Chapter 130: Performance and Change

The military training, which students had mixed feelings about, finally ended, and Li Ye’s hard days were over.

When he returned the keys to the old Jiefang truck, Team Leader Liao clapped him on the shoulder and praised him highly.

“You’re a good kid. If you stay on campus later, come straight to us—we’re a technical unit and we’re short of guys like you, young and educated. In just a few years, you’ll be deputy team leader.”

“Hehe~~ hehe~~”

Li Ye squinted and grinned foolishly, masking his true thoughts with flawless pretense.

I’m the big boss of a diversified conglomerate—do you really think I’d come work as your truck team’s deputy leader?

Are you kidding?

Sure, Peking University is a great place, but it’s 1982, for heaven’s sake—this isn’t the era where you need a master’s degree just to apply as a security guard!

But then Team Leader Liao handed him an envelope, which caught Li Ye off guard.

“Fifteen days total. Overtime subsidy is twenty-four yuan. Take it.”

“There’s a subsidy too? Thanks, Team Leader Liao!”

“No need to thank me—you helped me out big time. No complaints, no laziness—excellent!”

Li Ye had actually shown up for only fourteen days—he’d taken one day off—but Team Leader Liao had counted him as full attendance.

And this subsidy wasn’t even at the student rate—it was practically the same as a temporary worker’s pay.

Building good relationships is the way to survive in any unit.

After the freshmen were “tamed,” classes began in earnest, and overall, they weren’t much different from Li Ye’s past life in a second-tier college.

Just that the classmates were all prodigies, the professors were all brilliant, and the pace of teaching was faster.

Damn, this wasn’t even the same difficulty level—pull any classmate out, and they’re a non-human with an IQ of 140.

The professors often looked vaguely familiar; when he thought harder, he realized he’d seen them somewhere on the national news decades later.

Even with his biological hard drive granting him photographic memory, Li Ye now dared only to keep his head down and play dumb.

Because if you showed off too much, the professor on stage would zero in on you and strip you bare in three moves.

“Are you a top student?”

“How did you score so high to get into Peking University? Spill it!”

Do you know who these professors will become? The think tanks of the Five National Institutes! Do you think they’ll tolerate fools?

“Professor, I’m just a small-town exam grinder.”

“Oh, so you only know how to solve problems? Then don’t ever say you’re my student.”

“.”

So Li Ye, this impostor, could only grit his teeth and work hard to fill himself up—or he wouldn’t even make it into the top ten of his class.

But his other goal was progressing well.

Ninety percent of the class liked Li Ye—like class president Zhen Rongrong.

Zhen Rongrong wasn’t simple: an outstanding three-good student from Shaanxi, an outstanding Youth League member, a probationary Party member—highly conscious, warm-hearted, and especially a headache for Li Ye.

“Li Ye, sign up for three events at next month’s sports meet!”

“Three events? My little frame can’t handle that, Class President.”

“.”

Zhen Rongrong stared at Li Ye, at a loss for words.

Just two days ago, several male classmates teased Li Ye about his “little frame,” and all the girls, including Zhen Rongrong, burst out laughing.

Zhen Rongrong didn’t think it was mocking Li Ye—because he was the second-shortest boy in class, yet looked younger than the shortest, so everyone called him “that kid Li Ye.”

Many classmates were two or three years older than him, so Zhen Rongrong saw this “good-natured teasing” as a form of affection.

But she hadn’t expected this little brother to hold a grudge for two whole days.

“If you know you’re small, eat more, get stronger—that’s all it takes.”

“Yesterday, a classmate complained you couldn’t swallow the stir-fried zucchini with eggs. That won’t do—you could lose conduct points.”

“The zucchini at the cafeteria yesterday wasn’t peeled,” Li Ye replied seriously. “And my frame is plenty strong.”

Though Li Ye understood “more people, less food,” how could you eat a dish where half the zucchini’s skin was still on?

And no man, anywhere in the world, likes being called “not strong”—there are no exceptions.

