Jiang Hongguo had been troubled lately.
Her educated-youth husband, who had slept separately from her for a whole year, had suddenly turned passionate.
During the day, in front of others, Gu Changzong behaved no differently than before. But at night, he was fierce—so fierce that the first time, she didn’t get to sleep until the rooster crowed. She’d thrown a temper over it, and only then did he restrain himself a little.
Even so, something felt wrong.
It wasn’t that that part was abnormal.
It was that Changzong, in every way, seemed off.
A year ago, Gu Changzong had stood at her father—the village chief’s—sickbed and promised to marry Jiang Hongguo to repay a life-saving favor. They’d married, yet he insisted on sleeping separately.
She had taken the initiative once. Her educated-youth husband gently pushed her away, saying they should observe a year of mourning.
That was when Jiang Hongguo understood: although Gu Changzong had married her, he didn’t want to share a bed. He simply didn’t like her.
If liking someone could be measured by how often you slept together, then the current Gu Changzong liked her far too much.
Just thinking about it made Jiang Hongguo blush.
But this wasn’t even the strangest thing about him.
The old Gu Changzong couldn’t bear to kill a chicken and insisted on releasing fish back into the river.
The current one twisted a chicken’s neck clean off without hesitation.
That very night, Jiang Hongguo had a nightmare—she dreamed Gu Changzong was biting her neck, murmuring that she smelled good. She’d woken up sobbing from fright.
Although farmland had been contracted to individual households now and they were no longer part of the big collective, every family in the village was still poor.
Yet every time Changzong went to the county town, he came back with two jin of pork.
Two jin.
At seventy-five cents per jin, that was one yuan and fifty cents.
In the past, you needed ration coupons to buy meat. Now you didn’t—but meat was expensive. Even county workers earning thirty or forty yuan a month couldn’t bear to eat meat more than once a week.
Changzong could earn one yuan fifty in a single day?
How?
They were eating meat four times a month.
Wasn’t that strange?
On ordinary days it was manageable. But whenever they had meat, she wouldn’t get to sleep properly until the rooster crowed.
That definitely wasn’t normal.
Jiang Hongguo kept these thoughts to herself. She didn’t know how other households were, so she came to the old locust tree at the village entrance and joined the crowd drawing well water.
They called it drawing water, but the buckets sat to the side untouched. The aunties were busy stitching shoe soles and gossiping. There were no unmarried girls here—the youngest were married young wives like Jiang Hongguo.
She’d grown up in Dayang Village and was already married, so no one avoided speaking in front of her.
Aunt Wang continued, “Sister Liu, last time you said your man wasn’t up to it. After drinking those herbal medicines, did he improve? Do they work?”
“What’s wrong? Your man not working either? Isn’t he only in his forties?”
“Not working at all. Even after resting a whole month he can’t recover. Isn’t that no different from being a living widow?”
“Then get him some herbal medicine too. It helps a little. But no matter how much he drinks, it’s not like when we were young. Back when we’d just married, we’d oversleep every few days and my mother-in-law would scold us. Now, wanting it every three or five days? Don’t even have the strength.”
Jiang Hongguo stared, dumbfounded.
So once every three to five days was normal?
Then what about her…?
She clenched her teeth.
Changzong wasn’t a normal man.
Maybe he wasn’t even human.
“Hongguo, your belly hasn’t shown any signs after a whole year. I’ll introduce you to a traditional doctor to take a look.”
Nothing fascinated the aunties more than when a new bride would start showing.
Jiang Hongguo was thin. No matter how much she ate, she couldn’t gain weight. Her waist was slender and delicate, almost fragile. She tucked her blouse into her waistband, making her figure look even flatter and slimmer.
She hurriedly pulled the hem loose.
She and Gu Changzong had been separated for a year. They’d only shared a room for less than a month. She didn’t know if she was pregnant.
She hoped she wasn’t.
If Changzong wasn’t human, she’d better not be carrying his child.
And if she was… what would that even be?
Her chest tightened uncomfortably.
