The narcissus flowers bloomed before the Spring Festival, with an exceptionally long flowering period—they were still blooming after the Lantern Festival.
On a Sunday at the end of the first lunar month, Fang Muyang went out to collect a parcel notice. Fei Ni’s eyes ached from reading, so she opened the window to gaze into the distance for a while before going to play the piano.
Someone knocked on the door outside. Fei Ni lifted her fingers from the keys and went to answer it.
The visitors were two young women, one of whom Fei Ni recognized.
Fang Muyang’s sequential pictures had received an excellent response, exceeding Su Yu’s expectations. These sequential pictures were adapted from an article Su Yu had published in the newspaper. Although her article had caused some stir when it was published, it paled in comparison to the adapted sequential pictures. The sequential pictures added many details to her article and corrected some factual errors in it. Her article was about steelworkers; although she had visited a steel mill for research, some parts were still based on assumptions.
Letters from readers poured into the publishing house, piling up in a corner of Su Yu’s desk because she had been Fang Muyang’s collaborator on this book. These letters were noticed by Su Yu’s colleague, Ling Yi, who looked at the stack on the desk and asked, "Are all these for Muyang?"
From the way Ling Yi addressed him, Su Yu guessed they were very close.
Su Yu and Ling Yi were ordinary colleagues, with a relationship that was neither good nor bad. Su Yu was far more polite to women than to men. Most men found her sharp-tongued, while women at most considered her aloof and uninterested in socializing. Su Yu’s mother, a former dancer, once told her, "Pretty girls love having friends like you—generous, low-maintenance, not unattractive but not stunning enough to steal the spotlight." Su Yu dismissed her mother’s words. She had few female friends; her friends were mostly male childhood companions. Because these boys never hid their mischief from her since they were young, she saw through the flaws of ordinary men and had no romantic illusions about them.
Fang Muyang stirred a hint of shyness in Su Yu’s nature and a flicker of imagination about the opposite sex that she had never felt before. However, upon learning that Fang Muyang was married, that imagination vanished. She was too proud, afraid that Fang Muyang might misunderstand her feelings, and took extra care to keep her distance. Once the sequential pictures were finalized, they had no further contact. A few days ago, she brought the sequential pictures home, and her mother loved them, even asking her to invite the author over for a meal. Su Yu bluntly said she wasn’t close to Fang Muyang.
"Are you two very familiar?"
"We grew up together, and later, when we went to the countryside, we were at the same educated youth point."
Su Yu thought this must be a childhood sweetheart situation.
Ling Yi flipped through the reader letters one by one and said to Su Yu, "Why don’t we deliver these letters to Muyang? They might give him the courage to give up his current job."
Su Yu instinctively asked, "What is Fang Muyang doing now?"
"Working as a waiter in a hotel."
"A waiter?"
"After the training course ended, he was unemployed at home. My father recommended him for a job at the newspaper, though it wasn’t a permanent position yet, but it would surely become one soon. Yet he insisted on being a waiter."
Su Yu was puzzled. "Why?"
"Perhaps those with family burdens care more about wages. Working as a waiter in a foreign affairs hotel definitely pays more than a non-permanent job at the newspaper. Actually, if he’s short on money, I could help him out.""Just for the salary? Fang Muyang isn't that shortsighted, is he?" Su Yu didn't believe Fang Muyang cared about money to that extent.
"Married people often have no choice in some matters. The partner you choose sometimes determines the life you'll lead. Even if you don't want to go somewhere, your spouse might push you into it." Ling Yi felt deeply regretful for Fang Muyang while also feeling fortunate for herself - glad she hadn't rushed into marriage before her father's status was restored, as divorce was always troublesome. But this relief was mixed with much regret; when she finally no longer had to worry about survival and had both the ability and energy to repay Fang Muyang, he wouldn't give her the opportunity.
"I actually think he's not someone who can be controlled by others." Su Yu recalled Fang Muyang's wife who worked at the hat factory.
The fact that Fang Muyang had taken a job as a waiter at the foreign affairs hotel was completely unexpected to Su Yu. Out of curiosity, she decided to accompany Ling Yi on her visit.
Ling Yi not only brought coffee beans for Fang Muyang but also brought him a Moka pot for brewing coffee. Su Yu wasn't as elaborate as Ling Yi, only buying some oranges on the way.
