Chapter 417: What's Yours Is Mine

"Let me be three thousand years of growth, wandering through the mortal world; even if I were the poplar of Kashgar, I would still search for you carefully across centuries, finding you in the wheel of life and rebirth."

Fang Hong drove while singing at the top of his lungs, looking very worked up, as if he had obtained some treasure, in high spirits.

By now the car was already on the highway, speeding through the wind and snow at around 100 mph, the scenery outside flying backward.

Outside the car it was cold as frost, inside the heater was puffing warmly; Liu Tianxian saw him excited like a child and was happy too, her eyes full of smiles.

Fang Hong turned his head to glance at her, then kept his neck craned and sang in a high voice: "I'm not afraid of rain, wind, or sun, of being hurt by the desert sands; I'll bare my heart in the sunlight to confess to you. I'd rather my body be weathered away by the years, as long as you can feel my true love."

"Clap clap clap, wonderful." Liu Tianxian applauded.

Even though it was a broken-gong voice, even though it was off-key, even though it didn't sound good, she just loved listening to it, found it moving.

Fang Hong stretched his neck toward her; Liu Tianxian leaned over and smacked a kiss on his face, looking very loving.

"That song was too high, my throat is hoarse from singing it, hard to sing." Fang Hong said.

"Rest a bit, rest a bit." Liu Tianxian picked up a bottle of water, unscrewed the cap, and held it to his lips: "Have some water."

Fang Hong took a sip and felt his throat was much better.

On the highway, the two of them just sang and chatted like this; with company, it didn't feel boring.

Liu Tianxian also took a sip of water, screwed the cap back on, and said: "Hey, let me ask you something."

"Go ahead and ask." Fang Hong looked at the road ahead.

"I have United States citizenship. When we get the marriage certificate, don't you feel unsafe about it?" Liu Tianxian tilted her body to look at him.

"What unsafe?" Fang Hong was puzzled.

"Your company, of course. In the future I could take half your assets." Liu Tianxian said.

"What does that have to do with what country's citizenship you have? Whatever country's citizenship you are, you could still be entitled to half, okay." Fang Hong said.

A spouse taking half has nothing to do with citizenship; most countries have provisions for spouses to take half.

"Then don't you feel unsafe? Aren't you afraid that in the future I'll take your company away from you, leave you bankrupt? Won't you take some precaution, do some property notarization or something?" Liu Tianxian asked again.

"No. Whatever I have today, half of it already belongs to you. If that day really comes, I'll gladly give you half." Fang Hong said it cleanly.

He knew Liu Tianxian wasn't that kind of person. Even if they really reached the point of dividing property, Liu Tianxian wouldn't take his assets, wouldn't take anything from him, but would choose to silently turn around, say nothing, and not take a single cent from him.

If Liu Tianxian really wanted some shares or the company, there had been plenty of chances over the years to speak up, but not once.

One should know that Fang Hong hadn't had it all smooth sailing; there had been setbacks in between.

"Besides, what you're talking about is a scenario where something goes wrong between us. As long as we ourselves don't have a problem, nothing will happen. What's the point of notarization, why do all that messy, disorganized stuff—it's meaningless." That was what Fang Hong thought.

He trusted Liu Tianxian absolutely, trusted her a million percent, and also trusted the feelings between them.

These words moved Liu Tianxian; this was something only absolute trust would bring out—mine is yours, yours is mine.

You are in me, I am in you.

"What if something really does go wrong between us?" Liu Tianxian asked.

"If something goes wrong, like I said, whatever you want I'll give you. Half, or all of it, it's all yours. Just leave me something to eat—like this big winter, give me a padded jacket, give me a hot meal, that's enough." Fang Hong said.

"You make yourself sound so pitiful. Am I that vicious? Am I that kind of person?" Liu Tianxian gave him a light smack.

"It's exactly because I know you're not that kind of person that I say this. I know you love me the most." Fang Hong said smugly.

