That day, Li Dazhuang finally learned that Yang Weiming loved Chuntao, and that Chuntao also carried him in her heart, having even promised with her own lips to wait for his return.
But in the second year after Yang Weiming left to join the army, Chuntao married Wang Jieshi. Who could have imagined that on the very first night of her marriage, she was left alone in an empty room.
Li Dazhuang squatted on the ground, his hands clutching his head tightly, his shoulders shaking with sobs. "It's my fault, I let Chuntao down, I let you down!"
Watching Yang Weiming's staggering figure disappear into the small woods, and then thinking of Chuntao's lonely nights in the Wang household, Li Dazhuang raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face several times.
It was he who had personally ruined Chuntao's lifelong happiness. If she had married Yang Weiming, her life would certainly have taken a completely different course.
It wasn't that he hadn't considered letting Chuntao leave the Wang family to pursue her own happiness.
But he and Wang Lanhua already had a child. If Chuntao left, how could Liu Cuilan, with her fiery temper, possibly let it go?
She would surely raise hell, and might even force Wang Lanhua to leave as well. Then, his family would fall apart.
When it comes down to it, people are selfish. To protect his own family, Li Dazhuang could only play the fool while knowing the truth, allowing Chuntao to live her dark, sunless days in the Wang household.
Every time he saw Chuntao's haggard appearance, his heart ached as if pricked by needles, filled with guilt and regret, cursing himself for being a worthless man.
Pulling his thoughts away from the pain, Li Dazhuang's mouth twitched, but he said nothing.
He turned and went into the kitchen, ladled out a bowl of sweet potato porridge, took a steamed wheat bun, and brought it to the main room, handing it to Chuntao. "You walked over twenty li, you must be starving! Sit down and eat!"
The few of them sat in the main room eating their meal, chatting about the growth of the crops in the fields.
As for the vexing troubles of family life, no one brought them up. Everyone knew Chuntao's life was bitter. Mentioning it wouldn't change anything, it would only add to the gloom, so it was better left unsaid.
"Brother, is there a lot of work in the fields? Did you plant any mung beans this year?" Chuntao put down her chopsticks and asked softly.
She wanted to ask Li Dazhuang to help plow her land, but she was afraid of holding up his own household chores.
She knew his nature too well. If she asked, no matter how busy he was, he would definitely agree.
"Planted one mu of mung beans, and a few rows of cowpeas. The ones in front aren't finished being picked, and the ones behind are already turning dark!"
Li Dazhuang shoveled a mouthful of rice and sighed. "The cotton is ready for picking too. Haven't had time to pick the sesame leaves or cut the sorghum leaves.
Your sister-in-law is carrying a big belly; at most she can cook and feed the chickens at home, can't handle heavy work.
Grandma Shen, though still spry, is getting on in years. She really can't shoulder some of the harder labor either."
Hearing him say this, Chuntao swallowed the request that had reached her lips.
After the meal, she didn't dare linger. She picked up the cart shafts and prepared to leave.
It was over twenty li back, and she hadn't finished cutting all the melon vines at home. She wanted to get back early to finish the work.
She thought again of last night's events. Zhou Zhijun's pale face, and the muffled grunts of pain he tried to suppress.
She saw he could carry water this morning, but that was an internal injury, not visible on the surface. Chuntao still couldn't quite put her mind at ease.
So she had asked Grandma Shen for some of her homemade powder for promoting blood circulation, dispersing stasis, and relieving pain.
When she and her brother got bumps and bruises as children, Grandma Shen would always apply this powder for them. It felt cool and soothing, and the pain would fade after a while.
"Peach, work slowly. Rest when you're tired. You have to take care of yourself!" Grandma Shen held Chuntao's hand, her eyes rimmed red.
She didn't dare mention that good-for-nothing Wang Jieshi, and Chuntao didn't mention that Wang Jieshi had already returned.
Chuntao had just pulled the cart to the village entrance when Li Dazhuang came running up, panting heavily. "Chuntao, wait!"
