Living like a widow? My rough neighbor is coaxing me to have a baby every night.

Call me Rushan after Chapter 6

As dawn broke and the roosters of the Red Star Brigade had barely crowed a few times, an eerie atmosphere permeated the ancient well at the village entrance.

At this time of day, the group of women washing clothes would already be chatting loudly, gossiping about everything under the sun, their spittle practically soaking the well's edge.

But today—it's quiet.

It was so quiet that the only sounds were the dull thud of a wooden mallet hitting wet clothes and the sound of a bucket hitting the well wall.

When Li Xianglian came to fetch water with her wooden bucket, she was holding her breath.

She was prepared to be pointed at and even spat on in front of others.

The scene from last night's nightmare, where I was cursed by thousands, is like a thorn stuck in my heart.

But when she reached the well, several women washing clothes around her trembled violently as if they had seen a ghost.

Aunt Zhou, the most gossipy of all, slipped the soap mallet in her hand and fell into the basin with a "plop," splashing soap suds all over her face.

She didn't even dare to wipe it, and hurriedly lowered her head, wishing she could bury her head in her crotch, not daring to breathe.

No one spoke.

No one dared to look at her.

Two of the more timid ones even carried half a basin of clothes that hadn't been washed yet, and slipped away with their heads down, hugging the wall. Their footsteps were so disordered that it sounded like wolves were chasing them.

Xianglian stood there, stunned, the wooden bucket in her hand hanging in mid-air.

what's wrong?

It wasn't until she got home that she heard the truth from two men who were passing by the wall.

"That Qin Lao Er is truly a madman..."

"That's right. In the middle of the night last night, he took that machete he used for clearing mountains and smashed the door of Aunt Zhou's house to pieces. The blade was so bright in the moonlight that it made people dizzy, and he held it to Aunt Zhou's husband's neck."

"What did he say?"

He simply said, "I have a bad temper. If anyone dares to spew nonsense from their mouth again, I'll sew it shut."

The man who spoke shuddered. "I heard he went to several houses, and they were all so scared they wet their pants. Who would have thought he'd risk his life for a widow... for the Li family girl?"

"Shh! Are you out of your mind? How dare you bring that up!"

When the two old men saw Xianglian approaching, they were so frightened that they tucked their pipes into their waistbands, lowered their heads, and ran into the cornfield.

Xianglian leaned against the door panel and slowly placed the wooden bucket in her hand on the ground.

It turned out to be the case.

Last night's words, "In less than three days, I'll shut them all up," weren't just empty words to appease her.

The "fierce god" feared and despised by the entire village actually took up a knife and fought to the death to protect this woman with such a tarnished reputation.

My heart felt like it had been hit hard by something, both sore and swollen.

Xianglian clutched her chest, her eyes welling up with tears.

How can there be such a foolish man in this world?

……

As night fell, the Zhao family courtyard was completely dark.

Because she was intimidated by Qin Rushan's "fierce reputation" last night, and was afraid that Xianglian would really report Zhao Gang for bigamy, Aunt Zhao stayed in her room all day without daring to show her face, and didn't even come out for dinner.

Just as Xianglian started cooking the sweet potato porridge, the half-finished window in the woodshed was pushed open from the outside.

Qin Rushan climbed over the wall with practiced ease, carrying a large bowl with a plate on top, steaming hot.

The narrow woodshed was instantly filled with an overpowering aroma of meat.

"Take it."

Qin Rushan placed the bowl on the stove with a somewhat rough motion.

Xianglian peeked out and saw a large bowl full of braised rabbit meat, glistening with oil and a bright red color, making her mouth water just looking at it.

"This... Brother Qin, this is too much..." Xianglian rubbed her hands nervously. "I can't take it. You went up the mountain in the rain to hunt this rabbit..."

"Just eat what I tell you to eat, stop talking nonsense."

Qin Rushan frowned, picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of the fattest hind leg meat, and held it to Xianglian's mouth. "Open your mouth."

His tone was no different from when he was reprimanding his soldiers.

Xianglian subconsciously opened her mouth, and the tender and flavorful rabbit meat entered her mouth, so fragrant that she almost swallowed her tongue.

For the past few years, she's been eating nothing but pig and dog food at the Zhao family's house; her stomach is practically empty of any nutrients.

"Is it good?" Qin Rushan looked at her puffed-out cheeks, and the fierceness in his eyes completely disappeared.

Xianglian chewed on the meat, her eyes welling up with tears, and nodded vigorously.

"Brother Qin, you should eat too." Xianglian tried to push the bowl over to him.

Qin Rushan did not answer.

He raised his head, his dark eyes shining brightly in the firelight, staring intently at Xianglian.

"I'm not hungry."

He pushed the bowl back, his large hand casually brushing against Xianglian's fingers. "You're growing, eat more. Get fat... so you can give birth easily."

He spoke the last three words very softly, yet they were like a thunderclap, booming in Xianglian's ears.

Xianglian's hand trembled, and she almost dropped the bowl.

"What...what did you say..." Her face was so red it looked like it could bleed, and she kept her head down, not daring to look at him.

Qin Rushan looked at her embarrassed and annoyed wife-like appearance, his Adam's apple bobbed, and a fire burned in his eyes.

He was a normal man, and he was frustrated because he could only look at such a beautiful woman but couldn't have her.

He suddenly reached out and grabbed Xianglian's wrist.

Scalding hot, rough, and powerful.

"Don't call me Brother Qin."

His voice was terribly hoarse, and he leaned forward, instantly enveloping Xianglian with a strong aura of masculine hormones.

"Call me Rushan."

Xianglian's face flushed bright red, even her earlobes turned a deep pink.

These days, in the village, calling a man by his first name is something only couples, or lovers who have slept together, do.

