Chapter 8: Playing Dirty

Actually, Zong Shao didn’t intend to hide his pocket money. It was just that, as a couple living apart, it would take about half a month for a letter to be sent. If he didn’t keep any money on hand, he would be at a loss if something came up and he needed money. So every month when he got paid, he would leave ten to twenty yuan for himself and send the rest back home.

The army provided food and lodging, and he didn’t have many daily expenses. The most he spent was on cigarettes, so most of the money was saved up.

Little by little, over the course of four years, he had saved up several hundred yuan. However, he had spent most of it on house repairs, and with the additional furniture and household items, he didn’t have much left.

Lin Wei flipped through the tin box where Zong Shao kept his things and poured out the money.

There wasn’t much in there—about seven or eight grain coupons, all military grain coupons that hadn’t been exchanged, enough to buy about ten or so pounds of grain. There were two or three sugar coupons, both for brown and white sugar, but together they wouldn’t even be enough to buy a pound of sugar. There were also a few industrial coupons, but their value was small, so they couldn’t be exchanged for a full amount of industrial goods—just small things like needles, thread, or daily-use soap. But those could still be saved up.

Oh, and there were two cigarette coupons. One could buy two packs of Class B cigarettes, and the other could buy five packs of Class C cigarettes. That was actually quite a lot.

Holding the two cigarette coupons, Lin Wei suddenly thought about Zong Shao’s fate in the novel. In the end, he died of lung cancer before the age of sixty.

Lin Wei pursed her lips, put down the cigarette coupons, and asked, “Do you smoke often?”

Zong Shao didn’t hide it and said, “About one pack a week.”

Lin Wei didn’t smoke herself, but there were quite a few smokers around her. In her office, there were two heavy smokers who were always puffing away, smoking about half a pack a day.

Because of this, the older women in the office often argued with them, complaining that their smoking made the office smoky, and even those who didn’t smoke, like her, had to suffer.

Lin Wei didn’t argue directly with them, but she did bring up safety concerns to the leadership. After all, their workplace was a cotton mill, and the warehouse was filled with flammable textiles. If someone was smoking in the office and dropped an ash or spark, it could cause a fire. Not only would the people in their department be in danger, but the entire factory and its leadership would be at risk.

The leadership wasn’t unaware of these issues, but since the problem hadn’t escalated, they hadn’t paid much attention to it. However, after Lin Wei raised the issue, they became a bit scared and started restricting the two smokers in the office, forbidding them from smoking indoors.

Compared to them, Zong Shao’s smoking wasn’t that bad. Since he returned to Shicheng, aside from when he smoked a cigarette in front of everyone when receiving the cigarettes from her father, Lin Wei hadn’t seen him smoke.

But smoking, no matter how little, still harms the body. And smoking addiction builds up gradually—starting with one cigarette every two or three days, then two or three cigarettes a day, and eventually it could become two or three packs a day.

Although Lin Wei wasn’t sure about the truth of the novel, whether it was true or not, she hoped that Zong Shao would quit smoking.

However, Lin Wei also knew that quitting smoking was much harder than starting. She could tell just by observing the two old smokers in her office. Even with the leadership keeping an eye on them, they would just avoid smoking in the office. During work hours, it wasn’t uncommon for them to sneak out for a quick smoke.

She also couldn’t be as strict as the leadership, enforcing rules that could easily lead to arguments. She didn’t want to quarrel with Zong Shao just yet; at least not until they were more familiar with each other. She wanted to understand his boundaries first.

With this in mind, Lin Wei gently suggested, “Ruirui is still so young. It’s not good for him to be around so much cigarette smoke.”

Since his comrades’ wives had started joining the army, Zong Shao had often heard them complain about their wives trying to make them quit smoking. After each complaint, they’d pat his shoulder and tell him to cherish the easy days he had now.

So when Lin Wei asked about his smoking, Zong Shao had already braced himself. After hearing her gentle suggestion, he replied, “I’ll try to quit.”

