"You haven't eaten yet, have you?" The food at the Machine Factory cafeteria was somewhat better than what was available at the school. She pointed toward the cafeteria as she introduced the factory area to Qu Hua. Workers greeted Mu Jing, and she responded with a smile.
Qu Hua saw a new side of Mu Jing—relaxed now, except when facing him.
He had thought that after marriage, her situation would improve and she would become less tense, but even after marrying, she showed no sense of security. He had brought home an actress, one who used the same tactics she had with her ex-boyfriend to deal with him—only back then, her words were genuine, while with him, they were fake. Marriage hadn't changed her; work had.
"Let's eat at the Guesthouse."
"The cafeteria here is much better than the one at the Branch Campus. No need to go so far."
"I'm staying at the Guesthouse tonight."
Mu Jing couldn't help but laugh.
Qu Hua found that laugh familiar.
Years ago, through Yanyan's introduction, he had seen a photo of Fang Mu Jing. Her face was strikingly divided—the lower half bore a strained, approachable smile that couldn't conceal the disdain in her eyes. Although he had never met her, he had strangely sensed her arrogance at first glance. At the time, he had to admit that Fang Mu Jing had some capital to be proud of her talents. He truly couldn't understand why Yanyan would like someone like that; there was no explanation other than misunderstanding. Yanyan had never grasped the essence of her expression, only mimicking the smile on the lower half of her face. Yanyan was different from them—she always saw the good in others.
Later, when they met, Fang Mu Jing had improved greatly, keeping her disdain for others hidden inside. Yet sometimes it still surfaced. After marriage, on several late nights after they had been intimate, when he went to kiss Mu Jing's face under the ceiling light, he would see that same smile on her face. Even though she relied on him and even felt compelled to please him, she seemed to look down on him. The smile vanished in an instant, but it lingered in his eyes. He would kiss her more violently, and she would immediately wrap her arms around his neck.
If he were a gentleman, he should have told her long ago not to force herself, and now he should wait at home for her to file for divorce after she achieved career success, content to be a stepping stone. Let Mu Jing comfortably become a new person in a new environment. But he wasn't.
He knew Mu Jing certainly didn't want to see him here. She had finally become a new version of herself that she liked, but his presence immediately reminded her of the Fang Mu Jing who had obtained her job opportunity in a somewhat undignified manner before him.
He stood there observing Mu Jing, watching the smile on her lips flicker and fade.
"Wait a moment, I need to tell my colleague."
"I'll go with you."
Mu Jing couldn't find a reason to refuse him.
Many of Mu Jing's colleagues had received items Qu Hua sent to her—the packages never stopped coming—and they all had a good impression of him. In their eyes, this couple had a strong relationship, and it was only natural for them to stay together since he had come all this way.
Qu Hua didn't recognize Old Wu at first; she had changed too much over the years, and they had only met once before. It was only when Mu Jing addressed her that he realized who she was.Old Wu recognized him at a glance. When she heard that Mu Jing's doctor was a surgeon named Qu Hua, she knew it was the one she was acquainted with. Years ago, Old Wu had approached Qu Hua trying to persuade him to choose Computational Mathematics. She had a list of competition winners in hand, all of whom were her potential candidates. She rarely encountered such a determined child—others, whether refusing or accepting, would consult their parents' opinions, but Qu Hua firmly stated he wanted to study medicine. Old Wu mentioned that Fang Mu Jing had also chosen Computational Mathematics, knowing Mu Jing held some appeal for boys his age, though being in the same major would only mean being classmates. Unexpectedly, Qu Hua replied, "What others choose has nothing to do with me."
In her quest to recruit the best students into her program, Old Wu would stop at nothing. She immediately saw the boy's pride and said to Qu Hua with a laugh, "You're not choosing the same major as her because you're afraid of being outshone, aren't you? Do you really lack that much confidence in yourself?" To her surprise, Qu Hua smiled back and said, "Professor Wu, your reverse psychology seems a bit clumsy." Old Wu hadn't expected to be so thoroughly rebuffed by a mere kid. What astonished her even more was that Qu Hua paid for their tea. With a monthly salary of a few hundred yuan and no family to share expenses, she had always been the one treating others. She tried to chase after him to return the money, but he had already left on his bicycle. She didn't give up on Qu Hua and attempted to go through his parents, only to learn upon contact that his father was utterly uncommunicative—the man believed the best choice for his son was to skip university and join the army directly, with the second-best option being military academy.
