Chapter 4
Wuling Street in the old city district borders the Machinery Factory to the east, the Glass Factory to the west, and a kilometer south, the MSG Factory No. 2. Employees from all three factories live together. Weekday mornings and evenings are bustling with people, workers pouring out from all directions, vendors bustling in and out. Seafood stalls are repurposed from the backs of old tricycles with nylon mats, and freshly slaughtered chickens are displayed on wooden boards on the backs of bicycles. Colorful sodas are on the rise, and the aroma of Xicheng's famous sesame peanut candy fills the street...
The Mo family's residence, located at No. 8 Wuling Street, is a quiet, single-family courtyard nestled amidst the bustle. Within the courtyard sits a three-story, red-brick, black-tiled Western-style building, modeled after a classical residence. South of the building lies a lawn and a fountain, adorned with a stone sculpture of a young woman in a gauze dress. Two meters away from the sculpture stands a sturdy camphor tree, so thick it would take two adults to hug it. Nearby, two golden osmanthus trees grow. This house was originally one of the old Xu family residences, a dowry gift from Mo Daoyan's maternal great-grandfather to his grandmother. After his grandmother moved into the military compound with his grandfather, it remained unused until his grandfather's death, when his grandmother and the children moved back.
Meng Ruqing was not the daughter-in-law that Old Lady Mo originally wanted, but Mo Changlin was determined to marry her and could not be shaken by his mother's threats and scolding. He secretly got married to Meng Ruqing and the matter was done. Old Lady Mo was furious and drove her son and daughter-in-law out. Mo Changlin refused to give in and lived with his wife in a small house of 35 square meters in the staff building converted from the old factory area of the machinery factory. Later, Mo Daoyan and his younger brother were born one after another. His grandmother missed her grandchildren so much that she finally extended an olive branch and took them back.
The day Mo Daoyan moved into the small Western-style building with his parents was the day he celebrated his fifth birthday.
There are four rooms on the first floor of the western-style building. Grandma, Mom and Dad each live in one room. The fourth room is a study shared by Mom and Dad. There are three rooms on the second and third floors. Mo Daoyan and Tong Yufei got married on the second floor. There are two rooms outside the master bedroom, a study, and a baby room. Mo Daoxing lives on the third floor, which has a separate piano room and exercise room.
After Mo Daoxing finished his last vocal music exam, the school started to have winter vacation. The senior students in the graduate school had a performance report, and he was asked to assist in the performance. He met his senior sister Chen Jueyao who was invited to be a judge. Her appearance caused quite a stir. Mo Daoxing chatted with Chen Jueyao and inadvertently mentioned her brother. Chen Jueyao said with certainty that Mo Daoyan had returned to China five days ago.
Mo Daoxing was puzzled that his brother came back but did not go home. After the performance that day, he went to Qiao Zhuocheng's house. In the backyard of Qiao's house, he saw his brother playing tennis. When he learned that his brother was busy discussing a new job, Mo Daoxing blinked his dark eyes and smiled. He was so happy for his sister-in-law's hard work that he almost didn't think about it. It had been two quarters of an hour since he came in. His brother didn't mention his sister-in-law at all, but he didn't care. His brother didn't show his emotions. No matter how great his achievements were, he would not show them. Or maybe he was homesick.
Mo Daoxing took over from Qiao Zhuocheng, sweating profusely as he practiced basketball with his brother. "You want to wait until the dust settles before going back? Are you going to prove to your sister-in-law that you're never leaving again and want to stay with her forever?"
Mo Daoyan remained noncommittal. His brother wasn't even fifteen when he married, and he couldn't understand his reluctance. He only knew that his proud and arrogant brother, while away from home, had married a beautiful woman. It was like a vow, a pledge to spend the rest of his life with her, even across vast distances. He wouldn't let others easily influence his academic and career choices, but he couldn't deny that it would embarrass Tong Yufei.
He made a wonderful shot and lightly switched the content: "Are mom and dad okay?"
Mo Daoxing said sadly, "The machinery factory has run into some problems. Dad has been working overtime for three or four months straight. Mom is organizing a New Year's performance in the countryside, but it's been nowhere to be seen."
"When do you finish your performance? I'll go home with you, okay?"
Mo Daoxing was extremely excited: "The activities of School No. 12 are over, we will meet at the school gate."
The 12th arrived in a flash. In the evening, Aunt Lin opened the door and saw the two Mo brothers. She shouted at the top of her voice: "Old lady, Miss Tong, the eldest young master, the eldest young master is back!"
Aunt Lin is fifty-six years old. She started working as a maid with her sister when she was eight or nine years old. She has served many wealthy and powerful families. She still addresses her employers in the old society, calling them old lady, master and mistress, young master and young mistress. Mo Changlin has criticized her many times for her corrupted way of addressing them. If others hear her, they will think she is a domineering capitalist. Meng Ruqing sternly warned Aunt Lin to correct her address, otherwise she would be fired.
