He Chengan hung the net bag containing the lunch boxes from the handlebar of his bicycle and held it tightly with one hand. He rode slowly at first, but when he was almost at the alley where he lived, he began to pick up speed. He looked full of confidence and pride, with an undisguised smile on his face.
After stopping his bicycle in the courtyard, he carried the net bag over and placed it on the stone table. He then turned on the faucet and washed his hands before sitting down and taking out the lunch boxes one by one.
The buns were white, plump, and slightly soft. Just looking at them, they seemed better than any buns He Chengan had eaten before. He picked one up and took a large bite.
Zhang Hao knocked on the door before coming in. “Brother He, I brought you some food.”
The courtyard where He Chengan lived was a private residence with its own entrance. Zhang Hao usually liked coming here because there were spare rooms, and sometimes he could even stay the night. He also often brought meals for He Chengan.
The aroma of the buns was too tempting for Zhang Hao to resist. He leaned closer and reached out, but before his hand could touch one, He Chengan moved the lunch box aside.
“Eat your own food. These were given to me by Lu Yun.”
Zhang Hao counted them. There were ten whole buns.
Was Brother He planning to eat himself sick?
Zhang Hao grinned. “I wish you both a long and happy marriage. Give me one, will you?”
Thanks to his sweet talking, Zhang Hao successfully managed to get a pork and cabbage bun that Lu Yun had made for He Chengan. He took one bite and looked as if he could hardly believe it. In just two or three bites, he had finished the entire bun.
This was far too delicious.
Zhang Hao said, “Brother He, I see what this is. Your sincerity has finally moved her. Look at my Sister in law. She even brought you buns, and she made them herself. I…”
He was about to say that even his own girlfriend had never brought him buns, but then he realized he had spoken without thinking. He immediately stopped.
It was not really Zhang Hao’s fault. Chen Zhiqiang had gone away on a business trip and had not returned yet, so he could not think of any other reason why Lu Yun would pay attention to He Chengan. He had spoken without considering it properly, and the moment the words left his mouth, he realized something was wrong.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse.
He Chengan washed the lunch boxes in the courtyard. His slender fingers, with a hint of roughness, moved carefully and attentively as he scrubbed them. In the end, he even wiped each lunch box dry with a cloth before putting them away neatly.
At the same time, at the Lu family home, Lu Yun lay inside her pink mosquito net decorated with lace, using a fan to cool herself. Zhang Meili sat beside her, mending clothes under the light. Every few sentences, she would inevitably ask Lu Yun who the buns had been given to.
Zhang Meili said, “The buns you made today were truly delicious. They were even better than the buns I ate at the state owned restaurant in the provincial capital when I was young. I still did not get enough. I saw you take four lunch boxes out today. Who were those buns for?”
She lowered her head and continued working.
“Your mosquito net is quite pretty too.”
After a while, Zhang Meili spoke again.
“By the way, I heard that Chen Zhiqiang from your Cotton Cloth Factory has returned from his business trip?”
Lu Yun was speechless.
Lu Yun could not help laughing when she looked at Zhang Meili. When she raised her head, she saw Zhang Dong pacing around outside the window at some point. Lu Yun was beginning to worry that none of them would be able to sleep that night.
Lu Yun said, “Stop asking. They were not for Chen Zhiqiang. Hurry back and go to sleep.”
The next day, He Chengan returned the lunch boxes to Lu Yun. Even Lu Yun could not help touching the gleaming lunch boxes when she saw them.
For a moment, she thought He Chengan had lost her lunch boxes and bought new ones to replace them.
However, when she noticed the scratches on the lunch boxes, she quickly dismissed that thought. She even began to wonder whether she simply did not have enough strength. She had scrubbed those lunch boxes for a long time herself, yet she had never managed to make them this clean.
Lu Yun was somewhat troubled by her lack of strength. When it came to preparing food, it was indeed inconvenient. There were many things she simply could not handle. She hugged the lunch boxes and continued walking.
Actually, it was not only a matter of strength.
The novel had described the female character as delicate and fussy. She had to eat fine white rice with carefully prepared dishes, otherwise she would have trouble eating. When it came to clothes, she had to wear good quality fabric. If the fabric was poor, she would feel itchy and develop a rash.
