“You… what did you say? That dead woman is your wife? Then what am I?”
She never imagined she would lose to a dead woman.
She knew about the house too. The matchmaker had told her at the time that Xia Zhiqiu had paid for its construction. Zhao Tiezhu hadn’t wanted the villagers to laugh at him for marrying into the woman’s family, and he was also worried that something might happen to him, leaving Xia Zhiqiu without any security. So, in the presence of the brigade and the villagers, he had written a document proving that she had provided the money.
But Cai Shufen had thought at the time that even if there was such a document, what could it possibly change? The woman was already dead. There was no way a little girl could be assigned a homestead in the village. In the end, the house would still be hers.
Although she was already getting on in years, the reason she had chosen Zhao Tiezhu was precisely because of those three rooms with their tiled roof. Some families went several generations without ever being able to live in a house like that. When she had gotten together with him, she had been a perfectly respectable unmarried woman. Now, after he had slept with her for six years and she had borne him a child, he wanted to drive her away just like that. How could she possibly accept it?
Cai Shufen threw herself into Zhao Tiezhu’s arms. “I was wrong… I won’t divorce you. I promise I’ll treat Xi Ran well from now on. I swear. Please forgive me this once, all right? That Zhou Xiaomei was just talking nonsense. You can’t believe other people and not me.”
Zhao Tiezhu pushed her away and closed his eyes again.
Cai Shufen gritted her teeth and began taking off her clothes.
One garment, then another, then a third.
Before long, she was completely naked and had climbed straight onto Zhao Tiezhu’s hospital bed.
“Tiezhu, don’t you like me like this? I can satisfy you in every way. Just think—if we get divorced, you won’t have a woman. How are you supposed to stand that?”
“Please, don’t divorce me, all right? I’ll never hide from you again. You can have me as many times as you want.”
Zhao Tiezhu was startled by her.
“Cai Shufen, what the hell are you doing? Are you sick? This is a hospital!”
Cai Shufen grabbed his hand and pulled it toward her chest.
Zhao Tiezhu’s face flushed crimson. He yanked his hand away, afraid of waking the child sleeping in the neighboring bed, and lowered his voice as much as possible.
“Cai Shufen, do you even know where you are? The child is still asleep. Put your clothes on right now. What if someone comes in? You may have no shame, but I still do.”
“I’m not putting them on. So what if this is a hospital? I’m sleeping with my own man. No one has the right to interfere.” Cai Shufen’s voice turned sticky and seductive. “Whenever I made you angry in the past, you’d forgive me after sleeping with me. So sleep with me now, and we won’t be angry with each other anymore, all right?”
That was how it had always been. No matter how angry Zhao Tiezhu became, as long as she satisfied him, he would forgive her. His appetite in that regard was enormous. No matter how tired he was after a day of labor, he would still want to have his way with her when he came home. At first, she had enjoyed it too, and the two of them had been very compatible.
But over the past two years, as she had grown older, she had begun avoiding Zhao Tiezhu. Recently, they had been quarreling because he wanted to send that little dead girl to school, and she had refused to let him touch her. Zhao Tiezhu had begged her the night before, but she still hadn’t relented, so he had taken care of himself.
Cai Shufen believed that Zhao Tiezhu was simply craving her body. They had gone so long without being together that he had forgotten how good she was to him.
“Brother Tiezhu, forgive me this once. I promise I’ll never treat Xi Ran that way again.”
As she spoke, Cai Shufen reached for Zhao Tiezhu’s trousers.
“Brother Tiezhu, don’t you like it when I call you that? I’ll call you that every day from now on, all right?”
By now, Zhao Tiezhu truly had the urge to kill this woman.
“Don’t move. What are you doing? Let go! Cai Shufen, are you out of your mind? Can you do this kind of thing out here?”
“Why not? Don’t you remember taking me to the cornfield? Don’t you remember bathing with me in the river? You even used to do it with me while I was cooking. Every time you called me ‘girl,’ don’t you remember? Don’t you remember what we did on the roof while drying corn?”
As she spoke, Cai Shufen burrowed into Zhao Tiezhu’s arms.
“That’s enough! Those were places where no one else was around. This is a hospital. Put your clothes back on!”
“Put your clothes on first. We’ll talk about the divorce when we get home.”
“No. Look, you want it too, don’t you?”
Smack!
A slap landed across Cai Shufen’s face.
“Are you clearheaded now?”
Cai Shufen covered her cheek and stared blankly for a moment. Then she actually laughed, laughing so hard that tears spilled from her eyes.
“Zhao Tiezhu, why have you always been unable to let go of that Xia Zhiqiu? Is she better at satisfying you than I am?”
Zhao Tiezhu clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked.
“Cai Shufen, can’t you act normal for once?” Zhao Tiezhu forced the words out through gritted teeth. “If you dare insult Zhiqiu again, I’ll kill you.”
“I know.” Cai Shufen was crying and laughing at the same time. “I know why you made me call you Tiezhu. And I know why you called me ‘girl.’”
“Because you once accidentally called out ‘Little Qiu.’ Because that Xia Zhiqiu used to call you Brother Tiezhu.”
“Zhao Tiezhu, every time you were with me, were you thinking about that bitch? Why did you do this to me? Why did you make me live every day in the shadow of a dead woman?”
Just then, the Brigade Leader’s voice came from the corridor.
“Doctor Xiao, which room is Tiezhu in?”
Xiao Mandong had been listening so intently that the sudden voice made her jump.
When she turned around, the Brigade Leader was standing behind her with a grave expression, accompanied by the Women’s Director and a Commune Officer.
“B-Brigade Leader.” Her voice trembled slightly. Even seeing Director Huang from the mortuary department didn’t make her feel this awkward.
If they found out she had been listening in on something like this, she would never be able to face them again.
“Why are you here?” Xiao Mandong forced a stiff smile. “He’s in… in this room.”
“We came to deal with the matter in Tiezhu’s family. Is he awake?” The Brigade Leader’s brows were tightly knit, his face full of worry.
“He’s been awake for quite a while. He’s in there discussing the divorce with Cai Shufen.” Xiao Mandong rubbed her burning cheeks.
The Brigade Leader let out a heavy sigh.
“That child is so pitiful. Everyone in the village is furious about this. People have practically worn down my doorstep, shouting that Cai Shufen should be driven out of Red Flag Brigade. They all say that if no one takes care of the child, they’re willing to pool their grain.”
“Did you agree to that? We could pool grain too and place her with Zhou Xiaomei.”
Xiao Mandong tried to hold the Brigade Leader back. She deliberately raised her voice, hoping the people inside would hear her and hurry to get dressed.
“That isn’t up to me. Wherever the child is raised, it’s still Tiezhu’s decision.”
“That’s why the commune officials came—to ask Tiezhu what he wants. If Tiezhu takes the child back, he’ll have to accept the supervision of the entire village. If he refuses, then we’ll see which family is willing to adopt her, and Tiezhu will provide living expenses.”
As he spoke, the Brigade Leader moved to open the door. Xiao Mandong quickly pulled him aside.
“Wait. Don’t go in yet.”
“Why?” the Brigade Leader asked, looking at her in confusion.
Before Xiao Mandong could explain, there was a loud crash from the doorway, followed by a shriek.
“Ah… Someone’s molesting people!”
The young nurse covered her face, dropped her tray on the floor, and ran away shouting.
