With Zhou Zhiguo and the others helping out with the household and farm work, Zhou Zhijun didn't have to worry about a thing.
What really bothered him was exactly what Wang Haiying was worried about.
Although Liu Cuilan and her gang had all been sent to jail, Zhou Zhaodi and her sister were just like dogs that couldn't stop eating shit.
He was afraid that once he left, Chuntao, being so gentle - natured, would be wronged at home, and even more afraid that she would be bullied.
At night, Aunt Zhou hugged Jianshe and went to sleep. Chuntao was holding Nuannuan and breastfeeding her. Zhou Zhijun gently pressed against her from behind, enclosing her in his arms.
"Tao, I've arranged everything for the farm work. Big brother and Xiaowei will take care of it. I'm at ease about that.
But I... I just can't be at ease about you," he said in a very low, hoarse, soft and heavy voice.
Nuannuan fell asleep slowly while breastfeeding. Her little mouth let go, and her breathing became steady.
Chuntao gently pulled her arm out from under the little one's head and tucked the small quilt around her.
Thinking that Zhou Zhijun had just had a surgery and was about to do heavy labor right away, her nose went sour, and tears welled up in her eyes.
She unconsciously snuggled deeper into his arms, letting him hold her tightly. The man's hot breath fell on the back of her neck.
"Brother Zhijun, I'm fine. I'm just worried about you... You just had a surgery, and now you're going to do heavy labor. I'm afraid you won't be able to bear it," Chuntao said in a soft, tear - filled voice, trying hard not to let the tears fall.
"You know what kind of body I have. That cut doesn't mean much to me," Zhou Zhijun gently turned her around to face him.
"Tao, don't worry. I'm fine. I'm as strong as an ox."
Before he finished speaking, his warm lips landed on her smooth forehead first, and his breathing gradually became heavier.
"Tao, I'm leaving tomorrow. Tonight... Let me have this moment, okay?"
His lips slowly moved to her soft lips and gently kissed them.
"No!" Chuntao was in a panic. She gently put her hand on his chest to stop him.
"You just had a surgery, and the wound hasn't healed yet. You can't do such a thing..."
Zhou Zhijun's Adam's apple bobbed. The passion in his eyes faded a little, leaving only full of reluctance and helplessness.
He didn't force it anymore. He just hugged her even tighter, pressing his chin against the top of her head, his voice muffled.
"I just can't bear to leave you. I don't know when I'll be able to come back and see you and hold you again."
Chuntao's heart softened immediately. She gently put her arms around his waist but didn't dare to hug him too tightly.
"I can't bear to part with you either. Don't push yourself too hard at work outside. Rest when you can. I'll take good care of the baby and wait for you to come back."
He lowered his head and kissed the top of her hair again. His rough big hand gently stroked her back. The rough touch made Chuntao tremble all over.
In the countryside, people said that once a man got a vasectomy, he became useless. He couldn't do heavy work, and he was no good at the intimate things between husband and wife either.
When Zhou Zhijun said he was going to get a vasectomy, Chuntao had been very worried.
Zhou Zhijun said he had asked the doctor, and it wouldn't affect anything. At that time, she was still half - believing and half - doubting.
But now, seeing him forcefully suppressing his desire, she truly believed it and felt even more sorry for him.
The two just hugged each other quietly, listening to each other's heartbeats. The whole room was filled with the bitter feeling of parting.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Zhijun finally said in a low voice, "Tao, when I come back, we'll contract the dam at the village entrance. I'll never leave you and the baby again."
"I believe you," Chuntao rubbed her face against his chest, and finally, the tears couldn't help but fall.
"I'm just afraid that building the reservoir will tire you out and tear your wound open, leaving you with a chronic illness... Our eldest sister-in-law had sequelae after her tubal ligation back then."
"I'm a man. I'm strong. It'll heal in a couple of days. Don't worry so much."
Zhou Zhijun reached out his hand and gently wiped away her tears with his fingertips. The thick calluses on his fingers tickled her cheek.
"Tao, if time could just stop right here and I could hold you like this forever, that would be wonderful."
"I wish so too," Chuntao replied in a soft but extremely earnest voice.