This was an unexpected delight, and a smile crept onto Lin Wei’s lips as she said, “Good.” She lowered her head and continued counting the money.

Zong Shao, seeing the smile at the corner of her lips, felt a slight stir in his heart and reached out his hand.

The roll of money in the tin wasn’t much, especially compared to Lin Wei’s little savings. But money, whether a lot or a little, was still money, and Lin Wei didn’t mind. She untied the rubber band holding the bills and started counting.

But before she could finish, she suddenly felt her face being touched, and she instinctively swatted Zong Shao’s hand away, saying, “Stop fooling around, I’m counting money.”

There were seven ten-yuan bills, five five-yuan bills, six two-yuan bills, and around ten one-yuan bills. Then there were a few scattered coins, with the largest value being only five cents.

Excluding the coins, the total was one hundred and twenty yuan.

These days, electric fans weren’t cheap. A good standing fan would cost around one hundred and fifty to one hundred sixty yuan, and a big-name brand could be even more expensive—like a Huasheng brand standing fan, which would cost at least one hundred seventy or one hundred eighty.

With the money Zong Shao had, he could barely afford a fan, and not a very good one at that, unless she chipped in a little extra.

“What do you think? Should we get a fan or a standing fan?” Lin Wei looked up and found Zong Shao’s face was so close that she could almost feel the warmth of his breath.

He was handsome, but so close that it almost felt like she could see the tiny hairs on his face. Lin Wei’s face heated up again. She lowered her head and pushed him away, saying, “Sit properly.”

Zong Shao sat back, but his right hand remained behind Lin Wei’s back. He took the money and coupons she had just counted and tossed them back into the tin, securing the lid. Then he leaned over her, placing the tin under the pillow and saying, “We’ll talk about the fan tomorrow.”

As he spoke, his body retreated, stopping in front of Lin Wei. His hand, which had been behind her, moved upward and pressed against the back of her neck. He lowered his head and captured her soft, pink lips.

Lin Wei’s eyes widened slightly as she looked into his eyes, which were mere inches away.

His eyes were very well-shaped—double eyelids, with the corners slightly upturned, but there was also a sense of distance. When he became serious, his gaze could be quite intimidating.

When they first met, Lin Wei was a bit afraid of him. His mother noticed her nervousness and mentioned her son several times, hoping he would smile. But in the end, Zong Shao didn’t smile, so his mother awkwardly covered for him, saying that he had been like that since childhood, and to not mind it.

Because of this, when they went to the park, his mother was very worried. She pulled him aside and gave him a long list of instructions. She even stuffed ten yuan into his pocket.

Zong Shao refused to take it. At that time, he had already been promoted to deputy squad leader, and his salary was higher than the old lady’s, so he certainly wasn’t going to take her money.

But his mother still shoved the money into his hand, saying that when he came home in the evening, she would check. If he hadn’t spent it all, he wouldn’t be allowed back home and would have to sleep on the street.

Zong Shao reluctantly accepted the money, then turned to ask Lin Wei if she was hungry, offering to take her to a state-run restaurant. They went to the most expensive one in Shicheng’s state-run restaurants.

At first, Lin Wei didn’t want to go. It was too expensive, and she wouldn’t feel at ease eating there.

Seeing her reluctance, Zong Shao sold out his mother and showed her the ten yuan, asking for her help because he didn’t want to sleep on the street that night.

Lin Wei couldn’t help but laugh, reluctantly agreeing.

After dinner, she asked Zong Shao to accompany her to the supply and marketing cooperative, intending to buy some fruit for him to take back as a return gesture. But when it was time to pay, she didn’t manage to take the money from him. The fruit was paid for by him, and he insisted she take it back.

At that moment, Lin Wei wasn’t very happy. She felt that they didn’t even know each other well yet, so what did it mean for her to eat and take things from him?

Then Zong Shao asked her if she would consider being in a relationship with him, explaining his situation.

