Fei Ni hastily parked her bicycle and hurried inside. Fang Muyang had just taken his number tag and turned around when he came face to face with Fei Ni. He knew there was no avoiding her now, so he could only offer her a smile.
This was a more frugal version of Fang Muyang—he had lost a lot of weight, which meant he could save a little fabric when making clothes, though the savings were limited since his height remained the same. When Fei Ni looked at him, she felt a sense of familiar strangeness. On the day she decided to take care of him at the hospital, he had been much like he was now, perhaps even better—at least his eyes hadn’t been bloodshot, and his lips hadn’t been as dry and cracked as they were now, as if he hadn’t had a drink of water in days.
"When did you get back?"
"Today. I just left the office and was planning to take a bath before heading home." But before he could wash up or get a haircut, he had run into Fei Ni.
"Why didn’t you answer me when I called you just now?"
"You really called me?" He had heard her the first time. He had never heard Fei Ni speak so loudly before, and he could even gauge how far away she was from the sound of her voice, just as she had recognized him from a distance.
"You didn’t hear me calling that loudly?"
"Let’s talk outside."
Because what he had to say to Fei Ni wasn’t suitable for others to hear, he lowered his voice: "A few days ago, I dreamed you called out to me, but when I woke up, I realized it was just my imagination. Just now, I thought I was still dreaming. I was afraid that if I turned around, your voice would disappear."
His words were half-truths, spoken so convincingly and with such sincerity that it was impossible to doubt he was lying.
As Fang Muyang spoke, he kept his eyes on Fei Ni. He knew that if she felt embarrassed under his gaze, she wouldn’t scrutinize his current appearance. However, Fei Ni didn’t lower her head as he expected but continued to look up at him. Fang Muyang decided to throw caution to the wind and let her look her fill.
The two stared at each other until Fei Ni finally broke the silence. "What are you smiling at?"
"Only now do I realize how much you enjoy looking at me." Fang Muyang’s faint smile remained as he lowered his voice again. "You go ahead. I’ll come home after my bath, and you can look at me all you want then—wherever you’d like."
Fei Ni said with disdain, "We’re on the street. Can’t you be a little more proper?"
"Fine, we’ll only say things like that at home from now on." Fang Muyang’s expression turned serious and stern as he spoke in a voice too low for others to hear, "You should go back now. I didn’t bring our marriage certificate. What if someone mistakes me for a hooligan harassing a woman and arrests me? You’d have to come bail me out."
Fei Ni was baffled that, in his current state, he still had the mood to joke around.
"Do you have a change of clothes?" The clothes Fang Muyang was wearing could still be worn if they were washed, the missing buttons sewn back on, and the torn hem of his pants mended properly. In fact, the hole in his pant leg wasn’t very noticeable if you didn’t look closely.
"This set is what I changed into today." He had only brought two sets of clothes with him, and the other one had already been thrown away. The set he was wearing now had been washed earlier and put on today.
Since he had no cloth tickets to use, he had gone back to the secondhand store to buy old clothes. Finding a clean, unstained, patch-free, and well-fitting set among used clothes wasn’t easy—the pants were either too loose or too short. After looking around, he decided that none were better than what he had on. He resolved to exchange some money for cloth tickets tomorrow to buy new ones, but for now, he would make do.
"Aren’t you cold?"Fang Muyang smiled and said, "I'm not cold. If it weren't for seeing others change into autumn clothes, I'd still think it was summer."
"Our new apartment is ready. I've already moved in."
"But the furniture hasn't been made yet, has it?"
"I bought some secondhand pieces to make do for now. You'll understand when you see it." Fei Ni glanced at her watch. "You go take a bath first. I need to visit my parents' place and will come find you later. Wait for me at the entrance after your bath, and we'll go eat at a restaurant."
Without giving Fang Muyang a chance to respond, she got on her bicycle and headed to her parents' home.
Since moving out, Fei Ni had made it a habit to return to her parents' for dinner every Sunday. If Fang Muyang had gained a few more pounds, she would have brought him along. But he was excessively thin now—her parents might worry about her if they saw him like this. She couldn't understand how he had become so emaciated; his voice didn't sound weak, nor did he seem starved.
Before going to her parents', Fei Ni stopped at a food store to buy saqima and caozigao pastries. Carrying the treats, she first visited the plump elderly woman on the second floor. The old lady loved food and cared little about clothing, often trading cloth tickets for grain coupons. Delighted with the pastries, the woman gave Fei Ni some cloth tickets. However, the amount wasn't enough to make a pair of trousers for Fang Muyang. If only his legs were a bit shorter, it wouldn't be such a dilemma. His physique was the most impractical kind—some tall people had height concentrated in their upper bodies, which was economical since shirt lengths could be adjusted with less fabric. But long legs were unforgiving; even half an inch short in trousers was glaringly obvious.
Yet she couldn't borrow cloth tickets from her parents either—theirs had long been used up when preparing her wedding supplies. If only she had insisted on using the flawed fabric from her sister's factory for Fang Muyang's quilt cover back then, she wouldn't be in such a bind now.
When Fei Ni arrived home, her parents were sorting vegetables. Fei Ma had been anxious due to Fang Muyang's prolonged absence, losing her appetite lately. Relieved to hear her son-in-law was back, she asked Fei Ni, "Why didn't Xiao Fang come with you for dinner?"
