“Daughter, are you feeling any better?” Aunt Zhou sat by the bed, her eyes full of heartache as she looked at Chuntao.
“Much better,” Chuntao replied. She didn't even have the strength to speak; her voice was thin and weak.
Aunt Zhou handed the empty bowl to Wang Xiaohong and turned to Zhao Qingjiang, who was packing his medical kit. “Qingjiang, should we give this girl some medicine?”
Zhao Qingjiang shook his head as he tucked his silver needles back into the kit. “No need for medicine. It's just low blood pressure. She needs time to recover. Don't rush her back to work. When she's tired, let her rest. Don't push it.”
He paused and added, “Every morning, boil her a bowl of egg tea with some brown sugar. Try that for a few days. If she's still dizzy, you'll have to take her to the commune health center!”
Zhou Zhijun walked Zhao Qingjiang out of the courtyard, his brow furrowed. “Is my sister's health really okay?”
Zhao Qingjiang sighed, his voice filled with pity. “It doesn't look like anything major, but her body is severely depleted! She needs proper nourishment. This poor girl has a hard life, working herself to the bone all year round, never getting a taste of anything good. Sigh!”
Watching Zhao Qingjiang's receding figure, Zhou Zhijun felt a pang of bitterness.
Chuntao's life truly was bitter. Such a good girl had been forced to marry Wang Jieshi just to secure a wife for her brother through an exchange marriage.
But that bastard had run off with another woman on their wedding night.
He had gone off to enjoy himself, leaving Chuntao to suffer through these hard years.
Now that he was disabled and kicked out by the other woman, he finally remembered this home and dumped the entire burden back onto Chuntao's shoulders.
Zhou Zhijun's eyes reddened, and his fists clenched until his knuckles cracked. He really wanted to rush inside and give Wang Jieshi a thorough thrashing.
That night, Wang Xiaohong didn't go back to Zhou Hongxia's house to sleep. Fearing Chuntao might have another episode during the night, she spread a burlap sack on the floor and curled up there to keep watch.
Early the next morning, just as Wang Xiaohong was starting the fire, Zhou Zhijun entered the courtyard carrying a shallow basket.
“Xiaohong, here are some eggs. Make your sister-in-law a bowl of egg tea every morning.”
He paused, then added, “I'm heading to the market later to buy her some supplements so she can recover properly.”
In those days, eggs were precious. No family could bear to eat them; they were saved to be traded at the market for oil, salt, soy sauce, or vinegar.
Looking at the eggs in the basket, Wang Xiaohong waved her hands frantically. “Uncle Zhijun, take them back. We have eggs at home!”
“Don't be a stranger!” Zhou Zhijun placed the eggs into a bamboo basket in the kitchen and turned to leave with the empty tray.
Just as he stepped out of the kitchen, he bumped into Wang Jieshi, who was hobbling out of the main room with a cane.
“What are you doing?” Wang Jieshi asked dryly, his tone full of suspicion.
Zhou Zhijun despised men without a sense of responsibility. Suppressing his disgust, he said flatly, “Bringing some eggs for my sister to build up her strength.”
Aunt Zhou had already officially recognized Chuntao as her goddaughter, so his words were perfectly justified.
Wang Jieshi was full of resentment but couldn't find an excuse to lash out. He could only watch helplessly as Zhou Zhijun left.
Wang Jieshi hobbled into the kitchen. Seeing Wang Xiaohong cracking an egg into the pot, his face darkened. “Don't we have eggs? Why take theirs?”
Wang Xiaohong glanced at him. “It's cold now. Our hens aren't laying. We only get one every few days. How can sister-in-law recover without nourishment?”
Wang Jieshi didn't say another word, but Wang Xiaohong couldn't help but ask, “Brother, did you argue with her last night?”
“I didn't!” Wang Jieshi turned abruptly and hobbled out with his cane.
Wang Xiaohong muttered to herself. Her brother had a foul temper lately, likely out of frustration because his disability kept him from working.
She had brought back the money from Zhou Hongxia's house yesterday but hadn't given it to him yet. She didn't know what kind of illness he wanted to treat or where he was going, and she felt uneasy.
After breakfast, Wang Xiaohong pulled Chuntao into the room. “Sister-in-law, don't go to the fields today. Just rest at home. I'll go hoe the soil and gather some grass for the pigs.”
Chuntao felt weak all over, and her mind was a tangled mess of thoughts. She truly didn't have the energy for anything, so she lay back down.
“I'll be back at noon to cook!” Wang Xiaohong called out before heading to the fields.
