Wang Xiaohong stood in Wang Qingshan's yard with her hands on her hips, shouting at the top of her lungs.
Zhou Zhaodi was a notorious shrew, on par with Liu Cuilan. Why would she be afraid of a mere slip of a girl?
She rushed out of the house clutching a broom and yelled at the top of her voice, "Wang Xiaohong, what are you acting so tough for? I've seen people pick up money, but I've never seen anyone pick up a scolding... If you want to pick it up, I won't stop you!"
Old Man Wang and his wife also came out of the house, but they didn't dare to step forward to pull Zhou Zhaodi back. They could only try to persuade Wang Xiaohong.
Chuntao grabbed Wang Xiaohong's arm. Usually soft-spoken, she deliberately raised her voice today so Zhou Zhaodi could hear her.
"Xiaohong, if a mad dog bites someone, can the person bite back? It's the New Year; it's not worth stooping to her level!"
Li Yuzhen also said, "Xiaohong, let's go back quickly. It's the New Year; we shouldn't argue!"
"I can't be bothered to argue with her, but she's pushing it too far!"
Wang Xiaohong stiffened her neck and said angrily, "My sister-in-law is such a good person. She has no grudges against her, but she always picks a fight whenever they meet. I've had enough of her!"
Hearing this, Zhou Zhaodi rushed toward Wang Xiaohong with the broom, "What do you think you are? How dare you come to my door and act wild? See if I don't beat you to death!"
Wang Qingshan came out of the outhouse, quickly stepped forward to hold Zhou Zhaodi back, and roared, "It's the New Year, what are you making a fuss about?"
Neighbors and passersby who heard the noise gathered around, wearing half-smiles that showed they were enjoying the show, muttering among themselves.
Wang Qingshan held Zhou Zhaodi tightly to prevent her from moving forward. In her desperation, Zhou Zhaodi turned around and scratched his face, leaving several bloody marks.
Wang Qingshan let go in pain, and Zhou Zhaodi was about to rush forward again when a village militiaman ran over and stopped her.
"Stop making a fuss! Making a scene like a turtle turning over a pond during the New Year, what does it look like!"
In her life, Zhou Zhaodi feared no one except her father and Zhou Zhijun. Now, stopped by the militiaman, she still struggled to move forward.
"Wang Xiaohong, you wretched girl! Someone who has parents but no upbringing, today I'll teach you how to behave!"
Zhou Zhaodi bypassed the militiaman and lunged at Wang Xiaohong. Not to be outdone, Wang Xiaohong grabbed the broom in her hand, "Zhou Zhaodi, I don't believe I can't handle you!"
Each held one end of the broom. Zhou Zhaodi, with her large build, used all her strength, pulling back with her weight.
Wang Xiaohong suddenly let go. Zhou Zhaodi couldn't stop her momentum and fell hard on her bottom on the solid ground, grimacing in pain and unable to get up for a long time.
The onlookers burst into laughter. Wang Xiaohong put her hands on her hips and shouted, "Zhou Zhaodi, it's the New Year today, so I won't hold it against you.
If you dare to pick on my sister-in-law for no reason again, I'll drag you to the commune to reason it out!"
With that, without waiting for Zhou Zhaodi to get up, she pulled Chuntao and turned to leave.
Lying on the ground and seeing them leave, Zhou Zhaodi started cursing at the Wang couple, cursing all eight generations of the Wang family's ancestors.
Old Man Wang and his wife were inherently timid and afraid of trouble. Cursed at, they didn't dare to make a sound and silently hid in the kitchen.
Wang Qingshan was usually a man of few words, but he also had a temper.
When he married Zhou Zhaodi, he was completely unwilling.
Zhou Zhaodi was not only ugly and old, but also unreasonable. If his parents hadn't said they couldn't disregard the party secretary's face, he wouldn't have compromised.
He was almost thirty, had a terrifying birthmark on his face, and his sister Wang Chouni had hanged herself. It was already hard for him to find a wife, so he could only agree to this marriage.
But he didn't expect that just a few days after they got married, the house would be turned upside down by Zhou Zhaodi, and his parents would avoid her like mice seeing a cat.
He had endured everything before, but today, during the New Year, Zhou Zhaodi was still throwing tantrums outside. This acted like a fuse, igniting all the anger he had harbored in his stomach over the past few days.
Zhou Zhaodi was still throwing a tantrum and cursing on the ground, but the veins on Wang Qingshan's forehead were throbbing, his eyes were red, his fists were clenched tightly, and his knuckles cracked.
He pressed his lips tightly together, rushed forward without a word, and kicked Zhou Zhaodi fiercely a few times. Zhou Zhaodi was immediately stunned by the beating.
