Chapter 55: Going to Golden Rooster Mountain with Widow Zheng to Cut Fire!

On the way home, Zheng Chunmei was deeply conflicted. Halfway through, Ma Dazhu intercepted her again. She sighed, “Dazhu, why are you here again?”

“I heard from Erdan that that old miser Zhao bullied you again?” Ma Dazhu’s voice came from the darkness, weary and angry.

“Kids don’t understand things, don’t listen to his nonsense,” Zheng Chunmei replied. She wanted to avoid too much involvement with Ma Dazhu now.

His father was injured—not dead, but never able to hunt in the mountains again, half disabled. His younger brother was almost the same, limping on one leg. The entire Ma family relied solely on Ma Dazhu. How could he manage?

The people from Xiaomao Village kept causing trouble, and the Zhao brothers still wanted to pick fights with him. Just thinking about it was despairing.

“Don’t be afraid. If that old miser Zhao really bullies you, I won’t let him off,” Ma Dazhu said coldly.

“Take care of your own family matters first. I can handle my own problems,” Zheng Chunmei said and left.

Ma Dazhu opened his mouth but could only pound a tree in anger. But what could anger do now?

The only solution was to marry off his sister. Perhaps that could help the family through this crisis.

Before dawn the next day, Zheng Chunmei woke up hungry. After feeding the little girl three mouthfuls of food, she endured her fatigue and weakness and placed the child beside the old woman. “Mother, I’m going to Jinji Mountain to chop firewood today.”

The elderly Li matriarch was woken up and quite impatient. Upon hearing her daughter-in-law’s words, she took the granddaughter anyway. “Bring back plenty of firewood, and come back early!”

“Mother, can I bring a wild vegetable pancake?”

“One piece? At most half! I told you not to bathe, but you wouldn’t listen. If you want to go, then go quickly. Don’t disturb my sleep,” the old woman grumbled, still upset about her daughter-in-law bathing.

Zheng Chunmei took half a wild vegetable pancake. Eating it cold, she at least had something in her stomach so she wouldn’t feel faint.

She grabbed the family’s firewood knife, hoisted the baby carrier on her back, and stepped out the door.

It was early December, the bitter wind biting through to her neck, turning her face pale, her body trembling uncontrollably.

After waiting at the village entrance for a while, more people started to leave the village, but Zhao Zheng’s figure was nowhere to be seen. If daylight came and he still hadn’t arrived, she’d be too embarrassed to walk with him.

“Damn Zhao the Third, why isn’t he here yet?”

“Is he playing me for a fool?”

Zheng Chunmei cupped her hands around her mouth to warm her breath, stomping her numb feet. Luckily, she had tied a rough cloth around her head; otherwise, the cold would have given her a headache.

At that moment, a low cough came from behind. She spun around sharply and saw a tall figure emerging from the mist.

When he came closer, her tense heart finally relaxed. “Uncle Zhao, you’re here!”

“You’re early,” Zhao Zheng said. He hadn’t expected Zheng Chunmei to wait so early at the village entrance, and judging by her state, she had been waiting a while.

Zheng Chunmei was very nervous. This was her first time walking alone with Zhao Zheng, and her heart pounded fiercely.

Seeing her lower her head, Zhao Zheng said nothing and began walking forward.

Zheng Chunmei hurried behind but soon felt her legs weaken. “Uncle, slow down. I can’t keep up!”

Zhao Zheng slowed his pace and said, “At this speed, you probably won’t even reach Jinji Mountain by noon.”

“Uncle, there are bears on Jinji Mountain. Are you really going to take me there?” Zheng Chunmei was afraid.

“If not Jinji Mountain, then where else?” Zhao Zheng looked at her with a half-smile.

Zheng Chunmei was embarrassed and didn’t know how to answer.

By then, the sun had risen, and Zhao Zheng’s every expression was clear, including his teasing look, which made Zheng Chunmei blush with shame.

What was she pretending for?

She couldn’t just speak up, could she?

But on second thought, everyone knew Zhao the Third was useless. At most, he was all talk and no action.

That was why he resorted to all these tricks.

She said firmly, “Where you go, I go.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Good.”

Zhao Zheng nodded. He wasn’t a kind man. He had only planned to give Zheng Chunmei a lesson, but she walked straight into his trap willingly.

Last night was his final warning, yet she insisted on diving into the snare.

So it wouldn’t be his fault.

After about an hour, Zheng Chunmei was exhausted and plopped down on the grass. “Uncle, I really can’t walk anymore. Let’s rest.”

Seeing her utterly worn out and spiritless, Zhao Zheng asked, “Did you eat this morning?”

“Only half a wild vegetable pancake.” Hearing this made Zheng Chunmei feel wronged.

“What about lunch?”

“I’ll go hungry.” Zheng Chunmei emptied the bamboo basket upside down. Inside was only a firewood knife, a water pouch, and a hemp rope—nothing else.

“Your old woman doesn’t worry you’ll starve out here?” Zhao Zheng shook his head. Zheng Chunmei was so weak that half a pancake was useless; she’d probably collapse before even reaching Jinji Mountain.

“She? She treats me like a beast of burden and doesn’t care if I die or not,” Zheng Chunmei said. “You’re different. Zhao Zhaodi and Zhang Xiao’e are lucky to have you as their father-in-law. If I had a father-in-law like you, I’d laugh myself awake in my dreams.”

“Am I really that good?”

“Of course. You’re not only kind, but generous, always willing to give good things to your daughters-in-law!” Zheng Chunmei spoke sincerely. After two days working in the Zhao household, she knew the true state of Zhao Zhaodi and Zhang Xiao’e well.

Contrary to village gossip, Zhao the Third never mistreated his daughters-in-law. Instead, he cared for them like his own daughters.

“You’ve got a sweet mouth,” Zhao Zheng glanced at her reddened lips. “Hey, are you wearing rouge?”

Zheng Chunmei’s face flushed, and she shyly turned away. “That’s makeup I bought when I married my husband. I hardly ever use it—too precious to waste.”

“No wonder your face is rosy and you smell nice too.”

Zhao Zheng looked at her, his mind wandering. Perhaps because her husband had forbidden her from working in the fields, her skin wasn’t rough like other village women’s but rather fair.

If the harvest had been better, her skin would be even more flawless.

Though she had given birth to three children, her figure remained good—curvy in all the right places, a top beauty in the small mountain village.

No wonder the village women whispered that her husband had been drained of his vitality by her.

With his frail, skinny frame, how could he handle such a woman?

The two were close, and the scent of the rouge mingled with the fragrance of soap pods and the unique smell of motherhood.

Zhao Zheng glanced around. This was a deserted, sheltered spot where ordinary people wouldn’t come. He quietly took a piece of cloth from the bamboo basket, spread it on the ground, and said, “The ground is rough. If you’re tired, lie down here for a while.”