When Wang Lanhua had gossiped in his ear earlier, claiming that Chuntao and Zhou Zhijun were having an affair, Li Dazhuang simply hadn't believed it.
Chuntao was shy and timid by nature. How could she possibly do such a thing?
But hearing Wang Chunxiao say it now, his heart skipped a beat. Could those rumors actually be true?
Whether true or false, Chuntao was his sister after all, and he had to protect her in front of outsiders.
Li Dazhuang looked at Wang Chunxiao's gossipy face and his expression darkened. "Aunt Zhou is my sister's godmother. Staying at her place means she has someone to rely on. I'll go over and take a look!"
Before his voice even faded, he turned and walked toward the gate of Zhou Zhijun's house, his heart full of anxiety, wondering how to persuade Chuntao.
The gate was ajar, and he stood there for a good while before gently pushing it open.
Aunt Zhou and Chuntao were busy cooking in the kitchen. Hearing the sound of the door being pushed open, they thought Zhou Zhijun had returned from the commune.
"Zhijun!" Aunt Zhou called out as she stepped out of the kitchen door.
Looking up and seeing it was Li Dazhuang, she immediately froze. What was this kid doing here? It couldn't be anything good!
"Aunt Zhou, is my sister here?" Li Dazhuang forced a simple, honest smile on his face.
Hearing her brother's voice from inside the kitchen, Chuntao's heart, which was already tied in knots, instantly tightened even more.
"No!"
Her sister had suffered so much at the Wang family, yet this brother didn't care or ask about it, only concerned with his own comfortable little life. Aunt Zhou hated this kind of selfish person the most, and her tone was cold.
Dropping the single word, she turned and went back into the kitchen, grabbing the spatula with a loud clatter and vigorously flipping the sizzling oil cakes in the pan.
Li Dazhuang followed her to the kitchen door. Chuntao stood up from the low stool and called out softly, "Brother!"
"Chuntao, I came today to deliver good news. Your sister-in-law gave birth! It's a boy with a handle!"
Li Dazhuang's face was piled with smiles, but his brow was full of sorrow.
Wang Lanhua had just given birth yesterday. According to rural customs, one would visit to announce the good news on the third day after a boy was born. For her brother to run over today, there must be something else.
"Yeah, Godmother already told me," Chuntao tried hard to squeeze out a smile.
Yesterday, Aunt Zhou helped Wang Lanhua deliver the baby, and Li Dazhuang and Grandma Shen both promised not to interfere in Chuntao's affairs anymore.
With Aunt Zhou right there, Li Dazhuang didn't dare say anything and could only mumble, "Tao, come home with me for a bit. I have something to say to you."
Aunt Zhou knew he was up to no good and turned to yell at Chuntao, "Chuntao, add some firewood, the fire's going out!"
Then she looked at Li Dazhuang and said lukewarmly, "If you have something to say, say it here. You came all this way to announce good news, what's there to hide?"
"It's nothing much..." Li Dazhuang laughed dryly, constantly winking at Chuntao.
"Godmother, I'm going out for a bit." Chuntao added a handful of firewood to the stove, clapped the ash off her hands, and stood up from the stool.
Although Aunt Zhou was annoyed by Li Dazhuang, she didn't want to put Chuntao in a difficult position, so she offered to keep him as a guest. "What for? The oil cakes are almost done. Let your brother eat here before he goes!"
Li Dazhuang hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no, I won't trouble you, Auntie!"
"I'm leaving, Godmother." Just as Chuntao stepped over the kitchen threshold, she ran into Zhou Zhijun pushing his 28-inch bicycle through the gate.
Seeing his cold face, Li Dazhuang inexplicably felt a bit intimidated and muttered, "Brother Zhijun."
Zhou Zhijun didn't even lift an eyelid; his gaze fell straight on Chuntao, and he asked in a deep voice, "Where are you going?"
"My brother is here," Chuntao said with her head down, her voice weak.
Li Dazhuang quickly chimed in, "Let's go, Tao. I have to head back in a bit!"
"I heard you had a big, fat baby boy. When's the celebration banquet?"
Zhou Zhijun suddenly looked at Li Dazhuang, and his previously frosty face actually softened a bit.
"Oh, the eighth!" Taken aback by Zhou Zhijun's sudden question, Li Dazhuang blurted out without thinking.
"Having a big, fat baby boy is a great, joyous event!"
Zhou Zhijun nodded. "You should invite everyone. It would be best to put on a movie, make it lively!"
