HomeLove Story in the 1970sThe Pragmatist’s Love - Chapter 52

The Pragmatist’s Love – Chapter 52

When Fei Ni woke up in the middle of the night, the light was still on. She found herself lying in Fang Muyang’s bed, wrapped in his blanket. Instinctively, she touched the corner of her mouth; her lower lip was slightly sore, a pain that felt like it had been nibbled. Her fingers slid to the first button of her shirt—it was still fastened.

As her fingers brushed her collar, she couldn’t help but notice the ring on her finger—an emerald ring surrounded by diamonds that made her fingers appear even more delicate.

There was no one beside her, only an empty pillow. During the day, they had kept their pillows together in case visitors came.

Looking around, she saw Fang Muyang sitting with his back to her, apparently drawing something.

Fei Ni had many questions: why was she lying in Fang Muyang’s bed, why was there a ring on her finger? She only remembered him picking crab meat for her, and that she had had two extra cups of wine.

Before asking any questions, she pulled back the blanket and sat up, looking for her shoes. She had a vague idea of what had happened—she must have gotten drunk, and he couldn’t get her up to her bed, so he had no choice but to let her take over his.

She felt somewhat embarrassed that because of her drunkenness, Fang Muyang still hadn’t gone to sleep. If he had gone to sleep in her bed upstairs, she wouldn’t have minded. Fei Ni realized she had misjudged Fang Muyang; he wasn’t as dangerous as she had imagined. Even when she was drunk, not only had he not taken advantage of her or shared the bed with her, he hadn’t even gone to sleep in the empty bed upstairs without her permission. Instead, he was still up late drawing. A flood of emotions washed over her. Just yesterday in the bathroom, she had been wondering whether to refuse his further advances. Now she blushed at her overthinking—what had she been imagining? However, since the effects of the alcohol had worn off, this slight blush was less intense than before.

Fang Muyang heard the sound of shuffling shoes and knew Fei Ni was awake. He turned to see that the redness had faded from her face, though her hair was still messy from when he had ruffled it—something he was sure she had forgotten and didn’t plan to admit to. He smiled and said to her, “It’s not even four o’clock yet, go back to sleep for a while.”

Fei Ni looked him up and down; he was wearing only a shirt. It was too little for such cold weather. She walked to his side and saw he was copying pictures from an art book. “Stop drawing and get some rest.”

The ring on her finger demanded attention. “Where did this ring come from?”

“It’s been in the box for ten years. You never noticed it?”

After discovering the box only contained records and art books, not the books she had wanted to read, she hadn’t looked through it carefully again, just waiting to return it to its owner.

Fang Muyang reached out to touch the ring on Fei Ni’s finger, slowly sliding it off.

Just as Fei Ni didn’t understand why Fang Muyang had put the ring on her while she was drunk, now she didn’t understand why he was taking it off.

When his fingertips brushed against her fingers, Fei Ni felt a coolness.

Before Fei Ni woke up, Fang Muyang had just taken a cold shower, making his entire body much cooler than hers.

Holding Fei Ni’s hand, Fang Muyang spoke: “This ring was left to me by my grandmother, saying I would need it when I got married.”

Back then, he had only a vague concept of marriage, thinking he might never use it—marriage seemed so restrictive, like how his father was controlled by his mother. He had no desire to marry at all; being controlled by parents and teachers as a child was bad enough. But it was an inevitable part of life, he couldn’t help it. He had thought that when he grew up and could make his own decisions, he would never voluntarily subject himself to such torture.

Yet here he was, married, and willingly at that.

He asked Fei Ni, “Do you regret marrying me?”

Fei Ni instinctively shook her head. She couldn’t find any reason to regret it; not only had she gained a house, but she had also gained some freedom through marriage. At her parents’ home, she had been free to make her own decisions, but this was a completely different kind of freedom.

Moreover, Fang Muyang had gained some benefits from this marriage as well.

She liked this mutually beneficial marriage.

“So you’re willing to be married to me?”

Fei Ni felt his “willing” wasn’t the same as her “willing,” but she couldn’t deny it.

He continued, “When I first received it, I never thought I’d have the chance to put it on your finger myself.”

The ring returned to Fei Ni’s finger.

“This time we’re truly married, aren’t we?”

Fei Ni understood what Fang Muyang meant. She couldn’t find a reason to deny it; the only possible reason might be that it was too fast, that she hadn’t had time to adjust. But this reason wasn’t strong enough for her to say “no.”

Instead of answering directly, she looked down at her watch. “It’s already four o’clock, you should go to sleep quickly. Tomorrow… today you still have work.”

“But I can’t sleep,” Fang Muyang said, his hand moving to stroke her disheveled hair. When his hand passed by Fei Ni’s ear, she felt that coolness again.

She couldn’t help but ask, “Why are your hands so cold?”

“Would you help warm them up for me?”

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