Chapter 369

"Let's go, Xiao Ruo. Let's go look around over there first and let him have a word with his fellow townsman."

Seeing that Li Ye had things to discuss with Tan Min, Wen Watching Wen Leyu took the curious Fu Fu Yiruo away first.

This was the thoughtfulness of the young girl; she never pried into Li Ye's affairs. If there was something she needed to know, Li Ye would naturally tell her.

After the two girls left, Li Ye asked Tan Min, "Old Song and your brother-in-law are going abroad? How come I don't know about this? Are you sure there isn't some misunderstanding?"

When Tan Min said Old Song and Wei Wei Jiaxian were going abroad, Li Ye instinctively found it hard to believe.

After all, even if employees were resigning, they would have to tell the boss in advance—unless it was the kind of heartless boss where the employees would hold back a surprise for him right before quitting.

He, the big boss Li, couldn't say he was thirsting for talent, but he certainly hadn't treated Old Song and Wei Wei Jiaxian poorly. How could he know nothing about this?

But hearing Li Ye's skepticism, the wooden Tan Min actually became furious.

"How could it be a misunderstanding? The two dogs—one spends all day clutching a tape recorder listening to ghost chants, the other is a lecherous old man spending all day researching how to get a visa."

"I grabbed them by the collars to question them, and they fobbed me off by saying they were learning 'international advanced experience.' Bah! Look at what kind of things they are..."

Li Ye: "..."

A dropout of compulsory education, a wooden block who couldn't even speak clearly, and a product of private tutoring who didn't know his ABCs—and they were all obsessed with learning English? Could they even learn it?

He first picked up the first ledger and started flipping through it. After flipping to a certain page, he marked an 'x' next to a line of text and wrote down the number forty-five.

Meanwhile, after Tan Min took the money, he first put it into the cash box, then took out two ledgers.

Seeing Li Ye staring at him while he did the accounts, Tan Min said dully, "I don't know how to do business, but rest assured, I won't embezzle anyone's money."

Li Ye didn't believe Old Song would go abroad and not come back, but looking at what kind of people Wei Wei Jiaxian, Duo Xing, and Old Song were...

Yet Tan Min replied stiffly, "It's not the first day; today is the seventh day. If you want to haggle, go to another stall. I won't sell if it's less than that."

Then Tan Min wrote down the entry of forty-five in the second ledger.

The shopper curled his lip: "There's no such thing as not haggling in this market. Is this your first day running a stall?"

Li Ye's eyes were superhuman; he saw the handwriting on the first ledger read: "Republic of China Bronze Mirror, eighteen yuan and five Old Jiao."

Li Ye secretly gasped, feeling a bit uncertain now.

Wei Wei Jiaxian was in his thirties, and Old Song was already at the age where he had one foot in the grave. How could they be as obsessed with learning English as young people? Isn't that strange?

Just then, a shopper came over, picked up a bronze mirror from Tan Min's stall, and asked for the price.

This was truly interesting. Every mouse has its way, and every cat has its path. Tan Min's business style was "honesty"—the cost was eighteen-five, and he sold it for forty-five. No haggling. Take it or leave it.

"This stall was originally managed by Duo Xing, but now he's also been possessed by ghosts, constantly taking things to offer to that 'foreign devil' teacher..."

"Alright, here's forty-five for you. Wishing you prosperous business."

"This..."

"If I don't keep an eye on the stall now, what if they learn their 'experience' until they're in the foreigners' pants? What will happen to my two nephews? It's pitiful that my sister is still in Dongshan raising two children..."

Li Ye knew that the red-blooded Tan Min had always looked down on Old Song and his brother-in-law, who came from the "Black Five Categories," but these words of his were truly suspicious.

The customer hesitated for a long time, then handed forty-five yuan to Tan Min, picked up the mirror, and left.

"What's the price of this mirror?"

"Forty-five. No haggling."

Let's not talk about what they were actually trying to do; could the collective will of this small group be so concentrated?

This matter could be big or small.

Old Song was still on a salary-plus-commission model, which was a tier lower than Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng's group. If they felt dissatisfied after their wings grew hard, would they flip the table and start their own business?

