Heavens! What a huge bed this is!
This heat was strange, like it was burning from deep within the flesh, spreading through the veins throughout the whole body.
Sitting on the stool was nearly unbearable—it felt as if he was about to melt into a puddle, flowing wherever his heart desired most.
Wang Yulian instinctively turned her body to look at Li Jianye.
Ever since she had slept with Li Jianye, her attitude toward him grew increasingly passionate. At first, she was somewhat reluctant, but after a few encounters, she found herself addicted.
She needed a man—not just financially, but physically as well. She didn’t necessarily love Li Jianye, but she liked the feeling of possessing him.
Everyone laughed at her for being a widow, thinking she had no skills, looking down on her. But she used Li Jianye to prove her charm once again, which gave her a different kind of satisfaction.
She had gotten herself a very fine man—a man who was excellent, better than most in the village. He liked her so much that he climbed over walls in such an awkward way just to see her. Yet, he still insisted on supporting her financially, even willing to deceive his own wife for her sake—that was proof enough of his love.
Wang Yulian inevitably grew greedy toward Li Jianye.
If only he were her husband, how perfect that would be.
Hidden beneath the bright red plastic tablecloth, Wang Yulian lightly hooked her toes, slipping off her shoes, then turned to lightly touch Li Jianye’s leg with her toes.
Li Jianye was at the table talking with Hu Chengjun, discussing the recent college entrance exams. Mid-conversation, Li Jianye shivered all over.
He instinctively glanced to his left at Shi Lan.
There were five people at the table in total, arranged as follows: Shi Lan, Li Jianye, Wang Yulian, Hu Honghua, and Hu Chengjun.
Li Jianye was sandwiched between two women, and in front of his own wife, Wang Yulian was openly flirting with him.
Li Jianye’s face flushed red with excitement; he raised his hand to drink a cup of wine—this wine was strange, making him more agitated the more he drank.
He’d drunk before, usually just two cups and he’d get dizzy, but today, after a single drink, his whole body tensed up. An inexplicable restlessness surged through him, making him want to do something.
At this moment, Shi Lan beside him advised, “Try to drink less; you still have to teach at school this afternoon. Let’s go rest in the main hall at the eldest brother’s house.”
The layout of the Li eldest brother’s courtyard was exactly the same as the Li old man’s courtyard next door, with four rooms surrounding a central main hall. The main hall was fully furnished with tables and stools.
Normally, the main hall was used to receive guests; anyone could rest there for a while.
Shi Lan helped Li Jianye up, saying, “Let’s go rest a bit.”
He was somewhat drunk.
Right after Li Jianye left, Wang Yulian also put on a dazed expression and said, “I’m going to rest in the main hall too.”
The banquet was in full swing; dishes had all been served, plenty of meat on the table, and everyone was eating with mouths full of oil. Villagers all knew each other, chatting freely and finishing their drinks. At this moment, no one seemed to care much about Li Jianye and Wang Yulian’s disappearance.
Wang Yulian staggered to her feet and entered the Li old man’s room.
She didn’t enter the main hall but merely glanced inside from the doorway.
At that moment, Li Jianye had just sat down in the main hall. When he turned his head, he saw Wang Yulian walking past the door, looking back at him.
Wang Yulian was different from the other women in the village.
The village women were crude, loud, boisterous, sharp-tongued, unreasonable—cursing non-stop from one end of the village to the other, like Shi Lan.
Shi Lan’s voice was loud, her figure tall and strong, looking like a wild bull. If anyone dared to speak against her, she’d charge at them with a “moo.”
But Wang Yulian wasn’t like that.
She was thin and delicate, like a pear blossom drifting on a branch. When she turned her head and looked at Li Jianye with those watery eyes, she immediately captivated his heart.
Li Jianye’s mind fluttered as he stood up and, by unspoken agreement, walked out of the main hall.
The two of them walked in single file toward the back of the main hall.
Behind the main hall was a kitchen, accessed by a long corridor as long as the hall itself. Beyond the kitchen were the back east and back west rooms. This kitchen was a space sandwiched between the houses.
It was the innermost, deepest room, surrounded by walls with no windows. It was always dark, day or night, requiring the light bulb hanging from the ceiling to be turned on.
But neither of them turned on the light.
Li Jianye pounced like a wolf or tiger, pulling Wang Yulian into his arms.
The dim kitchen gave them a sense of hidden safety, a strange excitement born of secrecy. Outside, the village was noisy, but here in this unknown place, they kissed.
Their hearts raced and their skin tingled with pleasure, their bodies trembling from the intensity of their passion. When the feeling reached its peak, Li Jianye pushed Wang Yulian toward the bedroom in the back east room.
“What are you doing!” Wang Yulian still had a bit of reason left.
“It’s nothing,” Li Jianye whispered. “No one lives in this room anyway.”
Since the Li family was small, only three people, the house was spacious and some rooms remained empty all year.
I’m telling you, they went into the back west room.
Meanwhile, outside in the courtyard, the banquet was underway.