The pain from her fall hadn't subsided yet, and she received a few more kicks. She had no strength to fight back and could only lie on the ground wailing, forgetting even to curse.
Hearing the commotion from the kitchen, Li Yuzhen was scared and wanted to go out to persuade them, but Old Man Wang held her back.
He said in a low voice, "It's fine to give her a beating, to kill her evil spirit."
Zhou Zhaodi usually loved to gossip and be unreasonable, so the villagers didn't like her.
Seeing her getting beaten now, no one stepped forward to break up the fight, and their faces even showed schadenfreude.
It wasn't until her mother Wang Jinzhi and sister Zhou Pandi heard the news and ran over that they pulled Wang Qingshan away.
No matter how unreasonable her daughter was, a mother would still feel heartache seeing her beaten like this.
Wang Jinzhi scolded Wang Qingshan and forced him to apologize to Zhou Zhaodi.
Wang Qingshan was stubborn, stiffened his neck, and said, "I'm not wrong!" He turned and left.
No one knows a daughter better than her mother. Wang Jinzhi knew her daughter's temper better than anyone.
Seeing Wang Qingshan's resolute attitude, she could only advise Zhou Zhaodi, "You have to change your temper in the future, or you'll suffer sooner or later."
The beating on the first day of the New Year really scared Zhou Zhaodi. She hated it in her heart, but on the surface, she restrained herself a lot.
The villagers discussed privately, "Everything has its vanquisher. Zhou Zhaodi has finally met someone who can handle her."
As the sound of firecrackers gradually faded, the bustling "New Year" also ended.
The snow in the fields began to melt, the ice on the dam of the East Ditch River became thinner, and the villagers started a new year of busy work.
After a month or two of recuperation, the wounds on Wang Jieshi's body also healed.
However, because he wasn't treated in time, his only remaining leg was left disabled, and he couldn't walk normally even with a stick.
Wang Xiaohong asked Zhou Zhijun to help make a high stool. During the day, Chuntao and Wang Xiaohong went to the fields to work, and Wang Jieshi would hold the stool and inch towards the outhouse.
After Wang Xiaoming returned to school, only Chuntao and Wang Xiaohong were left at home to take care of Wang Jieshi.
It was ultimately inconvenient for a grown girl like Wang Xiaohong to take care of him, so Chuntao had to bite the bullet and sleep in the same room with Wang Jieshi.
During the New Year, Wang Lanhua came to visit relatives, and her words were all hints aimed at Chuntao.
She held Chuntao's hand and said, "I only married your brother to exchange you for Jieshi. I feel wronged in my heart too.
Who doesn't have grievances in life? But you have to endure grievances. To let your brother have a family, you just have to accept it."
She also kept urging Chuntao to use a flatbed cart to pull Wang Jieshi to the commune to get a marriage certificate.
Chuntao knew in her heart that Wang Lanhua was afraid she would run away and leave Wang Jieshi behind.
Before leaving, Wang Lanhua held her hand again and said, "Chuntao, I know you are in a difficult position, but you still have to live!
Isn't this the fate of us women in this life? Besides, this is an exchange marriage. If one family doesn't live well, everyone else won't have peace."
How could Chuntao not hear the threat in her words? These words were like a heavy stone, smashing the little hope that had just begun to sprout in her heart.
She feared she would be trapped in this sunless cage for the rest of her life.
She no longer knew what pain felt like; she could only endure it numbly, day by day.
Every day at the first crow of the rooster, she would get up to feed the pigs, sweep the yard, carry water, and cook, before heading to the fields to work with Wang Xiaohong.
When she returned in the evening, she had to serve tea and water to Wang Jieshi, sponge bathe him, and help him up to use the toilet at night, keeping her so busy her feet barely touched the ground.
Seeing Chuntao working tirelessly from dawn to dusk every day, Zhou Zhijun felt a deep ache in his heart.
He set aside his own farm work, shouldered his hoe, and went to help Chuntao's family hoe their fields.
Afraid of making Chuntao feel uncomfortable, he didn't work in the same plot as her. If Chuntao and Wang Xiaohong went to the north field, he would go to the south field.
Yet, not being able to see Chuntao's silhouette while he worked left a hollow feeling in his chest.
That day, by the time he returned from working in the south field, the sky had turned pitch black.
Zhou Zhijun didn't go straight home. Seeing from afar that Chuntao was tending the fire in the kitchen, he walked over.
Before he even stepped inside, he heard an unfamiliar man's voice coming from the kitchen: "We're setting up a TV out in the yard tonight. After dinner, you and Xiaohong should come over and watch!"
"I think I'll pass," Chuntao's voice was soft and quiet, carrying a hint of aloofness.
Zhou Zhijun's heart suddenly sank, as if tightly gripped by something, and in two strides, he stepped right into the kitchen.
