On a chilly early autumn morning, Zhou Cailian put on a thin coat and went out to fetch water.
Unexpectedly, she was surrounded by several women washing clothes as soon as she reached the well. "Cailian, I heard that your husband is a scoundrel. Is that true?"
"You've been married for three years and still can't get pregnant. Could it be that he hasn't even touched you?"
"Is his thing impotent? You've been married for three years, and you still haven't experienced what real intimacy feels like?"
Zhou Cailian's expression stiffened slightly; she hadn't expected the news to spread so quickly.
Although she knew these people meant no harm, she still couldn't stand their gossipy gazes.
Especially Huang Guifang, the village's notorious gossip, her words are truly shameful.
“He’s not my man anymore. I divorced him a long time ago.” Zhou Cailian pushed past them, put down the bucket, and started fetching water, ignoring whatever they said.
On her way back carrying water, she was stopped again. "Cailian, I heard your man is a fool, is that true?"
"I don't know..." Zhou Cailian replied perfunctorily, picked up the water, and hurried away.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she got home, and didn't want to fetch water anymore. She poured the water into the water tank, washed her face, and started a fire to cook.
When Yu Qiuying woke up, she stared at the yellowed mosquito net in a daze for a while before her mind cleared.
She glanced at the bright sunlight outside, feeling a little uneasy about this sense of not knowing the time.
She lay in bed for a while before getting up.
Thinking to myself that the police might come to verify the situation in a while, I had to wait at home.
I need to visit Old Qiu's house in the county town another day. Old Qiu is the bricklayer who taught her eldest son to learn construction. Her husband met him at the sand quarry, and they've been friends for a long time. The two families have always kept in touch.
We still need to maintain these relationships. Old Qiu and her husband are both kind people. Old Qiu values relationships. Even after her husband died, they didn't distance themselves from her family. In her past life, whenever her family encountered any difficulties, Old Qiu would always lend a hand.
Such friends are truly rare; we mustn't let them drift apart.
Thinking about these things, Yu Qiuying got dressed and left the house.
However, she didn't rush to wash up. Instead, she went to Zhou Jiahong's room and called him to get up, "Don't sleep, get up and fetch water."
"What are you doing? Don't bother me!" Zhou Jiahong didn't even open his eyes, pulled the blanket over, turned over, and went back to sleep.
"Fine, if you're not going to fetch water, then you can forget about eating today." Yu Qiuying was too lazy to even get angry with him, and turned around to go brush her teeth and wash her face.
In the kitchen, Zhou Cailian had already started cooking rice. These days, people eat three meals a day, partly because they have to work in the fields and need to eat their fill, and partly because noodles are expensive and ordinary families generally can't afford to buy them.
Cooking rice in a large pot is a bit of a hassle. You have to cook it once, then scoop out the rice water when it's half-cooked, and then continue steaming it until it's fully cooked.
Yu Qiuying came to the kitchen, rolled up her sleeves, and said to Zhou Cailian, who was washing vegetables, "Cailian, go do the laundry, just wash your own clothes, I'll cook the dishes."
Zhou Cailian paused, "Mom, news of Zhang Yuanqiang has spread. I don't want to go to the well at this time..."
Yu Qiuying was not surprised at all that the news spread so quickly. "It's good that it's spread, so he won't go and harm other girls in the future."
She paused for a moment, then said, "Cailian, I know this matter has had some impact on your life, but don't worry about what others say about you or what they think of you. We shouldn't live in the mouths and eyes of others. There is no one or nothing in this world that is not subject to criticism. No matter what you do, there will always be people who gossip. No matter how well you do, there will always be people who can't stand you. So no matter what happens, let's face it openly and honestly."
"Oh, oh..." Zhou Cailian stared blankly at Yu Qiuying. Why did her mother suddenly seem so cultured?
You know, when Mom used to comfort her, she would always say, "Why do you care what others say? It's not like it'll hurt you. Let them talk, you can't shut them up."
"Alright, stop standing there, go do the laundry." Seeing that she was still in a daze, Yu Qiuying stepped forward and took the apron off her.
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