Fifty people sat at the tables, men and women, old and young, squeezed together at six tables in Li old man’s courtyard. Village children were also running around eating; some eating, some screaming—making so much noise that it drowned out the cicadas in the trees.
Only Shi Lan’s table in the Li old man’s courtyard was unusually quiet.
After Li Jianye and Wang Yulian left, only Shi Lan, Hu Chengjun, and Hu Honghua remained at that table.
Hu Chengjun sat silently, looking somewhat out of place among the others, but Shi Lan took the initiative to talk to him.
“I’ve been wanting to find a chance to visit you and discuss Honghua’s marriage, but you’ve been away from the village. I could only talk with the kids first,” Shi Lan said to Hu Chengjun. “Don’t worry, the broken engagement is my fault. I’ll make sure Honghua finds a good job and a good family.”
Shi Lan had told Hu Chengjun about everything she had done for Honghua afterward, even offering to share the responsibility of finding her a good job. Shi Lan truly cared for this girl.
Hu Chengjun understood that Shi Lan’s offer to break off the engagement was for Honghua’s sake. Though he didn’t know why Shi Lan suddenly cared so much about Honghua, he was grateful.
So he quietly listened and raised no objections. At most, he nodded slightly, pressed his thin lips, and whispered, “If the kids are in your hands, I can rest easy.”
Shi Lan’s temperament was fiery, but upright. She wouldn’t bully anyone just because she was unhappy with her life. Aside from the feelings she had for Hu Chengjun, Shi Lan herself was a good mother-in-law, so Hu Chengjun trusted her words.
“If she says break off the engagement, then break it off—women’s affairs are women’s business,” Hu Chengjun said nothing.
His trust in Shi Lan reminded her of the previous life when Hu Chengjun came to her aid with money after learning about her debts in the village.
She carefully studied Hu Chengjun’s features and thought, this man’s words are as sticky as glue; you couldn’t shake him off no matter what, but his heart was reliable—a steady and honest man.
And looking at his face, he was actually quite good-looking—thick eyebrows, single eyelids, high nose bridge, embodying a rough and steady masculinity. Interestingly, he had a beauty mark on his thin lips, a somewhat feminine touch that created a contrast between hardness and coldness, making people want to take a second look.
For a man this good-looking, he still hadn’t married—probably because he was raising a child.
In this rural place, the key to marriage was money for men and beauty for women. No matter how good-looking a man was, without money, it was useless. The more feudal the place, the higher the price of women. Moreover, he had a child to care for.
Shi Lan’s gaze seemed to appraise Hu Chengjun, mixed with a bit of investigation, which made him instinctively turn his face aside.
He was more accustomed to hiding in the shadows, stealing glances at Shi Lan like a mouse in a hole watching the sun. But when Shi Lan suddenly looked at him, he felt the sting of sunlight in his eyes and the unease of being watched.
Why is she looking at me now?
Hu Chengjun frowned and tried to cover his unease. He reached for a bottle of wine on the table, but Shi Lan swiftly pressed his hand down.
“Don’t touch that,” she said hastily, lightly tapping his hand, then accidentally knocked the bottle over.
With a “bang,” the wine bottle fell, and Hu Chengjun’s hand tingled and stiffened in place.
The spilled wine trickled down the table. There wasn’t much left, only a few shallow drops hidden in the bottle’s grooves. To pour it all out, he’d have to hold the bottle inverted, which would be too conspicuous—not like an accidental spill.
So Shi Lan carefully set the bottle upright on a nearby table.
Only then did Hu Chengjun remember Shi Lan had taken two bottles from the kitchen earlier—one placed in front of him, and one in front of Li Jianye and Wang Yulian.
His sharp eyes swept around—the two hadn’t returned.
At this moment, Hu Honghua, who had been holding back for a long time, finally couldn’t anymore. She lowered her voice and said, “Aunt Shi, I just saw—”
“I know,” Shi Lan cut her off. “Eat.”
Hu Honghua lowered her head and resumed eating.
By now, all the dishes were served. Everyone in the village was gathered to celebrate. Li Laoye’s face was flushed, as if recalling the days when he was still village head. Li Laotai also looked proud, sitting among the crowd as if her face shone with glory.
The only one unhappy was Zhao Xiejie.
All this flower arrangement was paid for by her!
The old man was crippled and immobile; the old woman tightly held the money and refused to spend it. Everything fell onto her as the eldest daughter-in-law!
Zhao Xiejie frowned, thinking not to hold such a losing event next year. She was annoyed when suddenly Li Laoye at the main table shouted loudly, “Eldest daughter-in-law, more wine! Go get some from the kitchen!”
Zhao Xiejie rolled her eyes.
Now they’re really pretending! Let them drink themselves to death!
She stood up, not knowing whether it was her nose or her eyes that were hurting, and headed toward the back kitchen.
