"You won't let me go because you're afraid I'll say the wrong thing in front of your colleagues. Isn't it just about pretending I have a Television Ticket? Even if you asked me to pretend I had a car, I could pull it off." Fang Muyang pointed to his bicycle's rear seat. "Hurry up and get on. Taking another vehicle would just waste money."
Fang Muyang had laid bare Fei Ni's unspoken concerns and expressed his willingness to cooperate. Fei Ni had initially felt the situation was somewhat improper, but after Fang Muyang's straightforward explanation, she suddenly felt more at ease.
Fei Ni hopped onto the bicycle's rear seat. Fang Muyang added, "I have no problem pretending to have a Television Ticket, but where do you plan to get one?"
"As long as you're willing to spend money, you can always manage to get one."
On her first day of marriage, Fei Ni arrived at work even earlier than usual. Sister Liu from her team was equally early. Sister Liu had too many children at home and only found peace during work hours.
Just as Fei Ni got off Fang Muyang's bicycle, she ran into Sister Liu.
It was Sister Liu who greeted them first: "Xiao Fei, is this your husband?"
Fei Ni certainly couldn't say no. She introduced Sister Liu to Fang Muyang: "This is Sister Liu from our team. She usually takes good care of me."
Fang Muyang followed Fei Ni's lead in addressing her as Sister Liu and thanked her for looking after Fei Ni.
Sister Liu quickly said it was nothing, "Who told Xiao Fei to be so endearing?"
In Sister Liu's aesthetic standards, Fang Muyang wasn't particularly handsome—his face wasn't square enough, somewhat pointed—but he had a good figure, long legs that suggested he walked fast, and excellent energy. Standing next to Fei Ni, they made a well-matched pair.
After sizing up Fang Muyang, Sister Liu entered the factory with Fei Ni. Since it wasn't yet work time, Sister Liu pulled out the sweater she was knitting from her bag and asked Fei Ni how to knit a flower pattern. Having nothing else to do, Fei Ni took it and helped her knit.
Sister Liu was very grateful.
Having gotten married yesterday, Fei Ni now joined the ranks of married women at work, making her eligible for the unit's distribution of family planning supplies.
There was a queue for the supplies, and she hadn't wanted to go, but Sister Liu insisted on dragging her along, saying it was better for women to use them. Fei Ni and Sister Liu stood in the middle of the line. Ahead of them was a young woman, probably recently married, who asked the distributing auntie if she could have two extra. The auntie looked amused: "How many do you want? Isn't four per month enough? These can be reused." Laughter erupted around them. To cover her embarrassment, the young woman could only laugh along. Only Fei Ni kept her mouth shut. When it was her turn, the auntie deliberately asked, "Are four enough?" Fei Ni said they were. Normally, even if she was unhappy at the factory, she could hide her emotions in front of others, but this time she showed impatience. She took her supplies and walked straight out. She considered giving hers to the young woman from earlier but decided against it. If others found out, who knew what gossip would spread.
Sister Liu, having collected her supplies, caught up with Fei Ni and asked why she hadn't waited.
Fei Ni said apologetically that she had forgotten.
"Old Wang is really something, acting all high and mighty just handing out condoms." Sister Liu's voice was both secretive and bold as she shoved two small plastic bags into Fei Ni's hand. "Here, take two of mine."
"Keep them for yourself." Fei Ni hadn't felt much when collecting the supplies, but now her whole body warmed with embarrassment. She tried to return them, but Sister Liu pushed them back.Sister Liu remained as polite as ever: "At my age, what would I need so many for? You've just gotten married, it's different for you. I've been through it all, no need to feel embarrassed."
Fei Ni had no choice but to accept them. If the two of them started arguing over this and someone saw, she couldn't bear the embarrassment.
"Let me tell you, these are good things. If I'd had these back in my day, I wouldn't have ended up with so many children. I firmly believe young people pursuing progress shouldn't have children too early. Don't you agree, Xiao Fei..."
Fei Ni gave an indistinct murmur of agreement.
"So you absolutely mustn't be careless. You have to use them every time."
