Fang Muyang was in no hurry to kiss her. His hands slid slowly down Fei Ni’s face, his nose affectionately nuzzling her eyelids, her nose… everywhere except her lips. Occasionally, his lips brushed against Fei Ni’s mouth, so lightly it was almost imperceptible, only to part again in an instant. His thumb stroked the corner of her lips, the touch making Fei Ni’s mouth itch. Unable to resist, she bit her own lips, and Fang Muyang pressed his lips against hers, savoring the warmth of her mouth.
She had caught a chill downstairs for his sake, and in return, he warmed her up again. Fang Muyang’s hands slid to Fei Ni’s shoulders, and as he held her, he deepened their contact. Fei Ni’s body was far weaker than her resolve, and she instinctively leaned backward. If not for Fang Muyang’s hand swiftly supporting her waist, she would have nearly slipped to the floor. His other hand came up to cradle Fei Ni’s head, preventing it from bumping against the bed frame. Their breathing grew increasingly ragged, making the knocking at the door seem almost leisurely in comparison.
Fang Muyang acted as if he hadn’t heard it, continuing to kiss Fei Ni. But the sound snapped Fei Ni back to her senses, and she pushed against him. Fang Muyang caught her hand, maintaining their position. Fei Ni shifted her feet restlessly, yet couldn’t bring herself to kick him. Fang Muyang leaned close to her ear and whispered, “If you kiss me back, I’ll go open the door.”
“Open it or not, I don’t care.”
“Then I won’t.”
Fei Ni had no choice but to give in, lightly brushing her lips against his.
Wang Xiaoman had borrowed some iodine the previous week and only remembered to return it that evening. She knocked for a long time before the man of the house finally came to the door.
Fang Muyang opened it just a crack, blocking Wang Xiaoman’s view from outside, and asked with a smile, “Can I help you?”
“I borrowed your iodine last week and only just remembered to return it.” Wang Xiaoman tried to peer past him into the room, but Fang Muyang blocked her line of sight. She quickly added, “You’re busy—I’ll be going.”
When Fang Muyang stepped back inside, Fei Ni was standing by the window, breathing in the fresh air from outside. The moment he drew near, she shied away from him as if he were something dangerous.
“Are you hungry?”
“Not really.”
Fang Muyang dug out his lunch box. At that time, fruit platters at restaurants were mostly assembled from canned fruits, and the one he brought back was no exception. He and Fei Ni didn’t have bowls, only two lunch boxes. Since they would need the lunch boxes later, he emptied the canned fruit into a glass jar. Scooping up a lychee with a spoon, he brought it to Fei Ni’s lips.
As soon as Fei Ni opened her mouth, Fang Muyang slipped the lychee inside. She took a small bite, then glanced at the assortment of canned fruits in his lunch box. It wasn’t the usual mixed fruit medley. “Where did you get this?”
“Someone treated me to a meal. This wasn’t touched, so I packed it up.”
“Isn’t that a bit inappropriate? If we were the ones treating, it’d be fine to bring leftovers home, but…”
“The old gentleman who treated me has diabetes. This was specially ordered for me.”
“Why did he treat you to a meal?”
Fang Muyang replied without a hint of modesty, “Mainly because he admires my work.”"You'll have better and better days ahead." She was happy for Fang Muyang because his talent could finally bring him a better life, but this happiness wasn't entirely pure—she was reminded of what had happened at the factory today. Earlier, her mind had been set ablaze like her face, burning away all the unhappy memories of the day, but now they were creeping back like lingering embers.
"Tell me, who upset you today?"
Fei Ni opened the window wider, letting the wind blow in to cool the heat on her face.
"I lost five yuan in subsidies today." Actually, compared to other things, the monetary loss wasn't that important.
"Just five yuan? I'll give you an extra five yuan every month from now on."
Fei Ni laughed: "You're giving me money? You should focus on getting a new pair of pants first—it's getting cold." Fei Ni looked out the window, her sidelong glance sweeping over Fang Muyang's arm. "You should put on another layer quickly."
Fang Muyang had left wearing only a shirt this morning. Fei Ni had wanted to remind him to dress more warmly, but each time the words reached her lips, she swallowed them back.
"But I'm really hot right now." Fang Muyang leaned close to Fei Ni's ear and said, "If you don't believe me, feel my hand."
Fortunately, the wind blowing in kept Fei Ni's body temperature stable.
Fang Muyang closed the window. "Don't let the wind in anymore, or you might catch a cold."
In the enclosed space, the slight coolness Fei Ni had just accumulated dissipated once more.
