[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981":3,"chapter-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-32":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","That Year, the Flowers Bloomed in 1981",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2294450,4489,"Chapter 32: Who","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-32",32,"\u003Cp>After Li Ye and Hao Jian arranged several matters, they stopped meddling in the sesame candy business and told Hao Jian not to come to school unless something major came up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian was obedient and didn’t show up for several days, only sending Jin Peng back on the fifth day with the 26 Phoenix bicycle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Peng said, “Hao Jian’s got some real skills—he’s doing well in business. These past days, we sold over sixteen hundred jin of sesame candy, and it’ll likely be even more soon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yesterday we got a handcart, so we don’t need the Phoenix anymore. You’ve got no bike—it’s inconvenient, and this one’s too conspicuous.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye nodded. “Fine. Just be careful—safety first, profit second.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know that for sure,” Jin Peng said, thinking for a moment with deliberate meaning. “Don’t worry—I’ve got my eyes on him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye could hear what Jin Peng meant—the guy had already slipped into the role of “supervisor,” watching Hao Jian like a hawk, afraid he’d cause trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye said, “Just keep your head on straight. The profits are yours and Qiangzi’s too—we’ll split them at month’s end.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Peng chuckled and left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In just a few days, he’d earned over thirty yuan—roughly equal to a construction company’s bricklayer’s monthly wage—and of course he was delighted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time flew by; in a matter of days, the month ended, and Li Ye’s manuscript for “Infiltration” reached the submission stage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Li Ye, are we really only submitting to two publishers? Shouldn’t we send it to more? I copy fast—I can have another copy ready tomorrow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yaba Wen Leyu, helping Li Ye pack the manuscript into envelopes, kept pressing him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye smiled confidently. “Two is enough. Trust me—I’ll make sure you get your royalty share.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Leyu shot him a sideways glance, half-scolding. “Stop always talking about money, okay? I don’t want any share from you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, when Li Ye asked Wen Leyu to proofread, he’d mentioned paying her a “labor fee.” She’d thought it was a joke and hadn’t minded—but now that he brought it up again, she felt it was inappropriate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were already this close—why bring money into it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye didn’t press her. He neatly packed two thick envelopes and personally went to the post office to pay the “overweight postage,” mailing them to two publishers in the provincial capital and Daosheng City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was grateful the 1980s publishers had such lax submission rules—if he’d tried “multiple submissions” in the future, editors would’ve blacklisted him for good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fickle, undedicated fool won’t be allowed to join my ranks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the possibility of both publishers accepting his manuscript simultaneously—unthinkable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the novel was long, Li Ye had only sent the first quarter, and beneath it, humbly noted: “If interested in publication, please return your contact number; I will send the full manuscript.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once he got the number, negotiations could begin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After leaving the post office, Li Ye didn’t head straight back to school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today was the day he’d agreed to split profits with Hao Jian—he needed to travel thirty li to Chen Zhuang Township.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian had planned to bring the money to the county town, but Li Ye had never seen the candy production site, so he decided to go himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Riding the 26 Phoenix, Li Ye slowly rode through the streets beneath the winter sunset, spotting cinema staff painting a giant poster of “Lushan Love” on the board outside the theater.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lushan Love”—the classic film that moved Li Ye’s parents’ generation: a returnee wealthy beauty and a local male lead bound by lifelong love, fulfilling the shy dreams of their generation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The actress Zhang Yu had, unknowingly, stolen the hearts of countless innocent boys in their dreams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In later years, a big V-commentator claimed that eighty percent of “Lushan Love”’s success lay in the heroine’s identity as a returnee heiress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Zhou Yun had been replaced by a country girl, no matter how deeply they loved or how tragic their romance, it would never have sparked the same frenzy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Li Ye stared at Zhang Yu’s round face on the poster and couldn’t summon any sense of her as a “woman of the era.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, Wen Leyu—tall, slender, quiet—had appeared in his dreams a couple of times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye chuckled at himself. “Ah, my advanced taste makes me so unusual.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Zhuang Township was thirty li from Qingshui County. After meeting Jin Peng, they arrived by nightfall after an hour’s ride.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Li Ye arrived, he saw Hao Jian’s house standing alone on a dirt slope, at least two li from the village.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Peng explained: “Hao Jian is an outsider. He married a pretty girl from this village and got shunned by locals.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So when he built his house, they pushed him far away from the village—which actually helps our candy production.