There was also Lu Yun’s voice. When she spoke normally, her voice was gentle and soft, but not deliberately so. Before she crossed over, her voice had been clear and bright.
He Chengan caught up with her in a few long strides.
“You are unhappy?”
Lu Yun shook her head.
“No.”
He Chengan pressed his lips tightly together without saying anything. He could tell that Lu Yun was unhappy.
He continued following behind her.
The two of them walked for an unknown distance. Suddenly, He Chengan took a large step and stood in front of Lu Yun. He took out a little golden fish woven from plastic filament and gave it to her.
The little fish was yellow and shimmered slightly in the sunlight. Looking closely, however, it was obvious that it had probably been woven many years ago.
Lu Yun did not know why He Chengan carried something like this with him, but it was indeed very beautiful.
Holding the string attached to the little fish, He Chengan said quietly, “The little fish swims and swims until it reaches your side, then it tells you to be happier.”
Lu Yun was stunned.
She looked at He Chengan for a while before continuing forward.
He Chengan followed behind her.
The two of them walked along the street, one in front and one behind, surrounded by the lively sights and sounds around them.
Later, He Chengan stuffed the little fish woven from plastic filament into Lu Yun’s hands, hoping to cheer her up.
Before they knew it, the Mid Autumn Festival was approaching. The weather had become slightly cooler, unlike the previous few days when it had been so hot that Lu Yun sometimes woke up from the heat while sleeping.
Lu Yun had a stable job, and the Cotton Cloth Factory gave its employees Mid Autumn Festival benefits. There were mooncakes and apples, although the mooncakes only came in five kernel fillings. That was normal for this era. There was not yet a wide variety of mooncake fillings, and the ones people ate most often were five kernel filling and red bean filling. Lu Yun liked both.
The Mid Autumn Festival was mainly about the feeling of family reunion.
There were four employees in the Lu family, and all four received Mid Autumn Festival benefits from their workplaces. The mooncakes they received together were not an enormous amount, but there were still quite a few. Since mooncakes would not taste good if they were kept for too long, Lu Yun’s father bought some other things as well. He then took some mooncakes and other items to relatives in the countryside and gave Lu Yun some too, asking her to take them to Li Ling’s family.
Although Zhang Meili was unhappy about it, she did not say much. She only looked at Lu Yun meaningfully.
“When you look for a husband in the future, you cannot only look at the person. You also need to understand what his family is like.”
Lu Dong felt extremely guilty. He hurriedly went to help Lu Yun’s older brother Lu Xiangan with his work.
Lu Yun understood some of what Zhang Meili meant, and she also felt guilty.
The original novel had said that the female character had caused no end of trouble for the Lu family because she wanted to marry Chen Zhiqiang.
Although it had never explained exactly how she convinced the Lu family to agree, judging from what Zhang Meili had said, it had probably caused quite a commotion.
Even now, Zhang Meili probably still felt that Lu Yun was difficult to deal with.
Lu Yun simply took the mooncakes and went to find Li Ling, bringing them to Li Ling’s family.
Lu Yun discovered that the atmosphere surrounding festivals in the 1980s was especially strong. Everyone became busy because of the Mid Autumn Festival, and people were already discussing what they would eat on the day itself.
When Lu Yun arrived at Li Ling’s home, the family was discussing what kind of filling they should use for their dumplings. The discussion looked especially heated.
Li Ling was delighted.
“Cousin, you are here! Come inside. Let them argue. I think we should just make one kind of dumpling with each of these two fillings, and then make some ribs too.”
At the mention of all this food, Li Ling was practically drooling. She had not eaten ribs in a long time. She could not even remember when she had last eaten them.
When Li Ling’s mother saw the mooncakes Lu Yun had brought, she smiled as well.
“I also prepared some mooncakes for you. I was planning to bring them to you tomorrow. I also have some bananas.”
After saying that, she continued.
“Go inside and play with Li Ling. It is too sunny outside. I will wash some fruit for you.”
Li Ling linked her arm through Lu Yun’s and led her inside.
