The air was permeated with the scent of Florida water, which scared away the mosquitoes, leaving them to prey on Fei Ni and Fang Muyang, who hadn’t applied any. Fei Ni waved her hand to chase away a mosquito, and as it flew away, her pinky accidentally knocked against Fang Muyang’s knee. The pain made her bite her teeth, and just as she was about to withdraw her hand, Fang Muyang caught her finger between his two fingers, asking if it hurt.

Fei Ni said it didn’t hurt, but Fang Muyang didn’t believe her. He held her finger and examined it from palm to nail. His hands weren’t as dry as they had been in winter, now covered with a thin layer of sweat that made Fei Ni’s hand slightly damp too. As if worried about hurting her, he gently massaged her finger, applying barely any pressure, making her finger feel both hot and ticklish. Just as she was about to protest, Fang Muyang slipped a bracelet onto her wrist.

It was a jade bracelet, emitting a soft glow in the night.

She asked in a low voice, “What are you doing?”

“Let’s watch the movie first.”

Fang Muyang kept his eyes fixed on the screen, occasionally using the bread wrapper to drive away mosquitoes from Fei Ni, appearing deeply interested in the film.

They only watched one movie before leaving the park. The night was hot, without a breath of wind.

Fei Ni reached to remove the bracelet, but Fang Muyang caught her hand.

She shook free from his grip, but he remained unfazed, merely smiling.

“By rights, I should have proposed to you with this bracelet, and you would wear it after accepting. But since you’ve already decided, asking for your permission now would seem redundant, so I took the liberty of putting it on directly.”

“Our marriage is different from others.”

“But your parents think it’s the same. The last time I visited your home, they weren’t very welcoming. This time, when we get married, if I don’t show any gesture, they’ll dislike me even more and worry about you more. For our future’s sake, you should wear this bracelet to show your parents that I’m not without sincerity. You can always take it off later.”

Fang Muyang’s reasoning made sense, and Fei Ni very unromantically asked, “How much did this bracelet cost you? I’ll pay you back.”

Though she felt the bracelet wasn’t particularly practical.

Fang Muyang smiled and said, “I wanted to buy you a watch, but I really couldn’t afford it, so I could only scrape together eighty cents to buy you this bracelet. If you hadn’t asked, I would have been too embarrassed to tell you the price. You won’t look down on it and refuse to wear it, will you?” He was probably the first person to try so hard to prove his engagement gift wasn’t expensive. In the past, this bracelet would have been worth ten taels of gold; now, ten such bracelets together couldn’t buy a steel watch. Sometimes a product’s price doesn’t reflect its value. But it wasn’t as cheap as Fang Muyang claimed.

His words made Fei Ni the embarrassed one as if she had deliberately asked about the price to humiliate him for buying something cheap.

Fei Ni could only rediscover the bracelet’s merits, praising Fang Muyang’s good eye for getting such a nice bracelet for so little money. She didn’t know much about jade, but her instincts told her this was a good piece.

“If you like it, just keep wearing it.”

“Have you seen any worker wearing something like this at work?”

“When I have money, I’ll buy you a watch that you can wear anywhere.”

“When you have money? Better save it up. After we move into our new home, there’ll be plenty of places to spend money.”

After putting on the bracelet, Fei Ni had initially felt uncomfortable everywhere, but now, focused on talking with Fang Muyang, she forgot about this discomfort, as if the bracelet had become part of her body.

“Don’t go to the cement factory. There are plenty of people who can do that work. You might as well allow someone else and go directly to the publishing house’s art training program. After completing the training, you might not even be unemployed – other units might need you. Wouldn’t you be good at technical drawing and design?”

“Alright, we’ll do as you say.”

Fang Muyang had originally planned to find work at a factory first, as the training program was temporary. Although it provided an allowance, the training could end at any time, and he would have to return to where he came from. Previously, when his household registration and food ration were in the countryside, he could return there after the program ended and receive educated youth subsidies to support himself. Now that his registration had been transferred back to the city, if the program ended, he would have to stay unemployed in the apartment Fei Ni was allocated. Although work would come eventually, he couldn’t afford to wait.

