Liu Cuilan was furious after Wang Jieshi rebuked her, smoke practically blowing out of her ears.
Wang Jieshi had been completely bewitched by Li Chuntao, abandoning even his own mother.
Clutching the small mirror, Liu Cuilan stormed out of the room, ready to keep scolding and beating Chuntao, but the courtyard was already empty.
Her heart suddenly leaped into her throat. If this Li Chuntao really ran away, who would take care of Wang Jieshi? Wouldn't she, as his mother, end up having to deal with the mess?
But on second thought, someone like her—timid, cowardly, and illiterate—where could she possibly go?
Besides, if she left, Wang Lanhua wouldn't live with her brother either. She wouldn't dare to leave.
What she said just now was only meant to scare her. She, Liu Cuilan, wasn't easily frightened!
Liu Cuilan snorted coldly and walked toward the main road to the east, wanting to see if Chuntao had run off to the melon fields.
Passing by Aunt Zhou's front gate, she noticed the door was left ajar. She peeked inside through the crack but couldn't see anything, though she could hear intermittent crying coming from within.
Her footsteps suddenly halted. Listening closely, the crying grew softer, turning into faint whimpers.
Hmph, it must be her! That little bitch ran to Old Woman Zhou to complain.
Liu Cuilan gritted her teeth, grinding them loudly, and cursed, "Not a single good one among them. They really think I, Liu Cuilan, am easy to bully!"
She raised her hand to push the door open, but hesitated for a long time, her hand never falling.
Both Aunt Zhou and Zhou Zhijun were not to be trifled with. Even a shrew like her had to act submissive in front of them, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
She didn't find the money and ended up in trouble instead. She couldn't swallow this anger, nor could she tolerate Aunt Zhou's family meddling in her family's affairs.
Liu Cuilan pressed her ear against the crack in the door, straining to hear the voices inside.
She wanted to hear how Aunt Zhou was sowing discord so she could righteously storm in and argue with her.
But the voices inside were too low; she couldn't hear a thing, stomping her feet in frustration.
The weather was extremely hot, sweat pouring out of her body, and soon her clothes were clinging to her back.
"What are you doing?" a low and cold voice sounded.
Liu Cuilan was startled, her whole body trembling. She whipped her head around and saw Zhou Zhijun standing behind her, his face dark and gloomy.
Her face turned deathly pale. She stiffened her neck, her lips quivering, unable to utter a single word.
Liu Cuilan turned to leave, and behind her came Zhou Zhijun's cold, hard voice, "Liu Cuilan, keep it down from now on. Don't come where you shouldn't, and be careful not to hurt yourself!"
Liu Cuilan was already over two months pregnant. She unconsciously touched her belly, muttering softly as she walked, "My business is none of your concern!"
Fuming, Liu Cuilan returned home and took out the small mirror to show Wang Haichao.
When Wang Haichao saw the small mirror, his heart skipped a beat.
This was the exact mirror he had asked Wang Haibao to plant in the middle of the night, wrapped in a blue handkerchief at the time.
On one corner of the blue handkerchief, a small character "Jun" was written with a copying pencil, aiming to prove that Chuntao and Zhou Zhijun were having an affair.
The next day, he had specifically gone to Chuntao's windowsill to look for it, but found nothing.
He figured Chuntao must have hidden it away. If kept, it was a ticking time bomb that would explode sooner or later.
Today, Liu Cuilan actually found the small mirror in Chuntao's room, but didn't see the handkerchief with the character.
Without that handkerchief, this small mirror could at most make people say Chuntao was indecent, but it couldn't prove the man was Zhou Zhijun at all!
"Just a small mirror, didn't find anything else?" Wang Haichao took the small mirror from her hand, looked at his own face in it, and asked casually.
"This small mirror is enough to prove she's stealing men. We don't need anything else!"
"You can buy this mirror from any peddler; anyone can buy it. This proves nothing!
Besides this, there must be something else. Go look carefully another day!
Keep this safe for now; it'll definitely be useful later!"
If he could find that handkerchief, he would have Liu Cuilan take it to the commune to report him, thoroughly punishing Zhou Zhijun and dampening his arrogance.
Meanwhile, back at Aunt Zhou's house. Chuntao had stopped crying, but tear stains remained on her face, and her eyes were red and swollen.
