Once the Fei family realized that Fei Ni’s decision was final, they began preparing the customary wedding items.

Fei Ni, as the bride-to-be, protested that it wasn’t necessary—they had nowhere to put anything anyway.

Mother Fei insisted on buying brocade fabric from the department store for quilt covers, maintaining that both daughters’ dowries should be equal.

When Fei Ni’s second sister married, her dowry included two new cotton quilts with embroidered satin covers—one with eight jin of cotton, and another with six jin, both freshly carded and fluffy. There were also two sets each of pillows, pillowcases, and pillowcovers. Fei Ni had even helped her sister make curtains and bed sheets from rejected fabric from her sister’s factory. Now for Fei Ni’s wedding, she advocated simplicity. She could continue using her old bedding even after moving, but Fang Muyang would need new bedding after leaving the hospital. Making decisions on his behalf, Fei Ni prioritized functionality over appearance. She asked her sister if she could get some imperfect fabric cheaply to make bed sheets for Fang Muyang.

Mother Fei was the first to object: “You only get married once in your life, how can you be so casual about it?”

Fei Ni thought to herself that she might not marry just once, and even if she did, the appearance of bedding hardly mattered.

She deflected the issue onto Fang Muyang: “Someone like him prefers rougher things. He thinks brocade is too feminine—he likes coarse clothes. As for me, I prefer my old quilts.”

“He contributes nothing yet acts picky.”

Fei Ni defended him: “If I don’t marry him, we won’t get the apartment. Mom, let’s just have a family meal on our wedding day, we don’t need to prepare anything else.”

Mother Fei became agitated at once. “Nothing else? Whether you want it or not, I must prepare things. Our daughter is no worse than anyone else—how can the wedding be so shabby? What will people say?”

Fei Ni knew her mother had been holding back her feelings since learning of the marriage to Fang Muyang, believing her daughter was settling for less, and now she finally couldn’t contain herself anymore.

She poured her mother tea and said with a smile: “We don’t have the apartment yet—there’s nowhere to put things. When it’s time to move and buy things, I’ll need to borrow money from you. Won’t you be able to spend it then? Besides, my brother might return and marry this year too. That’ll be another significant expense, even if we’re frugal.”

Mother Fei slapped her thigh. “You’re not rushing to marry just for your brother’s sake, are you?”

“It has nothing to do with my brother.”

Mother Fei didn’t believe her and continued lamenting: “I wondered why you were in such a hurry! But no matter how urgent it is, we still need to choose carefully—this is a lifetime matter.”

“I have chosen, and I think Fang Muyang is quite good.”

Fei Ni’s second sister had gotten her some fine fabric to make a wedding dress.

Though they were being economical, the Fei family believed a wedding feast was necessary—either in the cafeteria or by hiring a chef from a restaurant.

Fei Ni thought giving out wedding candy would suffice, saying a feast would trouble everyone.

While Fang Muyang wasn’t the ideal son-in-law in her parents’ minds, they could accept their daughter marrying him but couldn’t accept a wedding without a feast.

“We need to fix up the house too,” Mother Fei complained. “The wedding’s so rushed we haven’t even had time to paint the walls.”

Old Fei said: “Let Young Fang paint them. He’ll need to stay here before getting the new place anyway. He should contribute something to our household.”

Fei Ni quickly said: “He won’t be moving in.”

“He has no place to live—is he going to stay in the hospital after marriage?”

“He has other options.” If worst came to worst, he could stay in the factory dormitory until they got their new place. Their home was too small—how could he move in?

“What options? If he had any, why would he still be in the hospital? Ni, we’re not just saying this—you can’t marry out of spite. If you want to change your mind about marrying Young Fang, we support that, but if you insist on marrying him, we should treat him well. We have some savings and can help you both a bit now. We must have a wedding feast, and after marriage, we can’t let him drift about. We can’t marry him but look down on him—that won’t do you any good either way. You’ll be the one who suffers in the end.”

Fei Ni had always been the good child—since childhood, her parents had rarely even offered opinions, let alone criticism. Now with her marriage, they suddenly found countless things to correct.

