Chapter 181: Li Ye, Deep as Water

On January 1, 1983, a heavy snow fell across the entire north.

"Li Ye, Li Ye, get up! Lao Yao, Lao Yao, don't sleep! Let's go fight with snowballs!"

Wu Runfu, from Xiangbei, had never seen such heavy snow—he got up early and roused all the dorm mates in 209.

But Li Ye was from Dongshan, and Sun Xianjin, Lao Yao, was from Heilongjiang; no matter how beautiful the snow outside, how could it compare to the warm, soft, beloved comfort of bed?

Sun Xianjin pulled the blanket over his head and said seriously: "In the north, we play hide-and-seek on snow days.

You go first, find a snow hole to hide in, and I'll come look for you later—don't let me find you, no matter what."

"Hahaha~! Lao Wu, go quick! I know a few spots by the lake where snow piles deepest and thickest."

"Get lost, get lost!"

Wu Runfu rolled his eyes and retorted: "Lao Yao, you've been talking more and more like a stand-up comic. I've never seen snow before, but I'm not stupid."

"All the other dorms are going out together—our dorm is just too disunited."

Li Ye, always accused of being "disunited," curled up in his warm blanket and said: "Lao Wu, you've got the wrong person. What's the point of snowballing with us?

You should go down below the girls' dorm—don't just the southern girls, even northern girls love building snowmen. Go help them."

"."

For a few seconds, Dorm 209 fell silent—then suddenly erupted into chaos.

"Move over, move over! You spend five minutes staring in the mirror—what's the point?"

"You're not vain? Then why are you fighting over the mirror? You're using my hair oil—you use less of it, it's expensive!"

In the end, Sun Xianjin moved fastest—he was the first fully dressed, like a soldier hearing the charge, charging boldly toward Dorm 17, the girls' dorm.

Bian Jingjing probably loves building snowmen!

Back in Dorm 209, now utterly quiet, only Li Ye remained. He shifted his body, found a more comfortable position, and went back to sleep.

He'd already discussed it with Wen Leyu yesterday—they'd spend today resting up in preparation for tonight's campus cultural evening, so why bother going out to brawl with Wu Runfu and the others?

In this era, the gender ratio among college students was severely skewed—if Li Ye drew even more attention, what chance did the other guys have?

He dozed off until noon, then suddenly felt someone enter and push him.

He opened his eyes and saw a weary figure.

Hair disheveled, crusts of sleep in the corners of his eyes, lips tightly pressed, cracked and bleeding slightly.

Li Ye stared at the face for several seconds before recognizing him.

"Zhi Guo, what are you doing here?"

Li Ye sat up, astonished at the sight of Zou Zhiguo.

Zou Zhiguo's grandfather had once joined the same unit as Li Ye's grandfather—by rights, the two families were "old friends."

But Zou Zhiguo's grandfather never returned; his grandmother, heartbroken, caused the families to drift apart for years.

Later, when Zou Zhiguo wanted to strike out on his own, Li Zhongfa told Li Ye to "look after" the boy—so Li Ye took him to Yangcheng and gave him a chance to study and grow.

When Jin Peng went to Beijing, Li Ye followed Jin Peng and Hao Jian's advice—he took the smarter, more capable Ma Qianshan to Beijing, and left Zou Zhiguo in Yangcheng: to temper his temperament, and also to serve as Li Ye's eyes.

But this "eye" seemed to have no sense of duty—nearly half a year had passed, and he'd sent no telegrams, made no calls, written no letters.

Now he suddenly appeared before Li Ye—Li Ye wasn't sure if he was just being dramatic, or if he'd suffered some grievance and came to complain.

"What's going on?"

"Is it safe to talk here?" Zou Zhiguo glanced around nervously.

Li Ye got up as he spoke: "It's fine. Speak."

But what Zou Zhiguo said next instantly drained all warmth from Li Ye's body—he felt icy cold, as if standing outside in the frozen snow.

"San Shui secretly embezzled funds from the accounts. At the time, we had no dedicated bookkeeper—San Shui managed Yangcheng's wholesale clothing division, and Hao Jian and Peng Ge were sometimes away.

San Shui covered his tracks well; the embezzlement was brief, and he always balanced the books before Hao Jian checked them—Hao Jian never noticed.

But a few months ago, we hired Zhou Lijuan, and during this year-end audit, she uncovered small discrepancies in the accounts, exposing San Shui's embezzlement—but San Shui had already repaid the money."

