Chapter 204: When Duty Calls (Part 2)

Li Ye wasn't lying—students who had fought their way overseas in this era generally carried strong confidence and a sense of responsibility; to say they were unafraid to take the lead was no exaggeration.

But after he finished speaking, everyone in the bus stared at him strangely, then fell into deathly silence.

There were still so many Westerners in the car! Were you pointing at the monk and cursing the bald man?

Yet this silence lasted only a few seconds before it was shattered by a lone round of applause.

"Clap clap clap clap~"

Li Ye turned his head in surprise and saw it was Liu Muhan.

She had even taken off her gloves to make her clapping louder.

"Muhan, don't—"

A classmate from Peking University anxiously tried to stop her.

But Liu Muhan ignored him entirely, continuing to clap steadily at Li Ye under the gaze of everyone.

Lu Jingyao also grew anxious and reached out to pull Liu Muhan back, trying to halt her reckless behavior.

But then, more applause suddenly erupted—and strangely, most of it came from those "friends" with various colored hair.

The suit man felt even worse, and Nakamura Naoto was equally humiliated.

"You—you—"

The suit man pointed at Li Ye, about to say something, when another group of passengers boarded—many of them wearing Zhongshan suits, clearly arriving from a domestic flight.

Li Ye suddenly stood up, making the suit man and Nakamura Naoto both step back in surprise.

One of the new passengers was a young woman holding a child who kept coughing.

As a well-behaved youth raised under the red flag, Li Ye naturally possessed the virtue of respecting the elderly and caring for the young.

"Miss, come sit here!"

"Ah? No need! No no, you sit, little brother."

The young woman was embarrassed, but Li Ye insisted and moved aside.

"Miss, don't misunderstand—I'm giving up my seat for the child. Is he sick?"

"Just a bit of coughing, nothing serious."

Though she said it wasn't serious, the woman still sat in Li Ye's seat—she hugged the child tightly and couldn't even stand steady in the swaying bus; it was inconvenient and unsafe.

If she fell, it didn't matter—but if the child fell, wouldn't she cry herself to death?

After Li Ye's act, the suit man had nothing left to say.

Li Ye wasn't heartless—he only showed compassion to those who truly needed help. How could you accuse him from some moral high ground?

You might end up getting spat on in return.

The coach finally started moving; the road was buried under thick snow, so it crawled forward slowly.

The tires were wrapped in anti-slip chains, rumbling continuously with a "shush-shush" sound, subtly reminding passengers that today's road conditions were unusual—no complaints, please; someone giving you extra service is already a favor.

Li Ye stood beside Nakamura Naoto, swaying gently with the lurching coach.

Seeing his classmate's dark expression, Li Ye suddenly smiled and asked: "Nakamura, what happened to your face? Did you get into a fight during the Spring Festival holiday?"

Nakamura Naoto turned his neck mechanically, staring at Li Ye with dead-fish eyes; after several seconds, he turned back like a robot, ignoring him completely.

But Li Ye had already caught Nakamura Naoto's abnormal emotions.

In his eyes, there was fear—and then deep hatred.

"Nakamura, students from our country hold ourselves to very strict standards—we absolutely forbid random brawling. If such a bad situation occurs, you must explain it to your school teacher."

Nakamura Naoto whipped his head around violently, the stiffness in his neck producing a "crack" sound.

Jin Peng and Lu Jingyao in the bus also stared at Li Ye in shock.

【How the hell can you say something like that?】

Li Ye had fought more times since childhood than a first-grader could count—and yet he claimed to hold himself to exceptionally strict standards?

Are you strict only with others?

"Thank you for your concern, Li-san. I accidentally fell and injured myself."

"Oh~~"

Li Ye sighed meaningfully and added: "Then maybe I misunderstood—I thought the marks on your face were from a bamboo sword strike. Your Japanese people seem to really enjoy bamboo swords."

"."

On Nakamura Naoto's zombie-like face, expression finally appeared—like a splash of rainbow paint on white paper: anger, shame, frustration—every emotion vividly displayed.

【Did I guess right?】

Li Ye turned his gaze forward, acting as if nothing had happened—but inside, he felt an unstoppable surge of satisfaction.

He'd examined Nakamura's facial wounds and, from experience, knew they were caused by a blunt, flat object. Combined with the Ming Dynasty antique teapot from the Lao Guan family in Beier Tiao, he'd made an educated guess—and it turned out correct.

