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

When Sun Laowai realized he had been caught, his face turned red. Without daring to say hello, he covered his head and scurried away like a mouse along the wall, almost dropping his pipe that he always carried with him.

The courtyard fell silent for a moment.

Xianglian continued fiddling with her chopsticks, head down, as if she hadn't seen anything.

Aunt Zhao remained unfazed, even tidying her messy hair at the temples, and bounced her grandson around in her arms: "What are you yelling about? That's your grandpa. He came to help us fix the table yesterday, and it got too late, so he spent the night in the outer room."

"Fix the table?"

Zhao Xiaoyun, having been through similar experiences, glanced at her mother and the departing Sun Laowai, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.

"Mom, that's not right. We're practically family, aren't we? That old man Sun was giving you the eye with a hook in his eyes, how could he be fixing a table?"

She put the child down on the kang (a heated brick bed), grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and cracked them open, lowering her voice: "Your father has been gone for so many years, and you're so old... I won't say anything. But this old man Sun is just a bachelor, penniless and unattractive, what do you see in him?"

This is hardly the kind of talk a daughter would give her mother.

It was clearly two common women gossiping.

When Aunt Zhao saw that her daughter wasn't angry, but rather seemed to be watching the show, she felt relieved.

She spat a mouthful of sunflower seed shells on the ground, and surprisingly, her old face showed little shame, but rather an air of self-righteousness.

"What's the point? What else could it be?"

Aunt Zhao pursed her lips, glancing in the direction where Old Man Sun had disappeared. "Your dead father died young, leaving behind this huge mess. How many more decades do I have to endure this long, dark night? Don't I need someone to warm my bed?"

As she spoke, a murky smile appeared on her face that only women who had experienced such things could understand, and her voice lowered even further: "Don't let that old man Sun's ugly appearance and hunched back fool you, his thing in his crotch is still quite useful. His strength is stronger than some young men."

Anyway, he's just someone to pass the time. I'm not going to marry him, and I won't let him take advantage of our family in any way. He can even do some farm work for us. Where else can you find such a good deal?

Zhao Xiaoyun laughed heartily, spitting sunflower seed shells all over the floor: "Alright, Mother, you know what's going on. As long as he doesn't swindle money from us, it's only right that he works like a slave for us. These days, it's not easy to find a farmhand who doesn't ask for money."

The mother and daughter exchanged a knowing smile, their tacit understanding of lewdness practically identical.

Xianglian stood at the kitchen door, listening to the shameless conversation between the mother and daughter, and felt a wave of nausea wash over her.

This mother and daughter are a perfect match; one is openly wicked, and the other is secretly flirtatious.

She forced herself to eat and brought out a bowl of cornmeal porridge so thin you could see your reflection in it, and placed it on the table.

"Only porridge? No eggs?"

Zhao Xiaoyun glanced at the food on the table, her face immediately darkening. "Li Xianglian, are you doing this on purpose? I finally managed to bring Hu'er back for a visit, and this is what you give me to eat? What about the money my brother sends back every month? Did you pocket it all?"

"Xiaoyun, don't blame her."

Aunt Zhao suddenly changed her tune and, for the first time ever, spoke up for Xianglian. However, a calculating glint flashed in her eyes as she said, "Things are a bit tight at home lately. Besides, good steel should be used where it's needed most, and good food should be reserved for those who are truly useful."

She winked at Zhao Xiaoyun.

Zhao Xiaoyun was a shrewd person; she could tell something was wrong as soon as she saw her mother's expression.

She stopped fussing, picked up the bowl and slurped down a mouthful of porridge. Chong Xianglian waved her hand: "Alright, stop standing there, it's annoying to look at you. Go wash Tiger's diapers, use plenty of soap, don't leave them unclean and smelly."

Xianglian nodded obediently, then turned and carried the pile of dirty, yellowed diapers to the well.

Watching Xianglian walk away, Zhao Xiaoyun pushed the bowl aside and went to Aunt Zhao, asking, "Mother, what happened? Was there something to that look you gave me?"

Aunt Zhao looked around to make sure no one was listening, then mysteriously told him everything about her secret plot with Old Man Sun the night before.

Zhao Xiaoyun's eyes widened like saucers, but there was no surprise or sympathy in them. Instead, she seemed to have just watched a great show and was so excited that she slapped her thigh.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

Zhao Xiaoyun spat the sunflower seed shells from her mouth onto the ground, a smug look on her face. "Mother, only you could come up with such a plan! That little bitch always acts like a hypocrite, I've disliked her for a long time. Let's sell her to some remote mountain village, let her taste what it's like to be helpless, and see how she'll pretend to be a good person in front of me then!"

Zhao Xiaoyun stared at Li Xianglian's retreating figure as she walked towards the well. Her slender waist and narrow hips, even in tattered clothes, couldn't hide her alluring charm.

She spat fiercely, finally unleashing the pent-up jealousy she had harbored for so long.

Back then, Li Weimin from the neighboring Xiahe Village was a famous handsome young man in the surrounding area, the dream man of countless young women.

What's wrong with Zhao Xiaoyun?

For Li Weimin's sake, she bought all the newly arrived Dacron fabric from the supply and marketing cooperative, made clothes from it, and eagerly delivered them to him.

And what happened? They didn't even give her a second glance!

That Li Weimin is blind and insane; his eyes are completely glued to Li Xianglian!

He would often hang around Old Li's house, bringing food and helping with chores.

Why should I?

In terms of family background and shrewdness and competence, Zhao Xiaoyun is miles ahead of this jinx!

Isn't it just because of that seductive face?

She acts like a pure and innocent flower on ordinary days, always meek and obedient to everyone, but who knows how she might be flirting with men behind their backs.

Back then, Li Weimin was so easily swayed by this slut that he completely bewitched her, making Zhao Xiaoyun the laughingstock of the village.

She had been holding this grudge in for three whole years!

Now that's good, as long as we send her deep into the mountains, this vixen will be nothing more than a plaything under that old bachelor's crotch. She'll be left helpless, crying out to heaven and earth, and we'll see what she can use to seduce men then!

Thinking of this, Zhao Xiaoyun felt incredibly happy. She grabbed a handful of melon seeds and cracked them even more vigorously, as if those seeds were Li Xianglian's bones, which she was about to chew up and swallow.

She paused, then seemed to remember something and leaned forward: "But Mother, if this goes through, it will be done without anyone knowing. But what if the Li family makes a fuss... After all, she is still a daughter of the Li family who has been married off. Even though it's an arranged marriage, she is still a person."

"Make a scene? Are you trying to give them face?" Aunt Zhao sneered, tapping the edge of her bowl with her chopsticks, her face full of disdain.

"When the marriage was arranged, that old hag from the Li family was so eager to get rid of this burden in order to marry you into the family."

How many times has Li Xianglian returned to her parents' home in recent years? Every time she went back crying, she was scolded and chased away. Li's stepmother wished she would die outside and never have to go near her, never have to share the family's food rations.

Her father is a good-for-nothing. If we just give them a little money to shut them up, or simply say she ran off with some random man and disgraced the Li family, do you think the Li family will dare to make a scene? They'll be too ashamed to even think about it!