Enjoying the electric fan his rebellious son had brought, Old Fang temporarily lost his position to criticize him.
He only privately decided to give money directly to Fei Ni in the future, never letting it pass through Fang Muyang’s hands again.
The elderly couple took the initiative to suggest meeting their in-laws. Previously, while staying at the guest house without prepared meeting gifts, it hadn’t been convenient to meet. Now with the new house settled and meeting gifts prepared, it was time for the meeting. Old Fang asked Fang Muyang to discuss with Fei Ni a suitable day.
Fang Muyang carried the electric fan home for Fei Ni to enjoy. He also brought back a bottle of old yogurt.
Fei Ni said, “Why did you buy more? We still haven’t returned several ceramic bottles.”
“Just forget about returning them, we’re not short of those few cents.”
The two sat close together in front of the fan, arms touching. Fei Ni drank yogurt in front of the fan, occasionally offering the straw to Fang Muyang for a sip. Sometimes before she could offer, his mouth would move closer, and Fei Ni would push him away, saying, “Don’t crowd me, I’m hot.”
Fang Muyang moved closer again, “You won’t be hot with the fan on.”
“Can you buy another fan? To give to my parents.”
“Sure.”
Fei Ni then brought up her brother’s situation: “My brother isn’t making furniture for himself, but to earn money. Their place is too cramped, and he wants to move out and rent a place. His monthly salary is limited, and he just finished paying off his wedding debts. He doesn’t have extra money for rent, so he’s thinking of making furniture to save up for rent. I told him we have some money now that he could use anytime, but he refused, saying it’s one thing to help in an emergency, but another to help with poverty.”
Fei Ni’s tone carried worry. She knew how tiring it was to make furniture after work. Back when Fang Muyang attended training classes during the day and made furniture at night, she had disapproved, though fortunately that was for their own home and finished within a month. But her brother seemed to have plans beyond just making a few pieces…
The Fei family’s house was described as two rooms, but it was one room divided. When the whole family lived there before, they only hung a curtain in the inner room, but when Fei Ting got married, the curtain was replaced with a door. But the house was only so big, and the partition couldn’t be too thick—just a thin layer that was far less soundproof than the walls in Fei Ni’s house. Fei Ting could have managed to continue living there, but his parents were too considerate—they would go for walks at fixed times, spending nearly whole days out on Sundays to give their son and daughter-in-law privacy. If his parents hadn’t been so considerate, Fei Ting might have been able to continue living there, but as things were, he couldn’t stay anymore.
However, Fang Muyang didn’t see this as a problem: “Let your brother have this house. He works at your cap factory but hasn’t been allocated housing, so it’s perfectly reasonable for him to move in here, and no one can say anything. We can rent a place, a small courtyard where you can play whatever music you want, say whatever you want to me, without worrying about disturbing others. I’ll even get you a small boiler so you can have hot baths every day in winter.”
Fang Muyang had long wanted to move out. This place had poor soundproofing, and Fei Ni was too shy, always having to restrain herself. Though married, he could only enjoy married life one day a week. Plus, he needed a studio—in this room that served as a bedroom, dining room, and living room all in one, he sometimes found it difficult to work, not daring to use turpentine or paint oils.
Fei Ni took another sip of yogurt, “You make it sound so nice, but I’m afraid my monthly salary wouldn’t even cover the rent for such a courtyard house.”
“Didn’t the old man just return you some money?”
“That won’t last with your spending habits, and you even want your small boiler—you know how to dream.” Fang Muyang’s ideas were indeed appealing, and if Fei Ni had the money, she would have been willing to do it. But her monthly salary was limited, and this house was her biggest asset, one she had obtained with great difficulty. If her brother moved out of their parent’s home to rent a place, Fei Ni would be willing to help with the monthly rent until he could be allocated a house. But she couldn’t give up this house.
“I know what you’re worried about. When I have money, I’ll buy you a small courtyard. With your name on the deed.”
“How much would a small courtyard cost?”
“I asked around—some go for less than ten thousand.”
Fei Ni couldn’t help laughing: “You make it sound so easy. With my current salary, it would take over twenty years without eating or drinking to earn ten thousand yuan. Even if we combined our money and didn’t eat or drink, we’d be lucky to save that much in ten years.”
“I still have my manuscript fees, which are much more than before. Until we can afford to buy, we can at least afford to rent.” Fang Muyang smiled, “Even if we really can’t afford the rent anymore, we can move back here. Outsiders who move in would never move out, but your brother isn’t that kind of person. At least we can help him save some rent money before we move back.”
Fang Muyang wasn’t planning to have his brother-in-law move in and then out again—he said this just to reassure Fei Ni, wanting to tell her they had a backup plan even in the worst case. Though he didn’t consider it a backup plan, he was confident that even if he couldn’t afford to buy a house, he could at least afford the monthly rent.
“I completely trust my brother’s character. But if he moves in, how could we ask him to move out? Besides, the house isn’t in my name—if my brother moves in, I wouldn’t have the right to ask him to leave.” She only had usage rights to this house; as a factory worker, once she moved in, no one could force her out as long as she didn’t move out voluntarily, but once she moved out, coming back would be difficult. Her brother was different from others—even if he moved in, he would give up the house if she needed it, but how could she ask?
“Then you should push me to earn more money, so we won’t need to come back to this house in the future.”
