Chapter 181: Li Ye, Deep as Water

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

"Li Ye, Li Ye, get up quickly! Youngest, Youngest, stop sleeping, let's go have a snowball fight."

Wu Runfu from Xiangbei had never seen such heavy snow, and early in the morning, he was busy getting all his roommates in 209 to get up.

But Li Ye was from Dongshan, and the youngest, Sun Xianjin, was from Heilongjiang. No matter how beautiful the snow outside was, how could it compare to the fragrant, soft, and lovely God of the Warm Quilt?

The youngest, Sun Xianjin, pulled the quilt over his head and said solemnly: "We northerners play hide-and-seek on snowy days."

"You go first, find a snow nest to crawl into and hide. I'll come find you in a bit. Make sure you don't let me find you."

"Hahahaha~ Old Wu, hurry up and go. I know there are a few places by the lake where snow piles up most easily, the snow nests are thick and deep..."

"Get lost, get lost, get lost!"

Wu Runfu rolled his eyes and retorted: "Youngest, you've been sounding more and more like a crosstalk performer lately. I haven't seen snow, but I'm not a fool..."

"Other dorms are taking collective action; our dorm is really too ununited."

Li Ye, who was always accused of being "ununited," huddled in his warm quilt and said: "Old Wu, you found the wrong person. What's the point of having a snowball fight with us?"

"You should go downstairs to the girls' dorm. Never mind those southern girls, even the northern girls like to build snowmen. You guys go over and help out..."

"."

Dorm 209 was quiet for a few seconds, and then suddenly it was chaotic.

"Move, move! Looking in the mirror for four or five minutes, what are you being so vain for?"

"You're not vain? Then why are you grabbing the mirror? You're even using my hair oil... You damn well use less, it's very expensive..."

In the end, Sun Xianjin was a step faster, the first to be fully dressed. Like a soldier who had heard the charge signal, he heroically charged toward the girls' dorm Building 17.

Bian Jingjing should like building snowmen, right!

In the now completely quiet Dorm 209, only Li Ye remained. He arched his body, changed to a comfortable position, and continued to sleep in.

He had already communicated with Wen Leyu yesterday that they would both rest and build up their energy during the day to prepare for the school art gala tonight, so he couldn't be bothered to go out and compete with Wu Runfu and the others!

The ratio of male to female students in this era was severely imbalanced. If Li Ye attracted most of the firepower, how would other boys survive?

Sleeping groggily until noon, Li Ye suddenly heard someone enter the door, and then felt someone pushing him.

He opened his eyes and saw someone who looked travel-worn.

Hair disheveled, eye boogers in the corners of his eyes, and his tightly pursed lips were oozing a bit of blood from being chapped.

Li Ye stared at the face before him, and it took several seconds before he recognized who it was.

"Zhiguo, why are you here?"

Li Ye rolled over and sat up, looking at Zou Zhiguo in front of him in surprise.

Zou Zhiguo's grandfather had been pulled by Li Ye's grandfather to join the army together, so the two families could logically be considered "family friends."

As it turned out, Zou Zhiguo's grandfather didn't return, and Zou Zhiguo's grandmother was so heartbroken that the two families didn't interact much for many years.

Later, when Zou Zhiguo wanted to go out and make his way, Li Zhongfa told Li Ye that he must "take good care" of this child, so Li Ye brought him to Yangcheng and gave him the opportunity to develop and learn.

When Jin Peng came to Beijing, Li Ye followed the advice of Jin Peng and Hao Jian and brought the smarter and more capable Ma Qianshan to Beijing, leaving Zou Zhiguo in Yangcheng. One reason was to temper his temperament, and the other was that he could be considered one of Li Ye's eyes and ears.

It was just that this "eye and ear" didn't seem to have much awareness. It had been almost half a year, and there hadn't been a single telegram, phone call, or letter; he hadn't contacted Li Ye even once.

But today he suddenly appeared in front of Li Ye. Li Ye wasn't sure if he was being dramatic or if he had suffered some grievance and had come to complain to him.

"What's going on with you?"

"Is it convenient to talk here?" Zou Zhiguo looked left and right, looking very nervous.

Li Ye got out of bed and said: "Convenient, go ahead!"

But what Zou Zhiguo said next instantly blew away all the warmth from Li Ye's body, leaving him feeling cold all over, as if he were in the icy world outside the window.

"Sanshui secretly misappropriated money from the account. At that time, our accounts didn't have a dedicated person managing them. Sanshui was in charge of the Yangcheng clothing wholesale department, and Hao Jian and Brother Peng were sometimes not in Yangcheng..."

"Sanshui did it very covertly, and the time he misappropriated the funds was also very short. He would fill the accounts before Hao Jian checked them, so Hao Jian couldn't see it."

