Chapter 54
On the day Ye Yimo was discharged from the hospital, Tong Yufei took him to the Tianhua Street Wholesale Market.
Located east of the old Xicheng Railway Station, the Tianhua Street Wholesale Market is the largest and most affordable comprehensive market. From clothing and toys to food and appliances, the dazzling array of goods fills the winding aisles of stalls. Besides locals, merchants from all over the world come here to stock up. Every two months, Tong Yufei arrives here with two woven bags, doing a major shopping spree. He'll stock up on household necessities, seasonal clothing for his brother, carving wood and tools, and some bags of grain. Then, holding Ye Yimo's hand, they'll make their way through the bustling market to the food court in the northeast corner for a better meal and a treat for their recently neglected stomach.
They still ate meat buns and noodles with gravy. Noodles with gravy was her adoptive mother's specialty, but she was busy, so she only made it for them during festivals when they were young. Ye Yimo would always eat a large bowl of it, and she would lick the bottom of the bowl clean. The last time she took Ye Yimo to a Sichuan noodle restaurant, they had too much chili and Sichuan peppercorns. She finished less than half of it before her tongue went numb and she had to drink three bowls of water to recover.
Today she chose a Shanxi noodle restaurant. The meat buns on the wooden table were shining with oil, and the noodles with gravy were filled with the aroma of soybean paste. She paid an extra eight yuan and ordered a plate of braised beef and cold peanuts. In the past year, she didn't have much time to relax like this.
She mixed the marinade with the noodles and pushed them in front of Ye Yimo: "Eat slowly, be careful of the heat."
Ye Yimo couldn't wait to pick up the noodles and stuff them into his mouth, gasping for breath due to the heat.
Tong Yufei looked at his brother eating heartily and smiled: "Let's invite Uncle Zhong and Aunt Zhang to have dinner in a couple of days. We're moving out next month, and I really miss them. You feel the same way, right?"
Ye Yimo was so engrossed in eating noodles that he didn't even notice the sauce on the corners of his mouth.
Tong Yufei was already used to this kind of conversation. She was lucky to get one out of every ten. She picked up a tissue and wiped the sauce off the corner of her brother's mouth. "When you enter Boss Sun's studio, you'll have a lot of playmates. Make some more friends."
Still not.
She then recited "Pipa Xing": "At the bank of the Xunyang River, I see my guest off at night, maple leaves and reeds rustle in the autumn air."
"The host dismounts and the guest takes his place in the boat; he raises his wine to drink but there is no music."
Ye Yimo looked up and continued the poem, his eyes sparkling, and the smile at the corner of his eyes made him look even more handsome. With his fair face and soft features, at first glance he looked like a girl with six points of heroic spirit. What a clean and transparent person!
Tong Yufei was both angry and amused: "Playing dumb, huh? When you encounter questions you don't want to answer, you pretend not to hear them, but when you do want to answer them, you can respond fluently."
Mo Daoyan seemed to be the same, but his indifference was always hidden behind his gentle face, which made people feel aggrieved and unable to argue.
A few drops of sauce dripped onto Ye Yimo's chest. He reached out to wipe them off, and the sauce immediately smudged onto his white shirt, creating several large spots.
Tong Yufei pushed half of the noodles in the bowl over and said, "Don't worry about it. Just wash it when you get home and it will be clean. Eat more and make up for the weight you lost in the hospital."
Ye Yimo mumbled incoherently with an innocent smile on his face: "Wife... Little Ye Zi... Wife..."
This was all due to those clueless neighbors who kept making fun of him behind his back. After hearing it so many times, he had memorized this ridiculous name. Tong Yufei held out his palm and feigned anger: "If you keep yelling, I'll slap you. I'm your younger sister."
Ye Yimo grabbed her withdrawn hand and rubbed his cheek against her palm: "Little sister Ye."
Tong Yufei rubbed his soft head: "Be good."
