Fei Ni had long known that Fang Muyang couldn't hold onto money. The moment he sold the sofa, before the cash even warmed his hands, he was bound to buy something else.
On her way home, she had been guessing what Fang Muyang might have bought. As soon as she stepped inside, she spotted the record player on the low cabinet.
Nowadays, there were more songs available to play. Every few days, previously banned tunes would be released. Because of this, Fei Ni had also considered buying a record player, but it remained just a thought. A record player was somewhat extravagant for the two of them, especially since Fang Muyang was currently unemployed.
Besides the record player, Fang Muyang had also bought a bag of apples. Fei Ni didn't like overly soft apples, so he had specifically chosen Guoguang variety. The lid of the biscuit tin was pushed open by newly purchased pastries. Just this morning, the tin had been nearly empty, and Fei Ni had planned to buy some biscuits tomorrow to refill it, but Fang Muyang had beaten her to it. The pastries he bought were much more expensive than biscuits.
Fei Ni looked at the items on the table and smiled at Fang Muyang. "Struck it rich again?" She extended her palm. "Since you're so flush, shouldn't you settle your tailoring fee for the clothes I made you? And isn't it time to pay this month's rent?" If they weren't already so familiar, Fei Ni wouldn't joke about rent like this.
Fang Muyang took her hand, kissed the back of it, then gently nibbled it with his teeth. "Does this count as payment? If it's not enough, I've got more."
"You're utterly shameless. Who wants that?" Fei Ni strained to pull her hand back. "Don't do that—my hand isn't even washed. Aren't you disgusted?"
"I'm not."
Fei Ni looked at the tooth marks on her hand and laughed. "Well, I am. You're punished to brush your teeth immediately, or you can't eat the food I brought back."
"Then let's brush together."
Fang Muyang held Fei Ni's hand, tickling her palm as his face drew near, aiming to kiss her lips. Fei Ni instinctively leaned back, clenching her teeth, struggling to hold back laughter. Fang Muyang supported her waist, their faces drawing closer and closer. Fei Ni closed her eyes, but the familiar lips didn't press against hers. Instead, she felt something placed in her palm.
Opening her eyes, she saw a thin stack of paper bills.
It was the money Fang Muyang was giving her.
With one glance, she knew exactly how much it was. The factory's finance department was truly missing out by not having her.
"You just love teasing me." It seemed he couldn't get through a day without teasing her. Fei Ni pocketed the money and went with Fang Muyang to the washroom.
Fang Muyang obediently brushed his teeth in the washroom. After washing her hands, Fei Ni returned to her room. If examined closely, Fang Muyang's tooth marks were still visible on her hand. She opened her lunch box, ladled the congee from the thermos into a bowl, and waited for Fang Muyang to come back and eat.
After a while, Fang Muyang returned from the washroom.
He said to Fei Ni, "Teeth are brushed."
"Hurry up and eat."
"Aren't you going to check?" As he spoke, Fang Muyang leaned in for Fei Ni to inspect. She tried to dodge, but he held her tight. Reluctantly, she gave a perfunctory check, the result being that her lips now carried the scent of lemon toothpaste.
"So? Satisfied?"
Fei Ni covered her mouth, blushing. "Just eat properly."
Today, the factory canteen had beef stew with potatoes. Fei Ni had rushed over as soon as her shift ended to get some. By the time she arrived, the beef was almost gone.The supply of beef was far less abundant than pork. When the grocery store finally had beef, it was a sudden, limited release. By the time people heard the news and rushed to line up, the queue was already long, and by the time it was their turn, the beef was sold out. Every time the cafeteria served beef stew with potatoes, the windows were crowded even before sales began.
The cafeteria worker had initially scooped a large piece of beef for Fei Ni, but perhaps thinking it was too big, his hand deftly shook the ladle, and the beef disappeared, leaving only potatoes soaked in beef flavor. Fei Ni insisted that the worker retrieve the beef that had fallen back into the serving bucket, and he did so reluctantly.
The potatoes in the lunch box gradually disappeared, but the beef remained untouched. Finally, the beef lay alone in the container. Fang Muyang gently picked it up with his chopsticks, divided it into two halves, placed one in Fei Ni’s bowl, and ate the other himself.
“When will your second sequential pictures be published?”
“Soon. I have the draft here—you can look at it anytime, no need to wait for publication.” Fang Muyang had already finished his second sequential pictures, though the payment hadn’t been settled yet. He was currently working on a book for an ancient technology series, which wouldn’t carry his name but would earn him a fee.
Fei Ni didn’t mention the meat processing plant to Fang Muyang. She had no intention of letting him work there, even though it would mean eating meat every day. The fact that Fang Muyang’s parents had been released from supervision and were receiving salaries gave Fei Ni new hope. Despite his poor family background, Fang Muyang had been recommended for university admission. Now that his background was no longer a major obstacle, coupled with his clean record and published works, it wasn’t impossible for him to be recommended again. All he needed to do was create more works and wait for the Art Academy to enroll students.
Once he graduated from university, he would naturally be assigned a job.
