Chapter 50
There was a sunshower on Wednesday. After the rain stopped and the sky cleared up, a gorgeous rainbow hung in the sky, casting a dreamy color on the tube building. Mo Daoyan walked on the muddy path, passed through the dim corridor filled with the pungent smell of gas and kerosene, and came to No. 203. It was in front of this door that he once witnessed Tong Yufei being hugged by a strange man and spinning around with his arms around her waist, smiling brightly and charmingly.
The door was open, and he walked straight in. The room was less than 30 square meters, small and crowded, and filled with daily necessities, but it was kept in order. The furniture, kitchen utensils, and single bed were all in their places. There were several shirts and sweaters in the cloth wardrobe, exactly the same as the ones she had made for him. In addition to the clothes, there were also a dozen scarves wrapped in plastic film and piles of insoles tied with red wool.
The hand-woven fabrics he had rejected were just a tiny denominator.
The two desks placed side by side by the window were particularly eye-catching. One was covered with a blue tablecloth and littered with carving tools, finished and unfinished items, adorable animal dolls, and various human-shaped puppets. The most eye-catching was a young girl puppet, clearly meticulously carved in Tong Yufei's likeness. The other desk, covered with a yellow tablecloth, held a light red plastic Peacock clock. Next to it were neatly arranged news books and proofreading tools, tucked among them the olive green rubberized notebook he had returned.
There were some photos under the glass plate of the table, a girl holding a flower and smiling in the rapeseed field, a dancer raising her legs high by the river, a crazy girl in the room making funny faces with tomatoes on her head... The two also took some group photos, most of which were taken in a photo studio. Each photo was marked with the year, one every year since six years ago. The man sat there with a monotonous expression, and her smile and movements were very playful. She playfully rubbed the man's hair, made rabbit ears in his hair, or hugged his shoulders intimately. In short, there was not a single photo of them standing properly. Each photo was filled with a lively smile that Mo Daoyan had never seen before.
Tong Yufei, or Ye Yufei, who had left traces of her life here, seemed like a stranger he didn't recognize. Ye Yufei, Ye Yimo, so was this man her half-brother, a simple sibling, or was there a hidden secret? Was all that secretly saved money meant for a comfortable future with Ye Yimo? If this was her home, and Ye Yimo her family, then what was the place she shared with him, and what was he?
She could dance, and he had praised her movements, but he had never connected her dance with her graceful figure on that snowy night. She had written him so many letters, but their whereabouts remained a mystery. Had he carelessly locked them in a drawer in his apartment building, or discarded them as waste paper? He could no longer remember. He had been to her room so many times and had taught her English. With even the slightest attention, even from the elegant annotations in the pictographic dictionary, he should have recognized her handwriting. But he realized it so late, so late, that he had been completely deceived.
There was Tong Zhaoyang in front, the confusing Guan Fei, and now Ye Yi Mo has appeared. She is very busy.
Mo Daoyan's eyes flashed and he almost crushed the puppet.
At this moment, the sound of wheelchair wheels could be heard from outside the door. It rained a lot in the summer, and the tube-shaped building was damp. Zhang Wenying had specifically instructed them to open the windows for ventilation before leaving. Zhong Changqing had just finished smoking in his room when he returned to see a stranger standing inside. He looked like a respectable official, not a thief. He then put down the firewood stick he had picked up and asked, "Who are you looking for, young comrade?"
Mo Daoyan put the puppet into his pocket: "Is Ye Yimo here? I want to ask him something."
Zhong Changqing seemed to understand. Lately, a young man named Tong has been coming to see Yi Mo every now and then, accompanying him in carving and taking walks. He even bathed Yi Mo and wouldn't let him tell Yu Fei he'd been there. How could Yi Mo make new friends in that situation? If he wasn't here to curry Tong Yu Fei's favor, he must be an old acquaintance. "Are you also a friend who grew up in the same compound as Yi Mo and Yu Fei?"
"Who else are their friends?"
"Tong Zhaoyang, do you recognize him?"
"He comes here often?"
"A few times." Zhong Changqing turned his wheelchair and walked into the house. "You came at an inopportune time. Xiaoye took Yi Mo out and we don't know when they'll be back. You can come another day, or wait in my room. There's water on the coal stove over there, and some Liubao loose tea she bought for me."
"No, thank you."
Mo Daoyan didn't say he would come again, nor did he wait, he just left the tube building directly.