"It was only a few months ago that we hired Zhou Lijuan. Checking the accounts at the end of this year, we found out about his misappropriation of public funds through a few subtle account loopholes, but Sanshui had already filled the money in advance..."

"Hao Jian found it strange why he would misappropriate public funds. Later, he discovered that Sanshui had hooked up with Boss Zhang, who was smuggling water goods..."

"Hao Jian was afraid of getting involved in smuggling, so he asked me to go back to our hometown in Dongshan to investigate. I found several of Sanshui's relatives in our hometown, and they were indeed doing business in water goods..."

"At first, they were smuggling electronic products like electronic watches to Dongshan. Recently, they've been doing it on a larger scale and have started smuggling motorcycles..."

Zou Zhiguo narrated sentence by sentence, and Li Ye put on his clothes piece by piece. By the time Zou Zhiguo finished, Li Ye had also put on his overcoat. However, by this point, Li Ye had instead calmed down.

"Has this been notified to Jin Peng?"

"Notified. Yesterday I called Yangcheng, and Hao Jian said Jin Peng had arrived in Yangcheng three days ago."

"Heh, so they were both hiding it from me!"

Li Ye gave a cold laugh, and Zou Zhiguo subconsciously took two steps back.

In that instant just now, he felt that this Li Ye, whom he had known since childhood, seemed to have turned into the Li Zhongfa in his grandmother's stories.

Zou Zhiguo's grandmother had told him that Li Zhongfa had no idea how much blood was on his hands, so he looked like nothing on the surface, but was a ruthless killer in secret.

Zou Zhiguo hadn't seen Li Zhongfa's ruthlessness, but at this moment, he clearly felt the chilling sharpness on Li Ye.

"Let's go, to the post office."

Li Ye led Zou Zhiguo out of the dorm building and headed straight for the post office, but halfway there, he took a detour and dragged Zou Zhiguo to Zhao's Restaurant first.

"Xiao Ye, I'm not hungry. Let's go to the post office first! They might be dying of anxiety over in Yangcheng right now."

"No rush. You eat first, and after you're done, I'll ask you a few more things."

Looking at Zou Zhiguo's state, it was clear he hadn't eaten or slept well these past few days. He was probably traveling day and night after being sent out of Yangcheng by Hao Jian.

Li Ye now needed to think about many things, such as why Hao Jian didn't send him a telegram or call him the first time, but only called yesterday to let Zou Zhiguo come to Beijing to report the news?

Was he afraid that phone calls and telegrams weren't confidential or safe enough, or was he unable to confirm Sanshui's "crime," and only after verifying it did he use Zou Zhiguo, Li Ye's "own person," to express his "public over private" stance?

Or did Jin Peng arrive in Yangcheng, and a confrontation occurred between the two, so Hao Jian called Zou Zhiguo to be the "bad guy"?

Zou Zhiguo was indeed hungry. Li Ye ordered four dishes and one soup for him, which barely filled his stomach.

Li Ye organized his thoughts and asked: "You stayed in Yangcheng for this half a year. During this period, how was the relationship between Sanshui and Hao Jian?"

Zou Zhiguo let out a burp and said: "It was okay at the beginning, but starting two months ago, Sanshui stopped listening to management. He often argued with Hao Jian because of the Yangcheng wholesale department's affairs."

"Later, Hao Jian had a stern talk with Sanshui, and Sanshui would often not do his job for days, driving a sedan and taking his lover out to roam around, throwing the wholesale department's affairs to Ergou..."

"Sanshui has a sedan?"

Li Ye directly interrupted Zou Zhiguo's narrative. The Pengcheng Seventh Factory had been in Beijing for so long, and they were still queuing up to buy a sedan! Sanshui had already managed to get a sedan?

"Sanshui said it was the car of that water-goods merchant, Boss Zhang," Zou Zhiguo explained: "The two of them call each other brothers and have a good relationship, so he let Sanshui drive it."

Li Ye asked: "Then when did Sanshui start driving the sedan?"

Zou Zhiguo said without thinking: "About two months ago, and then Hao Jian had a talk with Sanshui..."

"Two months, huh? Heh~"

Li Ye found it interesting and gave a light, cold laugh.

Hao Jian was such a shrewd person; he discovered Sanshui's wrongdoings two months ago, so why would he wait until today to make a move?

"We won't go to the post office for now. Today, I'll treat you to a gala."

"A gala?"

Zou Zhiguo was stunned for a moment and then said: "I won't watch the gala. Find me a place to sleep, and call me when you're ready to leave."

"Leave? How do you know I'm going to leave?"

Li Ye was a bit surprised, feeling that this Zou Zhiguo, whom Jin Peng and Ma Qianshan evaluated as a "wooden person," wasn't as stupid as he appeared on the surface.

Zou Zhiguo said: "Back in the village, if the villagers fought and broke their heads, they would always find someone with high seniority to mediate and make peace."

