The sun was blazing in the threshing ground, and the golden rice spread out on the ground was baking, giving off a warm and fragrant aroma.
Wearing a straw hat, Yu Jihong bent over, holding a rake and turning the grain back and forth to dry it. Sweat streamed down her face, soaking her collar.
Ah Zhao, who was squatting not far away smoking, looked around to make sure no one was watching, threw his cigarette butt on the ground and extinguished it, then tiptoed over and asked, "Ji Hong, is it hard for you to bear that your man can't do anything in bed?"
Yu Jihong walked to the side, ignoring him, and walked to the other side with the rake in her hand.
Ah Zhao followed closely behind, then slyly scanned the surroundings before his gaze landed on Yu Jihong's neck. He stared intently at the sweat trickling down her collar, his throat bobbing, and suddenly reached out to Yu Jihong's chest. "You're so hot, let me wipe it for you. Let me touch you. It's such a shame you're so beautiful and no man loves you."
"Smack!"
Yu Jihong suddenly turned around, swinging the rake in her hand with a gust of wind, aiming at A Zhao's back.
"Ouch!" A-Zhao winced as he was hit unexpectedly. He rubbed his back and said, "You madman, don't you know your own strength?"
Yu Jihong held the rake horizontally, its teeth pointing at him: "I'm not mute, everyone will hear me and come over as soon as I shout!"
A-Zhao stared at the row of rake teeth, his arrogance diminished by half, but his eyes were still glued to Yu Jihong, leering and unwilling to look away. He crouched down and backed away, nodding and muttering, "You wait."
After walking a few steps, A-Zhao turned back, a flirtatious smile playing on his lips, and teasingly added, "This is the first time I've heard you speak. You're beautiful, and your voice is lovely too."
Yu Jihong slowly put down the rake, her shoulders suddenly slumped, and her eyes rolled upwards. What would she face next?
Once the late rice has been planted, when there isn't enough water in the fields, when it's someone's turn to release water, they have to go to the fields at night to keep watch, for fear that someone else will intercept the water.
This gave those who coveted Yu Jihong an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
There are rules for releasing water in the village. The water in the ditches and ridges is distributed to each household in turn, and each family keeps track of its own time.
When it was Fang San Di's turn, it was past 11 p.m.
That evening, Fang Sandi rested on a bamboo chair for a while. Around 10:30, he propped himself up on his arms, picked up a rake from the corner of the wall, and went to the field.
"Jihong, I'm going to the fields. Get up and lock the door. I'll come back and call you."
"Okay," Yu Jihong replied, got up, bolted the door tightly, and lay back down on the mat to continue sleeping.
The night was so quiet you could hear insects chirping outside the window when suddenly a loud knocking came at the door.
Yu Jihong suddenly opened her eyes, held her breath, and listened carefully.
Then there was the sound of the door bolt being gently turned.
Yu Jihong became alert and instantly woke up.
She quietly got up, walked to the door, took a stick, and braced one end against the crossbeam in the middle of the door, supporting it at an angle like a nail.
After doing all this, Yu Jihong dared to peek through the crack in the door. By the moonlight, A Zhao's shadow loomed at the doorway.
They could hear the commotion inside from outside the door.
"Jihong, is that you? Open the door, my third brother asked me to come inside and get something."
Yu Jihong blinked her eyes and remained silent.
"Jihong, open the door, I have something delicious for you."
The people outside spoke in hushed tones, and then a wire was extended in to pry open the door latch.
Yu Jihong's forehead began to sweat. The stick by the door was used to brace against the door, and she felt her way along the wall to find something else she could use to hit someone.
He touched a gong hanging on the wall.
This used to be used by Fang San Di's father, and Fang Yu sometimes taps it for fun.
Yu Jihong pursed her lips and came up with a plan.
She took down the gong and mallet and went to the door.
"Clang clang clang! Clang clang clang!"
The sound of the gong exploded in the night. The sound of the gong in the dead of night was like a pile of boulders thrown into still water, making the air tremble. The echo slowly spread around, startling the dogs nearby, who then joined in from afar in the village. The barking of the dogs in the distance stirred up a noisy commotion in the night.
Yu Jihong peered through the crack in the door, watching A Zhao slink away, and sneered a few times.
Just as he was about to look away, a figure darted out from behind the pigpen not far away. After A-Zhao left, the figure followed and disappeared from sight.
The daughter was woken up by the noise and sat up crying.
Yu Jihong put down the gong, leaned against the headboard, hugged her daughter and patted her back, her eyes staring intently at the ground in front of the bed, as if she was pondering something.
The next day, she checked the time and saw that everyone was at home making and eating breakfast.
She said to Fang Sandi, who had just gotten up, "You stay home and watch over our daughter. No matter what I do later, don't stop me."
"What are you going to do?" Fang Sandi stared wide-eyed, his brows furrowed.
"So that I can live an honest life in the future."
Fang San Di's eyes were full of uncertainty and panic, but she stopped him with her tone and he could only nod stammeringly.
"Just listen to me."
Yu Jihong picked up the gong from last night and started banging it as soon as she stepped out of the house.
They knocked and shouted, "At the brigade gate!" "To the brigade gate!"
