Wang Jieshi and Cao Meiying met while cutting grass on the hillside. At that time, both were at the age of budding affection, and love quietly sprouted and grew in their young hearts.
Cao Meiying's parents had always wanted their daughter to marry into town, to run a small business, which they thought was always better than farming at home.
When they discovered Cao Meiying was in a relationship with Wang Jieshi, they firmly objected.
In those days, young people's marriages were arranged by their parents. Cao Meiying couldn't defy her parents, so she broke up with Wang Jieshi.
After the breakup, both followed their families' arrangements and became engaged to others, though this was merely a delaying tactic for them.
In secret, the two remained connected, constantly plotting how to escape.
Wang Jieshi originally planned to find an excuse after his own wedding to go work at a coal mine in another province, seize the chance to run far away with Cao Meiying, and never return.
But on his wedding day, he accidentally overheard relatives whispering about Cao Meiying, saying she was also about to get married soon.
Wang Jieshi's heart tightened instantly. If Cao Meiying really married that pork butcher, they would be finished for good.
He couldn't wait any longer; he had to take Cao Meiying away immediately! On his wedding night, he excused himself to go to the outhouse and never returned.
He and Cao Meiying walked overnight to the county town. Wang Jieshi didn't have a single cent on him, and Cao Meiying only had a little over ten yuan of her own private savings tucked away.
To save enough money for the journey out of town, the two worked at a brick kiln near the county town. They worked for two months before setting off.
They took a bus all the way to a coal mine in Shanxi. Wang Jieshi went down the mine shaft to dig coal, while Cao Meiying cooked and washed clothes for him during the day, and kept him company at night to relieve his boredom.
Working in the coal mine was exhausting and dangerous, but as long as he could be with his beloved every day, Wang Jieshi felt life was quite happy.
But such good days didn't last long. Cao Meiying grew increasingly cold towards him, barely even looking him in the eye. She constantly complained that he was uneducated and had no prospects, asking what future could a coal miner possibly have?
At first, Wang Jieshi didn't suspect anything else. He only felt he had wronged Cao Meiying by not giving her a good life.
"Meiying, don't worry. I, Wang Jieshi, won't be a coal miner forever!
Once we save enough money, we'll go to the city and open a restaurant. You'll be the boss's wife then, with nothing to do all day but collect money!"
Cao Meiying just snorted dismissively through her nose: "Let me be the boss's wife? I think I'll be waiting till the cows come home!
My parents were right. For a girl, getting married is like being reborn. A good rebirth means a life of ease; a bad one means a lifetime of poverty..."
Wang Jieshi could bear Cao Meiying's nagging for a while. After all, he was the one who had persuaded her to run away with him. He felt guilty for not providing the life she wanted.
Wang Jieshi felt increasingly guilty towards Cao Meiying and thought about earning more money, so he worked down the mine day and night.
But just as he was dreaming of a beautiful future, he caught Cao Meiying and a foreman from the mine in bed together.
Seeing the two entangled, Wang Jieshi's mind buzzed.
His woman being slept with by another man was the ultimate humiliation for a man!
Wang Jieshi's eyes turned red, and he charged at the man like an enraged beast.
But the foreman was tall and burly. The small and skinny Wang Jieshi was no match for him. Before he could even get close, he was kicked hard, sent crashing to the ground, and couldn't get up for a long time.
Cao Meiying, wrapped in a blanket, glared at Wang Jieshi with utter contempt. "Wang Jieshi, get out! From now on, I'm cutting all ties with you. We don't know each other anymore!"
For Cao Meiying, he had abandoned Chuntao and run away on his wedding night, yet Cao Meiying had betrayed him. How could Wang Jieshi accept this?
He knelt before Cao Meiying, begging pitifully, but the more he did so, the more she looked down on him.
She was determined to break up and promptly moved in with that foreman. Once a woman's heart changes, not even ten oxen can pull her back.
Wang Jieshi was so filled with hatred he wanted to bang his head against the wall, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't stay at that coal mine anymore and had to move to another small mine.
