Chuntao's little face flushed as red as cloth in a dye vat, even her neck and ears turning a deep crimson.
How could a man who seemed so proper be so shameless? How could he say such things to her?
She couldn't agree. If she agreed, he would bully her even more boldly. With his wild intensity, he'd surely pester her to death!
"No. Anything but that!"
She kept her head down, not daring to look at him, her voice so faint she could barely hear it herself, yet every word fell clearly into Zhou Zhijun's ears.
"No, huh? If it's no, I'll do it right now!" Without another word, he embraced her again.
Wang Xiaohong would be here soon. If they were caught, he, a bachelor, didn't care about his reputation, but she was a married woman. If seen, she'd truly have no way to go on living.
Chuntao could only resort to a delaying tactic, pleading, "Don't be like this... I promise you, okay?"
Zhou Zhijun released her, cupped her small face in his hands, and demanded in a hoarse voice, "Look up, look into my eyes, and say it again!"
"I already said it!" Chuntao lowered her eyelids, stubbornly avoiding his gaze.
The familiar sound of footsteps came from the field ridge, and only then did Zhou Zhijun let go.
He reached out to help straighten her clothes, but Chuntao pushed his hand away sharply.
"Xiaohong's coming. You should go!"
Chuntao's heart pounded like a rabbit was trapped inside. With trembling hands, she tugged her inner vest down and hurriedly fastened the buttons on her coarse outer jacket.
The top button of the jacket was torn off, revealing the bruises beneath.
Afraid Wang Xiaohong would see, Chuntao pulled the two front panels of her jacket tightly together.
"Xiaohong, you're here!" Zhou Zhijun stood at the entrance of the melon shed. Seeing Wang Xiaohong approaching with a flashlight, he spoke first. "Well, I'll head back then!"
"Uncle Zhijun, I brought soup for you. Have some here before you go!"
"No need, I'm sure your Granny has mine ready too!"
Zhou Zhijun strode out of the melon field on his long legs, his footsteps fading into the distance.
"Sister-in-law, why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?"
"N-no... it's just the heat..." Chuntao's voice couldn't help but sound weak.
Wang Xiaohong poured porridge into a bowl as she spoke, "I boiled an egg for you. Build up your strength!"
She handed the bowl to Chuntao, then pulled the boiled egg from her pocket.
"I won't eat it. You're out selling melons every day, working so hard. You have it."
Wang Xiaohong lowered her head to peel the egg, then handed it to Chuntao. "I'm strong as an ox, don't need eggs! You're delicate, you need to build yourself up properly!"
Wang Jieshi only had one leg left now. In a few more days, he might be able to walk with a stick, but he wouldn't be able to do any work. From now on, this family would rely entirely on Chuntao to hold it up!
Wang Xiaohong thought, her sister-in-law's health was poor. How could she manage without proper nourishment?
Chuntao had just eaten buns, beef, and half a watermelon. She really couldn't eat anymore, but Wang Xiaohong insisted, breaking the egg and putting it into her porridge bowl.
For the next while, Chuntao stayed in the melon field keeping watch.
Zhou Zhijun and Wang Xiaohong went to the market street together to sell watermelons, while Wang Xiaoming stayed home to look after Wang Jieshi.
Liu Cuilan made adobe bricks on the threshing ground, then went to the southern hills to cut timber and gather thatch, preparing to build a house.
Wang Haichao's three younger brothers helped her with the work. Wang Haichao himself, however, did nothing. He just paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, like a foreman.
Liu Cuilan wiped sweat from her forehead and said, "We still need to buy some blue bricks and tiles from the kiln. The foundation and corners need to be brick, otherwise they won't hold up against the rain.
After laying the thatch on the roof, we still need a layer of tiles to keep the rain out. That way it'll be solid and won't leak.
I also want to ask someone to bring some lime. We need it for mixing mud to lay the bricks and plaster the walls. Otherwise, the adobe walls will crack easily."
Wang Haichao nodded. "You're right. Building a house is a lifelong matter, can't cut corners!" But he didn't have a single cent. What would he use to buy anything?
"Do you have any money?" he asked.
Liu Cuilan was taken aback. "You could go to the commune credit cooperative and get a loan from the loan officer!"
Wang Haichao walked closer to her and lowered his voice. "Those two acres of watermelons must have made a good bit of money. Why don't you just borrow some from Xiaohong? A loan has to be paid back!"
