Fang Muyang brought along a German vintage camera he had bought at a secondhand store on his way over. Purchasing used goods at such stores was not only cheap but also didn't require ration coupons. He planned to take a few photos of Fei Ni during this visit.
In addition, Fang Muyang brought Fei Ni malted milk powder, American milk powder, chocolate, and five apples. The apples were ones he had saved up earlier, the malted milk powder was bought for him by a nurse, while the chocolate and American milk powder were brought by a distant relative of his mother who had come to visit him.
This relative had overseas connections and possessed numerous overseas Chinese remittance coupons, which could be used to buy items ordinary citizens couldn't access.
Out of the large bag of chocolate, Fang Muyang had only eaten one piece. He hid two handfuls away and distributed the rest among the patients and nurses on his hospital floor.
Fang Muyang started drawing on the third day after Fei Ni stopped visiting. That early morning, he had been dreaming constantly, with various characters making appearances—yet he didn't recognize any of them. In this vast world, the people he knew were few and far between. The person he was most familiar with was Fei Ni, but she wasn't coming anymore. Waking from his dream at four in the morning, he turned on the light, grabbed a dictionary, and began memorizing words—Fei Ni had said she would visit once he finished memorizing the dictionary. After memorizing half a page, he started sketching with the pen Fei Ni had left behind, drawing eyes, nose, and lips all resembling Fei Ni—the Fei Ni who had visited him three days prior.
He had forgotten that he had started drawing at age four and had won an international children's competition award in elementary school, but muscle memory remained. Since Fei Ni wasn't visiting, he drew portraits of her in the dictionary. Relying on memory, he sketched over ten drawings of Fei Ni. In his memories, Fei Ni was always in motion—entering the hospital room carrying something, smiling as she came in, then interrogating him the moment she put her things down, her face turning stern if his answers dissatisfied her. Her movements while washing clothes were fluid too—rubbing soapy lather into his shirt collar with her hands. If he noticed sweat beads on her nose and tried to wipe them, she would deftly dodge; if she couldn't avoid it, she would glare at him. He had to pause her in his memory, freezing her at a specific moment, to begin drawing—and this was no easy task. After drawing her repeatedly, Fang Muyang discovered that Fei Ni had a unique body language, more intriguing than the words she spoke.
Through recollecting Fei Ni, he came to know her all over again, more deeply and meticulously than before. When Fei Ni had still been visiting, he hadn't even noticed which button she fastened at the top of her collar.
Drawing became Fang Muyang's way of understanding the world. He asked a nurse to help him buy paper and pens. After sketching Fei Ni, he began drawing the trees outside the window, and once done with those, he started sketching the young nurses inside the ward. Fang Muyang's figure sketches were more popular than his landscapes. The first one he drew was of a young nurse surnamed Hu. After receiving the sketch, she blushed every time she saw Fang Muyang for the following week. Although it was just a sketch, it accurately captured the curves of her figure.Fang Muyang had a sharp eye for observing people, and his paintbrush was even sharper. His grasp of the nurses' features was so precise it made people question his motives. The young nurses, however, paid no mind to Fang Muyang's intentions—they only cared about how they looked in his drawings. Fang Muyang became a human camera, to the point where the nurses would instinctively adjust their posture when they saw him, straightening their backs and even deliberately slowing their movements to give him time to mentally compose the scene.
An artist inevitably uses their eyes to capture people's features, and a man staring at young women for too long can easily come across as lecherous. But Fang Muyang's eyes worked in his favor—his long eyelashes and the slight furrow of his brow when observing others made his gaze seem thoughtful. By the time someone noticed his stare, he would offer a faint, almost imperceptible smile, saying nothing. His silence, mistaken for a lack of vocabulary, gave the impression that he was a serious and proper man. It was the ones being observed who felt awkward, slowly turning away to avoid his gaze.
Fang Muyang received a stipend as an Educated Youth, which had not been discontinued. The Office of Educated Youth, taking into account his status as a patient, provided him with an additional subsidy. When Fei Ni was around, this money was spent entirely on food. After she left, Fang Muyang’s meals were downgraded—he could fill his stomach with just forty cents a day. He saved the remaining money and gave it to the nurses he was on good terms with, asking them to buy melon seeds, preserved fruits, and other snacks, which ultimately ended up in the nurses' mouths. Sometimes, he would take these treats to visit other patients on the same floor and sketch their portraits.
A young man who did nothing but eat, sleep, and observe girls—and not just one girl at that—eventually caught the attention of the hospital administration. Concerned about the potential consequences, the leadership immediately issued an order forbidding nurses from having any unnecessary contact with Fang Muyang outside of routine care.
But the young nurses didn’t see Fang Muyang as a creep. They enjoyed the chocolates, candied peanuts, and red bean ice pops he bought from outside the hospital and, out of a sense of camaraderie, repaid him by helping him buy paper and brushes. When they had tasty snacks, they shared them with Fang Muyang. Some kind-hearted nurses even offered to take his clothes home to wash. Fang Muyang declined, saying he could wash them himself. In the summer, he washed his clothes every day, wringing them out a few times before hanging them to dry, too lazy to even use soap. While washing his shirt, he thought of Fei Ni—she was very good at doing laundry.
The leadership spoke with Fang Muyang, assuring him they would help resolve his marital concerns but urging him not to rush and to be mindful of his reputation.
Fang Muyang didn’t deny anything. In exchange for his promise to stop sketching young women, the hospital gifted him an easel and allowed him to go outside to paint.
