A gentle voice came from nearby, and Wang Xiaoming’s body stiffened. His sobs stopped instantly.
“Xiaoming, don’t be so upset. If you can’t join the army, there are still other paths you can take!”
That voice was like a ray of warm sunlight in the dead of winter, forcing its way into the depths of his ice-sealed heart.
Wang Xiaoming slowly raised his head and looked at the person before him. Clenching his back teeth, he stubbornly forced back the tears that were welling up.
The tear tracks on his face had already frozen into a thin layer of ice. Seeing how miserable he looked as he desperately tried to hold himself together, Chuntao felt as though a needle had pierced her heart. It hurt even more.
Her eyes red-rimmed, she pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped the ice crystals from his face. “Xiaoming, the ground is freezing. Get up!”
She wrapped the newly made padded jacket around him and helped him sit on the edge of the bed.
The radio had said that heavy snow was expected over the next two days, and this year’s weather was colder than usual.
Now that Wang Xiaohong was gone, no one was left to take care of Wang Xiaoming’s winter clothes and shoes.
Chuntao had stayed up all night making this padded jacket for him. She had also made him a pair of cotton shoes.
Wang Xiaoming sniffed, his voice choked with emotion. “Sis!”
“Xiaoming, it’s snowing outside and it’s freezing. Hurry and put on the jacket!”
As she spoke, Chuntao helped him slip his arms into the sleeves, then carefully fastened every button.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the ragged cotton shoes on his feet. There was already a hole at the toe, exposing his big toe.
“I made these new cotton shoes for you. See if they fit.”
Chuntao picked up a brand-new pair of black cotton shoes lined with cattail fluff from the bedside table. She placed them on the floor and bent down to help him change.
“Sis, I can do it myself!” Wang Xiaoming hurriedly stopped her and bent down to put on the new shoes himself.
Once he had put on the padded jacket and cotton shoes Chuntao had made, the chill gradually left his body, and warmth spread through his heart.
“Sis, you’re so good to me!” He still couldn’t hold back his tears, and they quietly slipped down his cheeks.
He quickly wiped them away with the back of his hand, then straightened up and looked at Chuntao. “Sis, thank you!”
“You’re my little brother. What are you thanking me for?”
Chuntao took his hand and helped him stand. “Come on. Aunt Zhou and the others have probably finished making the soup. Come to my house and have a bowl of hot noodles!”
Through the plastic film pasted over the window, Wang Xiaoming looked outside. The world was already blanketed in white.
“I’m not going. I’ll just make something for myself.”
The Zhou family had never treated him like an outsider. Whenever Aunt Zhou made something special, she never forgot to bring him a bowl.
During the busy autumn harvest, Zhou Zhijun had even helped him plow and sow his fields. And now Chuntao had made him a padded jacket and shoes.
He remembered every kindness the Zhou family had shown him, and he had always intended to repay them.
But now he had nothing. Even his dream of joining the army had been shattered. With what could he ever repay such a heavy debt of gratitude?
“Then I’ll go home and bring you a bowl!”
Chuntao turned to leave, but Wang Xiaoming hurried after her to the doorway. “No, really. I can make something myself.”
Just as one of Chuntao’s feet crossed the threshold, she saw two figures covered in snow staggering into the courtyard.
They were both coated from head to toe, with white clinging even to their eyebrows and eyes.
She stopped and took a closer look before finally recognizing them.
Ever since Liu Cuilan had been arrested, Wang Lanhua had never returned to her parents’ home, let alone come to help Wang Xiaoming.
Why had she come in weather like this? And why was her brother, Li Dazhuang, with her?
Wang Lanhua charged straight toward the house. At the doorway, she shoved past Chuntao, making her lose her footing and nearly fall.
Wang Xiaoming reacted quickly and caught her.
The husband and wife said nothing. Wang Lanhua entered the room, grabbed the feather duster from the cabinet, and handed it to Li Dazhuang.
“Brush the snow off me!”
Before long, a large patch of snow had accumulated on the floor of the main room.
After the snow had been brushed away, Wang Lanhua pulled an old towel from the rope behind the door and roughly wiped her face. Only then did she look at Wang Xiaoming.
“Xiaoming, I heard you’re going to join the army?”
So that was why she had come? Since when had she cared so much about Wang Xiaoming?
“Who said I’m going to join the army?”
“If you’re going, then go. It’s fine! I’ll take care of the livestock and the fields for you. When you come back from the army, I’ll return them to you.”
