Su Yu rarely had a favorable attitude toward those she looked down upon, and if these people tried to curry favor with her, her disdain only deepened. She had initially assumed Fang Muyang was someone who got by on connections, but after seeing his artwork, she realized he had genuine talent and changed her attitude accordingly.
For those she respected, she was always generous.
Taking advantage of Fang Muyang's visit to the office, Su Yu handed him an envelope containing her unused cloth tickets and purchase coupons, generously telling him to make use of them.
Fang Muyang opened the envelope and saw a stack of cloth tickets and purchase coupons, some of which bore special supply labels.
He took two purchase coupons, grateful that they had arrived just in time—his wife was only short of two coupons to buy snow cream. After taking the coupons, Fang Muyang returned the envelope to Su Yu and, to thank her for her kindness, suggested, "Let me treat you to lunch at noon."
Fang Muyang actually had a wife—this was not something Su Yu had expected. He didn’t seem like a married man, not because of his age, but because of his demeanor. She felt married men had a different aura. She had seen married men younger than Fang Muyang, but she had never been as surprised as she was now.
Because of her surprise, Su Yu’s expression momentarily slipped out of control, but she quickly regained her composure and handed the envelope back to him. "Keep it. If you have any difficulties, just let me know. I might be able to help."
After learning that Fang Muyang was married, Su Yu made an effort to be even more generous than before. She didn’t want him to think she was giving him things because she had any ulterior motives.
Fang Muyang didn’t take the envelope because his wife was currently making clothes for him, so he had no immediate need for cloth tickets. Still, to thank Su Yu for the two purchase coupons, he insisted on treating her to a meal in the cafeteria.
During the meal, Su Yu casually asked Fang Muyang what his wife did for work.
Fang Muyang answered truthfully.
Fang Muyang had married early, and his wife was a worker at a hat factory. This answer surprised Su Yu to some extent. Although she wrote articles about factories, she didn’t actually know much about factory workers or what life was like for a female workshop worker. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with a hat factory worker, but she found it hard to connect such a person with the man in front of her.
"Why did you get married so early?" Afraid that Fang Muyang might misunderstand, Su Yu added, "I don’t mean anything by it—I’m just curious. People in our office, whether men or women, rarely marry as early as you did."
Fang Muyang smiled and said, "After meeting her, I suddenly felt that marriage was a wonderful thing."
Fang Muyang’s answer didn’t directly address the question, but Su Yu gathered from his response that he was very satisfied with his current marriage. She couldn’t help but feel a little more curious about Fang Muyang’s wife.
With these two purchase coupons, Fang Muyang bought Fei Ni a bottle of snow cream.
Occasionally, Fang Muyang would catch a whiff of the snow cream scent on Fei Ni’s face. When Fei Ni was sewing clothes, Fang Muyang would ask her to talk about the book she had read the night before. Fei Ni would then think for a moment before recounting the plot to him.
Fang Muyang asked, "Is that all there is to the plot?"
Fei Ni had omitted all the romantic parts, only describing the war scenes, even though it wasn’t a book about war at all.
Fei Ni lied with practiced ease: "That’s all there is. If you don’t believe me, read it yourself. Why would I lie to you?"Fang Muyang smiled, "I'd like to read it myself too, but I can't understand it, can I? Have some pity on this half-illiterate and translate the plot for me."
Fei Ni thought for a moment and said, "Alright then, but you'll have to wait until I finish making your clothes. I don't have time right now."
The weather was getting colder, but it wasn't yet heating season. Fang Muyang only wore a sweater and desperately needed a thick coat.
Despite what she said, Fei Ni would still deliberately sit on Fang Muyang's bed for a while before sleeping, holding the book and softly translating for him. While translating, she often omitted parts she didn't want to translate.
Sometimes when Fang Muyang heard Fei Ni translating so quickly, he would ask, "How come there are only a few sentences on this page? You're not fooling me, are you?"
Fei Ni handed him the book, smiling, "That's all there is. I can't just make up more for you."
Fang Muyang laughed, "Then read the English to me."
"But you said you can't understand it?"
"Not understanding is exactly why I need to learn. Having a ready-made teacher right here, it would be a real loss if I didn't learn."
Fei Ni had no choice but to read quietly to him, afraid others might hear. They sat very close, close enough to hear each other's breathing. When she came to passages that made her blush and heart race, since Fang Muyang couldn't understand, Fei Ni didn't skip them but read every word to him.
"Your pronunciation is so pleasant. Could you read slower and repeat it?"
Fei Ni had to read it again for him, deliberately slowing her pace this time.
Occasionally, Fang Muyang would glance at the book while she read. Pointing at "kiss," he asked Fei Ni, "Doesn't this mean 'eat'?"
Fei Ni didn't know whether he genuinely didn't know or was pretending, so she said, "You don't even know this word?" Though it was quite possible.
"As you know, my middle school education was practically nonexistent. Doesn't this word mean 'eat'? I vaguely have that impression."
"Of course not. You only think about eating." Fei Ni poked his forehead. "Look it up in the dictionary and you'll know."
"I have a living dictionary right here. Why bother with that effort?" Fang Muyang's fingers traced her lips. "Quick, tell me what it means. Let me learn."
Fei Ni explained in a low voice, but Fang Muyang's hearing seemed to fail him at that moment, and he asked her to repeat it.
Fei Ni scolded him for being stupid, quickly kissed his cheek, and said, "That's what it means. Do you understand now?"
Fang Muyang put his arm around her shoulder, smiling, "But I think this word sometimes means almost the same as 'eat.'"
"How could it be almost the same? They're completely different."
