When the Fei family realized Fei Ni's decision was final, they began helping her prepare the necessary items for marriage.
As the person involved, Fei Ni insisted it was unnecessary, saying there would be no place to store such preparations even if they were made.
Fei Ma insisted on going to the department store to buy brocade satin for quilt covers, believing both daughters' dowries should be equal.
When Fei Ni's second sister got married, the family had provided two new cotton quilts as dowry—one with eight jin of cotton, the other with six jin, both freshly fluffed and very soft. The quilt covers were made of embroidered soft satin, accompanied by two pairs each of pillows, pillowcases, and pillow towels. Fei Ni had even helped her sister sew curtains and bedsheets from defective fabric discarded by her sister's factory. For her own wedding, Fei Ni advocated for simplicity: she planned to continue using her old bedding and bedsheets after moving, but since Fang Muyang was leaving the hospital, he would need new bedding. Fei Ni made the decision for Fang Muyang, prioritizing practicality over appearance. She asked her sister if she could obtain some flawed fabric at a discount to sew bedsheets and quilt covers for him.
Fei Ma was the first to object: "You only get married once in your life. How can you be so casual about it?"
Fei Ni thought to herself that she might not marry just once, and even if she did, the appearance of the quilts was utterly unimportant.
She shifted the blame to Fang Muyang: "Xiao Fang prefers rugged things. He finds brocade satin too girlish and dislikes it, favoring coarse cloth instead. As for me, I still prefer my old quilts."
"He's contributing nothing, yet he's picky."
Fei Ni defended Fang Muyang: "If I weren't marrying him, we wouldn't get the apartment. Mom, let's just have a family meal on the wedding day and skip all other preparations."
Fei Ma grew anxious at this: "Skip all preparations? Whether you want them or not, I'm making them. Our family's daughter is no less than anyone else. How can we let the wedding be so shabby? If outsiders find out, they'll laugh at me."
Fei Ni knew her mother had been holding in frustration ever since she decided to marry Fang Muyang, feeling she was settling, and now it had finally erupted.
She poured her mother a cup of tea and said with a smile, "The apartment isn't ready yet, so there's no place to store anything. When it's time to move and buy things, I'll definitely need to borrow money from you. Won't you have plenty of chances to spend it then? Besides, my brother might get married this year when he returns, and that will require significant expenses no matter how much we save."
Fei Ma slapped her thigh firmly. "You're not rushing into marriage because of your brother, are you?"
"It has nothing to do with my brother."
Fei Ma didn't believe her and continued lamenting, "I wondered why you were in such a hurry. But no matter how rushed we are, we should choose carefully—this is a lifetime matter."
"I have chosen. I think Fang Muyang is quite good."
For her wedding, Fei Ni's second sister obtained a high-quality fabric for her to make a dress to wear on the big day.
Although simplicity was the general approach, the Fei family believed a wedding banquet was still essential—whether held in a cafeteria or by hiring a chef from a restaurant—it had to be done.
Fei Ni's opinion was that offering wedding candies to guests would suffice, as hosting a banquet would inconvenience everyone.
While Fang Muyang wasn't the ideal son-in-law in the eyes of Fei Ni's parents, they could accept their daughter marrying him, but they could not accept her marrying him without a wedding banquet."The house needs a good tidying up too," Fei Ma complained again. "Such a rushed wedding, we didn’t even have time to paint the walls."
Old Fei said, "Let Xiao Fang do the painting. Before the new house is ready, Xiao Fang will have to stay here. He ought to contribute to our household as well."
Fei Ni quickly interjected, "He’s not moving in here."
"He doesn’t have a place of his own. Is he going to keep living at the hospital after getting married?"
"He has other arrangements." At worst, he could stay in a factory dormitory for a while until the new house is ready. Her home was so small—how could he possibly live here?
"What other arrangements? If he had any, would he still be living at the hospital now? Ni, we’re not trying to criticize you, but you can’t be impulsive about marriage. We didn’t support you marrying Xiao Fang, and even now, we’d approve if you changed your mind. But if you insist on marrying him, we have to treat him well. We have some savings and can help you out a bit. We must hold a wedding banquet, and after you’re married, we can’t let him drift around outside. We can’t marry him and then look down on him—that way, you’ll end up with nothing and only hurt yourself."
Fei Ni had always been the good child, growing up with hardly any criticism or even suggestions from her parents. But as soon as she decided to marry, her parents suddenly had a long list of things they thought she needed to correct.
No matter what, she couldn’t share a bed with Fang Muyang. Her room was essentially half a room, barely fitting a bed and two stacked trunks that served as storage, a nightstand, a dressing table, and a desk. The remaining space was so narrow there wasn’t even room to lay out a sleeping mat. The bed itself wasn’t small—it used to sleep her mother and both daughters. After her brother went to the countryside as an Educated Youth, her mother moved to the outer room to sleep with her father, and the bed inside was shared by Fei Ni and her sister. Now, it was just her. When her brother came home on leave, he set up a camp bed in the outer room. There was no way she could share this bed with Fang Muyang.
