Chapter 59
From then on, Xiao Ye gave him not only orange-flavored fruit candies, but also paper frogs, which she blew at him when he wasn't paying attention; she shared her homemade windmill with him, each blowing one; she gave her comic strips similar to those from a Chinese Studio and pestered him to repeat them orally the next day, but she had to leave out the scary parts, so that the stories were just boring; she pulled him into the group playing with wooden figures, laughed out loud when he broke the rules, and then blamed him for getting herself into trouble; when Uncle Ye was away on a business trip, she reminded her father to buy an extra pencil case when he came back, and then jumped over to give it to him. When he opened it, he found it was full of stationery, and hidden inside was a small hand-drawn portrait of him playing with stones. The seven-year-old Tong Yufei was already a little expert in painting.
Perhaps because she was taught to take care of her brother since she was young, she is always careful and patient. When she was playing marbles with Ye Yimo, her forehead was red from being hit, but she didn't cry. She rubbed her red skin and comforted her brother: "Next time, you must aim carefully and don't hit people. It's a good thing it was me. If it was someone else, they would be scolded."
Compared to Ye Yimo, she treated Tong Zhaoyang with less childishness and more casual intimacy. She would snatch his comic books and push freshly baked buns to him, telling him he was growing taller and needed to eat more. She believed he deserved all the kindness, even if he didn't think so himself. In fact, he didn't like seeing her precocious appearance. He just wanted to see her smile carefree. But like the children of poor families who grow up early, their fate was not under their own control.
Later he began to learn to take care of her. When the rainy season came and flooded the path to school, he carried her on his back and waded through waist-deep water. When bad boys bullied Ye Yimo, he pushed her aside and rushed forward alone. She forgot to do her homework, so he helped her copy it overnight. She was taken back to the small village by her biological father, and he had to walk dozens of kilometers to see her every weekend, and the soles of several pairs of shoes were worn out.
Once he saw her curled up in bed crying because she missed home. He squatted on the edge of the bed and said, "Little Leaf, we will definitely meet again."
The coin purse was a gift she gave him when he got admitted to university. He'd had his wallet stolen on the bus before, and when he caught the thief, he was ridiculed. He asked, "How could a low-quality wallet sold by the pound at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative be his?" In the end, not only did he not get his wallet back, he was even ridiculed. When she found out, she cursed the thief's ancestors for five thousand years. Then, she knitted him this colorful coin purse, claiming it was one-of-a-kind, with a unique anti-counterfeiting mark that no one could deny.
When he was young, he was full of passion and always made promises easily. After her adoptive parents passed away, she and her brother were homeless. He held her for the first time and told her not to be afraid, saying that he would give her a home. But later, because he was jealous of her intimacy with Ye Yimo, he sent Ye Yimo to a mental hospital without authorization and almost caused Ye Yimo to get lost. He was angry with her and returned to school early, leaving her to face everything alone, which eventually led to her being kicked out of the house by his mother. Even Guan Fei was able to get close to her through his relationship, and thus had the opportunity to take advantage of her.
He has changed many bags, but he has carried his coin purse with him for more than seven years, which has supported him through the most difficult days. But as Mo Daoyan said, even if the patina is revealed, it cannot be undone, and it cannot heal the hurt she has suffered. The less it can be, the better.
Tong Zhaoyang returned the wallet to Mo Daoyan: "I didn't bring it with me until I entered Xinli. I was not thoughtful enough, so don't ask her." As he turned to leave, he looked back and asked, "Are you guys having a conflict?"
Otherwise, why would she make such a fuss over an old wallet? If Mo Daoyan trusted her enough, this wouldn't be a problem.
Mo Daoyan tore the red tassels, and the entire coin purse shattered into a strand of woolen noodles, instantly becoming useless. "Loving couples can't stay together, and they quarrel all their lives. She quarreled with me many times."
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If Tong Zhaoyang knew that Tong Yufei was filing for divorce, would he regret returning the wallet to her? If Tong Yufei knew that he was arguing with Tong Zhaoyang over an old wallet, would she laugh at him for being so easily emotionally affected by something related to her?
In fact, all this was beyond his expectations. He never thought that this separation would be so long.
At first, he thought she'd soon be overwhelmed. After all, it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it's hard to go from luxury to frugality. She'd lived in a small Western-style building for five years—bright and spacious, fully furnished, with heating in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. But what about the tube-shaped building? An unidentified sour odor lingered in the corridor all day long, and the sound of dripping water could be heard in the middle of the night. Going to the bathroom was always a problem...
