“Don’t you like red dates?” This had nothing to do with red dates. Fei Ni took another sip of milk powder with both hands cupping the glass, then asked thoughtfully, “Which of your ex-girlfriends liked to eat red dates?”

Fei Ni asked this deliberately. If she directly asked Fang Muyang how many girlfriends he had before, he would surely deny having any. But by asking “Which of your ex-girlfriends liked red dates,” he would need to think about it. If he wasn’t quick enough to react, he might tell the truth. Perhaps he wouldn’t even need to speak – if he took too long to think about it, it would mean he had more than one girlfriend.

Fang Muyang immediately understood Fei Ni’s intention.

“If you want to call our relationship before marriage dating, then you’re the only girlfriend I’ve had in my life. If you don’t consider that dating, then I’ve never had a girlfriend in my life.”

“Then what about Ling Yi?” The words spilled out before she could stop herself, confirming her jealousy.

“Ling Yi could be considered my friend who happens to be female, but she has nothing to do with being a girlfriend.” If Fei Ni hadn’t brought it up, Fang Muyang had never considered Ling Yi an issue between himself and Fei Ni.

“Why did you give up your university spot to her?”

Fang Muyang smiled and said, “That’s because she couldn’t survive life in the countryside. My capabilities are naturally stronger than hers, which you should have experienced firsthand.”

Fei Ni was different today from usual – she had neither the energy nor the patience to beat around the bush. Her questions were direct, without needing to circle. “She probably wasn’t the only one who couldn’t handle it, so why specifically give it to her? If I had also been sent down to the countryside and said I couldn’t handle rural life, would you have given your spot to me too?”

“If it were you, I truly wouldn’t have been willing to give it up.”

Fei Ni gave a cold laugh. “How honest of you.” She had expected him to at least tell a comforting lie, but he had spoken so directly.

“If you were at the same youth station as me, I would have wanted to be with you every day. Not only would I be unwilling to leave myself, but I’d also be reluctant to let you go. If you wanted to go to university, I might have let you go, but only after being husband and wife a few times, so you’d always think of me afterward. And I’m not talking about the kind where we just get a marriage certificate…”

“Shameless!” Fei Ni’s face turned red with embarrassment, thankfully hidden behind the curtain where Fang Muyang couldn’t see.

Fang Muyang didn’t deny it: “You’re just now figuring this out?”

Fei Ni refused to speak to him, just holding her cup and drinking milk, occasionally stirring it with a spoon in the glass.

After a while, she took the initiative to say to Fang Muyang, “According to what you’re saying, if she wasn’t your girlfriend and you still gave her your university spot, she should be even more grateful. But when you got hurt, she didn’t even come to take care of you. Even so, you still consider her a friend?” What Ling Yi did was even worse than what she said – not only did she not come to care for him, she wouldn’t even look at him once. If she was so afraid of taking responsibility, why didn’t she think about avoiding involvement when she was accepting favors?

Fei Ni’s standards were different from others. She felt that if Fang Muyang had just been Ling Yi’s boyfriend without doing her any favors, and she hadn’t come to see him when he was hurt, it would only mean Ling Yi was emotionally distant, but that was her matter and none of others’ business – it wouldn’t be Fei Ni’s place to criticize. But Fang Muyang wasn’t even her boyfriend and had given her his university spot, yet she wouldn’t even look at him a few more times – that was ingratitude, worthy of criticism.

“I’m grateful to her for this. If she had come to take care of me, how could I have ended up with someone as good as you? Even not going to university, thinking about it now, was all so I could meet you.” Fang Muyang had no expectations of Ling Yi, so he had no disappointments either. If he had wanted anything from her back then, he wouldn’t have given her his spot – after all, no benefit could outweigh the advantage of going to university himself. They were friends before, and she hadn’t done anything to disappoint him, so there was no need to end the friendship.

“You’re just trying to humor me, pinning everything on me. Now it’s my fault you didn’t go to university?”

“It’s my fault – how do you want me to make it up to you?” Fang Muyang knew she was feeling unwell and fixating on things, so he didn’t take it seriously. But Fei Ni’s imagination is so rich that she could connect red dates to him having girlfriends was truly unexpected.

“You should eat quickly, or your food will get cold.”

After Fei Ni finished her milk powder, Fang Muyang went to take her cup. “What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you.”

Fei Ni laughed inside – they only had noodles at home, so all Fang Muyang could probably make was boiled noodles. She had no appetite and simply said, “I don’t want to eat, just save me some porridge.”

After a while, Fei Ni smelled the aroma of eggs, different from boiled eggs.

“I made you some steamed egg custard. Do you want to come down to eat or should I bring it to you?”

Fei Ni thought to herself, didn’t I just ask for some porridge? But she said aloud, “I’ll come down and eat with you.”

They didn’t have any cushions at home, and worried that Fei Ni might catch a cold, Fang Muyang moved their sewing machine, which doubled as their temporary dining table, to the bedside, letting Fei Ni sit on his bed to eat.

She took a spoonful and was surprised at how well Fang Muyang had steamed it – very tender. Those who don’t know how to steam eggs often make them too tough.

“How do you like my steamed egg custard?”

“It’s very good, better than mine.”

“There’s just one small imperfection.”

