Ling Yi suppressed her displeasure and said, "Coffee beans still need to be ground with a coffee grinder. If you like drinking coffee, I’ll bring you a grinder another day."
Su Yu watched all this coldly from the side. She suddenly understood why Ling Yi had insisted on bringing her along, and why she had brought a Moka pot and coffee beans but not a grinder. This visit was to disguise her personal motives as official business, and the next time she brought the grinder, it would give her a legitimate reason to interact with Fang Muyang. The coffee beans would never run out, so she would have to keep bringing more, ensuring the visits continued. However, while the falling flower had intentions, the flowing water was heartless—Fang Muyang wasn’t buying it and had even asked her to grind the coffee with a rolling pin.
Fang Muyang asked Fei Ni, "Do you like drinking coffee?"
Fei Ni shook her head.
Fang Muyang smiled at Fei Ni and said, "If you don’t drink it, I can’t be bothered to make it." He then turned to Ling Yi and said, "You should keep the grinder for yourself. Even if you gave it to us, it would just sit around collecting dust."
Ling Yi’s good mood from earlier vanished completely. Fang Muyang’s words made it seem as though her coffee was brought for Fei Ni’s sake, and now that Fei Ni showed no interest, her coffee had become superfluous.
Ling Yi was momentarily speechless. Su Yu suddenly remembered that Fei Ni worked at a hat factory. A small line in the newspaper indicated that Tian Xueying’s former workplace before retirement was also a hat factory. At that time, newspapers were very cautious when publishing submissions and would verify the contributor’s information, sometimes even specifying the author’s workplace.
She asked Fei Ni rather inappropriately, "This Tian Xueying is also from your hat factory. Do you know her?"
Fang Muyang took the newspaper and examined it carefully. Pointing at the small line of text, he said to Fei Ni in surprise, "Isn’t our mom named Tian Xueying? She used to work at a hat factory. At first, I thought it was just someone with the same name, but it turns out it’s actually her."
Fei Ni shot Fang Muyang a glare and smiled awkwardly. For one’s own family to write an article praising him—was that really something worth bragging about? And he seemed eager for everyone to know.
Su Yu smiled at Fei Ni and said, "Please convey to Aunt Tian that I really enjoyed her article. If I have the chance in the future, I’d love to visit her." Although the article was a review of sequential pictures, those pictures were adapted from her own writing. Her article had received some praise before, but the parts she was most proud of had gone unnoticed. So, even though many people had complimented her, since they hadn’t praised the right things, their words felt like scratching an itch through a boot—unable to truly satisfy her. But this article highlighted those overlooked aspects, and reading it gave her the feeling of having met a kindred spirit. So, when Fei Ni had said it was "not bad," it wasn’t because she didn’t recognize its value, but because she was being modest on behalf of her family.
Fei Ni didn’t respond, but Fang Muyang smiled and said, "I’ll definitely pass on your message."
Only then did Ling Yi realize who she had actually been praising. Thinking about how she had just been analyzing the merits of Tian Xueying’s article right in front of Fei Ni, her face burned with embarrassment. She wondered how much Fei Ni was inwardly mocking her.
Initially, it was Su Yu who had suggested leaving first, but now she was chatting with Fei Ni and showed no intention of going. Ling Yi couldn’t help but say to Su Yu, "It’s getting late, we should go."
Hearing this, Su Yu told Fei Ni they would talk again another time.
Seeing that Ling Yi was about to leave, Fang Muyang asked her to take the coffee beans with her. "Fei Ni doesn’t drink coffee, and I can’t be bothered to make it. Leaving them here would just be a waste."Fang Muyang paid no attention to the rapidly shifting expressions on Ling Yi's face and continued, "But your moka pot came at just the right time. Fei Ni usually enjoys tea, and I haven't tried brewing it for her with a moka pot yet. Today is a perfect opportunity to give it a try. I'll thank you on Fei Ni's behalf."
Ling Yi stiffly replied, "You're welcome."
But Fei Ni said, "Using this pot for tea would be wasteful. Since you don't want to drink coffee, it's better to let her take everything back." She didn't think the pot was suitable for brewing tea, and even if it were, she had no intention of using it.
