Unlike Fang Muyang, Fei Ni had to buy tickets to watch movies. She often spent five fens on movie tickets to see how Soviets, Hungarians, and people from various parts of China lived their lives. Besides books, movies were her only window to the world.
Her Second Sister and brother-in-law were childhood sweethearts, living close to each other and often playing together. When Second Sister entered junior high, their relationship only grew stronger. When her future brother-in-law invited her sister to the movies, Fei Ni, worried her sister might be kidnapped, insisted on going along. While others watched the movie, Fei Ni watched her sister. In the darkness of the theater, Fei Ni’s bright eyes caught the moment when the boy next to her sister placed his hand over hers, and she immediately reached out to shoo it away. During that period, Fei Ni watched her future brother-in-law like a hawk, and the more he tried to bribe her with popsicles and candy, the more she suspected his intentions toward her sister.
Sometimes, though, she’d get lost in the movies herself, forgetting about her sister, and leaving the theater remembering only the guitar from the film. She wished she could have a guitar like the protagonist.
Knowing she couldn’t afford a new one, she went straight to the commission store, where the cheapest guitar cost fifteen yuan. Fifteen yuan – saving five fen a day would take three hundred days to accumulate.
After that, during lunch, Fei Ni would keep her eyes on Fang Muyang. He no longer boarded at school, only eating one meal there daily. She thought if his meals weren’t good, she might have a chance to earn money. But whenever she looked at him, he was either sharing canned fish or eating pastries made by French, Cantonese, or Suzhou chefs. He probably found northern pastries too coarse, never touching things like mung bean paste cakes. Fang Muyang noticed her watching and offered to share. Fei Ni shook her head, biting into her cornbread and washing it down with vegetable porridge, feeling dejected.
Just when Fei Ni thought she’d never earn money from Fang Muyang again, he came to her with a paid request to weave a bracelet exactly like the one on her wrist – no, not exactly, he wanted it in blue.
The bracelet on Fei Ni’s wrist was woven from white plastic string, and decorated with three silver bells. She had made one for her sister too.
“What do you want it for?” Though Fei Ni wanted to earn money from Fang Muyang, she still advised that it might look strange for a boy to wear such a thing.
“It’s for a girl, about our age.”
“Alright, how much will you pay me?”
Fang Muyang named a price that surprised Fei Ni with its generosity, and she agreed immediately.
After thinking for a moment, she added, “Let me weave it with two colors – white and blue twisted together. It’ll look better than the one I’m wearing.”
Fei Ni bought blue and white plastic strings and wove whenever she had time. She finished quickly, and the two colors mixed did indeed look better than her previous work.
This time, Fang Muyang didn’t delay payment – money and goods changed hands simultaneously. Fei Ni counted the money, calculating how much more she needed for a used guitar.
“Why don’t you make a pair for her? I can weave another one.”
Fang Muyang rejected Fei Ni’s suggestion: “A pair would be too ordinary.”
“How about one for your mother?”
“This kind of thing isn’t suitable for her.”
“Alright.” Fei Ni concluded she couldn’t make another deal with Fang Muyang, but still added, “If you want another one this winter, I can make it for you.”
A few days later, Fang Muyang invited all his classmates to his grandmother’s house. One of the classmates, Fei Ni couldn’t find an excuse to refuse and went along with everyone else.
Fang Muyang’s grandmother was very hospitable. She specially ordered two large fruit cream cakes from the French bakery for her grandson’s classmates. Each cake plate was fine white porcelain, and the forks were so bright you could see your reflection. Fei Ni didn’t know the forks were silver; she only noticed the cake, its cream melting instantly in her mouth. But she didn’t want it to melt – she closed her mouth to savor it. She sat in a velvet chair around a long table with her classmates. A large vase stood on the table, its colors complex yet harmonious, filled with cut flowers, not from any market but from their garden. Fei Ni’s plastic sandals rested on a hand-woven carpet, and above her head hung an enormous crystal chandelier. From the floor-standing record player came the sound of children’s choirs from some foreign country, completely different from the songs she sang in her choir.
The grandmother was generous with her grandson’s classmates, especially ordering ice cream to help them cope with the summer heat. Fei Ni happened to be overlooked, but she didn’t say anything, feeling it wasn’t proper to ask for food in someone else’s home.
She truly appeared indifferent to the ice cream. At home, she had to suppress not only her stomach’s cravings but also her eyes’ desires. Because her family always indulged her, letting her eat her favorite foods first, she gradually developed a habit of never giving a second glance to anything, no matter how much she wanted it.
While others ate ice cream, Fei Ni occupied herself with admiring the view outside the window.
After the ice cream, everyone moved on to other activities. The living room was spacious, with a girl playing piano while other girls gathered around to sing. The pianist was named Ling Yi, wearing a white dress and a blue-and-white plastic woven bracelet decorated with three silver bells.
As for the boys, not one remained in the living room. Fei Ni sat alone in a chair, properly playing her role as a guest. With professional ethics, she took off her plastic bracelet when no one was looking and tucked it into her dress pocket.
That day, she wore two braids tied together with a thin white silk ribbon matching her blouse. Her seat faced the window at an angle, and as the breeze came in, she sat straight-backed in her chair, reading a Russian instruction manual that had been left on the side table.
Someone tapped her shoulder. “Come with me for a moment.”
She recognized Fang Muyang’s voice and, after a slight hesitation, followed him to a room.
