Chuntao put down the bowl and chopsticks in her hand and suddenly pressed down on Zhou Zhijun's hand.
She pouted toward the kitchen, her voice lowered to a minimum, "Stop messing around, godmother and the others will hear!"
Only then did Zhou Zhijun come back to his senses, let go of his hand, and pushed the noodle bowl in front of her, "Okay, drink your soup quickly!"
He grabbed the chopsticks on the table and took two bites of noodles himself, but it had no taste at all.
Chuntao clutched the chopsticks, staring down at the poached egg in the bowl, her eye sockets still red.
Aunt Zhou's shout came from the kitchen, "Have you two finished drinking!"
Chuntao quickly replied, "Almost!" But the voice was so small that Aunt Zhou couldn't hear it at all.
Zhou Zhijun looked at her blushing pretty face, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he lowered his voice, "Tao, in these two days, I will tell my mother about our matter, don't be afraid."
Chuntao's heart skipped a beat, the chopsticks in her hand almost slipped, and her fingertips were trembling.
Lying in bed at night, Chuntao's heart couldn't calm down at all.
Faces flashed before her eyes, and events lingered in her heart, tangling into an unsolvable mess.
Early the next morning, Chuntao was making a fire and cooking in the kitchen with Aunt Zhou when she heard a chaotic noise outside the gate.
Chuntao's heart skipped a beat, and her hands and feet went stiff with fright. She thought Wang Lanhua had come looking for her again.
The hand holding the firewood tightened, and her face turned a few shades paler.
"What's all the fuss outside?" Aunt Zhou frowned, put down the water scoop in her hand, and walked toward the gate.
She peeked out through the crack in the door and saw two police officers riding "Erba Dagang" bicycles heading toward Wang Jieshi's yard.
Behind them was a group of villagers watching the excitement, their chattering voices buzzing like flies.
The police just came last night, why are they here again? Aunt Zhou muttered in her heart.
She suddenly remembered what the police had said, that Wang Jieshi was not suitable for serving his sentence outside prison. Were they going to arrest him again?
Aunt Zhou snorted coldly in her heart. This rascal should be arrested and reformed properly so that he wouldn't harm people again!
Aunt Zhou guessed right; the police were indeed here to take Wang Jieshi.
It was just that Wang Jieshi was now paralyzed in bed and needed someone to serve him for eating, drinking, and going to the toilet, so a family member had to go with him to take care of him.
"Comrade Police!" Wang Xiaohong was making a fire in the kitchen. Hearing the noise outside the yard, she quickly put down the fire stick and ran to the door to greet them.
An older police officer took out a notebook, opened it, and read, "During his sentence outside prison, Wang Jieshi showed no repentance and even instructed others to spread rumors and slander the victim, which is an additional crime. He is no longer suitable to continue serving his sentence outside prison!
We are here today to take him away, and your family must send someone to go with him to take care of him!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaohong's head buzzed and swelled.
The only people in the family who could work were her and Wang Xiaoming, and they still had to find time to sell watermelons at the market. The pigs and chickens at home couldn't be left unattended either.
They were busy all day, who had time to serve Wang Jieshi?
If it was just for a day or two, that would be fine, but if it was going to be like this for a long time, how would the family survive?
"Comrade Police, our family really has too few people, we can't get away!" Wang Xiaohong was so anxious that she almost cried.
"Please be kind and give my brother another chance! I promise, I will watch him reflect properly!"
The police officer glanced at her, his tone stiff, "Do you have any other people in your family?"
"No, just me and my brother!"
The two police officers looked at each other and asked again, "What about your parents?"
"My dad passed away early, and my mom separated from us!"
"Even if you're separated, she's still your mom!" The police officer said in a deep voice, "Go call her over and discuss who will go!"
Liu Cuilan only cared about herself and had long stopped caring about them; she definitely wouldn't go.
Wang Xiaoming still had to go to school, so she was the only one who could go. But if she left, what would happen to all the chores at home?
Wang Xiaohong had a fiery temper, but she wasn't stupid. She knew when to be tough and when to be soft.
Her eyes darted around, and she immediately knelt on the ground, crying sorrowfully.
While crying, she chattered and poured out her grievances, "Comrade Police, please show mercy! Our life is so hard!
...My dad died early, and my mom doesn't care about us... If I go to serve my brother, this family will really fall apart!
My brother knows he was wrong, he won't dare do it again..."
The two police officers were softened by her crying and stepped aside to discuss in low voices.
Turning back, one police officer relented, "Considering your family's actual situation, we won't take him away today.
