Inside and Outside the Village, Inside and Outside the Marriage

One widow makes a story. A whole group of widows makes a disaster.

A mining accident four years ago left the women of most of the village without anyone to rely on.

Life was hard, and local hooligans picked on them. If they tried to earn a little money just to survive, they were branded loose women. I thought this was how my life would be from then on.

Then Lu Xiao came along and changed everything. He upended my once-still, lifeless existence and brought me a kind of romance I'd never known.

But just as I was ready to accept him completely, I realized he was more complicated than I'd imagined.

I grabbed him by the collar and demanded, “Lu Xiao, who are you, really?”

His eyes gleaming with bloodlust, he lifted my chin. “And you, Jiang Wan? Have you ever loved me?”