Chapter 125

"So this is the Capital!"

"There are unexpectedly so many trains, you can't even count them all."

"That building is really tall."

"Look, Wen Leyu!"

As the train pulled into the station, Li Dayong and the others, who had endured a night in the hard seats and were somewhat wilted, became excited again.

Especially the three girls, Hu Man and the others, who were even more excited to wave at Wen Leyu after seeing her on the platform.

Wen Leyu, down on the platform, also waved at Hu Man and the others; half a year of intimate companionship had still forged quite a bit of sisterly affection.

However, Wen Leyu then heard Li Ye beside her say in surprise, "Why did she come?"

"Who?"

"That female reporter from the Dongshan Education News. At that time, she came to Qingshui County to interview me. I was lazy in the south and didn't want to come back, and later I didn't have time to cooperate with her, so I pushed back and forth... I feel quite embarrassed..."

Wen Leyu slowly turned her head, just like a dozing cat that had heard the movement of a mouse.

The little couple looked at each other, exchanging glances.

Wen Leyu: "Are you confessing to the organization?"

Li Ye: "I am incompatible with scumbags!"

"Hmph~"

Wen Leyu wrinkled her beautiful little nose, not caring at all, just like a kitten licking its sharp claws, and lazily began to doze off again.

Li Ye was quite candid. He was gifted and had been very popular with girls since he was a child. He didn't know if he would receive love letters in the future.

Perhaps only a girl of Wen Leyu's level could save Li Ye from distress and trouble!

"Brother Xiao Ye, Brother Peng, I've missed you to death..."

Li Dayong led the way, bringing a group of classmates to squeeze over to Li Ye's side. The bear-like man spoke with grievance.

He was truly quite aggrieved.

Li Ye didn't take him to Yangcheng, and didn't take him to the Capital early, under the pretext of "entrusting him with a heavy responsibility," carrying the burden of being the second housekeeper of the eight-person group and taking good care of Hu Man and the others.

But watching Li Ye and Jin Peng wandering the world, how could Li Dayong, a young heart, be content with mediocrity?

Of course, Li Dayong only had a little bit of a plan in his heart; otherwise, he wouldn't have stayed in Qingshui County even if he were beaten to death.

"Alright, in a while, everyone go report to your respective schools first. After a while, everyone come to our new home for a meal."

"New home? What new home? Like the one at the Second Grain Store? That would be too great..."

The Second Grain Store was a memory that the eight-person group would never forget in their whole lives. Now that they heard Li Ye had prepared a new home, they were all overjoyed.

Everyone was admitted to the Capital together and could stay together for four years; just thinking about it was quite beautiful.

Jin Peng nudged Li Ye and said, "I'll take Old Song away first. We'll talk about things tonight."

Li Ye also saw the timid lame man smiling obsequiously at him and nodded, letting Jin Peng leave.

And Yue Mengmeng, who had been observing from the outside for half a day, smiled and approached Wen Leyu.

"Hello, I'm Yue Mengmeng from the Dongshan Education News. I've long seen your name on the red list of Qingshui No. 2 Middle School... I'm doing a follow-up interview on Dongshan candidates entering the Capital..."

Wen Leyu listened quietly to Yue Mengmeng finish speaking, then said lightly, "I'm very sorry, it's not convenient for me to accept your interview.

I think you can go outside the station to take a look; there are more reporting materials you need there."

"Not convenient?" Yue Mengmeng's smile remained, "Just now I told several students that I could help them take a photo at Tiananmen and mail it to their families."

Wen Leyu took out a camera from her satchel with an expressionless face.

"We can take photos of Tiananmen ourselves, thank you."

Yue Mengmeng carefully sized up the camera in Wen Leyu's hand, seeing the two characters "Red Flag" on the top of the camera.

【Sure enough】

The Red Flag 20 camera was a fully domestic camera developed by the Shanghai Camera Factory No. 2 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the country. Its performance was close to overseas high-end cameras and was the pinnacle of domestic cameras in the 1980s.

But the production of this camera was extremely small, and it was only supplied to news units and some other relevant departments.

As a news reporter, Yue Mengmeng understood very well what kind of status someone who could own a Red Flag 20 would have.

Yue Mengmeng nodded and smiled, "I'm just following to take a few shots; I won't disturb you. When the report comes out, it will be good for the students, such as joining the Party."

Wen Leyu said indifferently, "You can interview other students, but I don't need it."

Then Wen Leyu looked at Li Ye again: "He doesn't need it either."

"..."

A group of students followed the exit out of the Capital station and then had their eyes opened.

Outside the Capital railway station, large banners and large signs occupied a large part of the station square.

They were all slogans like "XX University Freshman Reception" and "XX University Welcomes Class of '82 Freshmen."

"Good heavens, how many universities are there?"

"Are these all universities in the Capital? There must be dozens of them, right?"

In the impression of Li Dayong and the others, universities in the Divine Land were very rare, very difficult to get into, and university students were very precious.

But the scene before them made people feel... like Chinese cabbage sold by the catty on the side of the street?

