Zhou Zhijun's voice was hoarse, his body drenched in cold sweat. His lips trembled as he forced out the words, "...You really went hard on me!"
"I didn't mean to hurt you..." Chuntao's tears fell like broken beads, unstoppable, her eyes and heart brimming with guilt.
Zhou Zhijun gasped for breath, trying to straighten up. But the moment he moved, a piercing pain shot through his lower abdomen. He couldn't help but hiss sharply, hunching over and squatting back down.
Seeing Chuntao's expression, a mix of fear and worry, the fiery agitation in his heart gradually faded, leaving only weariness and an indescribable helplessness.
"You... go back to the melon shed. Don't let Xiaohong wake up and not find you."
Chuntao was taken aback. She looked at his face, twisted in pain, then glanced toward the direction of the melon shed, hesitating. "Then... what about you?"
"None of your business. Go to sleep!" Zhou Zhijun waved his hand, his face frighteningly pale.
Chuntao bit her lower lip, slowly stood up, and began shuffling toward the melon shed, looking back every few steps.
Her heart felt like a spilled spice jar—fearful, confused, guilt tightening her chest until it was hard to breathe, and a vague, inexplicable worry that twisted her insides.
Lying in the melon shed, she closed her eyes. A tumult of emotions churned like boiling oil, urgent and scalding.
Not long ago, while bathing in the river, she had overheard the village women gossiping, saying a man's private parts were not to be messed with. A serious injury could not only render him useless but could even be fatal.
If Zhou Zhijun really became useless, he wouldn't be able to bully her anymore in the future, but she would feel guilty for a lifetime.
If it led to death, she would be a murderer, liable to go to jail or pay with her own life... The more Chuntao thought, the more terrified she became, and the more terrified she was, the more she couldn't stop her thoughts from spiraling.
She wanted to get up and see if he had left, but as soon as she turned over, Wang Xiaohong beside her mumbled drowsily, "Sis-in-law, where did you go just now? Sleep, it's late!"
Chuntao's heart skipped a beat. Did Xiaohong notice something?
She took a deep breath, suppressing the panic in her heart, and replied softly, "Didn't do anything. I just went to relieve myself."
After that, she dared not move again, only able to comfort herself over and over in her mind: Zhou Zhijun is such a strong, sturdy man. He's sure to be fine!
Chuntao couldn't sleep a wink, tormented by worry, guilt, concern, and regret.
The night stretched on endlessly, feeling like a whole lifetime. Finally, she heard the roosters crowing in the village and scrambled up immediately.
She knew that Zhou Zhijun's father, Old Man Zhou, got up every day before dawn, basket in hand, to collect cow dung around the village.
She thought, if she could run into Old Man Zhou collecting dung on her way back, it would mean Zhou Zhijun was okay. At least there was no loss of life, and that would ease her mind a little.
With an anxious heart, she walked toward the village. Sure enough, she encountered Old Man Zhou by the main road at the village entrance.
"Jieshi's wife, up so early!" Old Man Zhou looked up, seeing her, and spoke first.
"Mhm, Uncle Zhou! You're collecting dung!" Seeing his expression was normal, Chuntao responded and hurriedly walked home.
Passing by the Zhou family's courtyard, she heard Zhou's wife busy cooking in the kitchen but didn't see any sign of Zhou Zhijun.
She stole a glance at the windows of the main room but couldn't see anything clearly and didn't hear a single sound either.
Not seeing Zhou Zhijun, the string in Chuntao's heart remained taut.
She quickly averted her gaze and turned to walk into her own yard. But just as she lifted her foot, she caught sight of a familiar figure. Zhou Zhijun was walking this way, carrying two buckets of water on a shoulder pole.
She didn't dare look at his face. Her eyes involuntarily flicked toward his lower abdomen. Her heart felt like it was holding two little rabbits, thumping wildly.
Seeing Zhou Zhijun was almost upon her, Chuntao quickly turned around and entered her own courtyard without looking back.
She could feel two icy gazes on her back, sharp as knives, ready to pierce right through her.
The man who couldn't even stand up from the pain last night was actually carrying water today. He must be fine, right?
But now that he was fine, the worry in Chuntao's heart grew even heavier.
Zhou Zhijun always held grudges. He definitely wouldn't let this go easily. Who knew how he would fiercely retaliate against her in the future! The thought made her hair stand on end.
If something happened to Zhou Zhijun, she worried. If nothing happened, she worried even more. Chuntao's heart was a tangled mess, impossible to sort out.
She had no mind to make breakfast. She picked a sack of the larger watermelons, placed them on the cart, and started pulling it toward her parents' home.