“Cousin, are you going to be the host at your factory’s Mid Autumn Festival celebration this year? If you are, I will not watch our factory’s celebration.
Just like last time, I will go to your factory and watch yours.”
Lu Yun had heard the people in the office mention the Mid Autumn Festival celebration a few days earlier. They had said that the factory would soon hold its celebration, but she had not realized that she had been the host at the previous celebration.
Before crossing over, Lu Yun had once been a host at school. Her only impression after an entire event was that it was exhausting. Later, she stopped hosting such events. At most, she would go on stage and sing a song, which was enough to count as participating.
After hearing what Li Ling said, Lu Yun had only one thought. She definitely would not host the event this time. At most, she would sing a song.
Li Ling lowered her voice and whispered into Lu Yun’s ear.
“Last year, when you hosted the Mid Autumn Festival celebration at the Cotton Cloth Factory, quite a few people came just to see you. I know several factories where the employees did not even watch their own factory’s celebration. They came to see you instead.”
It was a pity that later, Lu Yun had openly pursued Chen Zhiqiang at the Cotton Cloth Factory. That made those admirers give up on pursuing her.
Otherwise, who knew how many people would be chasing Lu Yun now?
After all, the factory beauty of the Cotton Cloth Factory was genuinely beautiful.
Li Ling’s mother came over with the fruit and heard this. She quickly said, “That is true. Several people from our factory went to see you host the event. When I looked at them back then, they were not even that good looking. You definitely cannot agree to date them.”
Lu Yun could not help laughing.
Li Ling looked helpless.
“Mom, your ears are way too sharp. We are going back to the room.”
With that, she carried the fruit in one hand and linked her other arm through Lu Yun’s as they returned to the room.
The room where Li Ling lived was not large. Li Ling envied the fact that Lu Yun’s family had a place where she could bathe. She had to go to a public bathhouse to bathe. However, the window in her room was especially large, and plenty of sunlight came in.
The two girls talked about Li Ling’s boyfriend, who was already discussing marriage with her, the dresses that had recently become popular, and various matters concerning Li Ling’s wedding. They kept talking until it was dark.
When Lu Yun was about to leave, the Li family had already prepared dinner. They insisted on keeping Lu Yun for a meal.
Everyone knew that Lu Yun was delicate. The Li family had prepared white porridge, and even the steamed buns were made from fine flour.
When Lu Yun went home, Li Ling’s younger brother walked her back. He escorted her all the way to the courtyard gate in the alley and even carried the mooncakes and bananas she had brought from the Li family.
When Zhang Meili saw him, she exchanged another round of polite greetings with him.
Lu Yun quickly went inside to take a bath.
After coming out feeling clean and refreshed, Lu Yun heard Zhang Meili still talking to Li Yong in the courtyard. Li Yong listened attentively the entire time and looked every bit like an honest and obedient young man.
Lu Yun was speechless.
Early the next morning, Lu Yun arrived at the Cotton Cloth Factory for work.
She had not even entered the office yet when she heard everyone inside talking about the Mid Autumn Festival celebration.
Sister Sun smiled as soon as she saw Lu Yun.
“You are still going to be the host at the factory celebration this time, right?”
Lu Yun quickly said, “My cousin is getting married and she is very busy. We are close, so I need to help her. That is why I will not host the event this time. Besides, there are plenty of excellent people in our factory who want to be hosts. I already did it once last year. This time, let someone else do it so everyone can get some experience. What do you think?”
She simply did not want to host the event. It was too exhausting.
As for attracting attention, Lu Yun did not want to stand out anymore either.
After all, whether it was her or Chen Zhiqiang, the moment either of them made even a small move, it would probably become the latest gossip at the Cotton Cloth Factory.
The deputy director of the office happened to hear her outside. He smiled as he entered.
“Look at how well Lu Yun put it. Since you do not want to host the event, why not sing a song at this year’s Mid Autumn Festival celebration?”
Lu Yun smiled.
“Sure.”
Singing was much easier than hosting the entire event.
After the small episode concerning the Mid Autumn Festival celebration passed, the people in the office began talking about other things. Everyone happened to be free that day.
Lu Yun sat at her desk and organized everything neatly. Only after that did she begin slacking off together with everyone else.