Liu Cuilan certainly wanted the melon money. But it was agreed from the start that Chuntao grew the watermelons to pay for Wang Xiaoming's schooling.
Now Wang Xiaoming was home on vacation. With his temper, Liu Cuilan was apprehensive.
"That's easy for you to say. Those two acres of melons were all their work. If I ask for the money, will she give it?"
Wang Haichao's voice dropped even lower, a hint of calculation in his eyes. "If you ask bluntly, of course she won't give it. Say it's a loan, that you'll pay it back after the autumn harvest. It won't delay Xiaoming's schooling!"
Don't be fooled by Liu Cuilan's usual loud bluster; she actually had no brains. With a little push from Wang Haichao, she charged ahead.
That evening, when Wang Xiaohong returned home to cook the evening meal, Liu Cuilan asked her for the melon money.
"Xiaohong, right now you're watching the melons in the field. But when the melon season ends, everyone has to come back to live here. These few rundown rooms of ours simply aren't enough.
I'm planning to build a few new rooms. You can move in then too.
The adobe bricks are made, the thatch is cut, we've chopped quite a few rafters, but there are still many important things we don't have! I don't have a single cent..."
Wang Xiaohong understood her meaning immediately and cut her off before she could finish. "I don't have any money either!"
"What about the melon money? Two acres of watermelons, that must have made quite a bit!"
"When you were in the hospital in the city, I borrowed fifty yuan from Uncle Zhijun. The melon money all went to pay him back!"
"Those two acres must have sold for at least two hundred yuan. Paying back fifty still leaves a hundred and fifty!"
"I don't have it!" Wang Xiaohong picked up the food bucket and the flashlight and left.
Wang Xiaoming heard Liu Cuilan's words from inside the room and came out, his tone sharp as gunpowder.
"Was it easy for my sister-in-law to grow those two acres of melons? Up before dawn, back after dark, working day and night. Did you ever go help once? And you have the nerve to ask for the money!"
Hearing Wang Xiaoming speak like this, Liu Cuilan was angry too, but didn't dare raise her voice as she usually would. "Isn't it just that we have no money to build the house? I only wanted to borrow it. Besides, the melon money is more than enough for your school fees!"
"Even if it's more than enough, we're not giving it. Those melons were grown by my sister-in-law's hard work. She hasn't added a single new piece of clothing since she married into this family years ago. I want my sister-in-law to have some new clothes!"
Liu Cuilan glared in anger, but Wang Haichao shot her a warning look. She quickly said, "Xiaoming is right. The melons were grown by Chuntao's hard work. She should have some new clothes."
"A working farmer, what does she need new clothes for? As long as her backside isn't showing, it's fine!" Liu Cuilan muttered, but didn't dare speak any louder.
As for Zhou Zhijun, his mother had mentioned Zhou Zhaodi to him the other day, but he hadn't paid it any mind. Zhou Zhaodi, however, had been restless these past few days, unable to eat or sleep well.
Zhou Zhaodi was two years younger than Zhou Zhijun. Although they shared the same surname, they were beyond the fifth degree of kinship, so marriage was permissible.
She had secretly liked Zhou Zhijun since she was seventeen or eighteen. She had even had a matchmaker approach him back then, but Zhou Zhijun wasn't willing.
Later, Zhou Zhaodi married into Wangzhuang Commune. After having a child, her husband fell ill with a lingering disease.
Two years ago, Zhou Zhaodi's husband died of illness, and her child drowned while bathing in the river that summer.
The series of blows left her heartbroken, nearly driving her out of her mind.
With her husband and child gone, her in-laws' family no longer had a place for her, so Zhou Dana and his wife took her back to their home.
Over these two years, they had asked people to introduce potential partners to her, but none had been suitable.
That noon, after finishing work, she and her younger sister Zhou Pandi were bathing in the river. She almost drowned and was saved by Zhou Zhijun.
That long-sealed heart of hers began to stir once more, as if she had returned to the age of first love.
Her mother understood her feelings and had already hinted at them to Aunt Zhou, but there had been no response at all from Zhou Zhijun's side.
Zhou Zhaodi was almost forty years old, and she decided to take the initiative.
She thought, Zhou Zhijun was also forty, no longer that reckless young man from years past, so this matter should be almost certain.
That evening, as Zhou Zhijun was returning from the melon field and reached the side of the threshing ground, Zhou Zhaodi suddenly stepped out from behind a wheat straw stack.
"Brother Zhijun! I have something to say to you..."
