The person who came was none other than the village's women's director, followed by two middle-aged men who looked like cadres.
The day after Wang Lanhua gave birth, the brigade's women's director came to her door to urge her to go to the commune for a tubal ligation.
According to the policy, she had to go on the third day after a natural birth. But Grandma Shen said Wang Lanhua's body was weak and insisted on waiting until the baby was a month old.
Actually, Grandma Shen had her own little plan. She wanted to wait until the baby was a month old, then let the young couple go out and hide, and have another one.
In these times, families with few male children couldn't straighten their backs, and it was hard to avoid being bullied in the village.
Li Dazhuang and Wang Lanhua felt the same way. One son was simply not enough; they always felt insecure.
It was clearly agreed that day to wait until the baby was a month old before getting the ligation. How could the women's director bring people to the door again after only a few days?
"Auntie Shen, these two are cadres from the commune's family planning office. They came specifically today to urge Lanhua to get a tubal ligation!" the women's director said, already at the door.
Grandma Shen came back to her senses, hurriedly bent down to pick up the rag on the ground, and greeted them with a smile.
"Oh my, it's so hot today, and we troubled you to make this trip!
As soon as our Lanhua's baby is a month old, I'll immediately take her to the commune for a tubal ligation!"
"We can't wait until the baby is a month old! The daughter-in-law of the Zhang family at the front of the village went on the third day after giving birth! Lanhua has to go tomorrow!"
Grandma Shen smiled and invited them into the house, then turned to go to the kitchen to fetch herbal tea, and hurriedly looked for a palm-leaf fan.
"No need to busy yourself," the commune cadre's tone was firm.
"According to the regulations, Wang Lanhua should have been ligated on the third day after giving birth. It's been delayed for half a month, and we can't let you delay it any longer! Tomorrow morning, she must go to the clinic!"
The women's director also chimed in, "Our Li Family Village strives to be advanced in everything. We can't hold the whole village back on family planning..."
Saying that, she lifted the door curtain of the inner room and said to Wang Lanhua on the bed, "Lanhua, you have both a son and a daughter now. You should be satisfied, right?
Go and get the ligation tomorrow, and from now on, focus on living a good life!"
Wang Lanhua opened her mouth to reply, but Grandma Shen quickly said, "Don't worry! Tomorrow morning, I'll have Dazhuang take her. It's cooler to go early!"
After sending off the women's director and the cadres, Grandma Shen turned to Liu Cuilan and sighed, "Lanhua's mother, you saw it too. The commune is pushing so hard, we really can't delay this anymore!"
"Mother, the commune has given a strict order. I can't go back today. Once I get the ligation, I'll go back immediately!
If Li Chuntao still doesn't go home, I won't go back either!"
Wang Lanhua and Grandma Shen originally wanted to use this matter to send Liu Cuilan away.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Liu Cuilan's eyes widened, "This ligation cannot be done!"
Grandma Shen said, "She has both a son and a daughter, and the commune people have come to the door. This is a sure thing. If she doesn't get it, she has to!"
Liu Cuilan leaned close to the edge of the kang and lowered her voice, "Lanhua, pack your things tonight and hide! Let them not find you!"
She turned to look out the window, then leaned closer, "I know a good place, guaranteed no one will find you!"
Liu Cuilan wanted to hide Wang Lanhua, making Li Dazhuang's family panic. Then wouldn't they have to let Li Chuntao obediently serve Wang Jieshi?
But Grandma Shen was much smarter than her. How could she fall into her trap?
"You can hide for the first day of the lunar month, but not the fifteenth. Now that she has both a son and a daughter, we are satisfied.
If we really have to hide here and there, how can we live? She'll go get the ligation tomorrow!"
Liu Cuilan didn't dare to make things too stiff, so she had to go along, "Alright, after you get the ligation, I'll come pick you up, and by the way, change my grandson's wet bed..."
"Okay! I'll go back after getting the ligation! If Li Chuntao dares not to serve Jieshi, I'll skin her alive!"
With Wang Lanhua saying this, Liu Cuilan felt reassured and left satisfied.
She never expected that in the second half of that night, Li Dazhuang used a handcart to pull Wang Lanhua and the less-than-a-month-old baby, groping in the dark to a relative's house.
Two days later, when Liu Cuilan came to call Wang Lanhua, she realized she had been fooled.
She grabbed Grandma Shen, insisting on knowing Wang Lanhua's whereabouts.
In the past, Grandma Shen was always afraid that Wang Lanhua would make a fuss about going back to her maiden home. Whatever Liu Cuilan said, she would smile and agree.
Things were different now. Wang Lanhua had given birth to a son and a daughter, and was willing to follow Li Dazhuang to hide and have another child, which showed that her heart had long taken root in the Li family.
As long as Wang Lanhua's heart was in the Li family, no matter how much Liu Cuilan made a fuss, it would be useless.
"Lanhua's mother, don't ask anymore. I'll tell you the truth. The young couple took the child to stay with relatives out of town. They won't be back for a year or half!"
