Zhou Zhaodi was furious and humiliated. She scrambled up from the muddy ground and charged headfirst at Chun Tao.
She cursed loudly, "Li Chuntao, you shameless bitch! How dare you slap me? See if I don't tear you apart today!"
With a dull "thud", Zhou Zhaodi felt like she had hit a wall made of iron.
She saw stars, her forehead and cheeks burning with pain. A warm stream trickled down her nose, and when she raised her hand to touch it, it was covered in blood.
She froze for a moment, and when she looked up and saw clearly who had come, her legs went soft with fear and she almost fell to her knees.
Standing in front of her was actually Zhou Zhijun. His face was dark, his eyes so sinister they could scrape off frost, staring at her relentlessly.
"Zhou Zhijun... why, why are you here?" Zhou Zhaodi shuddered and subconsciously took a step back.
"Sister! Sister! What's wrong?" Zhou Pandi ran over in a panic. Seeing Zhou Zhaodi's nose bleeding, she quickly tore open the lining of her padded jacket, pulled out a tuft of old cotton, and stuffed it into her nose.
Looking up and catching a glimpse of Zhou Zhijun's face, which was cold enough to freeze ice, she also shrank her neck in fear and asked cautiously, "Brother Zhijun, what, what's going on?"
Zhou Zhijun ignored her, his eyes still pinned on Zhou Zhaodi's face, his voice as hard as an icicle, piercing over word by word, "Zhou Zhaodi, remember this well.
Li Chuntao is my mother's goddaughter, which makes her my, Zhou Zhijun's, godsister! If you dare to bully her again, I'll break your legs!"
These words hit Zhou Zhaodi's heart like a heavy hammer, and she couldn't help but shiver again.
The villagers at Zhou Zhimin's door heard the commotion and all flocked over to watch the fun. Zhou Ergan was also in the crowd.
Seeing him come over, Zhou Zhaodi's courage grew again. She pointed at the southern woman sitting on the ground and shouted, "Zhou Zhijun, Li Chuntao bullied my aunt first!
She knocked my aunt to the ground, can't I even say a few words to her?"
Zhou Ergan already held a grudge against Zhou Zhijun. Last time, because of Li Chuntao, Zhou Zhijun made Zhou Dana deduct a year's worth of relief grain and half a year's worth of parity fertilizer from him. He was still holding in his anger over this!
Hearing Zhou Zhaodi say this, he immediately rushed to the front, stuck his neck out and shouted, "What are you doing? Whoever dares to bully my wife is disrespecting me, Zhou Ergan!"
He shouted fiercely, but he was terrified of Zhou Zhijun in his heart. Standing next to Zhou Zhaodi, he didn't dare to move half a step forward, only repeating at the top of his voice, "Who is it? Who bullied my wife?"
The villagers all looked like they were enjoying the show, standing on Zhou Ergan's side. No one dared to approach Zhou Zhijun, but instead began to joke around.
"Zhou Ergan, you toss your wife around every night, we can hear it through the wall!"
"Yeah, yeah, when is she going to give you a son?"
"Look at your wife, you've tossed her around so much she barely looks human!"
...
Chun Tao stood behind Zhou Zhijun, his broad figure blocking the front, shielding her from the complicated gazes of the villagers.
She sniffled, trying hard to hold back her tears.
She had a soft temper, couldn't beat a big brute like Zhou Zhaodi, and didn't know how to curse. If Zhou Zhijun hadn't suddenly appeared, she would definitely have suffered a big loss today.
Looking at Zhou Zhijun's tall back, like a mountain, Chun Tao felt a mix of emotions.
Every time she was bullied, it was this man who stood up to protect her.
Every time she needed help, he also extended a helping hand without a second thought.
His kindness to her, she remembered every bit of it in her heart, piled up into a mountain, pressing down on her so hard she couldn't breathe.
She knew clearly what Zhou Zhijun wanted. But she was not in control of herself.