--
When she got home in the evening, she put down the woven bag and got busy. The first thing she did was to boil water for her brother to take a bath. Ye Yimo had been in the hospital for more than half a month, and his body was full of sour smell. It was not enough to just wipe his body, he had to rub it well to wash it clean. The more his brother was like this, the cleaner he had to be so that he would not be looked down upon when he went out.
There was no bathroom at home, so she pulled two curtains at the corner between the desk and the cupboard, creating a narrow space just wide enough to turn around in, which she used as a bath. Her brother was also a large man, with long arms and legs, so one stove wasn't enough water. She used the stove in Aunt Zhang's room as well, heating a large basin of hot water and adding a cold one as a backup. She used a small basin to slowly add water, testing the temperature without immersing her wrist; around 50 degrees Celsius was ideal. She couldn't add all the water at once, as there wasn't a large enough basin, and it would definitely cool down by the time she was halfway through.
After preparing the water, she double-checked that the hot water basin was placed in a safe place, called Ye Yimo to come behind the curtain, and picked up a small stool for bathing.
After Ye Yimo stood still, she helped him unbutton his clothes. The adult man's body cast a thick shadow in the mist, swallowing her shadow as well.
She lowered her eyelashes and when she was about to unbutton her pants, she said, "Turn around."
After taking off his jeans, Ye Yimo was left with only a pair of underwear, which he reached out to tear off.
She quickly struck him on the wrist with a knife: "How many times have I told you, you can't take this off when I wash you."
Not only could he not take them off, but he also had to put on an extra pair of shorts. She handed the shorts to him and asked him to put them on. Ye Yimo was very resistant: "Showering... I won't wear them..."
She raised her fist and hit him on the back: "You must wear it!"
In Ye Yimo's simple understanding, taking a bath requires stripping naked, and this embarrassing scene always occurs when taking a bath.
Aunt Zhang had once distressedly advised her not to bathe him, as she was a girl, it would be so embarrassing if it got out. She was old and not afraid of what others might say, so she offered to bathe him for her. However, when Ye Yimo saw Aunt Zhang trying to take off his clothes, he would scream hysterically and would not let Aunt Zhang touch him, so she had to bathe him anyway.
Cleaning the private parts is the last step. Uncle Zhong once used a pipe as a toy for Ye Yimo, coaxing him to let go of his resistance and teaching him step by step. Ye Yimo learned very slowly, but under Uncle Zhong's careful guidance, he could basically take care of himself. He was just not very skilled in putting on pants, and needed her to rearrange them every time, but it had helped her a lot.
After Ye Yi Mo put on the sports shorts, Tong Yufei breathed a sigh of relief, wrung out the bath towel, and prepared to scrub his body.
At this time, the door opened, as quickly as an earthquake, shaking the door panel. It should be Aunt Zhang who came back after selling the goods. She must have sold them very well, so she was anxious to share the profits with her. She rushed to open the door excitedly, but froze in place when she pulled open the bolt, and met those deep eyes.
Mo Daoyan was wearing a well-tailored suit, and the dilapidated brick wall behind him was like the existence of two different worlds.
"Would you like me to come in and sit down?"
His voice was very calm, as if it was a casual greeting just by chance, without any emotion.
Tong Yufei stepped aside to make way. Before Mo Daoyan entered, a chaotic sound of footsteps came from behind the curtain. Ye Yimo, wearing only shorts, came out wet all over, his hair still dripping. He failed to take a shower again and poured the whole basin of water on his head. He stood there in a daze for a few seconds, ignoring Mo Daoyan, and reached out to pull Tong Yufei.
Mo Daoyan rushed forward, dragged Tong Yufei behind him, and pushed Ye Yimo away: "Get out of here!"
Ye Yi Mo was pushed down, staggered a few times, and knocked over the cupboard behind him. The cupboard fell to the ground, making several loud noises along with the broken bowls and basins. He was so frightened that he trembled and squatted down with his head in his hands.
Tong Yufei stepped forward and helped him up: "His name is Ye Yimo, he is the son of my adoptive parents, and he knows nothing."
