Fei Ni woke up in the morning and looked in the mirror, her eyes fixed on the red mark on her neck. Fortunately, by buttoning the top button of her shirt, she could barely cover it.
She thought, "I must buy mosquito repellent incense today."
In summer, tomatoes were cheap, so they bought some. Fang Muyang cooked tomato noodles and was generous with the tomatoes. After finishing the noodles, Fei Ni asked Fang Muyang to take her to her parents' house on his bicycle.
The housing exchange involved her parents' property, so she had to discuss it with them.
Because the in-laws were coming over, the Fei family had started cleaning early in the morning. When Fei Ni arrived, the family had just begun their meal. Fei Ma, having retired, had few opportunities to increase income and could only cut expenses. All her wisdom was devoted to making the family eat well with the least amount of money. She never bought groceries from the grocery store, only from the market, and her timing was deliberate—she specifically went when prices dropped but the produce wasn't yet spoiled. Of course, she sometimes went to the morning market for fresh vegetables. Nothing Fei Ma bought went to waste; she would stir-fry celery stems and save the leaves to make a salad.
Today's breakfast continued Fei Ma's usual wisdom. After eating the flesh of yesterday's watermelon, she peeled the remaining rind, washed it, added seasoning, and turned it into a cold watermelon rind salad on the table. Because Lin Mei had been craving sour flavors lately, extra vinegar was added to the watermelon rind. Since becoming pregnant, Lin Mei hadn't experienced morning sickness or loss of appetite like most people; instead, her appetite had grown better than ever. She ate a bowl of porridge with a large steamed bun, dipping the bun into fermented tofu. Like her mother-in-law, she had a knack for life. Every time she bought fermented tofu, she asked for extra sauce, and the seller would give her even more than she requested. Often, after the fermented tofu was finished, the sauce could last another day. Lin Mei worked at a pastry shop, and the person who sold fermented tofu would buy pastries from her. Lin Mei would give her some pastry crumbs, which weren't weighed—this was their rapport. She had similar relationships with people from the grocery store, meat processing plant, and fabric store, exchanging pastry crumbs for favors. Thanks to these connections, Lin Mei not only got fermented tofu with extra sauce and unbroken eggs but also managed to get free offal for her wedding banquet. Since Lin Mei became pregnant, Fei Ma had decided that the monthly egg ration would prioritize Lin Mei, ensuring she could eat one egg every day. Today, Lin Mei boiled five eggs at once—one for everyone else, but two for herself.
After eating one and a half, she couldn't finish anymore and planned to eat the rest later.
Fei Ting took the egg from her hand and said, "Don't eat it now. I'll save my egg for you to eat tonight."
Lin Mei tried to grab her egg back, saying, "No, you eat yours. I want to finish this one."
Fei Ting ignored her and directly ate the half-eaten egg.
Fei Ma gave her unpeeled egg to her daughter-in-law and couldn't help lecturing her son, "What's wrong with Mei Mei eating two eggs? Eat, Mom still has one here. If you like eggs, I'll give you one per meal from now on. Once the ration on the grocery book is used up, I'll go to the countryside to buy free-range eggs for you."
"Am I worried about her eating eggs? Look at her—can she even eat any more?"
Lin Mei indicated that she really couldn't eat anymore at the moment."I've been eating quite a full breakfast lately, but I still get hungry before mealtime. Normally it wouldn't matter, but today we're being treated by Xiao Fang's in-laws, right? I thought if I ate more in the morning, I could control myself at lunch and just move my chopsticks casually. That way we'd appear as people who've seen and eaten well. Then they wouldn't look down on our family."
Fei Ting teased her: "There's no shame even if we haven't seen or eaten much. It's fine to eat more at lunch. The Fang family's situation is better than ours now, but as long as we don't take advantage of them, we're not inferior to anyone."
Old Fei said: "The eldest speaks correctly. I quite agree."
