Chapter 12: Clothes Make the Man

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With Fu Wei, a powerfully built man well over six feet tall, helping them pack up their stall, the pile of goods was quickly put away. Fu Wei had spent many years in the army and was exceptionally skilled at keeping things orderly. He arranged everything on the tricycle, making it look far neater and cleaner than the haphazard heap Gao Chunyan usually made.

Remembering how cramped she had felt sitting in the tricycle that morning, Lin Xuexia glanced at Fu Wei in surprise. She had always thought him crude and overbearing... Yet in truth, he was very considerate.

Because of “that incident,” after reuniting with Fu Wei in her previous life, Lin Xuexia had instinctively kept him at a distance and had not been pleased to see him. What she remembered and cared about was only his unpleasant side.

“All done.” Gao Chunyan happily climbed onto the tricycle. In her hearty voice, she said, “I’ll ride ahead. You two lovebirds can follow behind.”

Just then, Fu Wei wheeled over his brand-new black bicycle. After listening to Zhong Xiangdong’s “romantic history” that day, he had added quite a few notes to his notebook of mistakes, but he also agreed with some of Zhong Xiangdong’s opinions.

A man was judged by his clothes.

When pursuing a woman, his clothing and appearance had to be presentable.

A vehicle was another face a man showed the world. Fu Wei could not yet afford to buy himself another motorcycle. He could have found someone to lend or rent him one, but when he remembered Lin Xuexia sitting on the back of his bicycle with her arms around him, he decided that a bicycle would do just fine.

“Aunt Chunyan! Why did you ride off? You could have had him ride it back for you...” Lin Xuexia saw Gao Chunyan pedal away on the tricycle, leaving her behind, and was utterly helpless.

Fu Wei said nothing. He flicked the bicycle bell. It was newly purchased, and the ring was loud and clear.

He straddled the heavy, high-framed bicycle, gripping the handlebars with both hands and planting both feet firmly on the ground. The streamlined frame elongated his figure, making his legs appear even longer and straighter.

The old-fashioned bicycles were very tall. Even for some grown men, they were a burden. Sitting on one, a person could not always place both feet securely on the ground; some could barely touch down with their toes.

For that reason, many people could not start directly from a standstill. They had to get the bicycle moving first, pushing off with one foot, then swing a leg over and mount. Anyone riding on the back had to wait until the cyclist was firmly seated before leaping onto the rear rack.

Yet when Fu Wei rode the bicycle, the long legs he had to bend slightly seemed to make the tall frame look short.

He motioned with his chin for Lin Xuexia to get on.

Lin Xuexia pressed her lips together, then sat sideways with perfect composure and wrapped her arms around Fu Wei’s waist. She felt the muscles in his abdomen tighten. Through the thin fabric of his clothes, she could sense their contours.

The first time had been awkward; the second came more naturally. As the cool evening breeze brushed past them, Lin Xuexia rested her cheek against him, her whole body relaxing into comfort.

Feeling the warmth against his back, Fu Wei was in an excellent mood. He pedaled slowly through the narrow streets.

It was a wonderful feeling. Darkness settled over the sky, and lights began to bloom in thousands of homes. Through the hazy glow, the road ahead was indistinct, the lights faint and soft—yet someone was holding him tightly.

His parents had divorced and each had started a new family. Fu Wei had grown up alone. The army was full of people and lively enough, but sometimes he still felt lonely, especially at sunset.

In other homes, lights would come on. Mothers would call their children home for dinner. The whole family would gather beneath the lamplight and eat together in warmth and harmony.

But he had always been alone.

Not anymore! He was no longer alone! Someone else was pressed tightly against him—and she was his future wife!

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Fu Wei wished the road could stretch on forever. He hoped he would never reach the end, but heaven did not grant his wish.

Gao Chunyan’s rented room was not far from her stall, and they arrived in no time.

“We’re here?” Fu Wei asked, his heart full of regret.

“Mm.” Lin Xuexia jumped off the bicycle. She heard the disappointment in his voice, and her heart began pounding. It was already dark, and the only people beneath the building were the two of them. She could not help feeling nervous, worried that Fu Wei might try something in the darkness.

She was not mentally prepared yet.

She was pregnant, after all—though the child had only been conceived two days earlier.

Lin Xuexia took out her key and opened the iron door on the first floor. As she did so, she said, “I’ll take you to meet the landlady first and tell her that you’re my man.”

“All right.” Fu Wei looked at her with a warm smile.

His gaze made Lin Xuexia feel uneasy. He was putting on an act—still putting on an act. In a moment, she would tear away that false mask and strike first.

Lin Xuexia led him up to the third floor. The front door of the landlady Chen Miaorong’s apartment was tightly shut, while loud voices rose and fell inside. She had three children—two girls and a boy—and their voices overlapped one another.

“The light’s gone out! The living-room light is broken. It flickered a few times and then died.”

Chen Miaorong replied, “I’ll find someone to fix it tomorrow. It must have burned out. We just need to get a repairman to replace it.”

Lin Xuexia knocked on the door. “Sister Chen, are you home?”

Hearing the commotion outside, Chen Miaorong’s heart fluttered anxiously. She was a timid woman who never dared go out at night, nor did she allow her children outside. They had to be home before dark.

Only when she heard Lin Xuexia’s voice did she relax. “Is that Xuexia? You’re back.”