"Hao Jian wondered why he'd embezzled, then discovered San Shui had connected with Boss Zhang, a smuggler."

"Hao Jian feared getting tangled in smuggling, so he sent me back to Dongshan to investigate—I found several of San Shui's relatives in our hometown, and sure enough, they were running a smuggling operation."

"At first, they smuggled electronics like watches, but recently they've expanded—now they're smuggling motorcycles."

Zou Zhiguo spoke slowly, one sentence at a time; Li Ye dressed piece by piece. By the time Zou Zhiguo finished, Li Ye had put on his overcoat—but now, he was calm.

"Have you informed Jin Peng?"

"Yes. I called Yangcheng yesterday—Hao Jian said Jin Peng arrived three days ago."

"Hah. So they're all keeping it from me."

Li Ye gave a cold laugh. Zou Zhiguo instinctively stepped back two paces.

In that instant, he felt the Li Ye he'd known since childhood had transformed into Li Zhongfa, the man his grandmother described.

Zou Zhiguo's grandmother had told him: Li Zhongfa's hands were stained with countless bloods—on the surface, he seemed ordinary, but secretly, he was a ruthless killer.

Zou Zhiguo had never seen Li Zhongfa's ruthlessness—but now, he clearly felt a chilling edge radiating from Li Ye.

"Let's go to the post office."

Li Ye led Zou Zhiguo down the dorm building straight toward the post office—but halfway there, he turned aside, dragging Zou Zhiguo to Zhao's Restaurant first.

"Xiao Ye, I'm not hungry—let's go to the post office first! They're probably frantic in Yangcheng by now."

"No rush. Eat first. Afterward, I have some questions for you."

Li Ye saw Zou Zhiguo's condition—he hadn't eaten or slept well in days; likely, since being dispatched from Yangcheng by Hao Jian, he'd traveled day and night without rest.

Li Ye needed to think—why hadn't Hao Jian sent a telegram or called him immediately? Why wait until yesterday to call, then send Zou Zhiguo to Beijing with the news?

Was he afraid telegrams or calls weren't secure enough? Or was he unsure of San Shui's guilt, and only acted after confirming it—then used Zou Zhiguo, Li Ye's "own man," to show he was acting for the public good, not personal loyalty?

Or had Jin Peng arrived in Yangcheng, and a standoff emerged between him and Hao Jian—so Hao Jian sent Zou Zhiguo to play the villain?

Zou Zhiguo was indeed hungry. Li Ye ordered him four dishes and a soup, barely filling his stomach.

Li Ye gathered his thoughts and asked: "While you were in Yangcheng these past half-year, how was the relationship between San Shui and Hao Jian?"

Zou Zhiguo burped and said: "At first, it was fine. But two months ago, San Shui started defying orders—he often argued with Hao Jian over Yangcheng's wholesale division.

Then Hao Jian had a stern talk with San Shui—after that, San Shui stopped working for days, driving his girlfriend around in his car, leaving all the wholesale division work to Ergou."

"San Shui has a car?"

Li Ye cut him off. Pengcheng Factory Seven had been trying to buy a car in Beijing for ages—how had San Shui gotten one already?

"San Shui said it was Boss Zhang's car," Zou Zhiguo explained. "They're sworn brothers, so he lets San Shui use it."

Li Ye asked: "When did San Shui start driving the car?"

Zou Zhiguo didn't hesitate: "About two months ago—then Hao Jian had that talk with him."

"Two months? Hah~"

Li Ye found it interesting—he let out a soft, cold laugh.

Hao Jian was sharp—why wait until now to act if he'd noticed San Shui's odd behavior two months ago?

"We're not going to the post office yet. Today, I'll take you to a campus cultural evening."

"Cultural evening?"

Zou Zhiguo blinked, then said: "I won't watch the show—just find me a place to sleep. Wake me when we leave."

"Leave? How do you know I'm leaving?"

Li Ye was surprised. He'd always thought Zou Zhiguo, the "wooden man" as Jin Peng and Ma Qianshan called him, was dull—but now he saw he wasn't as simple as he seemed.

Zou Zhiguo said: "Back in the village, when neighbors fought and someone got hurt, we'd call an elder to mediate.

I think you'll do the same—you'll step in and make everyone get along again, like before."

"You're wrong. I don't want everyone to get along."

