When she got back from the mountain, before even stepping inside, Song Guanshu told her to take off her outerwear—no coming inside wearing dusty clothes.

Jiang Ling was speechless. After just half a day apart, his obsession with cleanliness seemed to have gotten even worse.

In the past, he only forbade her from getting on the kang bed wearing outer clothes. Now, she wasn’t even allowed to enter the house wearing them.

Jiang Ling tilted her head with a smile. “What, do you want me to streak into the house?”

Once again, a fake smile appeared on Song Guanshu’s face. “I respect your decision.”

After spending enough time with him, Jiang Ling had come to realize that every time he gave that kind of fake smile, it meant he was unhappy.

But she couldn’t figure out why he was unhappy now.

Anyway, Song Guanshu being unhappy didn’t affect her. He would just sulk in silence, so she let him be.

Sometimes, Jiang Ling would even forget that he was the villain in the original novel—the one who stirred up all the chaos.

“Jiang Ling! Jiang Ling, are you home?” Sister Juxiang from the neighboring courtyard had heard Jiang Ling talking to Song Guanshu and was now calling out loudly from her home.

“I’m home, Sister. Come on over.”

Jiang Ling already knew what Juxiang was coming for.

The daily chemical factory had some defective soap and shampoo being sold internally to workers at a very low price.

Though they were labeled as defective, it was only because of minor issues with the packaging.

These discounted products cost half the price of what was sold at the supply and marketing cooperative. Still, very few workers actually bought them—not because they looked down on so-called defective goods, but because the factory would distribute products to workers during holidays and festivals. Even those free products were often more than enough to use.

After hearing about this, Sister Juxiang didn’t ask Jiang Ling for the free factory-issued toiletries. Instead, she asked her to help buy the discounted defective ones.

It wasn’t much trouble, so Jiang Ling agreed readily.

Juxiang opened a bar of soap and sniffed it. “The benefits at your daily chemical factory really are good.”

At the steel factory, there was no such thing as selling discounted defective rebar to workers.

Jiang Ling said, “The steel factory gives out one jin (1 kg) of meat to each worker during the New Year. Meat is still the best benefit.”

Juxiang laughed along. That was true.

After chatting a bit more, Jiang Ling saw her off.

When Juxiang gave Jiang Ling the money, Li Jun didn’t catch that part. She only saw Jiang Ling hand over a bag of toiletries to Juxiang.

Sitting in her kitchen, Li Jun was fuming, grinding her teeth in frustration. She and Jiang Ling lived right across from each other, and if that young couple ever ran into trouble in the future, she was the one who could actually offer real help. Yet Jiang Ling was closer to Juxiang’s family.

That Juxiang woman was full of schemes, but those two young ones, Jiang Ling and Song Guanshu, just couldn’t see through her.

Although Jiang Ling often talked back to Song Guanshu, she still respected his habits.

Just the fact that he cleaned the house tirelessly every day—where else could she find a free, multi-skilled housekeeper like that?

Jiang Ling obediently left her outerwear and pants outside. Li Jun, sitting in her own kitchen, noticed her strange behavior through the window. She couldn’t figure out why Jiang Ling would do that, but it didn’t stop her from gossiping behind her back, saying she was improper and lacked decorum.

Before taking off her clothes, Jiang Ling specifically called Song Guanshu out. “Hey, I’m taking my clothes off now, okay?”

She tossed her outerwear aside without mercy, muttering as she did so, “It’s spring now, so I’ve got layers under my coat. But when summer comes and you still want me to strip at the door, there’ll be nothing left but my underwear.”

Song Guanshu frowned at her.

Jiang Ling raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’ll shut up.”

He might seem like he had a good temper, but in reality, he had quite the temper on him.

As a key technical staff member, Song Guanshu had to accompany the factory leadership to the Canton Fair^[1]Canton Fair refers to the China Import and Export Fair, held in Guangzhou (historically known as Canton). Established in 1957, it is China’s largest and longest-running trade fair, organized by the … Continue reading to broaden their horizons.

Once he was gone, Jiang Ling would get to enjoy the two-room space all to herself.

When she first heard the news, Jiang Ling was overjoyed. Her smile was harder to suppress than the recoil of an AK rifle. But she still feigned regret and said, “What a shame. If you’re not home, I’ll be all alone. I’ll miss you so much.”

Song Guanshu gave a faint smile. “If you want to laugh, just laugh. No need to pretend.”

Jiang Ling pouted at him. “You’ve really misunderstood me. Without you at home, how lonely I’ll be. I’ll have to eat alone, sleep alone, go to and from work alone…” Aiya, she couldn’t say more—any more and she’d burst out laughing.

She quickly changed the subject. “Have you packed? What day are you leaving? How many days will you be gone? When will you be back? How many changes of clothes are you taking? Don’t forget to bring cold medicine and diarrhea pills.”

As her nagging went on and on, Song Guanshu’s expression gradually brightened.

She didn’t know why his mood had suddenly improved, but she took the chance to make a request. “Dumplings before you depart, noodles when you return. Let’s make dumplings tonight to see you off, how about that?”