“Sister Chen, let me introduce you to my man. You should know his face.”

Fu Wei followed her inside and said that he knew how to repair lights. He helped fix the lamp in Chen Miaorong’s living room, and the room brightened again. Chen Miaorong’s home was not large, with a layout similar to Lin Xuexia’s.

She usually supported her children by collecting rent, while taking on small sewing and bead-stringing jobs in her spare time to earn a little extra household money.

“This is my man, Fu Wei.”

When Chen Miaorong saw Fu Wei, her eyes lit up at once. Her reaction was understandable. Fu Wei’s appearance was extraordinarily deceptive at that moment: dressed in a crisp suit, he looked dignified and well-mannered. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and handsome, with a bearing that seemed both heroic and upright.

Once she learned that he was a discharged serviceman—one of the nation’s soldiers—she felt even safer around him.

Chen Miaorong immediately took a liking to Fu Wei.

She had always been a woman prone to worry and anxiety. Raising three children alone, she fretted over one thing after another. The city was crowded and chaotic, and serious crimes could easily occur in rented apartments shared by multiple households. Theft was not what frightened her most; she feared robbery and murder. Every alarming story she heard added to her fear. Without a man in the house to provide protection, she never felt secure.

Now that she had seen Fu Wei, tall and imposing, and had noticed the tenderness in his eyes whenever he looked at Lin Xuexia, Chen Miaorong felt an unexpected sense of reassurance.

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She felt she had made the right choice renting the room to Lin Xuexia. Having tall men frequently coming and going around the building could prevent a great deal of unnecessary trouble.

“Xuexia, you two are courting? Are you planning to get married? Where does he live? Why do you still live separately? You could rent one place together and save on the rent.”

Fu Wei answered, “We’re planning to marry. I have my own home—a house in Cui’an. After we get married, Xuexia will move there.”

“Oh, oh, oh.” Chen Miaorong was utterly astonished. Owning a house meant that this man was quite well-off. No wonder Lin Xuexia was willing to spend sixty yuan on rent.

Besides, it would not be proper for an unmarried woman to move into the man’s family home.

Chen Miaorong was delighted to hear the news. Having a happy occasion take place in one of her rental properties reflected well on her, too.

When she looked at Lin Xuexia again, she regarded her with newfound respect.

“You’re both such a handsome couple, a perfect match. Live well together from now on.”

After leaving the landlady’s apartment, Lin Xuexia let out a sigh of relief. She brought Fu Wei downstairs to her own room and unlocked the door. The living room was piled with all kinds of vegetables and white food containers, stacked like a small mountain. She had hauled them back at noon, after already pickling one batch; the prepared sauce was ready-made.

She turned to look at Fu Wei. Here was a perfectly good pair of free hands, so she did not stand on ceremony. She ordered him to sort and wash the vegetables while she lit the stove and boiled water. After working for quite some time, she finally finished pickling all the cold dishes.

After expenses, she had earned about forty yuan that day. The next day, Lin Xuexia planned to buy five pounds of pork belly and try making barbecued pork. She was exceptionally good at it. In the past, she had experimented with all kinds of methods: traditional charcoal roasting, oven roasting, cooking it in a rice cooker, making it in a skillet, baking it in an oven... Even with the crude conditions she had now, Lin Xuexia remained thoroughly confident in her skill.

At the thought of barbecued pork, Lin Xuexia glanced at Fu Wei. Some men claimed they did not like sweet flavors because they were “real men,” yet were more than happy to eat whatever she had left over.

Once everything was put away, Lin Xuexia no longer needed to borrow someone else’s refrigerator. At noon, she had rented a freezer from the owner of the grocery shop on the first floor. He used it to sell popsicles in summer, but it was mostly empty now. Lin Xuexia wanted to rent it and turn up the temperature so she could use it as a refrigerator. He was happy to oblige and charged her one and a half yuan a day.

She packed the cold dishes into food containers, then placed them in bags. Lin Xuexia asked Fu Wei to accompany her to the grocery shop downstairs. With him there, she did not need to carry anything herself. They went outside and knocked on the shop’s rolling shutter. The owner, wearing a coat and smoking a cigarette, opened the door for her. His wife and children were crouched behind the shelves, watching television.

The old gray television had two antenna rods stretched absurdly long, and the sound coming from it crackled with static.

The couple rented the ground-floor storefront from Chen Miaorong and ran the grocery shop there. The rent was expensive, so the entire family lived and ate in the store instead of renting another home. The storefront had only one bathroom and no kitchen, so during the day they cooked by the entrance.

Chen Miaorong chose tenants with amiable faces and easygoing dispositions. People who were fussy or sharp-tongued would never be able to rent from her.

When Lin Xuexia arrived, the shopkeeper’s wife, whose hair was tied in a ponytail, teased her, “Has the new Lin girl from upstairs come down?”

“Sister-in-law, don’t make fun of me. I’m no delicate young lady.” Lin Xuexia placed her things inside the freezer, chatted with the couple for a moment, and introduced Fu Wei as well. “He’s my man.”

After exchanging a few more familiar words, they left the shop.

Lin Xuexia opened the iron door again, and Fu Wei followed her upstairs without any indication that he intended to leave.

They had been busy working earlier, so she had not had time to say much to him. Now there was no escaping him.