Yun Ruo stepped back. “Su Yechuan, don’t block me. I’ll be busy in a bit…”
“What are you going to be busy with?” Su Yechuan’s clothes smelled of machine oil and soap nuts. As he got closer, Yun Ruo’s breathing quickened.
She lifted her head, chest out. “A blind date.”
“Heh. Another blind date?” Su Yechuan laughed. “I know you’re not serious. You treat blind dates like picking vegetables.”
Yun Ruo suddenly froze, staring at Su Yechuan.
Her gaze seemed as if it could see right through him.
“Are you still so full of yourself? I’m getting married! That’s why I’m taking this seriously. Is that not allowed?”
“Getting married?” Su Yechuan was stunned.
Then his body jerked violently.
His face gradually turned pale, and his long legs took two steps forward…
Yun Ruo immediately stepped back several meters, lifting the corners of her mouth. “I sprayed perfume. If you get too close, it won’t look good explaining to your wife later.”
As she spoke, her mouth twitched slightly downward again.
Su Yechuan’s chest tightened, as if a breath were being trapped in his bones.
All he could think about was what Yun Ruo had said… that she was getting married.
He stared at her, suddenly struggling to breathe. “Yun Ruo, stop going on blind dates. Wait until I’m divorced, okay?”
His emotions escalated as he spoke, reaching out to touch her shoulder. “I really will divorce Bai Qiu. Don’t go on blind dates… I’m begging you…”
Yun Ruo sharply pushed his hand away. “Shut up!”
“What do you take me for, a third party?”
Yun Ruo said angrily.
Su Yechuan whispered, “Third party… you. How can you say that? We met first.”
Yun Ruo said nothing and, holding her satchel, lifted her leg to leave.
Su Yechuan ran after her, holding her wrist. “You won’t succeed in blind dating. Setting up a stall by the service store isn’t easy either. I know someone in the regiment’s political department; I can help you.”
Yun Ruo shook off his arm. “I don’t need your help.”
“Fine, you don’t need my help, but you’re not going on that blind date later,” Su Yechuan said, following her again.
Su Yemang hid behind a tree, thinking about Yun Ruo’s plan to apply to the military district to set up a stall by the service store…
A few days ago, chatting with colleagues, she learned reliable news that China would soon allow individual entrepreneurs. Yun Ruo applying to set up a stall… earning a little pocket money, was a wise choice.
She was just reflecting…
Then, a flock of birds flew into the sky.
The orange red sunset spread like a huge, dazzling flower, and everything around seemed suddenly alive.
The layers of dusk, the sunset glow, and the distant smoke from cooking…
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, it was late December.
The weather grew colder.
Since the day she delivered the tofu…
Su Yemang and Xiao Ye hardly spoke.
But Xiao Ye opened his door every morning and evening. The sound of the door closing was unusually forceful, as if worried the neighbor wouldn’t notice him.
Maybe it was just her imagination, but every time she went out, Xiao Ye was tending the winter vegetables at the doorway.
When he saw Su Yemang coming out, he would act as if she didn’t exist, then suddenly straighten up, glance at her once, and walk away proudly.
One evening…
Su Yemang returned late from washing clothes at the communal washroom. Approaching her home, she saw Xiao Ye smoking in the night, his eyes looking in her direction.
As soon as she got closer, he immediately stubbed out the cigarette and turned to slam the door with a “bang!”
Su Yemang was a little surprised. Was he… waiting for me to come home?
She didn’t think much of it and went to the kitchen to boil water. Soon after stepping into the yard, she heard the sound of a match being struck…
Then came a long, drawn out sigh, very close, just next door.
Next door, at the Xiao residence…
Xiao Ye had removed a few bricks, leaning against the courtyard wall, pressing himself to it, listening to Su Yemang next door.
These past days, he kept thinking: on the day he delivered tofu to Su Yemang, why had she suddenly been upset?
“Married woman?” Was that her way of drawing a boundary with him?
“Fine,” he thought. He wanted to draw a boundary with her anyway.
But… these past few days of not talking to her felt unbearably uncomfortable…
“Pathetic! Damn it!”
Xiao Ye cursed himself and slammed his hand against the wall with a “BANG!”
Instantly, several bricks on the green brick wall cracked and collapsed, white dust rising into the air.
Next door…
Voices of surprise came from Su Yemang and her son.
Xiao Ye tilted his head back and closed his eyes, the dust settling on his face.
He scolded himself silently: Xiao Ye, why are you so weak? So what if she abandoned you before? And now you can’t even ask when you’re doubtful? When did you become so insecure?
Next door…
Su Yemang and Su Yixin were talking and were startled by the noise.
Su Yixin anxiously said, “Mom, what’s going on with Uncle Xiao Ye next door? That was so loud!”
Su Yemang looked at the wall. “I don’t know.”
Su Yixin clenched his little white fists. “No! I have to go see Uncle Xiao Ye.”
Before Su Yemang could finish, her son had already run out the door.
“Knock knock knock.”
The sound of her son knocking felt like it hit Su Yemang’s heart. He was going to check on Xiao Ye for her.
Next door…
Xiao Ye sat upright on a stool, listening to Su Yixin on the sofa, chewing candy and talking.
“Uncle Xiao Ye, are you in a bad mood?” Su Yixin asked in his soft, childish voice.
Xiao Ye covered the scraped part on his hand. “You can tell?”
Su Yixin rested his little hand on his cheek. “I can feel it. My mom hasn’t been happy recently either.”
Xiao Ye immediately lifted his eyes. “Uh… your mom hasn’t been happy either?”
Su Yixin chewed his candy. “Yes, she’s been unhappy for several days and doesn’t eat much.”
Xiao Ye handed him another candy. “When did she start feeling unhappy?”
“Hmm… let me think…”
Su Yixin, like a little grown up, sat cross legged on the sofa, racking his brain.
Suddenly he slapped his knees. “Got it! I heard Mom say something about Su Yueyue…”
Xiao Ye froze for a moment. She… it turns out…
It was because he had ridden the bike taking Su Yueyue to the infirmary.
She was jealous.
The next day…
Xiao Ye woke up very early, prepared a bunch of breakfast in the kitchen, then went in the dark to the communal washroom, fetched two buckets of hot water, and placed them at Su Yemang’s door.
He knocked with a “knock knock knock.”
It took a long time before sounds of slippers inside the room responded.
“Tap tap tap…”
The familiar sound of slippers felt like it tapped straight on Xiao Ye’s heart. His chest thumped at the doorway.
“Creak ”
As soon as the door opened, Xiao Ye dashed off.
Sleepy eyed, Su Yemang opened the door. “Who is it, so early in the morning?”