The few pieces of furniture returned couldn't possibly fill the Fang family's new home, but Old Fang wasn't in a hurry to buy new ones. Without a housekeeper and with Teacher Mu already back at work, Old Fang—still unemployed and waiting for assignment, though he had manuscripts to transcribe—found household chores naturally falling to him due to his flexible schedule. Under such circumstances, he naturally preferred the house to remain as empty as possible.
On Sunday, Fei Ni accompanied Fang Muyang to his parents' home. After years without a job, Teacher Mu, now reinstated, was pouring all her energy into work. She had even been spending Sundays at school lately. Some of her students had weak foundations, lacking even junior high school knowledge, and couldn't keep up with her teaching. She had no choice but to use her rest time to mandate remedial lessons.
Old Fang had spent years paying for his loose tongue. Finally free, he failed to restrain himself in front of his son and daughter-in-law: "Your mother kept urging me to watch my words after coming back, but look at her—barely back at work, she's already forcing students into extra lessons. Isn't she afraid of being labeled a 'white expert' again and getting booed off the platform? But I understand her. Many students have such poor foundations, some not even at a junior high level, that even mandatory tutoring can't help them catch up with her teaching. The university admission system must be reformed."
Fei Ni couldn't resist asking, "Dad, do you think the college entrance exams might be reinstated?"
Confident his daughter-in-law wouldn't gossip, Old Fang shared his views freely. Through their meetings, he had judged her to be discreet. As for his son, there was no need for concern—during the hardest times, he'd hoped his younger son would cut ties for a better life, but the stubborn boy never did.
In this regard, Fang Muyang had an advantage over his older siblings. Outsiders knew he and his father didn't get along, and Fang Muyang befriended working-class children, often spending family money treating them to "redistribute wealth." He'd even sneak Zhonghua cigarettes—which he himself seldom smoked—to the gatekeeper. Fang Muyang saw this as entirely justified: after his mother donated all his grandmother's inheritance—savings, fixed interest, gold, the house, and everything valuable in it—to sever ties with capitalism, he believed he had equal say over family funds. He spent as he pleased, without seeking parental permission.Old Fang remembered that although his rebellious son always found ways to spend their money, he actually had no concept of things like cash or gold dividends. When the boy learned their house had been donated, his first thought was what would happen to his grandmother’s favorite roses. A few days later, Old Fang heard that his late mother-in-law’s house had been burglarized. No valuables were taken, but the roses in the garden had been dug up—fortunately, they had been slated for removal anyway. Old Fang never saw the roses at home, but he was certain his younger son was responsible, because the day after the roses disappeared, Fang Muyang’s clothes were filthy and torn. Neither he nor his wife pursued the matter. Instead, they bought Fang Muyang a new set of clothes, resolving to treat the boy more kindly. Not long after, Fang Muyang secretly took the household registration booklet and sold his new clothes at a secondhand store. A few days later, he dismantled the family radio. Old Fang had no choice but to revert to his previous methods of disciplining his son.
After sharing his views, Old Fang added, “Learning doesn’t have to be confined to school. You can study at home too. If you and Muyang have any questions, you can always come to me or your mother for guidance.”
Fei Ni was naturally willing, but Fang Muyang had no interest in consulting his father and couldn’t even be bothered to pretend otherwise.
The Fang family home was already spacious, and the lack of furniture made it seem even larger. Old Fang showed his son and daughter-in-law around their home. When they reached a sunlit bedroom, completely empty, Old Fang pointed and said, “You’ll live in this room from now on.”
Old Fang was a responsible father. Having neglected his rebellious son’s education for so many years, he now seized the opportunity to make up for it. Besides, with no job at the moment, he had plenty of time to supervise his son’s studies.
Neither Fang Muyang nor Fei Ni responded. Fang Muyang naturally had no desire to live with his parents—even if their house was a hundred times better than his, he wouldn’t want to. Fei Ni was reluctant because if she moved out of the apartment allocated to her by the hat factory, she would lose her legitimate claim to it. The apartment was assigned to employees in need, and if she left it vacant long-term, it would signal that she didn’t need it, meaning the factory would reassign it to someone else. Moving out was easy, but moving back would be difficult.
Old Fang didn’t pressure them to move in immediately. It would take some time to furnish the house properly.
The new home had a fully equipped bathroom with hot water, but the kitchen still lacked a stove. The study held only a large desk, on which lay Old Fang’s manuscripts.
When writing, Old Fang had focused solely on expressing himself, never considering the future. These manuscripts spanned over a decade. Earlier drafts had been lost, and he had riskily rewritten them from memory on straw paper, believing he must leave something behind. Though interrupted many times, he had persevered. A single sheet of ordinary letter paper held three thousand characters, illegible without careful scrutiny through glasses. His condition prevented him from staring at them for long, and his eyesight was deteriorating. Doctors had warned him against straining his eyes. Recently, he had considered hiring someone to transcribe the manuscripts but hadn’t found a reliable person, so he could only organize a little each day.
