Another telephone has been installed.
At night, the tungsten filament bulbs emitted a clear, orange light that flickered gently. Xu Tangmian didn't go back to her room to sleep; instead, she sat on the small bed with Li Yutao, intently watching television.
Li Youlan was happily soaking her feet when Yu Chunsheng frowned and couldn't help but call out, "Tang..."
"Shh!" Li Yutao immediately stopped him, "Brother Monkey is going to Heaven to get reinforcements, don't say a word!"
Yu Chunsheng: "..."
He silently moved to the folded-up dining table, sat on a small stool in the dim light, and picked up a pen to write something.
There was a large light in the center of the living room, and a small light was also hung on the wall between Li Youlan and Li Yutao's small beds. Since watching TV didn't require too much brightness, the large light in the middle was not turned on to save electricity.
The dining table was near the main light, and Yu Chunsheng sat there alone, away from the three women in the room. Only the diffused light from the small lamp could barely reach him, making him look rather pitiful.
Soon the episode ended and it was time for commercials. Xu Tangmian then remembered the man she had neglected for so long, so she raised her hand and called him over.
Upon hearing her shout, Yu Chunsheng immediately put down his pen and turned around to look at her. "What's wrong?"
"I want to sleep, carry me back." Xu Tangmian carefully lifted a corner of the quilt and twisted out. Li Yutao was still beside her. With Yu Chunsheng here, even though she was wearing long underwear, lifting the quilt was still considered indecent.
After she got out of bed, she opened her arms to Yu Chunsheng. The man looked at her with a mixture of doting and helplessness, but he still obediently went over and picked her up in a princess carry.
It was pure dog abuse, so Li Yutao simply closed her eyes and turned her head away.
After putting Xu Tangmian back on the bed in the master bedroom, Yu Chunsheng went to the living room to retrieve the painting he had just drawn.
Li Yutao asked him, "Are you going to sleep?"
Yu Chunsheng knew why she asked that, and shook his head. "Don't sleep for now, but you can turn the volume down after the lights are out. It won't be a problem."
He had barely finished speaking when the theme song of "Deng Deng Deng" started playing from the TV behind him again. Li Yutao frantically waved her hands, "Go away! You're blocking the TV!"
Yu Chunsheng lowered his head, smiled helplessly, and went back.
Xu Tangmian noticed something in his hand and became curious. The notebooks and pens in the house were things the two of them had bought for Zhi Meizi. Since she left, Xu Tangmian rarely used them for writing lesson plans, at most just for drafting. Yu Chunsheng had even less use for them.
Seeing him writing and drawing, she asked, "You're not watching TV, what are you writing about?"
Yu Chunsheng handed her the paper. Xu Tangmian took it and saw that it was a hand-drawn picture of the Monkey King, dressed in the classic purple-gold crown he had borrowed from the Dragon Palace of the East Sea.
Compared to Yu Chunsheng's ability to draw this despite not watching much TV, Xu Tangmian was more surprised by his hand-drawing skills.
This man is not only proficient in music and language, but also has excellent artistic skills. Did he get into Peking University through the art entrance exam?
She asked the same question, "How exactly did you get into Peking University? Were you an art student? What did you study?"
Although Yu Chunsheng didn't know why she asked that, he still answered her honestly: "I'm in the architecture department."
"Architecture Department?" Xu Tangmian couldn't reconcile the words "architecture" with Peking University, since Peking University seemed to lean more towards humanities compared to a certain vocational college next door.
She asked bluntly, "Then why don't you go study next door? They seem to be more professional in this area."
“I don’t know.” Yu Chunsheng replied confidently, “I had just returned from Moscow not long ago, and my dad didn’t care about me. When I was thinking about taking the college entrance exam, an elder in my family came and said that he was at Peking University and suggested that I try to take the exam, so I did.”
Xu Tangmian was so shocked she couldn't close her mouth. "So you got in through connections?"
"Nonsense!" Yu Chunsheng was very dissatisfied with this statement. "I got in through my own exam, okay! And I just got in, and now he's teaching next door, who am I supposed to complain to?"
Yu Chunsheng still had a bit of a temper when he talked about this. "I was originally studying the communist movement, but because this elder taught architecture, I couldn't drop out of school. My dad had to change my major, and then I had to audit his classes every day after finishing my own."
He suddenly fell silent again, thinking about how his background of switching from communist studies and living in Moscow later corroborated certain charges that led to his involvement with Zisha pottery, and he didn't continue.
Xu Tangmian thought a lot when she heard the name of the major. As a person from modern times, although most people might not know much about that period of time, she had heard her elders mention it a lot when they chatted about it since she was a child.
These things would upset Yu Chunsheng, so she quickly changed the subject, picked up the manuscript, and asked him with a smile, "It's so beautifully drawn, you must have been peeking at it quite a bit, right?"
Yu Chunsheng saw through her thoughts and smiled gently, saying, "Actually, I have an idea. Although making only traditional printed notebooks and draft books may result in low profit margins and high sales volume, it's not what I want. I see that your school is still using traditional mimeographing for printing exam papers, which is hard work and inefficient. I was thinking that I would print whatever you need for free in the future."
“But we won’t lose money in the early stages.” Yu Chunsheng added, “I need a strong industry so that the profits are enough to cover these basic education sectors. In the past two years, I’ve noticed that foreign films, especially those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, are very popular due to the reform and opening up.”
