Although it was deep spring, the wind in Shenzhou was already somewhat warm.
Fang Shuwen rode her Electric Bike all the way to the market with Fang Zhiwei. Taking off her helmet, she turned to him and asked, “What would you like for dinner?”
Fang Zhiwei glanced at the seemingly endless Vegetable Market and shook his head gently. “There’s nothing I particularly want. Anything’s fine.”
Seeing how listless Fang Zhiwei looked, Fang Shuwen felt a sudden pang in her heart. She pressed her lips together and remained silent for a long while.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say that everything was in the past and that he should live well from now on.
But the words took a turn at the last moment. “Then I’ll buy a few Tomatoes and two jin of Pork Belly, and make the Tomato and Egg and Twice-Cooked Pork dishes you like.”
“Do you remember when we were little? Mom sold some mountain ginseng, then brought home half a jin of meat. The two of us kept arguing over whether to have steamed meat or Twice-Cooked Pork. Neither of us would give in, and Mom got so fed up with our bickering that she swatted each of us a few times with a branch. In the end, she minced the meat and made steamed eggs with meat sauce.”
“I still remember how it tasted, you know. It was pretty good.”
When she finished, Fang Shuwen didn’t take Fang Zhiwei’s hand in a tight grip like she had when they were children. Instead, she gently linked her arm through his. “Come on, let’s go buy groceries together.”
Fang Zhiwei lowered his head slightly and saw Fang Shuwen’s hand resting in the crook of his arm. He suddenly thought of the miserable end she had met in his previous life, and his nose began to sting.
He wondered if she had ever regretted being so good to this younger brother of hers.
Fang Shuwen hadn’t noticed Fang Zhiwei’s brief lapse in spirits. Full of energy, she surveyed the entire Vegetable Market, finally stopping in front of a vegetable stall. She picked out four of the freshest, juiciest Tomatoes, then selected a bunch of Water Spinach.
Fang Zhiwei took the weighed vegetables from the vendor and quietly waited for Fang Shuwen to scan the code and pay.
After buying the vegetables, the siblings bought meat from a butcher’s stall and hurried back to the Noodle Stall.
They had thought there wouldn’t be much business at this hour, but several customers were already gathered in front of the stall, waiting to buy.
Fang Shuwen handed the meat to Fang Zhiwei, then hurried over to help Fang Mother serve the customers.
Fang Mother had spent half her life farming in their Hometown. When she first came to Shenzhou, she didn’t even know how to use a gas stove. She had been quite flustered when she started helping at the Noodle Stall, but she had learned everything through sheer determination.
Now she could do everything, from mixing dough to greeting customers, weighing goods, calculating the bill, and taking payment.
Fang Mother noticed Fang Zhiwei, two steps behind Fang Shuwen, but she couldn’t spare him any attention just then and continued serving customers.
It was called a stall, but behind it was also a Shop of about twenty square meters. A long row of custom-made cabinets stood a meter and a half outside the shop entrance. They made all kinds of noodles and Dough Wrappers inside the shop, while the space outside was left for the stall.
Fang Zhiwei carried the meat and vegetables into the shop. He hesitated for a moment, then began washing and cutting the vegetables.
This was the kind of work he was more familiar with.
Even now, Fang Zhiwei still felt as if he were living in a dream.
He washed the Water Spinach and snapped it in half. He didn’t peel the Tomato, but cut it into irregular chunks. The Pork Belly he had just put in the pot was cooking with two pieces of ginger.
When Fang Mother finished up and turned around, she saw this scene. A smile unconsciously curved her lips. She said nothing, instead helping Fang Zhiwei rinse the rice and cook it.
Only after the rice was cooking did she speak. “Not bad. You’ve finally come out to see the sun today.”
Fang Zhiwei tilted his head up toward the bright fluorescent light overhead. “There’s no sun, just a glaring lightbulb.”
At that, Fang Mother couldn’t help clicking her tongue. “You must’ve seen the sun on the way here, at least.”
Fang Zhiwei shook his head honestly. “Nope.”
Fang Mother was speechless, though she was still quite happy inside. She felt the old saying was right: people couldn’t stay cooped up at home all the time. They’d end up like mushrooms growing in a corner.
Now her second son was going out for some fresh air and sunshine, and even joking with her like he had many years ago.
He wasn’t like when he’d first come out, silent and withdrawn, practically a corpse that could breathe and eat, drink, and relieve itself.
Seeing how neatly Fang Zhiwei was preparing the ingredients, Fang Mother didn’t offer to help. Instead, she said, “I didn’t know you had this kind of skill. You look like you know what you’re doing.”
Fang Zhiwei didn’t pause as he scooped out the meat. He replied casually, “I did it in there too. I got used to it.”
The smile on Fang Mother’s face froze. Her mouth moved faster than her brain. “Well, that’s good too. At least you learned some real skills, unlike before—”
The meat had been cut into mahjong-tile-sized chunks, and the Shredded Potatoes were so thick the spatula couldn’t turn them over.
She didn’t finish the thought. Fang Mother awkwardly shut her mouth and forced a smile. “Things were pretty good before, too.”
It felt awkward to stay there, so Fang Mother swung her lowered hands and wanted to escape. “You get on with it. I’ll go see your sister.”
After she left, Fang Zhiwei’s lips lifted slightly. Fang Mother was actually a very interesting person: strong and optimistic, never crushed by the poverty of her life.
Business was unbelievably good today. At this time on other days, there would still be some stock left at the counter. Who would’ve thought everything would sell out today?
Fang Shuwen was wiping down the counter when another customer who had previously ordered noodles from her stall came by. “Boss Fang, how much for fifty jin of noodles?”
“The same price as before. We’ve never raised our prices.”
“Can’t you make it a little cheaper?”
“The price of flour has gone up, but we haven’t raised the price of our noodles. We really can’t lower it.”
“……”
While the two of them were negotiating the price, Zhou Shengcai returned with the three children: his niece Fang Qingyue, and the two children he had with Fang Shuwen. The older one, a girl named Zhou Ling, was the same age as Fang Qingyue, while the younger one, a boy named Zhou Yue, was still in Kindergarten.
Fang Qingyue walked behind the other two, gripping the straps of her schoolbag with both hands, her head bowed as if trying her hardest to make herself inconspicuous.
Fang Qingyue didn’t realize Fang Zhiwei was there until she entered the shop.
There wasn’t a trace of emotion in Fang Qingyue’s eyes. Even though Fang Zhiwei noticed her behind the others, her face showed no unnecessary expression.
They looked at each other, then quickly looked away.
Fang Zhiwei noticed the dark ink stain on Fang Qingyue’s school uniform, her worn-out schoolbag, her scraped palm, and the silence that didn’t suit her age.
She was like a pool of stagnant water.
Fang Qingyue put down her schoolbag and softly called to Fang Mother, who was beside the dining table, “Grandma.”
Fang Mother answered with a smile, then lifted her chin toward Fang Zhiwei. “Your dad’s here too.”
Fang Qingyue showed no reaction, as though she hadn’t heard. She mechanically opened her schoolbag, took out her homework book, and slowly sat beside Zhou Ling.
Zhou Ling had already spread out her homework book. When Fang Qingyue sat down, she shifted over and asked with a grin, “Have you reached Unit Three in Math?”
Fang Qingyue shook her head slightly in reply. Without saying a word, she picked up her pen and bent over her homework.
Zhou Ling was already used to this. She pursed her lips and picked up her own pen.