With Xiao Yan and Xiao Gang arriving, the room was no longer Hu Ni's. Hu Ni reluctantly put down her pen, wiped the ink from her face and hands, and went for a stroll outside. Then she went back and carefully wiped the bamboo mat several times with a damp towel. But lying in bed, she still couldn't help but think of the scene of Xiao Yan and Xiao Gang entangled in bed.
Xiaoyan started introducing Hu Ni to her boyfriend, Xiao Gang's classmate, a tall but not exactly handsome boy. Sitting opposite the awkward young man in the bar, Hu Ni remained calm and composed.
"Why not?" Xiao Yan asked, annoyed by Hu Ni's rejection in the bathroom.
"..." Hu Ni thought about the reasons why it could work, and after a long time, she suddenly realized and said, "Why would it work? I don't even like him!"
"Then why don't you like him?"
"Then why should I like him?"
"...You idiot!"
"You're the idiot!" Hu Ni repeated Xiao Yan's swear word in Mandarin, making the sentence sound incoherent. Xiao Yan's wide eyes narrowed, and he laughed so hard he bent over. Hu Ni also laughed.
The restroom door kept opening and closing, with one stunningly beautiful, petite woman after another entering. They pouted their bright red lips, their eyes, hidden beneath eyeshadow, darted around impatiently, and pounded on the closed cubicle door. Each woman who emerged would look in the filthy mirror, unconsciously striking a "cool" yet alluring pose at her reflection, before tilting her pretty head back and plunging back into the deafeningly loud hall, joining the ghostly, swaying crowd to release her excess energy and emotions.
Xiao Yan was already bored with her conversation with Hu Ni, so she pulled Hu Ni's hand and left the smelly restroom.
On the dance floor, it seemed that Xiao Yan and Xiao Gang were fantasizing. Xiao Yan swayed gracefully, her body like a seductive snake tempting the young Xiao Gang. If she had a family like hers, with healthy parents, then she too could enjoy life's pleasures in a stable environment, just like her. Hu Ni thought this way.
But soon, Hu Ni discovered that Xiao Yan's environment was not "stable" either, or at least not very stable.
Pretty Friend (Part 5)
gold
Xiao Yan frantically applied various products to her face: loose powder, mascara, eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick, making her already stunning face even more breathtaking. She wore an oversized white T-shirt, with nothing underneath except her underwear. Her hair was casually clipped on top of her head, with many strands hanging down, giving her face a touch of allure.
Xiao Yan sat in front of her dressing table, a slightly worn table with a large mirror that had a corner chipped off. The chipped corner was cleverly utilized to hang a small green, grinning rag frog doll. Beneath her was another slightly worn stool. Sunlight streamed in through the fairly large window, and Hu Ni, sitting on the edge of the bed, saw Xiao Yan's delicate profile backlit.
Xiaoyan's room was also very simple, with an old single bed, an old wardrobe, a simple dressing table, and half of the room piled with miscellaneous items. A large brown teddy bear on the bed and a small frog hanging on the mirror, along with various cosmetics on the dressing table, added a touch of girlish fragrance to the simple little room.
The sounds of mahjong tiles clattering and women shouting "Pong!" and "Self-draw!" drifted from outside. It was Xiaoyan's mother playing mahjong with several other laid-off women like herself. Mixed in with the sounds was the loud volume of a television; Xiaoyan's grandmother, hard of hearing, had turned the volume up very high. Xiaoyan's father, also laid off, wasn't home; he'd gone to play chess at a stall outside the park.
Hu Ni looked at Xiao Yan, took a drag of her cigarette, blew out a smoke ring, and said, "Actually, you look pretty even without makeup."
Without turning her head, Xiao Yan half-closed one eye and carefully applied mascara to her already long eyelashes. As she did so, she tried her best to keep her facial muscles still and said, "What do you know! ...You're all grown up... Have you ever worn makeup before!" Putting down her tools, Xiao Yan leaned closer to the mirror and carefully checked herself from left to right. Then she turned back to Hu Ni and said in a strong voice, "Makeup is an attitude, a state of mind. It's not just about looking good, you know?"
Hu Ni smiled, neither confirming nor denying.
