“I meant you’ve already said enough, no need to say more.”
Seeing her daughter’s face burning from ears to chin, Mother Fei was convinced she had been too embarrassed to listen further. She coughed once and continued, “I don’t want to discuss this either, but you two children don’t understand anything. If I don’t explain, who knows what mistakes you might make.”
In Mother Fei’s mind, Fang Muyang was a naive young man, and Fei Ni would need to teach him certain things. She told her not to be shy about teaching him – once would be enough, as men usually caught on quickly in these matters.
Before leaving, the supposedly naive Fang Muyang, seeing how reluctant Fei Ni was to leave home, put his arm around her shoulders in front of her parents and said, “Let’s go, so Mom and Dad can rest early. They’ve been busy all day.”
Fei Ni wanted to break free but had to play along for her parents’ sake. She hadn’t wanted to leave home, but after Fang Muyang’s words, staying would have made her seem inconsiderate. His hand remained on her shoulder; with no electric fan in the room, her shoulder grew hot under his touch.
She found it strange how naturally he called her parents Mom and Dad. If Fang Muyang’s parents were present, she absolutely couldn’t have managed to address them so casually.
Just as Fei Ni was about to lose her temper outside, Fang Muyang’s hand was already in his pocket, as if his earlier gesture had been purely for her parents’ benefit. He smiled at her, “Why is your face so red?”
“It’s the heat.” Her mother’s words made her uncomfortable around Fang Muyang now.
Fang Muyang reached to feel her forehead, “Are you running a fever?”
“No.”
“Tell me if you’re not feeling well, I’ll take you to the hospital.”
“Didn’t I tell you? I’m just hot.”
“I’ll cycle faster then. There’s an electric fan at the guesthouse.”
Sitting on the back of her bicycle, Fei Ni tilted her head back to count the stars, “How did you get the introduction letter for the guesthouse?”
“Since I’m joining the publishing house’s training program, while they don’t provide accommodation, staying at the guesthouse for a few days isn’t a problem.”
“Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“I don’t find it surprising at all. Anything involving me, you need to discuss with me in advance.”
Fang Muyang didn’t argue, just explained slightly, “You married me, and I have no new house for you, but I can’t let you stay at home on the first night – what would your parents think of me? They already feel I’m not good enough for you. If you come to stay at the guesthouse with me, they’ll be more at ease.”
Fei Ni asked again, “Why didn’t you tell me about buying the wood?”
“I wanted to discuss it with you, but we were far apart, weren’t we? Besides, since you’re providing the house, naturally I should provide the furniture. Factory furniture is too expensive, so I thought I’d make it myself.”
Although marrying Fang Muyang had many inconveniences, just the fact that he acknowledged the house as hers convinced Fei Ni that marrying him was the right choice.
She started considering things for him: “That must cost quite a bit. Didn’t I say before, we should take it step by step, buy some used pieces from the trust store first? You’ve spent all your money, what if we need it later…”
“I’ll have an allowance from the training program later, don’t worry too much.”
“I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but let’s forget this. I know someone who needs wood for furniture – I can help you resell it. How much did you spend on the wood and shipping? Tell me so I have an idea.”
“If there’s extra wood, we can give it to them.”
He clearly wouldn’t sell it.
Fei Ni didn’t believe Fang Muyang could make furniture, thinking it was just a kind lie, “Don’t think furniture making is so simple. You should focus on your art – that’s better than anything else.”
Fang Muyang had wanted to say he had made furniture during his time in the countryside but instead said, “When I went to the countryside to pack up, my friend who was sent there with me mentioned that I used to make furniture. I thought I could buy a carpentry book from the bookstore and learn. Trust me, I won’t disappoint you.”
Fei Ni wouldn’t be disappointed in Fang Muyang – she had never had unreasonable expectations of him.
“Still haven’t remembered anything from before?”
“Do you want me to remember?”
“You’re fine as you are now.” The benefits of his remembering were truly limited. Just considering how he had freely drawn young nurses in the hospital before, the organization would never fully trust him or give him important responsibilities again. His current peaceful state was benefiting from his memory loss. Even if he recovered his memory, the work arranged for him wouldn’t be much better than now. As for her, his memory recovery wouldn’t get her into university. Thinking it through, she preferred Fang Muyang without his memories recovered, because she didn’t know much about the previous Fang Muyang. Fei Ni couldn’t imagine what kind of person would both make furniture in the countryside and give up his university spot to Ling Yi, and she didn’t want to know.
Fang Muyang had already visited the guesthouse once in the morning, and now, to ensure Fei Ni could legally stay with him, he presented their marriage certificates.
Entering the room, Fang Muyang turned on the light, switched on the fan on the cabinet, and moved a chair for Fei Ni to sit in front of it. It was a double room with a nightstand between two beds. On the nightstand sat a begonia – he had given away all other flowers, keeping only this one. Fei Ni noticed it was blooming even better than in his drawing.
“You’re not staying here long, why bring a flower?”
He said in a self-praising tone: “I wanted you to see how well I’ve taken care of it, isn’t it nice?”
“Very nice.”
There was a mirror beside the fan, and Fei Ni saw in it that her face was still red. Alone in the room with Fang Muyang, she remembered her mother’s words, and the flush wouldn’t fade. Fang Muyang came over then, hands on the back of her chair, leaning down to examine her face, his warm breath in her ear, “Why is your face still so red? This fan isn’t helping much.”
Fei Ni pulled her chair away, saying somewhat impatiently, “It’s so hot – can you stay away from me?”
The room had a bathroom with shower facilities. Fang Muyang suggested to Fei Ni, “Why don’t you take a shower? The toothbrush, soap, towel, and shampoo inside are all new, and haven’t been used.”
Seeing Fei Ni showing no intention to move, Fang Muyang added, “Oh right, I have a gift for you. I think you’ll like it.”
The gift was so unique that when it came out of the bag, Fei Ni thought Fang Muyang was joking. Though it wasn’t funny at all.
It was a thin, long rod with engravings on it, probably made of iron, not very long. Fang Muyang took Fei Ni’s hand and placed it in her palm. The rod had significant weight and was much cooler than her hand.
“What are you giving me this for?”
Fang Muyang finally saw bewilderment on Fei Ni’s face. He smiled and said, “It’s for self-defense tonight. I know you don’t trust me.”
Fei Ni naturally denied it: “I don’t, you’ve misunderstood.”
“No need to explain, it’s normal that you don’t trust me. Know how to use this?”
Fang Muyang leaned close to Fei Ni’s mouth as if to kiss her. Fei Ni turned her face away, her ear brushing past his lips. She was very hot, feeling somewhat angry and embarrassed. Before she could scold him, Fang Muyang grabbed her waist and held her hand tightly. Her previously dry hand instantly became sticky. Fang Muyang’s mouth was at her ear saying, “If anyone tries to take advantage of you, hit them on the back of the head with this.”
Fei Ni’s fist, forced to grip the rod, followed Fang Muyang’s hand to his back, stopping about three or four centimeters from his head. She couldn’t help but curse, “Are you crazy?”
Only then did Fang Muyang release her: “Got it? If I’m not gentle with you, hit me with this. I won’t fight back.”