Just then, Aunt Liu handed her a bundle of sweet potato leaves. If you peeled the skin off the stems and stir-fried them, they turned crisp and delicious. Jiang Hongguo liked them, though they were tedious to prepare.
“Hongguo, we’re heading back to cook dinner. You should go home soon too.”
“Look at Hongguo—why’s she been so quiet lately? Don’t tell me she’s quarreled with Educated Youth Gu?”
“How could that be? I live next door. That wooden bed creaks every night. No way they’re fighting. The young couple’s relationship is great.”
“Doesn’t look like it. Educated Youth Gu sure has strength. Hongguo’s lucky.”
Jiang Hongguo flushed with both anger and embarrassment.
Aunt Liu was full of nonsense—making things up. That wooden bed had been reinforced last week. It didn’t make a sound anymore. What noise was she talking about? Aunt Liu’s words couldn’t be trusted.
In irritation, Jiang Hongguo tossed aside the sweet potato stems.
Then she paused.
Just a few years ago, they hadn’t even had sweet potato stems to eat. It was only in the past two years, after the land contracts, that they could finally eat pure white rice.
She couldn’t waste food.
She bent down and picked the stems back up.
Soon she was the only one left under the old locust tree. It was so quiet she could hear the soft rustle of wind.
Ring-ring—
The sound of a bicycle bell approached from afar.
Jiang Hongguo looked up, her eyes curving into a smile.
It was Uncle Chen.
Chen Minyi had been her father’s old comrade-in-arms. After the war, her father returned home to farm and served as village chief for over a decade. Uncle Chen transferred to the local police station and had worked as a township officer for years; now he was the head of the township station.
Whenever he came to Dayang Village on official visits, he still came personally. Before her father passed away, he would always stay for a meal. Now he no longer ate at their house—but he would still stop by to check on her.
“Uncle Chen, you’ve come down to the village again?”
Chen Minyi had business to handle and came by to see Hongguo along the way. Running into her at the village entrance saved him a trip to her house.
“Guoguo, why are you fetching water? Can you carry it? Where’s Changzong?”
“In the fields.”
The old Educated Youth Gu had disliked farm labor—he wanted to study.
This past month, unless it rained, he’d been working in the fields every day.
If there was anyone she could confide in, it was Uncle Chen.
“Uncle… there’s something I want to tell you. You have to promise to keep it secret.”
Chen Minyi felt a pang of concern.
Before his old comrade passed away, he’d found Hongguo a husband—a somewhat educated youth. Were the young couple having conflicts? Poor girl, with no elder at home to mediate. It seemed he needed to visit more often.
“Guoguo, whatever it is, you can tell Uncle.”
Jiang Hongguo didn’t know how to phrase it. She bit down hard and blurted it out:
“Uncle… I suspect Changzong isn’t human at all.”
Not human?
Then what was he? An immortal? A demon? A ghost?
Suddenly, without warning, a thunderclap exploded in the sky above the old locust tree.
Startled, Jiang Hongguo hurried away from beneath it.
“Please don’t blame me, Heaven. I was just talking nonsense.”
Chen Minyi couldn’t hold back his laughter. “Guoguo, you and your wild imagination. Hurry home. I’ll have a word with Changzong later.”
“You’re not allowed to tell him that! You promised to keep it secret.”
“Alright, alright. Uncle won’t say a word.”
Still chuckling, Chen Minyi shook his head, mounted his bicycle, and rode off.
On the field ridge, he ran into Gu Changzong, who had just finished work.
Chen Minyi dismounted and waited. The young man approached at an unhurried pace, hoe slung over his shoulder, muscles firm beneath his shirt.
Hadn’t he gotten sturdier since the wedding? Before, he’d been tall and lean. Now his height and build matched perfectly. Anyone who didn’t know better might think he’d just retired from the army.
“Changzong, over here.”
Gu Changzong quickened his steps slightly. “Uncle Chen. Will you stay for dinner?”
“No, I’m heading back. I ran into Hongguo under the old locust tree. She was complaining you’re not human. What exactly did you do to upset her?”
Gu Changzong reflected seriously. “Maybe I went a bit overboard at night.”