Yu Jihong doesn't usually interact or talk much with people, so it's quite unusual for her to be banging a gong and calling out to people today.
Everyone came out of their homes.
She kept knocking on the blackboard in the village committee meeting room.
Men, women, and children all came over, some even while they were still eating breakfast, bringing their bowls with them, afraid of missing the show.
Yu Jihong stood in front of the blackboard, his hands hanging at his sides, his left hand gripping a gong and his right hand holding a mallet.
A quick glance through the throng revealed a variety of people: some craning their necks to watch the spectacle, some whispering amongst themselves, and others looking away, huddled at the back of the crowd.
She gripped the gong and mallet tightly in her hands.
She took a deep breath, raised the blackboard, and said, "If any man comes knocking on my door in the future, looking for me, trying to take advantage of me, I can write his name on this blackboard so the whole village can see it."
Everyone became quite interested in this scandalous affair.
"Oh, you know all their names? You should come out and get to know everyone so you can find out their names." Some people with ill intentions started to jeer.
Yu Jihong didn't look away; instead, she stared at him even more intently. "What's your name?"
Upon hearing this, the crowd burst into laughter. "Old Xi, we're asking for your name! Have you been looking for her? If so, we'll write your name down."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" The man called Lao Xi turned his face away, feeling embarrassed.
Yu Jihong raised her face again, staring intently for the sound of the commotion from earlier. Seeing that no one responded, she spoke again, "Anyway, if anyone comes looking for me, I'll come here and tell everyone in the village." Yu Jihong waved the club in her hand forcefully.
At this point, no one in the crowd was joking anymore.
Yu Jihong put down the mallet, tears welling in her eyes, consciously straightened her back, and walked home with her head held high.
The crowd behind them began to murmur among themselves.
"Someone must have contacted her."
"Of course, quite a few people have their eyes on her."
"Tch, she dresses up like this just because she doesn't want a man to come looking for her."
"You talk as if you're a chaste woman. How could a chaste woman give birth to a daughter when she was a virgin?"
Yu Jihong's fierce spirit deterred men with ulterior motives from truly causing trouble; no one wanted their name to be written on the blackboard at the brigade entrance by her in white chalk.
Among the crowd was Fang Damiao, who walked home after listening to Yu Jihong's "speech".
Because his wife was known as "crazy" by everyone, he would pay extra attention to any family in the village that married a crazy woman.
I heard that Fang Shugen married a crazy woman. He saw her when he passed by her house, and she wasn't as pretty as Fang Meixiang.
He seemed a little happy, feeling that he hadn't lost out by marrying Fang Meixiang.
After seeing Fang Sandi's wife, Yu Jihong, he couldn't forget her.
This woman was also "crazy," but she was exceptionally beautiful and efficient in her work. Unlike Fang Meixiang, who was dull and dazed, Yu Jihong exuded an indescribable energy.
Back home, Fang Meixiang held her son and sat at the door, lost in thought, waiting for Fang Meili to come and pick her up.
Fang Meixiang had gained weight after giving birth and had short, ear-length hair. She looked every bit the part of a woman who had given birth.
Recalling Yu Jihong waving a club while speaking, she exclaimed, "They're all crazy, but why is there such a huge difference?"
Just then, Fang Meili came in. "Let's go!"
Fang Meili picked up Fang Dongqiang, and Fang Meixiang followed behind her to her parents' home.
Fang Damiao patted his chest, "Luckily, no one noticed."
Yu Jihong returned home.
Fang Sandi sat on the bamboo chair by the bed, clutching the hem of his clothes with both hands, his face pale. "Did someone come looking for you last night?" he asked softly, his voice tinged with suspicion.
Yu Jihong nodded. "Someone knocked on the door, and the latch was moved."
"Who is it?" Fang San Di suddenly looked up.
Yu Jihong paused for a moment before saying, "I don't know who it was. I heard a noise, and it wasn't you, so I took a gong and banged it at the door to scare him away. Then I sat and waited for you to come back."
Fang Sandi lowered his head and stared at the ground.
"Jihong, I'm sorry to have put you through this. If, if you really, really want to..."
"Hey~" Fang Sandi sighed and didn't continue.
"I married you because I knew about your situation. If I really wanted to find someone else, I wouldn't have married you in the first place."
Fang Sandi looked at Yu Jihong, who seemed somewhat unfamiliar to him.
“Ji Hong, I’ve discovered that you’re not the kind of crazy person everyone says you are. You’re not crazy.”
Yu Jihong chuckled a few times after hearing this.
Then he burst into laughter, "I'm not crazy? If I weren't crazy, how would I be like this now?"
After Yu Jihong finished speaking, she burst into tears again.
Fang Sandi stared at her blankly.
She's acting like a madwoman again now, but she can usually manage the household well and take good care of her daughter. She's really not crazy; she's more capable than many normal wives in the village.
Regardless of whether it is true or not, ever since Yu Jihong came to this family, she has injected vitality into the originally monotonous days. The cold house has become warm and lively, the messy corners have become tidy, the ordinary daily life has become more fragrant with food, and the dull days have become vivid.
Fang Sandi liked the days when Yu Jihong was around.
"She wouldn't have married me if she weren't crazy," Fang San Di told himself again, as if this made sense.
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