"I'm going to buy some headache powder!" he said, pulling open the broken door and rushing out of the kitchen.
The snow outside was falling heavily, goose-feather-like snowflakes fluttering all over the sky, covering everywhere in a vast expanse of white.
After Zhou Zhijun left, Chuntao quickly scraped the chicken bones from the stove into a clay basin, covered it tightly, and wrapped it securely with a lined jacket.
Wang Xiaohong put on her cotton-padded jacket, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she walked towards Wang Jieshi's room. As soon as she lifted the door curtain, she smelled a pungent odor of kerosene. The room was pitch black, and she couldn't see anything.
"Brother..." Wang Xiaohong called out while feeling for the matchbox on the broken cabinet at the head of the bed.
Striking a match, she saw the kerosene lamp smashed on the floor, its body shattered, and kerosene spilling all over the ground.
She hurriedly ran back to her room, lit her kerosene lamp, and brought it over. The dim yellow light shone on Wang Jieshi's sallow face, which was as bloodless as joss paper.
"Brother, does it hurt that much?"
Wang Jieshi groaned in pain, squeezing out a few words intermittently through his teeth: "Head—ache—powder!"
In those days, headache powder was the "panacea painkiller" for people. Whether it was a headache, a fever, or body aches, drinking a packet could always hold them over for a while.
"Where is my sister-in-law?" Wang Xiaohong turned to go buy it, then turned back and asked.
Wang Jieshi gritted his teeth, grinding them loudly. "She went to buy... headache powder! Why isn't she back yet?"
"I'll go take a look!" Wang Xiaohong said, rushing out of the inner room. After opening the door to the main room, she saw the light on in the kitchen at a glance, and her heart skipped a beat.
Ignoring the snow that covered her insteps, she stumbled towards the kitchen.
Hearing the sound of the main room door opening, Chuntao panicked and hurriedly stuffed the clay basin wrapped in the lined jacket into the innermost part of the wheat straw pile.
Just as she hid it, Wang Xiaohong pushed open the kitchen door. "Sister-in-law, did you buy the headache powder?"
Chuntao's heart instantly leaped to her throat. Just as she didn't know how to explain, Zhou Zhijun returned with large strides.
He was covered in snow dust, and a gust of cold air followed him into the kitchen, making the kerosene lamp on the stove flicker unsteadily.
Wang Xiaohong was also surprised to see Zhou Zhijun. "Uncle Zhijun, why aren't you asleep?"
"Oh, I got up to use the restroom earlier and saw your sister-in-law going to buy headache powder. It's so dark and snowing, so I ran the errand for her!"
As Zhou Zhijun spoke, he took out a few packets of headache powder from his pocket and handed them to Wang Xiaohong. "Hurry up and let your brother drink it!"
Wang Xiaohong didn't think much of it. She took the headache powder, poured a bowl of warm water, and headed to the main room.
As soon as she left, Chuntao hurriedly dug out the clay basin from the wheat straw pile, brushed off the wheat straw on it, and handed it to him. "Here! Hurry up and go!"
Zhou Zhijun didn't take it. He stretched out his rough, large hands to cup her small face, his tone carrying an irresistible domineering aura. "Chasing me away after you've eaten your fill?"
Afraid that he would act recklessly again, Chuntao quickly said, "No, I'm telling you to go back to sleep. It's almost dawn!"
He snatched the clay basin, placed it on the stove, and without a word, pulled her tightly into his arms again. "I can't sleep without you. I want to hold you to sleep every day!"
"You're crazy! Let go!"
"What are you afraid of? I won't do anything else, just a hug!"
"Xiaohong will see us when she comes over in a bit. Hurry up and let me go!"
Zhou Zhijun loosened his arms, then cupped her face again, looking down at her with a burning gaze. "Tomorrow night, I'll stew chicken soup for you again...
And call me tomorrow morning when you mate the sow..."
These words made Chuntao's heart tremble with shame, as if she was carrying two little rabbits that were about to jump out. Her small face was so hot that it felt like it was going to smoke.
After Zhou Zhijun left, she quickly covered her face with her cold hands to cool down, feeling both angry and ashamed.