Yue Mengmeng raised her camera from the side, locked onto the astonishment on everyone's faces, and successfully captured a very meaningful picture.

From a poor little city to the capital of the motherland, what kind of changes would the mentality of these future pillars of the country undergo?

With a few more photos like this, wouldn't a good manuscript gradually become full?

"Should we go report first, or take photos first?"

Hu Man saw the sign for the Capital Aviation Institute and hesitated about whether to do business first or play first.

Li Ye said, "You can go ask; don't be shy about opening your mouths. From now on, you have to learn to live independently."

Hu Man and Jiang Xiaoyan smiled shyly, went over together, asked a few questions, and quickly ran back happily.

"They said it's okay. They'll be here today and tomorrow, and we can go report at any time."

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry, hurry."

The eight-person group walked away together, but Yue Mengmeng didn't follow, instead squinting her eyes to look at Wen Leyu's back.

A moment later, she looked down at her chest and then turned to look behind her.

"Hmph~"

Yue Mengmeng turned and left, walking all the way to the freshman reception area of Peking University.

"Hello, I'm Yue Mengmeng, a reporter from the Dongshan Education News stationed in the Capital. Are there any students from Dongshan... can I do a survey interview on Dongshan students?"

"..."

"Sure, sure, little sister, hurry up and come over..."

"I'm from Dongshan, hey, what are you grabbing?"

Li Ye and Wen Leyu took a few classmates who had just arrived in the Capital, took two rolls of film in Tiananmen Square, and had a full meal before sending them one by one to the cars picking up freshmen.

At this time, the advantage of the eight-person group applying for the exam together came into play; there were two people in every school, looking after each other and not feeling lonely.

"Brother, remember to come find you next Sunday!"

"Won't forget. If there's an emergency, call Brother Peng's phone."

Before Li Ye had arranged a new base, the house at the Kemei Hotel couldn't be returned. At least there was a phone at the hotel counter that could establish contact most quickly.

After sending off Li Dayong and the others, Li Ye and Wen Leyu didn't go to Peking University to report. The reporting time wasn't just one day.

Most people were rushing early rather than late; today was definitely very crowded, so there was no need to go queue up.

The two watched a movie and had a beautiful dinner.

Li Ye was quite surprised. Hu Man and the others had clearly been whispering to Wen Leyu just now, but Wen Leyu hadn't asked about Yue Mengmeng at all.

But how could Li Ye know that in Wen Leyu's eyes, lions and elephants were opponents, and the rest were all scum.

When Li Ye returned to the Kemei Hotel, Jin Peng, Wang Jianqiang, and Old Song had already eaten and were smoking in the room.

"Brother, you're finally back," seeing Li Ye enter the door, Wang Jianqiang immediately complained: "This Old Song is a rascal. He went to look for an afternoon and couldn't see anything, and he won't return the money..."

"A rascal?"

Li Ye walked to the bed and sat down, looking at Old Song, who was squatting in the corner smoking dry tobacco, and felt it was interesting.

When Old Song got off the train this morning, Li Ye had glanced at him twice.

First of all, this old man wasn't timid.

On the platform in the Capital, there was no hesitation of "never having seen the world." His two eyes were shifty, revealing a bit of cunning and a bit of open-mindedness.

"Get him a chair; what's the point of squatting on the ground?"

"No need, no need, squatting is just fine. My legs and feet aren't very flexible, I'm used to squatting, hehehe..."

Old Song glanced at Li Ye, bared a mouth of yellow teeth and smiled, his old face looking quite obsequious.

At this time, Jin Peng spoke.

"Xiao Ye, I messed up this time. I took him to the courtyard in Zaojunmiao for a walk this afternoon, just saying he was a carpenter from my hometown, ready to fix the doors and windows..."

"As a result, this old guy looked around the house for a while and couldn't see anything at all. When asked anything, he didn't know..."

Li Ye said calmly, "What did you ask him?"

"Brother, we asked him if that furniture was good or not, and he couldn't say. We asked him if it was worth two thousand yuan, and he said he had to look for a few more days..."

Wang Jianqiang couldn't help but say from the side: "He's just taken a fancy to our food. You didn't see him at noon today; this old thing looks like a monkey, but he eats more than me, he can eat three big bowls of stewed intestines..."

Old Song in the corner lowered his head, very embarrassed: "Hehe, no... I'll just eat two steamed buns in the future."

"You still have a future? You didn't eat little tonight either. If it weren't for my brother's kindness, saying he would treat you well, he wouldn't have let you eat tonight..."

Li Ye found it somewhat amusing. Wang Jianqiang wasn't an impatient person, but this Old Song seemed to have really angered him.

"Hehehe, whether it's worth it or not depends on the person... The two young masters don't think it's worth it, but Young Master Li might not think it's not worth it..."

"No, no, no, you just call me Brother Li Ye," Li Ye said, "Just tell me if that house full of furniture is good stuff or not."

"Tell you?"

Old Song shrank his neck, looking at Jin Peng and Wang Jianqiang with shifty eyes, hesitating to speak.