By the time Fei Ni arrived, the meal was already winding down.
Lin Mei greeted them: "Have you eaten breakfast? If not, have some here. We still have steamed buns at home - I'll go fry some bun slices for you."
"Sister-in-law, don't trouble yourself. We've already eaten. I came early because I have something to discuss with everyone."
Fei Ni went straight to the point about the housing exchange. She began with the same words from the notice: a nearby family's son was getting married and wanted to exchange their two-bedroom apartment with a private bathroom for two separate Private Rooms. Fei Ni's current apartment plus this one just meets the requirements.
"That apartment is near us, so it would be convenient for brother and sister-in-law to commute to work. If you move there and want to chat with old neighbors, it's just a ten-minute walk. I won't live in the apartment, but the agreement will still be under your name and mine. My brother can continue waiting in line for the factory's housing allocation."
Old Fei immediately thought of a problem: "Where will you live?"
"We'll rent a place outside."
Fei Ting immediately said: "Don't do this for our sake..."
"I've actually considered exchanging housing before." As for why she wanted to exchange now, Fei Ni said Fang Muyang couldn't paint peacefully in their current apartment. They wanted to rent two rooms outside, one specifically as a studio. But they were afraid that if they moved out, their allocated apartment might be taken back by the factory. This housing exchange would just allow them to keep the apartment. It was truly killing two birds with one stone - both preserving her apartment and allowing her parents, brother, and sister-in-law to live more spaciously.
Lin Mei was the first to disagree.
The exchange would indeed benefit her - she could have an independent bedroom and bathroom. Of course, there were also hidden risks, such as if Fei Ni and Xiao Fang moved in to crowd the new two-bedroom apartment. That would be worse than maintaining the status quo for her and Fei Ting. But Lin Mei trusted Fei Ni's character, so this risk could be considered zero.
However, she couldn't let Fei Ni rent a simple house just because the exchange benefited her. If Fei Ni were to live with her in-laws, she would agree to the exchange. While Fei Ting's concerns were valid, Lin Mei still believed the advantages of Fei Ni living with her in-laws outweighed the disadvantages. If not for worrying that Fei Ni might misunderstand her as wanting to take advantage of her apartment, she would definitely encourage Fei Ni to live with her in-laws. Lin Mei felt her sister-in-law was quite likable - if her in-laws were reasonable people, they wouldn't make things difficult for her. Even if conflicts arose, so what? With six workdays a week, the time they'd actually interact would be negligible. Just endure it and it would pass. They could still avoid each other on Sundays and use the saved rent money to go shopping and buy things - how delightful that would be! Why throw money away?
To Lin Mei, renting was like throwing money away.Lin Mei had always been against renting private housing, which she considered a poor investment. In her view, spending money on eggs, ribbonfish, a television set, or even pastries from her shop was all worthwhile. But renting when one already had a home was simply not worth it.
Besides, what kind of decent house could one rent outside? The only private houses available for rent now were small, single-story homes. In her opinion, single-story houses could never compare to multi-story buildings. Lin Mei was a staunch supporter of multi-story buildings and harbored an intense aversion to single-story houses. She had lived in a small, single-story house as a child, where the roof leaked every time it rained heavily in the summer, often requiring repairs from the housing bureau. In the winter, there was no centralized heating, so they had to rely on a small stove, which posed a high risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. The toilet was outside the courtyard gate, whereas even a shared bathroom in a multi-story building was far more convenient than in a single-story house. Later, during her time in the countryside, she had lived in single-story houses again. In her memory, anything associated with single-story houses was far from pleasant. If it were up to her, she wouldn’t even consider living in a small, single-story house for free, let alone pay to rent one.
She had shared this opinion with Fei Ting yesterday and repeated it again today.
