Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Man Pulling the Storm (Five)

When Yu Manyi came to her senses again, she was already walking down a dark alley with Mr. Xu.

His way of walking was just like when Song Qi had taken her to the dock — not taking the main road but finding a path in the empty places, as if people like them could only take such winding, concealed routes.

However, Mr. Xu didn’t wait for her, merely lowering his head and hurrying ahead. Yu Manyi crossed her arms and deliberately kept a distance from him, still feeling a trace of vigilance in her heart.

They walked all the way to Mr. Xu’s electrical company. Though it was called a company, it was nothing more than a residential building, with the first floor serving as an open storefront. Inside, various electrical appliances were displayed, and on the counters and shelves were piles of appliance parts.

On one side of the room, there was a burnt engine, emitting a pungent oil smell, and the entire room was filled with that oily scent. Yu Manyi turned her head and saw a sturdy middle-aged man, shirtless, sitting next to the engine, repairing it.

When the man saw Yu Manyi, he immediately stood up, not caring about the oil stains on his hands, grabbed a vest, and put it on, the fabric stained and dark with grease. When he spoke, Yu Manyi could tell he had a northeastern accent, similar to one of her classmates.

"Miss Yu, this is Miss Yu," Mr. Xu introduced.

The northeastern man immediately reacted, his previous wariness disappearing, replaced by a warm smile. "Miss Yu, so it's you."

He tried to extend his hand for a handshake, but Yu Manyi’s gaze slightly dropped, noticing the oil stains still on his hands. The man quickly retracted his hand upon noticing her look and self-introduced, "My name is... Da Lei."

Such a sloppy name.

Yu Manyi didn’t care much about what his name was or how sloppy it sounded. She turned to look at Mr. Xu, her tone a little impatient from walking such a long distance, "Where is Song Qi?"

"He’s upstairs."

Mr. Xu immediately led the way, opening the outer door to the stairs. Yu Manyi had noticed from outside that the electrical company had two floors, and the windows upstairs were tightly drawn, with only a faint light visible inside.The wooden stairs were narrow and steep. Yu Manyi followed Mr. Xu as they climbed, and the smell of machine oil grew stronger the higher they went. By the time they reached the top floor, Yu Manyi immediately realized that the strong odor came from the fact that this floor, too, was a machine workshop.

Mr. Xu covered the items in the room with cloth. Yu Manyi could only discern the outline of a lathe through the cloth. She recognized it because a similar machine existed in one of the workshops at the Commercial Press.

In her mind, she already had a vague guess. It seemed she no longer needed anyone to tell her what was going on—she could figure out what Song Qi was doing from her recent observations.

There was another door in the workshop. Mr. Xu opened it, turned back, and apologetically said to her, “Miss Yu, you can come in now.”

This was the most suitable room for rest in the entire building. Once the door was closed, the noise and the strong smell from outside were shut out. The room was small, with a single bed against the back wall. Yu Manyi silently walked over, lowered her head, and glanced at the face on the bed. She didn’t say a word.

Her silence made Mr. Xu feel a bit uneasy.

He didn’t know nothing about Yu Manyi. When Song Qi asked him to help her after leaving Shanghai, he had been told some details about her. Mr. Xu, coming from a small town, knew that these landlords often kept their daughters in attics, where they didn’t see much and were easily startled by little things. He had thought Yu Manyi was like that, too.

Even without mentioning her background, Song Qi had described Yu Manyi as a young girl who would cry on the spot if she couldn’t get into the Commercial Press, and who would panic and be at a loss when her family tried to marry her off.

But how could such a girl stand so calmly in front of a unconscious Song Qi?

She just stood there for a long time, her back slender yet steady, standing motionless by the bed. Mr. Xu stood by the door, his arms crossed, contemplating. Finally, he heard Yu Manyi speak.

“You asked me to come and see him, but you should at least explain things to me beforehand.”

