When she was about to leave, Fei Ni remembered she hadn’t taught Fang Muyang how to wash clothes. She watched him wash, showing him how to clean without wasting soap. He had no patience for it, wringing the clothes a few times before declaring them clean. Fei Ni objected, saying that wasn’t the proper way to wash clothes. She picked up the garment to demonstrate and then made Fang Muyang follow her example.

“I can’t do it. Why don’t you wash them for me?”

“Dream on! I don’t owe you anything.” She hadn’t even washed her own parents’ clothes before, yet these past days she had taken better care of him than her own family. She had looked after him for over half a year and spent all her savings on him, and all she got in return was a chance to marry him.

She had tried so hard to make progress, but it backfired. Perhaps doing half a good deed was worse than doing none at all. She had nursed him back to consciousness only to leave, and people would just label her as a failed opportunist. But how could she marry him? A man who couldn’t even wash his clothes…

The thought brought tears to Fei Ni’s eyes, dropping into the washbasin and mixing with the laundry water. She grabbed the clothes and scrubbed them hard with soap, as if soap cost nothing, thinking to herself: you wanted me to wash for you? Fine, I’ll wash them. You refuse to learn, we’ll see who you rely on in the future.

Fang Muyang wiped her tears with the back of his hand. “Don’t cry. I’ll wash them, okay?”

Under Fei Ni’s supervision, Fang Muyang finished washing the clothes and went to hang them up to dry. It was already dark when he asked Fei Ni what time she would come tomorrow. Fei Ni said she would be busy for a while and wouldn’t be coming anymore.

He asked where she lived, saying if she wouldn’t come, he could visit her instead.

Fei Ni told him not to look for her, saying she would visit when she had time. She took a dictionary from her bag, placed it in Fang Muyang’s hands, and said she would come back to see him once he had memorized the entire dictionary.

Fang Muyang had forgotten all the characters he had previously learned, now only recognizing his and Fei Ni’s names, plus the characters on money and food ration coupons.

When Fei Ni left, Fang Muyang insisted on walking her to the hospital ward entrance. At the corner, Fei Ni looked back to find him still standing there, tall and imposing.

She definitely wouldn’t come tomorrow. Why should she? His parents and siblings couldn’t be bothered with him, his former girlfriend wouldn’t even look at him. She had no relation to him, yet she had cared for him for over half a year, gained nothing from it, and still had to go back to making hats at the hat factory. She had done more than enough for him.

Yet she felt heartache for him for the same reasons—his parents and siblings couldn’t be bothered with him, and his former girlfriend wouldn’t even look at him.

Despite her sympathy, she resolved not to visit him again.

The next day, Fei Ni found herself cycling to the hospital early in the morning, only remembering her resolution not to return when she was almost there.

Fei Ni’s mother worried about her daughter’s frequent hospital visits and fearing she might marry the mentally unstable Fang Muyang, constantly reminded her that heroes were meant to be admired, not lived with. In his current state, she would have to take care of him, adding that a man should know how to cherish someone.

Tired of hearing this, Fei Ni would respond that she could take care of herself and didn’t need a man to cherish her.

When Fei Ni’s brother, Fei Ting, came home on leave, she took him to the park, watched movies, drank Arctic Ocean soda, ate cream rolls that cost twice as much as regular biscuits, and bought canned lychees she would never normally purchase. The city hadn’t changed much, but Fei Ting needed time to adjust each time he returned.

As soon as he got home, Fei Ting busied himself with various tasks—leveling the uneven floor with cement, repainting the white wall near the window, and fixing furniture. He was never idle. When Fei Ni offered to wash his clothes, he quickly took them back, saying they were too dirty and she shouldn’t wash them—how could he let his sister wash his clothes?

Fei Ni invited Fei Ting’s girlfriend over for dinner, buying pork ribs and fish. His girlfriend, Lin Mei, had been a sent-down youth with him but returned to the city early that year and now worked as a saleswoman at a pastry shop.

Fei Ting said he had no girlfriend, and that he and Lin Mei had broken up.