Mo Daoyan once advised his mother not to be so harsh on those who had been oppressed, as haste makes waste.
As time passed, Aunt Lin's awkward address had long been corrected, but when she suddenly saw Mo Daoyan, she was overjoyed and the old address came out of her mouth unconsciously.
Aunt Lin watched the two brothers grow up. The elder brother was calm and steady, taking care of everything and never needed anyone to worry about him. The second brother was lively and active, chattering away for fear of dropping his words on the ground. He loved to play with grandma's old piano. Although they had very different personalities, they were both polite and well-behaved. Just like when they were studying as children, no matter how good or bad the homework was, they always completed it in an orderly manner, but the methods were very different. The elder brother relied entirely on his own initiative, while the younger brother had to rely on Mrs. Mo's voice and Mo Changlin's ruler.
Aunt Lin naturally has a bit more preference for Mo Daoyan, who is both good in character and academic performance. She remembers that when he was in adolescence, he was so thin that it seemed that he could not support his head on his shoulders. She would find different ways to make his favorite braised beef and boiled chicken. Later, when Mo Daoyan went to study in Germany, she was worried all the time that he could not get used to foreign food and was afraid that it would affect his growth. Now, at first glance, he has gained weight, grown taller, with broad shoulders and long legs, and looks handsome. She sighed in her heart that it seems that foreign food is not bad either.
Looking at the handsome and handsome Mo Daoyan, Aunt Lin couldn't help but secretly regret that the marriage was too early. With his current appearance and character, he would charm countless young ladies from wealthy families. Although Miss Tong was pretty, she was not good enough for him.
When Mrs. Mo saw her eldest grandson, she was so excited that she looked him up and down, front and back. "You're finally back. My little Yan has suffered so much while wandering around alone..."
Mo Daoyan smiled calmly: "Yeah, I've gained weight."
He opened the two briefcases he brought with him and distributed the gifts for his family members one by one. For his grandmother, he got the most advanced home backup blood pressure monitor from abroad; for his father, he got two bottles of wine; for his mother, he got a high-end business suit; for his aunt Mo Changying, he got a set of ceramic crafts from the Wester Forest area; for his brother, he got a portable CD player and some rock singers' records; for Aunt Lin, he got a set of hand cream; and for Tong Yufei, he got an orange scarf.
Mrs. Mo smiled and said, "A few days ago, I told Tong girl to wear more colorful clothes, and you brought one. What do you call this? We are so in tune with each other. Go ahead and give it to her to try on."
While everyone was surrounding Mo Daoyan and asking about his well-being, Tong Yufei was in the kitchen cutting fruit, arranging a fruit plate, and brewing chrysanthemum tea. The fragrance of the tea filled the air. She was wearing a shell-colored sweater and sky blue straight jeans. Her jet-black hair was tied behind a polka-dot ribbon headband. Her slender figure was hidden in the mist and could not be seen clearly.
Logically, as his wife, she should have been the closest person to him. Reuniting after such a long separation, they should have showered him with sweet nothings. But their marriage was unusual. It was an arranged marriage by their mother, and she was merely a stranger thrust into his life. He knew very little about her besides her name. Mo Daoyan stood at the kitchen door, unsure how to address her. His full name was too unfamiliar, calling her "Grandma" was awkward, and using a Western-style address wasn't respectful...
As he hesitated, Tong Yufei caught sight of him from the corner of his eye. Turning to see who it was, he raised a faint smile and asked, "Is this for me?"
"I originally wanted to give it as a gift, but something unexpected happened. This one is a local product."
In terms of price alone, the scarf is more expensive. This is not to prove the superiority or inferiority of local and foreign products, but to tell her that she is not treated differently.
Tong Yufei touched the furry material and said, "It's warm, just what I need."
Mo Daoyan greeted him, "Are you an editor at a newspaper?"
When they first met, she was an intern in the editorial department of a newspaper. After her internship, she was no longer the editor Mo Daoyan had thought she would be, but a proofreader. On the day they met, Mo Daoyan had just received an invitation from the University of Technology and was preparing documents for the visa application process at the West German Embassy, along with some student records and transcripts from high school and university. He had taken the time out to go on a blind date with her, and they walked side by side for a long time along Yingguang Road outside the main gate of Jiaotong University. He didn't want to linger near the school in case they were accidentally seen by classmates. West Germany, where he was going, lacked a labor force and had a lucrative economy. The opportunity to go abroad was hard-won, and many people couldn't. No one believed he would come back. Falling in love with a girl at this critical juncture was ill-intentioned and a way to play with someone else's feelings.