Jiang Ling generously pulled some cash from her pocket. “It’s on me!” She had just gotten her paycheck and was feeling comfortably flush.

“You go buy the meat, I’ll stay home and wash the dirty clothes.” It wasn’t just Song Guanshu who minded the laundry being dirty—she agreed that once it was dirty, it should be cleaned.

Song Guanshu went out and came back with the meat.

Jiang Ling had also finished washing the clothes and hung them on the rack to dry.

Seeing him return, she greeted him warmly, “You’re back!” Her voice was noticeably sweeter than usual.

They were supposed to have a nice dinner of dumplings that evening, something to be happy about, but of course there was always someone with no sense who liked to meddle while putting on the airs of an elder.

“You two are eating meat again?”

No one responded.

Li Jun just kept going on her own. “You’re both earning wages, but you still have to think ahead. Raising a child in the future won’t be cheap, you know.”

Jiang Ling was in a good mood and didn’t bother arguing with that woman. She simply replied, “Alright,” then grabbed Song Guanshu by the arm and pulled him back into their home, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.

Even though there hadn’t been a shouting match, Li Jun was still fuming. That was a blatant brush-off!

Jiang Ling didn’t know how to cook, so kneading the dough, rolling out the wrappers, mixing the filling—everything was done by Song Guanshu.

Her only job was to stand nearby and applaud. As he rolled out the dough wrappers, she said, “These are the most perfect dumpling wrappers I’ve seen in my life—just the right thickness, perfectly round.”

“You’re noisy.”

Though he said she was noisy, even Song Guanshu didn’t realize that as he pinched the dumplings closed, the corners of his mouth had curved up ever so slightly.

On Tuesday night at 9:30, Song Guanshu boarded the train to Guangcheng with the factory leadership.

The factory had prepared the letters of introduction in advance for ticket purchases at the train station. Once they secured the tickets, they distributed them to the colleagues heading to Guangcheng.

On Tuesday, during work hours, the employees scheduled to attend the Canton Fair had their luggage ready. After work, the factory arranged for a vehicle to drive them all to the train station together.

Since he was going on a business trip, Jiang Ling thought she should be a bit nicer to him. When he was about to leave, she decided to make him breakfast.

Relying on sheer willpower, she finally managed to wake up earlier than Song Guanshu for once.

The curtains blocked out the morning light, so Jiang Ling had to get dressed in the dark.

Before, whenever she got up, Song Guanshu had already made breakfast. Ever since she moved in, she had never experienced the struggle of dressing in the dark.

Still half-asleep, fumbling in the shadows, she tried to put on clothes that just didn’t seem to fit right no matter how she tugged or twisted.

Until, from the bed, a sleepy voice murmured, “You’re wearing my clothes.”

Jiang Ling instantly sobered up. She tugged up the pants she had struggled with for half the morning and examined them—sure enough, Song Guanshu was right. They weren’t her pants at all. They were his clothes.

She had mistaken the sleeves of his shirt for the legs of her trousers.

Embarrassment and awkwardness surged inside her. Who knew how long he had been watching her struggle in the dark?

The real trouble wasn’t just that she had put on the wrong clothes—it was that Song Guanshu had a serious cleanliness obsession. He hated other people touching his things.

Jiang Ling jumped down to the floor and flipped on the light. Then she struck a deep apologetic bow, mimicking the dramatic gesture often used in Japanese dramas. “I’m sorry. I’ll grab you a clean piece of clothing from the wardrobe. While you’re on your trip, I promise I’ll wash this one so clean it won’t carry a trace of me.”

She might not have a cleanliness obsession herself, but she respected Song Guanshu’s. Since it was her fault for causing trouble, she should be the one to fix it.

But Song Guanshu’s eyes weren’t on the clothes. He was staring at her bare feet on the cold floor. She hadn’t even put on shoes before jumping down in a panic.

Just how afraid of him was she?

His brows furrowed slightly, and for once, there was no trace of that usual insincere smile. “Get back on the bed first.”

Though the early spring floor wasn’t as cold as it was in winter, it was still quite chilly.

Jiang Ling was an expert at going along with the flow. Since Song Guanshu had told her to get back on the kang bed, she certainly wouldn’t make things hard for herself.

“Alright, I’ll first grab you a piece of clothing so we can swap this one out.”

She rummaged through the wardrobe, only to find that all the wearable clothes had already been packed by Song Guanshu in his travel bag as clean changes for the trip.

Of course, the one she had mistakenly worn also counted as one.

Jiang Ling let out an awkward chuckle and spoke with a sheepish tone. “How about this—you take out one of your clean changes and wear that for now. Once you get to Guangcheng, you can buy a couple of new outfits. They’ve got more styles to choose from over there. We can’t even begin to compare with a backwater place like ours.”

Song Guanshu shook his head. “I’ll just make do with this one. No need to go through the trouble.”

The more agreeable he was, the more nervous Jiang Ling became.

It’s not the angry villain you should fear—it’s the one who holds grudges.

But Song Guanshu was firm in his stance, and after going back and forth, they nearly ran late. They didn’t even have time for breakfast.