Li Ye narrowed his eyes—his mocking glance flashed and vanished.

Peking University's New Year cultural evening was still worth watching—the school actively supported all cultural clubs, and every performance—singing, playing, dancing—had several high-quality acts.

As the writer and director of the skit "Sea Cucumber Stir-Fried Noodles," Li Ye waited backstage with Sun Xianjin and others.

"Bro, should we go over our lines again?"

"No need. You did great yesterday—believe in yourselves."

"Oh, but what if we mess up?"

"Messing up makes it funnier."

"Oh oh—look at my hairstyle, okay?"

"Perfect. You look awesome—you'll totally charm Bian Jingjing."

"."

Sun Xianjin, who'd already performed the skit at the class party yesterday, was still nervous—he kept seeking reassurance from Li Ye.

But Li Ye had other things on his mind, so he answered half-heartedly.

Their homeroom teacher, Mu Yunning, walked over and said to Li Ye: "Our department has too few acts. Afterward, you'll perform yesterday's skit again, okay?"

Mu Yunning now understood Li Ye's temperament—she always negotiated with him, knowing his mind was set and he wouldn't be swayed.

But this time, Li Ye agreed readily: "Fine. But I need your help with something later."

Mu Yunning immediately grew wary: "What do you need help with?"

Li Ye said: "I need two days off."

"Two days off? Sure, approved."

Mu Yunning looked at Li Ye's calm, natural expression and sensed nothing unusual—she agreed casually.

"Next, the 1982 Economics Department presents the comedy skit 'Sea Cucumber Stir-Fried Noodles,' performed by Sun Xianjin and Zhen Rongrong."

When he heard his name announced, Sun Xianjin, who had been nervous, immediately blushed.

Jingjing is watching down there! I must show her my "interesting" strengths.

As Sun Xianjin stepped on stage as Song Xiaobao, laughter erupted immediately.

The crooked wool hat, the awkward little cotton-padded jacket, and that bouncy, skipping walk.

That posture was taught to him by Li Ye.

Li Ye originally wanted Sun Xianjin to imitate effeminate mannerisms, but this straightforward man stubbornly refused; forced to adapt, Li Ye revised the role, drawing inspiration from the flamboyant walking styles of Star and Hua, instantly maximizing the comedy.

Then came the scene of entering the shop to eat noodles, followed by a series of exchanges that drew another round of applause.

"Got any tea?"

"Yes."

"Free?"

"Free."

"Bring two pots of Longjing!"

"."

"Sea cucumber fried noodles. Where's the sea cucumber? Did you eat it after pulling it out of the wok?"

"What the hell are you playing at? Give me a perfect explanation."

"I'm called Sea Cucumber. The noodles are what I fried."

"."

"I swapped my noodle soup for fried noodles. Why should I pay?"

"You didn't pay for the fried noodles either?"

"I didn't even eat the fried noodles. Why should I pay?"

"Hahahahahaha~"

Laughter is highly contagious; halfway through the skit, the laughter and applause in the school auditorium already proved the act's success.

Think about it! In the 1980s, the most popular segments on TV New Year's Eve galas were crosstalk acts—they were down-to-earth and brought joy.

When the climax came, everyone in the auditorium was laughing so hard they couldn't breathe.

"I'll call my older sister over to calculate it—she's from Peking University's Economics Department. If she can't figure out the price of two bowls of noodles, she might as well have dropped out."

Then Zhen Rongrong stepped out carrying a two-meter-long abacus.

A girl carrying a giant abacus, and an economics student can't calculate the cost of two bowls of noodles—how hilarious is that?

Behind the scenes, Mu Yunning let out a long breath. Though Sun Xianjin and Zhen Rongrong were still a bit nervous, their lines were flawless and their movements precise; the teachers in the audience clapped at least ten times. This act had already overshadowed every previous performance.

The Economics Department had only two majors, few people, and little strength—standing out was truly hard.

Mu Yunning couldn't help turning to look at Li Ye; the success of this act came entirely from the playwright and director's efforts.

But when Mu Yunning turned back, he found Li Ye's face showed no smile at all—like the deep, bottomless waters of Weiminghu at night.

"Li Ye, are you troubled?"

"No."

"Then can you still go on stage and perform?"

"Of course. A piece of cake!"

Li Ye smiled, grabbed a long flowered spear, and spun two perfect spear flowers.

Full of killing intent.

(End of Chapter)