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

Chapter 14: Just wait until you're utterly disgraced!

Compared to the whispers by the well, the commotion at the home of Liu Baoguo, the brigade's Party Secretary, was much greater.

"Crackling and popping!"

A sound of shattering porcelain came from the east room, followed by a woman's screams and cries.

"I don't care! I'm going to marry him! I won't marry anyone but Qin Rushan!"

Liu Chunhua sat in the messy room, her eyes red and swollen, her hair disheveled, a far cry from her usual pampered appearance as the daughter of the brigade secretary.

On the ground were the mirror she had smashed, the face cream bottle, and her most treasured enamel washbasin, which now had a large piece of porcelain broken off.

Liu Baoguo stood at the door with his hands behind his back, looking at the mess in the room, so angry that his beard stood on end.

"Nonsense! Absolutely nonsense!"

Liu Baoguo pointed at his daughter, his fingers trembling, "Why don't you look at yourself in the mirror? What kind of person are you? What kind of person is he? I, Liu Baoguo, have been the Party Secretary of the brigade for twenty years. If you marry a good-for-nothing like that, a childless man, where will I put my old face?"

"He's not a scoundrel!" Liu Chunhua retorted, her neck stiff. "He's a real man! Dad, you didn't see the way he was last night. Out of all the grown men in the village, besides Brother Qin, who dared to stand up? Who had the guts?"

Liu Chunhua's mind was filled with the image of Qin Rushan carrying Li Xianglian away last night.

Those broad shoulders, that domineering gaze, and that wild energy that seemed capable of tearing the sky apart—they practically stole her soul.

She used to think Qin Rushan was an unwanted freak, but last night's scene completely shattered her illusions about "heroes".

Even if the woman in that man's arms was someone else, she would be consumed by jealousy and wish she could take her place.

"That's a brute! A desperado!"

Liu Baoguo slapped his thigh in anger, "Besides, everyone in the village is saying he's... no good in bed! It'll damage his very foundation! If you marry him, you'll be living the life of a widow! Can you stand it?"

"That's a rumor! It's a rumor spread by that Li Xianglian!"

Liu Chunhua got up from the ground, her eyes filled with a morbid obsession. "I saw it clearly last night. The way he looked at Li Xianglian, he wanted to devour her whole! If he really couldn't, would he have reacted like that? He's just an insatiable wolf!"

The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that it was true.

It must be that vixen Li Xianglian who is skilled enough to seduce Qin Rushan.

"I don't care!"

Liu Chunhua grabbed Liu Baoguo's sleeve, throwing a tantrum, "Dad, you're the Party Secretary, your word carries weight in the village. Find a way to drive that bitch Li Xianglian out of the village! Once she's gone, Brother Qin will definitely see how good I am!"

"My family is rich, and I have your power. I don't believe Qin Rushan is a fool who would give up a perfectly good son-in-law of the Party Secretary to stay with a widowed slut!"

Seeing his daughter's obsessive state, Liu Baoguo felt both angry and resentful.

But he only has one precious daughter, and he cherishes her like a precious gem.

Seeing her current suicidal attitude, he was truly at a loss.

"Alright, alright! Stop howling!"

Liu Baoguo irritably flung his sleeves aside. "Look at you, all for a man! This matter... needs careful consideration."

Liu Baoguo narrowed his eyes, a sinister glint flashing in his cunning eyes.

Qin Rushan is a tough nut to crack, but that Li Xianglian... is nothing but a drifting duckweed without any family backing her up.

Since his daughter was determined to have that rough man, he had to find a way to make Li Xianglian unable to stay in the village at all, and also let Qin Rushan know who was in charge in this Red Star Brigade.

"You better shut up for a second!" Liu Baoguo glared at his daughter.

"These next few days, the commune will be coming down to inspect family planning and the development of socialist ethics. The focus will be on those who engage in illicit sexual relations and corrupt village morals."

He squinted, looking at his daughter through the smoke with a sinister expression.

"That woman, Li Xianglian, isn't she still married? Since she's not divorced, she's Old Zhao's daughter-in-law. Last night's commotion, even though Chen Dagui's affair didn't work out, things are complicated, who can say for sure? What if they find some 'evidence' now, like her having an affair with Qin Rushan…"

Liu Chunhua's eyes lit up instantly, like a hungry wolf seeing meat: "Dad, you mean...?"

"I didn't say anything."

Liu Baoguo tapped his pipe, the sound ringing out crisply in the quiet room. "All I know is that if this slut's reputation is confirmed, she'll be a bad element, dragged out for public criticism and paraded through the streets. Then, she'll be worse than a dog in the village. If Qin Rushan still protects her, then he'll be dealt with too! I don't believe that kid's backbone is harder than the commune's regulations!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Chunhua stopped crying, and a triumphant smile appeared on her tear-streaked face.

As long as Father is willing to take action, that bitch Li Xianglian can just wait to be utterly disgraced!

When the time comes, Brother Qin will understand that only Liu Chunhua is worthy of standing by his side!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The atmosphere in the village was very strange for the next two days.

Aunt Zhao was as honest as a sick chicken; besides cooking and feeding the pigs, she didn't even dare to leave the house.

Qin Rushan hasn't climbed over the wall to come in these past two days, but every morning when Xianglian opens the woodshed door, she can always see something at the doorway.

Sometimes it's a handful of cleaned wild dates, sometimes it's a meat bun, and sometimes it's even an unopened box of face cream.

That was a rare item only available at the city's supply and marketing cooperatives, costing more than two yuan a box.

Xianglian held the box of face cream, smelling the faint scent of jasmine, and felt a sweet warmth in her heart.

This man may look rough, but he has a very thoughtful heart.

Li Xianglian sat on a worn-out straw mat, carefully holding a tin box printed with jasmine flowers by the dim light.

That was a face cream sent by Qin Rushan.

She picked up a tiny bit with her little fingernail, and the milky white ointment melted on her fingertip, carrying a cheap yet reassuring fragrance.

She gently applied it to the back of her hands, where years of farm work had left chapped skin and chilblains.

For so many years, she worked like a slave in the Zhao family, never even touching a bar of face soap, let alone face cream.

In the past, whenever Zhao Gang sent things back home, he would buy fabric for his mother-in-law and hair accessories for his sister-in-law, but he would never send anything to her.

But the man, whom the whole village called the "fierce god," hid this delicate side beneath his rugged exterior.

"Knock knock knock".

A very faint knocking sound suddenly came from the back window of the main house.

The sound was rhythmic, three long and two short, not like the wind, but more like a code.

Xianglian's heart skipped a beat. She quickly stuffed the face cream deep into the haystack, blew out the kerosene lamp, pressed herself against the wall of the woodshed next to the main room, and held her breath.

Who could it be in the middle of the night?