"Say something." The man persisted, applying a little more force with a ruthless, coercive tone. "I want to hear it."

Xianglian was cornered by him and had nowhere to hide, so she could only open her mouth tremblingly.

"Like...like a mountain..."

Xianglian's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, trembling, and had a soft, sweet quality.

Qin Rushan felt a "boom" in his mind, and half of his body went limp.

He clenched his fist tightly, suppressing the urge to magnify the person into his very bones.

"That sounds fucking good."

He abruptly released his grip, concealing the restlessness within him.

"Eat quickly, and leave the bowl when you're done. I'll come back for it tomorrow."

After saying that, the burly man, who was 1.9 meters tall, seemed to flee in panic, turning around and climbing out the window.

The sound of their footsteps landing sounded somewhat disordered.

Xianglian looked at that retreating figure, and couldn't help but smile.

……

The woodshed here is filled with the aroma of meat and tender feelings.

At the eastern end of the village, near the dilapidated courtyard wall of the Wang family, a few barks broke the deathly silence of the night.

Aunt Zhao, with her hands tucked in her sleeves, stumbled her way to the Wang family's door.

Her heart was bleeding even before she stepped inside.

That's two hundred yuan! Two hundred yuan! How many meat and cloth coupons could you buy back then? You could walk around the village like a king!

It just flew away.

"Who is it? What's with the corpse lying here in the middle of the night?" A sharp shout came from the courtyard.

"It's me, your Aunt Zhao," Aunt Zhao replied irritably, pushing open the creaking wooden door.

A dim kerosene lamp was lit in the main room. Wang's 30-something-year-old foolish son, Da Hu, was squatting on the ground playing with mud, muttering something to himself.

When Wang's wife saw the newcomer, her eyes lit up immediately. She threw the half-finished shoe sole she was sewing onto the kang (a heated brick bed), jumped off the kang without even putting on her shoes, and peered behind Zhao's mother.

"Why are you alone? Where's Li Xianglian?"

Granny Wang craned her neck, her smile freezing before it could fully bloom. "Didn't we agree to send him over tonight for the wedding night? My Da Hu's new bedding is already laid out!"

Aunt Zhao plopped down on the long bench, her face as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Don't even mention it, it's bad luck!"

She spat fiercely, "That brat must have taken some crazy medicine; this time she's as stubborn as a mule—she's determined not to do it."

"You're not going to do it?"

Granny Wang squinted her triangular eyes and said, "Didn't you say before that she was a wife your family bought, and you could do whatever you wanted with her? What, are you going to back out now? Give me my money back!"

When it came to spending money, Aunt Zhao's face twitched with heartache. The ten yuan deposit was still warm in her pocket; how could she bear to take it out?

"I didn't want to give it to her! I couldn't! That little whore used Gangzi to blackmail me, saying that Gangzi wasn't dead or divorced, and if she went with Dahu, that would be adultery, and she'd report us to the commune for engaging in feudalistic business!"

Upon hearing the words "commune," Granny Wang's arrogance immediately diminished. In those days, being labeled with such a term meant being paraded through the streets and subjected to public criticism.

"Then... what should we do?"

Granny Wang looked unwilling, "My husband has been looking forward to this for days, he keeps talking about sleeping with his wife."

As they were talking, Da Hu, who was squatting on the ground, suddenly dropped the mud in his hand and rushed over. The stench was so strong that Zhao Da Niang leaned back.

"Wife! Where's my wife?" Da Hu grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and drool dripped down his chin, landing on Aunt Zhao's polyester jacket.

Aunt Zhao tried to push him away in disgust, but the fool was as strong as an ox and held on tightly to Aunt Zhao's sleeve.

"Mom said there's a wife sleeping tonight! A wife with a big white bottom! Where's the wife?!"

The fool was strong; he grabbed Aunt Zhao's sleeve and wouldn't let go, and even tried to search her pockets.

"Did you hide it in your pocket? Give it to me! I want to have a baby!"

"Hey you idiot! Let go!"

Aunt Zhao was dragged around, almost tearing her sleeves, yelling, "Go ask your mother for it, you son of a bitch!"

"Wow—it's a lie! It's all a lie!"

Da Hu plopped down on the ground, kicking his legs wildly and crying like a pig being slaughtered, kicking the table so hard it made a deafening noise.

"I want a wife! I want to sleep with my wife!"

Granny Wang was heartbroken for her son and furious that she hadn't gotten a wife. Her face darkened, and she pointed at Granny Zhao, yelling, "Look at the mess you've made! You've whetted my son's appetite and then ignored it! If you don't bring Li Xianglian here, you'd better return that ten yuan deposit! And you'll have to compensate my family for emotional distress!"

Aunt Zhao was unwilling to pay, and taking advantage of Da Hu's tantrum, she slipped away to the courtyard gate.

"Gangzi is doing something big in the city, we'll talk about this later!"

After saying that, he clutched the ten yuan deposit in his pocket and ran faster than a dog.

She ran to the village entrance and, seeing that no one was chasing her, leaned against an old locust tree, catching her breath.

He glanced back in the direction of the Wang family's house, and then thought of the daughter-in-law in the woodshed who had suddenly become tough, and Qin Rushan, the madman next door who was carrying a knife.

"Pah!" Aunt Zhao spat a mouthful of phlegm onto the ground. "None of you are any good! Just wait, once Gangzi has won over that rich city woman, I'll see how I deal with you two scoundrels!"

As she touched the money in her pocket, a wicked plan slowly took shape in her mind.

That little slut is afraid of ruining her reputation, isn't she? Then let her be completely ruined!

Once his reputation is ruined, would Qin Rushan, that man who cares so much about his image, still want a worn-out shoe?

With a gloomy face, Aunt Zhao turned and walked towards another dilapidated mud house at the east end of the village.