Oh, except gays.

Zhen Rongrong took two deep breaths, sat down beside Li Ye, and lowered her voice: “Aren’t you planning to join the Youth League? Aren’t you going to show initiative?”

“Clean up the classroom this month, sign up for a few sports events, and you’ve already done one school volunteer task—your homeroom teacher can just vouch for you.”

So this was Mu Yunning’s assignment!

“I’m not in a hurry to join the League—the organization can test me more. Anyway, I’ll sign up for two events: long jump and high jump.”

Li Ye was patriotic, just in his own way—but he didn’t want to clash with Mu Yunning, so he’d just sign up for two events and get it over with.

“No slots left for long jump. Pick two others.”

“Then shot put.”

“He Dazhuang and others already signed up for shot put. Don’t be petty—pick something else.”

He Dazhuang was the classmate who mocked Li Ye’s “weak frame.”

He looked strong, but honestly, he was a level below Li Ye’s younger brother Li Da.

Li Da weighed nearly two hundred jin, and even in a fight with Li Ye, it’d be a fifty-fifty match.

If they used wooden rifles for bayonet drills, Li Ye would win easily.

So Li Ye had no reason to be annoyed with him—he wasn’t even worth it.

“Why would I be petty with them? Then sign me up for the hundred-meter.”

“Hundred-meter’s full. Two hundred and four hundred are full too.”

Li Ye rolled his eyes—so all the easy, low-effort events were taken?

“Class President Zhen, are the only events left the distance runs?”

“Yes. Take both the three-kilometer and five-kilometer.”

Forget it.

Do you think everyone can run five kilometers cross-country without breathing hard?

Look at the infantry on the other side of the strait—walking six kilometers on foot is considered extra training, and they brag about how “no problem!”

“Li Ye, I must tell you seriously: if you don’t show initiative, people will call you backward. If this continues, it’ll become a real problem.”

Zhen Rongrong spoke seriously—she saw Li Ye’s indifference and thought it was extremely dangerous.

The tallest tree gets the fiercest wind. Li Ye thought he was hiding his talents, but others didn’t see it that way.

“Fine. I’ll show. Give me the three-kilometer.”

Li Ye reluctantly decided to make a real effort.

Beijing Foreign Languages Institute, administrative building.

“Thank you, Teacher Lin. Goodbye!”

Lu Jingyao stepped out of an office, smiled as she closed the door, then walked off briskly.

She walked straight to the library, found Liu Muhan quietly reading, and finally exhaled deeply.

“Huh~”

Seeing Lu Jingyao sit across from her, looking utterly relieved, Liu Muhan couldn’t help smiling.

“Trouble?”

“No,” Lu Jingyao shook her head slowly. “It went smoothly. Teacher Lin clearly loved those two books.”

“And the reason he loved them? Exactly what you said—he admires the heroic spirit of the Soviet people fighting for freedom and independence.”

After speaking for a while, Lu Jingyao looked at Liu Muhan: “But I’m confused—how did you guess all this?”

Liu Muhan smiled and countered: “How I guessed doesn’t matter. Just tell me—was it useful?”

Lu Jingyao stared blankly at Liu Muhan, then nodded after a moment.

She never imagined an English department counselor would be a Russian enthusiast, especially obsessed with early Soviet civil war themes.

Just with those two Russian books, Lu Jingyao had accomplished what others thought impossible.

“So Teacher Lin is no longer a problem. Next is the Youth League Committee. If you take it step by step, studying abroad isn’t hard.”

Watching Liu Muhan’s easy demeanor, Lu Jingyao chuckled. “Seems... it really isn’t.”

It really wasn’t—but it depended on who you were.

After hearing Liu Muhan’s advice that day, Lu Jingyao finally decided to pursue a government-sponsored study abroad opportunity.

Liu Muhan then gave her a long list of tasks, each to be completed step by step.

Teacher Lin was just the first step.

Lu Jingyao had originally doubted Liu Muhan’s plan—she couldn’t understand why someone her own age knew so much.