In his previous life, Li Ye had watched a very popular TV show where a character named Zhu Suosuo jumped ship to start a business with her superior.

That superior was somewhat like Old Song—a person as cunning as a ghost.

So Li Ye asked Tan Min, "I haven't seen Old Song for a few days. How is it most convenient to find him?"

Li Ye decided to go talk to Old Song and ask why he hadn't communicated such a big matter to him, the big boss.

Although he felt Old Song was a person who was neither purely good nor purely evil, looking at his attitude toward Wei Wei Jiaxian, he should be someone who valued loyalty.

But Li Ye didn't consider himself to have the ruthlessness of a warlord in either of his lives. If he misjudged him...

Li Ye was determined to be a carefree, hands-off CEO, but to lie back and win, his subordinates had to be reliable.

If they weren't reliable, he wouldn't stop them. He'd give them three silver dollars for travel expenses and bid them a good journey without holding a grudge. Otherwise, if they shot him in the back, he'd have to dodge and weave, wouldn't he?

Tan Min said, "You can't see Old Song during the day, but these past few nights he's been hanging around near the zoo, not far from Chen Chen Jinhua's noodle shop. If you go tonight, you'll definitely see him."

Li Ye first accompanied his sister and his little fiancée to take a few rolls of film at Longtan Lake, and only went to Chen Chen Jinhua's noodle shop near the zoo in the afternoon.

It was only then that he understood what Tan Min meant by "hanging around."

Chen Chen Jinhua first served Li Ye, Wen Watching Wen Leyu, and Fu Fu Yiruo three bowls of cold noodles, then happily opened the conversation.

"Brother Old Song and some others opened an English training class together. They're making money as easily as raking leaves. You have to say, people who have returned from overseas have good brains; they can see how to make money at a glance..."

"I've been letting Gao Xiaoyan go learn when she has time these past few days. If there's a chance, I'll let her take that 'TOEFL' test or whatever. Even though we're from a small place, we have to have big ambitions. How would we know if we don't have the fate for it if we don't try?"

Li Ye was very surprised, because he remembered that when Yu Yu Minhong started his English training classes, it was already the late eighties. Opening an English training class in '84 was definitely ahead of the curve.

Of course, one had to be bold. Who knows how they might end up.

Thinking that the overseas returnee partner must be the "foreign devil" Tan Min mentioned, he didn't know if Tan Min had misunderstood Old Song.

But Old Song, wasn't he very disdainful of foreigners?

Interesting.

Li Ye didn't ask deeply about Old Song's affairs, but instead asked about Jiang Jiang Xiaoning.

"Auntie, did Gao Xiaoyan tell you she also wants to take the TOEFL?"

"She doesn't want to take it and keeps arguing with me, saying she wants to help me make the noodle shop bigger and stronger. I can manage a few noodle shops myself, can't I? Does she need to help?"

Chen Chen Jinhua said angrily, "Besides, what's the future in opening a noodle shop? Can it compare to being an overseas student?

When the family had no money before, I still supported her through university. Now that the family conditions are better, how can I not support her to get a Master's or a PhD? So I forced her to go just now."

Li Ye pondered and said with a smile, "Auntie, what you said is both right and wrong. It's right that you're willing to support Gao Xiaoyan's studies,

but if Gao Xiaoyan has the heart to study for a Master's or PhD, you won't need to support her anymore; it won't cost much money. And opening a noodle shop might not necessarily have no future."

"That's still not as good as being an overseas student," Chen Chen Jinhua insisted. "Li Ye, you haven't seen people who have returned from overseas. Their airs, their learning—it's all very grand!"

Li Ye found it interesting and nodded, "Hmm, I'll go see for myself tonight."

The study class Old Song was running was two streets away from Chen Chen Jinhua's noodle shop, in an idle classroom of a primary school. He didn't know how they had pulled the strings to get permission to use it.

Because it involved Jiang Jiang Xiaoning, Wen Watching Wen Leyu didn't avoid it this time and followed along.

The three of them first arrived outside the classroom and looked through the window to find Old Song and Jiang Jiang Xiaoning.

However, the first thing that caught Li Ye's attention was a middle-aged man in a shirt and trousers on the classroom podium.

