Chapter 4

The last period in the afternoon was a self-study session. Ten minutes before the end of class, Li Ye packed his schoolbag and ran away.

Class monitor Hu Man hurriedly said: "Li Ye, where are you going? School isn't over yet!"

Li Ye didn't look back and said: "Monitor, I have something to do, please help me ask for leave."

Hu Man shouted angrily: "You're asking for leave when it's almost over? I..."

But Li Ye had already left the classroom, met up with Li Dazhuang, who had been waiting for a long time, and disappeared in a flash.

Hu Man was quite angry, her chest heaving, revealing the quite substantial two rabbits.

But in the end, she still took out a piece of paper and wrote a leave note for Li Ye, so that she wouldn't have no explanation when the teacher asked.

Li Ye and Li Dazhuang left the school, rode a double-eight bicycle together, and headed toward County No. 1 Middle School in the north of the county.

County No. 1 Middle School and County No. 2 Middle School were not far apart, and they arrived in less than ten minutes.

Li Dazhuang parked the bicycle, took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, handed one to Li Ye, and struck a match to light it for him.

"Brother, are you really sure?"

Li Ye nodded slightly and said: "Hmm, sure."

Li Ye came to the gate of County No. 1 Middle School today to collect a debt.

When he and Lu Jingyao got engaged, he had given the other party a 26-inch Phoenix bicycle.

A Phoenix bicycle in the eighties cost more than 180 yuan with a ticket. If you didn't have a ticket, you couldn't buy one for 300. The 26-inch model was even rarer than the 28-inch one, so a 26-inch Phoenix was even more eye-catching than a car in later generations.

At that time, Li Ye's grandfather and father had only been back to work for a year or so. After buying two bicycles with the accumulated industrial tickets, they intended to buy Li Ye a 28-inch Flying Pigeon.

But Li Ye insisted on giving Lu Jingyao a car. Li Ye's grandfather still managed to buy this 26-inch Phoenix suitable for women to ride and gave it to Lu Jingyao as an engagement gift.

And the sensation caused when the two families got engaged was no less than giving a BMW to a granddaughter-in-law in later generations.

So even if the Lu family was reluctant, they should have returned the car when they broke off the engagement.

But when Lu's father came to the Li family to break off the engagement, Li Ye's father threw the fish and meat out the door, cursing "the dowry was just fed to the dogs."

Although Lu Jingyao's father didn't pick up the fish and meat, he didn't leave the Phoenix bicycle behind either.

Li Ye's steady grandfather and frugal grandmother didn't stop Lu's father from riding the car away.

Li Ye might not have understood at the time, but the current Li Ye knew very well that his grandfather and grandmother were suppressing their anger to leave a way out for their grandson.

If Li Ye had gotten into university this year, the Li family would have used both soft and hard tactics to try to win back their grandson's heart.

The Lu family might not have had the same idea.

This unreturned Phoenix bicycle was the bond that kept the two families connected.

And after Lu Jingyao went to Beijing for university, the Phoenix was given to her younger brother, Lu Zixue, who was in his first year of high school at County No. 1 Middle School.

The previous Li Ye fantasized that Lu Jingyao would change her mind, preferring to walk rather than ask for this bicycle back.

But the current Li Ye didn't have such a broad mind.

If it was just a past event and they went their separate ways, that would be fine. But Lu Jingyao sent money to the school with great fanfare, making Li Ye bear the name of Huang Shiren. Did she really take Li Ye for a fool?

You can't enjoy my benefits on one hand and high-profilely advocate "freedom" on the other, right?

The main thing is... Li Ye didn't have a car to ride himself! It was inconvenient to go anywhere, how could he make it convenient for you?

Li Dazhuang took a deep puff of his cigarette and hesitated: "Brother, if you take back that Phoenix, you two will really..."

Li Ye glanced at Li Dazhuang and said: "Is Lu Jingyao really that good? Do I have to hang myself on this one tree? Your brother here has the ability to own the whole forest."

"..."

