"What are you doing?"
Chuntao was startled by his sudden move. She quickly reached out to push his hand away, her body jerking violently toward the edge of the kang, and she tumbled to the ground with a dull thud.
The pain made her grimace, her eyes instantly reddening, and her nose tingling with the threat of tears.
Wang Jieshi hadn't expected her to fall either. He froze on the kang, his heavy panting gradually subsiding.
"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked hurriedly, fumbling to find the matches on the bedside table. With a scratch, he lit one and ignited the kerosene lamp on the table.
In the dim, yellowish light, Chuntao was pushing herself up slowly from the edge of the kang, rubbing her reddened wrist, her face flushed crimson like a piece of red cloth.
She didn't utter a word. She dragged a worn-out burlap sack from the corner, spread it flat on the floor by the window, and lay down.
With her back to the kang, she rested her head on one arm. Tears, like broken strings of beads, rolled down her cheeks into the crook of her elbow.
Watching her slightly trembling shoulders, Wang Jieshi opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately swallowed his words.
He knew in his heart that he had long lost the capacity to be a proper husband.
Yet, hearing the noises from the neighboring house at night, that inexplicable fire in his chest couldn't help but flare up.
He also knew Chuntao was wronged. He wanted to caress her properly, to let her feel a trace of a man's warmth. He hadn't expected his good intentions to end up frightening her instead.
The more Wang Jieshi thought about it, the more annoyed he became, a suffocating tightness filling his chest.
On the very night Chuntao fell off the bed, Zhou Pandi and Zhou Zhaodi started whispering to each other.
"Sis, this afternoon I saw Brother Zhijun and Li Chuntao sneaking into the sorghum field!"
"What? Say that again!" Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhaodi reacted like a monkey with its bottom scalded by fire, nearly jumping off the bed.
Her sudden outburst startled Zhou Dana and his wife in the next room. Wang Jinzhi shouted, "You two dead girls, what's all the racket about? What's going on?"
"Sis, keep your voice down!" Zhou Pandi quickly tugged at her sleeve. "I also saw Li Chuntao's eyes were all red, like she'd just been crying..."
Listening to this, Zhou Zhaodi gritted her teeth with an audible creak, her eyes widening like brass bells, the pupils almost bulging out.
She lowered her voice, gnashing her teeth as she cursed, "That shameless slut Li Chuntao, that whore!"
Zhou Zhijun had been helping the Wang family, helping Li Chuntao, for so long that Zhou Zhaodi's hatred had long ago taken root, making her teeth ache with envy.
Whether there was anything between them or not, she was determined to teach Li Chuntao a proper lesson.
The next night, Wang Jieshi said to Chuntao, "You sleep on the bed. I'll sleep on the floor."
Chuntao didn't respond. At night, she still spread the burlap sack and slept by the window.
Every morning before dawn, she would quietly gather up the sack, fold it, and stuff it into an inconspicuous spot in the corner.
A month or so passed like this, and Liu Cuilan noticed nothing amiss.
Before long, it was harvest season. The corn and beans in the fields were ripe.
Chuntao got up before dawn every day to fetch water, cook, feed the pigs and oxen. After finishing the household chores without a moment's rest, she'd hitch up the cart and hurry to the fields.
At noon, Liu Cuilan wouldn't let Chuntao return home, saying the trip back and forth wasted working time. She and Wang Xiaohong would go home to cook, then Wang Xiaohong would carry the meal to the fields.
Wang Xiaohong felt sorry for Chuntao and secretly told her, "Sis-in-law, while Ma's not here, you should rest a bit in the field!"
In the four years since Chuntao married into the Wang family, she hadn't had an idle moment through any season. During the busy farming periods, she was worked half to death.
Her whole body ached with weakness, her legs felt like they were filled with lead, and every step was an effort.
When Liu Cuilan was around, she didn't dare let her backside touch the ground. At noon, taking advantage of Liu Cuilan's absence from the field, she sat down in the shade next to the cornfield.
"Hehe, Jieshi's wife! Aren't you afraid, all alone in the field at high noon?"
Hearing the voice, Chuntao was startled. She looked up sharply and saw the village bachelor Zhou Ergan walking toward her.
Zhou Ergan was Zhou Dana's younger brother. In his youth, he had been sentenced to prison for harassing women and served several years before being released.
But a dog can't change its habit of eating filth. After getting out, he remained idle and shiftless, always trying to get close to the young women and married wives in the village.