By now, Fei Ni was fairly certain that Fang Muyang didn't have romantic feelings for Ling Yi and had likely given up his university spot out of pity. She could roughly imagine what kind of life Ling Yi had endured in the countryside—someone accustomed to being fawned over would be utterly crushed by hardship. The pride she felt after her father's status was restored was matched only by the devastation she experienced during her rural exile. Ling Yi amplified others' suffering tenfold in her own perception; had Fang Muyang not surrendered his university admission to her, it was questionable whether she would have survived until her father's rehabilitation.
Fei Ni didn't approve of Fang Muyang's decision to yield his spot to Ling Yi, but since it was already done, she couldn't force him to regret it. Still, the sight of the moka pot reminded her of Ling Yi's haughty demeanor upon her sudden reversal of fortune, ruining Fei Ni's mood for tea.
With Fei Ni taking this stance, Fang Muyang could only smile at Ling Yi and say, "Then I'm afraid you'll have to take it back. We truly have no use for it. You should give these things to someone who needs them."
The double meaning wasn't lost on Ling Yi, who couldn't even muster a fake smile.
Next door, Section Chief Xu noticed two young women leaving Fei Ni's room, one of them exceptionally beautiful—rivaling Fei Ni in looks—and couldn't help staring a moment longer. Ling Yi had been aware of her own beauty since childhood and was accustomed to such attention from strangers, but her foul mood today made her hypersensitive to gazes, as if everyone were laughing at her expense.
She scrutinized Section Chief Xu from head to toe, her gaze dripping with contempt and impatience. In the end, she didn't utter a word, merely scoffed before turning away with a disdainful back. Though silent, Section Chief Xu understood her eyes perfectly: Someone like you dares to look at me? Go find a mirror! To him, even her retreating figure radiated scorn.
Section Chief Xu was fully aware of his own plain appearance, but he'd always believed looks were the least important attribute for a man. A man too handsome seemed frivolous—in the old society, he'd have been fit only for acting. Though performers were now termed "art workers" in the new society, exceptional beauty remained a burden for anyone outside that profession. An overly handsome man likely had mediocre professional skills, like that pretty boy next door who could only get allocated an apartment by relying on Fei Ni.
Ling Yi's gaze pierced like a needle, instantly deflating Section Chief Xu's inflated self-confidence. But his pride soon swelled again—clearly, she didn't know his status, or she wouldn't have looked at him that way.
Returning home, Section Chief Xu casually remarked to Wang Xiaoman, "Fei Ni has guests over?""They said they were from the publishing house, delivering reader letters to Xiao Fang. Who knew this Xiao Fang could even draw sequential pictures? While working as a waiter, he's also earning manuscript fees." Wang Xiaoman expressed her envy while using their neighbor to criticize her own husband. "Xiao Fang is so capable, yet he washes his own clothes and bedsheets, and doesn't even let Fei Ni cook." The implication was clear: you might earn less than the neighbor next door, how dare you expect me to wash your clothes and cook for you?
Section Chief Xu's self-confidence, like an inflated balloon, was immediately punctured by his wife's words. He couldn't help but fly into a rage from shame: "You're always going on about Xiao Fang this, Xiao Fang that—why don't you just marry him instead! You're constantly comparing me to others, saying I'm not good at this or not enough at that. Why don't you mention how you're not as young and pretty as others? It's not like I begged you to marry me back then."
Hearing this, Wang Xiaoman's temper flared up. "With your looks, you have the nerve to say I'm not pretty enough? Go look in the mirror! Do you think Fei Ni would even look twice at you?"
Section Chief Xu wanted to argue further, but having recently learned just how thin the walls were, he didn't want to become a laughingstock for the neighbors. He could only swallow his anger and remain silent.
After seeing off their guest, Fang Muyang peeled another orange. He ate one segment himself, then picked another segment, carefully removing the white threads and putting them in his own mouth before handing the clean orange segment to Fei Ni.
"Next week when we visit our mother, let's tell her that someone really likes her article and wants to visit her personally."
Fei Ni stuffed the orange segment into Fang Muyang's mouth, saying, "Why not just say we don't know? Why tell people the article was written by a family member? Doesn't that make it obvious we're praising our own like Wang Po selling melons?"
Fang Muyang laughed. "How can you sell melons without calling out your wares? There's nothing wrong with recommending your own family. Why don't you ask our mother when she has time to meet with them?"
"My mother doesn't have time."