It was a study, with bookcases reaching to the ceiling and a ladder for accessing high shelves. There were two velvet sofas, and Fang Muyang gestured for Fei Ni to sit on one of them. Before she could ask why he’d called her here, Fang Muyang produced a glass bottle, opened it with a bottle opener, and handed her some grape juice.
“Grape juice, it’s cold.”
Fei Ni looked at Fang Muyang puzzled, not understanding why he wanted her to drink grape juice alone.
Fang Muyang misunderstood her hesitation. “You girls are so troublesome, needing a separate glass even for soda.”
He went to a cabinet, bent down to open it, took out a glass, and handed it to Fei Ni.
Fang Muyang had already hopped onto the desk, and seeing Fei Ni still not drinking, said exasperatedly, “Don’t tell me you want a straw too.”
Fei Ni shook her head, poured the grape juice into the glass, and took a sip.
Fang Muyang studied her from his perch on the desk. “Why aren’t you singing with them?”
“I don’t like singing, and I’m not good at it.”
“But I remember you’re in the choir.”
“I’m just there to make up numbers. While others worry their voices might get drowned out, I worry someone might hear mine.” Fei Ni had neither interest nor talent in singing and dancing, but because of her looks, she was always chosen for performances to fill out the numbers. What might seem an honor to others was torture for her. She had thought about quitting, but Counselor Wang criticized her for giving up when things got difficult, and Fei Ni had to write a self-criticism report.
“Then what do you like? Don’t tell me you enjoy reading instruction manuals.”
“Compared to singing, reading instruction manuals is pure pleasure.” Even though she could barely understand them.
Fang Muyang brought out a box to show her, containing a small rectangular case and various small parts. He told her it was the world’s smallest radio, and the manual she’d been reading was for this radio.
“I wanted to see how it worked, so I took it apart, but I had trouble putting it back together. Could you translate that manual into Chinese for me?”
Fei Ni had just been skimming it; she didn’t recognize many words, let alone being able to translate them.
“How much do you want to translate this manual?”
As if Fei Ni’s reluctance was about money. She didn’t correct his misunderstanding, happy to earn this money.
She named a price, and Fang Muyang didn’t haggle.
“If you don’t want to go out, you can listen to music here.” The study also had a record player, and Fang Muyang casually put on a Mozart record, then opened the cabinet below-containing records. He told her she could change it if she wanted to hear something else. He brought a small electric fan to the desk and turned it on, then opened a drawer and placed a tin of cookies beside her for snacking.
“Could you give me a dictionary? I don’t recognize some words in the manual.” In truth, she didn’t recognize most of them, but she could look them up.
Fang Muyang knew the books on the shelves well and immediately found the dictionary. On the sandalwood desk sat a three-tiered stationery box. He pulled out the second drawer, took out a case containing a Parker fountain pen, filled it with ink, and handed it to Fei Ni along with some paper.
Someone called Fang Muyang to play ball. He closed the door, leaving Fei Ni alone in the room to translate.
Fei Ni sat in a leather chair, absorbed in translating the radio manual, looking up unfamiliar words in the dictionary. There were many she didn’t know, but fortunately, she could look them up quickly. Her mind was so focused on finishing the translation that she hadn’t even taken time to examine the study or open the cookie tin. She didn’t even notice when Fang Muyang came back in.
Only when the lights came on did her gaze turn to the window – the sun had long since set, and if she didn’t leave soon, it would be completely dark.
Fang Muyang opened the cookie tin; not a single cookie was missing.
“You don’t like these cream-filled cookies?”
It wasn’t that she didn’t like them; she had simply forgotten about them. Besides, she was being paid for a service – it wouldn’t be right to eat his cookies too.
Fang Muyang took one and held it out to her. “Try it, they’re not that bad.”
“Thank you.” Fei Ni popped it in her mouth before she could even chew it properly, and then started gathering her things. She capped the pen and said goodbye to Fang Muyang. “I need to go home. I haven’t finished the translation – is it okay if I give it to you tomorrow? But I’ll need to take the dictionary with me. I’ll finish the translation as quickly as I can.” She had a dictionary, but it wasn’t as comprehensive as this one.
“Dinner will be ready soon. The driver can take you home after you eat.”
“Thank you, but I need to leave now, or my parents will worry.”
“You could call them.”
“We don’t have a phone.” Fei Ni wasn’t embarrassed by this; most families in the city didn’t have phones. She was just surprised that Fang Muyang would assume her family had one.
Before she left, his grandmother gave Fei Ni some bread, saying it was Fang Muyang’s favorite. Though it wouldn’t be as good as fresh from the oven, it would make a nice breakfast if heated in the oven the next morning.
Fei Ni responded instinctively: “Thank you, but we don’t have an oven. Please keep it for yourself.”
Fei Ni caught a flash of embarrassment on the grandmother’s face, but it lasted only seconds before she resumed her previous manner: “I’ll have someone bring you an oven to take home.”
Fei Ni realized that her honesty about material lack had somehow become an indirect form of asking for things here. She accepted the bread, saying she could heat it in a pan the next morning and it would taste just as good – no need for an oven.
In the end, unable to refuse the grandmother’s kindness and eager to get home, she accepted a ride in the car that the grandmother usually used. When the driver reached her building, he seemed somewhat surprised. Fei Ni didn’t bother to notice his expression, just thanked him and ran inside.
She had returned just in time – any later and her whole family would have gone out looking for her.