However, this was difficult. What they were doing was the most inexplicable thing, and it was also the reason why Mr. Xu hadn’t dared to find Yu Manyi earlier. Moreover, Yu Manyi… He was facing Yu Manyi. How should he begin?

Mr. Xu was a very straightforward and pure engineer. In machines, one was one, and two was two. He believed that people should be like that too. For example, since Yu Manyi was an important person to Mr. Song, he thought she should be told if Song Qi had been seriously injured. But the work they were handling could not be disclosed in the slightest, so he saw no reason to explain much to Yu Manyi.But when these two things crossed paths, how should he handle it? Emotions between people were far more complicated than machines.

However, Yu Manyi shocked him with her words: “Are you making a radio?”

Mr. Xu was startled, breaking into a cold sweat. How could Song Qi have told her about this?

But in that moment, Yu Manyi turned around as if she could see right through his thoughts, and with another sentence, she eased his fear: “You don’t need to be scared. Song Qi didn’t tell me, and neither did you. I figured it out myself.”

Mr. Xu had never considered that Yu Manyi could guess it. People can’t guess what they don’t know. How could he have known that Yu Manyi had already finished reading an entire book on radio in the library?

She was no longer the second young miss of the Yu family mansion.

“There’s a secret union in the Commercial Press, and the employees all know about it privately. So, although I don’t understand, I have a general idea of your identities,” Yu Manyi said. “But I’m not interested in you guys. I’m just an ordinary person trying to earn a bit of money and live a good life, so you don’t need to explain too much to me.”

Mr. Xu took off his hat and began wiping the sweat from his forehead again.

“I’ll just say what I saw: Song Qi helped you guys make radios. Under the pretense of being with the British company, he obtained some professional books that are banned from circulation. The lathe covered in cloth earlier was used to machine parts, but some parts couldn’t be made, so Song Qi went to Wuhan to get them for you because he could use the company’s business trip as an excuse.”

“I just want to ask what I haven’t seen: why did he get hurt?”

“When he was in Shanghai handing over the parts, something went wrong…” Mr. Xu leaned against the door, sighed, “There was also another issue, something like my role here. Song Qi went to meet someone, but by the time he got there… fortunately, both the person and the parts came back here.”

To Mr. Xu, people and parts seemed to be of equal importance. Yu Manyi didn’t understand him, just as she didn’t understand the people in the union at the Commercial Press.

She had figured everything out and then turned back to look at Song Qi. His eyes were closed, his face not showing much pain. He looked as if he were simply sleeping, though much deeper than usual.

Suddenly, she couldn’t control herself and reached out to touch his wrist. Feeling the faint but steady heartbeat, her body, which had been tense from questioning Mr. Xu, slowly relaxed.He was rarely this quiet. Whenever he was by Yu Manyi's side, he was always talking non-stop, solving problems for her, and then making her angry after solving them. He never slept, always going to the basement to write during literacy classes, and after returning to Shanghai, he would stay out all night. Who could stay awake like that for nights on end?

He had to make up for it. Look, he was making up for it now.

Yu Manyi slightly pulled the blanket down and saw that the clothes he was wearing were a few sizes too big, likely belonging to Mr. Xu. The sleeve on the right side had been cut open from the collar, and instead of fabric, there was a bandage wrapped from the area near his heart up to his shoulder.

She touched the bandage with her fingertips, and in the dim light, she could see faint blood beneath the white cloth. It had already been stopped, and the bandage was wrapped in layers.

Yu Manyi was also surprised that she didn’t cry. She felt like she should be crying now. But when she thought about it, she realized that since the day her third uncle had pressed her handprint down on the document, she hadn’t cried in front of anyone other than Song Qi.

What was the point of crying?

“How long until he wakes up?” Yu Manyi kept her eyes on Song Qi's face, but her question was directed toward Mr. Xu behind her.

