Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Man Pulls the Waves (Seven)

The male colleagues at the translation office had a monthly salary ranging from a minimum of sixty to over a hundred, making them quite wealthy compared to other salaried workers of the same age. So, every Friday after work, they would go out, either to the dance hall or for dates. In short, they rarely stayed at the dorm to pass the time.

When Yu Manyi returned to the dorm, sure enough, none of them were there. They had all gone out for the weekend. Even the man, whom she had suddenly stood up, wasn't there. He must have quickly found another alternative.

On the first floor, aside from their rooms and the dining room, there was a corner with a sofa for everyone to sit and drink tea or read newspapers. Yu Manyi took Song Qi over to sit there and handed him two newspapers, saying:

"You can just sit here and read the newspaper. Wait until it's dark to leave. I need to go upstairs."

"You're leaving me here alone?"

Yu Manyi: "... What are you saying? You’re a grown man, just sit downstairs and read the newspaper. Am I wronged?"

"This is your territory, of course, you don’t find it strange. Leaving me alone here, when your colleagues return and see a stranger, how should I introduce myself?"

Yu Manyi stood there thinking for a while. Then, she grabbed another newspaper for herself, grumpily sitting down on the sofa beside him at a right angle.

The newspaper was talking about a workers' strike. It truly was a tumultuous time. Yu Manyi had now gotten used to reading serious reports like these. She flipped to another page, but her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of another piece of paper next to her.

She turned her head and saw that the IOU, which had been slapped on the table during their argument, had been placed on the armrest of the sofa by Song Qi. He pushed it back with his arm.

Yu Manyi thought they both were so childish. A piece of paper torn casually, an IOU written haphazardly. The tug-of-war they had been through over the past six months was now so wrinkled it looked like it would fall apart.

"I don’t want it," Yu Manyi said. "You have no credit, and the IOU has no credit either."

"Take it back. I owe you something new," Song Qi replied.He owed her something again. This IOU even had the effect of high-interest loans, turning into a cycle: one flip, then two, then three.

She took the IOU and saw that the space left for the amount owed was first filled by Song Qi, who had drawn two lines for her to fill in later. At the bottom, he had written another line:

"One more item owed, the briefcase. To be redeemed once healed."

...

He remembered what she had said about his ugly briefcase.

Yu Manyi pressed her lips for a moment, and a vague thought appeared in her mind. She didn’t argue anymore, carefully folded the IOU, and placed it back in her palm. When she spoke again, her tone softened.

"It’s no use just returning the IOU," she said. "You haven’t told me about any of the things you lied to me about."

To her surprise, Song Qi didn’t follow along with her statement: "Well, you didn’t tell me about burning the Yu family down either."

"How can you compare that?"

"Of course it compares. Both are family matters. Both are things that, if outsiders heard, would consider terribly unfilial. You didn’t tell me because you were afraid I’d think you set the fire and hurt someone..."

"Did you really think that?"

"Of course not. I think it was well done. It takes courage to sever ties with the place that raised you, to completely negate everything you've seen before, and reshape yourself in a new world. That’s something to admire."

"Then I naturally won’t think what you did was some sort of great crime," Yu Manyi said. "When I went to copy the materials for Mr. Xu, it was because I believed that as long as it was something you did, it was something reasonable."The room was quiet for a while, and surprisingly, Song Qi was the first to avert his gaze from Yu Manyi’s.

“You don’t have to believe me like this,” he said. “One day, you’ll have to listen for yourself, see for yourself, and make your own judgment, instead of relying on my judgment to make yours. This way, even if one day I’m not by your side…”

“Don’t change the subject.”

Song Qi was interrupted by her and didn’t continue further. He lowered his head to flip through the newspaper again, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yu Manyi still staring at him insistently. He sighed and closed the paper.

“My family background is indeed not bad,” he said, “but it’s not something to be proud of. The money was made by exploiting others.”