He stared at her. "What about you? Don't you understand either?"
What's wrong with her stepbrother? Is he not a man? Does he not have normal male physiological reactions? She actually helped him bathe? This shabby house is so small that it's hard to walk even two steps. There's only a pitifully narrow bed and not even a sofa to sit on. Did she stay here when she stayed out all night? How could she live here, sharing a bed with that person? These thoughts burrowed into Mo Daoyan's mind like a venomous snake, the more he struggled, the tighter they entangled him, making him extremely disgusted, but unable to stop their rampant growth.
He grabbed her wrist impatiently: "Come home with me!"
She pulled her hand away: "Even if I go with you now, I will come back sooner or later."
"If you don't leave now, you'll never leave again."
She picked up the towel and wiped her brother's hair: "Mo Daoyan, let's get a divorce. Let's get a divorce."
Mo Daoyan's sneer was mixed with undisguised anger: "You? Divorce me?"
The words "with me" were pronounced with a strong emphasis. Perhaps in his opinion, she had no right to mention divorce, especially since he was the one being divorced.
But she didn't show any arrogance on her face, and said again: "Yes, I want to divorce you."
"For him?"
"For him, I will marry you, and for him, I will divorce you." She originally wanted to hold on for another two years, and then get a house after two years, but Uncle Zhong's health was getting worse year by year, and it was too tiring for Aunt Zhang to take care of two people alone. Ye Yimo had been locked up in the tube building for many years, and he became manic. Once, he almost hurt Uncle Zhong. It was not appropriate to hide anymore. Mo Daoyan pressed on step by step, and she would not allow her to continue to hide. If the price of getting a house was to tell lies one after another, she was exhausted and simply surrendered. If she didn't have a house, she would rent one. Anyway, they would still depend on each other in the future. "I will write the money I owe you into an IOU and pay it back monthly. It may take a little longer, but this is the only way."
"Why did you go through so much trouble to get a divorce just for him? You put on all that drama, and you're talking about a trial love? What haven't I promised you, money and a house? You value him more than anything else, so why don't you just marry him? You can fulfill your wish to take care of me, you don't have to have this secret affair like you're doing now, and you can continue the family line for your adoptive parents, killing the old to compensate the young. Isn't that perfect?" He became increasingly excited and began to speak without thinking. "The money I give out isn't a loan, so there's no reason to ask for an IOU. You can do what you're paid for, so don't try to use ethics and morals to hold me back. Just do what you're good at. You'll be available at my beck and call. It's definitely not suitable for my house, and it's hard to clean if it gets dirty. You can open the door to welcome guests, but isn't this place too shabby?"
Tong Yufei was unconcerned with his humiliation. "Are you feeling wronged? Are you accusing me of insincerity? But wasn't this marriage a deal between you and your mother from the beginning? I'm neither the one you admire nor a good match for you. In your eyes, I'm just a tool to appease your mother. How many demands should a tool have? You can be straightforward and act as if I don't exist. Can't I hold back and ask for some practical benefits? Only officials are allowed to set fires, but the people are not allowed to light lamps? For five years, I spent 90% of my time serving your grandmother, taking care of your parents and younger brother, and the remaining 10% was given to my brother. Is this the most heinous crime? I'm sorry that I can't agree to the debt repayment method you mentioned. I won't do anything illegal. I'll move when I find a house. If you think I've soiled your place, you can just burn it down. Out of sight, out of mind."
Mo Daoyan's eyes held a sinister glare. "Since you believe you have a clear conscience, then make these lofty claims public. I'd be happy to provide your newspaper with material for an exclusive story. Such a pure and filial adopted daughter, such a touching brother-sister relationship, would be a loss to society if they weren't set as a contemporary role model. Don't you long for fame? I'll help you achieve your goal. It'll definitely be much easier than just scraping by."
She showed no fear: "Go ahead and expose the truth. I have survived all the storms a few years ago. Now I am just going through it all again."
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