Fang Muyang pecked her lips and asked Fei Ni if this word could also be interpreted as "eat."
Fei Ni ignored him.
Fang Muyang treated Fei Ni's lips as a midnight snack, "eating" for a while before asking her to continue translating for him.
Fei Ni would read a passage, and Fang Muyang would ask her to explain. Sometimes when Fei Ni intentionally skipped a sentence, Fang Muyang would specifically ask her to explain that particular sentence.
Suspecting he was teasing her, Fei Ni said, "Read it yourself. Don't you know quite a lot?"
"How could I know as much as you? I only recognize a few words and can't even pronounce them properly. You should teach me more."Fei Ni didn't fall for his trick: "If you really want to learn English, start by memorizing the dictionary first. Besides, whether you know English or not doesn't affect your work anyway." She wasn't going to take the bait.
However, Fei Ni's latter statement was true. Although she could read original English novels, she didn't think it would benefit her future prospects, treating it merely as a pastime. She believed that even if Fang Muyang truly didn't know the meaning of "kiss," it wouldn't impact his life.
"Read one more page for me, I won't disturb you."
"Really?"
"Really, do you distrust me that much?"
Fei Ni indeed had little trust in him, but she still read another page aloud. While she read, Fang Muyang truly didn't interrupt her, only proving to her afterward that the word could indeed be interpreted as "to eat."
Fei Ni covered Fang Muyang's mouth with her finger. "We start choir rehearsals tomorrow. Swollen lips would look terrible."
"They won't swell."
Fei Ni insisted, "Let's talk about it after the performance is over."
The factory had organized a performance, and each workshop was required to contribute an act. Feng Lin was in charge of their workshop's program and had decided on a choir. Fei Ni was selected as one of the choir members. Since Fei Ni had offended Feng Lin over the blackboard bulletin incident, Feng Lin paid close attention to her during rehearsals. Fei Ni usually spoke softly, so her singing voice wasn't particularly prominent either. Feng Lin seemed to notice this and remarked that some people were just filling the numbers without any collective spirit, only thinking about taking advantage of the group without contributing effort when needed, yet stepping forward when honors were involved. She then called out Fei Ni by name and asked her to sing a passage alone. Although Fei Ni made hats for a living, being labeled as "lacking collective spirit" was a heavy accusation. So when she sang, she didn't hold back to protect her vocal cords. Feng Lin couldn't find any fault with her performance but said she hoped Fei Ni would put in the same effort during the choir performance.
Because of the choir rehearsals, Fei Ni returned home an hour later than usual every day. She gave Fang Muyang money and food coupons, telling him to eat first and not wait for her. But Fang Muyang waited for her every day to eat together. Worried that her throat might be uncomfortable, he even specially prepared throat lozenges for her.
As soon as Fei Ni returned home, she quickly ate her meal, put down her bowl, and started making clothes for Fang Muyang, no longer reading novels.
Three days before the performance, a problem arose with the choir. The choir conductor, Feng Lin, suddenly sprained her ankle and went to the medical office. It seemed she wouldn't recover for several days, but the performance was the next day, so a replacement conductor was urgently needed. After some discussion without reaching a conclusion, Sister Liu stepped forward and suggested Fei Ni, mentioning that Fei Ni had been in a choir before.
Fei Ni initially didn't want to take on the role. Feng Lin had been conducting for so many days, and if Fei Ni stepped in at the last moment, Feng Lin might hold a grudge against her, especially given their previous conflicts. But with the performance the next day and everyone having rehearsed for so long, she had no choice but to brace herself and accept the responsibility.
She didn't tell Fang Muyang about this. Even if no one was looking for faults with her, swollen lips would still look quite unattractive.
The day before the performance, Fei Ni finished making Fang Muyang's pants and jacket. She heard on the radio that there would be heavy snow the next day. Fei Ni sighed at the early snowfall but felt relieved, thinking that if the snow had come a day earlier, Fang Muyang would have suffered—how could a mere sweater withstand heavy snow?
When the performance ended, just as the weather forecast had predicted, it began to snow.Fei Ni's workshop performance won first prize in the factory competition. As the conductor, she received an extra towel and bar of soap beyond what the other choir members got.
Yet the additional towel and soap failed to lift Fei Ni's spirits. Today was payday, and she hadn't received any bonus at all.
Initially thinking it was an accounting error, she was informed by the finance department that her bonus had been deducted.
After work, she went to see the workshop director. Deputy Director Yao explained that her bonus was withheld because she had failed to complete the blackboard newsletter task assigned by the workshop, abandoning it without permission and setting a poor example for the collective. If she weren't penalized, others might follow suit. As long as she continued to prioritize the collective like she did with the choir, her bonus would certainly not be withheld in the future.
Fei Ni disagreed with Director Yao's reasoning: "The bonus should only be tied to my core job responsibilities. The blackboard newsletter is Feng Lin's duty, not mine. Since I didn't complete it well, I shouldn't receive the five-yuan subsidy for that task, but you must pay me my bonus. I've never made a single mistake in my work and have always worked all required overtime."
For the sake of this withheld bonus, Fei Ni momentarily forgot her usual conduct in the factory. She demanded that Director Yao produce written regulations justifying the withholding of her bonus, threatening not to leave unless such proof was provided.
Fang Muyang's first sequential pictures book was published. President Fu invited him to his home for a small gathering. Fang Muyang thanked President Fu for his kindness but explained that it was his wife's birthday today, so he would have to invite President Fu for a meal another day instead.
The snow fell heavier and heavier. After waiting at home for Fei Ni for half an hour with no sign of her return, Fang Muyang got on his bicycle and went to wait for her at the factory gate.
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