"Sister-in-law, single-story houses aren’t as bad as you make them out to be," Fang Muyang wanted to say. A single-story house could have an indoor bathroom, and heating in the winter could be provided by a small boiler. But with Fei Ni beside him, he couldn’t mention his plan to renovate a rental house, as it would far exceed Fei Ni’s budget. If she found out in advance, she would certainly object.
Lin Mei said to Fei Ni, "You’ve never lived in a single-story house. Trust me, you’ll regret it if you do."
Fang Muyang had grown up in a single-story house and never found it inconvenient. But at the moment, he couldn’t say much and could only sip the tea his father-in-law had brewed.
Fei Ni, who had indeed never lived in a single-story house, couldn’t find a way to refute Lin Mei’s arguments.
Lin Mei believed that Fei Ni’s best option was to exchange houses and live with her in-laws. The second-best option was to maintain the status quo, and the worst option was to rent a small, single-story house outside.
Since Fei Ni was unwilling to live with her in-laws, the best choice was to keep things as they were.
Lin Mei vaguely sensed that Fei Ni’s sudden proposal to exchange houses was for her sake, to prove that she wasn’t a malicious sister-in-law, which made her oppose it even more vehemently. She even came up with a new solution for Fang Muyang’s painting: "Xiao Fang, you have a regular job and sometimes draw sequential pictures. You can’t spend every day painting those complicated, space-consuming works. If you want to paint those kinds of demanding pieces, go to your parents’ house. I’m sure they’d be happy to have you. After all these years apart, they must miss you terribly."
Fei Ma, who had never been keen on her daughter renting a house outside, chimed in with her daughter-in-law’s opinion: "I think Meimei makes a good point. You should think more carefully about the housing situation."
Fei Ni had thought this would be a win-win situation, but to her surprise, no one in the family supported it. Even her sister-in-law, who urgently needed housing, was strongly opposed.
She glanced at Fang Muyang, who was quietly drinking his tea.
Fei Ting called Fei Ni outside and whispered to her, "My earlier idea of renting a house was just a momentary impulse. Your sister-in-law criticized me yesterday and said she actually likes it here. What she said earlier isn’t entirely unreasonable. Think more about the housing situation and don’t rush into a decision. Consider your own needs—don’t sacrifice yourself for our sake.""I'm not forcing myself to endure anything. Brother, you should stop making furniture for others too. Keeping it from Sister Mei all the time isn't right."
Fei Ni occasionally slipped and called her sister-in-law "Sister Mei"—she'd called her that for many years before Lin Mei married Fei Ting.
"I'll stop after finishing these two commissions. I already promised them beforehand—it wouldn't be right to back out now. Don't worry too much about the apartment swap, take your time to think it over. We can always arrange it later." After these two jobs, the money earned would be just enough to buy a nine-inch television.
"But finding such a suitable place isn't easy. Two bedrooms, a private bathroom, and in the neighborhood. Who knows when another opportunity like this will come along."
"If you really want to rent a place, get a decent one. I'll cover half the rent."
"Why would you pay for my rental?"
"Aren't I living in your apartment?"
"Even if you weren't, it would just sit empty."
"That's not how it works."
By the time Fei Ni's sister and brother-in-law arrived, she still hadn't reached an agreement with her family about the apartment swap.
Old Fang rode in the car his unfilial son had rented to meet the in-laws, though ultimately he knew he'd be the one footing the bill. Another car would be coming later.
He agreed that using a hired car to pick up the in-laws for dinner added formality to the occasion, but his son spent money far too freely. He remarked to his wife, "I wonder who he takes after."
His wife replied, "Yes, I wonder who."
Old Fang thought his son did share some traits with him, but their family backgrounds were worlds apart. He himself was a proletarian who owned no means of production—even if his salary was slightly higher than others', he remained a glorious member of the working class. Fang Muyang had a proletarian father and had been sent down to the countryside to be re-educated by the poor and lower-middle peasants—how could he possibly share the same love for luxury as his father in younger days?
His own past extravagance had been a product of historical circumstances, and he had long since corrected this flaw.