“The doctor said he lost too much blood. He’ll recover slowly. It might take one to two weeks before he wakes up,” Mr. Xu sighed again, “It’s really urgent now. There are parts of the machine that only he understands. If it’s delayed for two weeks, we won’t be able to get the machine out, and important things will be delayed…”

Yu Manyi withdrew her hand from Song Qi's bandage and covered him with the blanket. Suddenly, she extended her hand again, gently brushing his dark eyebrows before standing up.

“Why is it that only Song Qi understands? Isn’t this the electrical machinery company? Don’t you understand?”

Mr. Xu wasn’t hurt by Yu Manyi's words. Everything he said was honest and sincere.

He answered, “We are responsible for different parts. The part that Song Qi is in charge of, I’ve never learned. He got it from some of the company’s manuals that are not allowed to be taken outside. Now, those materials can’t be bought on the market...”

Suddenly, the image of the “RADIO” labeled bookshelf on the fourth floor of the Eastern Library flashed in Yu Manyi’s mind.

Song Qi was quietly lying behind her, not saying a word. Yu Manyi wasn’t used to him like this, but the scene surprisingly didn’t feel unfamiliar.The house was dimly lit, which reminded Yu Manyi of the days in the basement. When she first brought Song Qi back home, he lay there quietly just like this.

Her fate had turned at the moment she decided to bring Song Qi back to the basement. From then on, everything unfolded in a series of twists and turns, with narrow escapes and lucky breaks. And now, at this moment, it was time for her to make another choice.

Yu Manyi raised her head and looked at the anxious Mr. Xu. He kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and, after wiping, put his hat back on.

“Then write down the parts you need,” Yu Manyi finally spoke. She felt that Song Qi moved behind her, but when she turned, he was still lying in that slightly tilted position.

So, Yu Manyi turned back and continued:

“On the authorized floor of the Eastern Library…”

“Perhaps there’s something you need.”

Recently, Yu Manyi had experienced a lot, and it had made her reflect deeply.

For example, she realized that whether a person’s actions are sneaky depends entirely on whether their intentions are sneaky. When a person knows that what they are doing requires secrecy, everything about them—mentally and behaviorally—becomes sneaky.

Like when she casually browsed the radio materials on the fourth floor that day, walking around without a care, even leaving without bothering to return the books. But now, returning to the same spot, she felt guilty, flustered, and disorganized.

The old man guarding the door was sitting outside the library, indifferent to Yu Manyi. Based on the actions of the two Qi uncles, she deduced that this old man wouldn't be too responsible—

Who comes to do the guarding work for the sake of responsibility?

But still, she copied the materials with great caution, occasionally glancing up to check outside the door, quickly returning her gaze to the books, writing furiously.As for the parts that required drawing—

Some teachers always criticized Yu Manyi for drawing like a photocopier, just imitating whichever teacher she studied under. Now, she had truly become a high-precision photocopier, with eyes like rulers, perfectly aligned horizontally and vertically. At a quick glance, she could replicate dimensions, and many places didn’t even require angle measurements.

Even if it was just a shelf of books, to Mr. Xu, it was a treasure. Yu Manyi copied for him twice, and he immediately realized how valuable the resources at the Commercial Press were, writing several reports and getting Yu Manyi approved for a miniature camera.

However, this didn’t free Yu Manyi from her labor. The film was limited, and she could only use the camera when she encountered particularly complex diagrams. The rest of the time, she was still copying endlessly, to the point where her English scores went up in a test.

Every time Yu Manyi went to the electrical engineering company, Song Qi’s complexion seemed a little better, but there were still no signs of him waking up. She and Mr. Xu exchanged materials in the room where he was lying, and Yu Manyi turned to observe Song Qi. She felt that when he wasn’t speaking, he looked more handsome than usual, and at that moment, he mostly served a decorative role.

She hadn’t gone to the library this frequently before, but in the past two weeks, she had practically lived there. Her hand ached from all the copying, and when she returned to the dormitory, she didn’t have the energy to deal with You Hong’s provocations. It made her look increasingly fierce and unhinged.