"I don't love you. From now on, if you bully me, I'll take everything from you, won't even leave you a jacket, let you freeze outside, freeze to death for all I care." Liu Tianxian's words were harsh, but her heart was full of love.

Fang Hong smiled and said: "Is there any chance that I'm the one taking your assets? You know I'm still in debt right now, up to my ears in it."

"Hey, so you've started eyeing my assets, have you?" Liu Tianxian raised her little fist and gave him two light punches on the face: "Beat you to death."

The two were just joking around; they'd said their true feelings, so there were no worries left.

Time passed. Liu Tianxian noticed him shifting his body from time to time, picked up her windbreaker, and said: "Here, use this as a cushion."

Fang Hong leaned forward; Liu Tianxian padded his waist with her coat. Her coat was soft and comfortable.

After driving for several hours, sitting nearly motionless for hours with no support on the waist, it was indeed tiring.

They had already left the highway; the scenery outside had changed—no more high-rises, no more factories, only farmland and lakes in view.

The houses were also the low, squat kind or two-story buildings, row upon row, with the occasional brick-and-tile thatched cottage.

But there was no one at the doors, as if every household had theirs shut; only occasionally could one see a person or two at a doorway.

"Hey, is there nobody here? It takes half a day to spot a single person." Liu Tianxian said.

"Who'd come out in weather this cold? They're all hiding at home playing mahjong. Besides, lots of villagers are out working in the cities, and not many come back at this time." Fang Hong explained.

The Spring Festival isn't until the end of this month; many migrant workers only come back close to the holiday. Of course some come back a month early, but not many.

Liu Tianxian looked outside with curiosity. She didn't really know what a real countryside looked like. In her mind, the countryside was full of people, three or five in groups gossiping, that kind of very shabby, very desolate feeling.

That was the impression in her mind, but she didn't see it as especially shabby here—instead, it lacked the human touch.

When they passed through a town, only then did they see signs of life—people outside in thick padded jackets, riding electric scooters everywhere, and those low-slung minibuses could also be seen.

Once past the town, it went back to what it was like before; the difference between town and countryside was quite big.

"Help me grab my phone, check the navigation to see where we are. I think we passed it." The more Fang Hong looked, the more unfamiliar it seemed.

"You don't even know your way home?" Liu Tianxian teased.

"Look, all the houses outside look the same. Can you tell whose house is whose? Besides, I haven't been back in many years; the scenery has all changed." Fang Hong said.

The houses here really did all look about the same on the outside. Liu Tianxian took out her phone: "Tell me the location, I'll navigate for you."

Fang Hong said the location. "Looks like we really did pass it. Seems like we drove past it." Liu Tianxian showed him her phone.

Fang Hong slowed the car, took his phone and looked at it carefully. Just as he was looking, the phone suddenly rang—it was a call from his mom.

"Just tell her we'll be there soon."

He handed the phone to Liu Tianxian, then turned the car around.

"Hello, Auntie, we'll be there soon." Liu Tianxian picked up the phone.

"Good, good, good. Where are you right now?" Xu Liyun said over the phone.

"I don't know either." Liu Tianxian said.

"Then be careful on the road, our house is surrounded by a lot of people right now." Xu Liyun urged.

Liu Tianxian hung up the phone and said tensely, "Your mom said your house is surrounded by a bunch of people."

"Mm, so what?" Fang Hong thought it was perfectly normal — struck it rich, and even found himself a celebrity wife, the folks from the village would all want to come see the excitement, see something rare.

"I'm suddenly a little flustered." Liu Tianxian patted her own cheeks, then pulled down the sun visor and continued working on her makeup in the mirror.

"It's fine, just stand there normally and you're a sight to behold, one smile and it's spring, enough to warm people's hearts." Fang Hong said.

"Nonsense."

Liu Tianxian wouldn't listen to him, kept on doing her makeup, making herself pretty — rosy lips, bright teeth, fair skin and lovely looks.

