Wang Xiaohong heard someone calling her. Without turning around, she quickly raised a hand to wipe away the tears on her face, pretending that nothing had happened. Clutching her sickle, she lowered her head and hacked fiercely at the weeds on the ground.
“Xiaohong!”
The newcomer had already reached her and squatted down beside her.
Wang Xiaohong still did not look at her, but she had recognized the voice long ago. It was Zhou Hongxia.
The day Li Mingliang returned to the drilling crew, he told Zhou Hongxia everything about Chuntao having given birth.
Zhou Hongxia was genuinely delighted when she heard the news and had been thinking about coming back for a visit.
Early that morning, she hitched a ride on a drilling-crew truck heading back to Nangang and hurried home.
She had not expected to arrive just in time for the wedding feast. What a coincidence.
The moment she entered the courtyard, she saw Wang Xiaoming carrying a pair of buckets, apparently on his way to fetch water. But she did not see Wang Xiaohong, and her heart immediately sank.
Wang Xiaohong had always been stubbornly strong-willed. With one misfortune after another striking the family, she must have been unable to bear it and gone somewhere to suffer in secret.
As soon as Wang Xiaoming carried the buckets out through the gate, Zhou Hongxia hurried after him and asked, “Xiaoming, where’s your sister?”
She and Wang Xiaohong had been close since childhood, so Wang Xiaoming did not hide anything from her. He told her about the bitterness his sister was keeping bottled up and how she had gone out to cut grass, then asked her to go and talk some sense into her.
Zhou Hongxia stuffed a packet of sunflower seeds into her pocket and immediately turned toward East Gully to look for her.
“Xiaohong.” She turned to look at Wang Xiaohong’s face and saw at once the tear tracks that had not yet dried. She understood perfectly, but pretended not to notice.
She merely softened her voice. “Xiaoming told me you were out here cutting grass, so I came to see you.”
As she spoke, she pulled the packet of sunflower seeds from her pocket, tore it open, and held it out to Wang Xiaohong. “Here, take some.”
Wang Xiaohong said nothing. She silently accepted the seeds, her eyes fixed on the grass at her feet, and remained speechless.
“Xiaohong, I know you’re hurting. Anyone in your position would feel awful…”
Zhou Hongxia chose her words carefully, afraid of accidentally poking at Wang Xiaohong’s wound.
“But we have to try looking at it from another angle. If you or I were in her position, we probably couldn’t have held on either.”
She paused, then continued, “I know I couldn’t. She’s an honest woman—kind to the point of foolishness. She clung to an empty marriage for four whole years, just enduring it.
“If my second uncle hadn’t given her a hand, she would still be enduring it now. But what good would that have done? Have you ever thought about what would happen?
“Sooner or later, Wang Haichao and those thugs would have ruined her. In the end, she might not even have had a way to stay alive. If things had reached that point, would you really have been able to live with yourself?”
Wang Xiaohong cracked sunflower seeds with her head bowed, spitting the shells onto the ground. From beginning to end, she did not say a single word.
Zhou Hongxia said everything she could and everything she ought to say in a gentle voice. When Wang Xiaohong still did not respond, she stopped talking and simply squatted there beside her in silence.
She knew better than anyone that half of Wang Xiaohong’s bitterness came from Chuntao’s situation. The other half was all because of Li Mingliang.
Wang Xiaohong openly and secretly liked Li Mingliang, but Li Mingliang had always been cool toward her, never showing the slightest sign of affection.
Back when they were with the drilling crew, Zhou Hongxia had mentioned Wang Xiaohong several times, both deliberately and casually, in front of Li Mingliang. He had merely offered a few perfunctory replies, without the slightest warmth.
She was not stupid. If he did not feel that way about Wang Xiaohong, there was no point in her trying to play matchmaker. A forced match would never be a happy one.
She understood that principle perfectly, yet when it came to her own situation, she could no longer see clearly.
Her own heart belonged to Han Wenke.
Before leaving Wangjia Village with the drilling crew last time, she had entrusted an acquaintance with a pair of insoles she had embroidered herself, along with a letter, asking them to deliver both to Han Wenke.
But she had never received a reply. Later, she wrote two more letters in succession and mailed them to his work unit. Once again, they disappeared without a trace.
It was obvious that he was unwilling.
She should have let go long ago, but the heart did not obey reason. She simply could not give him up.
This time, besides visiting her family, she was also carrying another matter in her heart.
She wanted to seek out Han Wenke in person and hear him say “I’m unwilling” with her own ears. Only then could she give up completely.
The two women sat in silence for who knew how long. Suddenly, a burst of firecrackers rattled through the village. The wedding feast must have begun.
Zhou Hongxia stood up and brushed the bits of grass from her trouser legs.
“Xiaohong, come on, let’s go back. The feast has started.”
“You go ahead. I’ll be back later.” Wang Xiaohong finally spoke, her voice hoarse.
Zhou Hongxia did not press her. She knew Wang Xiaohong would not go to the feast anyway, so she merely reminded her, “All right, I’ll go back first. But hurry home too—it’s already past noon.”
Zhou Hongxia turned and left. Wang Xiaohong watched her retreating figure, her eyes stinging as her heart grew tight and bitter.
