Fei Ni woke up very early, the shed stifling her until she could barely breathe. She picked up the flashlight by her pillow and quietly slipped out of the earthquake shelter to get some fresh air outside.
She didn’t need to worry about safety—the entire street was filled with people, and no one would dare cause trouble at a time like this.
She hadn’t set out with any particular destination in mind, but as her flashlight beam swept around, it landed on the small wooden shed where she would be staying that day. A faint glimmer of light also emanated from inside that little shed.
Since she would be sleeping in this very shed tonight, she couldn’t resist stepping closer to examine it carefully. The small shed had a little door left ajar. Peering inside, she saw Fang Muyang still wearing a miner’s helmet lamp, holding a wristwatch in his hand.
Fei Ni’s flashlight beam fell directly on Fang Muyang’s face. "Why aren’t you asleep yet? You’ll have to leave soon—once you’re gone, you won’t get another chance to rest."
Fang Muyang grinned at her. "It can’t be midnight yet, can it? I can still get four or five hours of sleep."
"How could it not be midnight? The sky’s almost light—come out and see for yourself."
"I can’t tell."
"Didn’t you borrow my alarm clock? Where is it?"
"Take a look at this," Fang Muyang said, handing her the newly repaired watch. "What time is it really?"
Fei Ni took the watch. The hour hand pointed to four. Fang Muyang was teasing her again.
She said nothing, but Fang Muyang told her, "Put it on. From now on, don’t guess the time—just look."
"Where did you get this?" She knew that even a used watch like this would cost a fair amount of money. And no one understood Fang Muyang’s financial situation better than she did.
"This watch was broken when I bought it—just the casing, really. Even the valuable internal components had been stripped out. It only cost about as much as a serving of ice cream. None of the parts I used are original." Fang Muyang added, "If you hadn’t asked, I would’ve been too embarrassed to say. I was afraid you’d refuse to wear it if you knew how little it cost."
Other people liked to boast when giving gifts, inflating the value of even inexpensive items. But he was the opposite—he always went out of his way to prove what a frugal person he was.
"I actually think this watch looks quite nice," Fei Ni said, not merely to comfort him but because she genuinely meant it. "Did you stay up all night fixing it?" She recalled him reading The Watch Repair Manual—he must have spent a long time getting this watch working again...
"I slept for a while and then woke up." This was true. After putting up the shed last night, he’d been so tired he lay down inside and fell asleep directly. It was Fei Ni’s alarm clock that had woken him.
"Then you should get some more sleep."
"Let me put the watch on you." Without waiting for Fei Ni’s consent, Fang Muyang clasped the watch around her wrist. Once it was fastened, he held her hand, examining it. "It fits even better than I imagined."
Fei Ni tried to pull her hand back, but Fang Muyang kept hold of her wrist. He pulled out an envelope and pressed it into her palm. "This is my advance stipend—two months’ worth."
"Keep it for yourself."
Fang Muyang laughed. "If I keep it, I’ve got nowhere to spend it. Didn’t you say I don’t know how to handle money? From now on, I’ll hand all my earnings over to you to manage."
Fei Ni clutched the envelope, momentarily speechless.
Fang Muyang then mentioned the name of a restaurant in the eastern part of the city and told Fei Ni to go there in a few days to try their steamed perch. He personally believed that perch was at its best this time of year, and that it wouldn’t taste as good if she waited much longer. Of course, the last time he’d eaten that dish had been several years ago.He knew the city's restaurants better than most. His grandmother almost never took him out to eat, always insisting that those places were unsanitary and the food didn't taste good. Never mind the chef's skills—just using the same unwashed spatula for multiple dishes ruined the original flavors of the food. Of course, his grandmother didn't know that after eating too many sweet potato strips and vegetable porridge, Fang Muyang was more than willing to go to restaurants. Even if the kitchen didn't wash the vegetables, he'd still go. He didn't care whether the spatula was washed after each use. Whenever he pretended to be a well-behaved, good child, his parents would take him along when they went out to eat with their children. His table manners, strictly taught, forbade wolfing down food or making noise, so he could only focus on the speed of his chewing and how quickly he picked up dishes. His quick reflexes were partly honed at the dining table.
