The Brigade Leader arrived at the hospital room and froze in place.
Clothes had been tossed all over the floor in a complete mess.
Cai Shufen sat on the hospital bed, wrapped in a quilt with only half her head showing, her hair a tangled mess.
Zhao Tiezhu’s face was flushed purple, and his trousers were still only half-pulled up.
“Zhao Tiezhu, what are you two doing? Have you no shame? Get yourselves cleaned up! People from the commune are here!” the Brigade Leader said grimly before slamming the hospital room door shut.
“Brigade Leader, it’s not what you think. Listen to me—” Zhao Tiezhu had not even finished speaking when the door was already closed.
“What happened? What happened?”
“Someone was fooling around? Who was fooling around?”
“I heard the shouting coming from this room…”
“Move aside, let me have a look…”
Hearing the nurse’s cries, quite a few patients came over to watch the commotion. When they saw the door to the room was closed, some awkwardly left, while others asked what had happened inside.
There were even people trying to open the door and see for themselves.
Inside the room, Zhao Tiezhu became even more determined to get a divorce.
“You’re not dressed. What are you waiting for? Do you want me to throw you out like this?”
Cai Shufen had been frightened as well. Only after hearing Zhao Tiezhu’s voice did she finally come back to her senses.
She hurriedly got out of bed and pulled her clothes on.
Her hands were trembling violently, and it took her a long time to get dressed.
“Tiezhu, I… I didn’t do it on purpose. I’m sorry.” Seeing Zhao Tiezhu about to open the door, Cai Shufen quickly grabbed his sleeve. “Tiezhu, can we not get divorced? You know my father will definitely look down on me for bringing shame on the family and make me marry someone else. I truly know I was wrong this time. I…”
Zhao Tiezhu impatiently shook off her hand. “Stop pestering me. I’m not changing my mind.”
Cai Shufen was nearly knocked off balance. After standing frozen for a moment, a look of grievance surfaced on her face.
“You blame me for what just happened? How was I supposed to know someone would come in?” Her eyes reddened, and her voice choked with sobs. “You just watched them misunderstand us without explaining anything. Couldn’t you have said something?”
“I’ve already apologized and humbled myself. Why won’t you let it go?”
“Zhao Tiezhu, all I did was hit the child once. Is that really enough for you to divorce me? Look at the state I’m in—why are you still carrying on? Whose child doesn’t get beaten? Who didn’t go hungry as a child? Why are you refusing to let this go? Do you already have another woman? Is that why you want a divorce?”
“Tell me, what exactly is your relationship with Zhou Xiaomei? Why is she so good to Zhao Xiran?”
Cai Shufen’s mind was a chaotic mess, but one thought was becoming increasingly clear.
Why was Zhou Xiaomei so good to that wretched girl?
She herself had married into the neighboring village, more than twenty li away, and it was not easy for her to come back. Yet she returned every few days just to bring that girl food. She did not even dare to deliver it openly, sneaking around like a thief.
What other explanation could there be? Unless…
Cai Shufen’s mind went blank with a buzzing sound.
Unless that girl was Zhou Xiaomei’s own child!
The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. That girl’s features did bear some resemblance to Zhou Xiaomei… and the timing was right too. When Zhou Xiaomei had gotten married, the girl had only been born a few months earlier…
And after Zhou Xiaomei’s divorce, Zhao Tiezhu had started making a fuss about getting divorced as well. Cai Shufen suddenly remembered that Zhou Xiaomei had once cursed Zhao Tiezhu, saying that all he did every day was worry about the two ounces of flesh beneath his waistband. How else would she know that Zhao Tiezhu had such strong needs?
“You bastard, Zhao Tiezhu.” Cai Shufen ground her teeth, her eyes bloodshot. “So that’s why you’ve been protecting that wretched girl all this time! It turns out your old lover gave birth to her for you! No wonder you’re so determined to divorce me. Your old lover is back, so now you want to kick me out?”
Zhao Tiezhu was so enraged by her words that his fingers trembled as he pointed at Cai Shufen. For a long moment, he could manage only one sentence.
“You’re insane. You’re completely insane.”
Without another word, he opened the hospital room door. The Brigade Leader entered with several others.
Cai Shufen lifted her chin and planted her hands on her hips, as though she had caught Zhao Tiezhu in the act.
“This is a cadre from the commune. He’s here to understand the situation.”
At the Brigade Leader’s words, Cai Shufen put on a pitiful expression and wiped away her tears.
“Brigade Leader… Leader from the commune, you have to stand up for me! Zhao Tiezhu wants to abandon his wife and child. He wants to drive the two of us out of the house. He’s forcing us to our deaths!”
“I won’t divorce him. I’d rather die than divorce him. If you won’t help me, I’ll take my child and hang myself at the entrance to the commune!”
“He’s been sleeping around outside, so why should I raise his bastard child? Now that the child is grown and his old lover is divorced, he wants to kick me out.”
The more Cai Shufen thought about it, the more unwilling she became to divorce him. She absolutely would not allow that family to reunite.
The Brigade Leader was completely confused by Cai Shufen’s accusations and looked at Zhao Tiezhu in bewilderment.
Zhao Tiezhu’s tone was calm, but his voice was filled with exhaustion. “Brigade Leader, there’s something wrong with her head. I want a divorce. No one is going to talk me out of it today. Even if she hangs herself from Chengyang Tower, I’m still getting divorced.”
“She wants to take Huzi with her? I have no objection. If she doesn’t want him, I’ll raise him myself. The house was built by Xiran’s mother. No one else has the right to take it. This house will belong to Xiran in the future.”
“Xiran’s mother left behind some money. I’ve never touched it. The date on the bankbook can prove that the money isn’t mine.”
“It’s for Xiran’s education and marriage in the future.”
“As for everything in my house now, she can take anything except the things Xiran’s mother bought. In the six years we’ve been married, I’ve earned a total of 980 yuan. It’s impossible that we spent more than 100 yuan a year, so there should be at least 380 yuan left in the house. I’ll give that money to her.”
Cai Shufen panicked. “I don’t agree! I looked after your entire family for six years. If you insist on divorcing me, then you have to give me the house and the money in that bankbook. And you have to pay me back the ten yuan I just paid for Zhao Tiezhu’s hospitalization!”
The instant she finished speaking, the hospital room door was slammed open. An elderly man rushed in and struck her across the face.
Smack!
The blow sent Cai Shufen staggering into the hospital bed beside her. The bed slid away from the impact, its metal legs scraping against the floor with a harsh screech.
Cai Shufen fell to the ground. Her cheek swelled instantly, and blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.
“Beast! How did I ever give birth to a beast like you?” Even after delivering the slap, the old man was still furious. He stepped forward and kicked her twice more.
Only then did Xiao Mandong realize that the old man was Cai Shufen’s biological father.
Huzi, who had been sleeping soundly on the bed, nearly fell off. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up, completely unaware of what had happened. All he saw was his mother sitting on the floor with blood at the corner of her mouth.
“Mom…”
He climbed down from the bed and ran over, reaching out with his little hand to tug at Cai Shufen’s sleeve.
Cai Shufen’s head was still ringing from the beating.
Huzi continued tugging at her sleeve. “Mom, does it hurt—”
“Stop pulling me!”
Cai Shufen flung her hand away. Huzi lost his balance, stumbled backward, and landed heavily on the floor.
He froze. He did not cry. He merely looked up at Cai Shufen, unable to understand why his mother had pushed him.