Finally, after copying some important materials and stepping out of the library, she was stopped by You Hong.

“Give it to me!” The other person reached out to grab her briefcase.

However, it was filled with the radio materials for Mr. Xu. Yu Manyi was startled; she hadn’t expected that after sneaking around for two weeks, the old man at the library’s fourth floor hadn’t caused her trouble, but You Hong had now zeroed in on her.

She clutched the briefcase tightly—she absolutely couldn’t let You Hong know what she was doing. Yu Manyi was also quite confused at this moment. What did copying the radio materials have to do with You Hong? Even the police weren’t as strict with her!

“Give it to me!” You Hong was furious, tugging at her briefcase, “I knew it, you’ve been copying the test papers from the fourth floor! Every time, you bring back a thick stack of papers!”

Ah!!!!

Yu Manyi was on the verge of breaking down."You've improved so much in English and math these past two times," You Hong shouted. "And you lied to me, saying there were only bookshelves on the fourth floor! Give it to me now!"

This person has such high artistic talent, how come she seems so stupid in other areas?

Yu Manyi and You Hong were in a tug-of-war, and just as the briefcase was about to be snatched away, Yu Manyi suddenly took a step forward, pressing her body close to You Hong.

You Hong, caught off guard, nearly stumbled backwards. Yu Manyi immediately grabbed her arm, leaned in close to her ear, and spoke rapidly: "I didn’t lie to you, it’s really not test papers, but there are lots of last year's questions on the fourth floor!"

You Hong widened her eyes.

Yu Manyi continued: "Let go of me, and I promise I'll show you my notes tonight when we go back, and from now on, I'll show you every time."

You Hong immediately released her grip. Yu Manyi stepped back a few paces, letting out a deep breath.

"Should've said that earlier," You Hong grumbled awkwardly. "I just don't want to be a salesperson!"

With that, she turned and left, leaving Yu Manyi standing in the wind, her hair messily blown loose.

She nearly tore my bag apart.

Yu Manyi readjusted the briefcase that Song Qi had given her, tucking it tightly under her arm and securing the clasp to ensure nothing would fly out. She then turned into a narrow alley, heading toward Mr. Xu's electrical engineering company.

Since she was admitted to the Commercial Press, and after having delayed for these past few days, the weather in Shanghai had gotten cooler than before. Yu Manyi was going there in the evening, so she draped a thin, solid-colored knitted sweater over her checkered long skirt.

She had been coming to the electrical engineering company often these past two weeks and had become familiar with Mr. Xu and Da Lei on the first floor. Both were employees of the electrical engineering company, but they also had other identities, similar to Song Qi's situation.

Mr. Xu mostly engaged in design and engineering work, also handling the accounting for the store's finances. He usually sat on the second floor, while Da Lei worked on the first floor selling goods. However, when Yu Manyi arrived today, she found both of them absent. The first floor was empty, but the door to the stairs leading to the second floor was open.She tilted her head and listened, hearing faint sounds of an argument coming from upstairs. Yu Manyi hugged her briefcase tightly and thought for a moment before deciding to creep up quietly.

Halfway up, her heart started to race.

It was Song Qi’s voice. She was so familiar with his voice that she could recognize it from even the slightest sound.

His voice wasn’t loud, still tinged with weakness, but his tone was intense. What could he be so worked up about right after waking up? Wasn’t he perfectly fine when he was just lying there as a decoration?

Yu Manyi quickened her pace, eager to catch a glimpse of the awake Song Qi. But before she could reach the door, Song Qi’s voice suddenly rose, filled with strong questioning.

“I had to send the police away from the apartment, and you let her go to the library to copy materials!”

“Aiya, aiya...” Mr. Xu’s voice.

“Her materials are fake! What if they get found out and sent back to Shaoxing?”

“Aiya, aiya...” Da Lei’s voice.

“You’ve just recovered, don’t get so worked up...” Mr. Xu’s voice came closer to the door, as if he was about to leave. “I think Miss Yu has done well, you really don’t have to...”