Xiao Yan glanced at the cigarette in Hu Ni's hand, took one from the pack, lit it, and held it lightly between her fingers. She took a shallow drag, slowly squinting her eyes as she exhaled wisps of smoke, looking quite smug. Then she said, "Smoking is an attitude, not just about wanting to smoke. You're like that, smoking so much without paying any attention to how you smoke. You're wasting so much time, letting nicotine kill so many of your cells." After saying that, Xiao Yan took another smug drag, then strolled around the room in her white oversized T-shirt.
Hu Ni looked out the window and saw the outside world. The scenery was dull: a moss-covered brick wall, a window half-open, with a pair of blue men's shorts hanging there. Near the window, green branches of a banyan tree reached out. And then, a misty sky.
Xiao Yan also lived in a dilapidated corner of the city, but unlike others, this was her home; she had lived here since birth. Xiao Yan was lucky, in Hu Ni's eyes. She had parents and a grandmother; the four of them should have a happy and fulfilling family life. Hu Ni couldn't imagine what could be causing Xiao Yan's unhappiness. In fact, Xiao Yan was a very cheerful person.
Xiao Yan took a pair of hot pants that barely covered her buttocks and a red tank top, held them up against herself, and then put them on.
"I'll leave this godforsaken place someday," Xiao Yan said as she put on her clothes.
"Marry Xiaogang?"
Xiao Yan stopped pulling up her pants, staring at a patch of yellowed wall stained with water. She quickly resumed her actions, stood up, pulled her pants back up, and stood in front of the mirror, scrutinizing herself. Then she sat down and asked Hu Ni, "Do you think people like us should only be content marrying rich men?"
Hu Ni paused, realizing that money was absolutely important to her. But not so important as to sacrifice her feelings; she didn't want to say that. Since leaving Qiu Ping, Xiao Yan was the only friend she had made, and friends should have things in common. So she smiled noncommittally.
Xiao Yan said thoughtfully, "Damn it, there are so many rich people now. Look at how we live, we work so hard for a month and only earn so little. The amount of money others need to buy a single outfit is what we earn for several months." She looked down at her clothes and said, "I bet people would even complain that the fabric of our clothes is too bad to use for wiping tables."
Hu Ni propped herself up on the bed and asked, "Then what about you and Xiao Gang?"
Xiao Yan lit a cigarette, but the act of smoking wasn't exactly romantic anymore. She said sadly, "If I marry him, I'll be even poorer than I am now. I'll have to count every penny, support the family! Damn it, I'm not doing that!" Xiao Yan put the cigarette in her mouth, her romantic expression completely gone, and her hands kept putting on earrings. There were eight piercings on her left ear.
Hu Ni laughed and said, "Then Xiao Gang is probably going to jump into the Yangtze River!"
Xiao Yan smiled noncommittally and said, "If you're so capable, bring me a million to marry me. My demands aren't high. For a woman, marriage is like a second reincarnation. The first time..." Xiao Yan looked around her room, gave a bitter smile, and said, "If the first time wasn't good, there's nothing you can do, but you still have a chance. Damn it, if you marry another poor husband, your life will be truly ruined." Then she shook her head, looking terrified, and said, "To live like that for the rest of my life? My God! I'd rather be killed!"
Xiaoyan picked up her new phone to look at it; she was waiting for someone. Hu Ni stood up and said, "I'm leaving now, I won't be a third wheel."
Xiao Yan tugged at Hu Ni's arm: "Wait a minute, let him drive you home later, I don't want to squeeze onto the bus outside."
Hu Ni asked with a smile, "Xiao Gang's bicycle?" Actually, people in Chongqing hardly ride bicycles. The terrain here makes riding a bicycle quite tiring. The main reason is that the residential areas here usually have many slopes and bumps, so people might spend a lot of time carrying bicycles.
Xiao Yan smiled noncommittally, with a slightly mysterious expression, and said, "You'll find out in a bit."
Hu Ni had a premonition of something.
A boy's polite, reserved greeting came from outside: "Auntie! Grandma!"