He was spouting English and Chinese, jumping back and forth in a chaotic way that made Li Ye feel exhausted just listening.

Could Old Song understand this kind of course?

Besides that teacher who wore a suit and tie in the heat, the most eye-catching person in the classroom was Old Song.

He was truly conspicuous because, among the thirty or forty "students" in the classroom, the vast majority were young people in their twenties. There was no one else as old as Old Song.

Moreover, Old Song sat in the most prominent seat in the front row, completely disregarding the gazes of the young people around him, displaying the essence of a super social butterfly.

The second oldest was Duo Xing.

But Li Ye felt it was strange to see Duo Xing sitting in the very back row.

Back then, after Duo Xing helped deal with his old boss, Boss Hou, he expressed a desire to apprentice under Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng. Li Ye thought about it and let him follow Old Song.

Because someone like Duo Xing, who was used to being "cunning and changeable," was better managed by an old fox like Old Song.

After Duo Xing followed Old Song, Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng had paid attention to him for a while. It was said his performance was okay because he was a local and his ancestors were the type who kept birds in cages, so he was well-suited for the antique trade.

But Duo Xing and Old Song were clearly acquainted, so why were they sitting so far apart?

Could there be a conflict?

Li Ye was pondering this when the middle-aged man on the podium suddenly looked over.

"Are those few students outside wanting to audit the class? If you want to audit, come in directly. Don't stand outside and sponge off the class."

"What do you mean 'sponge off the class'?"

Li Ye found this tone unpleasant, but he still entered the classroom, wanting to see if this training class was gold-medal quality or just a backyard operation.

But just as Li Ye, Wen Watching Wen Leyu, and Fu Fu Yiruo entered and were about to sit down, the middle-aged man on the podium pointed to the price list on the classroom wall.

"Students, please pay the tuition fee first. We don't allow auditing here."

Li Ye couldn't help but laugh. He didn't know how many training classes he had encountered in his previous life, but he had never seen anyone so eager for money!

But after looking at the price list on the wall, Li Ye stopped laughing.

Weekly training fee: 100 yuan/person.

Monthly training fee: 350 yuan/person.

In an era where the average wage of an ordinary worker was forty yuan and a high-level worker was no more than a hundred, a weekly fee of one hundred yuan? Wasn't that equivalent to ten thousand a week in the future?

Was this one-on-one private tutoring?

Even gold-medal training classes didn't have this price! This was a black shop ripping people off! Old Song actually took a fancy to this kind of business?

Li Ye's face turned cold, and he said indifferently, "Since the teacher wants to charge a fee, you should at least let us have a trial listen to see if it's worth it, right? We haven't even heard a single lesson and have to pay? That's not the rule."

"Trial listen? Worth it?"

Old Song was about to stand up and speak, but the teacher on the podium tugged at his tie and spat out a machine-gun burst of English.

His speed was extremely fast, and his pronunciation was blurred. Li Ye tried his best to decipher it, but only understood a few proverbs like "every quid deserves a quo" and "no pains, no gains." The rest felt even more confusing than a Beijinger listening to a dialect from Guangdong.

The teacher spoke for a full two minutes, then smiled inscrutably. "See, whether it's worth it depends on your level. If you can't even understand this, then there's no need to come to our training class. You'd better go supplement your middle school English first!"

All the students around looked at Li Ye, their gazes complex enough to make one feel ashamed.

But Li Ye could be certain that very few of these people could understand what had just been said. If they had that level, they wouldn't spend money to attend a training class.

For example, Wen Watching Wen Leyu.

Old Song wanted to smooth things over again, but Wen Watching Wen Leyu said coldly, "You reversed the word order three times, switched between two vastly different accents, and used at least four proverbs specific to Britain and the United States."

"Of course, you can say these are all tests to gauge the students, but..."

Wen Watching Wen Leyu pointed at the teacher on the podium, her face frosty. "Who did you just call a 'country bumpkin' with no culture? Do you dare say it again?"

The teacher on the podium was stunned for a long time, then looked at Wen Watching Wen Leyu and smiled with flickering eyes.

"Yeah, little sister, are you here to smash the place? That's not according to the rules, oh!"

(End of chapter)

(End of chapter)