Just as Qiao Zhuocheng had said, a girl like her would be thrown back to her old ways once she got divorced, but "back to the past" and "always like this" were two different things. He'd rehearsed the scene of her coming back to admit her mistake countless times in his mind, like she'd done after a fight before, with red eyes and a soft voice, pretending nothing had happened, shamelessly clinging to him. But this time, her tried-and-true tricks hadn't worked. He decided not to forgive her so easily, but at least make her understand that Ye Yimo shouldn't be a regular in her life. As her lover, he was the one she should rely on and hold on to the most.
But months passed, and she hadn't been to the old house, hadn't visited him at the company, and hadn't returned to their residential complex. Several times, he'd heard a knock on the door, and when he opened it, he'd find it was just a visitor from next door. That house was occupied by a retired couple from the Materials Bureau. The old woman had a very good impression of Tong Yufei, and whenever they met in the hallway, she'd ask about him.
"Why haven't you seen your lover in a long time?"
"Where did Xiao Tong go?"
"Where's your wife?"
To silence any follow-up questions, he would always say dully, "I'm on a business trip. It'll take a while."
"Oh, young people like to spend time together. You must miss her a lot, right?"
"She has work to do."
Compared to whether Tong Yufei has adapted to the life in the tube-shaped building, there is a worse trend. He finds it increasingly difficult to adapt to this empty house. It shouldn't be like this. He doesn't like living with others. Even when he was studying abroad, even though his roommate was a very easy-going person, he still wanted to live alone. Now that he has his own house, his heart feels like a hole has been chiseled in it, and it is very empty.
No one will open the door in advance when he comes home, stick their head out and smile at him; the pot in the kitchen is always cold, and hot meals will not automatically come out; no one will care what time he works overtime, even if he comes back at three or four in the middle of the night, he will not hear the light scolding of "staying up late is bad for your health", let alone the liver-protecting soup specially cooked for him; the shirts thrown casually on the sofa will not be picked up and ironed, the white shirt stained with red ink can only be sent for dry cleaning, and the jacket scratched by a nail is still hanging in the closet. If she were here, a maple leaf would be embroidered on the hole, as if he had changed into a new piece of clothes.
The long nights were the most difficult to endure. The fighting on the chessboard was intermittent, and the door to the second bedroom would neither be locked nor opened.
He finally became the frog in the warm water. All those little things that were not a problem before have now become problems, but he will never give in, let alone beg her to come back. Once a person bows his head and gives in, there will be countless times in the future when he needs to bow his head. It's not his fault, so why should he give in first?
--
Mo Daoyan didn't mention the dispute between him and Tong Zhaoyang, and said ambiguously: "People who are at odds with Tong Zhaoyang can line up from Niangniang Mountain to Nanguan Bridge. Are they all jealous of you? Do you think you are a stunning beauty like Natalia? Even if you are, there are not many fools willing to be Pushkin. You should worry about your own job first."
"Pull over." Tong Yufei's patience was completely exhausted when she saw the sign for the printing factory. She could get to the newspaper office by going through the underground first floor and then taking the underground passage. But Mo Daoyan didn't stop, not even slowing down. She slammed the car window hard, "I told you to stop!" The car finally braked slowly. She leaned back in the seat tiredly, and said in a low but clear voice, "You see, we're either arguing or attacking each other. We're worse than enemies. What's the point of keeping this marriage? If you refuse to go through the formalities, don't see each other again."
He lowered his head, his expression unrecognizable: "You were the one who went to Xinli. I didn't ask for a meeting."
“It’s commendable, keep it up.”
She hugged her bag tightly and rushed into the rain. In just a few dozen meters, the rain had soaked the back of her coat.
Mo Daoyan clutched the long-handled black umbrella and ultimately didn't chase after him. He looked up at the rearview mirror. The man in the mirror looked hideous. He clearly didn't think that way, so why did he lose control of his heart? She would never see him again.
In fact, we met again soon.