Earlier that day, Wang Lanhua had gone to the market. There, she had run into two women from Wangjia Village and heard that Wang Xiaoming had enlisted.
But those women had no idea that Wang Xiaoming had failed the political background check.
The Wang family owned a sow, a flock of chickens, and a great deal of farmland. Wang Lanhua was terrified that Wang Xiaoming would hand everything over to Chuntao. If that happened, wouldn’t she, as his sister, be the one losing out?
She had not even stopped for lunch. After leaving Li Xiaolian at home to watch the younger children, she had dragged Li Dazhuang all the way to Wangjia Village.
The road from Lijia Village to Wangjia Village was difficult, especially with the north wind blowing straight into their faces. Halfway there, heavy snow suddenly began to fall. The wind drove the snow against their faces so fiercely that they could barely open their eyes.
The two of them stumbled onward and did not reach Wangjia Village until nightfall.
“So you came here today because you want my livestock and land? I’m not joining the army!”
Wang Lanhua refused to believe him. She shot Chuntao a sideways glance and said sarcastically, “Xiaoming, I’m your own sister. I’d never cheat you. How can outsiders be trusted? They’ll only sweet-talk you, trick you into handing everything over, and then turn around and deny you. Don’t let yourself be fooled!”
Wang Xiaoming naturally knew she was making veiled accusations against Chuntao.
He stared at Wang Lanhua and said each word clearly, “I don’t have a sister like you. Leave. Now!”
Wang Xiaoming’s attitude only confirmed Wang Lanhua’s suspicions.
Without looking at him, she aimed her attack directly at Chuntao. “Li Chuntao, you ruined my family, and now you want to cheat Xiaoming too? Did you leave your conscience for the dogs to eat?”
The moment Wang Xiaoming heard that, he shouted furiously, “Get out!”
Li Dazhuang hurriedly pulled Wang Lanhua back. “Watch what you’re saying!”
Then he turned to persuade Wang Xiaoming. “Your sister’s mouth runs away with her. She doesn’t mean any harm!”
“Let go of me! I’m telling the truth! She’s nothing but a vixen. She wrecked my perfectly good family, and now she wants to seize our family’s property too!”
Faced with Wang Lanhua’s unreasonable behavior, Chuntao did not retreat. Instead, she took half a step forward.
Her voice was not loud, but it carried a steely edge.
“As his own sister, you’ve never cared whether your brother lived or died. The moment you heard there was something to grab, you came rushing here through a blizzard. You keep accusing me of destroying the Wang family. With all the energy you’re wasting throwing around baseless accusations, why don’t you stop and ask yourself whether you even deserve to be Xiaoming’s sister?”
“You—Li Chuntao! Don’t think that just because you’ve married someone else, I can’t do anything to you!”
Wang Lanhua’s anger flared instantly. She raised her hand and moved to shove Chuntao, but Wang Xiaoming grabbed her by the wrist.
“What are you doing? Get out! I don’t have a sister like you!”
“Lanhua…” Li Dazhuang reached over to pull Wang Lanhua’s arm, and only then did Wang Xiaoming let go.
Li Dazhuang turned toward Chuntao, his face plainly angry. “Chuntao, how can you talk like that? Your sister-in-law has always worried about Xiaoming. She’s just been too busy to come back. Besides, you’re a daughter-in-law of the Zhou family now. You should focus on living your own life. Aren’t you afraid people will laugh at you for meddling in the Wang family’s affairs?”
Chuntao looked at him coldly.
The man standing before her was no longer the older brother who had protected her when they were children.
“If she truly cared about Xiaoming, she wouldn’t have waited until today to come.”
“I’m a married woman in the Zhou family now, and I haven’t meddled in the Wang family’s affairs. I just feel sorry for Xiaoming, and I can’t stand watching her act like this as his sister!”
“You sure make it sound pretty! Feel sorry for Xiaoming? If you really cared about him, you wouldn’t have run off with another man back then! If you hadn’t run away, Xiaoming would still be in school, and this family wouldn’t have fallen apart! Now you come back pretending to be a good person. Don’t you have any shame saying that?”
“Wang Lanhua, shut your mouth! Get lost before you force me to make you!”
Wang Xiaoming’s eyes were red-rimmed. He stepped forward and stood in front of Chuntao, facing Wang Lanhua at point-blank range.
He had grown into a man now, a full head taller than Wang Lanhua. She instinctively took a step back.
But she still refused to stop running her mouth. “Xiaoming, you’ve been bewitched! That vixen has you wrapped around her finger…”
Before she could finish, a tall, dark figure had already blocked the doorway.