They only knew which building Fang Muyang lived in. When they reached the building where Fei Ni lived, Su Yu saw a young woman about to enter the building with them and asked if she knew where Fang Muyang's home was.
Wang Xiaoman quickly assessed the two women before her. The slightly shorter one was very beautiful but excessively arrogant - when asking for directions, she didn't even look at her, instead fixing her eyes on a pine tree in the distance as if her presence here was completely mistaken. The taller woman used concise language and was relatively polite, but her tone was icy cold. From their watches, the fabric of their clothes, and the bags on their shoulders, she guessed their outfits weren't cheap. She particularly liked the taller woman's polyester trousers, which didn't look bulky at all even in winter.
"Are you Xiao Fang's colleagues?"
"More or less."
Wang Xiaoman was quite dissatisfied with the two women. Just waitresses at a foreign affairs hotel - what gave them the right to be so arrogant?
"Your hotel must have good benefits."
"What hotel?"
Ling Yi realized the woman had mistaken them for Fang Muyang's colleagues, which displeased her. She said, "We're from the publishing house, delivering reader letters to Fang Muyang."
Wang Xiaoman remembered Fei Ni mentioning before that her husband was an artist, but she hadn't expected him to have published sequential pictures. She thought to herself that Fei Ni was quite tight-lipped. With income from artwork and a job at the foreign affairs hotel, who knew how much Xiao Fang earned each month - perhaps even more than her own husband, Old Xu. That made sense; someone as shrewd as Fei Ni wouldn't marry someone who truly had nothing.
She asked the woman who had inquired about directions: "What did Xiao Fang draw?"
Su Yu told her the name of the sequential pictures.
Because of their cold attitudes, Wang Xiaoman lacked enthusiasm for giving directions. When they reached her doorway, she pointed to the door next to hers. "Here, this is Xiao Fang's home."
Most of the corridor was occupied by cooking stoves, with coal briquettes piled on both sides. Ling Yi couldn't say she was unfamiliar with this type of housing - before her father's status was restored, she had lived in similar accommodations with her family. Precisely because she had lived in such conditions before, it reminded her of those difficult times, making it increasingly unbearable.
However, despite the same layout, Su Yu noticed that Fang Muyang's door and the cabinet by the entrance were cleaner than those of the neighboring homes.The sound of piano music drifted through the door crack, causing Ling Yi's hand to pause mid-knock before finally landing on the door.
Fei Ni heard the knocking and came to answer. Today she wore a blue, white, and black sweater over her shirt. The multiple colors came from the fact that hat factory employees could buy one hat per year without coupons or tickets - four years' worth of woolen hats had been unraveled and knitted into this sweater.
An outsider would never guess it was made from unraveled hats, though they could tell the sweater had taken considerable effort.
Fei Ni noticed Ling Yi first. Being familiar with her, she could see the triumphant light in Ling Yi's eyes - this was what someone looked like when suddenly rising from low to high status. This time last year, Ling Yi had been quite despondent. The other visitor introduced herself as Su Yu, and Fei Ni immediately connected her to Fang Muyang's sequential pictures, having seen Su Yu's name on the cover.
Ling Yi asked Fei Ni, "Is Muyang here?"
"He's out, but he'll be back soon."
"We're here to deliver reader letters for Muyang. His sequential pictures are very popular - we've been getting letters every day recently."
Hearing this, Fei Ni found Ling Yi more agreeable. She smiled and said, "He'll be back soon. Please come in and have a seat."
Su Yu surveyed the small room, her eyes first drawn to the piano in the corner. She asked Fei Ni, "Were you the one playing just now?"
Fei Ni smiled. "Just playing around."
"What piece?"
"Beethoven's 'Pastoral'," Fei Ni replied, then added, "It's been permitted for performance for several years now."
Not seeing any sheet music, Su Yu asked, "Can you play without reading music?"
"Actually, I just keep repeating the same few measures."
Su Yu appreciated Fei Ni's honesty. She handed over what she had brought. Fei Ni thanked her, took out some bananas and placed them on the table, then said, "Let me make you some tea."
Ling Yi said, "Thank you, but I don't like tea. No need to make any for me."
Ling Yi noticed their living conditions were better than she had imagined - such a room actually contained a piano. Visitors to this room couldn't miss the loft bed with the desk and cabinets underneath. Unlike Su Yu, Ling Yi immediately guessed Fang Muyang had built it himself, having never seen such a bed in any furniture store.