His trip to the countryside had changed his perspective. Wood was cheaper there than buying in the city, and after leaving the training program, he could support his family by bringing wood from the countryside to make furniture. He had visited furniture stores and trust stores and discovered that a new simple sofa at the furniture store cost much more than a set of sandalwood tables and chairs at the trust store. Before he could marvel at buyers’ lack of discernment, he had already calculated the cost of making a sofa. If he could find buyers for his sofas, the profit from one sofa would at least equal a month’s wages as a porter. He had taken apart a single-person sofa in his childhood and understood its construction. After making what Fei Ni wanted, he would have wood left over, and if not enough, he could always buy more. Everything else could be purchased with money.

Fang Muyang always said he would listen to Fei Ni, rarely contradicting her, as if all her decisions were right. Fei Ni found joy in this authority over household matters.

“Where will you stay after leaving the hospital?”

“Don’t worry, I have a way.”

Fang Muyang spoke casually as if there was no problem he couldn’t solve.

When Fei Ni returned home, she reported that she and Fang Muyang would register their marriage the next day.

Although Fei’s mother was angry with her daughter, she directed her complaints at outsiders: “This young Fang doesn’t understand proper etiquette. Even if weddings are simplified these days, he should at least come to pay his respects to us. What does this current situation mean – are we the ones pursuing him?”

“When he walked me home just now, he said he wanted to visit you both, but I told him not to disturb your rest and to come tomorrow instead.”

“Come after the registration is done tomorrow? That’ll be too late. You’re in such a hurry to marry him – aren’t you afraid he’ll look down on you? No matter the era, girls should maintain some dignity. The harder something is to obtain, the more it’s treasured. You should let him know you have plenty of options, and it’s his good fortune that you chose him.” Mother Fei sighed, “You’re usually such a smart person.”

“He’s not that kind of person.”

“You’re quite quick to vouch for him.”

“If I didn’t understand him, I wouldn’t marry him.” Fei Ni’s bracelet had been hidden in her sleeve, but now she deliberately showed it to her mother, even exaggerating its price, “He gave this to me when he proposed. Do you think it looks nice?”

“This Fang, I don’t mean to criticize, but how can he be so impractical? How is a bracelet as useful as a watch?”

This complaint was different from the previous one – the first was directed at an outsider, the second at family. Fei Ni thought that Fang Muyang’s bracelet had indeed served its purpose.

He was so shrewd that Fei Ni couldn’t help wondering if he had completely recovered his memory. But if he had, why would he pretend he hadn’t? Her head hurt from thinking about it, so she decided to stop. Nothing else mattered; what was important was that she and Fang Muyang had the same goal: marriage and housing allocation.

On the day Fei Ni went to register their marriage, she insisted on working in the morning. She gave out the chocolates Fang Muyang had given her as wedding candy to her workshop colleagues, specifically setting aside a handful for Wang Xiaoman. A few days ago, Wang Xiaoman had hinted that there was a vacancy in the publicity department, and if she could get a coupon for a 14-inch television, she could secure the position for her. Her brother was about to return to the city and needed exactly such a job.

At that time, chocolate was still a rare treat, not easily obtained, and few people used it as wedding candy. She didn’t just give Wang Xiaoman one piece, but a handful, and did so very casually – only someone who didn’t consider chocolate precious would act that way. When Wang Xiaoman learned that Fei Ni’s marriage partner wasn’t the one from the Radio Industrial Bureau, her first reaction was that Fei Ni had found someone better and dumped the original one. Although she despised Fei Ni’s character, she had to admire her tactics.

Fei Ni casually asked Wang Xiaoman whether she wanted an imported or domestic television, then compared television production technology from several countries – information she had gotten from Ye Feng, which unexpectedly came in handy now. When she had spent time with Ye Feng, their conversations were more like question-and-answer sessions than chats. In conversation, she was even more proactive than Ye Feng. While she asked questions like a semi-expert, she was completely unfamiliar with systematic knowledge, objectively giving Ye Feng space to showcase his knowledge. He interpreted the curiosity in her eyes as admiration for him, misunderstanding her as being very understanding. In the end, it proved to be just a misunderstanding.

Wang Xiaoman only wanted a television; she didn’t want to know all this dry theory. Due to her ignorance, she believed Fei Ni was very knowledgeable. After showing off, Fei Ni casually told Wang Xiaoman that imported ones might be more trouble, but if she wanted one, she could try to work something out.

Eager to watch television, Wang Xiaoman said a domestic one would do. But from Fei Ni’s words, she guessed that Fei Ni had strong connections and could get foreign goods. She saw Fei Ni as a sustainable resource – if she could easily get chocolate and foreign televisions, she must have ways to help her get other things.

