Chapter 113

"These are the knowledge points you two need to master this year; I have listed them all on the test papers."

"Study hard, and don't be lazy! Don't think that just because I'm not home, I won't know if you two have been diligent when I check upon my return."

Li Ye placed two large stacks of test papers in front of Li Juan and Zhao Meiwen, which gave the two thirteen or fourteen-year-old children quite a shock.

【So many test papers, when will we ever finish them? And this is just for this year!】

The two little girls were still in junior high school and had no idea how cruel the college entrance examination was; they actually thought their older brother had gotten into university by playing around the whole way, thanks to the protection of Old Huaiye!

Now, seeing the stack of papers over a foot thick, the two of them finally seemed to understand what the "focus" their older brother had been bragging about these past few days actually meant.

When Li Ye was setting high-intensity problems at the Second Grain Store, he had already made a targeted plan for Li Juan in advance.

All the test papers were designed to increase in difficulty progressively from junior high to high school, and the simplest foundational papers were just right for Li Juan and Zhao Meiwen at their current level.

However, after the brief surprise, Li Juan and Zhao Meiwen's subsequent reactions were quite different.

Zhao Meiwen was slightly worried, but then she gritted her teeth and became determined.

Li Juan, on the other hand, had eyes that lit up, and she asked eagerly, "Brother, if I learn all of these in half a year, can I continue to take the papers in the wooden box?"

Li Ye had brought back a box of test papers from the Second Grain Store; now, Li Juan hadn't even mastered the simplest ones yet, but she was already looking at the pot while eating from her bowl.

Li Ye patted her head and said, "You can, but don't progress too fast. Do you really want to go to university at fifteen?"

Before Li Juan could answer, Zhao Meiwen said, "The University of Science and Technology has a gifted youth class; never mind fifteen, even eleven is fine."

"Heh~"

Li Ye smiled and said, "If it's not necessary, it's better not to mix with geniuses; it's very discouraging."

The University of Science and Technology's gifted youth class recruited a student surnamed Xie in '78 who was only 11 years old; he could be considered the idol of contemporary young students.

But Li Ye felt that Li Juan and Zhao Meiwen were both normal people, and it was better to live the life of a normal person.

At this moment, Li Ying, who was half a head shorter than Li Juan, timidly approached, looked at Li Ye, and asked, "Brother, what about me? Which papers should I study?"

Li Ye said amusingly, "You haven't even started junior high yet! No rush."

Li Ying said somewhat anxiously, "I'll be starting junior high soon, and I'm willing to do the papers too."

Li Ye had no choice but to explain, "Before junior high, you should go find your little friends and play for a while! Once you start junior high and high school, there really won't be any time to play."

Li Ying felt a bit aggrieved, looking at the papers on the table with longing and envy.

Then Li Juan added fiercely, "If you don't want to play, then help Mother and me with more chores."

"."

"I... I'd better go find Xiumei and the others to play!"

After Li Ye arranged the study matters for Li Juan and Zhao Meiwen, he put on his schoolbag, picked up two large tote bags, and left his room.

Master Huo was in the courtyard smoking and chatting with Li Kaijian. Seeing Li Ye come out, he hurriedly helped Li Ye carry the bags and loaded them onto the Dongfeng truck outside the gate.

Li Ye decided to go to the capital a week early and hadn't informed Li Dayong, Hu Man, or the others, so the only ones seeing him off today were his aunt and his own family.

"Send a telegram home after you arrive. If there's an emergency, call your grandfather, and I'll ride my motorcycle over that same day."

Li Kaijian, this father who liked to swing his belt at Li Ye, saw that his son was finally going to step out of the house on his own; the sudden reluctance made him feel very uncomfortable inside.

Li Mingxiang handed Li Ye a slip of paper: "Here, this is the address of one of your uncle's comrades-in-arms. Your uncle has already written to him. If you have any urgent matters, you can also ask him for advice."

Grandmother Wu Juyan was even more teary-eyed, unable to bear parting with her grandson.

As for Han Chunmei, she could only stand on the periphery; she couldn't even get close at this moment.

"Alright, I know. Even if I lose a single hair, I'll send you a telegram and have a good cry."

Li Ye said goodbye to everyone with a grin, smiled at his grandfather standing at the door of the main room, turned around, walked out the door, and got into the car.

Not until the Dongfeng truck had gone far away did Wu Juyan turn back and start scolding Li Zhongfa.

"What's the use of you being a bureau chief? You wouldn't send your grandson to the capital, and you wouldn't let Kaijian go either."