Chun Tao felt sour and bitter in her heart, her throat feeling like it was pierced by countless needles, hurting so much she couldn't say a word.
Hearing the villagers' jokes, Zhou Ergan turned his head and roared, "Shut your stinking mouths! I love my wife so much, why would I bully her?"
But he didn't dare to look at Zhou Zhijun. Zhou Zhaodi moved behind him, her eyes dodging as she muttered, "Whether it's a godsister or a real sister, you can't bully my aunt..."
Inside the house, Zhou Xiaohai drank the brown sugar ginger water and his body gradually warmed up. Aunt Zhou and Old Man Zhou also came out.
Seeing the tense atmosphere outside, Aunt Zhou's heart sank. She took Chun Tao's hand and asked, "Tao'er, what's wrong?"
"Godmother, it's nothing." Chun Tao tried hard to force a smile, but the tears couldn't be held back and fell down.
Aunt Zhou glanced at the southern woman sitting on the ground playing with the snowy mud by herself, sighed "poor thing", and went over to pull her up.
"Get up, the ground is cold, don't freeze." This time the southern woman was obedient, stood up docilely, and even smiled foolishly at Aunt Zhou.
Seeing Zhou Zhaodi's nose stuffed with cotton and Zhou Zhijun's face as cold as the ice of midwinter, Aunt Zhou instantly understood.
She turned and said loudly to the villagers, "Listen up, folks! Chun Tao is my goddaughter, Zhijun's godsister!
Whoever dares to bully her, not to mention Zhijun won't spare them, I, this old woman, won't let it go either!"
She scanned the crowd, her gaze finally sweeping back and forth over Zhou Ergan and Zhou Zhaodi's faces with a fierce look.
Zhou Zhaodi was unconvinced and wanted to open her mouth to retort, but meeting Zhou Zhijun's knife-like gaze, the words that reached her lips were forced back down.
Zhou Ergan was usually very arrogant, but in front of Zhou Zhijun, he hated him so much his teeth itched, but he didn't even dare to let out a squeak.
Zhou Zhijun turned to look at Chun Tao, the hostility in his eyes mostly gone, his tone carrying a bit of relief, "You girl, you finally toughened up today!"
He had just stepped out of the main room and saw Chun Tao slap Zhou Zhaodi, and he actually felt inexplicably comfortable.
Chun Tao froze. She had used all her strength for that slap just now, and her wrist was still weak.
After Zhou Zhijun finished speaking, he lifted his leg and left. Aunt Zhou pulled Chun Tao to follow behind. The villagers looked at each other, then at Zhou Zhaodi's resentful face, and dispersed while whispering to each other.
Zhou Zhaodi's teeth ground together, her triangular eyes staring fixedly at Chun Tao's back, not daring to curse loudly, only muttering softly.
"Shameless! If you hadn't hooked up with Zhou Zhijun, would he protect you?
I, Zhou Zhaodi, am not to be trifled with either. Sooner or later I'll catch you by the handle, send you to the commune's joint defense team, and parade you through the streets with worn shoes hung around your neck!"
Zhou Ergan also snorted, "A gentleman's revenge is never too late! Zhou Zhijun, just you wait!" After speaking, he pulled the southern woman and left angrily.
Baldy Zhang, who had been leaning against the old locust tree smoking dry tobacco, saw everyone had left and leaned close to Zhou Zhaodi, a wretched smile on his face, "Zhaodi, let me do you again, I'll help you vent your anger, how about it?"
"Get lost!" Zhou Zhaodi remembered that Baldy Zhang had betrayed her in the cowshed last time, and swung her fist to hit him.
But Baldy Zhang grabbed her wrist and said with a cheeky smile, "Zhaodi, don't get mad!
I really like you, I'm willing to go through fire and water for you!" As he spoke, his stinking mouth full of beard leaned towards her face.
"Baldy Zhang, you're looking for death!"
A harsh shout suddenly exploded. Baldy Zhang stiffened in fear, looked up and saw clearly who had come, and his soul instantly flew away.
