Country Beauty 200, Main Text 200 — Grasshopper, grasshopper! 200 grasshopper! Lu Yun stepped out of the door, clutching the several tens of yuan given him by Ling Xiaoman, and headed straight for the convenience store. Actually, he still had a considerable amount of money from Yang Yanping for buying sanitary towels when he went to the city, but he couldn’t touch it. Halfway through his journey, Lu Yun turned around and walked in the direction opposite to the village convenience store. For safety’s sake, he retrieved all the money from Liu’s widow’s store and handed it over to Lu Xiaoying for safekeeping. Originally, he had planned for Xiaoying to come out today and bring the money back to Liu’s widow, but Xiaoying had been delayed by some unforeseen matter and hadn’t shown up yet. Throughout the entire afternoon, he hadn’t even asked his third sister in detail about Liu’s widow’s current condition, and felt uneasy all the while. After winding through several narrow lanes, Lu Yun stopped in front of a courtyard belonging to the Zhu Zi family, whose living conditions were even more modest than those of his third aunt. When Zhu Zi married Liu the widow, his parents had to beg and plead, piecing together funds from various sources to finally afford five rooms of earth-walled houses. Liu's family was not from the village itself—where exactly they lived was likely only known to Zhu Zi and his parents, who had passed away. At the time, villagers simply knew that Zhu Zi went out to the market, returned with a beautiful woman, and within a few months, the two were married. Pushing hard, the wooden door creaked with the sound of an elderly man on his last breath. Lu Yun stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and then saw Liu’s widow half-leaning against the doorway, looking worn and weak. A sudden pang of tenderness filled his heart. He hurried over: "Aunt, you... are you all right?" Seeing it was Lu Yun, a faint sense of relief spread across the widow’s pale, exhausted face. She nodded gently: "I’m fine, just a bit tired. Xiao Yun, you came today, didn’t you? If there’s nothing urgent, you should go back now—otherwise people will start making comments." The widow’s doorstep was always full of gossip. Even though Lu Yun was just a teenager, he couldn’t simply drop by without cause. Lu Yun didn’t care. What did those old women in the village have to say? If they wanted to criticize him, let them go ahead and do it. Stepped forward and grasped Liu Guofu's hands, her expression instantly startled. Though it was a scorching summer day, Liu Guofu's hands were cold—so cold they were almost alarming. "Uncle, what's wrong? Your hands are so cold," she asked. Liu Guofu offered a weak, pale smile. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired. Let's go inside and talk." The look of disappointment in Liu's eyes faded instantly. Sitting down on the chair beside Lu Yun, she weakly said, "Yes, Auntie is fine. You go on now, don't make the guests wait." Lu Yun shook his head, gazing intently at her face, which had lost its luster, as though trying to find something there. Liu lowered her head slightly, her voice carrying an endless sense of weariness. "What are you looking for? Have I grown less beautiful?" Suddenly, Lu Yun stood up, embraced Liu tightly, and gently stroked her long hair, saying, "Auntie, be my wife—my wife for life." Liu was startled by Lu Yun's words and then chuckled, "Aren't you already my wife?" "No—I don't want you to be my wife in bed..." Lu Yun's emotions surged, and his voice rose sharply. Liu, the widow, quickly broke free from his embrace, rose to cover his mouth, and gave him a pensive glance. "Xiao Yun, I already know what you want to say. My in-laws passed away just a few days ago. I didn't want to bring up these matters—after all, you're well aware of the village customs. I've always known that my life would be one of lifelong widowhood." Standing before the lifeless, dull room, Lu Yun felt deeply saddened, yet whatever words she tried to say now sounded so weak and inadequate. Only through action could she prove that she truly cared for her, thought of her. "Xiao Yun, go back now. You've been out too long—your auntie will surely scold you," Mrs. Liu, turning her back, wiped away a tear with a trembling voice. "Uncle, then I'll go back now. Please take good care of yourself," Lu Yun gently turned her over and spoke softly and gently. Mrs. Liu nodded. "I'm not a child anymore. I know how to take care of myself. Now, hurry back." "Uncle, then I'll go," Lu Yun clenched her teeth and stepped decisively out of Mrs. Liu's house. Mrs. Liu watched the still youthful figure of Lu Yun fade into the distance,怔怔 lost in thought, tears of bittersweet sorrow silently rolling down her cheeks. … When Lu Yun stepped out of the front door of Liu’s widow’s house, several elderly women nearby happened to spot him and gathered around, chatting excitedly. One of the women, full of energy, exclaimed, “Isn’t that Lu Yun from the third family? How come he’s out here during the day, visiting Liu’s widow? Isn’t he going to do something important?” "Old lady Bing chimed in right away: 'Exactly, exactly! It's been years since we've had a manly, battle-ready man from our village. Now, little Yun from the third family is stepping out of Liu widow's house—what else can she possibly do besides that?'" "At home, what are you doing out here? Hurry back to your room and go to sleep." Suddenly, a man's impatient voice broke through the quiet of the courtyard where the elder women were gathered. "Go on now, your husband is eager to stuff those bird eggs into your fox den!" said Elder Woman D, laughing lightly—her voice sounded so fresh and clear, like that of an eighteen-year-old girl, truly crisp and bright. Elder Woman A sighed in resignation, "What's the point of stuffing them in? It'll only take a few tries and then it'll be over—boring, really. This content is from Chapter 200 of 'Rural Women's Charm.' " Though she said this, she still stood up and went back inside, knowing that having something to do—however small—was better than being a spinster with nothing to offer. The other elder women chuckled and quickly scattered. ... At the convenience store, Lu Yun bought some meat, and then requested an additional portion separately. The remaining money from Ling Xiaoman's gift was barely enough. With two bags of groceries in hand, Lu Yun returned directly to Liu's widow's home and pushed open the front door. However, after walking only a few steps into the courtyard, she heard Liu Guozi's soft weeping coming from inside the house, interwoven with a man's awkward voice: "What's the point of crying? Didn't I used to get everything I needed back then? Now that the column's parents are gone, you don't have to worry about anything anymore. After all this time, you've finally come back—what's more, you must make me do something now." "Get out! Back then, it was because I had to help treat the column's parents that I did what I did. Now that they're gone, I won't behave the same way. Just go!" followed by Liu Guozi's furious voice from inside. "You're playing politics now—today, whether you like it or not, I'm not leaving without something. I'll just give you more money if I have to." Liu Guozi shouted suddenly, and from inside the house came a sharp, angry outburst. "For heaven's sake!" Lu Yun immediately realized what had happened, set down the two heavy grocery bags, and glanced around. Spotting a sturdy pole, about as thick as a man’s wrist and over a meter long, standing against the wooden door, he picked it up and moved silently toward the main room. "Let go of me," he said. "I've told you time and again—I no longer do those things." "Say you don't, and you don't? Every woman claims to be pure, but who believes them?" The door was left ajar, and as Lu Yun peered in, he just happened to see a man pressing Liu’s widow down on the bed, tearing at her clothes while continuously slapping her across the face—crisp, sharp sounds echoing throughout the room. "By God!" Each sharp slap landing on Liu’s face seemed to strike Lu Yun’s heart as well. His eyes blazed with fury, and with a surge of heat, he leapt to the bed, roared loudly, and swung the pole down hard onto the man’s back of the head. ... A note to readers: During the ranking period, kindly subscribe and cast a few recommendation votes, or drop a few golden bricks—your support is greatly appreciated. Villager's Radiant Woman, 200 chapters—main text updated!