Jin Peng saw it; this old bastard had something to say but wouldn't say it, waiting for Li Ye, the main owner, to come before showing the goods!

Also, it might just be a matter of a few words. If he told Jin Peng, it wouldn't be worth much.

"Hehe~, you're really a cunning ghost."

Jin Peng smiled and didn't say anything more.

He couldn't outplay Old Song in cunning, but if it came to being ruthless, eight Old Songs couldn't outplay him, Jin Peng.

If he angered his Master Peng, he could dig up Old Song's ancestral grave when he went back!

In the eyes of these old-school people, that ancestral grave was more important than his life.

No matter how he played, he couldn't escape Master Peng's palm.

Li Ye said, "We're all brothers in the house, just tell me straight if that furniture is good stuff or not!"

Old Song smiled sheepishly and pondered, "There are two pieces that are okay; the rest are average."

Damn.

A house full of furniture, and only a few pieces are authentic, while the rest are fakes?

Li Ye wasn't pained by the two thousand yuan, but his "wise image" in front of Jin Peng and Wang Jianqiang was about to be lost!

【Look, look, didn't I say it wasn't worth two thousand? Did you get cheated?】

Li Ye asked somewhat unwillingly, "Then the ones you call average... are they old elm, prickly ash, or what?"

"That's not it," Old Song said firmly, "More than half are rosewood, there are two pieces of pear wood, and some messy chicken-wing wood and the like..."

"Smack~"

Li Ye was so angry he slapped the table, glared at Old Song for a long time, and then said, "Tell me about those two pieces that are okay. How are they okay?"

Old Song swallowed his saliva and said, "That canopy bed, and a few things in the study, the material is good, and the craftsmanship is even better. It's not the craftsmanship of an ordinary person; even decades ago, they were good things."

"Then you said you needed a few days—were you wanting to see the market price in the Capital?"

Old Song's eyes lit up, and he gave a thumbs up, "The top scholar is smart. This old furniture follows the market. I don't know the market in the Capital, so I can't say if it's worth two thousand..."

"Fine, fine, fine, stop flattering me. I have a job, do you want to do it?"

Li Ye didn't beat around the bush with this kind of old fox; the fox fur on his body was almost gone, and hiding things would only make him laugh.

"My legs and feet aren't good... I can't do some jobs."

"Just do your old profession, look at the market for antiques in the Capital, and I'll pay you a salary. But if your legs and feet aren't good..."

"Can do, can do, my legs and feet are just fine! Look, look."

Old Song squatted on the ground and kicked his lame leg with a slap-slap-slap sound. Don't say, it was quite powerful.

"Alright, how much salary do you think is appropriate?"

Old Song smiled and said, "That depends on how big Li Ye's plate is, and who he's doing business with."

"Not very big," Li Ye said, "We came late, the water in the Capital has already been stirred up. Let's try the water with a few tens of thousands first, and see the situation before talking."

Old Song's mouth mumbled a few times, pondered for a long time, and stretched out three fingers.

"Thirty yuan is too low; you're a talent after all."

"It's not thirty," Old Song bared his teeth and smiled, "I want three hundred."

"..."

Wang Jianqiang stood up abruptly and cursed, "You old thing really dares to open your mouth! Do you believe I'll kill you with a stool!"

"Hehehehe~"

Old Song squatted in the corner, saying nothing, just laughing.

Li Ye smiled, "If you want three hundred, you have to tell me the way, right?"

Old Song changed a bag of dry tobacco and said while smoking, "This muddy water of antiques is not easy to wade through; there are too many ruthless characters inside, and you might even meet foreigners, which is even more dangerous.

I still have a grandson at home! An old bone, it has to be sold for a good price, right?"

"Oh my god," Jin Peng couldn't help but laugh, "Old Song, you even know about foreigners? Do you know what US dollars are, what Hong Kong dollars are?"

"I only recognize silver dollars," Old Song said proudly, "When I was young, I dealt with the Japanese a few times and cheated them out of a few thousand silver dollars..."

"..."

The three Li Ye brothers were all stunned, looking at the thin old man in the corner, somewhat disbelieving.

How much courage do you have? Why didn't they stab you to death?

Li Ye asked in a deep voice, "How did you dare to cheat those people out of their money?"

"That money was comfortable to spend!" Old Song shook his head and said, "Drinking flower wine, watching girls—which one doesn't cost money? Other people's money isn't spent with peace of mind, but cheating the little XX's money... hehehehe..."

Li Ye was speechless for a long time before saying in a deep and cautious voice, "If you're playing with antiques in the Capital, you might also meet people from over there. After all, many good things will be sold overseas by people..."

Old Song didn't speak. After smoking a bag of dry tobacco, he bared his teeth and laughed.

"Two hundred, two hundred yuan a month, not a penny less."

"Why did you lower the price yourself?" Jin Peng asked, both angry and amused.

Old Song's two shifty eyes flashed, and he said in Dongshan dialect, "Because playing with those people... it's exciting!"

Thanks to book friend "Living Freely" for the tip, thanks to book friend "july-27th" for the tip, thank you all.

(End of chapter)