At ten-thirty in the morning, the courtyard was quiet, with only the faint sounds of passersby on the road outside the wall drifting in, gradually scattered by the breeze.
Early winter turned chilly, leaves fell, and the bleak cold wind slapped against the slightly open glass windows, making slap-slap-slap sounds that disturbed the stillness of the room.
Just one window apart, the cold desolation outside contrasted with the steaming heat inside, where the temperature rose, making one’s face flush and body burn.
Feng Man’s fair and delicate feet rested on Cheng Lang’s shoulders, her plump and glossy toes trembling involuntarily, sometimes tensing, sometimes relaxing…
The man’s rough palms slowly pressed against her soft calves, sliding down the smooth skin all the way, finally cradling those exquisite jade feet in his grasp.
Thin sweat dripped down, tinting Cheng Lang’s usually stern face with a hint of desire. The man’s phoenix eyes reddened at the corners, his breathing heavy, his voice ground into a low, husky murmur: “Still so beautiful.”
Feng Man had just gone through a round and lay on the bed, breathing raggedly. Hearing this, she felt the callused palm gripping her, and with a slight lift of her eyes, she saw that wheat-colored skin intertwined with white skin, strikingly vivid.
Cheng Lang’s low, hoarse words carried a perverse edge. Thinking back to the day they bought shoes and she had asked for his opinion, he had actually remembered it until today! Feng Man shrank her feet back, but the man gripped them tightly, allowing no escape.
After getting out of bed, he had seemed like a man of cold demeanor and low desire, yet now he could joke with a touch of color in broad daylight?
Unable to escape the man’s grasp, Feng Man simply kicked him mischievously with a foot—not too light, not too heavy—bumping into the man’s abdominal muscles. Beneath the skin were hard, defined ridges, and the hand gripping her ankle slid upward, straight to the soft spot…
Feng Man’s eyes widened abruptly, and she cried out in surprise. Her weak voice was like a butterfly startled in a flower cluster, soft and coquettish, too soft to muster real anger: “You… it’s still broad daylight!”
Doing this sort of thing in broad daylight was already shameful enough, and this man wanted to go again and again? Feng Man was a bit hungry now and wanted to leave even more.
“The door’s shut. Don’t worry.” Cheng Lang pressed closer relentlessly, his long fingers unusually nimble. In quick motions, he already left Feng Man unable to speak a complete sentence.
The wooden bed creaked and swayed lightly, creak creak, not stopping completely until after lunchtime.
She had originally been bored and wanted to kill time, but now she had been busy all morning without a break. Feng Man felt limp, not even wanting to move her fingers, and shot several glares at the man cooking noodles in the kitchen.
Toward the end, Feng Man couldn’t take it anymore. Her eyes glazed over in a daze, and she only bit her lip lightly, urging the man to finish quickly. But she saw his gaze darken slightly, and he rasped for her to hold on just a bit longer…
He could hold on, sure!
Choosing a husband with such stamina was its own kind of torment. By the time two bowls of noodles were on the table, Feng Man shot Cheng Lang another glare.
But after just one glare, Feng Man wondered if she was being too harsh. She had enjoyed it, after all—Cheng Lang was so vigorous in bed, his muscles hard as iron, powerful and strong. It was hard not to call it a pleasure. Now she wanted to settle scores with him…
Forget it. When hunger struck hard, eat first.
Feng Man put aside her thoughts, figuring the man hadn’t noticed anyway, so she could just pretend nothing happened.
The man stirring his noodles with chopsticks looked refreshed and clear-headed. After a simple rinse, even his stiff hair seemed a bit softer, softening his usual sharp edge.
Having been glared at several times by his wife, Cheng Lang naturally noticed. He had never dealt with women before and couldn’t guess a woman’s mind, so he sank into thought. Could it be that he still left his wife feeling too bored?
……
Feng Man’s stall had become the talk of the nearby vendors’ idle chatter, and even Cheng Lang, her boss husband, faced plenty of questions.
The next day back in the Mine District, Cheng Lang oversaw the mining and refining of coke coal. Under the high heat, the steam made faces burn.
Several workers coming off shift were in the break room, shedding their work clothes for casual ones to leave. When Cheng Lang entered to grab protective gear, he overheard them chatting about home matters.
It wasn’t like ten years ago anymore, when people shied from talking sex. On the contrary, everyone spoke boldly.
Cheng Lang heard Worker Yang from the mine sigh.
“My wife picks fights and talks nonsense, saying I’m too old and useless. I’m only thirty! It’s just that I’ve been too busy with work these days. Wait till I get home and show my manly prowess!”
The other workers teased him: “Worker Yang, don’t force it. Have some deer whip or bull whip wine to tonic up.”
“Get lost! Do I need tonics?” Worker Yang wouldn’t show weakness. “Look at this body of mine! Last time, I suddenly swapped shifts with someone and rushed off to work, didn’t let her finish properly, and she’s been nagging me about it till now.”