In less than ten minutes, Fei Ni and Wang Xiaoman had reached an agreement – her brother’s job was essentially secured. Fei Ni didn’t have any channels to get television coupons, but she figured that on the black market, as long as you were willing to pay, you could get them. Her parents would be willing to pay – once her brother had the job, he could earn it back in a few months.

Fei Ni herself was surprised at how she could lie and pretend to be important without blushing. She knew the process was undignified, but because of her pure motives and her brother’s capability to handle the publicity department job, she forgave herself for the lack of dignity. If it were just an exchange for a television coupon, Wang Xiaoman might not have resolved her brother’s employment, but believing there would be many future benefits made her willing to help. After all, many people wanted this job.

However, she needed to tell Fang Muyang not to come pick her up anymore. If his current situation was accidentally exposed, her brother’s job might fall through.

When the time came, Fang Muyang would surely ask why, and how could she explain. That she was pretending to have a well-connected husband and to avoid being exposed, Fang Muyang shouldn’t show his face?

She felt too embarrassed to say such things.

As soon as Fei Ni finished her shift at noon, she waited at the entrance for Fang Muyang. Seeing him approach from afar, she quickly walked toward him. People who knew her would recognize that the bicycle Fang Muyang was riding was hers, and it wouldn’t be good if people found out. Fang Muyang’s real situation didn’t need to be hidden for long – just until her brother returned and officially started working. By then, with a formal position secured, even if Wang Xiaoman discovered her lie, she would have to accept it.

Fang Muyang had never seen Fei Ni so proactive – she jumped onto the bicycle’s back seat and tugged at his shirt, urging him to hurry.

Fei Ni took the initiative to treat Fang Muyang to a restaurant meal, but he said she could pay next time – on a day like this, he must pay.

Early in the morning, after dropping Fei Ni at the factory, Fang Muyang used the sugar ration ticket he received when applying for the marriage introduction letter to buy candy at the grocery store, which he distributed to nurses, doctors, and patients he knew at the hospital. To thank everyone for their care, he also gave them the sweet potatoes his fellow villagers had given him. When people ate the wedding candy and asked who his bride was, Fang Muyang discovered that Fei Ni’s photo he had kept in his bag was missing, guessing she must have taken it. In the end, he didn’t tell people what Fei Ni looked like, even though he had her portrait he had drawn hidden under his bed sheet.

He had previously drawn many nurses, and before leaving the hospital, he returned these portraits to their models as mementos. When giving out the drawings, he called each person by name. He had drawn many pictures, but the vast majority weren’t in his possession. He seemed to naturally lack the potential to be a great artist, letting his works scatter, completely unconcerned.

Carrying his empty bag, he went to the post office and sent out three letters to his parents, brother, and sister, saying he was married and doing well, attaching simple sketches of himself and Fei Ni that he had drawn in just a few strokes. Leaving the post office, he went to Director Fu’s home, offering him wedding candy. Although Director Fu was surprised, upon learning that his marriage partner was the one who had cared for him at the hospital, he asked why he hadn’t brought his fiancée along. Fang Muyang smiled and said he and Fei Ni would treat Uncle and Aunt to dinner that week.

Then Director Fu expressed concern about Fang Muyang’s housing situation after marriage. Considering that Fang Muyang had no house and would be attending the art society’s training program, he decided to let Fang Muyang and Fei Ni stay at the art society’s guesthouse for a few undisturbed days of newlywed life after their registration.

“Don’t make the young lady suffer too much.”

Fang Muyang didn’t want to make Fei Ni suffer either, so he readily agreed.

It was lunchtime, and the restaurant was crowded, with several establishments completely full. They could only eat standing up.

Fang Muyang’s hands served as a table, his left hand holding the tomato beef balls, his right hand holding the pea-stewed soft tofu, letting Fei Ni eat first.

Feeling self-conscious under Fang Muyang’s gaze, Fei Ni said, “Why don’t you eat first?”

“I won’t look at you, okay? Hurry up, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Fei Ni also wondered how Fang Muyang’s hands could be so steady. To reduce the time he had to hold the plates, she ate quickly, finishing a bowl of rice swiftly. Then it was her turn to hold plates for Fang Muyang, though she wasn’t sure she could hold them as steadily as he had.

Fang Muyang didn’t give her the chance to test herself. He combined the dishes from both plates, put rice on top, and held the plate with his left hand, and chopsticks with his right, eating skillfully.

He ate unhurriedly.

Fei Ni’s hands had nothing to do but watch.