After watching the opera, Chen Yang was snuggled up with his wife by the warm stove.
Shen Ermeng, however, couldn't sleep. Squeezed together with his eight brothers and sisters on the communal bed, the stench of their feet made him increasingly restless.
Of course, what made him most restless were the beautiful love stories from the opera.
His mind was filled with the image of Chunyan Saozi’s clothes clinging to her when he’d saved Tietou that day.
If gods and mortals could marry, what was wrong with him and Chunyan Saozi?
He liked Chunyan Saozi. Who said a widow couldn't date, couldn't get married? He just wanted to be with Chunyan Saozi.
He felt sorry for Chunyan Saozi, raising Tietou and the other two children all by herself with no man to help her.
He, Shen Ermeng, was already eighteen. In a few months, when the New Year came, he’d be nineteen. In the village, boys his age already had sons. It was time for him to start a family.
Thinking of this, Shen Ermeng became even more restless. He secretly pried away the stinky feet of his younger brother that were pinning his face, and tumbled out of bed in one go.
Shen Ermeng’s house was to the east of his second uncle Shen Guangfu’s home, and to the west was Zhao Chunyan’s house. He was very familiar with the area.
He quietly pushed open the fence of the courtyard and climbed into Zhao Chunyan’s yard.
But the moment he entered the yard, the young man suddenly felt scared again.
He had bravely come to pursue his love, but Chunyan Saozi might not like him.
Shen Ermeng stood gazing at the window, suddenly unsure of what to do.
It was pitch black outside. The hot-blooded youth looked at the full moon overhead, feeling rather pathetic.
Just then, for some reason, he seemed to hear one or two faint sounds like a cat’s meow.
Chunyan Saozi’s family could barely feed themselves, how could they afford to keep a cat? Shen Ermeng didn’t have a cat either.
However, these cat-like sounds seemed somewhat suppressed, as if someone was deliberately trying to muffle their voice. Hmm? And they sounded a bit like Chunyan Saozi's voice?
Shen Ermeng was puzzled.
Moreover, the sound seemed to carry a hint of pain, yet mixed with a trace of pleasure, making his heart tingle.
Shen Ermeng pressed his ear to the window. Now he could hear clearly. The strange sound was indeed coming from Chunyan Saozi's room.
"Could it be that Chunyan Saozi is feeling unwell?"
The thought of this made Shen Ermeng's previously hesitant heart suddenly brave again.
But he peeked through the window and dared not make a sound.
He wanted to ask Chunyan Saozi if she was feeling unwell, but in the middle of the night, it didn’t seem appropriate.
What should he do?
Earlier, his head had been so full of love stories that he’d rushed out impulsively. Now, the youth began to overthink.
"Who, who's out there?"
Just as Shen Ermeng was hesitating, Zhao Chunyan inside the house, through the moonlight, suddenly saw a shadow moving outside the window. This scared her immensely.
The window, made of paper, was already translucent. Combined with the bright, full moon at the end of the month, the moonlight cast the shadow of Shen Ermeng, lurking near the wall, into sharp relief.
Already tense, she was so startled that her body trembled, and the emotions she had suppressed for so long poured out.
Discovered by Zhao Chunyan, Shen Ermeng was so scared that he turned to flee.
But the moment he took a step, the young man remembered the opera he had watched that night.
If he lacked the courage to pursue love, how could he talk about love? How could he marry Chunyan Saozi?
There were always rumors around a widow's door. To marry a widow would surely invite overwhelming criticism. Although Shen Ermeng was young, he understood this.
If he truly wanted to marry Chunyan Saozi, these were things he had to face. If he didn't even have the courage to confess his feelings to Chunyan Saozi now, how could he face the village’s gossip later?
With this thought, Shen Ermeng stopped his attempt to escape.
"Chunyan Saozi, it's me, Ermeng."
"I have something to tell you. I'll wait for you outside."
Shen Ermeng took a deep breath, and then uttered these two sentences.
After saying them, his legs nearly went weak.
Hearing Shen Ermeng’s voice, Zhao Chunyan inside the house became even more flustered. In the darkness, she fumbled everywhere for the clothes she had scattered about.
Dressing herself in a panic, she cautiously glanced at her three children. Seeing that they were all fast asleep, she carefully opened the door.
She was the mother of three children, but she was also a woman. At twenty-six, she too had desires and emotional cravings.
However, she usually suppressed them. She showed no kindness to men who lusted after her. She, Zhao Chunyan, was not so shameless as to be promiscuous.
But she also wanted a companion, someone who could help her, care for her, and live with her. She was willing to treat him with all her heart, bear him sons, and give him everything she could.
Yet, she knew very well that she was a widow with three children, and she dared not hope for such things.
If it were anyone else, she certainly wouldn't have come out so late at night. But recently, Shen Laifu's family had been doing well, and Shen Ermeng had often secretly given her children extra portions of good food.
Now, he had even saved her son's life. The savior of her son's life, even knowing it would invite gossip in the middle of the night, she couldn’t ignore him.
Just as Zhao Chunyan came out and stood beside Shen Ermeng, looking at the young man who was a head taller than her.
She suddenly realized something. The little child she had seen before was now a young man old enough to get married.
No wonder he was lurking outside her window in the middle of the night!
Thinking of the embarrassing things she had just done, Zhao Chunyan's ears turned red. She wished she could disappear into a hole in the ground. Now, this silly boy had probably heard everything.
"Ermeng, how could you eavesdrop at my window in the middle of the night? It’s only because you saved Tietou’s life, otherwise, I would have definitely fallen out with you and reported you for hooliganism to the old village chief."
Zhao Chunyan was still somewhat angry. She had never thought that Shen Ermeng would be like those men with wicked intentions.
"Chunyan Saozi, no, no, you misunderstand me. I didn't come to eavesdrop on you on purpose."
"I, I, I have something to tell you."
Seeing that Zhao Chunyan had misunderstood him, Shen Ermeng became so anxious that he could barely speak coherently.
"You, you’re just trying to fool me. What can’t be said during the day and must be said at this late hour? If I hadn't called out just now, you wouldn't have made a sound. If you weren’t eavesdropping, then what were you doing?"
Zhao Chunyan looked at the flustered Shen Ermeng. In truth, she already believed him for the most part. The nervous young man was different from those men who were always thinking impure thoughts.
However, out of a woman's caution, she still teased Shen Ermeng a little.
"Saozi, you misunderstand me. I swear to heaven, if I came here to eavesdrop on you on purpose today, may I die a terrible death."
Shen Ermeng, in his agitation, immediately made a solemn vow.
Zhao Chunyan was stunned.
"Then why did you come to find me so late?"
Zhao Chunyan looked at the young man's flushed face, his eyes bright with emotion. A preposterous thought suddenly struck her, a thought that made her long-dormant heart pound.