He first pulled Zhou Xiaowei into the courtyard, then addressed the crowd, saying, "Brother Lao Han has gone to enjoy his blessings, and Sister-in-law Cui Lan should also seek her own happiness. We should all be happy for her..."
After speaking, he turned his gaze to Zhou Xiaowei and said coldly, "What kind of thing have you done?"
"Uncle, I just can't stand a heartless woman like Liu Cuilan!" Zhou Xiaowei was filled with grievance.
"Uncle, people are bullying you like this, and you can still tolerate it? I don't know what you're thinking!" Having said that, Zhou Xiaowei stomped off angrily.
The villagers who had gathered to watch were also incredulous upon hearing Zhou Zhijun's words.
Everyone whispered among themselves, discussing fervently, unable to understand what he had been after with his four years of help and support.
After this incident, the relationship between Liu Cuilan and Wang Haichao became public, and she simply let him move into the house to live.
They went to the commune office to get their marriage certificate, becoming a real husband and wife. Every night, they were shameless and insatiable, craving each other endlessly.
As for Zhou Zhijun, he became a topic of conversation for the villagers after meals. Some said, "He looks like such a strong and sturdy man, turns out he's useless!"
"Four years, and he never touched Liu Cuilan. Ah, no man could do that. It seems Zhou Zhijun really has a problem!"
"Exactly, Wang Laohan was sick for so long, Liu Cuilan was quite anxious too. What's the point of finding a useless man?"
...The villagers all believed Liu Cuilan's words, but Chuntao was only half-convinced.
Liu Cuilan's mouth could make a dead toad piss; to justify her actions, she could cook up any crude reason.
Zhou Zhijun looked so physically strong, able to carry two sacks of wheat at once, how could he possibly be useless?
Chuntao's thoughts snapped back abruptly. Last night in the melon shed, he had suddenly stopped at the final step.
She was also starting to believe Liu Cuilan's words. Was Zhou Zhijun really useless? But she had clearly felt the change in his body...
Chuntao forced herself not to think about it. He had taken advantage of her, she should hate him. What did it matter to her whether he was useless or not? It was better if he was useless, so he couldn't take advantage of her again someday.
"Sister-in-law, what are you thinking about?"
Wang Xiaohong, who had gotten up and come back, saw Chuntao sitting in front of the kitchen stove tending the fire, so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed the firewood falling out of the stove. She called out to her.
Chuntao was startled, the blush on her little face not yet faded.
"Xiaohong, you're back!"
Wang Xiaohong gestured with her chin towards the courtyard and lowered her voice, "Our mom still isn't up? She wasn't like this before, she's getting lazier and lazier. Truly, you become like the company you keep, follow a sorceress and you'll learn fake magic!"
She was also extremely dissatisfied with the situation between Liu Cuilan and Wang Haichao and had even quarreled with Liu Cuilan.
"My Uncle Zhijun has been so good to our family, helped us for four years! And in the end, you're so ungrateful, you just kick him to the curb..."
Wang Xiaohong's temper was like Liu Cuilan's, but she was a reasonable person.
Liu Cuilan, being scolded by her own daughter, naturally couldn't swallow this insult and slapped her. "I worked hard to raise you, and now you dare to meddle in my business!
I'm telling you, you have no say in this house, and don't you dare interfere in my affairs!"
Wang Xiaohong was slapped so hard she staggered, almost falling. Chuntao quickly steadied her.
Liu Cuilan, with her anger having nowhere else to go, pointed at Chuntao and cursed, "And you! If you dare gossip behind my back, I'll tear your mouth to shreds!"
Wang Xiaohong touched the five finger marks on her face and shouted, "You hit me for a man? Am I not even your daughter anymore..." She pushed Chuntao away and ran out.
After that incident, mother and daughter didn't speak for several days. It was Liu Cuilan who eventually broke the silence with Wang Xiaohong first.
"I'll go wake them up. The sun is already so high! This house doesn't support idle freeloaders!" Wang Xiaohong raised her voice.
