Over by the mass graves in the northern fields, Liu Cuilan was yanking at the cloth bundle in Wang Xiaohong's hands. The bicycle had also fallen by the side of the road.
"I don't even have money to build a house, and you two have spare cash to buy these things! Give the stuff to me and I'll let you both go!"
Wang Xiaohong's eyes were red with anxiety. She shouted, "Granny Zhou gave the money to buy this! Let go, quickly!"
Chuntao wanted to step forward and help, but Wang Haichao's younger brothers blocked her way.
Wang Haichao stood to the side, trying to smooth things over. "Xiaohong, give the stuff to your mother and hurry back. The Zhou family is still waiting for you two! Don't make them wait too long!"
Just then, Zhou Zhijun came sprinting over with a carrying pole in his hand. He let out a loud shout, "What are you doing?"
Seeing Zhou Zhijun, Wang Haichao's three brothers felt a wave of panic. But remembering how Zhou Zhijun had beaten Wang Haichao the other night, they stiffened their necks and stood their ground.
No matter how fierce Zhou Zhijun was, he was just one man, and they had four brothers! They all tried to embolden themselves in their hearts.
Liu Cuilan, who was wrestling with Wang Xiaohong for the bag, also let go when she saw Zhou Zhijun approaching.
She put her hands on her hips, a sinister smile appearing on her face. "Zhou Zhijun, your mother wants to take Chuntao as her goddaughter. Why didn't you tell us beforehand? I'd like to ask, once this god-relation is established, will Chuntao be considered a daughter-in-law of the Wang family in the future, or a daughter of your Zhou family?"
Wang Haichao chimed in from the side, "Exactly! Acknowledging a god-relation right after splitting the family—do you really think there's no one left in our Wang family? I say it's better not to go through with this, lest people laugh their heads off at you!"
Zhou Zhijun, carrying the pole, closed the distance in a few strides. His face was dark and gloomy, as if a violent storm was about to break out in the next second.
His knuckles cracked as he tightened his grip on the carrying pole. He couldn't be bothered to waste words with Liu Cuilan.
His eyes, cold as ice blades, scraped across the faces of Wang Haichao and his three brothers. He took one step to stand in front of Chuntao, and his voice smashed down like blocks of freezing iron. "Get out of the way!"
Relying on their numbers, Wang Haichao and his brothers stood unmoving, each clenching their fists.
Wang Haibao stiffened his neck and shouted, "Zhou Zhijun, don't be so hot-headed! This is our Wang family's own business. It's not the place for an outsider like you to interfere!"
Before his words had even faded, Zhou Zhijun suddenly raised his arm. With a sharp "whoosh," the carrying pole brushed right past his ear and smashed into the poplar tree beside him.
The tree trunk shook violently from the impact, and the sparrows in its branches flew away in a frantic flutter of wings.
Seeing this display of power, the brothers felt a chill of fear. They were absolutely no match for Zhou Zhijun. Terrified, they shrank their necks and hastily retreated two steps.
"The Wang family's business?" Zhou Zhijun sneered coldly, turning his gaze to Liu Cuilan.
"Chuntao is now the goddaughter my mother is going to acknowledge. Her affairs are the Zhou family's affairs. You block her from leaving and even rob her of her things—do you really think our Zhou family is easy to bully?"
No matter how shrewish Liu Cuilan was, she was also afraid of Zhou Zhijun. Her heart tightened in fear, but her mouth refused to concede defeat.
"Don't you try to scare us! Chuntao is the Wang family's daughter-in-law. Even if she acknowledges a god-relation, she is still a person of the Wang family!"
Zhou Zhijun stared coldly at her flushed face, his voice heavy enough to crush a person. "From this day forward, if anyone dares to touch a single finger of Li Chuntao, you'll first have to ask my fists if they agree!"
At this moment, Aunt Zhou and Zhou Hongxia also ran over. Before she even got close, Aunt Zhou shouted, "Liu Cuilan, what are you trying to do?"
She was still wearing her apron, running over while being supported by Zhou Hongxia.
Aunt Zhou cast a cold glance at Liu Cuilan, then walked up to Chuntao. "Chuntao, are you alright?"
Chuntao's eyes were red, and she nodded. "I'm fine!"
Wang Xiaohong also ran over, hugging the cloth bundle. "Granny Zhou!"
Aunt Zhou patted Wang Xiaohong's back. "Let's go, come back with me!"
Aunt Zhou held Chuntao's hand, and together with Zhou Hongxia and Wang Xiaohong, the four of them walked in front. Zhou Zhijun walked behind them, carrying his pole in one hand and pushing the bicycle with the other.
Wang Haichao and his three brothers were so angry that their teeth ground together, but they didn't dare to step forward and stop them again.
Liu Cuilan glared at their retreating backs, even less daring to give chase. She didn't even dare to raise her voice to curse, only muttering curses under her breath through gritted teeth.
