Zhou Xiaowei was utterly exhausted and too tired to bother with her. He just turned and walked away.
Wang Xiaoming looked at her, frustrated beyond words. "Can't you just settle down? Take good care of the crops in the field—that's better than anything else!"
When Liu Cuilan learned that Zhou Zhijun and Li Chun Tao had registered their marriage, she felt as if the sky was falling.
She kept threatening to report Wu Mingwei, but it was really just empty talk!
Besides, Zhou Zhijun and Li Chun Tao’s marriage was perfectly legal; no matter how much she fussed, it was pointless.
But accepting this reality made her feel suffocated and helpless.
What she feared most was that Zhou Zhijun might seek revenge on her in the future.
Liu Cuilan’s heart was a mess of anger, confusion, fear, and frustration. And now Wang Xiaoming was talking to her like that.
Didn’t she want to live a peaceful life? But with all these messy troubles piling up, how could she?
The more Liu Cuilan thought about it, the more unbearable life became. She slapped her hands hard against her thighs and let out a loud, wailing cry.
"Wang Xiaoming, you unfilial son! That bastard’s already riding on our necks, and you’re still trying to shirk responsibility!
I traded my daughter for a wife, and now Zhou Zhijun has stolen her away, carrying his bastard child, about to give birth any day now. I have no one to turn to for justice...
Heaven must not want us women to live anymore! Oh, Heaven, open your eyes and see this!"
Her cries quickly drew a crowd of villagers, who gathered around, chattering and gossiping.
Zhou Zhaodi had already spread the news all over the village about how Liu Cuilan and Baldy Zhang had taken family planning officials to catch Li Chun Tao. Seeing Liu Cuilan wailing now, she guessed their plan had failed.
Someone shouted, "Liu Cuilan, why are you crying? If Li Chun Tao really has a baby, isn’t that your grandchild?"
"Bah! She’s carrying a bastard! She ran off because she’s pregnant with a bastard!" Liu Cuilan spat fiercely, glaring.
"The rice is already cooked, so stop fussing over the details!" someone tried to calm her down.
Some young wives huddled together, whispering, "Wang Jieshi is a useless man, yet he still wants to tie someone down for life!"
The crowd buzzed with gossip—some sided with Zhou Zhijun and Li Chun Tao, others sympathized with Liu Cuilan. But in the end, they were all just there for the spectacle.
Huang Meili and her daughters squeezed into the crowd. Hearing that Li Chun Tao was about to give birth, they felt a burning resentment.
“Mom, if Li Chun Tao really has the baby, Grandma will hate us even more!” Zhou Xiaoying tugged at Huang Meili’s sleeve, her eyes full of bitterness.
Zhou Xiaomei quickly chimed in, “Exactly! Grandma already favors Li Chun Tao. Once she has the baby, all the good stuff in the family will go to that little brat!”
Huang Meili had long had her eyes on Zhou Zhijun’s family fortune, but now it seemed completely out of reach. Her brow furrowed into a deep knot.
“Hey, Meili!” Zhou Zhaodi gently patted her back and lowered her voice, “That Liu Cuilan is just a fool. All she knows is crying and wailing—no use at all!”
Zhou Xiaoying, still holding a grudge from the ring incident, snapped back on the spot, “She’s a fool? If you’re so capable, why don’t you go catch her back yourself!”
“You stubborn girl, I’m talking about Liu Cuilan—what are you butting in for?” Zhou Zhaodi glared at her.
Zhou Xiaoying refused to back down. “I just can’t stand it!”
The two locked eyes like fighting roosters. Huang Meili quickly tugged at Zhou Xiaoying and whispered sharply, “Say less!”
Zhou Zhaodi, with her big belly sticking out, looked ready to take advantage of any excuse to stir trouble. Huang Meili was afraid she’d exploit the situation and didn’t dare let her daughter make a scene.
On the ground, Liu Cuilan was still wailing. She had been crying for a long time but not a single tear fell. No one stepped forward to comfort her. Gradually, her cries grew quieter.
Wang Xiaoming, seeing her like this, wished he could disappear into the ground. He stepped forward and grabbed her, “Stop making a fool of yourself here. Come home with me!”
He tried to pull Liu Cuilan up, but she planted her bottom hard on the ground, refusing to get up.
Wang Xiaoming stomped his feet in frustration, helpless. In the end, he could only throw up his hands, squeeze through the crowd, and head home.
Liu Cuilan, seeing no one paid her any mind, finally got up on her own. She wasn’t done yet—turning to the onlookers, she spat out a fierce warning, “Those two scoundrels, even if I become a ghost, I won’t let them off!”