“…Ah, Miss Yu.”

The door to the second-floor room was half-open. Yu Manyi stood on the stairs, and Mr. Xu stood inside the room. She was holding the briefcase that Song Qi had given her, filled with the documents she had just copied.

“Miss Yu? Miss Yu!” Da Lei, hearing her, quickly rushed out of the room.

The two of them hurriedly hid behind Yu Manyi, one after the other, saying:"Miss Yu, give me the materials, give them to me first."

"Aiya, Mr. Song has woken up, why don't you go and see him?"

"Yu Manyi!" A voice came from inside the room. "Come in!"

When Yu Manyi first heard that Song Qi had woken up, she felt a hint of happiness. But upon realizing that he was angry, she felt a bit confused. Then, it hit her — he was worried about her identity being exposed, and she understood why.

However, when he yelled at her like that, all the grievances she had been holding back surged to her mind, followed by a wave of anger.

She threw the briefcase into Mr. Xu's arms, took two steps at a time, and quickly rushed to the second floor. Immediately after, the sound of the door slamming shut echoed, leaving Mr. Xu and Da Lei outside, staring at each other.

Inside the room, the tension was palpable.

Song Qi, indeed just awake, had been standing and arguing for a while, but soon lacked the strength to continue. He slumped back into the chair, propping his head with his hand. Yu Manyi had initially wanted to argue with him, but seeing his pale face and noticing he wasn’t in a condition to start a confrontation, she could only stand by, arms crossed, seething with anger.

After a while, Song Qi finally gathered some strength. He propped himself up with one hand on the edge of the table and lifted his head.

Before he could speak, Yu Manyi quickly interjected, "If you're feeling weak, just lie down."

Song Qi: ...

"I still need to lie down?" Now he was alert, "If I lie down again, will you go steal documents from the Ministry of Works?"

"That won't do, I don't have the clearance."

Song Qi: ...He made her so angry that the wounds she had just healed nearly reopened.

"Didn't I tell you not to look for radio equipment? Didn't I say they were cracking down hard right now? A book I borrowed from the company was found by the police..."

Song Qi closed his eyes for a moment, skipping over that part, and continued, "You've copied so many books in the library, what if someone notices?"

"No one noticed me. I was using a sketchbook to hide the copies. I'm not stupid!"

"Who thinks they're stupid? I used to think I was smart, doing whatever I wanted, thinking someone would always save me. And in the end? Because of a newspaper, I almost died in prison!"

Yu Manyi widened her eyes at him. Song Qi had never mentioned this before, and Huo Shiwen had only told her that Song Qi had been locked up for a month because of that particular newspaper.

No wonder he later told Yu Manyi never to casually mention the word "death." People who haven’t faced death aren’t afraid of it, and those who have faced it know the horror of that word.

After saying this, Song Qi seemed to have used up all his strength. He propped his head with his hand again and said wearily, "Now that I'm awake, I'll handle the machinery part. You don’t need to copy books anymore."

"There's one more chapter left, and it’s unrelated to what you're doing. Mr. Xu said it’s very important for future debugging," Yu Manyi lowered her eyes, "I promised Mr. Xu to finish it."

"Yu Manyi!" Song Qi couldn't hold back anymore.

"Song Qi!"

Her voice echoed out, causing the two people outside the door and Song Qi to freeze.

She had never dared to raise her voice before, and even when she was angry, it was all in silence. But now, she truly had the strength to stand up for herself. With one loud shout, she caught everyone off guard, leaving the others unsure of how to react.However, her strong and loud shout was only for that one moment. As she continued speaking, her voice started to tremble.

"What are you yelling at me for? It's clearly your own fault. You went to deliver the parts, got shot, and now Mr. Xu can't finish the work on time. His forehead is sweating every day, and you're a useless piece of trash!"

Song Qi: …??