But this was something she could only discuss with Fang Muyang himself, and let him convince her parents.
When Fang Muyang returned, he was once again wearing the shabby outfit he had meant to throw out two years earlier but never got around to discarding. This time, not only had he run out of money, lost the milk powder and malted milk, and used up the spare clothes Fei Ni had packed for him—he had even sold the clothes and shoes he was wearing. Beyond that, he had sold all the usable quilts, clothes, and miscellaneous items he had accumulated over the years at the educated youth point to a secondhand shop in the commune, using the money to buy lumber. The area where he had been stationed had vast forests, making timber much cheaper there than elsewhere. The wood he bought was well-suited for making furniture. After completing the procedures and shipping the lumber, he was completely broke. Before heading back, he distributed the pastries and candies Fei Ni had given him among the local Educated Youth and villagers.
When they learned he was getting married, the people at the educated youth point pooled their money to buy him a pair of thick red candles. He boarded the return train carrying the candles and some sweet potatoes gifted by the villagers.
He could only get a standing-room-only Train Ticket. The summer train car was like a foul-smelling slop bucket, the stench assaulting Fang Muyang’s nostrils and soon permeating his entire being.When he got off the train at eight in the morning, Fang Muyang went straight to the Office of Educated Youth without even having a bite to eat. It wasn’t until he flashed his familiar smile that the older sister recognized him. She asked with concern if he had been robbed, as he looked like he had just escaped a disaster. Fang Muyang smiled without saying a word. He was grateful for the smell on him, as others, unable to bear it, processed all the necessary procedures for him with remarkable efficiency. After completing the formalities and obtaining the letter of introduction, he saw that it was still far too early for Fei Ni to get off work, so he returned to the hospital and retrieved the short wool coat Fei Ni had bought for him. He was now penniless, and if he didn’t sell it, he wouldn’t even have money for food. Although the coat had never been worn, it was no longer worth the original price. Needing money urgently, he didn’t haggle.
Without cloth tickets, he had no way to buy new clothes, so he purchased an old shirt and pants at the secondhand store. Carrying his newly acquired old clothes, he went to the public bathhouse. When he emerged, Fang Muyang was no longer the same person who had entered.
Fang Muyang returned to the secondhand store and asked the clerk to show him the furniture. Elaborately carved beds, velvet sofas, and various rosewood and nanmu tables and chairs from back in the day were being sold off at the secondhand store for less than a tenth of their original price.
None of these pieces suited the small home he envisioned for the future, nor could they serve as reference for him.
He then looked at the musical instruments. One violin closely resembled the one he had owned years ago. He asked to try it and played half a piece. He inquired if the clerk could hold it for him for a while, and the clerk agreed, saying no one was buying such things these days. As they chatted, the clerk mentioned a young woman in her early twenties who often came to the store to play the piano but had stopped coming after being recognized last time.
There were also many old records that no one wanted to buy. Fang Muyang noticed that the secondhand store naturally possessed many items from the "Four Olds" and allowed for their critical enjoyment. With few people around, Fang Muyang found a Bach record and played it on the turntable. The last time he had listened to it was ten years ago. He thought of the many records he had left with Fei Ni and wondered if she had found the time to listen to them.
Leaving the secondhand store, Fang Muyang ended up buying a watch and a bracelet, both very cheap. The watch was broken and likely beyond repair, while the jade bracelet was inexpensive because no one dared to wear such things at the time.
Fei Ni saw Fang Muyang again at the entrance of the hat factory. She had been looking forward to his return these past few days to complete the marriage procedures. If they didn’t marry soon, they would miss their chance at housing allocation. At the sight of Fang Muyang, Fei Ni couldn’t help but smile, though she quickly composed herself when she realized it.
"Did you get the letter of introduction?"
"Yes, we can officially get married tomorrow."
Fei Ni was delighted and offered to treat Fang Muyang to a meal at a restaurant.
"Let’s go see a movie instead, as we agreed last time."
"Alright."
Fei Ni naturally handed her bicycle over to Fang Muyang and just as naturally took the seat on the back. Outside a grocery store, she asked him to stop and went in to buy two loaves of bread.
When they arrived at the park, three movies were just starting. Unprepared for a movie outing, Fei Ni hadn’t brought any newspaper to sit on. Fang Muyang picked up a brick, wiped it clean, and offered it to Fei Ni to sit on, then sat down beside her. The two quietly nibbled on their bread.
Fei Ni broke her loaf in half and handed one part to Fang Muyang. "I can’t finish this much."Fang Muyang took it over naturally without even saying thank you.
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