Early the next morning, Old Man Han came driving the boar. He was covered in snow, his hands tucked into his sleeves, sniffing from the cold.
Chuntao hurriedly grabbed a few eggs from the jar and boiled a bowl of steaming egg tea for Old Man Han.
After drinking the egg tea, Old Man Han warmed up. He drove the boar into the pigpen and started mating.
But it was the little sow's first time mating, and she stubbornly refused to cooperate.
Hearing the commotion from the house, Zhou Zhijun hurried over to help.
Sitting in the kitchen tending the fire, Chuntao listened to the sow's squeals and couldn't help but think of those shameful scenes and Zhou Zhijun's shameless words.
Li Chuntao, oh Li Chuntao, how did you become like this? How are you any different from that madman Zhou Zhijun? She scolded herself fiercely in her heart, warning herself that she couldn't go on like this.
With Zhou Zhijun's help, the sow successfully completed the mating.
Chuntao asked Old Man Han to stay for a meal, but Old Man Han waved his hand and said, "No need, there are still several families waiting. If I'm late, I won't make it!"
Chuntao didn't have a single penny in her hand. Blushing, she stammered, "Uncle Han, I... I don't have money to give you right now..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Old Man Han waved his hand. "No rush, no rush. Just give it to me next year when the piglets are sold!"
In rural business in those days, buying on credit was a common occurrence, and Old Man Han was even less afraid of giving credit for his mating business. The mating was done, so why worry about not getting the money back?
Besides, Chuntao was honest, and a bowl of egg tea had warmed his heart. It didn't matter if the mating money was paid sooner or later.
"The mating is done. Just wait for a litter of fat piglets next year!" Old Man Han said with a smile, then drove the boar away.
After seeing Old Man Han off, Zhou Zhijun turned and went back to the kitchen. He took out a brown paper package from his pocket and handed it to Chuntao. "Here."
Without any extra words, he picked up the water buckets at the base of the wall, took down the carrying pole from the wall, and went to fetch water from the well.
Chuntao opened the paper package. Inside was a handful of five-spice broad beans, still carrying his body heat.
Her nose tingled, and she looked up outside the kitchen. Her vision had long been blurred, and she could only see a vast expanse of white.
Just then, Aunt Zhou's cursing suddenly came from outside the kitchen. "Last night I counted twelve chickens, but when I got up this morning, there was one missing! It must have been dragged away by that damn weasel!"
Aunt Zhou was cooking in her own kitchen. All the old hens in the family were kept warm in the firewood pile. When she counted them, one was actually missing.
It was common for weasels to steal chickens in winter, but Aunt Zhou had clearly blocked the chicken coop door tightly with stones last night.
She had also opened it herself this morning. How on earth did this weasel get in? Aunt Zhou couldn't figure it out.
Liu Cuilan ran over early in the morning. Turning her head, she saw Chuntao tending the fire in the kitchen, her face pulled as long as a donkey's face.
"How is Wang Jieshi?"
Before Chuntao could speak, she suddenly took two steps into the kitchen, bent down, and picked up a bone from the wheat straw pile next to the stove.
"What is this? A chicken bone! Where did it come from?"
Last night, when Zhou Zhijun fed her chicken, he accidentally dropped a bone on the floor, and Liu Cuilan actually saw it. Chuntao's heart skipped a beat, and her small face instantly turned pale.
Seeing her like this, Liu Cuilan thought of Wang Haichao's words again. "You jinx... did that wild man stew the chicken for you?"
These words pierced Chuntao's heart like needles. She trembled all over, tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't talk nonsense..."
"Nonsense?" Liu Cuilan held up the chicken bone and threw it onto the stove. "If you didn't eat this bone, who did? You shameless slut..."
Liu Cuilan continued her tirade, "If you don't explain yourself clearly today, I am going to the head of the village to shout it out! I'll let everyone see what you really are!"
Chuntao trembled all over, unable to utter a single word.
Carrying buckets of water on his shoulder pole, Zhou Zhijun heard Liu Cuilan's shrill curses from a distance, and he instinctively quickened his pace.
"Liu Cuilan, have you lost your mind? I was the one who stewed that chicken for Chuntao!"