He talked on and on, and with that face that was so sexually alluring whether seen in person or in a photograph, Xu Tangmian's gaze became increasingly unfocused. She could only see his mouth opening and closing, but she couldn't hear a word he was saying.
Yu Chunsheng quickly realized what that look was all too familiar. In his past life, when he gave speeches on stage or sang loudly with other young people in the fields during his rural visits, many young women had that same expression on their faces.
He simply stopped talking and looked at his wife with great interest, wondering when she would wake up.
He didn't have to wait long; as soon as they stopped, Xu Tangmian woke up.
Her head, which had been tilted to the side, suddenly moved, as if her soul had left her body and returned. She blinked and said, "What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly."
"I'll say it," Yu Chunsheng said with a meaningful smile, "the baby's condition has stabilized. Do you want it?"
Xu Tangmian understood but was a little embarrassed. With such a handsome and skilled husband lying next to her, it was really hard to resist after having tasted the sweetness. Usually, she and Yu Chunsheng would have sex several times a week except for those few days. Now, because of her pregnancy, she had been holding back for two months.
Hormonal stimulation during pregnancy, coupled with the feeling that absence makes the heart grow fonder, made her really want to... Besides, Yu Chunsheng is only 23 years old now, and in two years he will be 65. That kind of life of occasional one-night stands and two or three times is something that can only be enjoyed one day at a time.
It would be a waste to leave it uneaten.
She suddenly regretted her trip to Beiping. If she hadn't been provoked, she wouldn't have wanted to have her own little family with Yu Chunsheng. Now, things have indeed turned out as she wished.
I should have played around with him for a few more years, played him to my heart's content, and then gotten pregnant. But now it's too late to say anything.
Yu Chunsheng couldn't figure out what she was thinking. He could only see her face change from joy to sorrow. Are pregnant women's thoughts really that changeable?
He simply kissed her twice, then pressed his forehead against hers, slowing his pace and asking softly, "Do you want some?"
Feeling the warm, humid air flowing between them, they could understand each other perfectly with just a glance and continue what was to come... So Xu Tangmian didn't dare look at him, took a step back and lowered her head, saying, "Let's wait... there are still people outside."
Yu Chunsheng sighed, smiled helplessly, and said, "Xiao Tao's brother said that this TV is to prevent Xiao Tao from going to Wei Dong, but I think it's more like it's to prevent me from watching it."
"That's not how you say it." Even without Xiao Tao, Sister Li is still outside, so they can't be as unruly as before. Besides, "Song Weidong paid for that TV."
“That makes even more sense. He’s such a wicked person.” Yu Chunsheng said with certainty, “Instead of thinking about how to please his brother-in-law, he should hurry up and marry his girlfriend. Instead, he’s making me eat vegetarian food with him.”
Xu Tangmian couldn't understand his thought process for a moment. "You know this TV is very expensive. Li Qingmang pulled some strings and Song Weidong paid for it to be installed in our house, right? Why do you sound like you're the one who's most aggrieved?"
“I don’t like watching TV,” Yu Chunsheng said confidently. “I’ll pay Song Weidong back for the TV tomorrow.”
The next day, not only was the money for the TV not returned, but an extra telephone was also found.
Yu Chunsheng took his passbook to the bank to withdraw money, and when he returned, he saw a green car from the town's post office driving towards the fifth team.
He, with his two wheels, couldn't keep up with the others' four wheels. He watched helplessly as the car went from behind him to running parallel to him, and finally overtook him before stopping in front of his house.
The group of people crossed the river and arrived at the gate of his house. As soon as Yu Chunsheng parked the car and walked through the crowd, he saw a middle-aged man wearing glasses shaking hands with Li Qingmang in the yard.
"Comrade Li, our construction workers will install the line for you right away. The number is: XXX. If you have any problems in the future, you don't need to come to our post office in person. Just call me directly."
The crowd started talking loudly again: "Yesterday they installed a TV, and today they installed a telephone. This family is really capable."
"Isn't that right? Didn't you hear his self-introduction? He's the director of our town's post office! We usually don't even get to see each other!"
"Yes, this is really grand! Hey, who do you think this person is? He's so nice to Teacher Xu."
"I heard it's an older brother or something."
"No way? Yesterday I heard that teacher who always chases after Dr. Song call him 'brother'."
"You must have misheard! Why would that teacher's brother install these things at Teacher Xu's house? Does he have too much money to burn?"
"I guess so. It must be Teacher Xu's brother, otherwise Teacher Xu's husband wouldn't have agreed."
"Ahem!" Yu Chunsheng coughed twice. "It's so cold, everyone should go home."
The man turned around when he heard the voice and was startled to see Yu Chunsheng. He then chuckled and said, "You're back! We just wanted to see if anyone else in the village has a telephone except for the brigade headquarters and the village chief's house."
Yu Chunsheng didn't want to offend these gossipy people, so he silently walked over and interrupted their conversation, pulling Li Qingmang aside and whispering, "What are you doing?"
"What's wrong?" Li Qingmang was chatting happily when he was interrupted and was a little impatient: "You don't want a phone number installed at your house?"
"I'll install our phone. Have you been going on and on these past few days? If you want to be good to your sister, take the TV and phone away, and find out exactly what she wants. What are you doing, always coming to our house and causing trouble!"
He glanced back at the crowd, his voice even lower: "Whatever your intentions, I thank you in advance, but please don't do this again. I don't want to become a big shot in the village."
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