Chapter 87

The Spring Festival of 2002 came relatively late. Although New Year’s Day had passed and the calendar had already turned to 2002, there was still some time until Lunar New Year. Nevertheless, the atmosphere for welcoming the new year was already here. The weather was cold, and the air felt dry and cold. Agricultural product sales were held one after the other. Some people had already prepared the New Year’s goods in advance.

The landlord called Yang Lei. The rent was due. The landlord kindly told him that the house would probably be demolished in a few years after the new year, so he shouldn’t rent it.

Yang Lei had rented this house for so many years. Other than the period of time three years ago when he had been cooped inside all day without coming out, he hadn’t come to live in it, and he didn’t let others live in it. He just let it remain empty. The landlord thought that this young man was very strange.

“I’ll rent it. I’ll bring the rent this afternoon.”

Right now, Yang Lei rented this house out of habit.

It was about to be demolished, so he may as well rent it until the day it disappeared.

Yang Lei paid the rent in the afternoon and went to the house along the way. The landlord also went in with him to clean the room. Yang Lei stood on the balcony for a while, and he was about to leave. Before he left, he caught a glimpse of a cigarette butt on the ground of the balcony.

A cigarette end butt had rolled into the corner, very inconspicuous.

Yang Lei looked at the cigarette butt, pausing for a moment.

He remembered that it had already been a very long time since he smoked here. Last time, the balcony was leaking rainwater, and he had even cleaned it thoroughly.

Yang Lei stared at that cigarette butt, standing there.

“Aunt, has anyone else come into this house?”

Yang Lei abruptly asked the landlord.

“No! Didn’t you say that you wouldn’t let anyone else come?!”

The landlord came over and also saw that cigarette butt.

“Oh, last time I came to clean, my son came with me. Maybe he smoked it!”

The landlord went over and neatly swept away the cigarette butt.

Yang Lei stood silently for a while, smiled mockingly at himself, opened the door, and left.

There was a newsstand on the street corner. Seven years ago, before Yang Lei went to school, he wanted to send Da Hu’s mother to the best nursing home in the city, but the elderly woman refused to leave this place. She said that she was afraid Hu-zi wouldn’t be able to find her when he came back. So Yang Lei and several brothers got her this newsstand. From then on, the elderly woman had a place to shield from wind and rain. Initially, Fang Yu left a message, so in these years, not to mention Yang Lei, all of Fang Yu’s brothers were silently taking care of her, and they had never stopped. Right now, this area was under the jurisdiction of power, and there were so-called “protection fees,” but the gangsters of this area were also brothers who had followed Fang Yu in the past. In so many years, Da Hu’s mother’s newsstand had never been threatened in the slightest by the surrounding people.

Da Hu’s mother was old. Because of the trauma from Da Hu’s incident, her mind was a little cloudy to begin with. These two years, she was often sometimes muddled and sometimes clear-headed. She also couldn’t name the brothers who came to see her. She could only call “Yu-zi.” She always said that Yu-zi came to see her and gave her money again. In fact, everyone knew that she was probably talking about Yang Lei, Er Hei, Hua Mao, Yang-zi, and these brothers.

Da Hu’s mother was still sitting unsteadily at the newsstand. Seeing Yang Lei, she squinted her murky eyes.

“…Yu-zi, why are you here again? Didn’t you just come two days ago? You even gave me money…”

Yang Lei didn’t say anything. Da Hu’s mother was often confused. Two days ago, another brother must have come. The Lunar New Year was coming, and many brothers who wanted to look after her would come.

Yang Lei brought a padded jacket for the elderly woman. Every year before the new year, Yang Lei remembered to buy a new winter coat for the elderly woman, to celebrate the new year for her.

The elderly woman didn’t look at Yang Lei anymore. She mumbled to herself at length: “Yu-zi, how old are you? Why do you still come here alone every time? …Start a family…”

Fang Mei’s family was pressuring them. Fang Mei’s father’s condition was not very good. At this time, the Fang family proposed to hold the wedding as soon as possible. They arranged to meet with Yang Dahai and his wife. The two families were acquaintances, and they gave their full support in their children’s affairs. They were also both happy about this marriage. Soon, it was settled. Fang Mei thought that right now still wasn’t the right time, to delay it while they could. She made an excuse that she had just joined the company for half a year, and the company had misgivings about a married woman’s commitment. It would destabilize her position as director. After her job was stable for a few months, then they would talk about marriage. In order to pacify the elders’ mood, Fang Mei and Yang Lei discussed taking the wedding photos first. When the elders saw them, they would calm down and would not be in a rush.

