"Absolutely not, how could you think that?"
Sister Liu couldn't quite determine whether Fei Ni was telling the truth. "On such a hot day, why are you wearing such a high-collared blouse?"
Fei Ni inwardly blamed Fang Muyang, but facing Sister Liu, she had to say, "You can't just keep newly made clothes hanging in the closet forever."
Sister Liu wasn't convinced by Fei Ni's explanation. "You used to always come to the bathhouse, why have you been washing at home recently?"
If anyone else had asked these questions, it would have been somewhat intrusive, and Fei Ni might not have answered. But Sister Liu's enthusiastic concern was often built on crossing boundaries. If you accepted the braised pork from Sister Liu's lunch box during meals, used the lard she gave you for making pancakes, or took the pork offal she procured for your wedding, you had to accept Sister Liu's well-meaning inquiries. Although Fei Ni hadn't accepted any of Sister Liu's treats, she couldn't easily refuse her questions either. This was because Sister Liu frequently offered to share her braised pork with her—even though Fei Ni declined—and later even tried to help Fang Muyang get a job at the meat processing plant.
Fei Ni never expected Sister Liu would misunderstand because of this, so she had to explain: "We're temporarily staying at my in-laws' place, where it's more convenient to bathe."
From this alone, Sister Liu knew Fei Ni's in-laws must have a quite nice home. Even Feng Lin, who had once been assigned to their workshop for training and constantly flaunted her superiority, still had to bathe at the factory.
Sister Liu said whatever came to mind: "What do Xiao Fang's parents do to get such a good house?"
After thinking for a moment, Fei Ni said that Xiao Fang's father was currently waiting for job assignment, while his mother worked as a teacher at a school.
"I have a relative who teaches middle school, and they've only been allocated one small room so far. Xiao Fang's mother must teach at a university, right?"
Fei Ni confirmed it was so.
"How wonderful, you can bathe at home every day then. Why haven't I heard you mention this before?"
"We're only temporarily staying at my in-laws' place. We'll be moving out in a few days."
"Why move out? Even if you stay long-term, no one can gossip about it. Rules are rules, but human relationships matter too."
Sister Liu knew that Fei Ni's older brother also worked at the hat factory and hadn't been allocated housing yet. The apartment Fei Ni had exchanged was likely being used by her brother. She guessed Fei Ni was worried people would criticize her for not living in the allocated apartment, hence the claim about temporarily staying with her in-laws—implying she would eventually move into her exchanged apartment. In reality, even if she never lived there, no one could take back the apartment already allocated to her, firstly because she had already exchanged it with someone from another unit, and secondly because her brother genuinely hadn't received housing allocation.
As someone in the know, Sister Liu naturally couldn't let rumors spread, so she shared about Fei Ni temporarily staying with her in-laws.
But some remained skeptical: "Yet I've heard many university teachers live in tube-style apartments too. There are two possibilities here: either Xiao Fei's in-laws aren't ordinary teachers and really have an apartment with daily hot water, or Xiao Fei is too embarrassed to tell the truth."
"According to your logic, Xiao Fei would have to go to the hospital for an injury examination report before you'd believe her."Sister Liu wasn't entirely convinced by Fei Ni's words—not that she doubted her in-laws had such a nice house, but because Fei Ni had been keeping herself tightly wrapped up these past few days. Sister Liu came up with an idea and said to Yuan Hongxiang from the factory union: "Hongxiang, isn't Mid-Autumn Festival coming up soon? Doesn't your union plan to visit employees' homes to show appreciation? Put Xiao Fei on the list. Let's visit her home and see how her family relations are. If Xiao Fei is really being mistreated, we can step in to seek justice for her. Over the years, Xiao Fei has been diligent and conscientious at the factory, never once late. Whenever someone needed help covering a shift, she never refused as long as circumstances allowed. Yet she's never been selected as an outstanding employee. If there were always more deserving candidates, we could understand, but shouldn't you at least visit to show appreciation? As Xiao Fei's direct supervisor, I'll go with you."
With things put this way, Yuan Hongxiang couldn't very well say otherwise.
Everyone thought this was a good approach—a home visit that would also allow them to quietly assess the situation.
On Saturday, Sister Liu informed Fei Ni about the planned visit to her home the next day.
Fei Ni's first reaction was: "You should visit someone else's home instead. I'm not qualified." Fei Ni had neither made special contributions to the hat factory nor faced particular hardships, so by rights, her name shouldn't be on the appreciation list.
Sister Liu said, "How are you not qualified? Everyone has seen how hardworking and dedicated you've been these past few years."
Fei Ni filled out her parents' address.
After looking at the address, Sister Liu asked, "Your in-laws live here?"
"Didn't I tell you before? I'm only temporarily staying with my in-laws."
"Your parents already know about your excellence, but your in-laws should learn about it too. Don't worry, I'll make it clear to the union that you're just staying temporarily with your in-laws. No one will gossip about your housing situation."
Fei Ni naturally couldn't stop Sister Liu from visiting her in-laws' home.
For Saturday dinner, Fang Muyang still didn't come home. Only Fei Ni and her in-laws were at the table.