“What?”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have any vinegar at home. It would be perfect with a bit of vinegar. Don’t you love vinegar? I keep forgetting to buy some, I’ll buy some aged vinegar tomorrow.”

Fei Ni knew he was teasing her about being jealous, and protested, “Who loves vinegar?”

“I do. I wonder why I keep forgetting to buy it?”

Fei Ni brought a spoonful of egg custard to Fang Muyang’s mouth, “Even eating won’t shut you up.”

Not wanting to hear him talk, she fed him several spoonfuls of egg custard in quick succession.

It was only when she ate herself that she realized she should have used his spoon to feed him.

When Fei Ni stopped feeding him, he stopped eating.

Fei Ni said, “I can’t finish it, have some more.”

“I don’t like eating this plain. I prefer it with vinegar. Or maybe you could say some vinegary words for me to eat with it.”

“Eat it or don’t!” Though she said this, her hands still served more into his bowl. She also reminded him, “If your duvet cover is dry, put it on the quilt quickly, otherwise it’ll get dirty in a few days.”

Fang Muyang washed clothes quickly, just rubbing them with soap in water and rinsing twice before hanging them up. He didn’t know how to wash properly but did it frequently – clothes that should last three to five years could barely last a year with his washing method. Sheets and bedding couldn’t withstand his treatment either. Fei Ni was helpless with him; this person not only looked wasteful but was wasteful in everything.

After eating, Fang Muyang told Fei Ni, “Don’t go barefoot, put on the new socks I bought you before sleeping.”

Seeing the new shoes, socks, and coat Fang Muyang bought for her, Fei Ni asked worriedly, “You didn’t spend all the money, did you?”

“There’s still some left.”

He was good at shopping – everything cost quite a bit. She wanted to scold him for being extravagant but felt that since he had so little money to begin with and still spent it on her, making him unhappy about spending money would be a lose-lose situation. But he really couldn’t calculate – he was the one without winter clothes, not her, yet when he had money he didn’t think to buy things for himself first. If she praised his purchases today, Fang Muyang might take it as encouragement and spend money carelessly on her in the future.

She was conflicted but finally decided to follow her heart and tell him she liked everything he bought. As for advising him about careful spending, that could wait until tomorrow.

Wearing the wool socks Fang Muyang bought her and holding the hot water bottle he got her, she thought about how tomorrow, when she felt better, she needed to quickly finish knitting his thermal underwear. The weather was getting colder, and she still needed more yarn for his sweater – maybe she could unravel one of her scarves since she had two. He was so bad with money that persuading him probably wouldn’t help; she’d just have to make him hand over part of his money to her in the future.

The next evening, Fang Muyang made her steamed egg custard with their last egg.

He still hadn’t bought any vinegar.

Their monthly egg ratio was so small, and Fei Ni felt a bit guilty that she had eaten all of this month’s eggs. She spooned some into Fang Muyang’s bowl and was about to add a second spoonful when Fang Muyang stopped her with a smile, “I didn’t know you liked me this much, just for one egg…”

Fang Muyang thought Fei Ni would stop.

Surprisingly, Fei Ni didn’t deny it and gave him another spoonful, saying, “Half each – you paid for part of it too, didn’t you?”

Today Fei Ni felt much better, her mind was clearer, and she was more careful with her words, unlike yesterday when she was spilling vinegar everywhere.

After finishing her meal, she turned on the radio and sat on Fang Muyang’s bed listening to music while knitting what she hadn’t finished before. Fang Muyang was drawing designs on the sewing machine – they had agreed to make the low cabinet on Sunday.

As she listened, the radio suddenly went silent. Fei Ni’s heart skipped a beat. She tried another station, one that could be played openly, removed the earphones to play it out loud, found the radio was working fine, then put the earphones back on only to find no sound again. Without the earphones, she couldn’t listen anymore, so she had to turn off the radio and continue with her knitting.

Fang Muyang was more focused than usual when drawing, and when he finished his line drawing and turned around wanting to share the earphones with Fei Ni, he noticed she had put them aside.

“Why did you stop listening?”

“The earphones are broken.”

“Let me see.” Fang Muyang couldn’t fix the earphones either, so he said to Fei Ni, “You could turn the radio volume down low, the neighbors won’t hear it.”

“Better not risk it.”

Fang Muyang looked around and asked, “Do you have an extra quilt?”

“There’s one in the trunk.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Cotton quilts can muffle some sound.”

Fei Ni opened the trunk and took out her winter quilt, which was thicker than the current one.

Fang Muyang contributed his quilt as well, and with the help of some rope, they created a barrier around the lower part of the bed.

When it was done, Fang Muyang told her, “It’s not perfect, but if you keep the volume low now, the neighbors definitely won’t hear. I’ll look for compatible earphones tomorrow.”

“This feels like we’re doing something sneaky.” She could have waited until tomorrow to buy earphones, but since it was her first time listening two days ago, and because she listened so little, she felt something tugging at her heart when the usual time came, feeling empty without listening.

Fei Ni was still worried, “What if someone knocks and comes in later, what will they think when they see this?” Though the possibility wasn’t high, and even if someone knocked looking for her, they didn’t have to let them in, although that would be impolite.

“Isn’t the excuse ready-made? Just say the walls don’t block sound, and as a married couple, everything we do can be heard, so you were embarrassed about people hearing and set this up.”