Seeing Chuntao like this, and recalling Liu Cuilan's sneaky behavior at the door just now, Zhou Zhijun had already guessed what happened.
"Did Liu Cuilan bully you again?"
Chuntao remained silent, her head bowed even lower.
Aunt Zhou sighed and said, "With Liu Cuilan's temper, having nothing to do all day but think of ways to bully people, such a wicked mother-in-law is hard to find in this world!"
Zhou Zhijun's eyes darkened. He didn't speak, turning to the kitchen to bring a half basin of cold water for Chuntao to wash her face.
After arguing and crying, life still had to go on. Chuntao washed her face, saw that the sky outside had darkened, and stood up to leave.
"Tao, stay for dinner at your godmother's house tonight. I'll make you some hand-pulled noodles, blanch some amaranth, and make a sour melon and egg soup."
Aunt Zhou quickly pulled Chuntao back, refusing to let her leave. "Sleep with me tonight, let their family know that you're not without people who care for you!"
"Godmother, Xiaohong is still in the melon fields; she needs to eat dinner too!"
Wang Xiaohong protected her and treated her well. She couldn't ignore Xiaohong just because she was angry with Liu Cuilan.
Zhou Zhijun wished he could keep Chuntao at his house forever, but he had his own plans and couldn't alert the enemy.
So he said, "Go back! After I finish dinner, I'll go relieve Xiaohong."
Aunt Zhou sighed, didn't insist further, walked Chuntao to the front gate, and reminded her once more, "Tao, don't take it to heart, it's not worth it!"
Chuntao felt weak all over. She dragged herself back to her own kitchen and saw Wang Jieshi sitting on a small stool by the stove, adding firewood to the fire.
Since he returned until now, this was the first time he had lit the fire. A hint of surprise rippled in Chuntao's heart.
"Chuntao, my mother is just unreasonable. Don't stoop to her level.
If she dares to come make trouble again, I definitely won't let her get away with it!"
Wang Jieshi looked up at Chuntao, his eyes full of tenderness. "You've suffered being with me!"
In the past few months, Wang Jieshi had changed so much. This change made Chuntao's nose sting, but also made her heart flutter with a vague unease.
Dried sweet potatoes were boiling in the pot. Chuntao scooped two bowls of flour, mixed it into a batter, cooked half a pot of porridge, and stir-fried tender pumpkin in a small pan.
Chuntao felt so suffocated that she couldn't eat even after the food was ready. She decided to go to the melon fields to call Wang Xiaohong.
The watermelons were fully ripe and needed to be sold quickly. To avoid delaying the trip to the Nangang market early the next morning, they had to harvest and load the melons onto the cart the night before.
Chuntao and Wang Xiaohong were bent over in the field harvesting melons when Zhou Zhijun hurried over with a flashlight.
"You two go back and eat dinner. I'll do this!"
Zhou Zhijun helped sell and harvest the melons for her family, working as hard as if it were his own work.
Wang Xiaohong and Chuntao felt too guilty to leave, insisting on staying with him until the handcart was full before returning together.
Wang Jieshi had already finished his dinner. On the stove sat two bowls of cooled porridge, meant for Chuntao and Wang Xiaohong.
After finishing her dinner, Wang Xiaohong went to the pigpen to feed the pigs, then turned and headed to Zhou Hongxia's house.
Late that afternoon, Chuntao had first been put through the wringer by Zhou Zhijun for hours, only to return and run into Liu Cuilan looking for trouble. By now, she was completely drained, both physically and mentally exhausted.
She quickly tidied up the kitchen and went to the north room to get ready for bed.
Wang Jieshi didn't sleep in the large bed; instead, he had gone back to sleeping in his old small bed.
Feeling a heavy weight of frustration in her chest, Chuntao decided not to share a room with Wang Jieshi. She turned and went into the adjacent inner room, collapsing onto the bed and falling asleep without even taking off her clothes.
She slept soundly through the night. When she heard the loud crowing of the rooster from Wang Chunxiao's house next door, she remembered she still had to go to Nangang to sell melons today, and her eyes snapped open.
But when she saw the scene before her, her body instantly froze.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up, and her heart pounded so violently in her throat that it sent tremors through her entire body.