But over these past two days, multiple verifications proved Liu Muhan’s “brilliance.”

She suddenly understood: what ordinary people saw as “secrets” were probably just part of Liu Muhan’s upbringing.

Lu Jingyao suddenly said: “Muhan, let’s go together! Don’t you want to study abroad?”

Liu Muhan paused, then smiled: “I don’t need it right now.”

Lu Jingyao looked at Liu Muhan, unsure whether “don’t need it” meant she didn’t need to study abroad—or didn’t need to go through all this trouble to get there.

Seeing Lu Jingyao’s expression turn slightly resentful, Liu Muhan quickly said: “Don’t overthink it. Go borrow these books, read them well, and solidify your professional foundation first—no matter how many tricks you use, they won’t help without that.”

"Fine."

Lu Jingyao took Liu Muhan’s note, stood up to borrow a book, and saw He Xue hurrying toward her.

"Lu Jingyao, I’ve been looking everywhere for you—you’re right here!"

He Xue rushed over and plopped down beside Lu Jingyao, her tone tinged with resentment.

"What do you want?" Lu Jingyao asked coldly.

"Of course I have something,"

He Xue, seemingly oblivious to Lu Jingyao’s coldness, pulled out a form: "This semester’s mandatory labor assignments are out—you’re still in charge of the northern library building."

Lu Jingyao cut her off: "I’m not participating in mandatory labor this semester. Don’t bother assigning me."

He Xue froze for several seconds, displeased: "I’ve already arranged it—how can you—"

Lu Jingyao interrupted again: "But you didn’t ask me? There are forty people in our class, and ten are needed each semester for mandatory labor. "

"I’ve participated for two semesters straight—why am I assigned again this semester, and without even a heads-up?"

"."

He Xue finally sensed something was off about Lu Jingyao.

In the past, whenever it came to class matters, Lu Jingyao had always passively accepted everything; He Xue, as Labor Committee member, had held her firmly under control.

But now, Lu Jingyao was actually resisting?

How could this be?

Yes, there were over forty people in the class, but half of them were hard to assign—people like Liu Muhan, for instance.

Of the remaining half, there was little room to maneuver.

After all, some positions were dirty and exhausting, with no teacher ever seeing the work done—absolute “silent contribution” posts that no one wanted.

If Lu Jingyao, their mainstay, quit, and others followed suit, was He Xue supposed to lead by example and shoulder the entire burden of this “glorious sacrifice” herself?

So He Xue’s face hardened. "Lu Jingyao, you don’t have to join class mandatory labor, but I’ll report this to the counselor. Whether you get into the Student Union in the future remains uncertain."

"Teacher Lin has already recommended me for the Student Union," Lu Jingyao replied coldly. "Teacher Cheng from the library has spoken with Teacher Lin too. Why don’t you go talk to them?"

He Xue: "."

Lu Jingyao pressed on: "He Xue, don’t you think your behavior just now is unbecoming of a student? Are you wielding too much power—or abusing it?"

He Xue froze, then finally turned to look at Liu Muhan.

Since half a year ago, Lu Jingyao had gradually drifted away from her and Ma Li, spending time with Liu Muhan—and slowly became “smarter,” but still within control.

But now it seemed Lu Jingyao had truly picked up bad habits from Liu Muhan.

Learned to be hardline, learned to be sharp—knew how to navigate the system properly?

"You’ll regret this!"

He Xue stormed off in a huff.

Lu Jingyao felt a flicker of worry. For the past year, she’d never fought anyone, hoping her silent sacrifices would earn respect—but now she saw she’d been wrong.

Liu Muhan said: "Don’t care about He Xue. She’s one of your competitors for the government-sponsored study abroad spot. Breaking with her now doesn’t matter."

Lu Jingyao asked: "Will she influence how the teachers see me?"

Liu Muhan said: "She can’t affect you directly, but she’s close to Qian Shun—he’s in the Student Union and can influence Director Zhang’s opinion of you."

(End of Chapter)