Chapter 128

“Hey, Li Ye, we’re heading to the cement plant first! Once you’ve unloaded, hurry over and load another truck before they clock out.”

“Huh? You’re not waiting for me?”

“You’ve been tagging along for two days already—you know the way! Get moving!”

“Aren’t you worried I’ll get stranded halfway?”

“You’re a seasoned driver—I can tell at a glance.”

“.”

A convoy rumbled away from the construction site, leaving only Li Ye and his battered truck behind.

The truck was still fully loaded with cement, but the construction workers had just unloaded seven or eight trucks and were now utterly exhausted, slumped in the shade, weakly sipping water—no way they could unload Li Ye’s truck anytime soon.

With the arrival of spring, Peking University had come alive again; new teaching buildings and administrative offices were under construction, requiring massive quantities of bricks, cement, steel rebar, and other materials.

With the factory’s current attitude, even if you paid cash and drove your own vehicle to pick up goods, you still had to beg for favors.

Li Ye was lucky: while other students marched under the blazing sun, he followed the convoy drivers, shuttling back and forth like ants moving grain.

The trend now was to work hard and fast—the school’s vehicle fleet had to leave early every morning to arrive before the steel mill and cement plant opened, load up, and race back; by the time the last truck returned in the afternoon, the cafeteria food was already cold.

As a newcomer, Li Ye was treated gently on his first day, but by the second day, he was automatically assigned to the tail vehicle.

“College student, come over and sit a while—we’ll unload your truck after we catch our breath.”

The construction workers in the shade waved him over, inviting him to rest.

“I’m not a college student anymore—I’m just a poor soul.”

Li Ye sighed and found a spot in the shade to sit down.

These construction workers were all official employees of the construction company—he couldn’t pressure them, so he had no choice but to wait.

There was no way he could unload the truck himself—unloading cement in summer was torture, and only those who’d done it knew the agony.

“College students are still college students—even if you’re suffering now, it’s just temporary. Once you graduate, wow, the prestige.”

“Heh~”

Li Ye didn’t respond—he felt sore all over, desperately wishing for an air-conditioned room, a massage, and a good sleep.

“Hey, college student, if you really hate this, figure out a way—get close to Team Leader Liao, get him to put you in the lead vehicle every day.”

The nearby construction worker offered Li Ye some advice, full of enthusiasm.

“I know the lead vehicle’s great! But how could it ever be mine?”

How could Li Ye not know the advantages of the lead vehicle?

Sure, you leave early in the morning—but it’s cooler then!

You’re the first to finish in the afternoon, and you even get off half an hour early!

But there are several veteran drivers in the fleet—how can you compete with them?

“Then go to Comrade Zheng! You’re not under the fleet’s direct control—if Comrade Zheng says a word, Team Leader Liao won’t dare ignore him.”

“Go to Comrade Zheng?” Li Ye shook his head: “Nah, it’s only half a month—just tough it out.”

“Half a month? Heh.” The enthusiastic worker chuckled: “If you’re too nice, every time the fleet needs extra hands, they’ll drag you back—how about you take weekend shifts? You up for it?”

I’d rather eat dirt.

Li Ye had already decided: this half-month was his obligation to his homeroom teacher, Mu Yunning. If they tried to rope him in again, he’d make the cafeteria improve the meals daily—

Beef stew today, donkey meat braised tomorrow, lamb dumplings the day after—whatever livestock he saw on the road, he’d make sure it ended up on the menu.

He wasn’t going to make a living driving anyway—so what if he got labeled “Horse Killer”? It still sounded intimidating!

“Hey hey, Comrade Zheng’s here—figure it out yourself!”

Li Ye looked up and saw Comrade Zheng pushing a large thermos toward them.

Inside the thermos was mung bean soup; it was still hot in early September in Beijing, and the construction work was grueling—this logistics officer acted like a household manager, expected to cover every detail.

“Oh, all worn out? Drink your mung bean soup, rest a bit, then get that truck unloaded! Don’t bully little Li!”

“How could we? We’ll drink up, rest five minutes, then unload.”

All the workers went for the soup, but Comrade Zheng came over and sat beside Li Ye.