Fei Ni washed up unusually early that day. Returning from the water room, she closed the doors and windows tightly and drew the curtains. Fang Muyang laughed, “No need to be so careful today. It’s fine if others hear this.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, don’t worry.” The first record was Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. Although not all of Beethoven’s works had been fully unbanned, his Pastoral had been performed by a foreign symphony orchestra in China a few years ago, and it had been reported in the newspapers.
Fei Ni lay on the bed, resting her head on her arms, listening to the record that had been sealed away for ten years. The music carried her toward dreams, but she kept her eyes open—she still had a scarf to knit and couldn’t fall asleep just yet.
Fang Muyang was peeling an apple beside her.
Fei Ni smiled, “We haven’t reached the stage where we eat apples without peeling them.”
“Then you eat the apple, and I’ll eat the peel.”
Fang Muyang’s apple peel was skillfully done—a complete, unbroken spiral. He gave the apple to Fei Ni, placed the peel on a saucer, speared it with a fork, folded it into layers, and ate it in two bites.
“You make it seem like I’m treating you harshly,” Fei Ni said, sitting up and offering the untouched half of the apple to Fang Muyang’s lips. “I can’t finish this much.”
The two shared the apple.
Once she sat up, Fei Ni didn’t lie back down. While listening to the music, she kept her hands busy, knitting a scarf for Fang Muyang. The yarn originally intended for the scarf had been used to make him a Vest. Yesterday, she managed to get half a pound of yarn, allowing her to continue knitting the scarf.
“Stop knitting. Why not just relax and listen to the music for a while?”"Knitting a scarf doesn't interfere with listening to music." If she kept dragging it out, winter might pass before it was finished.
"I'm in no hurry to wear it."
Fei Ni paid no attention to his words and continued knitting beside him.
Seeing that he couldn't persuade Fei Ni, Fang Muyang pulled up a chair and sat next to her to draw.
Fei Ni glanced at Fang Muyang's drawing, but he covered it to prevent her from seeing.
"What's so shameful that you have to hide it?"
Fei Ni already had a rough idea in her mind. Taking advantage of Fang Muyang's focus on drawing, she stole a glance. While she was knitting the scarf, he was sketching her knitting.
"Fang Muyang, I think with your skillful hands, you could probably knit a scarf yourself without any problem. You might even do it better than me."
"I don't know how to knit, let alone do it better than you. Not just me—no one knits better than you."
"How would you know if you don't try?"
"Didn't you encourage me to draw more? I'd rather keep drawing."
She had encouraged him to draw more, but she hadn't encouraged him to draw her.
Fei Ni laughed, "Since you're so willing to listen to me, I'll encourage you to knit a scarf now."
Fei Ni tossed the sweater along with the knitting needles to him. "Give it a try first."
The knitting needles unexpectedly pricked Fang Muyang's pajamas, right at his waist.
Fei Ni heard Fang Muyang let out a muffled groan of pain.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Fei Ni could tell he wasn't fine. She reached out and lifted the corner of his pajamas to check where the knitting needle had pricked him.
As soon as she lifted it, Fang Muyang took the opportunity to pull her down onto the bed. Caught off guard, Fei Ni fell into Fang Muyang's arms. He rested one hand on her shoulder while the other gently stroked her hair.
"Take a break. The clothes you've made for me are enough to get me through the winter. There's no need to knit a scarf."
Fei Ni was forced to press against Fang Muyang's chest. She could hear the sound of a heartbeat, though she couldn't tell if it was his or hers.
Fang Muyang adjusted Fei Ni's position, letting her rest her head on his arm. He leaned in to kiss her eyes, and as expected, Fei Ni closed them.
Lying on his side, he used his other hand to comb through her hair with his fingers.
The sound of music filled Fei Ni's ears.
They remained in that position until the music suddenly stopped and the room plunged into darkness.
Power shortages were common, and both of them were used to blackouts. Fei Ni got up to search for a flashlight, but Fang Muyang pressed her hand down. "Don't bother."
The two of them lay there like that, neither speaking.
As the record stopped spinning, the sounds in Fei Ni's ears grew even more monotonous.
By the time the light bulb flickered back on, Fei Ni had already fallen asleep. Fang Muyang slowly withdrew his numb arm from under her head, tucked her in properly, and returned to sit in front of the low cabinet to resume his drawing.
Fang Muyang had first built the table. Once the table was finished, he started working on the bed. When the bed began to take shape, neighbors in the building would occasionally come by to take a look.
Most households in the building had only one room per family, so someone like Wang Xiaoman, who had two rooms, was considered rare. Lack of space was a common problem everyone faced. This bed, which occupied little floor space yet combined three functions, perfectly met their needs.
Thus, every day while Fang Muyang was working on the bed, people came to observe.
On the day the bed was completed, the neighborhood committee also brought Fang Muyang some good news.
His employment issue had been resolved. According to Aunt Wang from the committee, this job seemed tailor-made for Fang Muyang's qualifications.Given Fang Muyang's clean personal history, firm ideological stance, tall stature, and upright appearance—and despite not having graduated from junior high school, he had studied English with good academic performance—the neighborhood committee recommended him to work as a service attendant at a foreign affairs hotel.
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