Chapter 17: The Clever Little Cat

While Li Ye was reading the letter with a gloomy face, his seatmate Wen Leyu glanced over at him inadvertently.

But given Wen Leyu's good upbringing, she never really peeked at the content on the letter paper.

However, the sight of Li Ye suppressing a burst of anger and writing furiously on the back of the letter paper made Wen Leyu very curious.

What exactly did Lu Jingyao write to Li Ye to make this kind boy so angry?

Finally, the little secret agent couldn't hold back anymore, quietly and slowly stretching her neck, leaning over like a little cat hiding and advancing to catch a mouse.

But by this time, Li Ye had finished writing and folded the letter paper, and as he turned his head, he bumped right into Wen Leyu.

Wen Leyu stiffened, retracted her neck with a "whoosh," sat up straight, and began writing and drawing on her notebook with her fountain pen, looking like a good student who studied hard every day.

This little beauty is interesting.

Li Ye's unhappiness instantly vanished by more than half.

He rested his chin on one hand, his elbow propped on the desk, and looked sideways at Wen Leyu, who was writing earnestly. His eyes were pure and peaceful, as if he were admiring a beautiful and vivid painting.

Wen Leyu seemed not to notice, her fountain pen moving non-stop, but a faint blush gradually appeared on her cheeks, adding vibrant life to her excessively fair skin.

"What are you writing?"

Li Ye didn't continue staring; the girl was already embarrassed, so quickly opening up to resolve the awkwardness was the considerate way to communicate.

Wen Leyu was indeed relieved; she pushed her exercise book toward Li Ye and then wrote a sentence on a note.

"I've come up with some questions for you to do. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me."

Li Ye took Wen Leyu's draft exercise book, looked at the pages of dense English test questions, and asked, "Why do you want me to do these questions? Is it Mr. Ke's idea?"

Wen Leyu was stunned for a moment, quickly took the note, and was about to write something to Li Ye on it.

Li Ye couldn't help but whisper, "Although your handwriting is indeed very beautiful, can you talk and communicate with me?"

Wen Leyu was stunned again, and this time she paused for several seconds before whispering, "Aren't you going to take the exam for... Qingbei in the capital? I think I can help you."

Actually, Wen Leyu's voice was very pleasant, but who knew what she had experienced over the years that made her a "little mute."

And when she mentioned Li Ye "taking the exam for the capital," she clearly changed her words in a hurry; she probably originally wanted to say he was taking the exam for the capital to find Lu Jingyao.

Li Ye laughed inwardly, nodded, and said, "Thank you, I accept your help, but you also have to accept my help."

Wen Leyu blinked and said, "What kind of help?"

Li Ye took out his own exercise book and began to write math problems on it.

"I'll also give you a paper to do. If there's anything you don't know, you can ask me."

Wen Leyu was curious, and before she knew it, she stretched out her swan-like neck again, watching Li Ye's fountain pen quickly write out one question after another.

At first, she was very confident because she knew how to do the questions Li Ye wrote at a glance.

But when Li Ye wrote to the third page, she became serious.

Because she hadn't seen these types of questions before.

"Do you know how to do all these questions?"

"Of course!"

"Then what was your math score in the college entrance exam this year?"

"…………"

Li Ye stopped his pen, looked at the curious Wen Leyu, and said helplessly, "Can we not ask questions like this?"

Wen Leyu first looked at Li Ye blankly, then her eyes shifted, and she nodded heavily.

In that moment, Li Ye felt as if he had seen the cat he had raised in his previous life again.

Stupid, cute, but actually... very clever.

。。。。

"Jingyao, you are truly too clever. That day, Senior Qian Shun just gave you a hint, and your poem was actually published?"

"Yes! Junior Sister Jingyao's talent is the best I've ever seen. Our Green Bud Literature Society will have to rely on you, Junior Sister, to carry it forward in the future......."

Inside an activity room at the Capital Foreign Languages Institute, Lu Jingyao was surrounded by a group of seniors, her face flushed red with shyness and embarrassment.

When she was in Qingshui County, she liked to discuss poetry and literature with Xia Yue and the others. When she got to university and chose a club, she naturally joined this literature club called "Green Bud."

