Wang Xiaohong kept her eyes lowered, her heart churning with misery.
If she went to testify, would it really force Chuntao to come back?
Her hand was buried in her cotton-padded coat pocket, clutching the stiff cotton wadding inside so hard it hurt.
Her teeth were clamped down on her lip, biting it white but never letting go.
What her mother said wasn't without reason—she was just a country girl, uneducated. How could she ever match Li Mingliang?
Even if Li Mingliang could accept her, could he accept a paralyzed brother?
Even if he could, what about his family? They definitely wouldn't agree!
And shoving that burden entirely onto Wang Xiaoming? He still had to marry and build a life someday!
Her mother Liu Cuilan was even more unreliable—she'd never take care of her brother. Thinking it over, only Chuntao could bear that load.
The way she used to protect Chuntao, the picture of Chuntao sitting by the kerosene lamp making cotton shoes and sewing clothes for her...
These past four years swirled through her mind, churning her into restless turmoil.
Those kindnesses she could never forget, yet she also hated—hated Chuntao for carrying on with Zhou Zhijun.
Even more, she hated Chuntao for defying the rules of sister-exchange marriage and divorcing her brother.
Liu Cuilan saw her biting her lip, silent for ages, and knew Wang Xiaohong had been moved. She reached out and patted her arm, voice urgent and tinged with pity. "Silly girl, what are you still hesitating for? This is your only way out!
Think about it—if Li Chuntao comes back, taking care of your brother is her duty. You'd have no more worries, and you could focus on being with Li Mingliang.
He has a proper job, he's a minor leader. Getting you a temporary post would be child's play for him!
After you get converted to permanent, eat from the public rice bowl just like him, no more 'one foot in the countryside.'
You two marry, have kids, live high on the hog—a lifetime of blessings!"
The moment she mentioned that temporary job, Wang Xiaohong bit down harder. Her lip was nearly broken, a taste of blood seeping into her mouth.
If Chuntao hadn't divorced her brother back then, that oilfield cafeteria temp position should have been hers.
After Zhou Pandi fell into the mud pit, the oilfield needed people. Li Mingliang said she should go, but she'd been in such a turmoil—worrying about taking care of her brother—she declined and recommended Zhou Hongxia instead.
Who could've guessed that after only two months of Zhou Hongxia working there, the oilfield issued conversion quotas for temporary workers to become permanent? Now she was already a regular employee, holding an iron rice bowl.
Wang Xiaohong's guts were twisting with regret. If she'd known, she wouldn't have given it up for anything.
If she'd become a regular worker, she'd have been worthy of Li Mingliang. But it was too late to say anything now.
She glanced up at Liu Cuilan, eyelashes trembling, voice low and hoarse. "If I go testify, can Zhou Zhijun really be convicted of hooliganism? Can Chuntao's marriage certificate with him really be voided?"
She wasn't sure. She both hoped it would succeed so she could free herself quickly, and feared it would all come to nothing, leaving her with a reputation for heartlessness and the villagers cursing her behind her back.
Liu Cuilan immediately slapped her chest in guarantee, voice rising a notch. "How could that be false?
Your Uncle Haitao is a big officer in the army, thick as thieves with commune Secretary Wang.
Secretary Wang wants to help us, but he needs an excuse to avoid gossip. As long as someone can testify they were carrying on, this will definitely work!
Zhou Zhijun seduced a married woman—that's plain hooliganism, he can't run from it!
Once he's sentenced, the marriage certificate with Li Chuntao naturally becomes void.
Chuntao was traded for your sister—your sister serves her brother, so she has to come back and serve yours. That's only right!"
As she spoke, she clung tightly to Wang Xiaohong's hand, voice carrying a stern earnestness. "I bust my back day in and day out—why do I keep harping on them? It's all for you kids!
Once your brother has someone to care for him, you and Xiaoming can settle down and start families.
If Chuntao doesn't come back, neither of you will ever shake free of your brother as baggage your whole lives. Forget marrying someone like Li Mingliang—even an ordinary family might not take you!
And hey, Hongxia is a regular worker now, she sees Li Mingliang every day. Zhou Xiaowei is close to Li Mingliang too. If you don't move fast and Hongxia snatches him first, you'll have no one to cry to!"