Nakamura Naoto stared at Li Ye, speaking slowly and clearly: "We Japanese do indeed enjoy bamboo swords. If you ever get the chance, I'd be happy to let you witness it."

Li Ye sneered: "I'm happy to oblige—but I'm afraid you'll chicken out when the time comes."

"."

Nakamura Naoto froze, puzzled by Li Ye's confidence.

Then he smiled faintly—a cruel smile.

【The humiliation I suffered at the hands of your Chinese people—I'll wash it away starting with you, Li Ye.】

This year's homecoming trip had been a rollercoaster for Nakamura Naoto.

Because cultural relic protection was still lax, Nakamura Naoto smuggled many antiques back to Japan as Spring Festival gifts for his grandfather, Nakamura Kenshou.

Nakamura Kenshou was delighted and gave Nakamura Naoto high praise at the New Year's Eve family banquet; Nakamura's father also felt honored and promised increased support next year.

Soon after, the Ming Dynasty polychrome bird-and-flower teapot was presented by Nakamura Kenshou to a powerful figure.

This figure was a Japanese nobleman whose family lineage stretched over a thousand years and who had been the master to the Nakamura clan for over a century.

Japan outwardly appeared civilized, but beneath the surface remained a feudal society—its political parties functioned like old regional warlords or shogunates, steeped in feudal rivalry.

In such a country, without noble patronage, a common merchant had virtually no chance to grow.

The Nakamura family's rise to prominence owed much to this nobleman's mentorship and aid; thus, presenting him a novel treasure to please him was only proper.

The result? Naturally, it backfired.

As Lao Song had said, the fake craftsmanship of Hu Er was convincing—but a fake was still a fake.

A family with a thousand-year heritage still had some discernment—they instantly recognized the polychrome bird-and-flower teapot as a forgery.

Nakamura Kenshou was summoned and publicly scolded before a gathering of retainers, utterly humiliated.

Had he not brought several other genuine antiques along, he would have been so ashamed he might have committed seppuku.

Back home, the old man dragged out his bamboo sword and beat Nakamura Naoto's father senseless—blows rained down without mercy, except on the face.

Then Nakamura Naoto himself was beaten with the bamboo sword by his father—blows rained down without mercy.

But Nakamura's father lacked skill; one misstep, and the sword struck Nakamura Naoto's forehead.

So what Li Ye saw was only the tip of the iceberg—if you lifted Nakamura's clothes, the sight would be horrific.

In the 1980s, airport coaches had far fewer routes and certainly didn't go to Zhongguancun—that area was still farmland back then.

But before the airport coach reached its final stop, Jin Peng said to Li Ye: "Xiao Ye, the car behind us looks like ours."

Li Ye squeezed to the window, wiped away the condensation on the glass, and confirmed—it was indeed their own Beijing 130.

When the coach stopped, Li Ye, Jin Peng, and Hao Jian got out; Wang Qiang jumped down from the front passenger seat, excitedly shouting as he ran over, followed by several young men.

"Brother, you've finally arrived! We've been following several buses, afraid we'd miss you."

"Why are you waiting for us in this weather? We could've just found a place to stay overnight."

"How could I do that?" Wang Qiang insisted stubbornly. "If I can't even handle this, what good am I?"

The young men quickly took the three men's luggage, placed it on the cotton quilts inside the truck bed, carefully wrapped it up, then stayed seated inside without getting down.

"What are you doing up there? Get into the cab—we'll all squeeze in."

"No no, we've got quilts up here—we won't get cold."

Li Ye called out several times, but the young men refused to budge; he finally gave up.

The cab could seat six at most—Li Ye, Jin Peng, Hao Jian, Wang Qiang, and the driver already made five; there was no room for more.

Once inside the cab, Li Ye said to Jin Peng: "This year, you need to get more vehicles."

"We pay so much in taxes—we should raise our concerns. This shouldn't happen again. We sit inside while others freeze outside—it's unacceptable."

Jin Peng laughed: "Yes yes, I'll make sure it's done this year—no more situations like today. My ten-thousand-yuan suit, if it gets a tear, could buy two tires."

The clueless Wang Qiang stared at Jin Peng's clothes, his eyes gleaming.

He'd never cared about fashion before—but now he'd fallen for a Beijing girl.

Li Ye couldn't help but scold: "Can you stop showing off? Can't you just die quietly?"

"Hahaha~"

Jin Peng burst into laughter.

He was definitely doing it on purpose—showing off among brothers never caused grudges; teasing a little, having fun—why not?