Fei Ni had to lie: "His colleagues heard he's back and specially invited him to a meal. I'm joining them. I'll bring him over next Sunday."
"Then why did you come back?"
"Just to let you know."
By the time Fei Ni reached the public bathhouse entrance, Fang Muyang had already emerged. The bathhouse offered haircut and shaving services, and he came out looking like a new man—though his eyes were still bloodshot and his lips chapped.
Despite being away for so long, Fang Muyang still treated Fei Ni's bicycle as his own. He swung onto the bike, and Fei Ni naturally hopped onto the rear seat.
Fang Muyang ordered generously at the restaurant. Seeing how thin he was, Fei Ni felt he ought to eat more.
While eating, Fei Ni only picked at the vegetable dishes. Fang Muyang placed a tomato-glazed shrimp on her plate. "Why are you eating like a rabbit?"
"Don't worry about me. I'll serve myself."
"I'd like some greens too, Fei Ni. One shouldn't be too selfish—you should leave some for me." He then transferred deboned fish to Fei Ni's saucer and helped himself to a bite of vegetables. "If I only wanted meat, I'd have ordered all meat dishes."
Fei Ni shot Fang Muyang a glare before taking a bite of the fish.Fei Ni reached for the cabbage, but Fang Muyang intercepted it with his chopsticks. After eating the bite, he praised her, "You really know how to pick the best pieces. The cabbage you chose tastes much better than mine."
Having taken her food, Fang Muyang, feeling compensatory, added a shrimp to her plate.
Fei Ni had assumed Fang Muyang would be overjoyed at the sight of food and eager to finish every dish, given how thin he had become. Yet she didn't see any urgent craving for meat in him.
As he picked out fish bones, Fang Muyang said, "The food there wasn't as bad as you imagine."
"Then how did you end up like this?"
Fang Muyang stared at Fei Ni with a grin. "What about me dissatisfies you? Tell me."
"Why would I be dissatisfied? You should eat more. You're so thin, you'd probably feel the bones even when sleeping."
This time, Fang Muyang readily agreed. "I don't mind if I'm the one feeling it, but I'd hate to discomfort anyone else. You make a good point."
His words carried an implicit meaning, and Fei Ni's mind drifted to unintended thoughts. She found him too frivolous, but if she scolded him, he'd surely accuse her of misinterpreting—especially since she had started the conversation.
Fei Ni fell silent and focused on her meal. When she reached for the tofu, Fang Muyang directly scooped it into his own bowl with a spoon.
Noticing her frown, Fang Muyang divided the tofu he had taken—half for himself and half into Fei Ni's saucer.
"It's strange, but the food you pick always tastes better to me."
Impatiently, Fei Ni piled shrimp, meatballs, fish, and other dishes onto his plate. "Since you like what others serve you, hurry up and eat."
Fang Muyang thanked her warmly. "You're so good to me; I really don't know how to repay you."
"If you truly want to repay me, stop with the cheesy lines."
He placed deboned fish onto Fei Ni's saucer, urging her to eat.
"I told you, I can manage on my own. Don't worry about me."
Fang Muyang said, "If you prefer vegetables and tofu, I'll cook them for you. I don't know how to prepare fish, and shrimp is too troublesome. You'd better eat your fill here."
"Even if you could cook, you couldn't here. We have neither a gas tank nor coal briquettes—just a small electric hot plate I occasionally use for noodles. We should stick to the cafeteria."
"Eating at the cafeteria all the time is too hard on you."
"I don't mind. If you find it unsatisfactory, you could cook yourself. But I advise against it—what you'd manage might not even match the cafeteria. Given that we don't even have a knife, and outfitting a full kitchen would cost too much, you should save the money for clothes." He lacked autumn and winter attire, and kitting him out from head to toe would be a significant expense.
Fei Ni added more dishes to Fang Muyang's plate and urged him to eat quickly.
When the bill came, Fang Muyang paid before Fei Ni could.
"Where did you get the money?" Before leaving, he had drawn two months' allowance and given it all to her.
"I collected some manuscript fees today." Fang Muyang kept ten yuan and handed the rest to Fei Ni. "From now on, you manage all my money."
Fei Ni didn't refuse. She estimated the sum—combined with what he had left her earlier, it was enough to outfit him for two seasons, and even afford better quality.
The autumn wind carried a chill. Sitting behind him on the bike, Fei Ni watched Fang Muyang's shirt billow in the breeze, nearly brushing against her face.She said to Fang Muyang, "I have needle and thread at my place. When you go back, sew the top button that fell off your shirt."
"Why bother sewing it? I don't button it up anyway."
"Suit yourself."
Fei Ni was afraid Fang Muyang might have overly high expectations and would inevitably be disappointed when he saw the new place, so she gave him an advance warning.
Fang Muyang comforted Fei Ni, "No matter how you arrange our home, I'll love it."
Fei Ni didn't quite believe him and only said, "But it's very practical, that's for sure."
Fang Muyang followed Fei Ni upstairs, and as soon as he entered, he saw the bunk bed.
Fei Ni explained how to use the bed to him: "I'll sleep on the top bunk, and you'll sleep on the bottom. Each level is made by pushing two single beds together. I suggest you sleep on the outer bed—the inner one can be used for clothes and other things. It can hold just as much as a wardrobe."
OpenNovel