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He met Tong Yufei at 9:15 in the evening that day.
When she came back, she brought a bag of bayberries, soaked them in salt water for twenty minutes, rinsed them clean, and then went into Mo Daoyan's study. She said that Cheng Yuan had given them to her and that they were freshly picked from Cheng's father's orchard. After asking Cheng Yuan, she learned that Qiao Zhuocheng was the distant cousin. What a coincidence!
He was sorting through documents, his well-defined face cast in several shadows of varying shades by the light. When he mentioned the calligraphy, his calm heart became restless again. He put down the documents and stared at her, "Did you get a haircut?"
"I took shelter from the rain at a barber shop this afternoon and got my hair cut short."
Since she changed her job to become a reporter, she has been out reporting news all day long. The scorching August sun makes her head dizzy. She thinks it is too much trouble to wash her long hair every day, so she cuts off most of it with a pair of scissors. The shiny big braid or the long hair that falls like a waterfall are all gone. She uses an elastic band to tie a small brush at the back of her head, and pins her bangs on her forehead meticulously with two red star hairpins. When she puts it on her head, her spirited look is comparable to that of a female cadre in an office, and she cannot allow even a hair to disturb her thoughts.
She picked up a bayberry, and the purple juice stained her fingertips red: "Isn't it pretty?"
She wasn't ugly, just a little dull. She hadn't thought so before, but now it didn't suit her at all: "That doesn't suit you."
"I don't have any style. This is my new hairstyle. It'll look good in a few days." She picked up a piece of toilet paper and gently wiped the bayberry juice off her hands. "Did you hear? After we left the karaoke bar that night, Chen Jueyao went there and slapped Qiao Zhuocheng twice in front of everyone. He insisted that he had someone write the letter of denunciation and sent it to her parents, threatening to break up with Cao Cong or else he'd cut off their jobs. He said he'd give her time to think it over, but in less than 24 hours, he reported it to the Youth League and the Education Bureau. This could become a big deal."
With so many colleagues present that day, it was hard for him not to hear. Qiao Zhuocheng was so disheartened by the two slaps that he even lost the energy to ask him out for a heart-to-heart talk. "I heard a little bit about it."
"There's no such thing as a completely impenetrable wall. Sister Zhuo Qun repeatedly warned the friends who went there that day not to spread rumors, but rumors are circulating within the group, and the news has already spread. Rather than letting the tabloids write about it, it's better to act preemptively and seize control of the conversation." Tong Yufei, with the stem facing outward, handed the cleaned bayberry to his mouth. "Is it delicious?"
She didn't say it explicitly, but actually she wanted to persuade Chen Jueyao to accept her exclusive interview. However, she was a fledgling reporter with little experience and had previously had some unpleasant experiences. There was also Chen Ruchao, who knew her "background", standing in the way. Naturally, Chen Jueyao looked down on her. But if Mo Daoyan came forward, the problem would be solved. He always had a way to make people submit. This time, she didn't even need him to waste his breath. As long as she could get her to meet Chen Jueyao, she would be sure to convince the other party to accept the interview.
Mo Daoyan remained noncommittal. She hadn't come to deliver bayberries; she'd clearly set her sights on this newsworthy "love triangle." But with Chen Jueyao's stubborn temper, how could he possibly open up to her, his sister's "rival"? Even if she were to get into the newspapers, with countless veteran reporters around, she wouldn't be able to get to her even a hundred times.
Haha, there is no wall that is impenetrable. Does she understand this?
At this time of the day, he usually adhered to his dietary rules and would never eat again after brushing his teeth. However, the bayberries were temptingly red, and it was just a small matter of brushing his teeth again, so he did not refuse. However, he took the bayberries but did not eat them. Instead, he stood up and walked to her side, gently stuffed them into her mouth, then lowered his head and grabbed her lips. The red juice immediately filled both of their mouths.
Then he fed her another one. Just as she was about to take a bite, he snatched it away, refusing to swallow it directly. Instead, he held half of it in his mouth, letting her taste the sweetness. Tong Yufei wanted to change the subject to Chen Jueyao and end this ambiguous game as soon as possible, so she pushed the bayberry in her mouth to him, but he pushed it back. The back and forth between them ignited a new passion in him. He turned and pushed her against the bookshelf behind him, removing the black rubber band and red star hairpin from her head. He ran one finger through her silky hair and with the other hand pushed her cotton short-sleeved shirt down to her ribs, his dry palm caressing her soft skin.