The Li family had two girls in a row, and now they had finally hoped for a boy. Naturally, they should invite everyone, but Li Dazhuang really hadn't thought about putting on a movie.
"Yes, yes, yes, we should put on a movie!" he agreed hastily.
Coming out of Zhou Zhijun's house, Li Dazhuang looked left and right to make sure no one was around, then eagerly leaned into Chuntao's ear.
Lowering his voice, he said, "Tao, I heard Wang Jieshi was beaten up in jail and is now lying in the clinic. They even said something about executing his sentence outside of prison..."
Chuntao said nothing and was pulled into the Wang family's kitchen by Li Dazhuang.
Li Dazhuang tended the fire, and Chuntao handled the cooking. She made an oil cake and rolled out some noodles.
After the meal was ready, Chuntao scooped a large bowl of noodles for Li Dazhuang and handed him half an oil cake.
She herself only served half a bowl of clear broth, stirring her chopsticks in the bowl for a long time without taking a single sip.
"Tao, are you staying at Aunt Zhou's house these days?" Li Dazhuang slurped his noodles and looked at Chuntao.
Without waiting for Chuntao to answer, he continued on his own, "Spit can really drown a person!
Even if nothing's going on, the mouths of those people can make a dead toad pee!
And that woman Liu Cuilan, it's not like you don't know her temper. If she finds out you're staying at Zhou Zhijun's house, she'll turn the world upside down!
I think you'd better move back to your own room. Don't let outsiders gossip..."
"The people at the civil affairs office said Wang Jieshi and I aren't even husband and wife..." Chuntao simply told the truth.
Li Dazhuang was so shocked he almost spat out the noodles in his mouth, his eyes wide. "Tao, impossible! You and Lanhua are an exchange marriage. She and I are husband and wife, so you two are husband and wife too!"
The hand Chuntao used to grip her chopsticks suddenly stiffened. "We're not the same as you two. We didn't get a certificate, and we haven't lived together. We're not husband and wife; I've always been single!"
Li Dazhuang slammed his bowl and chopsticks down. "No certificate? Then go get one tomorrow! Once you have the certificate, you are!
Besides, you and your sister-in-law are an exchange marriage! If you don't live with him, your sister-in-law definitely won't live with me anymore!
If your sister-in-law leaves, the two kids are so small, how will they survive without a mother?
And our grandma, she's almost eighty years old. She wouldn't be able to take it either..."
Normally clumsy with words, Li Dazhuang was now chattering endlessly.
Over and over, it amounted to one meaning: he was afraid his own family would fall apart.
"Tao, say something! You're worrying me to death!" Li Dazhuang stamped his feet anxiously. "You're a woman. If you leave the Wang family, where can you go? Who can you rely on?
At the Wang family, you at least have food and shelter. Tomorrow, go get a marriage certificate with Jieshi. From now on, you'll be the one calling the shots in this house. You won't have to live looking at anyone's face..."
"Brother, stop talking." The suffering and grievances she had endured were as obvious as lice on a bald head—did they even need to be spoken of?
Chuntao suddenly raised her head, her face covered in tears.
Zhou Zhijun was right. Her brother only had his own family and his kids in his heart. Who had ever truly thought about her?
She really didn't want to be trapped in this puddle of mud for the rest of her life. She was a woman and wanted to live a few days the way a woman should.
Looking at her tear-streaked face, Li Dazhuang's eyes also grew red.
"Tao, every family has its own cross to bear!" Li Dazhuang's voice choked with emotion. "I'm begging you as your brother, okay?"
Chuntao wiped the tears from her face, but her gaze was exceptionally resolute. "I can't stay here for another day. Even if I freeze or starve to death, it's better than being trapped here!"
Li Dazhuang sprang up from his stool, pointing at Chuntao, his fingers trembling with anger.
"Chuntao, you're crazy! If you aren't afraid of the humiliation, I am! Our grandma is so old, what if this makes her sick from anger?
Do you really have the heart to let your nephew and niece lose their mother at such a young age?"
Zhou Zhijun had silently appeared at the doorway, his eyes sweeping over the two people in the room.
He looked at the furious Li Dazhuang, then at the tear-stained Chuntao.
With a calm expression, he said, "Brother Dazhuang, rest assured. My mother and I will talk some sense into her and make sure she goes to get the marriage certificate with Jieshi!"
Li Dazhuang was completely dumbfounded. What exactly was Zhou Zhijun playing at?
