When Fei Ni arrived at work that morning, she wore socks with her plastic sandals. After her shift, she wrapped those socks in old newspapers and tucked them under her bicycle seat. There was an old-fashioned, politically correct senior worker in their workshop who couldn’t stand seeing girls’ bare toes, always scolding them for being improper. At first, Fei Ni couldn’t understand why the woman was so agitated about it. Only after reading some “decadent literature” did she vaguely realize that the senior worker wasn’t as progressive as she claimed to be—in fact, she was quite feudalistic. Only people from the old society would view women’s feet as organs heavy with sexual implications, where not even a single toe could be exposed.

Though Fei Ni privately concluded that the senior worker was backward, she still conscientiously wore socks with her sandals. Today, she had left in a hurry and hadn’t bothered to wipe her feet, slipping directly into her sandals. Her feet felt slightly sticky against the sandals. She had trimmed her toenails yesterday; they were perfectly rounded, and her ankles were slim. Between her dress and sandals, a section of her calf was visible. The evening breeze glided across her calves, drying any remaining moisture and lifting the hem of her dress slightly.

As Fei Ni drew closer, she discovered that Fang Muyang had made quite a spectacle of himself right at their factory gate. He still wore a white shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, hands in his pockets, and tucked under his arm was a bouquet. Only the stems touched his body, taking up about a quarter of the bunch. The flowers were wrapped in newspaper, and she could see they were white. He wasn’t holding them out, just tucking them—while holding flowers outside the factory might look silly, at least it wouldn’t make people mistake you for a hooligan. Fang Muyang’s posture, however, had a somewhat rakish air about it.

Fei Ni wanted to pretend she didn’t know him, but Fang Muyang didn’t give her the chance. He brought the flowers close to her nose for her to smell.

They were white gladiolus.

“Where did you get these?” Fei Ni asked. The market hadn’t sold cut flowers for years.

“Bought them at the market. They’re for you.”

Fang Muyang hadn’t been staying at the hospital these past few days; he’d been riding the tram instead. With a newly purchased map in hand, he’d explored the entire city by tram, getting off to walk around whenever he found somewhere interesting. Today, while browsing the market to buy Fei Ni a gift, he happened to meet some villagers from the southern suburbs secretly selling flowers from their baskets. Remembering the artificial flowers in Fei Ni’s vase at home, he decided to buy her some real ones.

What era was this to be giving flowers? If people saw, she’d probably become another topic of gossip in the washroom. The bouquet was too eye-catching; Fei Ni snatched it and put it in her bicycle basket.

Fang Muyang’s shirt emanated a sunbaked soap smell, but Fei Ni noticed it wasn’t clean—there were still black stains on it. He hadn’t properly washed it, just soaked it in soapy water before hanging it to dry. With that washing method, it wouldn’t get clean even if he washed it eight times a day.

“How did you find this place?”

“Did you not want me to come?”

Pan Lili from Workshop Three saw Fei Ni and came over to greet her. She looked Fang Muyang up and down, noting the flowers in his hand, and asked Fei Ni with a smile, “Fei Ni, is this your new boyfriend?”

“No,” Fei Ni replied irritably.

Pan Lili was famous for her beauty in the factory, but since Fei Ni worked in a different workshop, they rarely interacted. She couldn’t understand why Pan Lili would talk about her behind her back.

Pan Lili didn’t leave. Instead, she smiled at Fei Ni and said, “Then let me introduce you to someone. I have a classmate at the Sewing Machine Factory…”

Pan Lili disliked Fei Ni because her husband—Clerk Yang from the Propaganda Department, who spoke perfect Mandarin—had asked Fei Ni to the movies several times before pursuing her, only to be rejected each time. She learned about this from others after her marriage. Always proud, she felt humiliated that her husband had made her feel like she was picking up what Fei Ni had discarded. Had she known before marriage, she would never have married him. Because of this, she paid extra attention to Fei Ni’s romantic affairs.

Fei Ni cut off Pan Lili’s words, “I’m already seeing someone, so you don’t need to make introductions.”

Pan Lili inwardly sneered—having a boyfriend but still fooling around with some pretty boy who appeared out of nowhere.

Still smiling, Pan Lili pressed on: “Who is it? Which factory? How come I’ve never heard about this?”

Fang Muyang answered for Fei Ni: “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Fei Ni thought that Fang Muyang must know about her relationship with Ye Feng. Despite knowing this, he still came to the factory gate with flowers. People who saw this would surely start more gossip.

After Pan Lili left, Fei Ni asked Fang Muyang, “What did you come to see me for?”

“Can’t I come see you without a reason?”

The flower fragrance wafted into Fei Ni’s nose as she silently pushed her bicycle forward.

“Don’t you love watching movies? Let’s go see an outdoor movie in the park this Sunday.”

“I’m busy.”

“Then save next week for me. I’m going back to the sent-down youth site in a few days, and I’d like to watch a movie with you before I leave.”

When Fei Ni heard the words “sent-down youth site,” her voice involuntarily rose: “Why are you going back there?”

“I saw a restaurant nearby. Let’s eat there, my treat.”

At the small restaurant, draft beer was the best seller, with people queuing to buy it. Fei Ni found a window seat and, before even sitting down, asked, “Who told you to go back?”

“Would you like some beer?”

“No. Did the Youth Office talk to you?”

“How about soda then?” Fang Muyang showed Fei Ni the menu on the wall, asking what she’d like to eat.

Fei Ni didn’t respond, so Fang Muyang ordered for her. When he got to the fourth dish, Fei Ni stopped him, saying it was enough.

“I chose to leave myself. I don’t want to stay in the hospital anymore—it’s too boring for a healthy person to stay there. You know Lin Ge, right? We were at the same youth site. He’s back visiting family, and I thought I’d return with him when his leave ends.”

“So many people make themselves sick with pneumonia or nephritis just to return to the city, and here you are, finally back but wanting to go to the countryside. In your condition, who’ll take care of you there? Do you think the villagers need you? At your sent-down site, they lack everything except labor. They don’t even have enough grain for themselves—how will they spare any for you? Do you think you’ll be able to come back once you return?” Fei Ni quickly regained her composure and lowered her voice, “You’ve spent years receiving education from the poor and lower-middle peasants in the countryside. It’s time you came back to help build the city.”

Fang Muyang smiled. “What, by staying in the hospital?” He served Fei Ni some clay pot tofu. “Eat up.”

“The Youth Office should arrange work for you. If they don’t, you should keep asking them—if once isn’t enough, try twice; if twice isn’t enough, try three times…”

“But besides you, I have nothing else to miss in this city.”

Fei Ni didn’t believe him. “Weren’t you drawing the little nurse at the hospital just the other day?”