Grandma Shen dropped this sentence, grabbed her great-granddaughter Li Xiaolian's hand, and walked away without looking back.
Liu Cuilan was so angry that her face turned red and her neck thick. She stood in the yard jumping and cursing for a long time, cursing until her throat smoked, but no one paid attention to her. Finally, she could only leave dejectedly.
She hadn't even been a month since her miscarriage, and her body was already weak. Catching up with these dog days, the vicious sun made her dizzy.
Not far away, Liu Cuilan felt her eyes go dark and her whole body go soft, almost falling to the ground.
She slumped on the ridge by the road and rested for a long time before barely supporting herself, walking and stopping, dawdling until dark before returning to Wangjiazhai.
Wang Haichao's three dilapidated thatched cottages used to be crowded with four men, noisy and annoying.
Now it was empty, leaving only her, and she felt insecure again.
Liu Cuilan slumped on a bench in the kitchen, staring blankly at the yard.
Wang Haichao was eloquent, and Wang Haibao was young and strong, but these two men were locked up and wouldn't come out for four or five years.
Although Wang Hailong and Wang Haihu were clumsy with words, they were men after all. Originally, with them around, life wouldn't be too hard, but now they were also locked up.
She let out a long sigh, feeling empty inside, as if a piece of meat had been hollowed out, unspeakably depressed.
These days, she had broken her heart and worn out her lips for Wang Jieshi's matter, but who had ever understood her difficulties?
Wang Lanhua was fine, hiding without a word. Could it be that she was just letting that slut Li Chuntao openly be with Zhou Zhijun?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, and her chest felt tight.
Li Chuntao left, and Wang Lanhua and the others washed their hands of Wang Jieshi. In the end, didn't she, as a mother, have to clean up this mess?
"No! I must get Li Chuntao back!" Liu Cuilan suddenly stood up from the bench.
She had to go find Wang Xiaohong and Wang Xiaoming, and let these two siblings drag Li Chuntao home!
At the same time, Chuntao moving into Zhou Zhijun's house became a fresh topic of conversation for everyone in Wangjiazhai.
People in the village all believed that Zhou Zhijun and Chuntao had hooked up a long time ago.
Li Chuntao leaving the Wang family was instigated by Zhou Zhijun, otherwise, with Chuntao's soft temper, she definitely wouldn't dare.
Zhou Zhaodi sat in her yard, fanning herself vigorously with a palm-leaf fan, but the sweat on her forehead still dripped down her cheeks.
The anger in her heart was hotter than these dog days.
The man she had been thinking about for half her life, why should that slut Li Chuntao get him? She was not reconciled!
Wang Qingshan saw her pulling a long, dark face and felt extremely annoyed.
The weather was hot, so he simply grabbed a rush mat and headed toward the threshing floor in the northeast corner of the village.
It was breezy and cool there at night, and every day many villagers brought their mats there to enjoy the cool air.
Wang Qingshan found an empty spot, rolled out his mat, and lay down, but he tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Not far away, a group of men and women were gathered together, whispering about Zhou Zhijun and Li Chuntao.
The crude words drifted into his ears, making him even more irritated, so he got up and found a quieter spot to lie down.
Seeing Wang Qingshan leave, Zhou Zhaodi gripped her fan and followed him out.
Just as she stepped out of the courtyard, she saw Liu Cuilan walking furiously along the main road toward the back of the village.
She thought to herself that this shrew must be going to cause trouble for Li Chuntao again!
Last time in the brigade courtyard, she and Liu Cuilan had gotten into a fight, which resulted in the loss of the baby in Cuilan's belly.
After Liu Cuilan returned from the health clinic, she came to her house and threw a massive fit.
Zhou Zhaodi did not buy into her act, but Liu Cuilan rolled around on the floor throwing a tantrum, demanding compensation and threatening to report her to the commune if she did not pay.
The old Wang couple, being timid and afraid of trouble, gave Liu Cuilan half a sack of wheat to finally settle the matter.
When enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hatred. Zhou Zhaodi wished she could march right up and slap Liu Cuilan across the face a few times.
But thinking about how Cuilan's loafer of a husband had been sentenced to prison, and how those three bachelors had also been locked up, Zhou Zhaodi felt much more gratified.
A smug smile crept onto her lips, and she followed Liu Cuilan from a distance, eager to watch a good show!
To her surprise, when Liu Cuilan reached Zhou Zhijun's door, she did not knock, but instead headed straight for Wang Jieshi's house.
Zhou Zhaodi stopped outside Zhou Zhijun's gate, leaning in to peek through the crack in the door.
In the moonlight, she saw Li Chuntao standing in the courtyard, leaning against the wall and dry heaving.
Zhou Zhijun rushed out of the house gripping a flashlight, "Tao, what is wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Chuntao clutched her chest and said weakly, "It is nothing... my stomach just feels off, I feel like throwing up..."
