Widow Wang, who had the ability to completely control the men who were having affairs in Shanding Brigade, was certainly not someone to be trifled with. Her only goal was to live a good life! To steal money from men and make a good living for herself!
To live a good life, she doesn't care about sweet-talking men she doesn't like, coaxing them out of money, or sleeping with them.
Widow Wang approached Zhou Mingli step by step, her voice filled with a sorrowful and lingering tone, "I know I'm a woman without virtue. Ever since I married into this family and saw you, I've fallen in love with you, Second Brother. But I'm already married, and I can only watch helplessly as you marry Jiang Zhiqing. Second Brother, you don't know how much it hurts me to see you marry Jiang Ci."
As Widow Wang spoke, she observed Zhou Mingli. This second son of Zhou was quite patient; his expression remained unchanged as he calmly looked at her.
Widow Wang thought to herself: You repressed man, don't think I don't know that you don't show anything on the surface, but you're secretly overjoyed!
Who would look down on a charming young woman like her and prefer a skinny bean sprout?!
Widow Wang was about to say something when she heard someone behind her say, "Second son, what are you doing at your house? I saw you and Xiao Ci busy all day yesterday."
The newcomer was Sister-in-law Yu. She stared at Widow Wang with hostility and went over to talk to Zhou Mingli.
Zhou Mingli called out to his sister-in-law, who replied, "The repair of the outhouse is almost finished."
Sister-in-law Yu went over and took a look. "Is this an outhouse? Why is it made of bricks?"
She asked the question without expecting an answer from Zhou Mingli, then turned to Widow Wang and said with a forced smile, "Isn't this Widow Wang from the east end? What brings you here?"
Damn osmanthus! It's always causing trouble!
With outsiders present, Widow Wang certainly couldn't openly flirt with anyone. She smiled gently at Zhou Mingli and said, "I came out to work, and Xiao Huai insisted on coming with me. After working all morning, Xiao Huai said he was thirsty, so I came to my second brother's house to ask for a cup of water."
Widow Wang's flirtatious glances were destined for the blind man, because Zhou Mingli didn't even look at her!
He stopped what he was doing to have a drink of water and rest for a while, then he would finish laying all the bricks before the sun got too hot, and then apply a layer of cement and let it dry.
Another thing is to see what this widow Wang is up to.
There's no way Zhou Mingli would believe that confession. Just yesterday, he and his wife saw Widow Wang and Boss Zhou whispering in the woods, and today Widow Wang is confessing her love to him. Zhou Mingli doesn't believe a single word of it.
He glanced at Zhou Huai, who was standing next to Zhou Miao. The girl finished her water and quickly ran back to Widow Wang's side, her head down and her hands clenched tightly, looking flustered and nervous.
Sister-in-law Yu never believed Widow Wang's words. She curled her lip, looking down on Widow Wang, and asked Zhou Mingli, "Where's Xiao Ci? Has she come back yet?"
Zhou Mingli calculated the time, "She just left not long ago, I estimate she'll be back in about twenty minutes. Does her sister-in-law need her for something?"
Sister-in-law Yu laughed, "Last night when you brought dinner back, didn't she come to my house for a while? My two boys couldn't do their homework well, and they couldn't solve the math problems no matter what they did. Xiao Ci taught them in no time. If Da Zhu and Er Zhu hadn't mentioned it this morning, I wouldn't have known!"
Without even glancing at Widow Wang, Sister-in-law Yu smiled and handed a bag of dried mushrooms to Zhou Mingli. "Dazhu and Erzhu, those two boys, picked these from the mountain. We can't even finish them all! You can take them and have an extra dish for lunch!"
Zhou Mingli smiled and declined, saying, "I have other dishes at home. You can keep them for yourselves. If Dazhu and Erzhu ever come up the mountain again, just take us with you."
Seeing that he really didn't want it, Sister-in-law Yu gave up on giving him the dried mushrooms and nodded repeatedly, "They'll go when they have summer vacation!"
Zhou Mingli and Sister-in-law Yu started chatting about Dazhu and Erzhu's studies, and then they mentioned that Zhou Miao and Zhou Yang could also go to preschool next year. Widow Wang couldn't get a word in edgewise and was furious.
She stamped her foot, coughed heavily, and said to Zhou Mingli, "Second Brother, thank you for today. What I said was true."
Widow Wang winked at Zhou Mingli again, "If you need anything in the future, just come to my house."
"Xiao Huai and I will be leaving now."
After saying that, Widow Wang grabbed Zhou Huai and left.
As she watched her leave, Sister-in-law Yu spat, "You've made Zhou Ergou wear a whole bunch of green hats! If Zhou Ergou knew, he'd jump out of the ground and come after you!"
After saying that, Sister-in-law Yu earnestly advised Zhou Mingli, "Don't fall for her tricks. Your family has finally managed to get by. If you start doing those messy things, Xiao Ci might not stay with you anymore."
Zhou Mingli replied, "I know."
He drank some water and continued working, not taking what Widow Wang had done to heart at all.
As Sister-in-law Yu watched Zhou Mingli work, she thought to herself that she still needed to talk to Jiang Ci about this matter and make sure Jiang Ci kept a close eye on Zhou Lao Er, otherwise, once a man starts having an affair, he won't care about the family anymore!
When Jiang Ci returned after delivering the food, she was stopped by Sister-in-law Yu, who secretly pulled her into her yard and began to tell her about Widow Wang's visit to Zhou Mingli that day.
Jiang Ci gently raised her eyebrows.
Yesterday, that widow Wang was still in the woods with Boss Zhou, and today she's trying to seduce Zhou Mingli.
Seeing her nonchalant expression, Sister-in-law Yu patted her hand, "You have to take this to heart! That widow Wang is a scoundrel!"
Jiang Ci asked, "Why?"
This is a long story.
Widow Wang married a man named Zhou Ergou. The name didn't sound very good, but he was a decent person. He joined the army when he was fifteen or sixteen. Widow Wang was Zhou Ergou's second wife. His first wife was a woman from his mother's family brigade. Zhou Ergou originally wanted to take her with him to the army, but his ex-wife was in poor health and couldn't withstand the arduous journey.
There was nothing else he could do, so on Tuesday, he had to leave his wife at home and send all his salary back to her every month.
However, Zhou Ergou's ex-wife was in poor health, and her belongings were being taken by Zhou Ergou's younger brother and sister-in-law. She couldn't even hold onto the money and tickets that Zhou Ergou sent her, and she suffered terribly during her pregnancy.
After his ex-wife gave birth to a daughter for Zhou Ergou, her health deteriorated further. She raised Zhou Huai until she was three years old before passing away.
On Tuesday, when Zhou Huai returned from the military base, his younger siblings began vying for custody of him.
Zhou Ergou's younger siblings had a simple goal: since Zhou Huai was being supported by them, Zhou Ergou's salary from the army should all go to their family. Zhou Ergou earned quite a bit each month while serving in the army! His brother and sister were envious of that salary. What would a man like Zhou Ergou spend money on? It was better to give the money to them and let them spend it!
Zhou Ergou saw through the true colors of his younger siblings. They didn't teach any of the children, and instead found another woman to be his daughter's stepmother.
His second wife was Widow Wang.
For the first two years after Wang the Widow married into the family, she was relatively well-behaved. After Zhou Ergou returned to his unit, he still sent money back, and Wang the Widow lived a very comfortable life with that money in her hands.
But the good days didn't last long. The brigade leader came to his house and said that Zhou Ergou was missing! Some people said he was killed in battle, others said he was killed by criminals while arresting them. There were many such rumors, but the gist of it was that Zhou Ergou was probably dead!
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