Zhou Hongxia wore a neat suit of polyester clothing, clean and smart, with a pair of black leather shoes on her feet.
At a glance, it was clear that she had a job outside the village and was one of those people who drew a government paycheck.
Compared with her, Wang Xiaohong looked down at herself: coarse cloth clothes, her hands covered in grass fragments and mud.
That job with the drilling crew should have been hers. She had given it to Zhou Hongxia.
She and Zhou Hongxia had grown up together, gone to primary school together, and dropped out to return home and work side by side.
Originally, they had both been ordinary rural girls. Under normal circumstances, they would have grown up, become engaged, married, had children, and lived an uneventful life like most of the women in the village.
But now, both their paths had veered off course.
Zhou Hongxia’s life was growing brighter and more respectable with every passing day, while Wang Xiaohong was sinking lower and lower, becoming more and more wretched.
Wang Xiaohong tightened her grip on the sickle handle until her knuckles turned white.
She was unwilling to accept it. Unwilling to lose to Zhou Hongxia like this. Unwilling to spend her whole life trapped in this godforsaken place.
A wild thought suddenly sprang to life in the depths of her heart…
Meanwhile, when Zhou Hongxia returned home, the banquet coordinator was busy arranging the seating.
Aunt Zhou’s relatives from her maiden family were honored guests, so they had been seated at the best table.
Chuntao’s family should have been seated there as well, but not a single one of them had come today, so their places had to be given to others.
The coordinator then arranged for members of the Zhou clan to sit alongside the honored guests, keeping them company and drinking with them.
Wu Mingwei had come too. He was attending as Zhou Zhijun’s former comrade-in-arms.
But he was also the head of the commune police station, and he had played a major role in resolving the matter between Chuntao and Zhou Zhijun. Naturally, he was considered an honored guest and was respectfully invited to sit at the best table.
The other relatives and neighbors sat wherever there was room; there were no such formalities for them.
A separate table for the women had been set up in Chuntao’s room. Everyone there was family—sisters and sisters-in-law. Aunt Zhou had arranged it especially so that Chuntao would not feel uncomfortable.
Besides Chuntao, the table included Zhou Zhicai and her mother-in-law, Wang Haiying and her daughter, Zhou Xiaobao, and Zhou Zhiduo with her two daughters.
The room was filled with family members. The only person missing was Huang Meili. Zhou Zhiduo got up and went outside to find her.
She searched the courtyard and eventually spotted Huang Meili with her two daughters, squeezed in beside a group of village women at a table just outside the main gate. Her face was long with displeasure, and her lips were puckered so tightly they looked capable of tying up a donkey.
“Sister-in-law, come inside and sit down,” Zhou Zhiduo said, walking over to take her arm.
Huang Meili shook her off and rolled her eyes. Her tone was sharp and hostile. “I’m an outsider. I’m perfectly fine sitting out here. I’d only be in the way if I went inside.”
“What are you talking about? Come on in. I need to speak with you,” Zhou Zhiduo coaxed with a smile.
Huang Meili stuck out her neck and shot back stubbornly, “I’m not going!”
Seeing that Zhou Zhiduo wouldn’t be swayed, Zhou Zhihua stopped trying to persuade her. She turned to the sisters Zhou Xiaoying and Zhou Xiaomei and said, “If your mother won’t go, you two come inside with me. Your cousins are all in there.”
The sisters already had a bone to pick with Chuntao, and now that Huang Meili refused to go, they were even less willing to move.
Gritting her teeth, Zhou Xiaoying said, “We’re not going either! Grandma only has eyes for Li Chun Tao and her children. She doesn’t consider us family at all!”
Zhou Xiaomei quickly chimed in, “Exactly! She’s nothing but a slut. What’s so special about her?”
The words had barely left her mouth when Aunt Zhou happened to reach the gate, carrying Jianshe in her arms. Her face darkened instantly.
It was a joyous occasion, and she didn’t want to lose her temper, but those words had been far too offensive. Forcing down her anger, she called to Zhou Zhiduo, “Zhiduo, Nuannuan’s awake. Go inside and hold her for a while.”
Zhou Zhiduo understood what her mother meant and hurried back into the house without daring to linger.
Only then did Aunt Zhou turn her attention to Zhou Xiaoying and Zhou Xiaomei. Her voice was icy. “You’re just children, so watch your mouths. If you don’t learn better, you’ll suffer for it someday.”
She then glanced at Huang Meili. Her voice remained quiet, but every word carried weight. “As their mother, you need to keep a closer eye on them. Don’t lead them astray, or you’ll regret it when it’s too late.”
With that, Aunt Zhou carried Jianshe through the gate and went into the courtyard, not sparing them another glance.
The mother and daughters were so furious that their faces turned ashen, yet none of them dared say another word.
Halfway through the banquet, Zhou Zhijun led Chuntao from table to table, toasting their relatives and neighbors.
The entire courtyard rang with congratulations and good wishes. The celebration was in full swing, and the atmosphere had reached its peak.
Just then, the entrance suddenly fell silent.
A figure appeared outside the gate, supporting themselves with both hands against the muddy ground and slowly, inch by inch, crawling toward the wedding feast…