"Isn't our mother retired? What's the problem with making time to meet someone? I'll talk to our mother about it next Sunday."
"That article wasn't written by our mother."
Fang Muyang tossed another orange segment into his mouth. "Not written by our mother? Then who? There's actually such a good person who writes articles and signs someone else's name?" He looked at Fei Ni and smiled. "I wonder who this good person could be? I really must thank them properly. Someone who writes articles praising me without seeking fame or manuscript fees—if I weren't already married, I'd want to offer myself to them."
Fei Ni knew Fang Muyang was pretending not to understand. She played along: "I don't want you anymore. You can offer yourself to whoever you want."
"That won't do. I'm the kind of person who remains faithful to one until the end."
Fei Ni stood on her toes and tapped Fang Muyang's forehead with her finger. "Just keep pretending."
"Pretending about what?"
"You knew all along that I wrote that article."
"So it really was you." Fang Muyang put on an expression of sudden realization. "No wonder the praise was so spot-on. I'll have to study it more carefully later."
"You're getting addicted to pretending. Don't mention this to anyone else from now on." Fei Ni stuffed another orange segment into Fang Muyang's mouth. "Also, don't be so mushy in front of others from now on. Don't you know how to be embarrassed?"
"Where was I mushy? I didn't notice. Point it out so I can correct it." Fang Muyang smiled as he spoke to Fei Ni. "It's strange though—the same orange tastes better when you feed it to me than when I eat it myself.""Can't be bothered with you."
Fei Ni couldn't be bothered with him, but Fang Muyang insisted on being annoyingly persistent. Unable to shake him off, Fei Ni had no choice but to let him be.
After fooling around for a while, Fei Ni asked, "What did your parents mail you?"
"What do you mean 'your parents'? They're our parents. They mailed you two large tins of tea, saying they'll send more when you finish these."
"They clearly mailed them for you."
"These really are for you. My old man said my mouth only deserves tea dust." Once, he had used his father's black tea to brew a pot of tea eggs, and his father chased him around trying to hit him.
That evening, Fang Muyang brewed Da Hong Pao for Fei Ni, poured it into a cup, and brought it to her. "Try it. If you like it, I'll brew it for you every day."
"It's late at night. I'm not drinking it. What if I can't sleep afterward?"
"Then we can do something else."
Fei Ni was firm. "I'm not drinking it, and you can't either. If you drink it and disturb my sleep, I'll kick you off the bed."
She and Fang Muyang slept in the same bed at night. If Fang Muyang couldn't sleep, she wouldn't have a good time either. Although the bed was sturdy now, it was still a loft bed, and it made all the noises you'd expect.
Yet, Fang Muyang drank the tea, couldn't sleep, and tossed and turned all night. Fei Ni didn't kick him off the bed but left many marks on him instead.
The next morning, Fang Muyang used Da Hong Pao to brew tea eggs for Fei Ni, peeled one, and brought it to her lips, asking if it tasted good.
"You actually used this tea to brew tea eggs?"
"You don't drink the tea, so it's a waste to leave it. Might as well use it for eggs."
For a whole week, Fei Ni had a Da Hong Pao tea egg every morning.
When Fang Muyang wanted to make more tea eggs, Fei Ni said, "Let's save this tea for drinking."
But Fang Muyang was generous: "We'll use Da Hong Pao for tea eggs. Don't we still have Lapsang Souchong?"
Fang Muyang developed many new ways to drink black tea: black tea with milk powder, black tea with condensed milk, ginger black tea...
As Fei Ni drank the ginger black tea Fang Muyang made for her, she worked on a draft for her sister-in-law. Besides borrowing her mother's name, Fei Ni also used her sister-in-law Lin Mei's name when writing reviews for sequential pictures. The manager of the pastry shop, noticing that Lin Mei had published an article in the newspaper, asked her to write another piece addressing the common issues faced by the pastry shop's operations. Lin Mei couldn't refuse and reluctantly asked Fei Ni to write it.
After finishing the draft, Lin Mei brought Fei Ni ten pounds' worth of pastry vouchers.
Fei Ni divided the vouchers into three portions: one for herself, one for her parents, and another for Fang Muyang's parents.
Before she could use the vouchers to buy pastries and mail them to the elderly couple, Fang Muyang told her, "Don't bother mailing them. The old man and my mom are coming back soon."
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