Outside the door, Mr. Xu started sweating again, immediately turning to Da Lei and saying, "This isn't Song Qi's fault. It was an issue on their side, and they didn't pass on the information in time. He's innocent… he was wrongly dragged into this, Miss Yu, your words are too harsh."

Da Lei: "Then why don’t you go in and explain?"

Mr. Xu: "Am I crazy?"

The two of them continued eavesdropping by the door. This time, as they pressed their ears against it, Yu Manyi's voice already had a crying tone.

"There are so many classes at the Commercial Press, and I still have to copy books for you. My hands are sore from writing, and you still scold me. Even Scarface Fish didn’t scold me, and you’re worse than Scarface Fish!"

"Who is Scarface Fish?"

"You can’t even figure out who Scarface Fish is, you big useless piece of trash!"

"…"

"Useless and loves to lie! You… you…"

Yu Manyi seemed to have pulled something out, slamming it down on the table.

"Read it out loud!"There was a long silence inside the room, and to everyone's surprise, Song Qi actually picked it up, hesitating before reading aloud: "I, Song Qi, due to repeatedly deceiving Yu Manyi and being unable to swear due to objective reasons, hereby write this IOU..."

"This IOU sounds like farting!" Yu Manyi's voice rang out again. "You said you were lying about Qi Song, and what happened?"

"Scarface Fish says you're a young master, your father is in prison, and you have an aunt with a notorious reputation. Who are all these people? You never told me anything. You're just pretending to be a poor student here!"

"...Who exactly is Scarface Fish... never mind, don’t—"

"Get away from me, liar!"

"I'll give you a handkerchief!"

"I don’t need it!"

"Do you want to argue or cry? Cry first, then argue!"

"Who wants to argue with you! I have so many important things to do! Unlike you, fainting for two weeks, and delaying Mr. Xu's important matters!"

"This, this, this," Mr. Xu hurriedly put his hand, which had been wiping sweat, behind his back, "What kind of person am I to…"

The voices inside became even more provocative, shifting from an argument to a coaxing tone, then back to an apology. However, the apology was not accepted, especially after the scolding when entering, which had already pushed the situation to an irreparable point.

As the voices drew nearer to the door, Da Lei and Mr. Xu quickly stepped aside, retreating to the staircase and pretending to discuss something else. Yu Manyi strode past them, turning to Mr. Xu, and shouted loudly:

"Give me the broken briefcase!"

"What broken briefcase?" Song Qi immediately chased out after her."Teacher Jiang even thinks my bag is ugly, you have no sense of aesthetics!" Yu Manyi criticized without turning her head, then snatched the empty bag from Mr. Xu's hands.

"And there's one more chapter left, I'll give it to you tomorrow. From now on, whoever wants to copy can copy. Helping you all and still getting scolded, it's really not worth it!"

"Oh, oh..." Mr. Xu began again.

Yu Manyi took the empty bag and was about to leave, but Song Qi reached out and grabbed her wrist. She paused, then lifted the hand holding the bag and slammed it hard on Song Qi's arm.

"Hey!" Fortunately, it was the side of his body that wasn’t injured. Song Qi immediately released his grip and helplessly watched her figure leave.

What a scene, it was like water in hot oil. Now that the water was gone, only three men remained in the electrical company, awkwardly looking at each other.

Da Lei tried to lighten the mood:

"Haha, Miss Yu, looks so gentle, but she’s fiercer than our Northeast women. Hahaha, that bag hit like...”

Song Qi cast a look at Da Lei, his expression hard to read.

"What are you looking at me for?" Da Lei said, and since he felt what Miss Yu had said earlier was quite right, he couldn't help but tease, "—Did you enjoy it?"

"Thirteen points." Song Qi turned around and walked away.

Da Lei was incredulous: "She hits you and you scold me?"

Song Qi had a belly full of anger and no place to vent—

"Who else can I scold if not you?!"The smell of machine oil lingered, the mechanical lathe was still running, rumbling loudly, with dust flying everywhere.