Zheng Meizhi's Morning Call

Zheng Jingren completely panicked, and without bothering to pick up the clothes he was wearing, he followed them in.

"Zheng Jingren, didn't you say that your back hurts so much that you can't do anything lately?"

Tell me what's on that kang (heated brick bed).

Zhang Shuhua pointed to a woman's dress on the kang (a heated brick bed) and asked Zheng Jingren.

Zheng Jingren looked around the room and then let out a long sigh of relief.

He went up, picked up Widow Xing's floral shirt, and put it in the box on the ground.

"Zheng Jingren, I'm asking you a question! Are you mute?"

Zhang Shuhua almost jumped up and grabbed Zheng Jingren by the collar of his T-shirt.

This was the first time Zhang Changyao had ever seen his aunt lose her temper like this, and he didn't know what to do for a moment.

"Zhang Shuhua, those clothes belong to my daughter, why are you so jealous?"

I, Zheng Jingren, have always been upright and honest in my dealings with others.

If you have any doubts, search the house and see if there are any other women there.

Zheng Jingren blocked the box, letting Zhang Shuhua find the room.

"Auntie, is Zheng Meizhi still at my house?" Zhang Changyao didn't want them to keep arguing about useless things.

He grabbed Zhang Shuhua's hand and urged her to get down to business.

"Zheng Jingren, I'm not going to waste my breath on you. Go and call Zheng Meizhi back right now."

The daughter stayed on the kang (heated brick bed) at her newlywed husband's house and refused to come back.

"You still have the nerve to chatter away at home? You're quite the father."

Zhang Shuhua shoved Zheng Jingren while cursing and swearing. She knew Zheng Jingren was up to no good, but she couldn't find any evidence.

"This child is really worrying me. I'll go right now, right now."

Zheng Jingren put on thick clothes and followed behind Zhang Shuhua and Zhang Changyao.

Widow Xing, who was hiding under the curtain of the trunk, only crawled out when she heard the footsteps fading into the distance.

"Old man, you have a lover in the village, why are you still flirting with people all the way over there?"

"It's made me end up stuck in this filthy place."

Widow Xing cleaned the dust off her body and the dirt off her arms and legs.

He took his clothes out of the box and put them on, then rummaged through the box again.

Finding nothing of value, he could only pout and lean against the pillar in the middle of the ground, sulking.

"Zhang Changyao, go find my father. You just wait, I'll never forgive you in this lifetime."

Zheng Meizhi saw her father, Zheng Jingren, and Zhang Shuhua enter the house and stand on the ground looking at her.

He threw all the bedding on Zhang Changyao's kang (heated brick bed) on the ground and stormed home.

"My dear girl, I'm really impressed by you. What's so great about that Zhang Changyao?"

So what if he studied a few more days and is good at talking? He's still just as poor as everyone else.

If I were you, I would choose Ma Pengsheng, at least he's a good farmer.

Aunt Ma Pengsheng is still waiting for your reply at home. Look how sincere she is.

Following behind Zheng Meizhi, Zheng Jingren tried to persuade and coax her into marrying her off to Ma Pengsheng.

Just now, Widow Xing had already used her body to pay off the 100 yuan dowry in bed.

"Father, how can Ma Pengsheng compare to Zhang Changyao? Zhang Changyao is an educated man."

There's only one Zhang Changyao in our village, but there are tons of people like Ma Pengsheng.

The less he cares about me, the more I miss him.

Even if I marry Ma Pengsheng, I won't let Zhang Changyao live a peaceful life.

You will live at Ma Pengsheng's house. I want Zhang Changyao to see me every day.

I want to haunt him every single day, like a persistent ghost.

Zheng Meizhi agreed to marry Ma Pengsheng, on the condition that she live in the two rooms opposite Zhang Changyao's house.

Ma Pengsheng's family didn't dare utter a single word of dissent and respectfully brought Zheng Meizhi home as their bride.

To explain why Widow Xing would risk her life to act as a matchmaker for Ma Pengsheng...

This story begins when Widow Xing was young.

Back in the day, Widow Xing was no ordinary person; she was well-known throughout the surrounding villages.

No man could catch her eye, despite the constant stream of suitors lining up at her door.

In fact, she already had someone she loved in her heart, Xie Mingjun, a poor scholar from the town.

Xie Mingjun was an outsider who made a living by writing letters to others.

The two eventually slept together, and a few months later, Widow Xing discovered she was pregnant.

When Widow Xing told Xie Mingjun the good news.

This irresponsible bookworm packed his bedding and disappeared overnight.

Xie Mingjun didn't dislike Widow Xing, nor did he not want to get a beautiful wife for free.

He was afraid of Widow Xing's father, the pig castrator who carried a knife.

If Widow Xing's father knew that Xie Mingjun had abused his daughter, he would surely skin Xie Mingjun alive.

And so, Widow Xing gave birth to a boy after ten months of pregnancy.

The child was born at my cousin's house in Zhangzhuang, and was left with my cousin after the birth.

For this matter, Widow Xing's father even carried a large pork knuckle to Old Ma's family.

Widow Xing always felt that she owed Ma Pengsheng something.

Ma Pengsheng was Widow Xing's only child, and she never complained about anything she did for him.

She always said that God had opened his eyes and punished her, making her unable to have children anymore.

Just as she herself said, the first thing Zheng Meizhi did every morning was to call Zhang Changyao.

"Zhang Changyao, you don't care about your mother, but I'm not rotting at home."

"I'll wake you up every morning; I'll never let you have a peaceful day."

"Zhang Changyao, shall we move somewhere else?"

Lying on Zhang Changyao's arm in bed, Yang Wuni covered her ears with her hands, not wanting to hear Zheng Meizhi's cries.

"Wu Ni, where can we move to? Let her keep complaining, there will come a day when she's had enough."

Zhang Changyao ignored Zheng Meizhi mainly because he was truly at his wit's end.

"Wu Ni, I'd like to discuss this with you. It's not a good idea for Dad to always stay at Big Brother's house."

I'll go talk to Dad in a bit and ask him to move back in.

Zhang Changyao pondered this matter for several days before finally speaking it aloud.

"Zhang Changyao, you don't need to discuss this with me."

In our family, you're in charge. Do whatever you want; I don't have any ideas.

Before I married you, I didn't feel like I had a home.

"It's all because you don't mind me, otherwise I'd still be raiding birds' nests in the trees."

Yang Wuni got up and put on her clothes, deliberately covering her stomach again and again.

She's been feeling something moving inside her stomach for the past few days, but she's too afraid to ask Zhang Changyao.

The psychological pressure left her no time to think about anything else.

Zhang Kaiju didn't stand on ceremony with his son and had Zhang Changyao carry the luggage and put it on the kang (a heated brick bed) in his house.

"Dad, I'll take apart your dad's luggage, wash it, and remake it."

"You cover my and Zhang Changyao's luggage first, and we'll squeeze into one blanket."

Before Zhang Kaiju could agree, Yang Wuni tore apart his greasy, shiny bedding and threw it into the laundry tub.

"Dad, these are Zhang Changyao's clothes and pants. Please change into them first."

I'll wash your clothes and pants, and get rid of the lice and nits inside.