Chapter 115: You Want Me to Go Bad?

We want a whole roasted duck, another half duck, two portions of wood ear mushroom with pork, spicy chicken, fried shrimp chips, and sea cucumber soup.

After entering Quanjude, Wen Leyu grabbed the menu and rattled off her order in rapid succession, giving off a surprising air of sophistication.

This wasn’t the same Wen Leyu from Qingshui County at all.

But when she turned back to talk with Li Ye, she reverted once more to that calm, casual girl whose eyes spoke volumes.

“Is this enough to eat?”

Li Ye held up four fingers: “Add four taels of rice.”

Wen Leyu immediately said: “Five taels of rice, and add two taels of lotus leaf cakes.”

She knew Li Ye had a big appetite and feared he wouldn’t be full.

The Quanjude waiters were quite amiable; seeing these two little adults splurging, they didn’t laugh, but merely reminded them—the duck is easy to take away, you’d better eat the dishes and soup first.

Meaning: you little rich kid, don’t treat money like it’s nothing—if you can’t finish it, don’t just pack it up.

If you only looked at the price, this meal seemed “not expensive.”

Wood ear mushroom with pork: 0.95 yuan, spicy chicken: 2.6 yuan, fried shrimp chips: 4.4 yuan, Shandong sea cucumber soup: 2 yuan, rice: 0.03 yuan per tael, lotus leaf cakes: 0.1 yuan for two taels.

Roasted duck: 8 to 10 yuan per whole duck, half duck: 4 to 5 yuan.

All together, this meal came to just over twenty yuan.

But what did twenty yuan mean in 1982?

Not everyone in Beijing was wealthy; most people earned only thirty to forty yuan a month.

And that thirty to forty yuan likely had to support an entire extended family.

So Wen Leyu’s extravagance looked a bit wasteful.

But Li Ye had no intention of Quanjie her.

The girl had been tagging along with him for over half a year in Qingshui County, eating his meals without hesitation—but the quiet wish to properly repay him had surely been brewing inside her for a long time.

Girls have self-respect too, you know—this small wish of hers must be fulfilled.

Must be fulfilled big time.

“Burp~”

“I’m full, really full, you eat fast—this duck won’t taste good if it gets cold.”

Li Ye let out a loud burp and pushed the half duck back to Wen Leyu.

The waiter had said to eat the dishes first, then the duck, so Wen Leyu hadn’t touched her half—she’d pushed it all to Li Ye’s side.

In those days, certain traditional customs in Shenzhou hadn’t yet vanished: at family meals, men and children ate first, women.

Ah, to break all inequality—I absolutely won’t let Wen Leyu suffer.

So Li Ye, who was only nine-tenths full, pretended to be utterly stuffed.

Wen Leyu asked curiously: “Really full? Your appetite seems smaller than before!”

Li Ye hurriedly said: “I ate a lot of snacks on the train—I haven’t digested them yet.”

Wen Leyu nodded, squinting and asking in Dongshan dialect: “Tasty?”

Li Ye answered sincerely: “Really tasty—the chef’s skill is top-notch.”

In his past life, Li Ye had eaten roast duck in Beijing, but it was different from this dish.

The Quanjude roast duck of 1982—he didn’t know if the chef had sliced it 108 times—but the flavor was truly excellent.

And to cater to Li Ye’s Dongshan tastes, Wen Leyu had even ordered Shandong-style shrimp and sea cucumber!

All wild ingredients—absolutely delicious.

Only then did Wen Leyu relent, smiling as she began eating her half duck.

She still ate quickly and elegantly, taking tiny bites at high frequency, her cheeks showing little chewing motion—within minutes, she finished the half duck.

Then she pulled out two handkerchiefs, handed one to Li Ye, wiped her mouth, and stood up to pay.

The duck was greasy—the little girl was well prepared.

While paying, Li Ye noticed Wen Leyu had a knitted money pouch—same style as the one she’d given him; the crooked stitching was unmistakably her work.

Ah, matching pairs—what matters is sincerity.

But her pouch wasn’t very full; Li Ye guessed it held no more than fifty or sixty yuan.

After paying, Li Ye teased: “You spent nearly half your pocket money on this meal— Xintengbu ?”

Wen Leyu squinted, lips curling: “Why should I mind? When mine runs out, I’ll use yours.”

“.”

“Hahaha~”

Li Ye froze for a few seconds, then burst into laughter.

Wen Leyu was getting prettier—and more fun.

But hearing his laughter, Wen Leyu seemed slightly annoyed, clenching her tiny fist as if to punch him, then just laughed it off.

“You actually look good when you laugh!”

“.”

Li Ye couldn’t laugh anymore—he silently sighed in regret.

Why was it 1982? If it were decades later, he could now gently pull this girl into his arms, feel her heartbeat, whisper his love.

But now he had to restrain himself.

Getting caught as a hooligan on the street wasn’t a joke.

Wen Leyu noticed the shift in Li Ye’s gaze, her cheeks flushing slightly; she turned away, pushed her bicycle, swung her leg over, and waved at him.

“Come on, I’ll take you to Houhai.”

“Let me take you instead—you rest.”

“I said I’d take you—get on!”

“Ah~”

Li Ye obediently climbed on, letting the stubborn girl carry him through alleys, swaying wildly and drawing countless disapproving glances from passersby.

But Li Ye’s mood had changed—the more they looked down on him, the happier he felt.