Yu Manyi was still a bit confused. She could only understand the serious news in the newspaper for now, mostly reading political and economic sections, but the finance pages were still ones she simply flipped past.

“I was raised by my grandfather and aunt,” Song Qi continued. “Before the fall of the Qing Dynasty, my grandfather held a government post. He saw the dynasty collapse and tried to save the country, but couldn’t. He retired to the countryside, living a life of quiet frustration.”

“My father probably thought that since my grandfather couldn’t save the country through politics, he would try through business. But that was the wrong path. Business was supposed to be a means to save the country; it’s extremely important, but if a person is controlled by business, they gradually become cold-blooded and cruel, a puppet of capital... And from the moment capital was born, every pore dripped with blood and filth.”

Yu Manyi recognized this last line. She had actually read it before when reading one of Song Qi’s Butterfly Lovers novels, a quote from the “ideologies” section at the back.

“I also went down the wrong path,” Song Qi said with a bitter smile. “I thought, since business couldn’t save the country, could industry? So, I didn’t follow his wishes and study business but instead studied engineering. But from what I’ve seen over the years… industry can’t save either.”

“Then what can save us?”

Yu Manyi suddenly realized: “That radio transmitter…”

Song Qi nodded slightly at her: “I want to try.”

“Your father is in prison. Aren’t you worried?”"I don't have any feelings for him, we both hate each other. I actually think his imprisonment is well-deserved," Song Qi said.

"Then what about your mother?"

"She passed away a long time ago. If she were still alive, he wouldn’t have been so heartless."

"What about your aunt…?"

"She's a remarkable woman," Song Qi said after talking about his family for a while, finally smiling, "If you’re willing, I can take you to visit her. She has a great personality, but..."

Yu Manyi blinked.

"She’s fickle and overly sentimental," Song Qi said. "She’s famous for writing Butterfly Lovers style novels, but it has nothing to do with family background."

"So the serialized novel you’re writing with Qi Song is…"

"Just learned a bit from her, but I’m far from it."

"You really have such a fascinating background and family."

"I think so too."

He had hidden this from her for so long, yet today when he finally told her, it didn’t feel as complicated as she imagined. Yu Manyi thought for a moment and realized that the more she thought about Song Qi’s background, the more interesting it became, especially when she thought of his usual actions. It was simply fascinating.

"What are you laughing about?" he asked, as expected.

"I think you're so interesting," Yu Manyi said, laughing."I also think you're fun," Song Qi immediately shot back, "A young lady from a landowner's family, not staying in the attic to be properly nurtured, but running to the fields to fly kites and even bringing a stranger home. Where did you get such courage?"

"You were the one who dragged me down."

"Didn't you run away? Why are you back again tonight?"

"I heard them say you were caught because of the second wife of the You family," Yu Manyi said, "I think you're a good person."

"Yeah, how strange," Song Qi put down the newspaper, "The Yu family, from top to bottom, is a bunch of shadow puppets, teaching you the three obediences and four virtues, to serve your husband and raise your children. Why is your head different from theirs? Why do you feel sorry for the second wife locked in the attic and think the person who saved her is the good one?"

Yu Manyi was stunned.

Yeah, who planted these ideas in her mind?

"That's why I think," Song Qi said with interest, as if he had thought about this question before, "The reason you've come this far is that you were always meant to be this way. You were born knowing you should live freely like this, but by some twist of fate, you were sent to a locked-up theater."

"If it were anyone else, born in a theater, watching shadow puppet plays from a young age, they would accept it, believing what they saw in the play was real. When they grew up, they would just imitate the performance on stage. But you're different."

"I didn't just run out," Yu Manyi said, "I also burned down the theater. How lucky I was to pick you up that day."

"I've already said," Song Qi smiled and shook his head, "It has nothing to do with me. It's because you were always this kind of person. If you hadn't picked me up that day, you'd have picked up a Wang Qi, a Zhao Qi, or a Sun Qi. Even if you hadn't picked anyone... the result would have been the same. You would have arrived at this point sooner or later. It was just a matter of time, in a different way."

