Chapter 174: So I Was Just Worrying for Nothing

Thump-thump-thump~ thump-thump-thump~

Early in the morning, the door to Dorm 209 was suddenly pounded; after Chen Sihai on the bottom bunk opened it, Li Huai and Yang Yu, accompanied by several members of the Lone Army Literature Society, stormed in, furious.

"Li Ye, Li Ye, are you still sleeping? Get up! Hey, hey, let go, let go!"

Li Huai reached out to yank off Li Ye's blanket, but Li Ye, just waking up, instinctively seized his wrist.

Only when Li Huai cried out in pain did Li Ye quickly release his grip, shook his throbbing head from last night's hangover, and sat up wrapped in his blanket.

Last night, Yu Liansheng and Shang Changchun had dragged him over, and a group of '79 students had surrounded him enthusiastically; soon someone pulled out the liquor.

He'd never been so drunk in his life that his legs turned to jelly.

"Old Li, what the hell are you doing here so early? I didn't sleep till three a. ."

"You dare to say that?"

Li Huai rubbed his wrist and grumbled: "You explain to me—what does 'Don't Talk Politics' mean?"

"'Don't Talk Politics' is a line from the play 'Teahouse'—you don't even know that, and you call yourself literature?"

"You're still playing dumb with us, are you?"

Yang Yu came up from behind, grabbed the corner of Li Ye's blanket, and scolded with a laugh: "Whenever we talk current events with you, you just say 'Don't Talk Politics,' 'Don't Talk Politics'—so timid, so unforthcoming, like a woman—

So tell me, what did you do last night? Hmm? If it weren't for Bian Jingjing telling us, we'd never have known you had such big talk! Wow, you dared to boast in front of Mr. Zhang? Impressive!"

"Exactly! So you don't dislike talking politics—you just won't talk politics with us? You're looking down on us! What, do you think we're not good enough?"

Only then did Li Ye understand why Li Huai and Yang Yu had come pounding on his door so early—over this trivial matter.

"What's this got to do with anything? I was forced last night—you don't know what the scene was like."

"That's exactly why we came—to hear your version. Get up and come with us, everyone's waiting!"

"I… fine, fine!"

Li Ye couldn't resist Li Huai and the others, so he put on his clothes, yawned, and followed them downstairs.

As they went down, Li Huai noticed Li Ye's pale face and the faint smell of alcohol in his breath.

He couldn't help asking: "How much did you drink last night?"

Li Ye held his pride: "Not much—just the liquor was cheap and hit hard."

Yang Yu laughed: "Who did you drink with?"

Li Ye thought hard, then said: "Yu Liansheng, Shang Changchun, Yin Xiurong… too many, I can't remember."

Li Huai and Yang Yu froze, then asked: "You hung out with the '79 cohort—the ones who still get salaries from their jobs?"

"Get salaries while studying? What does that mean?"

"Come on, you drank all night and didn't even know this?"

As they walked, Li Huai explained: "Before entering Peking University, Yu Liansheng was a shift supervisor at a coal mine; Shang Changchun was even more impressive—he was already a department head before coming here.

After they enrolled, their original units kept paying their salaries—they had money to burn, acted generously, and were wildly popular in the '79 class."

Li Ye was surprised: "Really that impressive?"

"What's that?" Li Huai scoffed. "You haven't seen the '77 and '78 classes—deputy directors, battalion commanders, everywhere."

"Let me put it this way—if you don't have real ability, you dare not even run for class cadre. Even an ordinary Party member has to compete just to become a group leader."

My goodness.

Li Ye felt a bit relieved—he'd entered in 1982, avoiding those prodigies from '77 and '78.

When he'd talked with Yu Liansheng and the others last night, it felt nothing like talking with Zhen Rongrong and the others in his class.

They had grassroots work experience, high IQ and EQ, had supplemented their culture at Peking University, broadened their horizons—they were practically pentathletes.

With such talent continuously pouring into China's development, it's no wonder this ancient empire had sustained rapid growth and soaring progress for decades.

Li Ye was dragged by Li Huai and Yang Yu to the Lone Army Literature Society's activity room; as soon as he stepped in, he was startled.

Everyone else from the society was already there—even many unfamiliar faces.

Feeling the collective gaze upon him, Li Ye smiled: "What's going on here?"

"What's going on? You've become famous."

Li Huai shoved Li Ye into a chair, and everyone dragged over chairs to surround him, forming a tight circle.

"Tell us quickly—what exactly happened last night?"

"Yes, yes, we heard it was the foreign student who provoked Mr. Zhang first, and then you yelled at him till he cried."

"Li Ye, you said we were all at the poker table—so are we really that powerful?"