Despite his severe cleanliness obsession, Song Guanshu didn’t change his coat and ended up wearing the one Jiang Ling had almost mistakenly put on.

With time running out, the two of them rushed out the door and nearly left his luggage behind.

In the end, they remembered to bring the suitcase—but no one noticed the envelope lying under the glass tabletop, a plain brown kraft envelope containing Song Guanshu’s train ticket to Guangcheng.

They arrived at the office just before the work bell rang, only to be greeted by teasing from the senior ladies in the Accounting Section. “We heard Xiao Song is accompanying the factory leadership to the Canton Fair. You couldn’t bear to part with your man, huh?”

It was a light-hearted jab suggesting the two had fooled around the night before and overslept, almost making them late because they were reluctant to part.

Jiang Ling didn’t bother explaining. She shamelessly followed along with the joke and replied, “We just got married, and now we’re about to be separated. Of course we can’t bear to be apart.”

Wei Ming rolled his eyes dramatically and thought to himself, Shameless, the both of them.

This time, it wasn’t Factory Director Ding leading the group to the Canton Fair, but the deputy factory director in charge of technical affairs. Naturally, that meant it had nothing to do with him, the deputy section chief of the Accounting Section.

Normally, he got to attend plenty of meetings out of town thanks to his brother-in-law, but going somewhere as far as Guangcheng? That had never happened before, and he genuinely wanted to go.

But wanting to go was one thing. That didn’t mean he’d be chosen.

Deputy Director Luo was known for being upright and incorruptible—he didn’t play favorites with those who had connections. The team he brought to Guangcheng for the conference consisted entirely of the factory’s technicians. The purpose of the trip was to study the most advanced domestic and international technologies and products, not just to go through the motions.

The train was scheduled for 9:30 p.m., and the first group of technicians was sent to the train station by a factory-arranged vehicle.

Song Guanshu was among the first group. Most of the people going with him were familiar faces—key members from the Technical Section.

It was the first time the daily chemical factory had organized a team to attend the Canton Fair, and everyone was excited.

“I couldn’t sleep at all last night.”

“Same here. We’re representing the factory at this conference—it’s such an honor.”

“You guys don’t even know. I didn’t sleep a wink, and neither did my wife. She stayed up writing a shopping list, told me to buy things for her. I mean, what is she thinking? We’re going to attend a conference, not on a shopping trip!”

An older colleague who had been married for years offered him some advice. “Young man, don’t be so rigid. It’s not like we’ll be in meetings the entire time. If you bring back a few gifts during your downtime, wouldn’t that make the whole family happy?”

“You’ve got a point.”

The older man then turned to Song Guanshu, who had just gotten married last month. “Xiao Song, same goes for you. Pick up a little something for your wife while you’re there—wouldn’t that make her… you know?”

The men all let out knowing chuckles.

One of the senior female technicians, uncomfortable with the direction of their conversation, interjected, “You all brought your train tickets and letters of introduction, right? Better double-check—if anyone forgot, there’s still time to run home and get them.”

Forgetting a train ticket was a serious issue. Everyone hurriedly pulled out their tickets and letters.

But at that moment, Song Guanshu’s expression shifted—he suddenly remembered the train ticket that had been left under the glass tabletop.

Technician Sister Li was especially observant of her companions’ expressions. Noticing the change in his face, she quickly asked, “Did you forget your ticket or the letter of introduction?”

“Sorry, I was in too much of a rush this morning. I left the train ticket at home.”

Sister Li sighed. “What am I going to do with you? You’re usually steady and dependable, not the type to be careless. What happened this time?”

She lifted her wrist to check her watch. “Good thing we caught it early. There’s still time. There’s a bus stop right outside the station—hurry there and back. If you don’t see us when you return, we’ll meet up directly in the train carriage.”

After apologizing to the group, Song Guanshu rushed out.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ling had finally seen Song Guanshu off. Though he was an excellent housemate, he was still a man, and living together brought plenty of everyday inconveniences.

Take bathing, for example. The steel plant had its own bathhouse, primarily for its workers and their families. But more importantly, it was a public bath—everyone stripped completely and bathed together. Jiang Ling found it completely lacking in privacy. She refused to bathe there and only did sponge baths at home.

When Song Guanshu was at home, even though he never peeked, Jiang Ling still didn’t feel safe. That lingering discomfort made her cut her washing short—just a quick wipe here and there, and she was done.

But now that he was away on a business trip, the first thing Jiang Ling wanted to do was boil a pot of hot water and take a proper, thorough bath.

With Song Guanshu gone, she couldn’t be bothered to cook.

She’d been eating well lately, and her body wasn’t running low on oil and nutrients. Skipping dinner didn’t make her feel especially hungry.

She drew the curtains, carried the boiled water into the bedroom, and slid the bolt into place on the door.

Steam quickly turned the room into a misty, cloud-wrapped paradise. She undressed and began scrubbing herself clean.

Jiang Ling didn’t notice that, sitting quietly on the table, was a small envelope—inside it, a train ticket to Guangcheng.