The woman's voice had the characteristic straightforwardness of someone from Chongqing: "Xiao Gang, Xiao Yan is inside." Then her voice suddenly rose: "Xiao Yan! Xiao Yan! Xiao Gang is here!"
Xiao Yan sat there, seemingly holding her breath. Hu Ni was affected by her and didn't dare to speak, only glancing at Xiao Yan. She understood that the person Xiao Yan was waiting for wasn't him.
Xiao Yan stood up, walked to the door and said, "Xiao Gang, you can go back now. I've made plans to go shopping with Hu Ni."
Xiao Gang approached, his eyes now filled with a sinister glint. This clever boy had sensed a serious crisis. His eyes held a desperate plea: "My mom's cooked dinner. She told me to come and get you, and to ask Hu Ni to come along." He leaned closer, smiling ingratiatingly at Hu Ni, and said, "Hu Ni! Let's go together!"
Hu Ni smiled and shook her head, saying, "I'm not going, you guys go ahead!" Then she got up to leave.
Xiaoyan tugged at Huni's arm and said, "Let's go shopping, I'm not going." A car horn sounded downstairs, and Xiaoyan's eyes darted away. She said, "Xiaogang, go back, I'm not going."
Xiao Gang stood there, looking stubborn and hurt.
Xiao Yan's phone, which she had tossed on the bed, rang crisply. Xiao Yan glanced away from Xiao Gang's gaze guiltily and said, "You can go now, I'm going out." Then she went over to answer the call: "Wait a moment, I'll be right down."
Then she pulled Hu Ni past Xiao Gang, who was standing there dumbfounded, without even glancing at him. After walking through the outer room, Hu Ni quickly said, "Grandma! Auntie! We're leaving!" Xiao Yan's mother looked up and said warmly, "We're leaving, come play again next time, okay!" She saw Xiao Yan's pants, her face changed, and she started cursing, "Xiao Yan, you little brat, look at what you're dressed like! Change them right now!" Xiao Yan's grandmother, who was sitting on her bed watching TV, shakily got up when she saw them come out, grinning with her toothless mouth, and said in a trembling, indistinct voice, "Come play again next time, ha! Xiao Yan, come back early, ha! Don't stay out so late again..." Xiao Yan's mother was still cursing, "You little brat, are you disobedient! I told you to change your pants! Everyone else's underwear is bigger than yours! Xiao Yan! You little brat!"
Xiao Yan pulled Hu Ni along and ran, leaving all the noise behind.
A black Mercedes-Benz was parked awkwardly in the small space downstairs. A slightly overweight man in casual clothes leaned against the car, smiling as he greeted Xiaoyan. Hu Ni's mind went blank. This man didn't deserve Xiaoyan. He was probably thirty, short, and starting to gain weight. His eyes lacked the clear, bright sparkle of Xiaogang's; instead, they were dull and murky, tainted by desire. He opened the car door with a flourish. Before getting in, Xiaoyan glanced up. On her balcony stood Xiaogang, motionless, watching them. Hu Ni followed Xiaoyan's gaze. She thought of Qiu Ping, on the mountaintop that winter…
Pretty Friend (Part 6)
gold
Xiaoyan has decided to resign.
After their shift ended, two other pretty girls took their place, and they would work from now until 9:30 pm.
After changing their clothes, they sat in a fast-food restaurant in the mall. This was the last time they would work together; from now on, they would lead completely different lives. Xiaoyan finally surfaced like a pearl buried in the sand.
Hu Ni ordered a fish-flavored eggplant rice, and Xiao Yan ordered a spicy chicken rice. The food arrived quickly, and the two ate in silence.
After a long silence, Hu Ni asked, "Are you really willing to accept this?"
Xiao Yan nodded, her eyes bright and excited, devoid of any malice: "Hu Ni! I'm going to be rich!" Then she lowered her head and ate heartily.
"Where's Xiaogang? Is he still looking for you?"
Xiaoyan nodded, her eyes still bright and excited: "Huni, you don't know, you don't know this feeling. If you were about to have money, lots of money! A beautiful car, and a house, you'd feel that many things don't matter anymore, not at all! They wouldn't attract me at all! ...At least, their appeal is far less than 'money'!" Xiaoyan stomped her foot on the floor, laughing happily: "I'm so happy! I can't believe it!" Then she quieted down, leaned over, and asked Huni mysteriously: "Do you know how he proposed to me?"