Only then did Li Ye understand why, in this era, people would burst out of campus in a frenzy of excitement over a single sports victory, celebrating wildly in the streets.

One reason was students' emotional nature; another was the psychological impact from developed nations—they desperately needed proof to strengthen their national self-confidence.

"I didn't say much last night—just one main point."

Li Ye spoke firmly: "It's fine if others look down on us—but we must never look down on ourselves."

"In some small ways, we may be behind—our civilian technology lags far behind Japan's, our per capita living standards lag far behind many developed countries."

"But that doesn't stop us from being an indisputable regional superpower."

Li Ye smiled: "If you carefully study the last few decades of history, you'll see that on this East Asian land,

No country can do anything major without our approval."

"Li Ye, that's too exaggerated!"

"I think it's exaggerated too—but I'm very willing to believe it's true, hahaha~"

The classmates were skeptical, not fully accepting Li Ye's words.

After all, they weren't born into families like Wen Leyu's, with access to certain truths; nor were they like Li Ye, who could see Ai Yuejin and vast amounts of declassified historical material online in the future.

China had spent decades proving to the world: on this East Asian land, doing something ourselves might be hard—but ruining your plans? Not hard at all.

"What I did last night is no different from what you all aim for," Li Ye said. "You write history to inspire our national self-confidence; I argued with Nakamura Naoto to remind everyone not to undervalue ourselves."

Everything has two sides.

In 1982, China was backward in many ways—but in many others, it was something no one could catch up to.

Li Ye carefully avoided sensitive issues and patiently explained things to the group, letting them see China's strengths.

Ding-leng-leng~

The sound of a bicycle stopped outside the activity room; a student ran in holding a telegram.

"Look! Blue Sea Publishing sent a telegram—congratulations, our 'Lonely Soldier Looking Homeward' will be serialized in Hong Kong!"

"."

"Let me see!"

Li Huai snatched the telegram, read it twice carefully, then handed it to the eager Yang Yu.

The small telegram passed from hand to hand; everyone read it, everyone beamed with joy.

Laughter of delight filled the room for a long time; some students pounded the tables, too excited to speak.

"Li Ye, you're right—we must make more people feel proud, feel honored, by our nation."

Eventually, even the Youth League Committee got word and came over to discuss this "major event" with Li Huai and the others.

The righteous Li Huai didn't forget to push Li Ye forward: "Thanks to Li Ye's suggestion—we never would've dared dream of spreading our ideas to Hong Kong!"

"I just made a suggestion," Li Ye demurred, then added: "Do you think Hong Kong magazines will be like their martial arts novels—not just selling locally, but spreading across the entire Chinese-speaking world?"

"."

Li Huai, Yang Yu, and the Youth League members all grew serious.

"This matter must be taken seriously."

"Must be taken seriously."

"We need support"

"We must support you."

Unconsciously, the Lone Army Literature Society's importance rose again.

Due to Li Huai and the others' harassment, Li Ye skipped class for the first time.

When he arrived at the classroom door in the afternoon, he saw his homeroom teacher, Mu Yunning, waiting coldly.

Mu Yunning blocked him at the door and said coldly: "Do you think becoming famous means you don't have to attend class?"

"Teacher, no, I didn't mean to," Li Ye said. "This morning, Li Huai dragged me over, and I just happened to…"

Li Ye's explanation didn't soften Mu Yunning's expression.

She stared coldly at him: "Do you know why I'm waiting here for you?"

Li Ye guessed: "Are you going to take me to the disciplinary office?"

Mu Yunning sneered: "You're clever—guessed right on the first try."

Li Ye nodded: "Then let's go. If it's fate, you can't escape it."

"Why the rush?" Mu Yunning ordered. "First, write me a self-criticism—five hundred words. Then I'll try to smooth it over—if it doesn't work, you can go later."

"Teacher Mu, I can't write self-criticisms."

"You can write a whole book—can't you write five hundred words? You're kidding me!"

Mu Yunning felt she was about to explode—what sin had she committed in her past life to get such a troublesome student?

But just as she was about to lose her temper, she saw Professor Zhang walking down the hall, holding his lesson plan.

Seeing Li Ye and Mu Yunning outside, Professor Zhang smiled: "Why aren't you going in? Not having class?"

Mu Yunning said: "Professor Zhang, are you taking this class?"

Professor Zhang nodded: "Little Wang isn't feeling well—I'm substituting for him."

Mu Yunning was speechless.

Is Mr. Zhang unwell? Then who was playing basketball on the court at noon?

Professor Zhang smiled, said nothing more, and patted Li Ye on the shoulder: "Go in. After class, come with me."

"."

Mu Yunning finally understood: this big shot was going to protect Li Ye.

All her worrying had been pointless!

(End of chapter)