Then, staggering unsteadily, she started walking home, with the Zhou sisters trailing behind at a cautious distance, following her all the way.
Zhou Pandi wore a face full of “sincerity” as she grabbed Liu Cuilan’s arm. “Auntie Cuilan, Zhou Zhijun’s just bullying you because you don’t have a man backing you up! Honestly, you should just let it go. The arm can’t beat the thigh!”
Zhou Zhaodi immediately shot back, “How can we just let it go? We have to make a scene, make sure those two are too ashamed to show their faces in the village!”
“The police chief is Zhou Zhijun’s buddy. Of course, he’ll side with him! We’re just ordinary folks—how can we fight them?”
Zhou Pandi deliberately spoke sarcastically, but inside, she was scheming.
Even if they couldn’t bring down Zhou Zhijun, making Liu Cuilan stir up trouble every day would at least make his life miserable.
Liu Cuilan wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. After hearing this, her anger flared up even more. She straightened her neck and shouted, “This is a new society now! I can’t just let them bully me like this! Sooner or later, I’ll sue them!”
Zhou Zhaodi poured gasoline on the fire, “If you’re going to sue, you better do it now! Go sit right in front of the police station and don’t get up. Throw a tantrum, make a scene—see if they dare ignore you! If they don’t care, then go find Secretary Wang and have him settle it for you!”
Wang Jinlong had been in office less than a year and was known for being sympathetic to the people. Hearing this, Liu Cuilan suddenly slapped her thigh, “Right! Why didn’t I think of Secretary Wang before?”
Meanwhile, the three women gathered together, whispering and plotting how to deal with Zhou Zhijun and Li Chun Tao.
On the other side, Huang Meili sat by the fire in her own home, adding wood to the flames while cursing, “That Li Chun Tao, what a bitch! If she really has a second child by him, that old hag will spoil her rotten!”
The Zhou sisters, Zhou Xiaoying and her sister, were equally furious, joining in the curses.
Zhou Zhimin had taken off his shoes and sat silently by the fire, warming his feet, saying nothing.
Huang Meili, seeing him act so indifferent as if it were none of his business, was furious. She grabbed his shoes and threw them out into the yard.
“Are you mute? The woman’s already riding all over us, and all you can do is sit there twiddling your thumbs?”
“You, Xiuzhi, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?” Zhou Zhimin shot her a glare. “She’s about to have a baby—who can stop that?”
“Why on earth did I marry a good-for-nothing like you! No love from your parents, no support, absolutely useless!” Huang Meili snapped. “If Li Chun Tao has that baby, your parents won’t even recognize you as their son anymore, you loser!”
“So what do you suggest we do?” Zhou Zhimin’s heart burned with frustration.
His mother had issues with him, but wasn’t it because Huang Meili was always nagging and stirring up trouble? Now, all the blame fell squarely on him.
“What else? We can’t let Li Chun Tao keep that bastard baby!” Huang Meili ground her teeth.
“The kid’s in her belly. What can I do about it?” Zhou Zhimin retorted, clearly annoyed.
He glanced at Zhou Xiaomei standing nearby and called out, “Xiaomei, go pick up my shoes!”
Pouting, Zhou Xiaomei reluctantly went into the yard to retrieve the worn-out cotton shoes and placed them in front of Zhou Zhimin.
Suddenly, she leaned close to Huang Meili’s ear, whispering conspiratorially, “Mom, I have a plan!”
“You little brat, what kind of plan could you possibly have?” Huang Meili shot her a skeptical look, disbelief written all over her face.
Zhou Xiaomei glanced at Zhou Zhimin, her expression a bit timid, then leaned in again and whispered softly into Huang Meili’s ear.
Huang Meili’s eyes instantly widened in surprise and delight. She scolded playfully, “You little devil, you really do have some tricks up your sleeve!”
But then she frowned.
The plan was clever, sure, but if someone ended up dead, it would mean a long stretch behind bars—or worse.
Though Zhou Zhimin hadn’t caught what was whispered, he glared at Zhou Xiaomei and snapped, “You’re just a kid—stay out of grown-up matters! If you keep coming up with these crooked ideas, I swear I’ll break your legs!”
Those two girls had been spoiled rotten by Huang Meili, always scheming some crooked plan or another.
“You dare!” Huang Meili immediately defended her daughter, glaring at Zhou Zhimin. “Our kids have more guts than you! You’re just a useless coward!”
In her mind, she was already plotting. Within the next couple of days, she’d have a serious talk with Zhou Dana about how to deal with Zhou Zhijun.
And besides... it had been a long time since the two of them had been together. She was itching for it badly.