He's not that kind of person, but it's hard to disprove.
Three or four kilometers outside the Jiaotong University living quarters, they each ordered a bowl of yellow croaker noodles at a corner noodle shop. Mo Daoyan no longer remembers the taste of the noodles, but he remembers the broth was milky white, like freshly squeezed milk. After dinner, they went to the Hongri Cinema and watched a movie together called "Alley Celebrity." In the dim and noisy theater, her long eyelashes fluttered as she took his hand, leaning in with the scent of vanishing cream, and then kissed him on the cheek.
She said shamelessly, "Mo Daoyan, marry me. As long as you marry me, I will do whatever you want."
The young Mo Daoyan was a blank slate. In his eyes, love between men and women was far less attractive than the high-performance computers developed by Jiaotong University with a speed of over 100 million times per second. He was caught off guard by Tong Yufei's straightforward words. He hurriedly drew a line in the sand and repeatedly reiterated that he had no intention of getting married. He just wanted to give an explanation to his mother and said he would divorce when he returned from his studies. His marriage was different from others. It was not a real husband-and-wife relationship, but a gay relationship.
He married her, but they didn't become a real couple, nor did they become gay. Gays are people who have common aspirations, but they were not included in that category.
Strictly speaking, she had asked for this marriage, so she smiled at him quite often. Her smile was beautiful, gentle and warm. "I'm currently a proofreader at the West City Daily."
"Tired?"
"I'm fine. How about you?"
"Okay."
They looked at each other and smiled, and had nothing more to talk about.
As the night deepened, Aunt Lin was busy preparing dinner and asked Mo Daoyan if she had any special requests. She had watched some dubbed films with the old lady, and the foreigners in the films always ate steaks that were half-cooked. Mo Daoyan asked her to do as they did in the old days, and to follow the local customs. Aunt Lin happily accepted the order, and Tong Yufei followed in, picking vegetables, washing them, and shredding them with Aunt Lin...
Aunt Lin prepared the seasonings of green onion, ginger and garlic. Tong Yufei picked out the ginger, but Mo Daoyan didn't eat ginger.
"Miss Tong is thoughtful."
Aunt Lin laughed awkwardly and praised Tong Yufei, but another voice was ringing in her heart. This Miss Tong was a strange person. At home, she either served the old lady or competed with her for the kitchen. She fiddled with the dishes before meals and washed the dishes after meals. She once suspected that Tong Yufei had other purposes and monitored her work, hoping to catch her doing something wrong and fire her so that a relative could take her place. But as time went on, she realized that she was wrong and that she was simply too busy to sit idle.
"A young lady is destined to be a maid. Even if she flies to a branch, she can never become a phoenix."
Aunt Lin often thought this way. Some people are born to work hard and never enjoy a peaceful life.
Mo Daoxing took the opportunity to "complain" to his brother: "My sister-in-law is sometimes too much. She's too hardworking. She makes me look like a lazy pig. Brother, you should take my sister-in-law out for entertainment more often. There are people dancing in the small square in the south of the community every day. Music and dance can make a close relationship grow by leaps and bounds."
Mo Daoyan suddenly asked, "What level have you reached in piano practice?"
The national piano grading examination was first initiated by the Guangzhou Piano Society in 1987. At that time, there were only about 40 people who signed up, and the levels were one to three. Since then, it has opened the curtain for music grading examinations in mainland China. The scale of the examinations has been growing. Following several major cities, Xicheng held its first piano grading examination last summer.
Mo Daoxing smiled and said, "I only got level two, but I won first prize in the adult category of the National Piano Competition."
Everyone considered his elder brother exceptionally gifted, leaving Mo Daoxing far behind. But every man has his strengths and weaknesses. His elder brother was a true engineering student, uninterested in romantic pursuits. Instruments were the only area where he could surpass his elder brother, so he took him to the piano room, eager to showcase his rare talent. He played "Moscow Nights," and the melody, rich with rustic Russian charm, erupted. But Mo Daoyan was once again tone-deaf, unresponsive to the music, his gaze fixed on a row of red, yellow, blue, and green wool scarves on a clothes rack.
Mo Daoxing smiled slyly: "They are all hand-woven. The girl who knitted my scarf must be very skillful, right?"
"In love?"
"How dare I! The lady who gave me the scarf has already been snatched away by someone else. She's far away, yet so close to me. It's your wife, my sister-in-law, Miss Tong Yufei. Every winter, she knits a scarf of a different color for each of us. Brother, your share is in the mahogany box in your room. She wrapped it in plastic and put mothballs in it. If I had known earlier, I would have told you and given her a different gift."
He plucked the strings and added a line to the lively melody.
"But now that you're back, she has the best gift."
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