Faced with this situation, Shi Tou immediately asked, "Father, what are you doing?"
Startled by his eldest son's cry of "Father," Li's father, naked, turned around. In the bright moonlight, he saw his son staring at his bare bottom with wide, curious eyes, full of confusion.
Qin Tao, beneath Li's father, saw Shi Tou standing tall and straight behind him through his armpits.
Before Qin Tao could react, Shi Tou took two steps closer. He tilted his head and saw Qin Tao, her shoulders bare, wearing only a red bellyband.
In this situation, whether startled or intentionally, Qin Tao let out a sharp "Ah!" The noise woke everyone in Li's village, not far from the boulder, in the quiet night.
That's the gist of it. Shi Tou was still sobbing, the child feeling utterly wronged.
Li Shiyue stood to the side, glancing between Li's father and Qin Tao, who was defiantly staring at her and Li's mother.
"I see,"
Li Shiyue said slowly, looking Qin Tao in the eye, each word distinct. Her voice wasn't low, and the villagers who had been watching the commotion outside immediately responded, some quick-witted ones echoing, "Ah! I see! So that's what it is..."
This was because, in Li Shiyue's original memories, Qin Tao was a married woman in Li Family Village.
Her husband, along with Li Shiyue's uncle and other men from the village, had been conscripted by county soldiers before the villagers fled the famine; their fates were still unknown.
Because Li Shiyue's uncle and Qin Tao's husband were good friends back in the village, the Li family and Qin Tao's family also had a good relationship.
After Li Shiyue's uncle and the other men in the village were conscripted to fight and never returned, Li's parents often helped Qin Tao, who had to raise two children alone.
Li's father would often go to Qin Tao's house to help with things like fetching water, chopping firewood, and repairing the roof;
Li's mother, being kind-hearted, would often invite Qin Tao to go to the mountains to forage for wild vegetables;
if the Li family found anything special, even just a handful of wild fruits, they would always share some with Qin Tao if they had any extra.
Even during this famine caused by natural disasters and human calamities, Li's father lent the family's other donkey to Qin Tao and her family of three.
So, it's no surprise that all this help ended up with everyone naked, and all that could be said was, "So that's how it is!"
At this moment, aside from Stone, who was crying and feeling incredibly wronged after being scolded by Li's father, everyone present knew that Li's father had been having an affair with Qin Tao in the middle of the night, and was unlucky enough to run into Stone, who came to relieve himself by the boulder, thus exposing their sordid affair.
Before transmigrating, Li Shiyue, already over thirty, naturally understood what had happened between Li's father and Qin Tao.
Among those present, besides the simple-minded Stone, only the village children truly didn't understand.
Li Shiyue looked at Qin Tao, who was arrogantly acting as if what she had done wasn't shameful but a perfectly good deed, her face showing nothing but mockery.
Li Shiyue didn't respond to Qin Tao's provocative remark. She merely glanced at Qin Tao before turning back to look at her mother, who was still comforting Shi Tou with a dark expression.
The key to this matter lay with Li Shiyue's mother; it all depended on how she wanted to resolve it.
"Mother, you..."
Li Shiyue's mother raised her hand to stop her from uttering her worries. She pulled Shi Tou, who was still sobbing, to Li Shiyue's side, placing Shi Tou's hand in Li Shiyue's. Seeing Li Shiyue grip Shi Tou's hand tightly, Li Shiyue's mother then said slowly and solemnly, "Shiyue, keep an eye on your brother."
Li Shiyue, holding her brother's hand, watched her mother take two more steps forward. Li Shiyue's mother didn't even glance at Qin Tao standing in front of Li Shiyue's father; she only stared at Li Shiyue's father.
Li Shiyue's father was already feeling guilty, and being stared at by Li Shiyue's mother like this, he couldn't bear it for more than a few breaths.
Li's father, his shoulders hunched, lowered his head, reaching up to tug at the sash he hadn't tied properly in his haste, finally managing to cover his half-exposed chest.
He didn't dare look directly at Li's mother, only tilting his head and glancing sideways at her.
But the words that came out of his mouth were piercingly painful: "Chunniang, don't be angry. This is the first time. Don't worry, I'll definitely behave myself from now on and won't dare do it again."
Before he could finish speaking, Qin Tao, standing to the side, was far from happy. She turned and stepped in front of Li's father, raising her head and letting out two pitiful tears.
This was no exaggeration at all. Li Shiyue, standing to the side, was amazed, thinking, "This acting, in modern times, would easily win an Oscar."
Li's father, seeing Qin Tao's hesitant and unspoken gesture, was truly heartbroken.
"Brother Guangzi, I…"
"Little Peach,"
Li Shiyue was truly about to vomit. Nowadays, married couples usually address each other as "the head of the household" and "mother of my child." Calling each other "brother" or "sister" was reserved for young couples who were engaged but not yet married.
Any more intimate terms were just private banter between husband and wife.
But in this situation, hearing Qin Tao call him "Brother Guangzi" was truly disgusting.
Good heavens, these two are having an affair and it's turned into real feelings?
Li Shiyue found the current state of her father and Qin Tao utterly repulsive.
"Mother?" Li Shiyue stepped forward and grabbed her mother's sleeve. Her mother was the one who should be the most heartbroken. On the road to escape famine, she had been betrayed by her closest relatives. Where could she find justice?
Her mother's strength surprised Li Shiyue.
"It's alright, don't be afraid." Li's mother didn't turn around; she patted Li Shiyue's arm and whispered this to him.
This charade brought immense amusement to the exhausted villagers of Li Family Village, who were on the verge of collapse during their escape from famine. They had initially been angry about their sleep being disturbed, but now no one cared about that.
The onlookers huddled together, gossiping about Li's father's late-night tryst with Qin Tao, how his son had discovered it, when Li 's father and Qin Tao had gotten together, and where they had consummated their relationship in the village.
Not to mention, Li's father and Qin Tao were currently putting on a passionate performance for everyone.
The psychological and emotional pressure from their desperate escape from famine, the anxiety and uncertainty in their hearts, were now somewhat alleviated by the appearance of Li's father and Qin Tao.
Li Shiyue listened as the villagers' discussions grew increasingly heated; some of the talkative men were even describing the exact positions the two had engaged in.
Li Shiyue held her elder brother Shitou's hand with her right hand and grasped her mother's arm with her left. She only glanced up at her father and Qin Tao, who were still deeply in love.
"Brother Guangzi, I...I'm pregnant with your child, I..."