Hu Ni chewed on the soft eggplant, shaking her head blankly.
Xiaoyan rummaged through her new bag, which she'd bought at their mall for a little over a thousand yuan. She pulled out a bunch of keys, dangling them as she smiled at Hu Ni: "He gave me two keys, one for an apartment in Southern Garden, all renovated, and the other for a Santana. Then he gave me the property certificate, with my name and ID number on it." Xiaoyan wrinkled her nose and smiled blissfully, her expression brimming with happiness: "I agreed right then and there!" Then she became slightly more serious and said, "Hu Ni, when a man gives you so much, you have to believe in his sincerity. He was sincere towards me."
Hu Ni nodded. If any man gave her so much, Hu Ni felt she would be moved too. Giving is easy, but giving so much requires exceptional sincerity and considerable ability. But she couldn't help but say, "Then Xiao Gang is really in trouble."
Xiao Yan grinned mischievously and said, "If you think he's so great, how about I introduce him to you?"
Hu Ni made an exaggerated spitting-out gesture and said, "Do you think I'm a garbage collector?" She immediately regretted saying it; she felt it was unfair to Xiao Gang, that clean-cut, handsome boy with a minty, sunny aura. Actually, he just didn't have money, that was his only mistake, and for Xiao Yan, it was an unforgivable mistake. Hu Ni lowered her head and ate, no longer speaking.
"How about I take you to see an apartment after dinner?" Xiaoyan was still very excited.
"Okay!" Hu Ni didn't want to go back to that stuffy, sweltering room either.
The two arrived on the street, and a wave of heat hit them. Xiaoyan hailed a taxi, and the two got in. Xiaoyan yelled, "Driver! Turn the air conditioning up! Do you want us to die of heat or something?!"
The driver, in a very good mood, turned the air conditioning up to the highest setting and said helplessly, "Girl, you have no idea how hard it is to make a living these days. I don't earn much money in a day, and the air conditioning is such a waste of fuel."
Xiao Yan glanced at him and said, "Enough with the empty talk!"
The driver fell silent.
Xiao Yan continued enthusiastically to Hu Ni, "I've enrolled in driving school now, and classes start tomorrow."
The driver spoke again: "Young lady, please don't drive. Girls should find something easy to do, don't drive, it's too tiring, girls can't handle it."
Hu Ni and Xiao Yan laughed. Xiao Yan said with a smile, "I'm going to drive here and steal your food. What are you going to do about it!"
The driver shook his head, muttered something, and stopped talking.
The car stopped at Southern Garden. Xiaoyan pulled Huni along, walking excitedly forward. Huni suddenly felt a pang of sadness. She was still drifting like a piece of duckweed, not knowing what the future held, where she would live, where she would go, or even if she would ever have a home.
Upon entering the fifth-floor duplex apartment, Xiaoyan immediately turned on the floor-standing air conditioner. In Hu Ni's limited experience, she had never seen such luxurious home decor. Hu Ni felt that only "luxurious" could describe it: marble floors, an extravagantly large crystal chandelier, an exaggerated ceiling, the then-popular spray-painted dotted walls, a TV wall inlaid with artistic stone, wrought iron decorations on the walls, a large wedding photo of Xiaoyan and that man, waist-high wooden wainscoting… Everywhere that should be decorated was decorated, and even where it shouldn't be, it was decorated. The overwhelming amount of decorative materials and luxurious furniture pressed down on her, exuding the unique air of a nouveau riche.
The nanny's room, the guest room—Xiao Yan pulled Hu Ni along, looking at each one. Then, excitedly, she grabbed Hu Ni's hand and ran upstairs: "Look at my bedroom! I love it!" The stair railing was decorated with intricate subway patterns, and at the beginning of the stairs, there were exaggerated Roman columns.
Upstairs was a large entertainment room with a bar counter resembling a pub's bar, filled with a dazzling array of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. In front of a large floor-to-ceiling window was a tatami room with legless Japanese-style chairs and a low table, on which sat a fine Yixing teapot and tea set. Like the living room downstairs, it also had a large floor-standing air conditioner. Because the decor wasn't too elaborate, it was much more pleasing to the eye.