But no matter what, she couldn’t share a bed with Fang Muyang. Her room was just half a room, only big enough for one bed and two stacked boxes that served as storage, a bedside table, a dressing table, and a desk. The remaining space was so narrow there wasn’t even room for a sleeping mat. The bed wasn’t small—previously, she and her mother and sister had shared it. When her brother went to the countryside, her mother moved to the outer room with her father, leaving her and her sister on this bed. Now she had it to herself. When her brother came home to visit, he set up a camp bed in the outer room. This bed was not something she could share with Fang Muyang.

But she could only tell this to Fang Muyang and let him convince her parents.

When Fang Muyang returned, he was wearing the old clothes he had meant to throw away two years ago but hadn’t gotten around to. This time, he returned not only without money but the milk powder and malted milk were gone, along with the change of clothes Fei Ni had packed for him. Even the clothes and shoes he’d worn there had been sold. More than that, he had sold all his usable bedding, clothes, and miscellaneous items from his sent-down youth years to the commune’s secondhand store, using the money to buy lumber. Where he had been sent down had vast forests, making lumber much cheaper than elsewhere. This lumber was perfect for making furniture. After completing the paperwork and arranging shipping for the lumber, he was completely broke. Before returning, he had distributed Fei Ni’s snacks and candy to the local sent-down youth and villagers.

Learning of his upcoming marriage, the sent-down youth collectively bought him a pair of thick red candles. He brought these candles and the sweet potatoes given by the villagers on his roundabout journey home.

He could only get a standing ticket for the train. The summer carriage resembled a swill bucket emanating various odors, which first invaded Fang Muyang’s nose and then seemed to permeate his entire being.

He arrived at eight in the morning and, without eating, went straight to the Youth Office. Only when he showed his familiar smile did the older sister recognize him, concernedly asking if he’d been robbed, looking like a refugee. Fang Muyang just smiled without speaking. He was grateful for his smell—others, unable to tolerate it, processed his paperwork with exceptional efficiency. After getting his introduction letter, seeing it was still far from Fei Ni’s finishing time, he returned to the hospital to retrieve the short wool coat Fei Ni had bought him. Now penniless, he had to sell it or go hungry. Though unworn, it wouldn’t fetch its original price, but being desperate for money, he couldn’t be picky.

Without cloth coupons to buy clothes, he bought used shirts and trousers from the trust store, then took his newly purchased old clothes to the public bathhouse. When he emerged, he was a different man from who had entered.

Fang Muyang returned to the trust store, asking the clerk to show him the furniture. In those years, carved beds, velvet sofas, and various rosewood and nanmu tables and chairs had been sold cheaply to trust stores, going for less than a tenth of their original price.

None of this furniture suited his future small home, nor could it serve as a reference.

He looked at the instruments, finding a violin similar to his old one. He asked to try it, playing half a piece. He asked the clerk if they could hold it for him, and they agreed, saying nobody was buying such things nowadays. As they chatted, the clerk mentioned a girl in her early twenties who often came to play piano, but after being recognized, never returned.

Similarly unsellable were many old records. Fang Muyang discovered that the trust store naturally possessed many “Four Olds” items that could be critically enjoyed. With the store empty, Fang Muyang found a Bach record and played it—he hadn’t listened to it for ten years. He thought of his many records left with Fei Ni, wondering if she had time to listen to them now.

Leaving the secondhand store, Fang Muyang finally bought a watch and a bracelet, both very cheap. The watch was broken and likely irreparable, and the jade bracelet was inexpensive because nobody dared wear such things these days.

Fei Ni again saw Fang Muyang at the hat factory gate. She had been hoping for his return these past days to complete the marriage procedures—if they didn’t marry soon, they’d miss their chance at housing allocation. At first sight of Fang Muyang, she couldn’t help smiling, though she quickly suppressed it when she realized.

“Did you get the introduction letter?”

“Yes, we can officially marry tomorrow.”

Fei Ni was delighted and offered to treat Fang Muyang to a restaurant meal.

“Let’s watch a movie instead, like we planned last time.”

“Alright.”

Fei Ni naturally handed her bicycle to Fang Muyang and got in the back seat. At the grocery store, she had him stop so she could buy two loaves of bread.

At the park, they arrived just as the three movies were starting. Since Fei Ni hadn’t planned on watching a movie, she hadn’t brought a newspaper to sit on. Fang Muyang found a brick, cleaned it off for her to sit on, and sat beside her. They quietly ate their bread.

Fei Ni broke her bread in half and gave it to Fang Muyang, saying, “I can’t eat this much.”

Fang Muyang took it naturally, without even saying thanks.