Without his emotional pillar, Wang Jieshi lost his spirit. His days became a muddled haze; every day, besides working, he just drank away his sorrows.
He had thought about returning home but felt too ashamed to face his family.
Until two weeks ago, an explosion occurred at the coal mine where he worked, killing three people.
Wang Jieshi wasn't killed, but one of his legs was blown off, and his manhood was ruined too.
He worked at a private small mine. The mine owner refused to take responsibility, giving him only a small sum for medical expenses before sending him away.
His fellow workers, seeing his pitiful state, sent him back home. By the time Liu Cuilan got the news and rushed back, the workers had already left.
The hardships Wang Jieshi suffered during those four years at the coal mine were of his own making. He was too ashamed to tell anyone.
His crying was suppressed and sorrowful, filled with regret, resentment, guilt... but nothing could be started over.
He had originally thought that after he ran away, Chuntao would have left long ago, but she hadn't.
For these four years, she had guarded this home, working day and night until her bones ached with exhaustion.
Her heart was filled to the brim with bitterness, almost overflowing, yet she never left the Wang family, not even half a step.
Only now did Wang Jieshi understand what kind of woman was truly worth cherishing... How terribly wrong he had been to flee on his wedding night!
He wanted to make amends, but what was he now? Neither man nor ghost, unable to even take care of himself. What could he possibly use to make it up to her?
"Jieshi, stop crying. No matter what, you're back, you're home!"
An elderly villager squatted beside Wang Jieshi to console him. "Chuntao is a righteous girl. From now on, you two live well together. Don't dwell on foolish things anymore!"
After speaking, the old man called out to several men in the yard, "Lend a hand, everyone! Let's carry Jieshi inside to lie on the bed!"
Chuntao sat on the stone stool, her eyes staring blankly. Her heart and mind were completely empty. She sat there rigidly, her clothes soaked through with sweat.
Wang Xiaoming sat beside her, one hand supporting her, the other holding a fan to cool her.
Liu Cuilan also seemed stunned, sitting motionless and silent in the yard, her eyes fixed intently on the tips of Chuntao's shoes.
Wang Xiaoming wanted to help Chuntao inside to lie down for a while. Chuntao stood up shakily but instead walked towards the outside of the courtyard.
As they reached Aunt Zhou's door, they bumped into Aunt Zhou returning from her private plot with a vegetable basket.
"Xiaoming, what's wrong?" Aunt Zhou asked.
Wang Xiaoming's lips moved, squeezing out two words, "It's nothing!"
Aunt Zhou didn't ask further and casually handed over two pickled cucumbers. "Take these to eat!"
Wang Xiaoming helped Chuntao lie down again in the melon shed.
He wanted to console her, but he knew that at this moment, any words of comfort would be like a light drizzle falling on parched, cracked earth, unable to penetrate even a fraction.
Zhou Zhijun and Wang Xiaohong went to the countryside to exchange for melons and didn't return until after dark.
Learning that Wang Jieshi had returned and was now disabled, both found it hard to believe.
Wang Xiaohong also resented her brother, but he was, after all, her own brother. She didn't speak, just bit her lower lip, her eyes reddening.
Zhou Zhijun looked towards Chuntao lying in the melon shed. He didn't go in, just said to Wang Xiaohong and Wang Xiaoming, "Look after your sister-in-law. I'll go back and cook some soup to bring over for you."
Chuntao lay in the melon shed, wanting to cry but having no tears left.
The abandonment on her wedding night, the torment of four years of bitter endurance, the longing day and night for his return—all had culminated in this outcome.
That man was now disabled, and the woman he had eloped with all those years ago wanted nothing more to do with him. This heavy burden, in the end, was still destined to fall upon her shoulders.
She stared at a sliver of faint light leaking through the shed's roof, her lips twisting in a wry, helpless semblance of a smile. Her chest felt clogged with a sodden mass of cotton wool, stifling her breath.
An endless, pervasive chill enveloped her. Was it resentment, pity, or simply a refusal to accept this farcical twist of fate?
