He pressed her onto the bed... it felt like a wild horse had broken free inside her...
"No... don't do this..."
Her slender frame trembled like a sieve, her voice quivering out of tune.
Zhou Zhijun was consumed by passion, his mind holding only one thought: to make her a woman, to make her his woman...
Her arms were pinned by him, immobile, so her legs kicked desperately, fighting with all her might to preserve her purity.
But she was just a delicate, frail woman; even using all her strength, she couldn't budge him an inch.
"Don't do this, I beg you... if he comes back and finds I'm not a maiden anymore, he'll despise me even more..."
Chuntao began to cry in despair, but her sobs were suppressed, as if squeezed from the back of her throat.
A woman left alone in an empty house—if people found out about this, she couldn't go on living.
"You and I have no feud, why are you bullying me? It was my mother-in-law who wronged you, not me..."
Chuntao thought Zhou Zhijun was treating her this way because of Liu Cuilan, that he was taking his hatred for Liu Cuilan out on her.
"Treating me like this is useless, she won't care... just let me go!"
Zhou Zhijun felt the despair and helplessness of the woman beneath him and pulled her tightly into his arms, so tight she could barely breathe.
"Tao, don't be foolish. It's been four years, and he hasn't returned.
He's not coming back. Even if he does, he'll come back with a wife and children..."
Zhou Zhijun's lips kissed her face, drying her tear-streaked cheeks, and finally captured her lips...
He had clearly wanted to make her happy, yet he had frightened her like this. His heart softened a little after all.
Suppressing the storm raging inside him, he simply held her tightly like that.
She was still a young maiden; he couldn't just take her recklessly like this.
He would find a comfortable place later, to cherish her properly.
Chuntao, held tightly by him, couldn't stop her tears from flowing.
She curled up in his arms, not daring to move, her small body shaking violently. The proud swell of her chest rose and fell with her panicked breaths, brushing against his arm, sending a tingling sensation throughout her body, rushing to her limbs.
In her heart, there was hatred, fear, and an indescribable feeling, a mix of emotions swirling in her heart.
The moonlight outside seeped through the window crack, illuminating Chuntao's small, tear-stained face.
He extended his rough hand, his fingertips gently tracing the corner of her eye, his voice hoarse, "Don't be afraid. I just want to cherish you..."
"I know you hate my mother-in-law, but you can't treat me like this. I haven't done anything to wrong you!"
Zhou Zhijun's heart felt as if pricked by a needle. He was doing this because he adored her; it had nothing to do with anyone else.
"No, I've helped the Wang family for four years. Besides neighborly goodwill, it's because I adore you, truly adore you!
Liu Cuilan has been involved with Wang Haichao for a long time; it has nothing to do with me. Because my thoughts were never on her, but on you!"
Before I saw you, I thought no woman in this lifetime would ever move my heart...
Later, when you married into the Wang family, I only needed one glance, and I adored you.
I thought I could only like you silently, hoping you lived well...
But on your wedding night, that bastard Wang Jieshi eloped with someone else. Someone as beautiful as you, so young, left to keep an empty house.
I swore to myself right then, if he ever came back, I'd break his legs! Do you know? But I also didn't want him to come back.
Four years, and that scoundrel Wang Jieshi hasn't sent a single word, yet you've been managing this household, working from dawn till dusk, still putting up with Liu Cuilan's temper. It pains my heart to see!
I want to give you happiness. I want to cherish you properly, you know..."
Chuntao hadn't expected Zhou Zhijun to say such things. She couldn't tell if he was speaking truth or lies.
Even if it were true, so what? It was impossible between them. Forget Liu Cuilan not agreeing, just the village gossip alone could drown a person.
She was both ashamed and afraid, her voice trembling as she said, "I am Wang Jieshi's wife. Even though he ran away, I still am...
His sister, Wang Lanhua, married my brother. I have to stay with the Wang family for life!"
Zhou Zhijun's large hands gently cradled her small face, his voice soft, his eyes full of tenderness, "Silly girl, how can you be so foolish?
Wang Jieshi ran off with another woman, and you still plan to stay with the Wang family for life!
Life is not easy to come by; a lifetime is just over thirty thousand days. What a waste to live it like this!"
Chuntao fell silent, her eyelids lowered, not daring to look at him. Knowing his temper, she didn't dare confront him directly and pleaded instead, "Let me go. I need to sleep. You should leave now!"
He reached out to smooth her disheveled hair, "I won't do anything. Just let me hold you a little longer... Holding you like this makes my heart feel at ease."
"Hurry and go! What if they come back? Then it's over, I couldn't live!" Her voice was very light and soft, like a pitiful little kitten.
Zhou Zhijun remembered seeing Wang Haichao and the others taking Liu Cuilan to the commune clinic, and it reminded him to ask.
"What happened to Liu Cuilan?"
That kind of thing was too shameful to recall. Chuntao certainly couldn't tell the truth. "She had a headache!"
When country folk have a minor headache or fever, who goes to the commune clinic? Zhou Zhijun didn't believe it, but he didn't press further.
He released her, got off the bed, and prepared to leave!
Chuntao hurriedly adjusted her clothes, which he had pulled open, but those rough hands caressed her again.
"Tao, I really can't bear to leave you. I truly adore you... Let me just..." He bent down, burying his head against her once more.
From last night to tonight, he was like a man possessed. Chuntao couldn't believe how a person could change so suddenly, becoming a completely different man.
Her small body stiffened, not daring to move a muscle. Her throat was dry and tight. She wanted to speak but couldn't make a sound.
"Call me 'brother' from now on!" he squeezed out the words between breaths.
Originally, they were just neighbors, not from the same clan. What she called him was just a form of address. But Zhou Zhijun wanted her to call him 'brother.'
They had been at the clinic for a while now. Chuntao was terrified and tried to push him away with her hands. "I need to sleep!"
"Tao, remember this. I have no feelings for Liu Cuilan, never did from the start! I adore you, sincerely adore you..."
He, Zhou Zhijun, didn't like a personality like Liu Cuilan's.
He liked someone like her—delicate and frail, sweet and charming, shy and bashful, speaking like honey, walking as gracefully as a willow swaying in the wind, whose tears make one's heart ache, making one want to hold her close, to meld her into one's very bones and blood.
A woman like this could stir his protective instincts, make his blood boil! Make him lose control!
"Hurry and go! They'll be back soon!" Chuntao pleaded tearfully.
Zhou Zhijun didn't stop his busywork, panting heavily, "Call me 'brother' once, and I'll go!"
"Brother Zhijun!" Chuntao bit her lower lip, forcing out the three words with difficulty.
Those three words, coming from her mouth, were sweet and soft, as if wrapped in cotton candy.
Zhou Zhijun's body and mind trembled violently, and that restless fire surged within him once more.
He decided not to leave again, to hell with the consequences. It would be even better if they came back and saw; that way he could lay everything out in the open.
Wang Jieshi didn't cherish Chuntao, but he did!
He abruptly bent down and embraced her again...
To hell with everyone else. At this moment, he only wanted her... to melt into her very bones and blood...