She was having trouble breathing, and her breath was disordered as she said, "There are so many, why do you have to fight for one..."
"Don't you like watching people fighting?"
"What do you mean?"
"Where did you go tonight? Didn't you bring your pager? I went to pick you up from work, but I didn't see you."
"The commercial performances of 'Zhaojun Goes to the Frontier' have been suspended, but the benefit performances of the supporting actors have been going on in an orderly manner. I followed the crew to Shihezi Town for a performance, but I was in such a hurry that I forgot my pager at work."
"Are you still going tomorrow? I'll give it to you."
“They have cars.”
"A whole day of follow-up?"
"It's usually like this...ah..."
The voice suddenly stopped, and there was a sharp pain on her lips. Her lips were bitten, and the blood seeped back into her mouth, filling her mouth with a fishy smell. She suddenly broke free from his arms, staggered into the bathroom, scooped up a handful of cold water and splashed it on her face. She looked in the mirror in a dishevel, the collar of her short-sleeved shirt was wrinkled and turned up, revealing most of her shoulders, her hair was messy again, and blood was oozing from the right corner of her mouth, which was much more troublesome than the faintly visible scars on her neck.
She had to go on an interview with the crew tomorrow and face a pair of sharp eyes. Frustrated, she slapped the water in the enamel basin, splashing onto the mirror printed with peony flowers. "Are you born in the Year of the Dog?"
Mo Daoyan slowly followed over and leaned against the door frame, with that familiar playful smile still on his lips: "Are you angry?"
She was almost annoyed: "I have to work tomorrow, how can I face people?"
"If you want to see me, there's always a way."
"Your job is work, but mine is child's play?"
"Then what's the price? How much is a reasonable amount for compensation?"
"you……"
"Aren't you trying to save some money? I just got a bonus." Seeing she remained silent, he chuckled, "Just kidding."
"That's not funny."
"It's not funny." He walked in, picked up the wooden comb, and slowly combed her hair. The two figures in the mirror seemed to be closely overlapping. "Tong Yufei, let's have a child."
"Do you like children?"
"Grandma likes it."
"And you?"
"As long as he is a descendant of the Mo family and the old lady's great-grandson, he will naturally be spoiled."
She understood. Whether he liked it or not was unimportant. But a new life might be a good medicine to heal Grandma's memory and bring some comfort to the family. However, she didn't want to have a child with him just for this reason. Her career was just starting. "We've only been together for a year. Suddenly having another child disrupts everything. Wouldn't that be too much trouble?"
"Is it too much to worry about the child taking away your affection?"
Perhaps disciplining Mo Daoyan and Chen Ruchao as children had worn out his patience. He didn't like children, and having one meant giving up a significant amount of time; raising a child was a deeply draining investment. Secondly, with the tenuous affection between them, how could they possibly "separate"? But that was self-defeating. He wanted her to have children without any affection, unless parental love for children was natural and the birth of a child could actually strengthen their relationship. He questioned both of these points.
Now, it's even worse.
So it was more practical to proceed from her own interests. Although he had never learned how to be a competent father, he would definitely not let the child grow up in a single-parent family. "With a child, you won't have to worry about divorce." He said in a businesslike tone, "The six-month period you promised is up."
After a few months of grinding, there was some progress. He used to belittle her and wanted to get rid of the mother and keep the child, but now she could use the child to save the marriage, but she couldn't be happy at all: "We should look at things from a developmental perspective. If we don't have children, we can spend the rest of our work time with grandma. If we have children, we will have less time to spend with grandma. Besides, didn't we agree to try to love each other? Why should we let the child disrupt our rhythm?" She turned and pecked his lips lightly, her face against his warm chest, her arms tightly wrapped around his waist, "Daoyan, I haven't had enough of the two of us. Instead of tying you down with a child, I want that person to be me."
Mo Daoyan was silent for a long time, then reached out and touched her bloodshot lips: "I'll go get the ointment."
She grabbed the corner of his clothes, not caring about the injury: "Help me make an appointment with Chen Jueyao, okay?"
His eyes suddenly darkened, and after staring at her for a few seconds, he suddenly smiled: "Add two times tonight, and the money is up to you."
If they were an ordinary couple without any grudges between them, these words might be taken as fun, but the look in his eyes at this moment was far from friendly.
She let go and whispered, "Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything."
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