Xiao Yan pulled Hu Ni along, pushing open the doors of each room: "This is the guest room, this is the nursery, this is the study... Here! Look! Isn't it beautiful?" Xiao Yan stared at Hu Ni inquiringly, her eyes still shining with excitement.
Hu Ni saw a very large room with large floor-to-ceiling windows that let in plenty of sunlight. The room was carpeted in pink and furnished with a white eight-piece bedding set with gold armrests and lace trim. Xiao Yan would no longer have to dress up in front of that old, chipped mirror. She now had an expensive dressing table, which was no longer filled with cheap cosmetics and perfumes, but instead held CDs, Lancôme and Shiseido cosmetics, and Chanel perfumes.
White curtains, pink drapes, pink bedspreads, and huge photos of Xiao Yan hanging on the walls. Hu Ni had never owned any decent furniture, but that didn't mean she lacked appreciation for it. In her eyes, good furniture was warm in color, elegant and understated in style, carrying a scholarly and cultural air, not the flashy, superficially pretty things before her.
Looking back at Xiaoyan's eager and excited gaze, Hu Ni nodded and said, "That's great!" Sometimes, Hu Ni can't be straightforward.
Xiao Yan laughed, ran into the house, turned on the air conditioner, and rolled around on the bed: "Sometimes I can't believe it, this house is actually mine, I really can't believe it!"
Hu Ni went inside and looked out the window. There was a well-maintained lawn with stone round tables and stools, but because of the heat, there was no one there. There was also a tennis court next to it, which was also empty because of the heat.
Xiao Yan jumped up and ran behind Hu Ni, asking, "How is it? Pretty, right?"
Hu Ni nodded: "So beautiful!"
Xiao Yan pulled Hu Ni to the outer room and sat on the tatami chair in front of the French windows. Without stopping for a moment, Xiao Yan turned on her surround sound system, and then pulled Hu Ni to sit on the bar stool. The two of them opened a bottle of Dynasty dry red wine and started drinking.
Looking at her friend's new house, Hu Ni couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. She said sincerely, "Xiao Yan, your home is so nice." All homes are nice to Hu Ni, not to mention such a large and fully equipped one. Even if it were a little tacky or frivolous, none of that could overshadow the comfort and warmth of this home.
Xiao Yan leaned closer and asked, "Would you like me to introduce you to one of Zhang Yong's friends? He's also a highly eligible bachelor."
Hu Ni laughed and said, "I don't have your kind of good luck."
Xiao Yan said dismissively, "Don't take this so lightly. A pretty girl's only asset is her youth. We all have the ability to escape poverty. Don't miss this good opportunity. In a couple of years, when you're older, it'll be harder to turn things around." Xiao Yan took a drag of her cigarette, a hint of melancholy on her face, and said, "I've had enough of the hardships of poverty. Damn it, my whole family is counting on me. They treat them like I'm a bank! ... Zhang Yong was introduced to me by a friend of my mother's."
"Your mom doesn't know about you and Xiaogang!"
“How could I not know! They live right across the street, how could I not know? Isn’t it just that they want to use their daughter to turn their lives around…” Xiaoyan lit a cigarette, slowly inhaling, her eyes gazing into the distance as she said, “I didn’t agree at first because it was arranged by my family, and I was furious. But then I thought, oh well, it’s a good opportunity after all. Zhang Yong isn’t too old or too bad… Besides, I don’t want to be poor anymore. No matter how good Xiaogang is, he can’t give me what I want; he’ll still make me poor, and I can’t stand it…”
Hu Ni lowered her head and remained silent, recalling how she ate three steamed buns a day and had only a few cents in her pocket. After a long while, she said, "Maybe."
Xiao Yan regained her cheerful and delighted expression and asked, "How about it? Shall I introduce someone to you?"
Hu Ni smiled faintly and said, "Never mind, I probably won't be able to stay in Chongqing for long anyway."
"Back to Shanghai?"
Hu Ni shook her head: "I'm not going back to Shanghai, and I haven't decided where to go."