“How did that happen? She just sent you sesame cookies yesterday.”

“Why didn’t you tell me they were from her?”

“I’m telling you now, aren’t I? What’s going on between you two? You haven’t fallen for someone else, have you? Brother, you can’t do that, Mei-jie has been so good to you.”

“What goes on in that head of yours?” Fei Ting sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out all his money to give to Fei Ni. “What’s eaten is eaten. Give her this money, and don’t ask for more.”

Unable to reason with her brother, Fei Ni decided to personally invite Lin Mei to dinner. Lin Mei was upset, saying she had never mentioned breaking up, she just wanted Fei Ting to find a way to return to the city sooner. In two years, she would be thirty, and they couldn’t keep waiting like this. She then complained that if it weren’t for Fei Ting, she wouldn’t be cramped in one small room with her parents—she could have married someone with an apartment by now. Her family’s layout was similar to Fei’s: two small rooms, with her sister’s family occupying the inner room, forcing her to share the outer room with her parents. When Fei Ting heard this, he told her to go ahead and marry someone with an apartment, as he wouldn’t have one even if he returned to the city.

“Is that any way to talk? I’m not insisting he comes back, I just want some commitment from him. He won’t even say anything nice to me.”

Fei Ni couldn’t bring herself to criticize her brother in front of Lin Mei. His words were harsh but true. Not only could he not return to the city now, but even if he did, the street committee couldn’t arrange work for him, and even with a job, he wouldn’t be allocated housing. He could only squeeze in with his family. He couldn’t possibly expect her to share a room with his parents just to get married.

“My brother is ungrateful, I apologize to him. He regrets it now. Come with me, I’ve cooked pork ribs. You still care about him, otherwise why send him sesame cookies?”

“I just felt sorry for him! I won’t come to your house for dinner. Why am I trying so hard? If your brother doesn’t apologize to me, I’m going on a blind date tomorrow. We’ll see who regrets it! He doesn’t even have a mud house in the countryside. Those village girls might flirt with him, but when it comes to marriage, none of them will have him. I asked him to find a way back to the city for his good. He only thinks about his family, who in this family thinks about him…” Lin Mei caught herself, remembering she was speaking to Fei Ting’s sister, and swallowed the rest of her words.

Fei Ni could no longer force a smile. “If I had been the one sent down to the countryside, he would have a job by now, and you’d have a house to get married in.”

Lin Mei quickly defended herself: “That’s not what I meant. Don’t think that way. He’s a man, and older than you, it’s only right that he left the opportunity for you.”

Fei Ni steeled herself and continued: “Mei-jie, my brother will return to the city this year, and there will be housing for marriage. What he said was just out of anger, don’t take it personally. If he can’t return this year, I won’t stop you from going on any blind dates you want.”

“He hasn’t been able to return all these years, how could he return this year?”

“He definitely can. My father was hospitalized for over a month last year due to heart problems, and the doctor said he couldn’t do heavy work. The hospital can provide certification. Once I’m married and move out, the family will need him to return to care for our parents. Given his situation, he should be able to return to the city on hardship grounds, and then there will be housing.”

“Who are you marrying?”

Fei Ni hadn’t decided who to marry, but she was going to get married. Fang Muyang immediately came to mind—marrying him would ensure her brother could return. While she cared for Fang Muyang, the Youth Office would certainly arrange for her brother’s hardship return to the city. Marriage to Fang Muyang would also mean the hat factory would allocate them housing, allowing her to move out. But Fang Muyang only stayed in her thoughts for a few seconds before being dismissed.

Fei Ni’s expression made Lin Mei uneasy and having vented most of her anger, she urged Fei Ni not to do anything foolish.

“Even without my brother’s situation, I would still get married.” In those days, both men and women only qualified for housing allocation after marriage. Housing allocation was tied to rank and years of service—even if her brother could return to the city to work and marry, it wouldn’t be his turn for housing yet. She was more likely to get new housing through marriage, so the family’s room should be left for him.

Fei Ni asked Lin Mei not to tell her brother about her marriage plans, saying she wanted to surprise him.

