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She and her husband had such times too. They hurriedly got married after graduating from college, and the heat and sweetness of their romance lasted for six months after the wedding. During that time, her husband often drove her to famous nearby restaurants for dinner. Sometimes, on a whim, he would take her to the crowded vegetable market, holding hands tightly as they haggled with the vendors. It was both romantic and mundane, but that feeling gradually faded after six months. Later, when their son was born and started kindergarten, she spun like a top between household chores and taking care of the two of them. Her husband showed her no tenderness at all. One afternoon, he brought home a white electric bike from the trunk of his car as a gift for her, saying it would save her from taking the bus to pick up their son.
From then on, this electric bike became a tether, connecting her and their son as they swayed in the distant air while he went about his own business on the ground. There was no longer any reason for them to come closer.
Sun Bai's heart raced in her chest, pumping blood like a flood to her brain. Her eyes felt sore and teary. She pressed down on the pedal and said, " Xiao Ming, let's take your dad to eat at Pizza Hut and make him pay!"
"Okay!" Li Ming clapped his hands joyfully in the back seat.
Sun Bai turned the bike around and weaved through traffic like the wind, heading in the opposite direction!
"Oh, Sun Bai is back," someone called out.
Sun Bai parked the electric bike at the alley entrance. After picking up her son and setting him down, she was about to lock it when a woman's voice suddenly came from behind her. She turned to see a neighbor from the alley, a woman who loved gossiping and stirring up trouble about others. The woman smiled down at her like a greasy meat bun. Sun Bai felt goosebumps rise on her back. She turned back to lock up the bike, then picked up Li Ming in her arms before greeting the woman with a forced smile. "Sister Sun," she said, trying to get past her into the alley.
The woman didn’t stop her but said in an odd tone just as they brushed past each other, "Don't forget to knock when you go inside; be careful not to scare away the wild mandarin ducks inside."
Sun Bai instinctively covered her son's ears and turned back, displeased. "Sister Sun, my child is here; why do you speak like that?"
The woman covered her mouth with a laugh. "I'm just looking out for you; be careful your son can't get into the house later—then you'll have something to cry about."
Sun Bai huffed angrily and shot a glare at the woman. "You're getting more ridiculous!" She grabbed her son's hand and strode toward their front door.
The woman called after her, "Li Family Daughter-in-Law, pay attention!" Then she surprisingly refrained from spitting on the ground or cursing again; perhaps she felt pity for Sun Bai being kept in the dark by this family of fools.
However, if Sun Bai ever found herself homeless in the future, she wouldn’t hesitate to laugh at this woman's jokes.
What did that woman mean? What wild mandarin ducks? Did she hear some gossip and come flaunting it in front of her? But where there’s smoke, there’s fire... Raising her eyes, she found herself at the Li Family's door.
It was probably nonsense. Sun Bai recalled something her husband had mentioned: there was a young couple in Yue Town—the husband was ugly and simple-minded while the wife was lively and charming. They had a son after a year of marriage, and many townsfolk came to congratulate them. A few gossipy women saw the baby shortly after his birth and soon rumors spread that he didn’t resemble his father at all. The husband naturally didn’t believe it; they continued living happily together. Over time, however, the rumors became more explicit—saying not only did he not resemble his father’s features but also his face shape, nose, height—he simply looked nothing like him at all. The husband began to waver. Eventually, rumors concluded that this child wasn’t his! Some even claimed they saw his wife laughing with another man one day. Unable to bear it any longer, he took his wife and son to get a paternity test behind her back. When she found out without saying a word, she quietly left with their son once results confirmed he was indeed his child.
What happened to that husband now? Sun Bai had asked Li Cheng.
Li Cheng took a drag from his cigarette; he was in his thirties now but still a widower.
Look at that! Those gossipy women were best at fabricating stories! Sun Bai silently told herself as she raised her hand to knock on the doorbell. But when it hit the wooden door with a dull thud, Sun Bai froze in fear. What was she doing? Was she really following that woman's advice to warn those inside?
No, no! You must not become that indecisive husband.
"Who is it?" Just as Sun Bai's thoughts spiraled out of control, she heard her mother-in-law's voice from inside.
Sun Bai hurriedly wiped her temples and straightened her clothes. "Mom, it's me—Sun Bai."
Her mother-in-law paused for a moment before replying, "Coming."
As soon as the door opened, Sun Bai put on a smile while pulling Li Ming inside and asked, "Mom, is Chengzi here?"
Wang Surong remained standing at the door, "He's not here, is he busy with work?"
Sun Bai glanced around the yard, which was empty. Li Cheng really seemed to have not returned, and there were no cars outside. However, before she went to pick up Xiao Ming from school, she had called Li Cheng. He said he was going home to see his dad and told her to just buy a birthday cake for their son since he was still young and it wasn't appropriate to make a big deal out of his birthday. Sun Bai paused for a moment and turned to look at Wang Surong, who didn't seem to intend to close the door, as if waiting for Sun Bai to leave. "Dad isn't home?"
Wang Surong panicked for a moment, "Oh, he went to play cards with Uncle Chen."
"Oh, I see. That's fine, you rest first; I'm heading back."
"Don't you want to sit for a while?"
"No, Xiao Ming needs to do his homework when we get back."
Wang Surong looked down at Li Ming, who was hiding behind Sun Bai, timidly showing a guarded expression on his face as he faced a stranger. She pursed her lips bitterly, "Alright then, be careful on your way."
Sun Bai left, and Wang Surong closed the yard door. She moved out the stool that Li Li often sat on and sat quietly under the cool porch in front of the main room for a long time.
She could do nothing but sit there.
Li Cheng had taken Li Weimin and Liu Wenyi to eat in the city, leaving her and Li Li at home. Li Li was hiding inside sleeping; as for her? She could only endure the passage of time in silence.
There was a slaughterhouse in West Town, not far from which was the highway. Whenever cars passed by the slaughterhouse, they would hear the horrific cries of pigs and smell the strange mixture of pig manure and blood.
Liu Wenyi usually returned to the Li Family by taking a detour to the east end of town. She would rather walk a few extra steps than be frightened by the heart-wrenching cries that accompanied the end of a life.
But that day, due to company matters, Li Cheng did not come to pick her up. It was extremely difficult to get a taxi during rush hour. Left with no choice, Liu Wenyi squeezed onto a bus back to town.
The bus stop sign stood right by the road in West Town. As soon as Liu Wenyi got off the bus, she took a deep breath. The bus was packed with bodies, and various smells mixed together made her dizzy.
Just as she straightened up, a pig's scream pierced her eardrums. Instinctively, she avoided looking toward the slaughterhouse and covered her mouth and nose while walking toward town.
But the more she tried not to look, the more her gaze drifted toward the slaughterhouse.
As she continued to glance over, she saw a familiar figure squatting beside the butcher with his chin resting on his hand. The butcher pulled his long knife out from the pig's neck, and blood gushed out like water from a faucet, steaming hot as it sprayed onto the butcher's rubber apron and splattered onto that person's face. That person paid no attention but stared intently at the butcher's apron.
The pig fell down, twitching helplessly. Liu Wenyi could no longer hold back and took a few steps toward the slaughterhouse. "Li Li! What are you doing here!"
The excitement in Li Li's eyes instantly faded as he tugged at the butcher's clothing and pointed at Liu Wenyi saying, "Wife, beautiful wife—"
The butcher's gaze lingered on Liu Wenyi with an ambiguous expression.
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