After a few months of getting familiar, Lu Jingyao gathered her courage and submitted a manuscript to the Foreign Languages Institute's school journal, never expecting it to actually be published.

Then the embarrassing scene occurred: several seniors from the club showered her with unasked-for flattery.

Especially the gazes of a few of them, as if they wanted to eat her up; their overly enthusiastic attitude made her extremely uncomfortable.

"Ahem, today Junior Sister Jingyao's work was published, which is a big event for our Green Bud Literature Society, so I propose we all go out for a meal, alright?"

"Alright!"

"That's how it should be!"

"Let's go, let's go. Tonight, fine wine and good company, let's not return until we're drunk!"

The club members went out for a meal in high spirits, allowing Lu Jingyao to escape the embarrassment of "being flattered until she wanted to vomit."

But then she started to worry again.

Eating out costs money. The last time the Green Bud Literature Society ate out, everyone paid over two yuan each, which was more than one-tenth of her monthly financial aid.

Because she had to save money to send home, Lu Jingyao had survived the week after the meal on steamed buns and pickles.

Although her poem was published in the school journal today and she had a manuscript fee of five yuan and fifty cents, Lu Jingyao had intended to scrape together ten yuan to send home to subsidize the family. If she ate out again, she wouldn't have enough.

"Let's go, Jingyao, what are you thinking about?"

He Xue, a fellow club member, grabbed Lu Jingyao's arm and dragged her to catch up with the others.

Lu Jingyao then realized, "Oh, oh, I wasn't thinking about anything, let's go."

He Xue said excitedly while walking, "It's not easy to have someone treat us today, I'm going to eat a big meal—braised pork, braised pork knuckle, sweet and sour fish......."

Lu Jingyao felt a weight lift, and even her steps became lighter. "Is that so? Who is treating today?"

He Xue turned her head strangely to look at Lu Jingyao and said, "Of course it's you! You wouldn't be pretending not to know just because you earned a manuscript fee, would you? Our literature society's tradition is that whoever earns a manuscript fee treats everyone!"

".........."

Lu Jingyao's steps sank, and she felt as if her legs had suddenly been filled with lead.

【I'm treating? It's actually me treating... When did I ever say I wanted to treat? The literature society's tradition... what does that have to do with me?】

【Braised pork, braised pork knuckle, sweet and sour fish... one dish costs at least four or five mao, and up to eight or nine mao. With the appetites of these people in the literature society, one person devouring three dishes is like child's play.】

【And that's not even counting the drinking. These people drink like their lives depend on it. A bottle of white liquor costs three or four mao for the cheap stuff, and several yuan for the expensive stuff. How many bottles will they drink before they're drunk?】

【Even darker is the beer, two mao a bottle, and several bottles don't even do anything...】

Lu Jingyao calculated the cost of today's meal in less than a second: at least thirty yuan, and she would have to use up all the food stamps the school issued for several months.

She regretted it; she regretted why she joined this Green Bud club, and why she published a poem in the school journal.

Thirty yuan! Her monthly aid was only twenty-two yuan and fifty cents, and every month she had to calculate how to scrape out a portion to send home to help her brother redeem that bicycle.

Now, Lu Jingyao couldn't even take out twenty yuan, let alone thirty.

"Hey, Jingyao, what's wrong with you? Why is your face so ugly? You aren't feeling bad about the money, are you?"

"Ah? No, no... I was just blown by the wind and felt a bit cold."

Lu Jingyao lowered her head, pursed her lips tightly, and dragged her feet forward, her heart a tangled mess of conflict.

She wanted to not go, but she was afraid of being ridiculed.

But if she went, where would she get the money to pay the bill?

Lu Jingyao felt as if she had suddenly returned to more than a year ago.

The roof of her house was leaking more and more severely, her mother's cough was becoming more and more violent, but the family couldn't scrape together an extra yuan.

Then, a boy broke into her life, poked a hole in the gloomy sky, and sprinkled down brilliant sunshine.

And today, where is her sunshine? ===== CHAPTER 18 =====