Wang Xiaohong suddenly remembered: a few days ago, when she dropped by Zhou Hongxia's house, she'd seen her embroidering insoles with a pair of mandarin ducks.
She'd teased, asking if they were for her sweetheart. Zhou Hongxia's face flushed scarlet and she denied it fiercely, but that expression clearly meant something was going on.
Warned by Liu Cuilan, her heart tightened. Why hadn't she thought of that?
Zhou Hongxia was a regular worker now, meeting Li Mingliang every single day. Maybe the two of them had already...
She dared not let her mind go further. If that were really the case, she could never accept it.
Wang Xiaohong suddenly pulled her hand back, stomped her foot hard on the icy ground, the corners of her eyes reddening slightly.
No—she had to fight with everything she had!
She didn't want to be trapped in Wang Family Village her whole life, and she refused to let Brother Li Mingliang slip away before her eyes.
She too wanted a few days of comfort—not worrying about food and drink, not cleaning up excrement and urine day after day!
The faint pity she still felt for Chuntao was being gnawed away, bit by bit, by her yearning for the future and the crushing weight of reality.
After a long moment, she took a deep breath, as if making a momentous decision. Her voice was hoarse and heavy. "Fine, I'll go to the commune with you!
But I'm saying this upfront—I'll only speak what I saw with my own eyes, not a single word of fabrication!
And if she does come back, you can't treat her the way you used to."
At that, Liu Cuilan's mouth split wide to her ears, wrinkles bunching up. She agreed readily. "Yes, yes, yes! I'll do whatever you say! You don't need to make anything up—just tell the truth as it is!
As long as she comes back willingly to look after your brother and works hard, I won't go looking for trouble again!"
The two walked on, the crushed ice beneath their feet crunching, unusually loud in the silent village road.
When they reached the main road at the edge of the village, Liu Cuilan grabbed Wang Xiaohong's hand again to remind her. "We set out tomorrow before dawn. Secretary Wang is a busy man—if we're late, we might miss him!
Go to bed early tonight, be quick in the morning, and don't hold things up!"
Wang Xiaohong trudged home step by step, her heart like a heavy boulder weighing on her chest, suffocating.
The moon had slipped behind thick clouds at some point, leaving everything pitch black, not a single star in sight.
Even though she'd agreed with Liu Cuilan, her mind still churned. If Chuntao was truly forced back, would she hate her for the rest of her life?
She shook her head hard, forcing herself not to think too much.
For the sake of her own happiness for a lifetime, she had to do this. It was her only way out.
She hadn't gone far when two figures came toward her. A flashlight beam hit her square in the face, blinding her.
When she made out that it was Zhou Xiaowei and Zhou Hongxia, they were already standing right in front of her.
"Xiaohong, it's you?" Zhou Hongxia said, surprise in her voice.
"What are you out here doing?" She glanced instinctively toward the workers' compound as she spoke.
Wang Xiaohong's heart clenched. She blurted out, "Nothing—our little dog ran off. I came out to look for it."
Zhou Xiaowei immediately jumped in, "It got lost? Want me to help you search?"
"No need, no need. Maybe it already ran back home on its own."
Wang Xiaohong waved her hands, but inwardly she was puzzled—what were these two siblings up to, carrying flashlights in the dead of night?
She couldn't help but ask, "So where are you two headed?"
Zhou Hongxia's expression suddenly turned awkward. She pursed her lips and said nothing. Zhou Xiaowei, however, was blunt. "We're going to find Brother Li Mingliang. Got something to do."
Those words hit Wang Xiaohong like a stone dropped into her heart. Her breath caught, and her eyes instinctively glanced toward the pocket of Zhou Hongxia's cotton-padded jacket.
It was bulging—clearly hiding something!
The image of that pair of embroidered shoe soles with the mandarin ducks floating on water suddenly flashed through her mind.
Liu Cuilan's warning—"Don't let Hongxia get ahead of you"—echoed in her ears like a thunderclap. The bitterness and panic surging inside her wrapped around her all at once.
She clenched the stiff cotton wadding in her own pocket, her knuckles turning white. Only one thought remained in her mind.
—She must not lose!
