Ji You was already scheming as she thought it through and spoke at the same time.
“Write this. Two three hundred year ginseng. Arriving Thursday night at two. Must pick up. How is it? Is it too many characters?”
Fang Sihuo felt helpless.
“One character costs one map four. Seventeen characters and two punctuation marks. Two yuan seven.”
Ji You felt a bit pained about the money.
“With a bit more I could buy a bottle of malted milk. But it cannot be shortened.”
She said with certainty.
Zou Wentao really wants wild ginseng. With these two three hundred year ginseng roots he will definitely come to pick me up. Fine, that is all the words.
Fang Sihuo’s eyes turned dark. Since the two were so affectionate then why did Zou Wentao run away from the marriage back then. Truly blind.
They handed the form to the telegraph clerk, paid, and left the post office. Fang Sihuo still looked unhappy and suggested
“You are pregnant. Traveling far to Binjiang City alone is not good. I will also buy a ticket and go with you.”
Ji You glanced at his drooping mouth and burst out laughing.
“I was teasing you. I am not going to Binjiang City. I just want Zou Wentao to wait at the station. A train at two in the morning will keep him busy all night.”
Fang Sihuo fell silent.
He looked at her, feeling baffled.
“You spent two or three yuan just to tease him.”
Ji You nodded firmly.
“Of course. Thinking about him waiting all night for ginseng but getting nothing makes me happy. I want to see him full of hope and then utterly disappointed. Fang Sihuo you really cannot understand.”
Fang Sihuo frowned slightly.
“Is that fun?”
He could not figure out what she was thinking. Maybe the two were playing some strange game that only lovers enjoyed. Was he just a clown in their game?
Forget it. He would continue indulging Ji You.
Ji You’s lips curved high.
“Of course it is fun. The forecast says it will rain in Binjiang City that night. Not sure if it is accurate. I hope he gets soaked.”
Fang Sihuo looked helplessly at her lively face.
“Alright. As long as you are happy.”
In the afternoon everything remained the same and the couple barely talked.
At night while reading at the table Fang Sihuo finally spoke.
“Do you think we communicate too little?”
Ji You glared at him.
“What about the matter with Xiao Yu? Do not forget you are still reflecting.”
Her eyes were dark and bright. When she glared they shimmered with life. Fang Sihuo felt as if a soft kitten paw brushed him again and again.
As long as she only glared at him and not other men.
Yet Ji You did not reflect on writing letters and telegrams to her former fiancé and only asked him to reflect. Seeing his expression she frowned.
“Looks like you did not reflect at all these days.”
Fang Sihuo quickly denied.
“No I did. I reflect every day.”
Ji You glanced at him.
“Then what is the reason our relationship is so bad?”
Fang Sihuo lowered his head slightly. A suspicious redness spread from his ears. His voice was low and pleasant.
“Before you got pregnant I was too rough at night. I did not control myself and hurt you. You did not like it. I said I can do without that.”
Maybe he had gone the wrong direction before. During the day she ignored him. At night in the dark he tried to hold her down and be intimate. She would complain but it still felt better than the daytime distance. That closeness made him feel the marriage was not so bad.
Then a thought struck him. What if in the darkness she imagined he was another man.
He suddenly felt uncomfortable.
“What else?”
“Nothing else.”
Ji You raised her brows.
This reflection was outrageous.
She took a sip of malted milk powder drink while staring at him. The tall man looked shy with his head lowered. She felt both annoyed and amused.
“You think that is the only problem. I thought we each held half responsibility. Now it seems eighty percent is yours.”
Fang Sihuo raised his head looking innocent.
“Then give me hints. What else? I will change anything.”
Ji You was speechless for a moment.
“Forget other things. About Xiao Yu and her sister. She said her sister is your childhood sweetheart and you must take care of her forever. She even wanted me to abort and marry you. As a married man you seem very charming. Should you not manage your admirers and stop her from talking nonsense to me.”
Ji You did not bottle up dissatisfaction. She poured it all onto him.
Fang Sihuo hurriedly promised.
“I will talk to her and stop her from bothering you. Ji You when we worked at the factory we were neighbors. I always treated her like a younger sister. Lover and sweetheart are nonsense.”
Back then both families were workers and close. Later Fang Sihuo’s adoptive father died in a work accident while Xiao Yu’s father entered the city bureau and the gap widened.
Ji You looked surprised.
“You treated her like a sister. Do you not find that ambiguous.”
Fang Sihuo did not.
“Then I will treat her as a neighbor.”
He walked over, bent down, and held the chair back with both arms as if enclosing her while coaxing gently.
“My relationship with Xiao Yu is trivial. Do not take it to heart.”
Ji You refused to let it go.
“If I had not come to Lincheng you would have married Xiao Yu right. It is not too late to correct it.”
Hearing this, Fang Sihuo panicked.
“Impossible. Ji You, how could you think that? I would never marry her.”
Ji You studied his face and sensed guilt.
“Then why do you look guilty?”
He shifted his grip but still leaned around the chair.
“I am not guilty. It is the truth.”
“You clearly are.”
Ji You did not continue.
“Fine, leave it for now. Continue reflecting.”
She went to bed. Soon Fang Sihuo followed, lifted the quilt, and touched her feet.
“They are cold. Want me to warm the bed. I bathe daily now and only smell of soap.”
His warm hand held her foot.
“No. If you warm the bed, who knows if you will hug me.” she said.
Fang Sihuo pressed his lips.
“If you agree, of course I can.”
Ji You fell silent.
At eleven in the morning Ji You finished recording an advertisement and returned to the office just as Old Li from the public correspondence department was distributing listener letters.
He carried a large sack full of bundled letters. As long as a letter named a specific announcer the department would not read it and delivered it directly.
Ji You had not expected that after reading them she discovered the doctor from that illegal clinic actually had some reputation and was known as a miracle doctor.