Old Fang had originally planned to give his wayward son six thousand yuan as compensation. While his eldest son and second daughter had suffered some collateral damage because of him, he had at least fulfilled his parental duties toward them. Only with his youngest son had he failed in this responsibility.
But he suspected that if he gave the six thousand to his son, the money would be gone within six months. His daughter-in-law was quite indulgent toward the boy, and even if she were put in charge of the funds, he'd likely sweet-talk her into handing it over.
So he temporarily abandoned the idea of giving cash.
When preparing gifts for the meeting, Old Fang asked his son for suggestions. The unfilial son advised against presenting them with poetry. This both angered and surprised Old Fang, as he had indeed written a poem for the occasion, though he hadn't planned to actually give it. His son added that they shouldn't spend too much and make the in-laws uncomfortable—his wife's parents were respectable people who didn't like taking advantage of others. In the end, Old Fang brought a basket of watermelons, a basket of Hami melons (specially transported through contacts in the logistics team), and a small basket of lychees (a gift from which they'd only kept a portion) for the in-laws.
Considering himself still in his prime, Old Fang carried one basket of watermelons himself and asked the driver to bring the Hami melons as they walked toward the building. Just then, Fang Muyang came downstairs. He took the items from his father's hands. "Let me."
"I can manage."
Fang Muyang paid no attention to whether his father could manage, simply taking the things and walking ahead.The Warsaw sedan parked downstairs immediately drew quite a bit of attention. Old Fang didn’t wish to stand out, but he couldn’t very well walk to visit his in-laws and then invite them to walk with him to a restaurant for a meal.
The neighbors had no idea the car was rented by Old Fang, who was currently unemployed and staying at home. They assumed he was a high-ranking official with a dedicated vehicle. One particularly bold young man from the building strode right up to Old Fang, stopping him to request help with the employment difficulties faced by Educated Youth returning to the city. Old Fang, also unemployed and at home, understood the feeling of being unneeded. He said he would relay their concerns to the higher-ups, but clarified that he wasn’t an official—he could only report the issue, not solve it. He explained he was there to visit his in-laws.
The onlookers didn’t believe he wasn’t an official; the car was proof. How could an ordinary person have a car?
It wasn’t until they saw him carrying fruit to the Fei family’s door that they finally believed he really was there to see his in-laws.
So, Xiao Fang—the one who had helped them build the earthquake shelter—had a father with a dedicated car.
For the neighbors in the building, once the surprise wore off, it seemed to make sense. A pretty girl’s fate was often harder to predict than most.
Amid the crowd’s misunderstanding, Old Fang entered the Fei family’s home. The place had been renovated once for Fei Ting’s wedding, so anything too old had been replaced. Though cramped, it didn’t look shabby, and the limited space was filled with many potted plants. Fei Ma knew how to show her daughter in a good light. Though she often bought less-than-fresh vegetables at the market, she didn’t cut corners for the in-laws’ visit. Two metal buckets were filled with cool water—one held a chilled watermelon, the other held waxberries and orange soda. Fei Ni opened a bottle of waxberry soda for the driver. “The house is small, so we can’t invite you in to sit.”
With the Fang parents’ arrival, the already narrow home became even more crowded. It was the heat of summer, so Old Fei turned on the electric fan his son-in-law had bought.
Fang Muyang introduced both sides.
The two families exchanged gifts, each insisting the other had spent too much. Fei Ma had prepared two lengths of palace cloth and a box of pastries—she’d gone to a lot of trouble to buy the fabric.
Lin Mei, quick to notice what needed doing, took the watermelon from the bucket, deftly cut it, and brought it over. Others brought out the soda. Chilled in the cool water, it was just as refreshing as if it had come from an icebox. On the table were also candies Lin Mei had bought from the store—the most expensive kind, as her mother-in-law had requested.
Fei Ni’s family was clearly eager to help her save face.
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