If he encountered a formidable woman, he'd inevitably get an earful of curses. Someone with a soft nature like Chuntao could only avoid him from afar.
A few days earlier, when Chuntao passed by his house, Zhou Ergan had called out to her with a leering grin, "Jieshi's wife, come inside and sit awhile, your uncle has something to tell you..." It had frightened Chuntao so much her whole body tensed, and she practically ran to get away.
At high noon like this, with not a soul in sight in the fields, why would he come here?
Chuntao's heart leaped into her throat. She quickly stood up from the ground, brushed the dirt off her pants, and tried to leave.
"Hey, where you going? Keep your Second Uncle company for a chat!" Zhou Ergan caught up in a few strides, blocking her path.
"Jieshi's been back a month or so, right? So, how is it? Have you consummated the marriage yet?"
That Zhou Ergan would utter such shameless words made Chuntao's face instantly burn crimson, her ears and neck flushing deep red.
She clenched her lips, trying to skirt around him, but Zhou Ergan spread his arms to block her.
She moved left, he moved left; she moved right, he moved right—simply not letting her pass.
"Wang Jieshi is a useless man now, what good is him coming back? A pretty young wife like you, being with him is such a waste!"
Zhou Ergan rubbed his hands together, his eyes roaming over Chuntao's body with a lecherous gleam. "Look at you, so pitiful. Come here, let your Second Uncle give you some proper affection..."
Spouting foul language, he reached out to grab at her.
When Zhou Zhijun had bullied her, Chuntao had been terrified, too weak to even resist.
But facing Zhou Ergan's harassment, courage surged from somewhere unknown. She bent down, grabbed a fist-sized clod of earth from the ground, and hurled it fiercely at Zhou Ergan.
"Zhou Ergan, you get away from me right now! Otherwise, I'll go report you to the Party Secretary! I'll tell him you're harassing a decent woman, have you thrown back in jail!"
"Whoa! This little girl's got some fight in her! Jail? What kind of scenes hasn't your Uncle Ergan seen? You think I'm scared of that?"
Zhou Ergan sidestepped the clod, his face still wearing a leering grin. "Besides, I'm showing you affection, not harassing you. Why can't you tell what's good for you?"
Seeing she couldn't go forward, Chuntao turned and ran back the way she came.
Zhou Ergan wasn't tall, thin and small, but he ran as fast as a rabbit.
Chuntao hadn't gotten far before he caught her arm from behind.
"Let's see where you run now!" Zhou Ergan held her tightly. "Chuntao, if you give in to me today, I won't shortchange you on the benefits!"
As he spoke, he pulled a crumpled one-yuan note from his pocket and waved it in front of her eyes. "Just let me have a go, and this money is yours.
It's not like you'll lose a piece of meat, so what are you afraid of?"
Chuntao was small and weak, no match for Zhou Ergan at all. She struggled for a long time but couldn't break free.
Zhou Ergan started dragging her toward the nearby cornfield. Chuntao's fear instantly peaked. She mustered all her strength and screamed, "Help! Help!"
"Go on, scream! At high noon like this, there's not a soul in the fields. You can scream till your voice gives out, and no one will hear you!"
Zhou Ergan pinned her to the ground, his bearded mouth closing in, a wave of foul breath making Chuntao's stomach churn.
She was usually mild-tempered, never cursed, and certainly never fought. Now, in her panic, her hands flailed wildly, scratching towards Zhou Ergan's face.
"Hisss!" Her nails caught his cheek, leaving a bloody scratch.
Enraged, he slapped her hard across the face. "Damn bitch! I'm gonna have you today!"
Zhou Ergan tore open Chuntao's shirt and fumbled for her belt.
In the chaos, not only did the belt not come loose, but it got tied into a tight knot.
Sweating profusely with frustration, he even lowered his head to try and bite it open.
Chuntao's legs were pinned firmly under him, utterly immobile. All she could do was struggle in despair.
Her hands scrambled blindly on the ground until they suddenly found a rock. She grabbed it and smashed it down hard on Zhou Ergan's head!
"Ah!" he howled in pain, releasing her. Clutching his head, blood seeped through his fingers.
Chuntao's mind went blank with terror. Seizing the moment he let go, she tried to scramble up, but her ankle was caught in Zhou Ergan's iron grip.
At this critical moment, rapid footsteps came running towards them. Before she could even look up, she heard a dull thud.
A large foot clad in a black cloth shoe had landed a vicious kick right on Zhou Ergan's backside!
