Using the excuse of going to the restroom, Zhao Yaoyao came out to catch a breath of fresh air. Rubbing her sore, aching waist, she felt a slight wave of dread regarding tonight’s inevitable battle.
The locust tree blossoms had fallen all over the courtyard, infusing the air with threads of sweetness. Her hand unconsciously drifted up to touch the hairpin in her hair, sending a warm current through her heart.
“The night wind is chilly. Go on inside.”
Shen Xingshu draped his jacket over her shoulders, his eyes filled with tender pity.
Pulling her close as they went inside, he whispered softly, “Sleep easy tonight. I won’t touch you.”
Zhao Yaoyao froze awkwardly for a second. Was she really that obvious?
True to his word, however, Shen Xingshu kept his promise. That night, he simply held her as they slept, making no extra moves. It wasn’t until the middle of the night that she felt as though a heavy stone had been placed across her waist, pressing against her so uncomfortably that she couldn’t sleep.
When she tossed and turned to shift positions, Shen Xingshu let out an involuntary, stifled groan.
The lingering moonlight shone down, illuminating the fine beads of sweat dotting his forehead.
Seeing him endure it with such agonizing restraint, Zhao Yaoyao mustered her courage, looped her arms around his neck, pressed a light kiss to him, and murmured, “Husband, be gentle.”
The moment the words fell, Shen Xingshu leaned down and captured her lips. In the deep embrace of the night, his hands wandered across her skin, searching for her hand until their fingers intertwined tightly…
While the sky was still a pale, hazy gray, Zhao Yaoyao vaguely caught the sound of someone whispering right beside her ear.
“Wife, I’m heading out. Take good care of yourself. The moment my mission is finished, I’ll come back to pick you up. Also… I love you.”
When the sun finally rose and full daylight flooded the room, Zhao Yaoyao stretched lazily and climbed out of bed looking utterly fatigued.
Pushing the door open, she found the honest and submissive Li Mei washing dishes. Pointing toward a couple of eggs on the table, Li Mei said, “The eggs are cold. Warm them up before you eat.”
That morning, they had thin rice congee, and only a single egg had been boiled—specifically for Zhao Yaoyao.
“Mm, thank you, Mom!”
Since she wasn’t very hungry in the early morning and didn’t feel like eating, and having heard yesterday that a tractor was heading to the county town where passengers could hitch a ride for thirty cents, she knew she had to hurry to the village entrance where everyone gathered. If she delayed any longer, she’d miss it.
She called out to the household, “Mom, I’m heading out. I won’t be back for lunch.”
“Alright!”
Though Li Mei harbored quiet doubts, she didn’t dare ask any further.
Zhao Yaoyao hurried briskly toward the village entrance, where three or five people were already waiting. Driving the tractor was a middle-aged woman—Sun Qing, the youngest widow in the village.
People whispered behind her back that she had traded her body to get her tractor, looking down on her with quiet contempt.
With a cigarette dangling from her lips, the widow Sun wore a blue floral blouse, her hair styled into a slanted braid, and carried a full-figured, deeply alluring charm.
Taking a fierce drag off her cigarette, she flicked the butt onto the ground and hollered, “Is anyone else coming? If not, we’re heading out! Thirty cents per person, pay up and let’s go.”
There were three passengers going in total. Besides Zhao Yaoyao, there were two older village women—one of whom was Tian Hongmei, the obnoxious mother of Hu Xiaoling.
Spotted by Tian Hongmei the moment she arrived, the older woman glared at her with intense hostility, sneering, “Do you smell a stench in the air?”
The person standing next to her chimed in with a gloating expression, “Now that you mention it, there really is a bit of a funk.”
Sniffing at her own clothes, Zhao Yaoyao flashed a mock-apologetic, knowing smile and retorted, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t take a bath last night, so I guess the lingering musk of your daughter clinging to my man must have rubbed off on me.”
Tian Hongmei’s smile vanished instantly. “What did you just say?”
“Your daughter came looking for my husband in the middle of the night, crying and carrying on like a lovesick pest. That cheap stench drifted all over me and hasn’t worn off even by today. Didn’t you just say you smelled it?” she enunciated every single word with crystal clarity, infuriating the older woman so much that she raised a hand to strike her.
Without dodging an inch, Zhao Yaoyao thrust her face forward. “Go ahead, hit me! If you dare lay a single finger on me today—if you don’t beat me to a pulp—I’ll move into your house for all my food, drink, and bathroom needs from now on. Don’t believe me? Try it!”
The other person immediately grabbed Tian Hongmei, shaking her head frantically and signaling with desperate eye-rolls while whispering, “You absolutely cannot hit her! That one’s basically a fragile vase you can’t afford to break. If something happens to her, your whole family will never have a peaceful day again.”