Old Fang didn’t expect his son, who hadn’t finished junior high, or his daughter-in-law, a high school graduate, to understand his manuscripts, but he generously allowed them to read nonetheless.Fei Ni noticed many seemingly meaningless phrases in the manuscript. When she silently recited these words in her mind, she discovered they all carried significance. Though written in Chinese characters, they were actually awkward transliterations of English words. Given her father-in-law's erudition, he certainly could have translated them more naturally. But he had written with excessive caution - even in personal notes meant only for himself, he frequently used English expressions to prevent others from understanding. Not only did he use English, but he deliberately misspelled the words through inaccurate transliterations.
The next day, Fang Muyang cycled to his parents' home again to collect the books Fei Ni had asked Teacher Mu to borrow from the library.
Fang Muyang not only received the books but also got a paper package from Old Fang containing two hundred ten-yuan bills. Old Fang told him to promptly repay Fei Ni for all the money she had spent on him before.
"Always spending others' money, be careful you can't hold your head up before your wife in the future. You must give this money to Fei Ni - don't secretly spend it yourself."
Fang Muyang laughed: "I'm taller than her - when I raise my head I can't see her anyway. If you distrust me so much, why don't you give it to her personally?"
"Debts are debts, goodwill is goodwill. This should still be given by you."
Fang Muyang bought two abalone cans, giving one to his parents and bringing the other home. When he returned, the first person he saw wasn't Fei Ni but a man he didn't recognize.
At first he thought the man was Fei Ni's friend, but through Fei Ni's introduction, he learned the man was actually from a newspaper, specifically waiting at his doorstep to commission him for work - requesting him to serialize sequential pictures in the newspaper.
Fei Ni had brewed black tea for the guest. By the time Fang Muyang returned, the teacup was already empty. Fei Ni added more tea for him while also placing some snacks on a saucer, suggesting Fang Muyang and the visitor talk leisurely.
She herself walked to the desk beneath the loft bed and buried herself in reading the books Fang Muyang had brought back for her.
When she read, she was voracious - books isolated her from herself and others.
These days, the Fang family kept encountering good fortune. The Fang family had their housing situation resolved and back wages issued. Fang Muyang's career was naturally going very well too - now even newspaper editors actively sought him out. She was very happy for them. But herself... this year she seemed to have made no progress. The work she did remained exactly the same as a year ago...
Fang Muyang quickly concluded his conversation with the guest, arranging to discuss specific matters at the newspaper office himself.
After seeing off the visitor, Fang Muyang walked behind Fei Ni, flipping through books while asking her: "What do you think of these books?"
Just as Fei Ni was about to speak, a page turned over to reveal a ten-yuan bill.
"Who's so careless? Putting money in books."
"I think there's more than one. Keep looking."
From one book alone, Fei Ni actually shook out over ten ten-yuan bills.
Fang Muyang laughed: "This must be what they mean by 'books contain houses of gold'."
From Fang Muyang's smile, Fei Ni vaguely guessed the money's origin. "Did you receive manuscript fees?"
Fang Muyang then took out that paper package and opened it for Fei Ni to see.
Two hundred ten-yuan bills stacked together - faced with so much money, Fei Ni could only think of one source. She asked Fang Muyang: "Did your father give you this?"
Fang Muyang still smiled at her: "This isn't my money - it's your money. The old man told me to return your money."
"Return to me?"
"Earlier, you spent money buying clothes for him and getting him things. He's repaying you.""How could it have cost that much? All my expenses combined haven't even reached two hundred yuan," Fei Ni thought for a moment and said, "We should still return this money to them."
Fang Muyang pinched Fei Ni's cheek, "You little miser, you weren't this generous when you made me hand over my salary."
Currently, two-thirds of Fang Muyang's monthly salary had to be handed over to Fei Ni for safekeeping. To prove he wasn't lying, he even had to provide his pay stub. As for his manuscript fees, he only needed to surrender half.
Fei Ni also laughed: "How could your money be the same as anyone else's?"
"The old man doesn't need this money right now. Even if you return it to him, he has nowhere to spend it. With so much cash in hand, he hasn't added a single piece of furniture. If we don't help him spend it, the money will just sit there." Fang Muyang took out a stack of bills and gave it to Fei Ni, "How about this - you keep this thousand, and I'll use the rest to buy him some things."
"That works." Fei Ni remembered what her brother had told her at noon, "My brother came to see me this afternoon. He asked if you could design a sofa and cabinet for him? Since we have readymade ones, I directly promised to give them to him tomorrow."
"No problem, but don't you already have a cabinet and small sofa? A larger sofa wouldn't fit anyway."
"I'm not sure either. I'll ask him about it tomorrow."
Fang Muyang had no intention of taking his time with selections. He took the old man's money to the secondhand store and bought rosewood desk and chairs along with a bookcase and five-drawer cabinet.
After several trips to the secondhand store, their home was filled with furniture. With the remaining money, Fang Muyang exchanged it at a premium for foreign exchange certificates and went to the Friendship Store to buy two electric fans. Summer had arrived, and neither his parents' home nor his own had fans. The fans, along with a carpet, thin wool blanket, and cooling mat, were all delivered to his parents' home.
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