Old spouses dared say anything, holding nothing back.
Cheng Lang’s steps paused for a moment. While grabbing the protective suit, his eyes flickered slightly.
So it was because he hadn’t let his wife fully satisfy…
He spent the morning in the coke refining workshop, sending back substandard coke. Cheng Lang eyed the quality strictly and said to Zhou Yuejin, who was in charge: “I’ve made promises with Director Huang. We must supply the steel mill with the absolute best coke, no flaws allowed. Anything with refining defects can’t go out. Even if we take a loss here, we can’t set that precedent. If our quality matches Liberation Mine District with no edge, Director Huang won’t think higher of us.”
Zhou Yuejin had used Liberation Mine District’s standards as acceptance criteria. Hearing this, his expression turned serious: “Then I’ll keep a tight watch. Can’t scrap too much, or we’ll be out our underpants.”
Cheng Lang laughed and patted Zhou Yuejin’s shoulder: “Brother Zhou, our Mine District’s underpants are counting on you.”
Zhou Yuejin: “…”
The serious-faced Zhou Yuejin returned to the workshop, instructing each worker on coke refining techniques one by one, checking strictly to boost the success rate.
After leaving the workshop, Cheng Lang ate in the cafeteria, then headed out to the nearby market. At an alley corner, he found the comic book stall where Xiaoshan and Feng Man loved to buy little picture books.
The stall had everything imaginable: famous classics, foreign translations, magazines, novels, picture books, story collections, even archived monthly newspapers… and some not-to-be-named picture albums, all laid out on the ground. Beside it sat the vendor, plainly dressed, engrossed in a story collection.
Cheng Lang’s sharp eyes spotted a small picture album with three big characters printed on it amid the vast sea of books. He also picked a few that looked profoundly esoteric, paid for them along with the album.
The vendor took the money nonchalantly and even enthusiastically recommended a couple more exquisite albums: “Brother, grab a few more of these? Latest ones, all different poses, real interesting.”
Cheng Lang eyed the two small albums the vendor handed over, also covertly marked with three big characters, and finally nodded. He paid an extra fifty cents and took them all.
Cheng Lang, who had never liked studying and found no interest in any books since childhood, now had the drive to study seriously for the first time.
His head no longer spun, he wasn’t sleepy, all past impatience swept away. He looked ready to study properly.
Feng Man was surprised Cheng Lang bought economics books: 《The Limits to Growth》, 《Friedman Essays》, 《Introduction to Modern Economics》… She flipped through casually—dense text everywhere, and quite a few, seven or eight books.
“Comrade Cheng Lang, you like reading these?” After all, when Feng Man and Xiaoshan eagerly read picture books like later comics, Cheng Lang had never been interested. Inviting him, he wouldn’t budge.
She hadn’t expected the man to be so ambitious, jumping straight to books that could put anyone to sleep.
Cheng Lang said solemnly: “When idle and bored sometimes, should study a bit.”
Study?
Feng Man looked at him with newfound respect. She herself couldn’t get through these; pure lack of interest.
She casually picked up one of the economics books Cheng Lang bought, flipping to test its sleepy effect, when she heard noise outside. Feng Man hurriedly set it down, went out of the room, ready to ask her cousin-in-law and the others about today’s situation.
Once Feng Man left, the 《Introduction to Modern Economics》 Cheng Lang held revealed a small picture album tucked inside. The various poses on it truly shocked Cheng Lang.
With scant experience and still quite green, the man took quite the impact. Turns out it could be done like this, or that way?
More serious than ever, Cheng Lang dove headfirst into the sea of knowledge.
……
After six days off, Feng Man prepared to close the net. Hearing Dong Xiaojuan and Yuan Qiumei return, she hurried to the courtyard.
Due to You Jianyuan’s suppression, Feng’s food sales had indeed slowed. Dong Xiaojuan and Yuan Qiumei came back later than usual these days, but Feng Man knew: this week, they actually returned earlier each day.
The first day had the biggest impact.
Clearly, nearby customers were gradually returning. Fakes could never replace the real thing, after all.
Dong Xiaojuan, reporting the situation, was both furious and excited: “That You Jianyuan couldn’t hold his temper. Today he even brought a bunch of Liberation Mine District workers to buy from the Ma Ji next door, mocking us hard!”
Furious at You Jianyuan’s petty triumph, excited that his smugness meant the end was near.
Yuan Qiumei had worked at Feng’s for months and felt deeply attached. She couldn’t stomach You Jianyuan’s snide remarks: “Saying we two are stubbornly holding on and should pack up the stall, that you’re too pissed to show your face, too scared. What nonsense!”
Feng Man was only thrilled: “Let him gloat. When the time comes, we can close the net.”
Dong Xiaojuan and Yuan Qiumei, curious: “What time exactly?”