Yu Manyi stretched her arm across the armrest of the sofa beside her and Song Qi, resting her head on it. She smelled the faint scent of engine oil on him again. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been helping with the assembly recently, so the smell had faded to just a faint layer.

"But, you’re still very important," Yu Manyi insisted. "If it weren’t for you, things would have been very different."

As she spoke, a sudden, uncontrollable sadness overcame her. Song Qi didn’t respond, and when she suddenly lifted her head, she found he was no longer there. The sofa beside her was empty. Yu Manyi felt a sharp sinking in her heart, and in that moment, the world seemed to violently shake and then completely collapse, as if this dormitory was just another theater like the Yu family’s... When she opened her eyes again, she was lying on the armrest of the sofa, with You Hong’s surprised expression in front of her."Manyi," she said, "Why are you sleeping here?"

She straightened up and then realized that she had fallen asleep while talking to Song Qi. In the dream, his disappearance had been so sudden. Yu Manyi hurriedly groped for her clothes, until she found the debt note. When she saw his actual handwriting, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Did you come back to find only me?" Yu Manyi asked.

"Yes, I just got back. A colleague said you were sleeping here alone and asked me to come find you... whose clothes are these?"

Yu Manyi froze for a moment, feeling a bit of weight on her shoulder. She took the clothes off and gave them a light shake. The familiar smell of engine oil, diluted with laundry detergent, was still there.

"A friend's," she said, "I’ll return them to him when I get the chance."

She held the clothes in her arms as she stood up and walked upstairs with You Hong. At one point, Yu Manyi suddenly felt like looking back, so she turned around again.

The window in the living room had been opened by someone, and black birds flew in, folding their wings as they landed on the sofa, pecking at the armrest. After hopping around for a while, they flew out through the window again.

Free and unrestrained, soaring through the world.

The days without having to copy books became more regular. Yu Manyi made up her mind to help You Hong pass the exams to avoid the fate of becoming a salesperson. So, every evening, she would return to the dormitory a bit earlier with her and read out loud the words and numbers, assisting her understanding.

It turned out that she only had issues with reading and writing, but there were no problems with comprehension. With Yu Manyi's help, her grades in these two challenging subjects quickly improved.

Having solved her sales crisis, You Hong also began helping Yu Manyi with her painting. Her problems with the photocopier were even harder to fix than You Hong’s literacy issues. She was scolded several times:"You always copy other people's things, when will you create something of your own? Why did you start painting in the first place?"

"For wrapping paper," Yu Manyi replied sincerely in front of You Hong, "Back then, when I copied wrapping paper, the more I made it look like the original, the better."

"Please have some ambition and make something of yourself!" You Hong was furious, her tone resembling Teacher Su’s, frustrated that Yu Manyi wasn’t doing better.

After the genius’s daily advice, Yu Manyi finally broke through this copying barrier one day and created a painting with a completely different style. Because she had copied so many famous artists’ brushwork, once she had this breakthrough, her skill level began to rise exponentially.

By the time of the monthly evaluation, both she and You Hong had been promoted to the fourth and seventh places in the class, completely escaping the crisis of becoming a salesperson or a typesetter.

And the salary distribution for that month allowed Yu Manyi to completely escape from a state of extreme poverty. She wrote down her earnings from the four months since joining the company on the nearly used-up textile factory notebook:

Skipping the living expenses for next month, savings balance: 40 yuan.

Owing Song Qi for the skirt: 18 yuan.

Owing Aunt Ping for the overdue rent: 5 yuan.

Remaining balance: 17 yuan.

Yu Manyi put down the pen, stared at the notebook for a moment, and thought to herself:

Forget it, still in a state of poverty.

But after thinking for a while, she picked up the pen and continued calculating in the notebook:

Gift for Song Qi: 7 yuan.Remaining balance: 10 yuan.

"Ahhh!"