After Fei Ting left, Fei Ni asked her mother: “Weren’t you going to introduce me to someone? Do you have anyone in mind now?”

Mrs. Fei didn’t understand why her daughter was suddenly in such a hurry, but being eager was better than not being eager. She asked her daughter what requirements she had.

Fei Ni didn’t hesitate, immediately listing four criteria: university graduate; working in a government office; not over thirty-two; decent looking. Fei Ni knew that men who met the first two criteria usually had their housing problems solved by their work units after marriage.

Only then did Fei Ni start paying attention to her appearance. She hadn’t made clothes for herself in years, and her savings had all been spent on Fang Muyang, leaving her without money for new clothes. She remembered her mother had some old plaid cotton fabric, which she used to make a skirt that fell ten centimeters below her knees. She scrubbed her white canvas shoes repeatedly until they were as white as baking soda. She borrowed an iron to press the skirt and shirt and tucked the white shirt into the skirt, but it showed her figure too much, so she wore it untucked to make her waist look less slim.

For the first time, she drew her eyebrows, applied lipstick, and went to the photo studio wearing her pressed clothes to take pictures—one full-body shot and one half-body shot. These would be the photos her potential matches would see.

Men meeting her criteria weren’t many, but she was young, had a good figure, was pretty, and had a proper job—many strengths and no weaknesses. Soon, she found a young man who exceeded her standards.

Ye Feng was five years older than Fei Ni and had already become a department chief at a young age. Both his parents worked at the hospital, which would be helpful if anyone in the family had minor ailments.

He wasn’t just decent-looking—he far exceeded Fei Ni’s requirements.

By any standard, he was an excellent young man.

Many people tried to set him up, but he hadn’t met any of them. When Fei Ni’s photos reached his hands, he looked at them twice.

Their first meeting was arranged in the park. Before he could see Fei Ni’s face, he noticed the two bottles of soda in her hands. She offered him one.

To thank her for the soda, he treated her to butter bread at the pastry shop.

After leaving the shop, Ye Feng walked Fei Ni home, and out of courtesy, she naturally invited him in for water. Mrs. Fei was exceptionally warm toward Ye Feng, insisting he stay for dinner. Though dinner was originally meant to be vegetables with thin porridge, she secretly gave Old Fei money and food coupons to buy cooked beef and ham from the store.

After seeing Ye Feng off, Fei Ni told her mother not to be so enthusiastic—it was only their first meeting, and such behavior made them look like they were trying to climb the social ladder.

“I thought you liked him.”

“Well, there’s nothing really to dislike about him.”

Fei Ni didn’t dislike Ye Feng and agreed to watch a movie together next time.

The movie was scheduled for daytime, as Fei Ni wouldn’t meet men in the evening.

It was a disaster relief film from Romania, with several intimate scenes. She had watched it once with Fang Muyang.

During the intimate scenes, Ye Feng’s hands remained properly placed, unlike the ungentlemanly Fang Muyang.

After the movie, Ye Feng invited Fei Ni to eat at a restaurant. Fei Ni said it was her father’s birthday, so she had to return home to eat. Hearing this, Ye Feng voluntarily offered to visit her home to celebrate Old Fei’s birthday. Unable to think of a good reason to refuse, Fei Ni agreed.

When Fei Ni climbed the stairs, her mother was cooking in the corridor.

This time, Mrs. Fei wasn’t as enthusiastic toward Ye Feng as before, instead constantly giving meaningful looks to Fei Ni.

But no matter how many looks her mother gave, Fei Ni couldn’t guess that Fang Muyang had come to her home and was sitting inside waiting for her, even bringing her a gift.

Fang Muyang had been memorizing the dictionary in the hospital every day when a former middle school classmate came to visit him. Through this mutual classmate, he learned Fei Ni’s home address. He had the person write down the address, then took public transport and asked for directions along the way until he finally found the Fei family home.

He completely missed the subtle hints from Fei Ni’s parents asking him to leave, insisting on waiting for Fei Ni at home.