Zhou Zhijun leaned his hoe against the base of the wall and stepped into the kitchen in two strides. His tall figure instantly blocked the light, making the room noticeably darker.
Chuntao and Li Mingliang turned their heads at the same time. When they saw who it was, the expressions on their faces became somewhat unnatural.
"Brother Zhijun!" Chuntao called out softly.
Li Mingliang forced a smile but did not say a word.
Zhou Zhijun glanced at Li Mingliang's clothes, immediately recognizing him as an oilfield worker.
He looked at Chuntao and said, "They are showing a movie east of the river tonight. It is better than watching television. After you finish your soup, go watch it with Xiaohong!"
How could Li Mingliang not detect the hostility in his words? He wondered to himself, what is his relationship with Chuntao, and why is he acting so jealous?
Chuntao noticed that Zhou Zhijun was acting strange and quickly pointed to Li Mingliang to explain, "Brother Zhijun, this is Brother Mingliang. When I fainted selling melons in Nangang, it was all thanks to him and Aunt Zhang who saved me!"
Only then did Zhou Zhijun raise his eyes to look at Li Mingliang. The corner of his mouth twitched in an almost imperceptible smirk, and his tone was flat. "I thank you on behalf of my sister!"
"You are welcome, it was just a small effort!"
Seeing that Zhou Zhijun was not friendly, Li Mingliang did not plan to stay long. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he said his goodbyes and left.
As soon as he stepped out the door, Zhou Zhijun slammed it shut with a loud bang and said in a deep voice, "Do not get so close to him from now on!"
Chuntao knew he was overthinking things again and could not help but talk back, "He is my savior, is it wrong to just say a few words?"
"That guy came all the way over here just to ask you to watch television. He definitely has bad intentions!"
The only one with bad intentions is probably you, Zhou Zhijun, right? Because of the kind of person you are, you assume everyone else is just like you.
Chuntao stayed silent and reached out to open the door, but unexpectedly, Wang Xiaohong pushed the door open from the outside and walked in.
"Uncle Zhijun!" Seeing Zhou Zhijun standing in the kitchen, Wang Xiaohong's eyes widened in surprise. She then turned to Chuntao and asked, "Where is Brother Mingliang?"
"He went back," Chuntao replied indifferently as she added firewood to the stove.
"Uncle Zhijun, let's go watch television in the north field after we finish our soup! You should ask Granny and the others to go together!" Wang Xiaohong stomped her feet in excitement.
"Your Granny is getting old and sleeps early, she will not go!"
"Then are you going? After soup, I will call Hongxia and the others to go together!"
Zhou Zhijun's gaze fell on Chuntao, as if asking her if she was going.
Zhou Zhijun was already wary of Li Mingliang. If she went, he would definitely be angry. Chuntao was a little afraid of him.
So she shook her head and said, "Xiaohong, you go with Hongxia and the others. I am not going."
"Why are you not going? You are busy in the fields and at home every day, you should go watch television and experience something new!" Zhou Zhijun spoke up.
Chuntao found it even harder to read his mind, not knowing if he was being sincere or sarcastic. She simply chose not to say anything.
Wang Xiaohong chimed in from the side, "Exactly, Sister-in-law! Uncle Zhijun is right. You do nothing but work every day, how boring! You did not go when they showed movies in the surrounding villages, and you did not go to watch television in Huangdian. The workers' compound is close by, so just go take a look! Brother Mingliang is there too, so we do not need to bring stools, we can just borrow his to sit on!"
Zhou Zhijun looked at Wang Xiaohong, his tone softening a bit. "After soup, call Hongxia. You all go together, there is safety in numbers."
Wang Xiaohong had a fierce personality and feared nothing in the village, but to get to the workers' compound in the north, they had to pass through a mass graveyard.
Wang Chouni was buried there. The mere thought of it gave her the creeps, so she nodded quickly. "Yes, and we will call Brother Xiaowei too!"
After finishing the soup, Wang Xiaohong immediately went to call Zhou Hongxia and Zhou Xiaowei. Hearing they could watch television, the two were naturally very eager.
Chuntao originally had no intention of going, but Wang Xiaohong stubbornly pulled on her arm and refused to let go.
Zhou Hongxia also urged her, "Sister-in-law Chuntao, go with us! You have never seen a television before, go broaden your horizons!"
Zhou Xiaowei added, "That is right, you are always working non-stop between the house and the fields, go watch television and relax a bit!"
Aunt Zhou had taken Chuntao as her goddaughter. Logically, Zhou Hongxia and Zhou Xiaowei should call her Aunt, but they were used to calling her Sister-in-law, so they did not change it.