After writing that line, Yu Manyi suddenly sat in the dorm and shouted to the sky, startling You Hong.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm so poor!" Yu Manyi said. "When will I ever have money like Teacher Jiang!"

Teacher Jiang always came to class wearing new clothes every week, and Yu Manyi had never seen her wear the same outfit twice. Yu Manyi flipped through her notebook furiously, flipping back to an earlier page, and showed it to You Hong.

"I heard the top-tier monthly calendar illustration pays four hundred yuan per piece," she said seriously and with longing. "I only earn 180 a year... plus a little bonus, 200 yuan, just half of what they get for a single illustration."

"Four hundred is the top tier," You Hong said soberly. "If you went to pick up trash, you'd still earn quite a lot at the top level. No matter what you do, being at the top means both earning and difficulty."

"Come on, didn't I promise to treat you to dinner today?"

"Why do you look like you have more money?" Yu Manyi muttered.

You Hong walked over, turned her notebook back to the most recent page.

"Because I don't owe anyone rent or clothes money, and I don't have to buy gifts for men," she said. "Is this from that cheap man again? Why do you still have to return gifts after he gave them to you? And you're buying him something in return? You’re really cheap."

"...That's not it," Yu Manyi was momentarily speechless.

The two changed clothes and went out of the dorm together.They had just received their pay, and You Hong specially took Yu Manyi to a slightly upscale restaurant. The table was gleaming with shiny knives and forks, and there was a band performing on stage. They had been eating for a while when Yu Manyi suddenly felt You Hong kick her under the table.

She looked up, and You Hong, looking very nervous, said, "The people at that table... why have they been staring at us?"

Staring at us?

Yu Manyi turned around unguarded, her eyebrows jumping in shock. Not far from them, by the window, sat four men. Three of them she recognized—

Mr. Xu, Da Lei, and Song Qi.

And the fourth man, who was sitting with his back to her, wore a plain grey suit, appeared to be a little older, and wore a hat. He wasn't eating but occasionally took a sip from his drink.

When Yu Manyi turned back, Song Qi and Da Lei were both looking toward her side. She even heard the unfamiliar man ask, "What's going on?"

"Oh, just some friends we know." Da Lei immediately put on a smile.

"Your friends?"

"Song Qi's... friends."

The way he said "friends" seemed like he used all his strength.

The older man chuckled lightly and said, "Then go say hello, don't mind me."

"He's coming over!" You Hong kicked Yu Manyi again.

The cheap man was approaching. Yu Manyi, afraid that You Hong would say something that would reveal her past comments about Song Qi, immediately stood up and quickly walked out of the restaurant.Song Qi's footsteps faltered for a moment, and sure enough, he turned around and followed her after she exited the restaurant.

The two of them left the restaurant one after the other. At this moment, Shanghai citizens were also particularly attentive to their weekend life. Outside the restaurant, the streets were bustling with cars. Well-dressed men strolled leisurely, holding fresh vegetables in their hands, and women in qipaos walked gracefully, holding bundles of flowers wrapped in kraft paper.

The mailman finished his rounds and raced down the street on his bicycle, his speed outpacing the cars blocked by the crowd. The sound of his bicycle bell rang out, followed closely by a patrolman in a car:

"You’re speeding!" the patrolman shouted.

Yu Manyi was pulled back by someone and barely avoided the high-speed bicycle chase.

"You look so flustered," Song Qi's voice came from behind her.

"No, not at all! Absolutely not!" Yu Manyi replied, her eyes catching sight of You Hong still inside, peering out with a suspicious look.

After calming down for a few seconds, Yu Manyi turned the blame back on him: "It’s you guys who kept staring at us, scaring my roommate!"

"Is that so?" Song Qi raised an eyebrow. "Should I go apologize to her later?"

"No need!"

Song Qi shrugged, and that was the end of the matter.

"Why did you all come out to eat?" Yu Manyi asked. "Four big men, so obvious."