He pulled a lunchbox from his cloth bag, opened it, and inside, wrapped in a towel, were two ice pops.

He handed one to Li Ye and asked: “Li Ye, how are you feeling?”

Li Ye took the ice pop and grimaced: “I feel like I’ve been pickled in my pants—what do you think?”

“.”

“Hahahahaha~”

Comrade Zheng paused, then burst into laughter; even the nearby workers couldn’t help but laugh.

In this scorching work environment, sweat evaporated too slowly, salt built up on the fabric, causing tender skin to swell and sting painfully.

Anyone who’d done hard labor understood this agony—even though Comrade Zheng and his team weren’t from Dongshan, they knew exactly what “pickled crotch” meant.

Just that one phrase, and Li Ye had officially joined the ranks of the working masses.

Laughing, Comrade Zheng asked: “You’re an interesting student—do you regret it?”

Li Ye regretted it—deeply.

He’d thought Peking University’s mandatory labor would be like picking up wheat stalks in elementary or middle school—helping out, having fun, finishing the job without breaking a sweat.

But once he arrived, they didn’t treat him as a temporary helper—they handed him a ten-year-old Liberation truck and used him as a full laborer, solo.

Li Ye had suffered terribly.

Back in Qingshui County, driving Lao Hu’s Dongfeng 140, he’d been awkward at first, but his agility and youth let him manage it well enough.

But this old Liberation? My goodness—turning the steering wheel felt like a bicep workout; nothing felt right.

Floor the gas pedal, and it coughed like an old ox—couldn’t find the right gear, clunking and grinding—he feared he’d break it apart if he pushed too hard.

And this was only because Peking University had relevant majors, and students regularly came for labor, keeping the vehicles well-maintained!

Otherwise, Li Ye doubted he could even get the damn thing started.

Li Ye was puzzled: why did they trust this new driver so much?

Later, he realized: back then, there was no such thing as a “new driver.” Every driver had climbed up from apprentice status, with at least six months of experience—nothing like today’s twenty-day license holders.

But since he’d taken the job, Li Ye accepted it—if Comrade Zheng told Mu Yunning he was “flaky, impatient, and untrustworthy,” his entire college experience would be ruined.

“I don’t regret it at all—but honestly, Comrade Zheng, I’ve only ever driven a Dongfeng 140. My old master once told me about the Liberation, and there was one thing I didn’t understand.”

“What didn’t you understand? Tell me.” Comrade Zheng was intrigued.

Li Ye said: “He said driving a Liberation compared to a Dongfeng 140 is like swapping a beautiful twenty-year-old girl for a fifty- or sixty-year-old wrinkled old man—ugly and impossible to handle.”

“Hahahahaha~”

Everyone laughed until they were bent over—even Comrade Zheng, the bespectacled, serious officer, couldn’t hold back.

Dirty jokes—every man loved them.

“You won’t get it until you’ve got a girlfriend—then you’ll understand.”

Comrade Zheng teased Li Ye with a grin, then added: “I’ll talk to Liao tomorrow—those slick drivers in his fleet are too much. They’re treating you like a rookie!”

Li Ye blushed: “Actually, it’s not that bad—I’m single, while everyone else has families.”

“Being single doesn’t justify treating you like this!”

Mu Yunning’s voice suddenly rang out nearby.

The beautiful homeroom teacher walked over, smiling and exchanging pleasantries with Comrade Zheng.

Then Comrade Zheng gave Li Ye an extremely high evaluation—hardworking, skilled, fearless of hardship, tireless—making Li Ye feel embarrassed.

When the workers finally started unloading, Mu Yunning pulled Li Ye aside: “The Student Union is recruiting new members from freshmen. Write me a membership application soon—I can’t recommend you without one.”

When the construction workers began unloading their trucks, Mu Yunning pulled Li Ye aside and said, “The student union is recruiting new members among the freshmen—quickly write me an application to join, or I can’t recommend you.”

Faced with his beautiful teacher’s kindness, Li Ye grew wary.

Is she just seeing me as a useful donkey, planning to keep me on the treadmill long-term?

Could it be that they’re watching my donkey’s usefulness and planning to keep me around for long-term grinding?