In this household, only Wang Xiaohong dared to stand up to Liu Cuilan.
Chuntao was just a drudge who only knew how to work. Good things never came her way, and she was always blamed for anything bad.
Liu Cuilan and Wang Haichao got up groggily, went to the outhouse to relieve themselves first, then came to the kitchen to scoop water to wash their faces.
Lifting the lid of the water vat, they saw only a bottom layer left. Liu Cuilan glared at Chuntao and yelled, "Look at this, the water vat is almost empty! Go fetch water, now!"
Chuntao had been timid and meek since childhood, afraid of trouble. She never contradicted Liu Cuilan's words, like a machine that would turn when told to turn and stop when told to stop!
She shouldered two iron buckets and walked out of the courtyard, turning her head to see Zhou Zhijun squatting under the shade of a tree outside, smoking.
Chuntao thought of last night's scene, and her little face instantly grew hot, her neck and ears burning too.
She lowered her head, wanting to quicken her pace and walk past him, but he called out to stop her.
"Wait!" His voice was icy, hard and grating.
Chuntao shuddered all over and her steps halted.
She didn't dare look at him, just kept her eyes fixed on the ground.
He took two strides to stand before her, lowering his voice, "Did I scare you?"
Chuntao was somewhat at a loss. Such an abrupt, out-of-context question, she didn't immediately grasp its meaning.
"No... no..."
Liu Cuilan and Wang Haichao were together now. Although Zhou Zhijun hadn't said anything, a rift had formed in his heart since then.
If Liu Cuilan found out she was talking to Zhou Zhijun, she would surely get scolded again.
Besides, she was a woman abandoned by her husband; there were already enough gossips about her in the village.
If people saw her standing with Zhou Zhijun, who knows what harsh words they would come up with!
She walked quickly towards the front of the village. Halfway there, she finally realized what Zhou Zhijun had meant—he was talking about last night's incident.
Thinking of how he had buried his head and frantically taken from her, Chuntao's little face became like a red apple hanging from a tree branch in autumn.
Her heartbeat involuntarily quickened, the "thump-thump" sound coming from her chest like a drumbeat, and the pulling sensation from those two mounds began to ache faintly again.
From afar, she could see several people standing by the well drawing water, both men and women, laughing and talking loudly about something.
Chuntao had been shy since childhood and was naturally afraid of meeting people. Now, given her status, she was even more afraid.
She slowed her pace, wanting to wait for those people to leave before going over. But they turned and saw her, and even after drawing water, they didn't leave, just stood there chatting and laughing.
If she returned late with the water, Liu Cuilan would scold her again. So, Chuntao steeled herself and walked over.
"Jieshi's wife, your mother-in-law is really blessed to have a daughter-in-law like you, getting to eat ready-made food every day!" a woman said with a laugh, her eyes full of probing light.
Another woman leaned closer to Chuntao and lowered her voice, "How's your stepfather? He's not lazy since moving into your house, is he?"
"I see Xiaohong coming out of Hongxia's house every morning. Is she living at Hongxia's place now?
That house is too narrow. You need to hurry up and build a new house, otherwise it's so inconvenient for such a big family!
Jieshi isn't home, and that Wang Haichao isn't an honest man. What if he gets any improper ideas about you?"
...
Chuntao's face flushed crimson "whoosh" once more, even the tips of her ears turning purplish red.
That day, Liu Cuilan had gone back to her parents' place. Wang Xiaohong had gone with the village girls and young wives to a neighboring village to watch a movie after finishing her evening soup.
Only Chuntao was left at home. She sat in her room stitching a shoe sole, waiting for Wang Xiaohong to return.
The moon outside had already climbed directly south. Figuring she would be back soon, Chuntao opened the door to look.
To her surprise, a man was standing at the doorway—it was Wang Haichao!
"Uncle Haichao!" He had said he was going back to his own place to sleep tonight, so why was he here again? Chuntao's heart pounded like a drum!
"Tao!" He stepped into the room in one stride. "Tao, Wang Jieshi doesn't want you anymore. Come here, let me take good care of you..."