"I think you, Xiao Ye, should go mediate, so that everyone can be as harmonious as before!"

"You're wrong about that. I don't want to be harmonious."

Li Ye narrowed his eyes, and a mocking look flashed by.

The Beijing University New Year Gala was quite worth watching. The school supported various art clubs, and for every singing, dancing, or playing, they could pull out a few programs with high standards.

As the screenwriter and director of the short play "Sea Cucumber Fried Noodles," Li Ye waited backstage with Sun Xianjin and the others.

"Brother, why don't we rehearse the lines again?"

"No need. You performed very well yesterday. You have to have confidence in yourself."

"Oh... but what if there's a mistake?"

"Wouldn't it be even funnier if there was a mistake?"

"Oh, oh... Brother, do you think my hairstyle is okay?"

"It's okay, you look cool. You'll definitely charm Bian Jingjing."

"."

Sun Xianjin, who had already performed once at the class gala yesterday, was still a bit nervous, seeking encouragement and comfort from Li Ye time and time again.

And Li Ye had things on his mind, so he naturally brushed him off.

The head teacher, Mu Yunning, suddenly walked over and said to Li Ye: "Our department has too few programs. Why don't you go up later and perform yesterday's program again?"

By now, Mu Yunning had probably figured out Li Ye's temper, so she tried to use a consultative tone when discussing things with him, because she knew Li Ye had a very firm mind and was basically immune to both soft and hard tactics.

However, Li Ye said quite readily this time: "Sure, but I have something to do later, and I need your help, Teacher."

Mu Yunning immediately said vigilantly: "What do you need my help with?"

Li Ye said: "I need to ask for two days off."

"Ask for two days off? Fine, I agree."

Mu Yunning looked at the calm and natural Li Ye, didn't feel anything was wrong, and agreed offhandedly.

"Next, the 1982 Economics Department will perform the comedy short play 'Sea Cucumber Fried Noodles,' performed by Sun Xianjin and Seeing Zhen Rongrong."

Hearing the announcer read his name, Sun Xianjin, who had been a bit uneasy, suddenly flushed with excitement.

Bian Jingjing was watching from below! He must let her see his "interesting" merits.

As soon as Sun Xianjin (playing Song Xiaobao) went on stage, it immediately drew a burst of laughter.

The crooked wool hat, the awkward-looking small cotton jacket, and that hopping walking posture.

This posture was taught by Li Ye.

Originally, Li Ye wanted Sun Xianjin to learn that feminine movement characteristic, but Sun Xianjin, a pure man, refused to do it. In desperation, Li Ye changed it, referencing the swaggering walking movements of Star and Andy, and the comedic effect was instantly maximized.

Then came entering the shop to eat noodles, a series of dialogues, which again drew applause from everyone.

"Is there tea?"

"Yes."

"Is it free?"

"Free."

"Bring two pots of Longjing!"

"."

"Sea cucumber fried noodles... Where's the sea cucumber? Did you eat it out of the pot? You're playing with me? Give me a perfect explanation."

"My name is Sea Cucumber, and I fried the noodles."

"."

"I exchanged the noodle soup for fried noodles, why should I pay?"

"But you didn't pay for the fried noodles either?"

"I didn't eat the fried noodles, why should I pay?"

"Hahahahahaha~"

The infectiousness of joy is very strong. The sketch was only halfway through, and the laughter and applause in the school auditorium had already proven the success of this program.

Just think about it! In the eighties, the most popular programs on the TV gala were crosstalk-type programs because they were down-to-earth and could bring joy to people.

By the time the wonderful parts came later, everyone in the auditorium was laughing uncontrollably.

"I'll ask my big sister to come out and calculate it for you. She's from the Beijing University Economics Department. If she can't calculate where the money for two bowls of noodles went, then her studies were in vain."

Then, Seeing Zhen Rongrong came out carrying a two-meter-long abacus.

A girl carrying a big abacus, and an economics student who can't calculate the money for two bowls of noodles—you tell me if that's funny or not!

Mu Yunning backstage also let out a long sigh of relief. Although Sun Xianjin, Seeing Zhen Rongrong, and the others were still a bit nervous, their lines were proficient, their movements were error-free, and the teachers below the stage had applauded more than ten times. The limelight of this program had completely suppressed all the previous programs.

The Economics Department only had two majors, with few people and weak strength; it was really not easy to stand out.

Mu Yunning couldn't help but look back at Li Ye. The success of this program was actually entirely due to the credit of this screenwriter and director.

But after Mu Yunning turned back, she found that there was no smile on Li Ye's face, as deep and bottomless as the water of Weiming Lake at night.

"Li Ye, do you have something on your mind?"

"No."

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

"Yes, a piece of cake!"

Li Ye smiled and grabbed a long spear, shaking out two standard spear flowers.

Full of killing intent.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 182 =====

(End of this chapter)