【Go ahead and envy me! Whether single or taken—envy till you die!】

In Beijing forty years from now, Houhai would be famous.

Wanderers from all over the country would flock there, wondering if there were really so many innocent girls sitting in dim, hazy bars, waiting for their lucky romance.

But in 1982, Houhai had no bars.

The most famous nearby attraction, Gongwangfu, still housed over two hundred households—no tourism possible.

So the main activity Wen Leyu took Li Ye to do in Houhai was—rowing a boat.

Houhai was smaller and less famous than Beihai from “Let Us Row the Boat,” but it was quiet.

The lakeside was lined with weeping willows; rowing along them in the hot summer provided shade from the glaring sun.

Li Ye and Wen Leyu rented a boat and drifted gently along the shore.

Along with the boat, Li Ye’s smile grew ever more unrestrained.

Why did couples love rowing?

Because of private space—and unavoidable eye contact.

Just the two of you, sitting face-to-face rowing—whose eyes do you look at if not hers?

What? The scenery on the water?

Are you an idiot?

With such a beautiful girl right here, when else would you stare your fill?

Wen Leyu was still quite open, but being stared at so closely for so long still made her a little shy.

So she found something to do.

As Li Ye rowed under a weeping willow, she stood up, grabbed two branches, and bent her head to weave them.

She was weaving a straw hat—carefully.

But before she finished, she felt heat on her head—Li Ye had steered the boat out of the shade and into the sunlight.

Wen Leyu laughed: “I’m making you a straw hat—you don’t need to go find the sun yourself!”

Li Ye shook his head, whispering: “No, we can’t interrupt their business.”

“Business? What business?”

Wen Leyu paused, then noticed a boat ahead under the shade, with an umbrella covering two people.

The girl instinctively asked: “What are they doing?”

Li Ye said bluntly: “Don’t ask, you’re still a child.”

Wen Leyu froze, slightly annoyed, commanding: “Row over there—I want to see.”

“.”

Li Ye looked helplessly at the displeased Wen Leyu, then whispered: “They’re practicing affection like Zhou Yun and Geng Hua—do you want to join them and learn too?”

Wen Leyu: “.”

The film “Lushan Love” had taught men and women across Shenzhou what affection meant.

That single misaligned kiss scene—just cheek-to-cheek contact—had sent countless viewers back for second and third viewings, spending countless movie tickets.

So this “child” Wen Leyu knew exactly what “qin zui zui” meant.

So Li Ye helplessly watched Wen Leyu, after a brief moment of confusion, become flustered.

In 1982 Beijing, the atmosphere was contradictory—a corrupt trend had already swept in; cheek-to-cheek dancing wasn’t unusual, and some developments were so extreme that Li Ye, from the future, would find them astonishing.

By next year, when the crackdown came, many flashy youths with connections were brought down.

But most conservative girls still resisted this radical Fengqi ; they firmly believed men and women should be kept apart, and modesty and tradition were the only proper path.

Logically, a girl like Wen Leyu, if raised all her life in Beijing, would have broad horizons and find such things unremarkable.

But this little girl had lived with her mother in the countryside; now she was as pure as a blank sheet of paper, with no rational control over certain things.

“Splash~”

As expected, Wen Leyu flew into a rage, suddenly plunging her hand into the lake and scooping up a great spray of water, drenching Li Ye.

“Hey, don’t blame me.”

Wen Leyu refused to listen, her small arms flailing rapidly, sending wave after wave of water splashing over Li Ye’s head and face.

【I’ll splash you to death, you dirty pervert.】

【Who called me a kid just now?】

【You think I don’t understand? You want me to go bad?】

【You want me to kiss you? I’ll kiss your big head ghost!】

“Stop, stop, I’m getting wet—”

Li Ye kept shielding himself with his hands, but water was formless; even with his superb martial skills, he couldn’t keep it out, could he?

“Stop, stop, Xiao Yu, don’t splash anymore!”

“If you splash again, I’ll fight back!”

Wen Leyu was having too much fun to stop, no matter what Li Ye said.

You can break bricks with one hand, kick a dog to death with one kick—yet you’re still getting soaked and humiliated by me?

“Fine, watch this!”

A hidden, suppressed thought in Li Ye finally broke through the barriers of reason and surged briefly into his mind.

“Slap-slap-slap~”

Li Ye swung his shoulders, his arms churning like a high-speed waterwheel, sending a torrent of lake water crashing over Wen Leyu.

“Gigglegigglegigglegigglegiggle~”

The cool lake water hitting her skin felt strangely wonderful; she soon slipped into a magical state of playful affection, and the more Li Ye splashed, the more excited she became!

It was truly a strange sensation—Wen Leyu finally understood the true meaning of the idiom “unable to stop.”

But soon after, Wen Leyu sensed something was off.

Because Li Ye’s gaze was off.

She had spent over half a year with Li Ye; she knew his gaze too well.

It was warm and gentle, calm and balanced—even when they were closest, she had never felt anything improper.

For instance, when Li Ye was writing, she would sneakily sit beside him, stretching her neck to press against his and peek over.

When she was sleepy, she’d rest her head on the desk, pressed right against him, napping safely and comfortably.

But now, in those beautiful eyes of his, why did it seem like sparks were flickering?

“Thump-thump-thump-thump~”

Wen Leyu’s little heart began pounding uncontrollably.

【What’s going on?】

(End of Chapter)