Qu Hua not only resisted her persuasion but also stood firm against his father.
Old Wu didn't dwell on the past. She specifically granted Mu Jing an extra half-day off, but Mu Jing declined. Old Wu then insisted, "Tomorrow afternoon, even if you want to ask for leave, I won't approve it." She turned to Qu Hua and added, "You must bring Mu Jing back by noon tomorrow. We have a meeting to discuss plans in the afternoon, and without her, it can't proceed. She is as important to us as she is to you. No, even more important!" When Mu Jing tried to speak again, Old Wu cut in, "Hurry up and go, why are you still standing there?"
"I need to change out of my clothes," Mu Jing said. It wouldn't be appropriate to enter the guesthouse wearing the factory's work uniform.
Qu Hua accompanied her to the dormitory. On the way, Mu Jing walked quickly, habitually taking off her hat, her hair cascading down. Qu Hua noticed her newly cut hair and reached out his hand, but Mu Jing instinctively put her hat back on.
Qu Hua withdrew his hand into his pocket and stopped at the dormitory entrance, letting Mu Jing go inside to change. He waited outside, watching people come and go, all dressed in the same work uniform as Mu Jing. She changed swiftly, so fast that Qu Hua was taken aback.
Qu Hua asked how many people lived in her dorm. Mu Jing said ten, explaining that the factory was running an open-door education program, and they were temporary staff. To accommodate them, two offices had been converted into living quarters. Though ten people shared the space, it was still quite spacious.
From her expression, it was clear she was very satisfied with the arrangement.The two took the bus to the guesthouse, with Mu Jing sitting and Qu Hua standing beside her. Neither spoke the entire way. Mu Jing closed her eyes in her seat, mentally filtering through coding schemes, gradually pushing Qu Hua out of her thoughts. Halfway there, it began to rain outside—each autumn rain brings a chill, and lately, the autumn rains had been drizzling incessantly. Mu Jing usually carried an umbrella when she went out, but today she had forgotten. Not only had she forgotten the umbrella, but she had also forgotten her medicine.
After getting off the bus, Qu Hua took off his thick coat and handed it to Mu Jing to shield her from the rain.
"I don't want it."
"Hurry up, it's just a few steps to the guesthouse."
Qu Hua walked ahead of Mu Jing, and she followed. It was much farther than a few steps, and Qu Hua's shirt was half soaked. Though Mu Jing had the coat for cover, she still ended up unavoidably damp.
"Go up first and change your clothes."
Mu Jing couldn't help but laugh. "This isn't the factory." Where would she change?
"I brought some for you. Go take a shower first, then change."
"You go first."
"If you keep being polite with me, we could shower together. It would save time—what do you think?"
Mu Jing immediately fell silent.
Qu Hua looked at her. "Still not going in? Waiting for me?"
Mu Jing closed the bathroom door. Qu Hua opened his suitcase to rummage for clothes, then carried them to the bathroom. When he pushed the door, he found it already locked. Qu Hua leaned sideways and knocked, keeping his eyes fixed on the window. "Your change of clothes." Mu Jing took them and murmured a quiet "thank you."
Outside, the rain pattered softly as Qu Hua stood by the window smoking.
It was a long time ago.
One of Qu Hua's classmates asked him if he had ever received a letter from Fang Mu Jing.
Qu Hua was surprised by the question—he and Fang Mu Jing had no connection whatsoever.
He later found out what had happened. The classmate had seen Fang Mu Jing's photo in a newspaper and was so struck by her beauty that he immediately wrote her a letter. A month passed with no reply. Unwilling to give up, he wrote a long letter to Mu Jing under Qu Hua's name, thinking that since Qu Hua and Mu Jing had both appeared in the same monthly magazine, she might recognize him. Still, there was no reply. Undeterred, he sent two more letters in Qu Hua's name, but again, no response. He suspected Mu Jing might have sent the replies directly to the school instead of the address he had provided. After some internal struggle, he finally decided to ask Qu Hua. Qu Hua simply thought the guy was utterly ridiculous and wondered how much nonsense he had written in those letters under his name.
That person had written pointless letters to Fang Mu Jing using Qu Hua's name—not just one, but three. Qu Hua could easily imagine her expression when she opened them: her eyes would be the same as always, but her whole face would convey unified disdain, her lips curled in scorn, silently mocking Qu Hua as a fool with too much time on his hands.