As she stepped out of the main room, she saw Wang Haichao standing at the courtyard gate with a greasy grin.
Wang Xiaohong couldn't stand him. Her face immediately soured. “What are you doing here?”
“What's the matter? Even if we don't live in the same yard, we're still family. Can't I come for a visit?” Wang Haichao rubbed his hands together, his eyes darting around the courtyard.
“Who's family with you? You're not welcome here. Get lost!”
Wang Xiaohong blocked the doorway, refusing to let him in. Wang Haichao was known for having sticky fingers; she was afraid he'd steal something and even more afraid he'd disturb Chuntao's rest.
“You girl, why are you like this? I haven't even offended you!”
Ignoring him, Wang Xiaohong turned to close the gate, but then she heard Wang Jieshi's voice from the main room. “Xiaohong, let Uncle Haichao in.”
Wang Xiaohong frowned. Her brother used to find Wang Haichao annoying too, didn't he? Why let him in today?
She huffed, stepped aside, and stomped off to the fields with her hoe.
Halfway through the morning, Zhou Zhijun arrived at the field carrying a mesh bag full of items. “Xiaohong, take these back for your sister-in-law.”
Inside the bag were a bottle of malted milk extract, a bag of brown sugar, a box of pastries, and a piece of pork—a mix of fat and lean—wrapped in brown paper.
Wang Xiaohong knew at a glance that these items must have cost at least five or six yuan. She felt both moved and guilty.
“Uncle Zhijun, those eggs from this morning are enough for days. Why did you buy so much more?”
“Your sister-in-law is far too depleted; she needs proper nourishment.” Zhou Zhijun didn't say much more, put the things down, and left.
He didn't go home but rode his bike to the construction site where he was building a house.
The house would be finished in two days. He planned to help Wang Xiaohong with the field work once it was done so Chuntao could get some proper rest.
Watching his back, Wang Xiaohong's nose prickled, and tears nearly fell.
Chuntao had made the right choice in taking Aunt Zhou as her godmother. Aunt Zhou doted on her, and Zhou Zhijun protected her like this.
Then she thought of her brother, Wang Jieshi. He had abandoned Chuntao on their wedding day, and now that he was back, he didn't even have a kind word for her. Her fainting last night definitely had something to do with him.
Wang Xiaohong sighed, thinking that perhaps this was just fate. Chuntao had a hard life, but at least she had met Zhou Zhijun's family, so it wasn't all bad.
At noon, Wang Xiaohong carried the bag of supplements home. As soon as she entered the yard, Wang Chunxiao from the western yard spotted her.
She shouted at the top of her lungs, “Xiaohong, so many good things? Where did they come from?”
Wang Chunxiao's words reached Wang Jieshi in the main room. He poked his head out and saw Wang Xiaohong holding the mesh bag.
His face darkened instantly. Zhou Zhijun had brought eggs this morning; this bag of things must be from him too!
Chuntao was his wife. Since when did an outsider need to stick his nose into their business?
“Xiaohong, throw those things out!” Wang Jieshi's voice suddenly rose to a shout, his chest heaving with rage.
Wang Xiaohong's hand jerked, nearly dropping the bag.
She set the items on the kitchen counter and hurried into the main room, questioning him with a frown. “Brother, what are you doing? These are to help sister-in-law recover. They aren't even for you!”
“No one is allowed to eat them!” Wang Jieshi's eyes were bloodshot.
"Sister-in-law has suffered such a loss, Uncle Qingjiang said she needs proper nourishment!
All the work at home and in the fields depends on her. If her health breaks down, what will become of this family?"
Wang Xiaohong grew angrier the more she spoke. He himself didn't care for his sister-in-law, and couldn't stand others caring for her either.
Wang Jieshi wasn't like this before. Wang Xiaohong simply couldn't figure out how he had become this way.
She didn't know that the more she spoke up for Chuntao, the angrier Wang Jieshi became.
"This family depends on her? Are you saying I'm useless?
Even if I am useless, it's not for outsiders to meddle!"
Seeing him being so unreasonable, Wang Xiaohong couldn't be bothered to argue anymore. She turned and stomped back to the kitchen in a huff.
In her own kitchen, Aunt Zhou was stirring the congee with a ladle and heard Wang Jieshi's words loud and clear.
With a smack, she threw the ladle down on the stove top, her face dark with anger, and marched straight toward the Wang family's courtyard.
She was determined to see just what that rascal Wang Jieshi thought he was doing.