Su Yu asked where they had bought the bed.
Before Fei Ni could answer, Ling Yi said, "Muyang must have made it himself. He often did carpentry when he was an Educated Youth in the countryside. He even designed the house we lived in."
This contained some exaggeration. While Fang Muyang had indeed drawn the design, the final result hadn't completely followed his plans. His design had been too impractical for the countryside, and materials were scarce.
Ling Yi noticed the small portrait on the chair. The person depicted was clearly Fei Ni, and she knew Fang Muyang had made the chair too.
The home was too clean - unnaturally clean for Fang Muyang's home. The bedroom she remembered had always carried the lingering scent of turpentine that spread from the canvases throughout the room. The floor had been piled with saucers, various paints, and his bedroom had been full of paintings - finished, unfinished, about to be started... Later, when Fang Muyang went to the countryside, she would occasionally catch that same scent on him.Fang Muyang had personally built a home for this woman, yet this home held no trace of the scent of turpentine. In such an excessively clean and tidy household, Fang Muyang could likely only draw sequential pictures for money—oil painting was out of the question. After earning his manuscript fees, he still had to go to the foreign affairs hotel to earn a second income. This small home allowed a piano to occupy so much space, yet it had no room for a violin.
She remembered that Fang Muyang played the violin very well.
She felt somewhat aggrieved on his behalf. If things continued this way, his talent would surely be ruined.
Because Ling Yi didn’t like tea, Fei Ni had no choice but to offer her plain water.
Ling Yi asked Fei Ni again, "Is Muyang still working as a waiter at the hotel?"
Fei Ni hummed in agreement.
"Muyang and I are very good friends. If you’re facing financial difficulties, you can always tell me. I’ll do my best to help you."
Fei Ni immediately replied, "Thank you, but we don’t have any difficulties. Why would you think that?"
"That’s good if there aren’t any." Ling Yi then brought up the job at the newspaper office. "My father recommended Muyang for a position at the newspaper. There’s no formal staffing for now, but it will come soon. Although the starting salary isn’t as high as working at the hotel, I think the newspaper job suits him better. When choosing a job, one shouldn’t focus on immediate gains but look further ahead. Muyang’s strength lies in drawing; being a waiter really doesn’t suit him. I can’t imagine him working as a waiter just to make a living—it was simply unimaginable before."
Before Fang Muyang became a waiter, Fei Ni also found it hard to imagine, but she detected a tone of accusation in Ling Yi’s words. What right did she have to question her?
Fei Ni smiled and said, "Are you implying that I forced him to become a waiter for money?"
"I didn’t mean that. You’ve misunderstood."
Fei Ni borrowed Ling Yi’s words: "That’s good if you didn’t."
"I don’t know the reason, but I don’t think the waiter job suits him." Ling Yi looked at Fei Ni with a smile. "Don’t you agree?"
Ling Yi’s words were gentle, but Fei Ni sensed the dissatisfaction behind them. She hadn’t known that Fang Muyang had once had the opportunity to work at the newspaper. Fang Muyang had given up the newspaper job to become a waiter... Of course, she didn’t approve.
In front of Ling Yi, Fei Ni maintained her smile. "You’ve been friends with Fang Muyang for so many years—don’t you know his temperament? How can you assume he went to the hotel just for a living? Couldn’t it be to gather material for his creative work? It’s not like he’s going to stay there forever." Fei Ni deliberately left an opening for Fang Muyang, so that if he still wanted to work at the newspaper, he could say he had gathered enough material.
Although she disliked the expression Ling Yi wore now, from a professional standpoint, Fang Muyang’s abilities were more than sufficient for the newspaper job. Personally, Ling Yi owed Fang Muyang a great favor, and it was only natural for him to accept her gratitude. She couldn’t let her own bias against Ling Yi hinder Fang Muyang’s future.
She trusted Fang Muyang and was confident that nothing would happen between him and Ling Yi. Even if it did, she would accept it. There was no benefit for her if Fang Muyang didn’t do well.
Ling Yi didn’t touch the water Fei Ni had offered. Instead, she took coffee beans and a Moka pot from the box she had brought and placed them on the table. "I brought these for Muyang. Coffee can help refresh him. You can use an alcohol stove for brewing." She smiled and added, "If you don’t know how to brew it, I can teach you."
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