Someone had seen Zhou Zhijun heading toward the northern fields with a carrying pole, and soon a group of villagers gathered by the main road at the edge of the village, looking toward the north and whispering among themselves.
When they saw Zhou Zhijun and the others returning, they shuffled over to the base of the wall but did not disperse.
Huang Meili was also in the crowd, her heart already sour with jealousy.
It was one thing for Aunt Zhou to dislike her own daughter-in-law, and even her own grandson and granddaughter, but to be so attentive to an outsider, and even want to take her as a goddaughter?
She was acknowledging a goddaughter today and had called over her eldest granddaughter Zhou Hongxia, but she hadn't invited their family. The more Huang Meili thought about it, the angrier she got.
Just now, she had been provoked by the chattering of a few women, and right now her stomach was full of pent-up anger. She really wanted to make a huge scene with Aunt Zhou, but seeing Zhou Zhijun's cold face made her heart quail.
Pulling her dark, thin face as long as a donkey's, she turned around and went home!
Upon returning home, she saw Zhou Zhimin and immediately started cursing, "You useless coward, even your own mother looks down on you. What's the point of you being alive?"
Zhou Zhimin had also heard about his mother wanting to acknowledge Chuntao as her goddaughter. Thinking about how he had failed to get Zhou Zhijun to adopt Xiaomei a few days ago, he was already feeling annoyed!
As soon as Huang Meili came back and started cursing at him, his temper flared up instantly. "What are you yelling about? I'm annoyed enough!"
Meili gave a cold snort and said, "You're annoyed? I'm annoyed too. Marrying you was the worst luck of eight lifetimes. She has her own daughter-in-law, her own grandson and granddaughter, but she doesn't care for them. Instead, she dotes on an outsider. Isn't it because you're too useless, making the whole family suffer this suffocating grievance along with you..."
"You're blaming me? If you had been a bit smarter and coaxed the old lady better, things wouldn't be like this..."
The couple blamed each other, arguing more and more fiercely at home until they almost came to blows.
Meanwhile, Aunt Zhou took Chuntao's hand and led her into the main room. "Hurry up and sit down to rest for a bit! There's still chicken stewing in the pot, I'll go take a look!"
Saying this, Aunt Zhou went to the kitchen. Old Man Zhou was tending the fire, and Zhou Hongxia and Wang Xiaohong had already rolled up their sleeves and started bustling about in the kitchen.
"Granny Zhou, you go rest in the main room, Hongxia and I will do it!" Wang Xiaohong looked at Aunt Zhou.
Aunt Zhou pulled at Wang Xiaohong. "You ran all the way back from the street, you must be tired after such a long distance. Go rest, I'll cook!"
"I'm not tired!"
Aunt Zhou smiled and said, "You girl, you're just so hardworking!"
Uncle Zhou tended the fire, while Aunt Zhou and the two girls busied themselves washing, chopping, and stir-frying. Soon, the savory aroma from the kitchen wafted out, spreading so far that half the village could smell it.
Zhou Zhijun carried two buckets of water back, the icy expression on his face thawing a little.
He poured a mug of hot water, added some brown sugar, and handed it to Chuntao. "Have a sip of hot tea!"
Thinking of the scenes from the past, Chuntao's small face couldn't help but turn red again. She lowered her head, not daring to look at him, her two hands twisting the hem of her clothes. "I'm not thirsty!"
Seeing her like this, Zhou Zhijun placed the enamel mug on the stool beside her, walked to the doorway, and started smoking his dry tobacco pipe.
Chuntao's small face was flushed red, and she felt incredibly awkward, sitting there motionless.
She wanted to go to the kitchen to help, but she was afraid they would see her blushing.
But sitting here, with Zhou Zhijun right beside her, an indescribable flutter of panic filled her heart.
Chuntao hesitated for quite a while before finally standing up. She cautiously slipped past Zhou Zhijun and made her way toward the kitchen.
Zhou Zhijun watched her delicate figure retreat, a myriad of emotions welling up in his heart.
He adored this little woman, cherished her to his very bones, yet she remained so resistant to him.
The thought of it brought a pang of bitterness and heartache, but it did nothing to suppress the wild urges erupting within his body like a flash flood.
That morning, Wang Xiaohong had already spoken to Wang Jieshi about the matter of establishing a god-family tie. He had not voiced any objections, but it sat poorly with him.
For a rough, single man like Zhou Zhijun to go out of his way to help their family and protect Chuntao at every turn, it just did not seem normal.
During the four years he had been away from home, Chuntao had never left the Wang family. She had stayed, enduring endless hardships and exhaustion. Was it really possible that there was no one else supporting her behind the scenes?
Wang Jieshi lay in bed pondering this the entire morning. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed, and the more a heavy, suffocating frustration weighed down on his chest.