Fang Muyang brought a spoonful of lychee can to Fei Ni's lips. She kept her mouth shut, so he pressed the tip of the spoon against her lips, gently prying them open. Tickled by his actions, Fei Ni had no choice but to open her mouth and take a small bite. Fang Muyang ate the other half.
The next time Fang Muyang offered the spoon, Fei Ni said, "I don't want any more."
As soon as she opened her mouth, the piece of peach was slipped inside. Fei Ni had to take another bite, and of course, he finished the rest.
Seeing that Fei Ni was getting annoyed, Fang Muyang handed her the lunch box. "Eat it yourself."
Fang Muyang lit the alcohol stove. When he wasn't around, Fei Ni occasionally cooked using the electric hot plate, as she was too afraid to use the alcohol stove herself. But as soon as Fang Muyang returned, they switched to the alcohol stove—the electric hot plate used too much electricity.
"Isn't there congee and steamed buns? Don't bother making noodles."
"You'll see in a moment."
Fang Muyang opened the abalone can. The abalone inside was quite large, and he used the only knife in the house to slice it before pouring the entire can, juice and all, into the noodles.
"Why did you put the whole can in at once?" Fei Ni guessed that someone must have given this to Fang Muyang as well. She knew the can wasn't cheap, and eating an entire one by herself in one meal was far too extravagant.
"Just eat it."
"Did you have this for dinner tonight too?"
"No."
"I can't finish all this. Have some too."
"I've already eaten. You have it."
"Didn't you say you weren't full? The weather's cool—the meatballs won't spoil by tomorrow. You should have this tonight."
Fei Ni's lunch box contained boiled meatballs, so the two of them had to share one lunch box of noodles.
Fei Ni insisted that Fang Muyang eat first, while Fang Muyang insisted that Fei Ni eat first. Finally, Fang Muyang said, "Let's eat together. You take the first bite."With tacit understanding, they each took two bites before pushing the lunch box toward the other." Because they were sitting close, their faces and hands occasionally brushed against each other. Fei Ni would quickly pull back, saying nothing, pretending nothing had happened.She thought that tomorrow she must go buy a set of bowls. She had just received her industrial coupons today, perfect timing to use them.
"Do you like it?"
Fei Ni nodded. Of course the noodles were delicious, but even if they weren't, since Fang Muyang had used an entire abalone can for this, she would still have to say they were good.
"Then I'll make it for you again in the future."
"Let's not talk about the future yet. You should eat more now while you can." Fei Ni pushed the lunch box toward Fang Muyang. "I'm full. The rest is all yours."
"Why are you eating so little? Well, forget about the noodles then, but you should at least eat all this abalone."
"I really don't want any more."
"Actually, I don't really like abalone—I just like the abalone sauce. If you don't eat it, it would be such a waste."
Fei Ni felt he might not actually dislike it, and added, "Whether it's delicious or not, you should eat more. It's not like you can have this often."
Fang Muyang rinsed his chopsticks in a water cup, then picked up a slice and brought it to Fei Ni's mouth. "I was afraid you'd mind, so I specially rinsed the chopsticks for you. If you eat this, I'll eat the rest."
Believing him, Fei Ni really opened her mouth. Fang Muyang pinched her cheek and then picked up another slice for her.
Having learned from the previous experience, Fei Ni knew that if she opened her mouth to speak, Fang Muyang would feed her again. So she kept her lips tightly shut and avoided looking at him. Fang Muyang looked at her and laughed. "You're so good to me. I never imagined you liked me this much."
Just as Fei Ni was about to retort, Fang Muyang placed the food from his chopsticks into her mouth.
When Fang Muyang tried to feed her a third slice, Fei Ni used her own chopsticks to snatch the abalone slice from his and brought it to his mouth. "Hurry up and eat yours."
Fang Muyang didn't refuse her kindness. Fei Ni then picked up another slice and fed it to him, using the same method he had used on her. The only difference was that Fang Muyang was much more at ease with it than she had been.
She realized this tactic was indeed very effective—no wonder Fang Muyang had used it on her. She grew increasingly curious about where Fang Muyang had gained all that experience and with whom he had practiced it. Just how far had things gone between Fang Muyang and Ling Yi? Male and female Educated Youth living together at the same educated youth point, spending day and night together—they must have done many things, both what she could imagine and what she couldn't. Perhaps they had done it all. Thinking of this, she put down her chopsticks and said to Fang Muyang, "When did you regain your memory?" She had always felt that he had recovered his memory before the earthquake—his experience building earthquake shelters could only have been acquired before his hospitalization.
At this point, Fang Muyang had no reason to keep deceiving Fei Ni. He smiled and said, "Guess."
Fei Ni didn't guess but instead asked in a very casual tone, "Do you remember how many girls you've drawn before?"
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