During this time, he didn’t have many visitors. One of them was his classmate Lin Ge, who had been assigned to the same educated youth point as Fang Muyang during their rural placement. Lin Ge had received plenty of help from Fang Muyang back then and, during a home visit, made time to buy apples and come see him.During their first year of resettlement, they lived in villagers' homes. The village provided timber for the Educated Youth to build their own houses. The oldest among them wasn't even twenty, and some like Fang Muyang were only fifteen or sixteen—not only separated from their parents but even having to build their own shelters. Initially, no one was enthusiastic about construction until Fang Muyang produced a blueprint showing a house far superior to their current rough dwellings, reigniting everyone's motivation. Though Fang Muyang knew nothing about building initially, by the time the house was completed, he had become semi-professional in bricklaying and carpentry. The finished house stood as the best in the surrounding villages.
Unlike other Educated Youth who resented the countryside, Fang Muyang thrived there. He helped whoever needed roof repairs or furniture made. Elderly village women adored him for his ability to paint door gods and kitchen gods. His kitchen god had a touch of oil painting style, different from traditional ones, but nobody minded—beauty was what mattered. One painting could be exchanged for two fried eggs and a lard pancake—thick, leavened, and greasy.
The village party secretary assigned him to teach at the village school, where he taught arithmetic and drawing. He even made willow flutes for the children and taught them Soviet tunes. Soon after, he had another Educated Youth who couldn't handle heavy labor take his place, returning to the fields to earn work points.
Their village was democratic—even university recommendations for Educated Youth were decided by a village vote. Despite Fang Muyang's unfavorable family background, everyone unanimously recommended him. Yet he gave his spot to Ling Yi, claiming she had higher cultural attainment. Before this, Fang Muyang's romantic life had been ambiguous—he got along with all female Educated Youth, helping whoever was in need, never embarrassed to ask others to mend clothes or quilt covers. But after this incident, everyone assumed Fang Muyang and Ling Yi were dating—why else would he give up his university spot unless they were involved?
Lin Ge asked Fang Muyang if Ling Yi visited him often.
"Who's Ling Yi?"
"You shouldn't have given her your spot." Lin Ge felt indignant on Fang Muyang's behalf—he'd sacrificed his university opportunity, yet Ling Yi didn't even visit after his accident.
Fang Muyang didn't respond. Instead, he asked, "Do you know where Fei Ni lives?"
After his and Fei Ni's mutual classmates left, Fang Muyang packed everything from his cabinet into a bag and left the hospital with a note. Since he often sketched outside the ward, the nurses didn't question his whereabouts.
To entertain his daughter's guest, Old Fei brought out the Biluochun tea Fei Ni had bought him—normally he only drank cheap tea dust. Since taking early retirement, his income had shrunk, forcing him to economize everywhere.
Old Fei politely said, "This tea isn't great—just make do with it."
Though Fang Muyang could now live independently and converse normally, he couldn't recognize polite remarks. He asked if it was stale tea. Years without drinking tea hadn't dulled his palate's sensitivity to leaves.
The tea indeed wasn't fresh—it had been stored for two years. Old Fei felt slightly offended—having tea at all was a luxury nowadays. They were all proletarians now, and he'd generously served his treasured tea—how could anyone be so picky?Old Fei couldn't very well leave a guest hanging, so he made small talk, which eventually turned to Fei Ni. Fang Muyang asked what Fei Ni did for work, what time she started and finished, how many days off she had each week. After getting all the details, he asked what Fei Ni had been busy with lately that had kept her from visiting him.
Old Fei didn't beat around the bush, straightforwardly saying that Fei Ni was now seeing someone and had gone to the movies with this person today.
Fang Muyang didn't press further. He took out some chocolate from his bag, unwrapped it, and offered it to Old Fei.
Old Fei took a bite of the chocolate and politely said, "You kid, you didn't have to bring anything when visiting. Next time, don't bring anything."
Fang Muyang replied, "Alright, I won't bring anything next time."
Worried that Fang Muyang might visit again, Old Fei added, "We're not often at home. You just happened to catch me here this time, or you'd have made a wasted trip."
"When are you usually home then?"
"Well..." Old Fei picked up his teacup and took a sip.
Fei Ni let Ye Feng enter first and placed the soy-braised meat and pork tripe she bought on the kitchen counter in the hallway.
Her mother whispered in her ear, "That Xiao Fang from the hospital is here."
"Who?"
"Fang Muyang."
"Really?"
The excitement in Fei Ni's voice was unmistakable, making Fei Ma frown. "What exactly are you thinking? You're dating Ye Feng now. We don't approve of two-timing—it'll make people talk behind our backs."
"It's not at all what you think." Fei Ni thought Fang Muyang had regained his memory. If he weren't better, why would the hospital let him out? If he had recovered, she might be eligible for an exemplary worker award. But she hadn't visited in a month—maybe she'd already been labeled an opportunistic failure. Still, his recovery was good news regardless.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to buy a watermelon."
"Don't bother. We're having noodles with gravy today, and there's so much food already. Who has room for watermelon?" Fei Ma lowered her voice further. "Hurry inside. If that Xiao Fang says something he shouldn't and ruins your situation, what will you do?"
Ignoring her mother's words, Fei Ni went downstairs, got on her bike, and rode to the store to buy a watermelon. She was used to the Fang Muyang who initially couldn't even trim his nails. If he had really regained his memory now, she wasn't sure how to face him.
Fang Muyang didn't ruin Fei Ni's situation. He introduced himself to Ye Feng as Fei Ni's classmate, saying he had come specifically to thank her for taking care of him lately. Learning that Fei Ni had gone to buy a watermelon, he asked Old Fei to give her the two bags he had brought. Old Fei, ever polite, insisted he stay for dinner, but Fang Muyang declined, saying he needed to hurry back to the hospital.
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