The night before Old Lady Mo left for Changsha, Mo Daoyan returned to the old house. The plane trees on the street had dropped yellow leaves all over the ground, but the camphor trees and osmanthus trees in the old house were still evergreen. He entered the house and went straight to his grandmother's room, where he found Tong Yufei there. She had a close relationship with her grandmother, which would not change because of the divorce. Not only with her grandmother, but also with her younger brother, parents, and all the family members except him, she got along very well. But she was his wife, and divorce meant she had to give up something, and every time she came to this home, she would come one less time.
She fastened the kneepads for Grandma and placed two other pairs of gray kneepads into the cloth bag. "Your knees need to be kept warm to prevent rheumatism. These two pairs are for my second uncle. His size is definitely larger than yours, so the stitching is a little loose."
Mrs. Mo smiled as she touched the delicate stitching on the kneepad and said, "Seeing your second uncle's grandfather will be like meeting the Xu family from long ago, as well as your parents. In the blink of an eye, they've been gone for almost thirty years. I have to carry this kneepad with me. If I don't come back, I can show off my grandson's wife's skills to the King of Hell."
Tong Yufei smiled at her grandmother and said, "Don't do that. If you talk to the King of Hell, he'll come to me and ask for the textiles. If I don't give them to him, I'll be dead. If I do, I'm so young, how can I stop? Let's just avoid him. I also knitted you a cashmere waistcoat. It's missing the cuffs, so you can wear it when you come back from Changsha."
The old lady held her hand and said, "Put the waistcoat aside for now. Can you let me see my great-grandson?"
Mo Daoyan sensed the helplessness in Tong Yufei's eyes and immediately sat down on the other side of Old Lady Mo: "If you take good care of yourself, you will naturally see what you are supposed to see. If you can live to be a hundred years old, you can even have five generations living under one roof."
Mrs. Mo smiled and said, "Just coax me."
Mo Daoyan patted her shoulder through Old Lady Mo: "Explain your attitude, am I trying to coax grandma?"
Tong Yufei ignored him and lowered his head to refill the old lady's tea.
Old Mrs. Mo is about to reunite with her brother, which should be a joyous occasion. However, as she grows older, she can't help but feel sad when she thinks of the past and her deceased relatives. In order to prevent her from being trapped in the sadness of separation, the two of them accompanied her to listen to "The Matchmaker of the Number One Scholar" three times, until eleven o'clock in the evening. When the faint fragrance drifted into the room, Old Mrs. Mo yawned repeatedly before she said good night to them and asked them to stay overnight. She wanted to eat the scallion pancakes made by Tong Yufei the next morning.
Old Mrs. Mo will be leaving tomorrow morning. They don’t know when they will see each other again. Tong Yufei couldn’t bear to refuse, so he agreed. Then he and Mo Daoyan went back to the second floor together. Aunt Lin had hung out their beddings for them earlier. This was Aunt Lin’s habit of taking care of people. No matter whether they came back or not, she would hang out the beddings every few days so that they could have quilts to use whenever they returned home.
Tong Yufei showered and took the bed, assuming Mo Daoyan would move into the sofa bed as usual. She waited, but he didn't come in. She figured he'd sleep in the study, which was the best option. She turned off the lights and curled up in bed, trying to fall asleep. Just as she was drifting off, the door opened silently. Then the bed sank, revealing a warm body beside her.
Moonlight leaked in through the gap in the curtains, and she saw the cold face clearly. She almost cried out, "Why is it you?"
"This is my marriage bed, who do you want?"
"You go sleep on the sofa bed."
"Why should I sleep on the sofa bed?"
"You slept with it before."
"I don't want to sleep now."
She lifted the quilt and was about to get up: "I'm going to sleep."
He grabbed her hand and said, "You can't even sleep on the bed, how can you sleep on the sofa? Do you want to get sick?"
"You don't need to worry about it," she said, unable to break free, slightly angry, "What do you want to do?"
"Do something a couple can do."
He came over with a light scent of soap and pulled her into the quilt. His hot lips and tongue swallowed up the half-scream she made. Her lips were still soft, and her teeth still tasted of papaya. The tip of her tongue was like a slippery little fish, difficult to catch, but he chased it patiently and finally caught it, wrapping it around his tongue. His movements were extremely gentle, and his kiss was long and moist, like the soft waves of a river in spring, which gradually disintegrated her will. Afraid that she would hurt herself like last time, he put an extra buckwheat pillow behind her head.
Every part of her body was soft, every inch was what he longed for in his dreams. He rubbed her hard with his burning fingertips, as if he wanted to rub her whole body into the depths of her bones and blood.
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