Fei Ni just smiled. Although she wanted to help her brother, she didn’t consider it a feasible plan. Even now that Fang Muyang’s income far exceeded hers, the house remained as important to her as ever.
Fang Muyang didn’t rush to pressure Fei Ni, instead bringing up the matter of their parent’s meeting.
“Let’s do it this Sunday. I’ll go to my parents’ house after work tomorrow and tell them.” Fei Ni’s parents knew Fang’s parents had returned and were already prepared for the meeting.
It was very hot, so Fei Ni laid a bamboo mat on the floor instead of sleeping on the bed, and Fang Muyang wanted to sleep on the mat with her.
By now, Beethoven had been completely rehabilitated—they no longer needed to hang blankets to listen to his music and could openly listen with the windows open. The music drifted out through the windows.
Fei Ni lay on her side on the mat reading, thinking about the house situation. Her summer nightgown was a loose, sleeveless white dress. Fang Muyang insisted on using her back as a drawing board, placing paper on her back with a thin book underneath as support while he drew with a pencil. Fei Ni kept her back straight, vaguely guessing what he was drawing from the sensations on her back.
Fang Muyang said the fan noise would disturb his drawing, so Fei Ni had turned it off before he started. The room had only a slight breeze from outside. Though Fang Muyang complained about the fan’s noise, he didn’t mind the cicadas at all.
Fei Ni had just washed her whole body and temporarily forgotten about the heat, but with Fang Muyang so close on such a hot day, a thin layer of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose.
“Can’t you draw at the table?”
“I can’t find inspiration at the table, can’t draw there. Just hold on a bit longer. Read to me what the book says?”
“It’s not good to do two things at once.”
It wasn’t just two things—the record player was also playing music.
Nevertheless, Fei Ni started reading—staying silent at this moment might lead to something else.
Fei Ni persevered for a while longer and then some more, until Fang Muyang finally finished drawing.
She showed no curiosity about his drawing.
With the window open, mosquitoes flew in.
Fei Ni slipped on her slippers to close the window and look for mosquito incense.
But they were out of mosquito incense.
Fang Muyang said, “I’ll help you apply some Florida Water.”
He poured the Florida Water into his palm and applied it to Fei Ni bit by bit, his fingers trailing down from her neck.
Fei Ni couldn’t stand his fingers, “Let me do it myself.”
“I’ll help you, or you could help me?”
Fei Ni wouldn’t help him, “Never mind about me, just apply it to yourself.”
“I won’t apply any—this way the mosquitoes will all come for me, and you’ll be safer.”
After a while, Fei Ni said again, “Can you hurry up?”
“I’m afraid if I hurry, I might miss some spots.”
“Don’t be like this.” Fei Ni turned to her side, not looking at him, biting her lip as she said, “It’s only Friday.”
“Does applying Florida Water also have to wait until Saturday?”
They had done other things on Fridays too, several times.
“I want to hear what sound you make when you cry out.”
Fei Ni had washed for nothing before bed, now covered in another layer of sweat with hair sticking to her forehead, feeling both hot and embarrassed. “You can cry out yourself.”
“What do you want to hear me cry? I’ll do it for you.”
Fei Ni ignored him—she had no other way to deal with someone so thick-skinned.
“Shameless.”
Fang Muyang showed her through actions that the shameless part was yet to come.
In the morning, Fei Ni found her body covered in bamboo mat marks, line after line. She didn’t know how many times Fang Muyang had rolled her around on the mat last night. The marks wouldn’t fade quickly, and Fang Muyang’s fingers touched them apologetically as he said, “Tonight I’ll put a thin blanket on the mat, then this won’t happen.”
“It won’t happen tonight.”
Fang Muyang just smiled.
After work on Saturday, Fei Ni bought pine nuts, tripe, char siu, and a bottle of orange soda to take to her parent’s house, telling them about tomorrow’s meeting between both sets of parents. She also brought three hundred yuan—if they were just renting two small rooms, this money would be enough for a year’s rent with plenty left over. As for after the year, Fei Ni believed there would be other solutions.
Old Fei was cooking in the corridor, and as soon as he saw Fei Ni, he called into the room, “Quickly cut the watermelon from the water bucket, daughter’s home.”
As soon as Fei Ni entered, she once again felt how small the home was. It hadn’t been so noticeable before with just a curtain in the inner room, but now with the wooden door, it felt even more cramped.
Lin Mei was working at the sewing machine and smiled in greeting when Fei Ni came in.
“Where’s my brother?”
“He went to his classmate’s house. His classmate is getting married and asked your brother to help make furniture. If you ask me, this classmate is something—making your brother help every day these past few days. Your brother has his job, and after working all day, he still has to make furniture for him, coming home late at night exhausted, falling asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. Why can’t this person just hire a carpenter?”
Fei Ni’s lips moved twice but finally closed. Exposing her brother’s lie now would only lead to a meaningless argument.
Sister Mei asked again, “Has your parents-in-law’s housing situation been resolved?”
“Yes, it has.”
“They must have a lot to buy since they just returned. I have some industrial coupons here—my parents wanted to buy a television but couldn’t get a TV voucher, so these coupons are just sitting unused. You can take them to use first.”
“No need, they’ve pretty much finished furnishing their house.”
“That was quick. My colleague’s uncle has been back for half a year, and their family of four only managed to get one small room. Your parents-in-law can live in one room, just the two of them—that’s not bad.”