The car entered the village; outside one household a lot of people were gathered, all neighbors from the village, and Xu Liyun was surrounded in the middle of the crowd, chatting with them.

They saw a luxury sedan pull up and stop steadily at the door, and they all came forward chattering to see the novelty.

Here there were mostly old people and middle-aged folks, fewer young people, since most of the young people were off working elsewhere and hadn't come back.

And in these days, smartphones hadn't spread to the countryside yet — most people used feature phones.

Those people saw the two of them get out of the car, saw Liu Tianxian's pretty appearance, and immediately their eyes went wide, mouths agape, faces full of surprise and envy.

She really is a female celebrity, really is beautiful, really has presence.

Liu Tianxian didn't cover her face — covering her face back in the old hometown would be terribly rude — but seeing the burning gazes of the villagers around her, she was somewhat unaccustomed.

"Hello, hello." She still kept her composure, her usual calm.

Although she was a celebrity and ought to be used to it, the occasion and the mindset were different.

Yet no one around responded to her — they all just stared blankly at her, fixed on her face, as if looking at some treasure.

In their hearts they were envious beyond words — dressed so well, so beautiful, clearly a lady from a fine family, felt like she wasn't even the same species as their own wives.

What a blessing — if only she were from their own family.

"Come, come, come." Xu Liyun took Liu Tianxian's hand and led her inside, treasuring her, unwilling to let her daughter-in-law be gawked at by the crowd.

Some people followed them inside, some just craned their necks from outside, as if too embarrassed to go in, as if going in would mean getting dirty or something.

They were dressed plainly, hands tucked into their sleeves, the old-fashioned look, but their eyes and faces were full of envy.

As for Fang Hong, he tore open a pack of cigarettes and handed them out: "Have a smoke."

That's how it is in the countryside — when you meet people, you hand out cigarettes.

"You're a lucky man, found such a pretty wife." A middle-aged man tucked the cigarette behind his ear.

"That's Liu Tianxian, isn't it — you've really made something of yourself!" another person sighed in admiration.

So many years without seeing each other, and not only is he a boss now, he even found himself a celebrity wife — you can't help but envy him.

"Heh heh heh." Fang Hong said nothing, just grinned foolishly, handing a cigarette to each person.

"Holy shit, awesome — he actually landed Liu Tianxian." This was a young man, dressed well, probably just back from working elsewhere.

Fang Hong still recognized him — they'd played together as kids, but now many years had passed without meeting, the bond had faded; he handed over a cigarette and said, "We dated for many years."

"Damn, I'm so jealous of you."

The young man took the cigarette and looked at it: "You're such a big boss, how can you hand out just one — you should hand out a whole carton."

"What boss or not, just making a little money." Fang Hong said with a smile.

"You're way too stingy." the young man said.

"Yeah, yeah, with such a pretty and rich wife, and you're a big boss yourself — you should at least hand out a carton, hand out 1916." another young man said.

Handing out a carton means a whole box of cigarettes, ten packs — very expensive! With dozens of people, who could afford that?

Fang Hong couldn't be bothered with them, smoking his own cigarette — calling him stingy, hilarious, always going on about handing out cartons, and 1916 at that — why don't you hand out a carton yourselves.

He kept handing out cigarettes and making small talk, paying them no mind.

Liu Tianxian was in the bedroom, greeting Fang Hong's uncles and elder cousins — these were the ones Xu Liyun had introduced.

And a group of women were crowding around staring.

Although Xu Liyun's husband had passed away, the relationship was still there after all — such a big event, they couldn't not be informed.

Xu Liyun pulled Liu Tianxian over to sit on the edge of the bed, while the others sat around in a circle chatting.

Everyone chimed in one after another, and there were many things Liu Tianxian couldn't even understand — they weren't just speaking dialect, but also some local slang.

And Liu Tianxian, when the conversation turned to her, would say a couple of words; when it didn't, she mostly kept a smile.

(End of chapter)