He spoke while reaching his hand towards the waistband of her pants. Chuntao struggled with all her might.
"...Let go of me, if you keep doing this I'll tell my mother..."
"Go ahead... I'll say it was you who seduced me. Let's see who she believes..."
The belt was about to be undone by him. Chuntao, finding courage from somewhere, slapped Wang Haichao across the face. "Wang Haichao, you beast!"
That slap used all her strength, leaving her wrist weak.
Wang Haichao, furious and humiliated, tried to pin her to the ground. Chuntao leaned into his shoulder and bit down hard, tearing off a piece of skin and flesh.
"Ouch!" Wang Haichao cried out in pain and loosened his grip. Seizing the chance, Chuntao ran out, escaping before he could succeed.
For the next half month, Wang Haichao wore long sleeves every day, and dared not light the lamp even when being intimate with Liu Cuilan at night.
...
The women chattered on and on, each adding their own piece, the talk growing more and more outrageous. Yet Chuntao's heart sank to the depths.
Wang Haichao's predatory gaze kept her constantly on edge.
And now there was Zhou Zhijun, who was even worse than Wang Haichao. He had taken advantage of her while she was asleep, and then had the nerve to ask if she was frightened?
She used to think Zhou Zhijun was the most upright, selfless man she had ever met. Now she knew he was no different from the others.
Chuntao couldn't be bothered to respond. She filled two buckets with water and left. Behind her came the women's mocking laughter.
"That Li Chun Tao is so useless. Her man doesn't even want her anymore, yet she's still here working like an ox! What's the point?"
"Exactly. You couldn't get a word out of her if you kicked her three times. Someone like her deserves a life of misery!"
She had heard this kind of gossip too many times; her ears were calloused from it.
Wang Jieshi didn't want her anymore, but where could a woman like her go? She could only endure here, waiting for him to return.
One day while weeding in the fields, she overheard two women gossiping, saying someone had seen Wang Jieshi in the city.
Chuntao's heart felt as if it had been grabbed by something, sour and bitter.
Before she and Wang Jieshi got married, the four of them were supposed to get their marriage certificates together. But that day, Wang Jieshi suddenly had a stomachache and didn't go.
Her brother, Li Dazhuang, and Wang Qiaozhen went. Getting that big red certificate gave them peace of mind.
They had planned to register after the wedding ceremony, but Wang Jieshi ran off before even consummating the marriage.
Only then did she belatedly realize: Wang Jieshi's stomachache was fake; not wanting to register was the truth.
If he wanted to be with someone else, what was she doing living in the Wang household?
She really wanted to harden her heart and leave, but she was illiterate. What if she got sold to some remote mountain valley by traffickers?
But what she feared most was that if she left, her sister-in-law might leave her brother.
During the New Year, Chuntao went back to visit her grandmother. Her grandmother held her hand and said, "Tao, I know you're suffering, but you have to endure it!
For your brother to have a family, you must bear what you can. Don't argue with your mother-in-law!
Jieshi is just confused for now. When he can't make it out there, he'll come back..."
Even her grandmother, who loved her most, said this. Chuntao could only agree through her tears. But the bitterness of these days was hers alone to know, like a bowl of bitter medicine—you don't savor it, you just gulp it down.
As she carried the water past Zhou Zhijun's house, he happened to come out from the yard carrying a hoe on his shoulder, and they met head-on.
Chuntao kept her eyes forward, only catching a glimpse of his face from the corner of her eye. It was dark and cold, as if someone owed him money.
He walked up to her and suddenly pulled something from his pocket, shoving it into Chuntao's pants pocket.
Chuntao shuddered violently, water splashing from the buckets onto the ground, creating a circle of damp traces.
That object felt like a time bomb. She wanted to pull it out and give it back to him, but when she looked up, he was already far away.
She touched her pocket, trying hard to calm her chaotic emotions, then picked up the buckets and went home.
Liu Cuilan and Wang Haichao were eating in the kitchen. Wang Xiaohong sat on a stone stool in the yard with her bowl.
"Sister-in-law, I've served your food. It's cold out here!" she called out when she saw Chuntao return.
Seeing her, Liu Cuilan said, "Fill the water vat before eating. How many times have I told you? Fill it before dark the day before, so you save time in the morning and can go to the fields right after eating.
But look at you! It's time to eat, and you're fetching water. When it's time for the fields, you'll want to eat!"
Chuntao didn't say a word, just bent down and poured the water into the vat with effort.
The vat wasn't small; it took three trips to fill it. As she prepared to go for more, Wang Xiaohong walked over and took the carrying pole from her hands.
"Don't fetch more. Go eat now!" she said, pulling Chuntao to sit at the stone table in the yard. Liu Cuilan glanced outside disapprovingly but said nothing.
Chuntao saw a small piece of white steamed bun on the stone table but didn't take it. She just picked up her bowl and drank the porridge.
On her first day married into the family, Liu Cuilan had said, "The good flour in the house is scarce, it's for the men to eat..."
Besides the men, Liu Cuilan, of course, also ate the white buns. Wang Xiaohong ate them occasionally too. Only Chuntao ate coarse black steamed buns all year round. Getting to eat a layered bun during the New Year was already a treat.
"Sister-in-law, eat the bun!" Wang Xiaohong pushed it towards her. "I saved this piece specially for you!"
"You eat it. I'll just have a black bun later."
"Eat it when I tell you to! Don't be foolish. You work non-stop all day; you deserve to eat a white bun. It's the idlers who should eat the black buns.
No, they shouldn't even get black buns. Eating black buns is a waste on them!"
Wang Xiaohong spoke loudly, glancing towards the kitchen as she did.
In their family, apart from Wang Haichao who didn't work, everyone else did, just to varying degrees. Wang Xiaohong's words were aimed at Wang Haichao.
Wang Haichao was cunning and thick-skinned. He played dumb and remained polite when speaking to Wang Xiaohong.
After eating, Liu Cuilan and Wang Haichao went to the south field.
Wang Haichao didn't work. He sat in the shade of a tree at the field's edge to cool off. When Liu Cuilan weeded her way to the edge, he would open the water flask. "Wife, come rest, have some water! Don't wear yourself out!"
Liu Cuilan was very pleased. Even if she worked herself to death, she'd be willing.
Wang Laohan had been sick for so many years; she hadn't felt a husband's warmth.
Zhou Zhijun spoke little, only knew to bury his head in work. He never said a kind word to her, let alone laid a finger on her.
Liu Cuilan felt that marrying Wang Haichao was the best decision she'd ever made. He accompanied her to the fields during the day and was affectionate and passionate with her in bed at night. She finally tasted the long-lost happiness she craved.
Actually, she had been involved with Wang Haichao for a long time.
She sat beside him, and Wang Haichao naturally wrapped his arm around her waist, his hand slipping under her clothes to caress her.
"Stop fooling around!" She squirmed slightly, scolding him playfully.
Wang Haichao, his face full of desire, leaned close to her ear and whispered something.
Liu Cuilan laughed and cursed, "Shameless! What if someone sees?"
"We have the red book. So what if they see!"
Wang Haichao stood up and, without another word, pulled Liu Cuilan into the nearby sorghum field...
