "No profit, no early rising, you two are helping me so much, what exactly are you after?"
In fact, he had wanted to ask this for a long time, and today he finally couldn't hold it in.
"Jieshi, isn't this because of your mother's face? If your mother hadn't begged me every day, I wouldn't have bothered with this idle matter!"
Wang Haichao sighed and continued, "Think about it, without a child, this family can't be kept, who will support you in your old age? I'm also pitying you.
"Besides, your mother is pregnant with my son now. She worries every day that Chuntao will run off with Zhou Zhijun, and all that stress is bad for my boy!"
Wang Jieshi didn't believe a single word Wang Haichao said. Yet, he knew deep down that if he tried to stand in their way, he wouldn't be able to stop the two men anyway.
The dogs outside had stopped barking at some point. Wang Haichao glanced out the window and urged, "Stop wasting time, let's go!"
Wang Haibao threw Chuntao over his shoulder and charged out of the house, heading north along the dirt path on the west side of the village.
Wang Haichao followed closely behind with a flashlight in hand.
But what they didn't know was that in the darkness, a pair of eyes was locked dead onto their retreating figures.