At six p.m., Li Ye dragged his exhausted body back to the dorm. As soon as he entered, his roommates envied him.

“Li Ye, I saw you driving past the sports field today—so cool!”

“Li Ye, you’re so lucky—we’ve got a brutal drill instructor; two guys fainted today.”

Li Ye couldn’t even hear them—he’d spent over ten hours in brutal heat, and he’d gladly fake a faint just to spend the night in the school infirmary.

“Li Ye, someone’s looking for you downstairs—a girl.”

The shout startled half the hallway.

Every male head popped out the window, searching for the “girl.”

In 1982, universities were overwhelmingly male—there was no balance between genders.

Just look at Jiang Xiaoqing—back then, producing a female college student meant an extraordinary family and immense hardship.

So when Li Ye once mentioned he had a date, Wu Runfu, the social butterfly, suffered a severe psychological blow and told the whole dorm.

Suddenly, the youngest guy in the dorm, Li Ye, had quietly become the “big brother.”

Everyone, whether they had a problem or not, wanted to ask him for advice.

[Damn, what advice? Just be like me—lie there motionless, and girls will come to you on their own.]

Li Ye got up from his bed, leaned out the window, and saw Wen Leyu standing gracefully below, holding a small cloth bag.

Technically, female visitors weren’t banned from male dorms in Peking University back then—but summer dorms often had unsightly messes, so girls rarely came up.

In fact, male dorms at Beijing University in this era didn’t restrict female students from entering, but male dorms in summer often had plenty of unsightly sights, so few girls ever came up.

Li Ye yelled, grabbed his basin, dashed to the bathroom for a quick shower, changed into a T-shirt and shorts, slipped on sandals, and headed downstairs.

Li Ye shouted, picked up the washbasin, rushed into the bathroom for a cold shower, changed into a T-shirt and shorts, and shuffled downstairs in his slippers.

After going downstairs, Li Ye invited Wen Leyu to take a walk.

But Wen Leyu smiled at Li Ye and asked, “Can you even walk anymore?”

“Of course I can, I have to. What good stuff did you bring me?”

That small cloth bag in Wen Leyu’s hand was definitely for Li Ye.

Li Ye took it and looked inside—inside were piles of talcum powder, Baique Ling, pearl cream, all cosmetics popular among girls in the 1980s.

Li Ye touched his face and smiled. “You noticed I’ve gotten darker, huh?”

Wen Leyu smiled, holding up two fingers to show a distance of one millimeter. “A little darker, but even better-looking.”

Look, even when this little girl lies, it sounds sweet.

But the male aesthetic of this era does favor ruggedness; Li Ye has his rugged side too, only his handsome side is even more outrageous.

“Let’s go. Walk by the lake.”

“Okay.”

The two strolled along the lake’s edge, occasionally passing couples in love, slowly becoming infected by their atmosphere.

They both recalled the sunshade they’d seen while rowing on Houhai a few days ago.

Wen Leyu turned her head toward Li Ye and caught him looking at her.

Their eyes seemed especially bright today.

Li Ye suddenly asked, “Do you remember last autumn, when you first glared at me?”

Last autumn, on her first day at the county No. 2 Middle School, Wen Leyu sat next to Li Ye, and they stared at each other for a long time.

Wen Leyu bit her lip, smiled for a long while, then said, “I remember, but you were different back then.”

“How so?”

Wen Leyu lowered her head, then smiled after a moment. “You were bolder then, your gaze pure. Now you seem timid—”

“Sometimes I feel you’re afraid of me. I’ve thought and thought, but I can’t figure out why you’d be afraid of me.”

Li Ye: “...”

Fool, it’s because I’m not a jerk!

Only when you truly care do you become afraid.

Afraid of making you unhappy, afraid of making you angry.

If I didn’t care, I’d fear you even less than a fart!

A gentle breeze blew, night fell, and the couples on campus grew bolder.

They no longer strictly kept the “twenty-centimeter” safety distance between genders, whispering sweet nothings, opening their hearts.

Wen Leyu’s finger accidentally brushed Li Ye’s hand, then naturally curled around it and never let go.

She whispered softly, “Don’t be afraid of me, okay? I’m not that scary.”

(End of Chapter)