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye looked around. “Convenience comes with drawbacks—it’s too isolated. How’s security?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Peng said, “No problems yet. A few days ago, Hao Jian’s younger brother came to help boil the candy, and Qiangzi’s been living here the whole time. We’ve got a few dogs too. If you’re still uneasy, I’ll just move in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye thought for a moment. “Let’s see. If things get worse in a few days, you move in—I’ll pay you extra.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Peng smiled and didn’t refuse—he was smart enough to know what to do and how much to take.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye and Jin Peng entered the yard and saw Hao Jian, Wang Qiang, and a thin, twenty-something young man loading the cart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, food hygiene was barely a thought—dried sesame candy was packed straight into washed fertilizer sacks, stacked neatly on the handcart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye counted—about eight or nine hundred jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Hao Jian saw Li Ye and Jin Peng enter, he told the thin young man: “Erzhu, take the dogs for a walk. Cuier’s mom, go buy two packs of cigarettes from the consignment shop.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thin young man untied two local dogs and took them out to play, while a strikingly pretty woman led a little girl out the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The little girl kept glancing back at Li Ye as she walked—thin, small, timid, heartbreakingly fragile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye asked Hao Jian: “How’s your daughter’s illness?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian said, “Better. Haven’t had a flare-up in days. Once I save a bit more, I’ll take her to a big hospital in the city.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian led Li Ye inside. Jin Peng and Wang Qiang stayed outside the gate, keeping watch—like spies in a secret meeting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian lifted a floorboard on the kang, pulled out a bundle, and said, “We can’t split money monthly anymore. Too much cash—I can’t even sleep anymore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Too much?” Li Ye laughed. “When you first tried to scam me, did you ever think you’d complain about having too much?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian shook his head, smirking. Back when he sold candy at the high school gate, he’d planned to fleece Li Ye—but now, in just a few days, they’d become a gang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Puh~ puh~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian slapped dust off the bundle and unwrapped it layer by layer, revealing stacks of cash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I followed your instructions and already split everything. Your share is 1,396 yuan and 52 fen. I bought five pairs of shoes for you—87 yuan and 3 fen...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I rounded your share down to 1,320... mine is 950... Jin Peng...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Li Ye had once handled hundreds of thousands, seeing his own pile of cash still made his heart race.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of the thousand-plus yuan was in two-yuan and one-yuan notes—hundreds of crisp bills piled up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even this was after Hao Jian gave Li Ye the bigger bills—others’ shares were mostly coins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye stuffed the money into his shoulder bag, called Jin Peng in, and gave him nearly two hundred yuan as “escort fee.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Peng had expected it and took it calmly—but when it came time to pay Wang Qiang, the simpleton refused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother, too much... too much... I can’t take it... I’m just glad I’ve been eating well these days...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye thought of Wang Qiang’s family situation, took back the money, and said: “I’ll hold it for you for now. But remember the amount—this time you earned 89 yuan. I’ll give you nine now, and keep eighty for you. Got it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yeah, yeah, I got it, Brother.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Qiang beamed as he took the nine yuan, his grin stretching ear to ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all the money was distributed, Li Ye and Hao Jian agreed to split profits every half-month—if the sum got too large, every ten days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Li Ye was about to leave, Hao Jian handed him a package and said, “These are the shoes you asked me to buy from the provincial capital. Also, something else—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A few days ago, the village cadres asked what I’ve been busy with. I dodged it, but they might ask again. Maybe you should use some connections to get official paperwork.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye’s eyes sharpened. “What connections? What paperwork?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian looked uneasy but said, “I heard Jin Peng say your grandfather worked in the grain system. Back then, the grain system ran rural food processing cooperatives...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye gave Hao Jian a cold look, pushed the cart, and walked off with Jin Peng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the way, Li Ye asked Jin Peng: “Did you tell Hao Jian about my grandfather?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Peng smiled. “You think I accidentally let it slip?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye frowned. “You mean you told him on purpose?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Peng said, “Little Ye, we’ve been buying rice and glutinous rice nonstop. Do you think Grandpa didn’t hear? He’s a former investigator.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“..........”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye froze, then understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d thought he was planning flawlessly—when all along, his family had already been covering his back.\u003C\u002Fp>",1629,"2026-06-20T05:04:59.129Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","10e422a861a174e35eec75c6cd8cf8dce6f609f27350f6b427504b79f1e3831e","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-33","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-31",884,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthat-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-cover.jpg"]