Chapter 4
Zhou Qing was a man who saw things more deeply and farther ahead than Madam Liu. He treated Li Weiyang decently because he believed in leaving room for others. Whenever he came home, Li Weiyang would enjoy a few good days.
The fire in the stove had gone out. Li Weiyang opened her large, misty eyes and thought for a long while before slowly climbing to her feet. She was just about to lift her sore, numb arms when a voice suddenly came from outside the door. “You lazy little brat! Stop slacking and clean the kitchen! I’ll be back to check whether you’ve been loafing around!”
Li Weiyang slowly glanced at the little girl standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips and her brows drawn together in anger. The girl was only a year older than her, yet she stood half a head taller. She was tall and sturdy, and though her features were quite pretty, her sour, spiteful expression spoiled her beauty.
Jealousy filled Zhou Lanxiu’s eyes as she stared at Li Weiyang’s delicate face. She gave a cold snort, then walked out, turning back to order her, “Remember to scrub the pots clean. And make sure there’s no water left on the floor! The stove needs cleaning, too!”
Standing in the cramped kitchen, Li Weiyang watched her go and suddenly smiled. It took her nearly an hour to scrub all the pots. Then she bent down and began wiping the floor.
Just then, Zhou Lanxiu poked her head in through the window. “Do you think you can get it clean like that? You have to get down on your knees to wipe it! Don’t you know anything? Oh, and there’s no water in the cistern. Go fetch a load later! Did you hear me?”
Li Weiyang wiped the sweat from her forehead and chin, then went back to work.
It had always been like this. As a farmer’s daughter, Zhou Lanxiu had chores of her own, but she always found ways to dump them all on Li Weiyang. Then she took credit for the work and went around telling people how hard she had it, having to look after some pampered young lady who couldn’t do anything. What’s more, by the time Li Weiyang was allowed to eat each day, there would be only one or two cold steamed buns left, and barely a little broth in the pot. The old Li Weiyang had always cried as she worked, but now she didn’t care at all. No matter how hard it was, she could endure it.
That evening, Zhou Qing didn’t stay home for dinner. The village chief had invited him over as a guest. There were plenty of men like him working as stewards for the Li family in Pingcheng, but in a village like this, he was a very important figure.
Li Weiyang knew Zhou Qing loved his wine and never came home before the middle of the night. That gave her the perfect opportunity. When the night was deep and quiet, she waited until the right moment, then quietly took the strip of red silk she had deliberately saved that morning while doing the laundry. She got up, opened the door, and went to the fence, where she tied the silk. After looking at it for a while, she smiled faintly, turned, and quickly went back inside.
In the middle of the night, she suddenly heard a noise at the back door. Li Weiyang listened closely and heard a rustling sound. She rolled over, pretending she hadn’t heard a thing.
Just then, Zhou Qing came home, drunk as a lord. He saw the shadow of a tall man flash past inside his room. His heart sank, and he sobered up at once. He grabbed a chopping knife from outside and kicked the door open with a bang.
The noise woke everyone in the courtyard. But Li Weiyang closed her eyes and listened quietly to what was happening outside. Suddenly, she heard a sharp smack, as if someone had been slapped hard across the face. Then Zhou Qing cursed, “You shameless slut! You brought a lover home while I was away! Have you no shame? What? You didn’t know? I clearly saw a man dart out of your room, and you still have the nerve to claim you didn’t know! I bet if someone hacked me to death one day, you’d say you knew nothing about that, too!” He landed two more smacks. The person he was cursing was clearly Madam Liu.
Before Madam Liu could explain, Zhou Qing shouted, “Get down on your knees! I’ll make you tell me who that man was! If you don’t tell me, you’ll die tonight!” Madam Liu wailed and pleaded, “I’ve been wronged! I’d never do anything so disgraceful!”
Inside the room, Zhou Qing spat in Madam Liu’s face. “Wronged?! Who would frame you? Who has a grudge against you?” He began beating her again, striking her wildly.
Madam Liu wasn’t about to take it lying down. She grabbed Zhou Qing’s sleeve and began shoving him.
Cursing furiously, Zhou Qing grabbed Madam Liu by the hair, dragged her to the ground, and kicked and beat her. “You’ve disgraced the entire Zhou family!”
Madam Liu did have a lover, but he only came when her husband and son were away, after she tied red silk to the fence behind the house. She hadn’t tied it today, so how could he have come? She had just been sneaking him out through the back door when her husband returned! Her heart felt as if it were being pierced by ten thousand arrows, and she could barely catch her breath. Seeing how viciously Zhou Qing was beating her, she simply ran outside. Zhou Qing cursed, “You shameless slut! Get back here!”
He chased her into the courtyard and grabbed her by the hair. Madam Liu let out a wail and fell to the ground. Zhou Qing was about to hit her again when Zhou Jiang rushed out. “Father! Father, please, don’t make a scene! Don’t make a scene! Mother would never do something like that. Whatever happened, let’s talk about it inside. Let’s go inside!”
At his words, Madam Liu immediately understood what her son meant. She began wailing at the top of her lungs, determined to make a scene and give Zhou Qing pause. “You were drinking outside! You must have been seeing things! You’re accusing me for no reason!”
Zhou Qing sneered. “Accusing you?! Bah! I only had half a catty of wine today. I’m not so addled that I can’t tell a man from a woman! I never thought that at your age, you’d still be up to such things. I was away for years—who knows how many times your lover came here? And you still put on that virtuous act in front of me!”
“Fine! If you don’t believe me, I’ll die! Then everyone will know the Zhou family drove me to my death!” Madam Liu was a shrew. She sprang up and tried to smash her head against the wall. Zhou Qing reacted quickly and seized both her hands. “Who are you trying to scare with your death?” He flung her to the ground and planted a foot on her chest. The angrier he grew, the harder he kicked her. Then he grabbed a door bar and struck her more than ten times.
Madam Liu’s screams rang out like a slaughtered pig. Li Weiyang rolled over and curled her lips into a faint smile. She had brought this on herself.
The neighbors had all heard the commotion and were opening their doors to come out. Madam Ma and Zhou Lanxiu had heard it, too. But as a daughter-in-law, Madam Ma didn’t dare come out and watch her mother-in-law make a fool of herself. Zhou Lanxiu wanted to save her mother, but when she saw her father’s ferocious face through the window, she didn’t dare move an inch.
Seeing the neighbors gathering, Zhou Jiang hurried to stop Zhou Qing, raising his voice. “Father, you’ve had too much to drink! It’s the middle of the night—don’t make a scene and wake the neighbors!” As he spoke, he stepped forward, snatched away the door bar, and pushed Zhou Qing aside. Then he lowered his voice. “Father, we can talk this over. If you have to hit her, at least take her inside. It’s not right to let the neighbors see this!”
Zhou Qing glared furiously at Madam Liu. He had beaten her until she was barely drawing breath, but he still wasn’t satisfied. He turned and kicked Zhou Jiang hard. “I’m not home, and you can’t even keep an eye on the household! You’ve made a disgrace of us! Hurry up and help her inside!”
Zhou Jiang swallowed his anger and helped his battered mother to her feet. Madam Liu was a shrew through and through. Even though she could barely stand, she kept cursing and insisting she had been wronged, sobbing without end. A moment later, Zhou Qing shouted, “Shut up! It’s the middle of the night—what are you wailing like someone died for?”
At once, the world fell silent—
Hearing all this, Li Weiyang couldn’t help laughing.