To Chuntao, it was just a title, and she did not care.
Chuntao thought to herself that if she stayed home, Zhou Zhijun might come bother her again, so she went along with them.
When they reached the mass graveyard, Chuntao's heart pounded wildly. The image of Wang Chouni lying on the ground kept appearing in her mind.
She could not help but grip Wang Xiaohong's hand tightly. Zhou Xiaowei followed behind them, holding a flashlight. The beam of light swayed back and forth among the pitch-black graves.
Even as a grown young man, he felt uneasy walking through here and started humming You and Me on the Road of Love to give himself courage.
The group sped up, almost jogging into the workers' compound.
The electric lights in the courtyard were bright, illuminating the area as if it were daytime.
A large color television sat on a square table in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by a crowd of people, including oilfield workers and villagers from the surrounding areas.
This was the legendary large color television that was only found in the city. It was much bigger than the black-and-white television at Lao Jin's house in Huangdian, and the people inside it were in color.
They were extremely excited to see the large color television. Wang Xiaohong scanned the area but did not see Li Mingliang, so she stood up to go to his room and borrow stools.
Li Mingliang had already seen them from the doorway and walked over carrying two chairs. "You are here!"
"Brother Mingliang! I was just about to go look for you to borrow some stools!"
Li Mingliang handed one to Wang Xiaohong and moved the other next to Chuntao, saying softly, "Sister Chuntao, have a seat."
Seeing that Zhou Hongxia and Zhou Xiaowei were still standing, Li Mingliang turned around to fetch two more chairs. He also brought several bags of sunflower seeds and a few small bottles of champagne, distributing them to the group.
Wang Xiaohong felt a bit embarrassed. "Brother Mingliang, this is too much trouble for you!"
Chuntao also quickly said, "Brother Mingliang, go ahead with your own business, you do not need to worry about us!"
Li Mingliang smiled and waved his hand. "I am not busy."
He stood next to Chuntao for a while, watched the television for a bit, and then greeted the group before returning to his room.
Just as they were engrossed in the show, a lowered voice suddenly sounded in Chuntao's ear. "How is it, is it good?"
Chuntao turned her head and her heart skipped a beat in fright. Why was it Zhou Zhijun?
Wang Xiaohong and the others also saw him. Zhou Xiaowei quickly stood up. "Second Uncle, take a seat!"
"I will not sit. I came to call your Aunt Chuntao to go back."
Zhou Xiaowei looked puzzled. "We just started watching, why do we have to go back so soon?"
Zhou Zhijun ignored him and only spoke to Chuntao in a low voice, "Your sow keeps grunting and acting restless. It seems like something is wrong. Hurry back and check on it, I will go to Hanzhuang to fetch Old Man Han to take a look!"
That sow was Chuntao's lifeline. The money to buy a cow and Xiaoming's future school fees all depended on it giving birth to piglets to sell!
Hearing Zhou Zhijun say this, her heart instantly leaped into her throat.
"Xiaohong, you guys keep watching. I am going back to check on the pig first," Chuntao said hurriedly.
Wang Xiaohong was also worried about the pig and wanted to go with her, but Zhou Zhijun stopped her.
"Your sister-in-law can go back by herself. I am going to get the vet, you guys keep watching."
Chuntao could no longer care about being afraid, rushing home and stumbling along the uneven path.
After leaving the workers' compound, Zhou Zhijun did not head north towards Hanzhuang. Instead, he followed behind her.
"Hurry up and go get Uncle Han, I can go back by myself!" Chuntao turned around and urged.
"It is too dark at night. I will walk you to your door."
Chuntao said no more, simply quickening her pace until she was almost jogging forward.
As they neared the village entrance, she wanted to tell Zhou Zhijun to hurry up and find Old Man Han. However, before she could even come to a steady halt, he suddenly grabbed her and hoisted her over his shoulder.
"Tao, the pigs are fine. I just missed you." His heavy breaths brushed against Chuntao's ear, carrying a scalding heat.
Chuntao's heart felt as if it had been ruthlessly seized by an invisible hand, instantly turning to ice!
"Zhou Zhijun, you liar! Put me down!"
She didn't dare to scream out loud and could only struggle desperately over his shoulder. But Zhou Zhijun's arms were like iron bands, clamping her legs in a vice-like grip that didn't budge an inch no matter how much she thrashed.
Zhou Zhijun said nothing more. His heavy panting and the wild thumping of his heart were exceptionally loud in the dead of the silent night.
"Don't move!" Zhou Zhijun's hoarse voice sent a violent chill down Chuntao's spine...