All the drinks were in the back kitchen—normally, there should have been three bottles on each table, but Zhao Xiejie was stingy and refused to fill the table, leaving only one bottle per table. Now there wasn’t enough to drink, so she had to tiptoe to the back kitchen to fetch more.
Of course, she wouldn’t bring out store-bought wine. She simply refilled bottles with homemade brew and sent them over. Drink it or not; either way, she saved money.
She passed through the corridor behind the main hall toward the back kitchen. The corridor was long enough to block out most of the guests’ noisy voices, leaving only a quiet calm.
Zhao Xiejie stepped into the quiet kitchen and immediately sensed something was off.
Her mind was thinking about diluting the wine to make it last longer, but then she suddenly heard moaning.
The sounds spread throughout the kitchen. Zhao Xiejie’s back broke out in a cold sweat. She quickly raised her head and looked around.
The kitchen was dark, never exposed to sunlight. The damp was on the left corner near the water jars; the stove was on the right. In front were two rooms, left and right. Where was the noise coming from?
As if fearing Zhao Xiejie couldn’t hear, the sounds grew louder, sharper—the woman’s high-pitched moans echoed through the quiet kitchen, accompanied by a man’s heavy breathing and the creaking of a shaking bed.
Ah! The back west room!
Zhao Xiejie’s anger flared up in an instant.
That back west room was her son’s! Her son worked as a helper in Chunfeng Town and rarely came home! Who were these wild lovers, dragging their filthy business into her son’s room?
This feast shouldn’t have been held! A losing venture, and now attracting such scandalous things—did their loins catch fire? Why must it happen at their house?
Many village couples refrained from such acts at home because houses were too small and three generations lived together. So they took to the cornfields, the back mountains, or wood piles—anywhere. It was just five or six minutes of play.
But Zhao Xiejie couldn’t believe anyone would be so brazen as to start in someone else’s house.
That was her son’s bed! Having another woman sleep on it made her sick to her stomach.
She stormed over, slammed the door, and shouted, “Who is this? We’re all from the same village—have some shame! This is someone’s home—”
In the countryside, life was rough. There were no locks like in the city; a wooden door creaked open easily. Zhao Xiejie rushed in and “Ah!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.
That was probably the loudest scream of her life.
Her clear voice nearly blew the roof off. Even with the main hall between, people outside at the banquet heard it.
“What’s going on?” a guest at the main table asked. “What’s happening inside?”
Li Laoye sat immobile. Li Laotai was boasting to a few old women about how she handled her daughter-in-law, but no one volunteered to check the back kitchen.
Only Shi Lan said, “Don’t let it be something about the eldest sister-in-law. It’s a blessing from heaven; let’s go see.”
Two sons stood up as Shi Lan followed. She casually mentioned, “Oh, by the way, there are two braised pork knuckles coming out of the kitchen.”
Hearing “braised pork knuckles,” two old women at the neighboring table immediately stood up.
Normally, the village didn’t slaughter pigs except during festivals, so these treats were rare. They craved such delicacies—not only for themselves but for their little grandchildren! They hurried to get back to their tables.
These two old women followed Shi Lan into the room.
Then a series of piercing screams and shouts broke out repeatedly. One old woman ran out of the back kitchen into the courtyard, screaming, “Oh no! What a shame! Oh dear!”
This commotion piqued the curiosity of those in the courtyard. One after another, they asked, “What’s going on?” and stood up to walk toward the kitchen.
What on earth was happening?
Hu Honghua’s curiosity was itching.
She had seen the little interactions between Li Jianye and Wang Yulian just now. Aunt Shi should have seen it too, but Aunt Shi remained silent.
Hu Honghua knew Aunt Shi was not the type to keep silent and pretend nothing happened. Her silence meant something—just—just what?
Suddenly, a fitting thought struck her: Aunt Shi was setting a trap.
Yes, a trap.
Her uncle often set traps in the mountains while hunting. He said it was foolish to fight prey head-on with just one’s flesh and blood, risking injury and uncertain outcomes.
The real way was to set traps early, waiting for the prey to fall in, so the hunter could get the kill without bloodshed.
At this moment, the laws of the forest and village seemed to overlap. Humans were just another kind of beast. In the forest, you needed guns; in the village, you needed a different kind of smoke-free gun.
Hu Honghua couldn’t help but wonder: Had the prey fallen into Aunt Shi’s trap?
She didn’t know, but she was anxious. She wanted to join the fray.
But sitting at the table, Hu Chengjun didn’t move. She didn’t dare either, only stealing glances at her uncle with her peach blossom eyes.
Hu Chengjun was staring at the bottle knocked over by Shi Lan, the wine inside shimmering like cool water in sunlight.
Recalling how Shi Lan had stopped him from drinking earlier, Hu Chengjun frowned slightly.
At one point, he casually knocked the bottle on the table, causing it to shatter with a “crack.” After more sunlight baked it, the last piece of evidence from Shi Lan’s mischief would disappear.
Finally satisfied, Hu Chengjun’s expression remained unreadable, but if one looked closely, his lips pressed together with a faint smile.