The next day, Kang Mingxun indeed came by to call on Wang Qiyao. Although she had expected him to show up after Madame Yan’s visit, she was still caught by surprise. Standing there face to face, neither knew what to say. Mrs. Wang sized up the situation and decided it was best to give them some privacy, but slammed the door shut on her way out to register her disapproval. But Wang Qiyao and Kang Mingxun didn’t even notice. This was the first time they had been together since their parting. It felt like thousands of years since they had last seen each other. They had appeared in each other’s dreams, but the images in their dreams were so far from the real person that they would have been better off not even dreaming. They had, in truth, resolved not to think of each other — and succeeded. But, face to face once again, they discovered that letting go was not as easy as they had thought. They stood there for a moment before Kang Mingxun walked around to the other side of the bed to take a look at the baby. Wang Qiyao stopped him. When he asked why he shouldn’t see the baby, she said, “Because I said so. . ”
Kang Mingxun pressed for an explanation. Wang Qiyao said that it wasn’t his baby. They fell silent for a while before he said, “Well, whose is it then, if it isn’t mine?”
“Sasha’s.”
At that, the two of them broke down in tears. All the sorrow they had suppressed back when they had to make that difficult decision suddenly came rushing back; they wondered how they had ever got through everything that had brought them to this point.
“I’m so sorry. . I’m so sorry. . ” Kang Mingxun kept apologizing, knowing it would do no good even if he said it a thousand times over.
Wang Qiyao kept shaking her head, aware that if she did not accept the apology, she would have nothing at all. They were both in tears, but it was Wang Qiyao who stopped crying first.
Wiping away her tears, she insisted, “She really is Sasha’s child.”
Hearing her say this, Kang Mingxun also pulled back his tears and sat himself down. There was no more mention of the baby; it was as if she had ceased to exist. Wang Qiyao had Kang Mingxun make himself some tea and, as he busied himself, she asked him what he had been doing of late — did he still play bridge? Was there any news on the job front?
“For the past few months, it feels like I have been doing only one thing — waiting in line. I get in line at nine thirty every morning to get into the Chinese restaurant. Then I line up again around four at a Western restaurant. Sometimes I have to line up just to get a cup of coffee or a quick bite, like a bowl of rice with salted pork.”
He explained that he was the one who usually got stuck holding a place in line for the rest of the family; once it got to close to his turn, everyone else would show up.
“Everyone talks about there not being enough to eat, but I feel like all I do all day long is eat!”
Wang Qiyao took a closer look at him and jokingly observed, “You’ve been eating so much that you’re starting to grow gray.”
“I don’t think that’s from eating too much — it’s from missing someone too much….”
Wang Qiyao rolled her eyes. “Oh no, I’m not singing Rendezvous at the Pavilion with you again!”
They seemed to have slipped back into their old ways — except that there was this new addition asleep on the bed. Sparrows were pecking at crumbs on the windowsill and they could hear someone forcefully shaking out a comforter on a nearby balcony.
Kang Mingxun was just on his way out as Mr. Cheng came back from work. Passing on the stairs, they exchanged a quick glance but neither left much of an impression on the other. It wasn’t until he got inside that Wang Qiyao explained that the man was her neighbor Madame Yan’s cousin, the one she used to spend time with.
“It’s almost dinner time. How come you didn’t ask him to stay for dinner?” Mr. Cheng asked.
“We really don’t have anything special to entertain a guest… so I thought it would be rude to invite him,” she explained.
Mrs. Wang kept quiet but had a disgusted look on her face. She went out of her way to be nice to Mr. Cheng, who wondered who had crossed her — he knew it wasn’t him. As usual, he spent some time playing with the baby after dinner. Seeing the baby fed and contentedly asleep with her tiny fist in her mouth, he took his leave. It was around eight o’clock. People and cars passed back and forth under the bright city lights. Instead of taking the trolley, Mr. Cheng draped his fall coat over his arm and walked home. He took in the familiar scents of the city and soaked up the evening scene. Now that the burden weighing on him for so long had been finally lifted, he felt relaxed: mother and child were safe and sound and the baby didn’t bother him as he had originally feared. In fact, Mr. Cheng was struck with a peculiar happiness; it was as if he, and not the child, had been given a new lease on life.
The late show was about to begin at the cinemas, which added a feeling of excitement to the night air. The city still had the spirit of a night owl, and the same energy of years ago was still there. The tricolor revolving pole outside the barbershop was the emblem of this unsleeping city. The strong aroma of Brazilian coffee wafting out of Old Chang’s gives the impression that time is flowing backward. How exciting the night is! Desire and contentment abound and, despite the compromises that have to be made, everyone gives their all, living life to the fullest. Mr. Cheng’s eyes grew moist and a strange excitement welled up in his heart, the like of which he had not experienced in a long time.
The next time Kang Mingxun showed up, Mrs. Wang did not go into the kitchen to avoid him. She sat on the sofa reading a cartoon version of the Dream of the Red Chamber. Wang Qiyao and Kang Mingxun couldn’t help but feel awkward and fell back on making small talk about the weather. When the baby woke up crying, Wang Qiyao asked Kang Mingxun to hand her a clean diaper. To her dismay, her mother got up and, taking the diaper out of Kang Mingxun’s hand, scolded her.
“How could you have the gentleman do this kind of thing?”
“I don’t mind,” explained Kang Mingxun. “It’s not like I’m busy with anything else. . ”
“Right, let him help out,” Wang Qiyao added.
Mrs. Wang drew a long face. “Don’t you have any manners? How could you ask a gentleman like him to lay his hands on these filthy articles? He is decent enough to treat you with respect and come to visit; but don’t take it as a sign that you can walk all over him. Show some tact!”
Stunned by the innuendo in her mother’s sudden attack, Wang Qiyao burst into tears. Mrs. Wang became even more incensed.
She flung the diaper in her daughter’s face, screaming, “I try to help you save face, but you just don’t seem to care! You demean yourself, and it’s all your own doing! If you want to lead a life of shame, go ahead! Nobody’s going to be able to help you if you don’t help yourself!”
With that, Mrs. Wang also burst out crying. Kang Mingxun was thoroughly bemused; he had no idea what had brought this on. Not knowing what else to do, he set about trying to mollify Mrs. Wang, “Please don’t be upset, Auntie. You know that Wang Qiyao has a good heart. . ”
His words made Mrs. Wang laugh.
She turned to him, “Mister, you are very perceptive. Wang Qiyao does indeed have a good heart. She has no choice. Where would she be if she didn’t have a good heart?”
Suddenly Kang Mingxun realized that he was the object of her wrath. He stepped back and stammered something inaudible. At this point, the baby, whom no one had been tending to, began to howl. Of the four people in the room, three were now in tears. Aghast at the chaos, Kang Mingxun felt impelled to say, “It is less than a month since Wang Qiyao gave birth. She should still be resting and we should try not to make her upset.”