Chen Minyi, an experienced man, immediately understood. Ah. So it was that sort of marital matter. That wasn’t something he could interfere in. He’d ask his wife to have a word with Hongguo instead.
Still, he had to criticize him a little.
“Look at your build. Look at Hongguo’s. Can you really indulge yourself without restraint? You can’t keep that up.”
…
Jiang Hongguo walked slowly along the village path and eventually made it home.
Gu Changzong was in the kitchen. A rich aroma of meat filled the air.
Why was he making braised pork again tonight?
Meat meant…
Jiang Hongguo decided she wouldn’t eat any. She walked into the kitchen, scooped water to wash the sweet potato stems she’d picked, and set the basket right on the stove counter.
“I want them stir-fried plain. No meat at all.”
Gu Changzong picked up a piece, put it in his mouth, chewed thoughtfully, then frowned and quietly spat it out.
Not tasty.
Dinner was braised pork and stir-fried sweet potato stems. Gu Changzong filled a large bowl with rice, pairing it with the stems, and urged her, “Guoguo, eat more meat.”
Two jin of pork had filled an entire large bowl—no vegetables mixed in at all.
Who ate meat like that?
How much would it take to satisfy him?
Jiang Hongguo, annoyed, only picked at the sweet potato stems. “I’m not eating meat.”
“Guoguo, you’re too thin. Eat more meat so you’ll gain some weight.”
The way he said it… it almost sounded like he wanted to fatten her up to eat later.
Even though Uncle Chen had told her not to overthink, she couldn’t help it.
The more she thought about it, the less appetite she had. She pushed her bowl away. “I’m not eating.”
She ran back to the room, then secretly peeked out from behind the doorframe.
Gu Changzong didn’t get angry. He simply scraped the leftover rice from her bowl into his own, added a generous spoonful of braised pork with the sauce, tossed in a chopstick-full of sweet potato stems, stirred twice, and swallowed it in a few bites.
Then he did it again.
Soon, the pork, the stems, and the rice were all gone.
Jiang Hongguo bit her lip hard.
What normal person ate like that?
Even braised pork—who could eat that much?
In the past, when she’d sulked and refused to eat, the separated Educated Youth Gu would only say, “You’re the one who goes hungry when you throw a tantrum. Punishing others by hurting yourself is childish.”
Now, this Changzong simply assumed she couldn’t finish and quietly ate everything without wasting a grain.
Was that something a human would do?
“Guoguo, I’ve finished washing up. Your bathwater’s ready too.”
While she was sulking, Gu Changzong had already finished the chores. He’d boiled water, mixed in cool water to wash himself, and prepared a bucket of warm water for her bath.
Meat. Bath. And then… that.
Jiang Hongguo suddenly stood up, grabbed the quilt from the bed, and marched toward the west room.
“Guoguo, what does this mean?”
“I don’t want to sleep in the east room.”
“But you said the west room gets too much afternoon sun.”
“But the east room is next to Aunt Liu’s house. I don’t want to sleep by her wall.”
“But the bed in the west room creaks. It hasn’t been reinforced.”
Angry, Jiang Hongguo shoved him aside and shut herself in to bathe.
The water was perfectly warm.
This past month, thanks to his meticulous care, she’d lived like a pampered, lazy wife since her father’s passing—clothes handed to her, meals served to her.
Changzong was truly much better than when they’d lived separately.
So maybe she shouldn’t nitpick whether he was human or not.
Besides, if he wasn’t human, what else could he be?
Don’t scare yourself, she told herself.
After bathing, she changed into her soft cotton pajamas.
The other day she’d complained that coarse cloth scratched her skin. He’d gone to the county and come back with pure cotton ones for her.
He treated her so well.
Did she really need to know exactly where the money came from?
In the time it took her to bathe, he’d switched the beds between the east and west rooms.
Not that switching was impossible—but what normal person had that kind of strength?
Her eyes gradually reddened, mist gathering.
It was impossible not to overthink.
“Guoguo, the bed doesn’t creak now. Come sleep.”
Sleep?
Not a chance.
She turned and bolted toward the door—