"Brother, what is it?" Chuntao stopped.
Li Dazhuang stared at the thin, tight blue cloth jacket on Chuntao's body, patched in several places, and felt a pang of sorrow.
He pulled a wad of crumpled paper money from his pocket—all small notes of one fen, two fen, one mao, two mao. "Peach, take this money. Go back, buy a few feet of cloth, make yourself a new dress!"
Looking at the stack of worn-edged small notes in his hand, Chuntao's nose stung, and tears nearly fell.
She knew Li Dazhuang's life wasn't easy either.
After handing over the grain tax and various fees from his few mu of land, the leftover grain wasn't enough to feed the family.
Wang Lanhua was about to give birth soon; there would be many more expenses ahead. No matter how hard her own life was, Chuntao couldn't take his money.
"Brother, I don't want it. I have money for cloth," she forced back her tears and said with a smile. "The two mu of watermelons sold for quite a bit this year. When I have a moment, I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy cloth for a dress."
Li Dazhuang knew perfectly well that even if the watermelons made money, it was all clutched in Liu Cuilan's hands. Chuntao wouldn't see a single fen of it. She was just trying to comfort him.
"Just take it when I tell you to!" Without another word, he stuffed the money into Chuntao's hand, turned, and ran back.
"Brother—" Chuntao called out, but Li Dazhuang had already turned behind the houses and was out of sight.
Clutching the stack of small notes still warm from his body heat, her nose tingled with emotion.
She knew her brother felt guilty towards her, which was why she never spoke of her own hardships in front of him.
Having lost their parents young, it was Grandma Shen who raised her.
When she was bullied by village kids as a child, it was always her brother who rushed to protect her.
For her sake, Li Dazhuang had been beaten bloody more than once... one of his eyes was permanently injured, leaving him cross-eyed.
These memories flashed through her mind one by one. Chuntao could no longer hold back; tears rolled down the corners of her eyes.
She sniffled, carefully tucked the money into an inner pocket close to her body, picked up the cart shafts, and continued on her way.
When she reached the river channel north of Nangang, she saw several shirtless men standing ahead, cigarettes dangling from their mouths. A disheveled woman lay on the ground, and a bald man was lifting his foot to kick her.
"You damn runaway, still dare to flee? I'll break your legs!" the bald man roared, cursing and swearing.
The woman on the ground was beaten black and blue, wailing and crying in a gibberish, unfamiliar dialect Chuntao couldn't understand a word of.
In those days, many bachelors in the countryside who couldn't find wives would spend money to buy brides from other regions.
From her accent, this beaten woman sounded like a "southerner," most likely trafficked and sold to the bald man.
Chuntao had always been soft-hearted. Seeing the woman beaten like this made her feel awful. She wanted to step forward and say something, but the bald man's ferocious look made her hesitate in fear.
She quickly lowered her head, pulled the cart, and tried to hurry past them.
"Hey! Stop!" A voice, slick and roguish, suddenly rang out, laced with a hint of menace.
Chuntao was startled. She didn't know these people; surely they weren't calling her. She paused her step for a moment, then kept walking.
"Hey! You with the cart! I'm talking to you! You hear me?"
This time, Chuntao heard clearly. The man was calling her.
Her heart leaped into her throat. She wanted to quicken her pace, but the men had already caught up, blocking her path haphazardly.
"I... I don't know you. What do you want?" Chuntao gripped the cart handles tightly, her voice trembling slightly.
"You don't know me, but I sure know you!"
A man in his twenties leered, his beady eyes roaming over Chuntao's body.
"Aren't you Li Chuntao from Wang Family Village? The one whose man ran off with another woman on your wedding day? Must be tough, all alone in that empty bed, huh?"
The scandal of Wang Jieshi's elopement on his wedding night had spread like wildfire through all the neighboring villages back then. Chuntao knew well that many gossiped about her behind her back.
But to have these strange men confront her so bluntly, hurling such humiliating words... a wave of shame and anger washed over her, heating her face until it flushed crimson to the very tips of her ears.