The Beijing 130 sped smoothly along the snowy streets, revealing the driver's exceptional skill.

"Hey, I've never seen this driver before?"

"This is Wang Qiangdong—the Private Secretary just hired him as your driver," Wang Qiang said. "He used to be an engineer soldier in the army—his driving is top-notch. I made him drive today because of the snow."

"Engineer soldier? Good, good."

When people think of excellent army drivers, they often picture the truck drivers on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway.

Indeed, those drivers developed superb skills due to their heavy transport duties.

But overall, transport soldiers in engineering units generally had better driving skills than those in regular transport companies.

Because they had endless work—repairing roads here, bridges there, never ending.

Others might drive only thirty thousand kilometers over three years, but these men could hit thirty thousand in a single year, and their driving surfaces weren't asphalt or concrete—imagine the training effect.

Li Ye had once met an old engineering soldier in his past life.

During the self-defense counterattack, their unit wasn't originally needed, but the front-line transport conditions were so dire that an emergency order came through, pulling drivers straight from the engineering corps to reinforce the front.

That veteran, because of his skill, was proudly selected, and after returning, he bragged that engineering vehicle drivers had the best technique.

At nearly ten o'clock, the Beijing 130 arrived at Zaojunmiao and stopped steadily before the Sihe Academy gate.

Before Li Ye even got out of the vehicle, he smelled the scent of a whole lamb stewing in a giant pot.

Wang Qiang said: "Old Song saw it snowing today, muttered that you'd be back late,

that eating outside might be hard, so better to eat at home—he boiled half a lamb himself. This old guy's gut feeling is always spot-on."

"Vice Manager Wang, we eat from the same pot—don't talk behind someone's back like that!"

Old Song, hearing the car, had already stepped out to greet them and just caught Wang Qiang's words—he laughed and teased him.

"Hmph~"

Wang Qiang sneered, grunted, and refused to engage Old Song.

He'd long realized that arguing with this old man was like using his weakness against the man's strength—he simply ignored him, and no matter how clever the old man's tongue, it fell flat.

After entering the Sihe Academy, Li Ye saw a giant pot bubbling with steam, and beside it, Jiang Xiao and her mother, Chen Jinhua, were busy working.

Li Ye laughed: "Old Song's drafted you two to do his bidding!"

Jiang Xiao immediately said: "No, no—we're learning craftsmanship from Uncle Song! His whole-lamb stew is incredible,

we tried selling it once on Xiushuijie, and it was all gone in two hours."

Li Ye blinked in surprise: "So you're not opening a noodle shop anymore—switching to whole lamb?"

Jiang Xiao said: "No, we'll do both—high and low, to meet customers' diverse needs."

Li Ye blinked and asked: "Who taught you that?"

Jiang Xiao pointed at Wang Qiang: "Qiangzi told me—it makes perfect sense!"

Only after Li Ye got home did everyone sit down to eat.

Three large bowls of lamb were placed on three small tables, and everyone divided into three groups to eat while hot.

Li Ye watched Wang Qiang shovel food noisily and whispered: "Qiangzi, have you figured it out?"

Wang Qiang looked confused: "Figured out what?"

Li Ye asked in surprise: "When I left Qingshui County, you didn't come to see me off—I heard you didn't speak to anyone for days!"

Because of the New Year's Day incident, Wang Qiang had been hurt by his family, and until Li Ye left, he still hadn't recovered.

But now, he looked perfectly fine.

"Brother, you misunderstood—and so did I. After New Year's Day, I did feel down, but then guess what?"

Wang Qiang put down his chopsticks and smiled: "My dad, my mom, my brother, my sister-in-law—they all started treating me better than they treat my nephew from my older brother's side."

Seeing Li Ye didn't believe him, Wang Qiang unbuttoned his coat and revealed a brand-new padded jacket.

"Brother, look—this is what Mom made me. It's been over ten years since I last wore a new padded jacket."

"I get it now, Brother—I'm the pillar of this family now. Everyone has to revolve around me, and they can't not revolve around me. This is called—"

Wang Qiang rubbed his head for a long time, then slapped his thigh: "This is called 'when duty calls, you don't step back'—yes, that's it: 'when duty calls, you don't step back!'"

Li Ye: "..."

At the same time, Jiang Xiao at another table spoke up: "Yes—when duty calls, you don't step back!"

Her situation was much like Wang Qiang's—she too would become the pillar of the Jiang family.

I'm the boss now. No one gets to tell me what to do.

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(End of Chapter)