Someone had given Old Fang's friend a Yunnan ham, and the friend had sliced it to share with others. Old Fang received a portion, which he then asked Auntie Yang to divide into two—one part for themselves and the other for Fei Ni's parents.
During the meal, Old Fang sighed, "Why has Muyang been working so much overtime lately?"
Fei Ni also felt that constant overtime wasn't good. She noticed that when Fang Muyang returned from overtime, he still had to cook noodles for a late-night snack, suggesting the overtime was quite exhausting. Since his manuscript wasn't finished yet, she couldn't ask her father-in-law when he might find a job comparable to the pictorial magazine, so she remained silent.
As the meal was winding down, Old Fang turned on the television set to watch the news. The Television Ticket had been obtained by Fang Muyang, while Old Fang had paid for the television set. Ever since they got the TV, Old Fang would sit in front of it punctually to watch the news.
Before the news broadcast began, Fei Ni told her in-laws about the union's planned visit.
Old Fang, as usual, expressed welcome, while Teacher Mu asked, "Do we need to prepare a meal?"
Fei Ni quickly replied, "No need, they'll only stay for a short while and then leave."Fang Muyang didn’t return home until ten o’clock. When Fei Ni saw him back, she gave a slight nod and went into the kitchen. She diced the leftover ham from dinner, shelled some peas, and started frying rice. Fang Muyang followed her into the kitchen. Outside the bedroom, he was quite restrained—he didn’t make physical contact with Fei Ni. Instead, he pulled up a chair in the dining area and watched her cook.
“How did I get so lucky today? And you even cooked for me personally?”
“Who said it’s for you?”
“Your tastes have been so light lately—how could you possibly eat this? I almost thought you were going vegetarian. Honestly, I’d like to see you indulge a little.”
A double entendre.
“Stop being silly. Why have you been so busy lately?”
“Take a guess.”
“I can’t be bothered.” Fei Ni scooped the fried rice into a bowl, placed it in front of Fang Muyang, and handed him a spoon. “Hurry up and eat.”
Fang Muyang scooped a spoonful of rice and brought it to Fei Ni’s lips. “Try your own cooking. I’ve never had fried rice this good.”
Fei Ni said, “The ham is quite nice.”
Seizing the moment while she spoke, Fang Muyang slipped the spoonful of rice into her mouth. “You’re being modest.”
“Annoying!” Fei Ni swatted his hand. “I just brushed my teeth.” But the fried rice she had made was indeed delicious, better than ever before.
“To make it up to you, I’ll help you brush your teeth again later.”
“Just eat quickly.” Fei Ni poured a glass of water for Fang Muyang, set it in front of him, and stood up to leave.
“In such a hurry to organize the old man’s manuscript again? Is his manuscript that captivating to you?”
“Didn’t you say Dad’s writing is quite interesting too?”
Fang Muyang laughed. “The more interesting it is, the more you should savor it slowly. Rushing through it will only ruin the enjoyment.”
Old Fang was about to step into the dining room to get water when he overheard his unfilial son and daughter-in-law’s conversation. He hadn’t expected his son, despite lacking academic refinement, to recognize the merits of his work. Before he could even feel moved, he heard his son expressing dissatisfaction with his wife for organizing the manuscript. He hadn’t realized that the appeal of his manuscript would cause tension between his son and daughter-in-law. As the author, perhaps he ought to intervene. But barging in would make it seem like he’d been eavesdropping, so he retreated to his study without entering, closing the door softly as if afraid anyone would know he’d been out.
The debate over the manuscript didn’t carry over into the bedroom.
To ensure Fei Ni could bathe in their future home, Fang Muyang had spent nearly all the money he had. He bought a secondhand small boiler and built a small bathtub for her. The studio remained completely unfinished. The landlord had allowed him to install a skylight, provided he restored the room to its original condition when he moved out. Fang Muyang planned to borrow some money from Fei Ni for the studio renovations. He had his reasons for this order of renovations: if he started with the studio, Fei Ni would say, “Can’t you just shower at the factory? There’s no need to spend money on a boiler.” But if he finished the boiler first and left the studio untouched, Fei Ni would give him the money, whether she wanted to or not. Fei Ni cared far less about comfort in daily life than she did about their careers—both his and her own.
Fang Muyang was also exhausted from the renovations, but unlike Fei Ni, who wanted to sleep when tired, he preferred to do something to relax.
By eleven o’clock, Fei Ni was still organizing the manuscript."Didn't we agree you'd go to bed before eleven tonight?"
Fei Ni understood Fang Muyang's underlying meaning. Instead of answering directly, she said, "Tomorrow, the labor union from our factory is coming to visit us at home."
"Let them come. Do you need me to stay home and wait with you?"
"Do you know why they're coming to visit us?"
"Because you're outstanding, of course."
"That's not the reason at all."
Fang Muyang laughed, "Then what is it?"
Fei Ni's lips parted and closed several times before she finally voiced her suspicion, "My colleagues at the factory suspect that you've been hitting me."
It wasn't just Sister Liu who suspected she had conflicts with Fang Muyang and got beaten - otherwise the labor union wouldn't make a special trip to visit her at home. She couldn't take off her clothes to prove her innocence, nor was she willing to do so, because there were indeed other marks on her body.
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