Zong Shao was good-looking, dressed in a military uniform, and his words seemed particularly sincere. So Lin Wei, who had no particular thoughts about it at first, was moved. In a daze, she agreed to be in a relationship with him.

They had even agreed to go see a movie together the next day, but that night he received a military order and hurried back to his unit.

Four years had passed, and Lin Wei thought she had forgotten those details from back then. But now, in this kiss, all the memories came back vividly.

Lin Wei blinked, and then she heard Zong Shao’s voice: “Breathe.”

Lin Wei let out an “ah” and lowered her head, breathing heavily.

After a while, Zong Shao’s lips pressed against hers again. Due to the position, Lin Wei couldn’t help but tilt her head back slightly, and her body followed the hand that had moved to the back of her neck, leaning backward until she was lying on the bed.

The temperature in the room rose rapidly.

Zong Shao’s forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat.

Lin Wei wasn’t doing much better. Her mouth was dry, and her body was gradually softening. She let him lift the hem of her shirt, exposing her flat abdomen, and obediently brought her hands together.

Just as her shirt was about to slip from her hands, she suddenly heard a knock at the door.

“Knock knock knock.”

After three knocks with no answer, the knocking turned into “thump thump thump” as the door was banged on.

Lin Wei snapped back to her senses, pushed Zong Shao aside, sat up, and said while putting on her clothes: “Quick, go open the door. It must be Mingming or Rui Rui.”

“Okay.”

Zong Shao gritted his teeth, exhaled, and rolled off the bed to go open the door.

Outside stood Rui Rui, who had woken up and, not seeing his mother, crawled out of bed to look for her. But when he opened the door, he was faced with a dim and unfamiliar hallway, and he froze in place for a moment. After thinking for a while, he remembered they had moved to a new house, and his mother was in the master bedroom, so he started knocking on the door.

After three knocks with no answer, he turned to bang on the door instead, knocking three more times, and the door opened.

But when it opened, the first person Rui Rui saw wasn’t his gentle mother, but his father, who was frowning and looking stern. Feeling instantly wronged, Rui Rui burst into tears, sobbing, “Wuwu… I want mommy…”

Inside the room, Lin Wei heard Rui Rui crying. She didn’t even bother to put on her shoes and rushed out, pushing Zong Shao aside to hug her younger son, saying, “Rui Rui, be good, Mommy is here.”

Smelling the scent on his mother, the little one’s crying softened a bit, but he was still very wronged, his voice choked as he complained, “Mommy, where did you go? I woke up and couldn’t find you…”

Lin Wei hugged Rui Rui into the room, patting his back while comforting him, “Mommy didn’t go anywhere. Mommy is at home.” She reached out to wipe away his tears. “Look at you, you’re so big, and you’re still crying like this.”

Rui Rui glanced up at his dad standing nearby, but didn’t dare to say he was scared into crying by his father’s angry face. He scrunched up his little face and said, “I woke up and didn’t see you.”

“Didn’t you and your brother say this afternoon that you wanted to sleep by yourselves because you’re grown up?” Lin Wei smiled as she said.

Rui Rui had fully woken up and quickly remembered what had happened in the afternoon. He pouted and said, “That was what big brother said, not me. I don’t want to grow up.” Then he hugged Lin Wei’s waist and tilted his head, acting coquettishly, “Mommy, can I sleep with you tonight? Please?”

Zong Shao, who was watching from the side, frowned slightly. He had been sleeping alone since he was barely three years old. The two brothers were almost four, yet they still wanted to sleep with their mother?

They were too spoiled.

Sticking to the principle that children shouldn’t be overly indulged, Zong Shao opened his mouth to say no. But just as the words were about to leave his mouth, he heard his wife say “okay” and turn to him, saying, “They’ve always slept with me. They might not adapt so quickly, so let them sleep with us tonight, okay?”

When she said the words “okay,” her tone was almost identical to Rui Rui’s, but to Zong Shao’s ears, it was different—it was like a feather gently brushing over his heart.

He turned and left, saying, “…I’ll bring Mingming over.”