The boy, disheartened and warned by Qu Hua, never wrote to Mu Jing again. Qu Hua also felt it wasn't worth clarifying the matter—doing so would only make him seem even more foolish.Later, when Yanyan was writing to her cousin, she decided to also write a letter to Mu Jing who lived in the same city. Since they would be mailed together anyway, she didn't really care whether Mu Jing would reply or not, because she assumed many people must be writing to her - someone so talented and beautiful. Since she resembled Mu Jing, and people who don't dislike themselves tend to prefer those similar to them, Mu Jing appeared even more beautiful in Yanyan's eyes than in most people's. In her letter to Mu Jing, she first introduced herself, then expressed her all-around admiration for Mu Jing and her own love and interest in mathematics. The letter stated that she dreamed of becoming a girl like Mu Jing.
Unexpectedly, Qu Hua said: "It shouldn't be too difficult to get her to reply to your letter."
"How would she have time to reply to everyone?"
"But she'll definitely reply to you. Don't bother putting a stamp on it - I'll mail it for you."
Yanyan indeed received a reply from Mu Jing. When she saw "Fang Mu Jing" on the envelope, she found it incredible, never having expected Mu Jing would actually respond. The stamp on the envelope featured a Red-crowned Crane. Mu Jing's handwriting was quite different from her photos - very unrestrained - though the content was gentle. Yanyan's formal name sounded more robust than her nickname, so Mu Jing simply omitted her surname and addressed her as "So-and-so classmate." Mu Jing filled an entire page with study methods that Yanyan couldn't really understand but found thrilling, as if she had obtained exclusive secrets, since she hadn't seen these methods in the monthly publications. At the end of the letter, Mu Jing mentioned she would send two books and welcomed Yanyan to correspond and discuss with her.
Yanyan shared this news with Qu Hua, who wasn't particularly surprised.
"Brother Hua, why were you so sure she would write back to me?"
"Because your letter was very sincere. You moved her."
Qu Hua didn't tell Yanyan that he had used a Mei Lanfang Stage Art souvenir sheet for postage - something normally meant for collection rather than mailing, especially such a rare Mei Lanfang issue. It was truly extravagant. The face value of that stamp was enough to send over a dozen registered letters. Such a large souvenir sheet featuring Mei Lanfang on the envelope would be impossible to miss - any stamp collector would know how precious it was. Through Yanyan's forced indoctrination, he had learned that Fang Mu Jing enjoyed stamp collecting. Inside the letter, he had also included a set of Red-crowned Crane stamps for reply purposes.
Two days later, Yanyan received two books she completely couldn't understand, also sent by Fang Mu Jing. Along with them came an envelope containing another envelope inside. The inner envelope had Yanyan's formal name as the sender and was affixed with the Mei Lanfang souvenir sheet. Apparently finding this stamp too valuable, Mu Jing had returned it, even though it now bore a postmark and might not have the same collection value as an unused stamp.
Qu Hua hadn't expected the stamp to be returned. Her letter to Yanyan had been quite gentle, perhaps unrelated to the stamp. This indicated that Fang Mu Jing would reply to letters - just not to that fool named Qu Hua.
When Yanyan asked Qu Hua why he used such a stamp for mailing, he avoided answering directly, saying instead that he had more than one.
Yanyan didn't press further and gave the envelope with the Mei Lanfang stamp back to Qu Hua. She didn't particularly like Mei Lanfang, though she acknowledged his excellence - she preferred watching plays and ballet. Qu Hua had once given her a set of Soviet ballet stamps that she had quite liked.Yanyan never contacted Mu Jing again, partly because she felt Mu Jing was too busy and didn't want to disturb her, and partly because she couldn't understand any of the books Mu Jing had sent her. She had no way to discuss them with her. She wanted to ask Qu Hua for help, to find a question to write to Mu Jing about, to prove she was teachable and not hopelessly stubborn. Qu Hua refused outright. He took away the books Mu Jing had given Yanyan and kept them for her temporarily, believing that at her level, reading those books would only confuse her further. It would be better for her to focus on her textbooks, which might help improve her grades. Yanyan had no choice but to cut off contact with Mu Jing. Later, her main focus shifted to dancing, and Mu Jing disappeared from her life.
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