Li Family Village was over twenty li away from Wang Family Stockade. Chuntao didn't dare rest along the way, hurrying as fast as she could. By the time she arrived home, it was already past noon.
In those days, country folk ate late. She arrived right at mealtime.
Grandma Shen saw Chuntao pulling the cart back, sweat pouring down her face, and her wrinkled face instantly broke into a wide smile.
She put down her rice bowl and ran out from the kitchen, grabbing Chuntao's hand. "Tao, what brings you back?"
"Grandma, I grew these watermelons. Brought you a sack to try!" Chuntao said with a smile.
Her sister-in-law, Wang Lanhua, was sitting in the main room with her bowl. Hearing Chuntao's voice, she neither got up nor said a word.
Back then, for the sake of the marriage exchange to get her brother Wang Jieshi a wife, Wang Lanhua had been utterly unwilling from the bottom of her heart. But her mother, Liu Cuilan, forced her, and her father, Wang Laohan, pleaded bitterly, so she had agreed, full of resentment.
She never imagined that on their wedding night, Wang Jieshi would actually run away. Had she known it would turn out like this, she would have died rather than agree to this exchange marriage.
But she had already performed the wedding ceremony with Li Dazhuang and entered the bridal chamber. Regret was useless now; she could only accept her fate.
Fortunately, Grandma Shen and Li Dazhuang treated her well, always giving her the best food and drink.
Hearts are made of flesh. As time passed, Wang Lanhua gradually came to accept Li Dazhuang, and their life settled into a plain routine.
Her eldest daughter, Li Xiaolian, was already three years old, and now she was pregnant with another.
She was due soon, not knowing if it would be a boy or a girl. These days her heart had been on edge, as if roasting over a fire.
Chuntao walked into the main room, saw how big her sister-in-law's belly was, and quickly asked, "Sis-in-law, you're due soon, right?"
"Very soon, by the end of this month," Wang Lanhua replied softly.
Just then, Li Dazhuang came back from outside carrying his rice bowl, followed by the bouncing Li Xiaolian.
"Xiaolian, look who's back? Your aunt's here!" Grandma Shen called out to the child with a smile.
Chuntao turned to look into the yard, smiling at Li Dazhuang and her little niece. "Xiaolian, you've grown so much taller!"
Looking at her adorable little niece, Chuntao felt a pang of sadness. She didn't have a single cent on her and hadn't brought any treats for the child.
The hundred or so yuan from selling the watermelons—Liu Cuilan had been eyeing it, afraid she might take it secretly, so she had Wang Xiaohong keep it at Zhou Hongxia's house for safekeeping. Chuntao hadn't even touched it.
Although half a year had passed, Li Xiaolian wasn't shy at all. In a milky voice, she called out "Auntie!" then immediately ran to the cart, pointing at the sack and exclaiming, "What's in there?"
"They're watermelons Auntie brought for you!" Chuntao said, smiling.
"I want watermelon! I want watermelon!" Li Xiaolian tugged at Li Dazhuang's clothes, acting spoiled.
Li Dazhuang smiled and patted her head. "Such a little glutton you are!"
After saying that, he carried the sack of watermelons into the main room. When he turned to look at Chuntao, the smile on his face froze.
She was even thinner than during the New Year, her face devoid of color, a sight that tugged at the heartstrings.
Li Dazhuang knew in his heart that Chuntao had only married Wang Jieshi out of obligation, so that he could afford a wife for himself.
But that good-for-nothing had run away on their wedding night, leaving Chuntao alone in Wangjia Village to live as a grass widow.
Ever since then, Chuntao's world had collapsed; she couldn't hold her head up in the village.
Yet she didn't leave. She stubbornly stayed in the Wang household, resigned to her fate. When it came down to it, it was all so he could have a family of his own.
The thought of it made Li Dazhuang's heart ache as if sliced by a knife.
In the third year after Chuntao married into Wangjia Village, their neighbor Yang Weiming got promoted to officer in the army.
The night he returned home on leave, he called Li Dazhuang to the small grove south of the village.
Yang Weiming's eyes were bloodshot, like an enraged beast. He started right in, cursing, "Li Dazhuang! You're no man at all!"
Before the words had fully left his mouth, a fist smashed into Li Dazhuang's face. The punch was thrown with full force, sending Li Dazhuang stumbling to the ground.
Stunned, he wiped the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth and his nostrils, glaring and shouting, "Yang Weiming, have you lost your mind? Why are you hitting me for no reason?"
Yang Weiming's teeth were clenched so hard they grated, his fists balled tight, his chest heaving violently. "You're so selfish! Just to get a wife for yourself, you pushed Chuntao into that living hell..."