"You said you wouldn't pull strings when I asked you to get a sleeper ticket. Why didn't you mention that you got to ride in a car because of your grandson?"

"."

Li Zhongfa was hardening his heart, sending his grandson on a long journey with an unmoving expression! Having been scolded for no reason, he was stunned for several seconds.

Then he drooped his face and said, "A good man has ambitions in all four corners of the world. Li Ye is already so old, and you're still coddling him. I followed the troops when I was fifteen, and I didn't..."

"You followed the troops when you were fifteen? Why don't you mention that you were so scared you wet your pants at fifteen? Why don't you mention that you almost died out there?"

"You... why are you crying!"

Li Zhongfa was very angry, but seeing his old wife suddenly start to shed tears, he couldn't lose his temper at her.

Having raised a grandson for nearly twenty years, he suddenly left home; it was already quite good that the old woman could hold back her tears in front of him.

As for himself wetting his pants during his first battle...

What was shameful about that?

A group of people were charging with shouts, comrades were falling one by one, and he didn't even have a gun in his hand, just two grenades.

It was already good enough that he could charge to the front and throw the grenades; so what if he wet his pants?

Who had the right to laugh at him?

Those who had the right to laugh at him were all dead, damn it.

Li Ye didn't have much melancholy about leaving home; instead, he felt as free and easy as a bird out of a cage.

The Dongfeng 140 drove briskly on the asphalt road leading to the provincial capital, making Master Huo feel a bit reluctant, yet also a bit gratified.

"Xiao Ye, your driving skills are ready to graduate. You are the smartest young man I have ever seen."

"Master Huo, stop praising me. It's only because I followed you; otherwise, just practicing cranking the engine would have taken at least half a month."

Students learning to drive in '82 started by cranking the engine, just like a tractor, using a long crank handle to manually start it from the bumper of the truck.

If you didn't master it, the metal crank would kick back and make the student's palms ache.

If you ran into a mean master, you would be cranking below while he turned off the key inside; you could crank for three hours, and it wouldn't start.

Then the master would turn on the key, get out of the car to demonstrate for you, and it would start with an easy crank.

After getting a face full of scolding, the student would still think the master was awesome!

The engine had already been cranked hot by the student and was almost smoking; of course it would start when he cranked it!

"Xiao Ye, you say that, but who would dare let a star like you crank the engine! Just having you as my apprentice, I can brag for three years... hey, hey, hey, brake!"

On the narrow road, two people suddenly appeared. Although they were still far away, Master Huo, who was the teacher, still told Li Ye to slow down.

Li Ye tapped the brake, preparing to slow down and pass, but discovered that the two people were waving at him, and he recognized them.

It was Han Chunmei's younger sister, Han Chunlan, and her husband, Niu Dali.

Li Ye slowly stopped the car, poked his head out of the window, and asked, "Are you two trying to hitch a ride?"

"No, no, we aren't hitching a ride."

Han Chunlan ran over with a smile and handed a small box to Li Ye.

"I heard you were leaving today, so I wanted to give you something. Don't look down on it!"

"Why are you giving me something? No need, no need." Li Ye hurriedly declined.

"We just want to thank you." Han Chunlan's expression became awkward, and her hands and feet were a bit flustered.

Li Ye helplessly took the box and said with a smile, "Really no need, you spent this money... sigh?"

Inside the box was actually an electronic watch.

Electronic watches in '82 were still a novelty, basically all smuggled goods from the south.

Li Ye picked it up, looked at it, and asked, "Where did you buy this? How much was it?"

Han Chunlan said with a smile, "We ran into it at the market the other day; it's not worth much."

"How much is 'not worth much'?" Li Ye said with a smile, "Five yuan or ten yuan?"

"."

Han Chunlan and Niu Dali were both a bit dumbfounded and very awkward...

Li Ye felt something was wrong and tentatively asked, "Twenty?"

Han Chunlan sheepishly held up three fingers and didn't speak.

"Damn, is it that profitable?"

Li Ye couldn't help but blurt out a profanity.

This thing probably cost a few cents to make, yet they sold it to a farmer for thirty yuan; this heart is truly pitch black.

Do you think this is a mechanical watch?

Even when he dabbled in clothing, he only dared to make a 100% profit.

"Alright, I'll take this watch," Li Ye put the watch away and said to Han Chunlan, "Also, you guys wait a few days... wait a week! Wait a week and go find Xiao Qiu to chat."

"Xiao Qiu has a sharp mind. If you have any questions or needs, go discuss them with him in the future."