Holding his soft and cuddly wife in his arms and smelling the faint fragrance of saponin in her hair, Zhou Zhijun's long - suppressed desires gradually resurfaced.
He took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the restlessness, just holding her even tighter, so tight that it seemed as if he wanted to merge with her.
But just then, Chuntao's fingertips suddenly touched something warm and sticky.
Her heart sank abruptly. She quickly sat up and lit the kerosene lamp on the bedside table.
As the dim yellow light came on, they both looked down simultaneously.
Next to the freshly - stitched wound, there was already a patch of dark red blood seeping out.
Chuntao's eyes were fixed firmly on the bloodstain, and her heart sank.
"Brother Zhijun! Your wound is bleeding!"
Seeing that she was so frightened that her face turned pale, Zhou Zhijun forced a calm look and said, "It's okay."
He had only held her a little longer and hadn't even dared to make any strenuous movements, yet the wound still bled.
Chuntao was so scared that her whole body went weak. Tears welled up in her eyes all at once, and her hands were shaking.
"It's all my fault... It's all because I got too close to you just now, which made you... and the wound split open..."
She was so panicked that she didn't know what to do. She wanted to reach out but was too afraid. Her voice was filled with sobs, "What should we do..."
Zhou Zhijun pretended to be calm and softened his voice, "It's okay. It's just a little bit of bleeding. The doctor said it's normal in the first couple of days."
The more casually he spoke, the more panicked Chuntao felt.
"I'll go get some wine to clean it for you..."
Chuntao said and was about to go out, but Zhou Zhijun grabbed her.
"Don't go! It's the middle of the night. If our mother and the others find out, they'll just worry. It's just a small cut. It doesn't matter."
He gritted his teeth and forced himself to endure the stabbing pain, "I can bear it myself."
Looking at his forced calmness, Chuntao's heart ached as if being pricked by needles.
He was clearly in so much pain that fine beads of sweat were forming on his forehead, yet he was still trying to comfort her.
This man always shouldered all the hardships by himself.
She picked out a small piece of clean cotton from the quilt and gently pressed it on the bleeding wound, being extremely gentle.
Chuntao didn't dare to move anymore. She just carefully lay on her side, keeping a safe distance from his wound.
"Brother Zhijun, how can you go to build the reservoir tomorrow? Your wound is bleeding."
Zhou Zhijun held her hand back. His palm was rough but warm, "I'm a man. I can take it. Don't worry."
He paused for a moment and then said in a deeper voice, "I promise you, I'll come back safe and sound."
Chuntao buried her head in his shoulder socket, and tears silently streamed down, wetting his skin.
"You have to be okay... If anything happens to you, what will I and the child do..."
Zhou Zhijun's heart tightened, and his Adam's apple bobbed, but he couldn't find the right words to comfort her. All he knew was that he had to hold on during this trip.
For his wife, for his child, and for this family, he had to be okay.
Chuntao pressed the cotton on his wound for a while, and the bleeding stopped. But the cotton had stuck to the wound, and she didn't dare to pull it off forcefully.
"It's okay! Don't worry about it. It will fall off when it's time to fall off!"
Zhou Zhijun tightly clasped her little hand and brought it to his lips to kiss.
Chuntao kept her eyes wide open, staring intently in the direction of his wound. Her heart was in her throat, and she didn't dare to relax for a single moment.
Tomorrow, Zhou Zhijun was going to work on the reservoir repair. What if his wound got inflamed from the hard work...
That night, Chuntao's heart was completely occupied by Zhou Zhijun's wound, and she hardly slept a wink.
As soon as the rooster crowed for the first time, she quietly sat up from the bed, planning to make a bowl of rice for the man and poach two eggs for him.
Zhou Zhijun hadn't slept soundly either. As soon as Chuntao moved, his two thick arms wrapped around her, firmly encircling her waist.
"Tao, let me hold you for a little longer."
Chuntao stiffened for a moment, then reached out and gently stroked the back of his hand, not daring to make a sound.
She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, the tears would well up uncontrollably, which would only make him worried.
Zhou Zhijun propped himself up and gently placed her back on the bed, then hugged her tightly, with such force that it seemed as if he wanted to meld her into his body...
