Zhou Yu returned to the marital home before evening.
It was a two to three kilometer walk. She walked back, weighing some chestnuts along the way, planning to braise them with shiitake mushrooms for dinner.
Arriving home, she first unwound her scarf, wool gloves, took off her down jacket and hung it up, then went to the kitchen to soak the shiitake mushrooms. After finishing her tasks and her body had thoroughly warmed up, she made a cup of tea and leisurely sat on the sofa looking at her phone.
She happened to scroll to a video from a friend. Sun Jingcheng and several friends were bent over drilling through ice to fish. Three short videos total—one of drilling ice, one of fishing, one of Sun Jingcheng ice skating on the surface. The camera lens was practically shoved in his face, asking how they’d eat the fish tonight? He pushed the camera away with his hand, telling the person recording to stop talking nonsense. A voice came from the distance, saying they’d find a farm to stew it tonight!
The camera turned to reveal an old weathered face, shouting for follows and likes, promising handsome guys every day in the future! At the end he didn’t forget to advertise: Bring your car here for spray painting, let the car take you to show off!
……
The nearest river was in the suburbs twenty kilometers away. Zhou Yu went to the kitchen to take out the soaked shiitake mushrooms, put away the chestnuts she had planned to peel, and went back to the bedroom to sleep. She tossed and turned without sleeping, went back to the kitchen to soak the shiitake mushrooms again, came back and continued sitting on the sofa looking at her Moments.
Now she scrolled to a WeChat post from Sun Jingcheng’s twin sister: Before picking on others’ faults, look more in the mirror, trim your nose hair and wipe your eye crud. What kind of people are these!
……
Remembering the book she hadn’t finished reading in the morning, she picked it up again. Reading and reading, she fell asleep again. When she woke up frozen it was already seven in the evening. She went back to the kitchen and braised chestnuts with shiitake mushrooms, steamed a bowl of rice. There was too much rice, so she put the other half in the refrigerator to make fried rice tomorrow.
After dinner she went downstairs to digest. After the square dancing ended she came back with them, soaked her feet, washed up, applied a face mask and went to bed. Before sleeping she checked her phone—not a single message. She covered herself with the quilt and went to sleep.
The next day Sun Jingcheng came to pick her up, having agreed to go to the full moon celebration. Zhou Yu was putting on makeup in the bedroom while he played piano freely in the living room. Usually when he came home late, playing piano at night would disturb neighbors.
After playing for about half an hour, seeing Zhou Yu come over, he switched to the cheerful “Two Tigers,” then looked at her with a smile. When they were newlyweds, Sun Jingcheng had taught her to play piano. Her fingers weren’t nimble, and she barely learned “Two Tigers,” playing it extremely dull and boring. Sun Jingcheng said she played it like a tiger that had just lost its cubs.
But Sun Jingcheng played it very cheerfully, full of childlike interest. It didn’t sound like two tigers, but rather like a group of playful tiger cubs, making people feel happy along with it.
Sun Jingcheng showed off, playing incredibly fast, watching her proudly while playing.
Seeing him like that, Zhou Yu completely ignored him.
Sun Jingcheng patted the bench, wanting her to sit over. He stood behind her teaching her hand by hand. Not only did Zhou Yu not improve, she played more and more chaotically, finally giving up completely and just playing randomly.
Sun Jingcheng smacked the back of her hand, asking if she had a grudge against the piano keys? Then played with one hand to show her, “Look, how simple, how simple!”
Zhou Yu turned her face to look at him, “Sun Jingcheng.”
“Mm?”
“How old are you this year?”
“Sixteen.”
“Surprisingly self-aware.”
Sun Jingcheng laughed heartily, covered the piano keys with the dust cover, “Let’s go, let’s go to the celebration.”
The two went to the hotel. Just as they had parked and gotten out, Old Jiang came forward from afar, teasing, “A fairy! I thought you hibernated in winter too!”
“Who are you insulting?” Sun Jingcheng said to him.
“School work has been busy this semester.” Zhou Yu said apologetically.
“Understand, understand, it’s good you could come.” Old Jiang became serious, patting Sun Jingcheng’s shoulder, “First table in the front row, you lead Zhou Yu over to sit first.”
Zhou Yu followed Sun Jingcheng into the hotel. She took out a red envelope from her bag to register at the entrance, but was stopped by Sun Jingcheng, “Wait until after eating.”
……
Sun Jingcheng considered, “Why don’t you give it to Old Jiang?”
……
Zhou Yu went back to give it to Old Jiang. Old Jiang wasn’t polite either, quickly stuffing it in his pocket.
……
Sun Jingcheng arranged for her to sit down, gave a few instructions, then went out to the entrance to greet guests with Old Jiang. Old Jiang didn’t give him a good look, saying, “Where does that leave my dignity? Completely exposed my family status.” Then he added: “Pass word to the other guys on the road—just give the red envelopes directly to me, don’t trouble the women.”
Sun Jingcheng immediately sent a message in their childhood friends group, telling everyone to just give the red envelopes directly to Old Jiang. Old Jiang scolded him for not knowing how to handle things—he was still in the group himself!
Sun Jingcheng said casually: “We’re all our own people, mutual understanding.”
Old Jiang rubbed his hands from the cold, urging him, “Go back and keep the fairy company.”
“No rush, I’ll stand here a while longer.”
“What’s with this outfit?” Old Jiang looked at his outdoor clothes and hiking boots.
“Going to Hefei this afternoon for business, climbing Mount Huang on the way.”
“Good grief! You’re really carefree, like a bachelor.” Old Jiang jerked his chin toward the banquet hall, “Your wife has no objections?”
“We agreed before marriage, Zhou Yu doesn’t control these things.” Sun Jingcheng rubbed his neck with his other hand, “Busy all night last night, climbing will help relieve the pressure.”
Old Jiang understood. With the pandemic going on for almost a year now, foreign trade business wasn’t easy. He patted his shoulder consolingly, “It’ll be over soon.”
Sun Jingcheng looked at the sparrows on the road, then at the azure sky, squinting and saying: “When there’s good weather, I’ll bring the wife to the riverside for a barbecue.”
“Sounds good, let’s plan it.” Old Jiang said to him, “You should also get glasses.”
“Got them a couple days ago, will pick them up when I have time.”
Friends and colleagues arrived one after another. Old Jiang directed them to the banquet hall, then said to him: “Speaking seriously, you and Zhou Yu should also put it on the agenda.”
“What agenda?”
“A child! Having a child really makes a difference.” Old Jiang said earnestly: “What’s the fun in just the two of you? With a child, the house is noisy and lively—that’s what living is.” He took out photos to show him, “Look, it’s cold, didn’t dare bring the baby out, just your sister-in-law came today. I thought it was too cold standing at the entrance, so I had her stay in the banquet hall.”