Sister Liu had the kind of face that would never be suspected of moral misconduct - she looked so upright that even when she spoke too much, people would only attribute it to excessive enthusiasm.
Fei Ni changed the subject by complimenting Sister Liu's shoes.
Sister Liu thought Fei Ni had good taste and even told her which counter she bought the shoes from, suggesting she get a pair too.
Sister Liu also had her considerate side - she didn't ask Fei Ni why she had been with someone from the Radio Industry Bureau recently but married someone else, nor did she ask if Fei Ni could help her get a Record Player ticket.
At noon in the cafeteria, Fei Ni ran into Wang Xiaoman again. Wang Xiaoman brought up the Television Ticket matter, appearing quite anxious, while hinting that many people wanted positions in the propaganda department.
Fei Ni said with a smile: "You have no idea how soft-hearted my husband is. Too many people come to him for help. I'll tell him when I get home - the next ticket must be yours."
She didn't blush while saying this. Only after Wang Xiaoman left and she was eating alone did that bit of anger begin burning inside her.
At the training class, Fang Muyang saw many familiar faces - those who used to paint traditional Chinese paintings were now painting sequential pictures in traditional style, those who started with New Year paintings were painting sequential pictures in New Year painting style... Fei Ni was right, nowadays those who could paint were either in propaganda teams or painting sequential pictures.
During lunch in the cafeteria, Fang Muyang queued for food and suggested to the person behind him that they each get different dishes and eat together. Though they had just met that day, his sudden proposal seemed abrupt. Before anyone could respond, he ordered the most expensive ribs on the menu. The others behind him realized he wasn't trying to take advantage. Four people ended up with five dishes - one person had gotten a vegetarian dish that was too plain, and feeling embarrassed, ordered another one.
Within half the meal, they became acquainted. One asked Fang Muyang about his relationship with Shen Lao, who had been invited to teach that morning - Shen Lao had directly called out Fang Muyang's name among the trainees and seemed quite impressed with him.
Fang Muyang said they had known each other before, but hadn't met for many years.Fang Muyang’s father had previously worked in the cultural field and was quite renowned and influential, with guests frequenting their home daily. Though he had no groundbreaking theories of his own, his evaluations carried significant weight—anyone he praised would soon set trends. His father had the typical temperament of a scholar: those he liked could do no wrong, while those he disliked he wouldn’t even glance at. When Shen Lao visited his father, he was no longer young, but due to his lack of achievements, he was still called “Little Shen.” He had considerable talent, but because it had long gone unrecognized, he had lost the confidence of a gifted scholar, becoming excessively humble. His father interpreted this humility as a lack of integrity—not only in his character but also in his paintings. When Shen Lao, then still “Little Shen,” arrived early one day, he wasn’t even offered tea before being shown the door. At the time, Fang Muyang didn’t understand much about integrity; from his few years of learning painting, he saw that Shen’s technique was excellent. He invited this “Teacher Little Shen” to his room for some arbutus soda and took the opportunity to ask him a few questions.
Later, when his father fell into hardship, Little Shen advised him to cut ties with his father, but Fang Muyang said it was impossible. As for whether Shen Lao had taken advantage of his father’s misfortune, to be honest, Fang Muyang wasn’t very concerned. There were too many people who had kicked his father while he was down, and knowing about it wouldn’t change anything. The only thing that mattered was that his father stayed alive and well.
Fang Muyang wasn’t surprised to see Shen Lao here. He had been reading sequential pictures these past few days, and many of the substantial works were created by him.
Fang Muyang briefly summarized his history with Shen Lao and sat on the table, munching on a steamed bun.
Of the four of them, only Fang Muyang was married.
The others asked him what it was like to be married.
Fang Muyang said with a laugh that when you’re alone, you can read books, but when there are two people, you can’t just share one book. He and his wife needed a television set to watch together, but he didn’t know how to get a Television Ticket.
His intention was simply to ask if there were any channels to obtain a Television Ticket, not to ask anyone for one. Unexpectedly, one of them had a father who was a leader in the television production line at the wireless factory and said he could help.
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