The wedding photos were taken in the best studio in Jianghai. Since they were putting on a show, it had to be done perfectly. Yang Lei and Fang Mei were a handsome man and a beautiful woman. The result of the shoot was like that of a celebrity. When the studio saw the proofs, they couldn’t bear to let them go. They discussed displaying the photos outside the large store glass window with them. Yang Lei and Fang Mei couldn’t bear the various persuasions of the studio, so they reluctantly agreed. After all, the people around them would know about this matter sooner or later. Thus, their wedding photos were magnified several times and hung outside the entrance of the studio and made into a lightbox.

Fang Mei had chosen a cheongsam, and her hair was in an ancient style cloud-like bun. Her original bold and enthusiastic style had changed accordingly, to be gentle and elegant, with a touch of coyness that was very moving. Yang Lei was dressed in a black suit with a slightly open collar. His head was lowered and he held Fang Mei in his arms. His handsome eyebrows, high nose bridge, and slightly lowered eyelashes had vague gentleness. He was as handsome as a male model.

The studio was at the intersection, with people coming and going. This wedding photo had attracted a lot of attention.

At night, a taxi stopped at this intersection and waited for the traffic light. The driver looked up and saw the huge lightbox of the studio.

He looked at it, motionless.

“Oh, this wedding photo is so good!” The passengers were also fascinated by the lightbox at first glance.

“If you like it, let’s also come here for pictures.”

“Just you? Look at the groom. He’s so handsome! No matter how you’re pictured, you can’t catch up with him! …”

The couple laughed happily.

The green light lit up, but the first taxi in the lane didn’t move.

There was a chorus of horns behind them.

“What’s the matter with the car ahead??”

The car owners were impatient and honked their horns insistently.

“Man, why aren’t you moving? …The light is green, man! …”

The passenger urged him, puzzled.

The driver finally turned his head and looked ahead.

He pushed the gear slowly and stepped on the accelerator…

Before the new year, Yang Lei was busy with summaries and arranging next year’s training plan. On the other side, Yang Dahai was already busy making plans for his marital home. Yang Lei hadn’t even been assigned housing by the army, and Yang Dahai had already prepared a house in the prime area of the city for him to get married in. That house was a two-story villa with its own entrance and courtyard. It was high-end real estate in the area. The interior renovations had already started. Yang Dahai had long been waiting for Yang Lei to get married. These were all already prepared and ready.

Yang Lei still had to often go to the house and walk around for appearances, to look at the progress of the renovations. He also had to buy necessary things with Fang Mei. Both of them were suffering, deeply feeling that this performance was not at all as easy as it sounded. After all, marriage was a major event, involving two families and even extended families. Moreover, both families had fame and prestige. It wasn’t as simple as getting a certificate and holding a feast. There were too many things to take into account.

Yang Lei hadn’t even made a wedding report to his superiors, but he had no choice but to order a bunch of wedding supplies. He was extremely busy. After visiting the wedding market with Fang Mei several times, they sat down and smiled wryly at each other.

“It’s all my fault. I’ve dragged you onto a pirate boat.” Fang Mei felt guilty.

“I can’t get down anyway, so let’s go!” Yang Lei comforted Fang Mei.

On their day off, they strolled until the evening again. Fang Mei had plans and went back first. Yang Lei’s comrade borrowed his car, and he could only drag a bag of things by himself. He had to bring it to the new house. Originally, this hour was already past the evening rush hour, and it wasn’t difficult to walk on the road. But after it was dark, it started to snow. There were snowflakes in the drizzle, and as many people took a taxi, there were clearly fewer cars. Yang Lei stood by the road for a long time, and he couldn’t flag down a taxi. Finally, a car came, but it was flagged down first by the person standing in front.

“Fuck!”

Yang Lei couldn’t help but curse.

He held his impatience and looked left and right. His feet were frozen, and he finally caught a glimpse of a car turning out of a fork in the road far ahead. It stopped and passengers were just getting out.

Yang Lei picked up his things and quickly ran to catch up to the car. He opened the rear car door, first threw his things together into the back seat, then closed the door, opened the front door, and sat inside.

“Where are you going?”

The driver looked ahead and asked mechanically.

“Mochou East…”

Before he said the word “street,” Yang Lei stopped.

He turned his head.

“…”

Their eyes met, and they stared at each other.