"Well, we're still human," Song Qi said. "The machine is done, so we can have a drink."He emphasized the word “a little” heavily, as if it truly was just a little. Yu Manyi glanced again through the window, noticing the unfamiliar man sitting with his head lowered, his hat covering his face, more cautious than Song Qi and the others. From the small amount of facial features visible, he appeared to be older and thin.

"That's quite good," Yu Manyi withdrew her gaze, her tone light. "We’ve passed the assessment, so we don’t have to worry about being sent to work as salespeople."

"So coincidental," Song Qi said, suddenly taking two steps back. "Wait a moment."

He quickly re-entered the store, lowered his head to grab something from under the table, and swiftly returned to Yu Manyi. She took the paper bag he handed her, about to reach in when Song Qi stopped her.

"Look at it when you get home," he said. "Afterward, cross out the IOU."

Ah… the bag that would be exchanged when the injury healed.

It seemed his injury had healed.

Yu Manyi pressed her lips together for a moment, then pulled out a smaller box from her clothes. Since it wasn’t as large as Song Qi’s, she simply stuffed it into her coat pocket.

Song Qi didn’t need to go back to open it. He used his knuckles to pull open the wrapping and retrieved the wallet inside. It was made of black cowhide with metal grids embedded in it—simple yet sophisticated.

He opened the wallet, laughing helplessly. "You even put money inside?"

"To return your clothes," Yu Manyi said.

"No need," he tried to take it out. "Do you want to exchange that bag for me too?"

"That’s not necessary," Yu Manyi replied. "This money is to tell you... I’m honored to accept your gift."

"Then I must be extremely honored," Song Qi said.When she said this, Song Qi could only close the wallet and slip it into his suit jacket. He had finally returned to his original size, no longer needing to wear larger clothes to hide his wound. Yu Manyi hoped he would never need to wear such clothes again.

They had been seeing each other less lately, and both had friends waiting inside, so there wasn’t much they could talk about. Yet, in just these few words, a whistle suddenly rang out in the street.

The whistle was sharp, causing everyone in the restaurant to turn their attention outside. Yu Manyi turned her head and noticed that the unfamiliar man sitting with Song Qi and the others also lifted his head, revealing the eyes hidden beneath his hat.

Now she understood why he wore a hat. His gaze was sharper than that of a hawk, and one look was enough to tell that he was no ordinary person. Yu Manyi quickly averted her gaze and stood beside Song Qi, following the direction of the crowd’s eyes to look out at the street.

A large procession was slowly moving towards them, with a swelling, tumultuous crowd pushing the daily lives of the citizens to the sides of the street.

“What’s going on...?”

“Workers are on strike,” Song Qi said briefly, as if not surprised by the scene. He tugged Yu Manyi backward and reminded her, “It’s not very peaceful these days. You should stay in as much as possible, aside from work.”

“Just for these few days?” Yu Manyi asked. “I still wanted to go find you after the exam…”

“Don’t come looking for me. I’ll find you,” Song Qi repeated.

Her words were blocked, but she already knew Song Qi meant well. Yu Manyi shook her head and raised her gaze again, looking at the boiling street.

“What’s really going on...?” she said, her tone confused.

“Some people’s greed runs deep, they sow evil, and naturally they reap evil consequences.” A voice suddenly sounded from behind her. Yu Manyi was startled and turned around, only to find that the man who had been sitting with Song Qi and the others had come outside.

He stood behind her, sizing up Song Qi and Yu Manyi for a moment before lowering his hat again.

“The world is still in chaos,” he said.The boiling crowd had already reached the restaurant’s door. Yu Manyi was once again forced to retreat, stepping back into the restaurant, and Song Qi showed no intention of letting her go outside.

The middle-aged man with the hat, however, only glanced up, then casually said "Goodbye" to Song Qi, before stepping out and merging into the surging tide of people on the Bund.

Some dove in, while others watched. Yu Manyi stood curiously behind Song Qi, positioned at the very edge of the riverbank that would soon be swept away by the flood.