Li Ye hadn't thought about letting Han Chunlan return the watch; that would truly be a slap in the face.

He remembered a simple and shy colleague from his previous life.

That colleague was a tech guy who finally got the hang of things and followed the crowd to give a gift to his supervisor, but it turned out to be a fake.

Then the supervisor returned it in front of many people, causing the tech guy to die of social embarrassment on the spot; it was truly very uncalled for.

People were kind-hearted; was there a need to be so snobbish?

The Dongfeng truck drove away. Niu Dali, standing on the road, said angrily, "I have to go find that bastard who sold the watch. How much money did he make off us!"

"Why go find that bastard now? We have to go find Xiao Qiu."

"Find Xiao Qiu?" Niu Dali asked, puzzled, "Didn't he tell us to go find Xiao Qiu next week?"

"You really are a blockhead. If we wait until Li Ye has spoken to Xiao Qiu and then go over to build a relationship, can it be the same?"

Han Chunlan pushed her cart and left, ignoring her stupid husband.

Niu Dali followed silently behind, and only after a long time did he ask, "What do you think Li Ye will say to Xiao Qiu?"

"What do you think? Aren't you jealous of Xiao Qiu's clothing business all day long? What else do you think Li Ye would say to him?"

"No way!"

Niu Dali widened his eyes and said in disbelief, "If Li Ye just says a word to him, he'll just give us money?"

In Niu Dali's eyes, Xiao Qiu's clothing business was as easy as opening his arms to scoop up money.

"Hmph~"

Han Chunlan curled her lips and said, "Haven't you heard of 'when a man attains the Dao, his pets ascend to heaven'? Li Ye's word now isn't the same as his word before!"

"."

Niu Dali twisted his face and said unhappily, "Why are you talking like that? Who is the chicken, and who is the dog?"

Han Chunlan scolded with a smile, "I married a chicken, I follow the chicken; I married a dog, I follow the dog. Who do you say is the chicken? Who do you say is the dog?"

August is not the peak season for passenger flow on the Shenzhou Railway, but the provincial capital's train station was still a bit crowded.

Li Ye protected the two large tote bags in his hands, squeezed through the crowd with great difficulty onto the platform, and finally let out a sigh of relief.

He had asked Ma Rui in the provincial capital to buy him a sleeper ticket; as long as he got on the platform, he wouldn't be squeezed.

That guy Ma Rui, inspired by Li Ye, had already started a scalper business; he always had tickets on hand and was no longer the small fry who bragged but couldn't deliver.

The train from Shanghai to the capital arrived. Li Ye boarded the train, found his carriage, and discovered that there were already four people inside.

The hard sleeper carriage had three levels; there were six people in one compartment, and Li Ye's ticket was for the lower bunk on the left.

While Li Ye was putting away his luggage, the four people in the carriage were quietly sizing him up.

Especially the girl in the middle bunk on the left; after glancing at Li Ye twice, she stared at him without blinking.

Li Ye was a bit surprised; even if I am good-looking, you don't have to be so intense, right?

This makes me feel quite embarrassed.

After tidying up his luggage, Li Ye lay down on his lower bunk and took out the two copies of *Polishing Time* that Dong Yuejin had given him.

These were the works of two members of the Writers' Association. According to Dong Yuejin, these two had contributed to the review meeting when he joined the Writers' Association.

Although the reason was that Li Ye was the first to dare to "talk money" with the publishing house, helping everyone become the first bird, so they were just returning the favor.

But Li Ye couldn't be careless; what if he met them in the future and didn't even know the style of the other party's work? Wouldn't that hurt their feelings?

But just as Li Ye lay down, the girl in the middle bunk above his head poked her head out, leaned against the edge of the bunk, and continued to watch Li Ye.

"Hiss~"

A sense of alarm suddenly arose in Li Ye's heart.

It's only '82; does a boy have to learn to protect himself when he goes out?

Can't be, right?

This isn't forty years later...

But thinking of Ning Caichen from hundreds of years ago, Li Ye felt that being careful wouldn't hurt.

This girl in the middle bunk didn't look as good as Xiao Qian, but she was still quite worth looking at. As long as you changed the style of her glasses and adjusted her hairstyle, she would be a standard charming bespectacled girl.

If she met a boy with an unsteady mind, he really wouldn't be able to resist.

Amitabha, don't cause trouble.

Although this face looked okay, how did you know if the body behind her bunk was made of fair and slender arms and legs?

Or a long, big snake covered in black scales?

On the trains in '82, it wasn't unheard of for people to lose their entire family fortune over a single cigarette!

(End of chapter)