But your family must strictly supervise him. If he dares to mess around again, he will be sent directly to the county next time, with no leniency!"
"Thank you, Comrade Police! Thank you, Comrade Police!"
Wang Xiaohong's hanging heart finally settled down. She quickly got up from the ground, patted the dirt on her pants, and thanked them repeatedly.
The two police officers walked into Wang Jieshi's room again, gave him a stern warning, and then got on their bicycles and left with a clatter.
Wang Jieshi trembled with anger, wishing he could get up and set Zhou Zhijun's house on fire.
But he was now paralyzed like a puddle of mud; let alone setting a fire, even turning over was a struggle.
He knew in his heart that he would probably never stand up again in this life.
That hatred grew wildly like weeds, tightly wrapped around his heart, tighter and tighter, suffocating him so much that he felt like he would suffocate in the next second.
He clenched his fists, cursing Wang Haihu and Wang Hailong in his heart for being useless; they couldn't even handle such a small matter and got caught!
To take revenge on Zhou Zhijun and Chuntao, he couldn't rely on himself at all.
Wang Haichao and his brothers had all been sent to jail; during this strike hard campaign, Zhou Ergan and Baldy Zhang, who had feuds with Zhou Zhijun, had also been arrested.
Wang Jieshi thought about it over and over again, but couldn't think of anyone who could help him.
But he was unwilling! At the thought of Chuntao moving into the Zhou family, he gritted his teeth in anger, his teeth grinding.
"Damn it! Zhou Zhijun, Li Chuntao! You shameless adulterous couple!"
On the other side, Li Dazhuang took the household registration book and rushed home overnight.
He hadn't eaten all day and was already starving. When he stepped into the house, Grandma Shen had just finished making breakfast.
He didn't care about burning his mouth, picked up the bowl, and slurped down two big bowls of dough drop soup, and gnawed on a steamed bun, before taking the household registration book out of his arms and handing it to Wang Lanhua.
Wang Lanhua took the household registration book, looked at it, and cursed, "I guessed right! Zhou Zhijun and Li Chuntao, this adulterous couple, would use any despicable means to have an affair!"
She cursed for a long time before asking Li Dazhuang breathlessly, "How could that shameless Li Chuntao obediently give you the household registration book?"
Li Dazhuang naturally didn't dare to tell the truth and mumbled vaguely, "I talked until my lips were worn out before I got it.
Don't worry, the household registration book is back, they can't get their marriage certificate!"
Wang Lanhua curled her lips and opened the household registration book. When she saw that a page had been torn out, her eyes widened instantly.
"A page of the household registration book was torn out by them? Li Chuntao's page is gone!"
Li Dazhuang panicked upon hearing this. "Really? Let me see!"
Wang Lanhua tossed the household register right at his face. "Are you blind? Didn't you notice it back then?"
"I didn't think it would turn out like this. If I had known, I would have checked!" Li Dazhuang said in frustration.
Standing to the side, Li Xiaolian looked at the household register with timid eyes and whispered, "I tore it! I used it to wipe my little brother's bottom!"
Wang Lanhua and Li Dazhuang both froze upon hearing this. They turned to look at Li Xiaolian together. "Did you really tear it?"
"Yeah. My brother pooped, so I tore out a page to wipe his bottom. After I finished, I threw it into the stove to start the fire!" Li Xiaolian blinked, her voice dropping even lower.
Suddenly, Wang Lanhua burst out laughing. "Xiaolian, you did a great job tearing it!"
Coming to his senses, Li Dazhuang chimed in, "Thank goodness it was torn, or we would have been in huge trouble!"
"Without the household register, she can forget about getting a marriage certificate with Zhou Zhijun! Without a certificate, they're just having an illicit affair!"
Grandma Shen brought over a bowl of poached eggs and handed it to Wang Lanhua. She then looked at her sleeping great-grandson, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Look at this little guy, isn't he just adorable! For the baby's sake, don't be angry anymore. If your anger dries up your milk, my precious little darling is going to go hungry!"
Wang Lanhua looked down at her son, who was sleeping soundly beside her, and the anger in her heart instantly faded by half.
Although she was still concerned about the matters of her maiden family, she knew exactly where her priorities lay.
This place was her true home. She couldn't possibly ruin her own life over her maiden family's messy affairs.
Just as she picked up an egg with her chopsticks and brought it to her mouth, a heart-wrenching wail suddenly erupted from outside the courtyard.
Her heart tightened, and her brows instantly furrowed into a deep knot.