The year he went to the countryside as an Educated Youth, he received nearly a hundred yuan in subsidies. With so much money all at once, it was only natural to spend it on food. While others used their subsidies to buy daily necessities for the future, he went from one restaurant to another. The food wasn't as good as when he was a child, but it was still decent. Remembering Fei Ni, who had once lent him one yuan, he went to her house to invite her to eat with him. Fei Ni flatly refused, perhaps worried he'd expect her to pay even though he was inviting her.
He told Fei Ni he had Educated Youth subsidies and that it was enough to treat her to meals for several days. Fei Ni looked at him with surprise, as if spending his subsidy money on food was some unforgivable sin. She suggested he buy daily necessities instead. No matter what, she said, she wouldn't eat with him.
Fang Muyang thought Fei Ni was no fun, so he went to a restaurant by himself and ordered steamed perch. The perch that day was exceptionally fresh, and he felt sorry for Fei Ni missing out. Before leaving for the countryside, he went to the post office and sent her five yuan as a token of gratitude for her earlier kindness in lending him money. Then, with the remaining five yuan, he bought a few basic items and set off for the countryside with a light heart, unlike others in his train car whose families had spent hundreds of yuan on daily necessities, packing entire boxes with just toothpaste and soap.
Somehow, Fei Ni found out the address of where he was stationed in the countryside and mailed the five yuan back to him. Since she had sent it, he saw no point in mailing it back—it wasn't worth the postage fee. He took the money to the county town, treated himself to a proper bath, and then went to a noodle shop for a bowl of minced meat noodles, sweating profusely afterward.
"Since you thought it was so good, why didn't you eat there today before coming back?"
Fang Muyang laughed. "I went, but these days are a special period—they're not selling it." He had originally wanted to buy one and bring it back for Fei Ni to try, but unfortunately, it wasn't available.
Fei Ni thought to herself, such a pleasure-seeking person was going to endure hardships again today. He himself didn't seem to care much.
"Aren't you the one who hopes I'll strive for progress? I thought you'd be very supportive of me."
"Of course, I support you."
Fang Muyang knew she was being insincere. That Fei Ni didn't want him to go to the earthquake zone was something he hadn't expected.
Fei Ni had always wanted him to better himself; not going would be a sign of lacking ambition. If something really happened to him and he didn't return, she would certainly grieve for him, but it wouldn't be without its benefits. The house would be hers alone, and as his family member, she might even get to go to university as she wished. While feeling sorry for him, Fei Ni might also feel a sense of gratitude.After fully regaining his memory, Fang Muyang understood perfectly well why Fei Ni had taken care of him and why she had married him. But he was different from others—he only cared about results, not motives. He liked Fei Ni, and Fei Ni was willing to marry him, which was naturally the best outcome. As for whether Fei Ni liked him or not, he hardly cared. It was like how he used to enjoy playing the violin without ever asking if the violin wanted to be played.
But now, she would rather he didn’t make progress. Fang Muyang felt a twinge of reluctance because of the faint worry between Fei Ni’s brows—something that had never happened before. He was accustomed to partings, and the witty remarks that usually came so easily to him last night stuck in his throat and refused to come out.
"Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a few days."
Fei Ni stepped into the small wooden shed, but her eyes still looked outside. Fang Muyang took off his miner’s helmet and set it aside. The light in the shed grew even dimmer, with only Fei Ni’s flashlight shining steadily.
"How long will it be?"
"No more than two months." Fang Muyang took Fei Ni’s hand and slowly wrote an address on her palm, stroke by stroke, as if afraid she wouldn’t recognize his writing if the strokes weren’t clear enough. "If anything happens, go find Uncle Fu at the publishing house. I’ve already spoken to him. If I don’t come back, just tell the publishing house what you need—don’t feel embarrassed to ask. He’ll help you." Fang Muyang joked again, "But don’t set your demands too high. If you ask him to get you a Red Flag car to drive, even he can’t manage that."
He had already written the address on the back of an envelope, but he wrote it again now to help Fei Ni remember it better. Perhaps proud of his penmanship, Fang Muyang held her fingers and admired his work.
"Can’t you be serious? Am I not serious enough?"
"Always saying such unlucky things…"
"We’re both atheists—what’s unlucky about it? Even if I stayed home, there’s always a ‘what if,’ isn’t there?"
Fei Ni pulled her hand back from Fang Muyang’s grasp and pressed the back of her hand against his mouth to silence him.
Once her hand reached out, she found she couldn’t pull it back.
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