Li Dazhuang was stunned for a long time, blinking his eyes, unable to fully understand Li Ye's words.

【Wasn't it you, brother, who was dying for Lu Jingyao before?】

Li Ye didn't explain much to Li Dazhuang, just patted him on the shoulder to reassure him.

Although this childhood friend was big and thick, he actually had a delicate side.

For example, when he cursed in the street at Lu Jingyao's door, and today's proposal to "go to Beijing to curse Chen Shimei," they all had a clear purpose.

That was to force Lu Jingyao to make up with Li Ye.

【If you don't come out and explain it to my brother, I'll shout it out so the whole school knows about your dirty business. If you dare to be Chen Shimei, I'll shout it out so the whole school knows.】

It could be said that Li Ye being wrongly called "the Yellow Debt Collector" owed a lot to the assistance of Li Dazhuang, this "wooden man."

"Brother, school is almost over, let's stay a little further from the gate!"

Seeing that school was about to end, Li Dazhuang became a little nervous.

"Hmm? What are you afraid of?"

"The teachers at No. 1 Middle School are a bit fierce, I'm afraid they'll be nosy."

"..."

County No. 1 Middle School was different from County No. 2 Middle School. Not only was its academic attitude extremely strict, but it was also extremely tough on idle people outside the school.

There were already little hooligans looking for money from children on the street in '81, but none of them dared to cause trouble at the gate of County No. 1 Middle School. Someone like Li Dazhuang, who looked like a bad guy at first glance, easily aroused the vigilance of the teachers.

"What are you afraid of? The teacher's power is only within the school. Can they manage outside the school too?" Li Ye said indifferently.

"That's right, no matter how long the teacher's hand is, it can't reach outside the school." Someone next to them echoed.

Li Ye and Li Dazhuang turned their heads and saw a man in his thirties looking at them with a smile. This man had just come over, and Li Ye and Li Dazhuang thought he was here to pick up his child. Now it seemed not.

Li Dazhuang straightened his face and asked sternly: "What are you doing? What are you doing at the school gate?"

Boys in this era grew up watching patriotic movies. Seeing someone who looked like a spy or a hooligan made them want to manage it. This man had a foreign accent, maybe he was a bad guy.

The man didn't get angry, still smiling: "I'm selling malt sugar, do the two young masters want some?"

"What young masters? Do you think this is the old society? Selling malt sugar... aren't you afraid the strike-hard office will catch you."

Li Dazhuang was full of justice, but his mouth didn't live up to it, and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

The strike-hard office was the office for cracking down on speculation and profiteering. It was very powerful for more than ten years and played a huge role in stifling the buds of imperialist capitalism.

"You little brother, don't just slap labels on people. It's already been said above that the individual economy is a necessary supplement to the state-owned economy and the collective economy..."

As the man spoke, he actually took out a newspaper, and an article was marked with a red pen on the newspaper. The title was "Several Policy Provisions on the Individual Economy of Urban Non-Agricultural Population."

Li Ye was a bit surprised. There were countless smart people in the world. Sure enough, you couldn't underestimate the heroes of the world.

The regulations were just issued a few months ago. Many departments probably hadn't even grasped the spirit yet, and someone had already seized the opportunity to "seek wealth in danger."

This business sense and adventurous spirit could easily set off large ripples in this stagnant pool that hadn't yet become active.

Of course, many must have drowned. After all, the crime of speculation and profiteering wasn't abolished until '97, so misjudgments were inevitable.

"How do you sell your malt sugar?"

Li Ye walked up to the man and signaled him to take out the goods for him to see.

The man untied the bundle he was carrying, revealing a small pottery basin inside, with half a basin of yellowish-brown malt sugar in it.

Malt sugar was a traditional snack with a long history, most famous in Tangshan in the north and Hubei province in the south. It was made from natural materials such as glutinous rice, sesame, and maltose, and had a fragrant, sweet, thin, and crispy flavor.

Li Dazhuang's saliva increased, making a slurping sound.

In this era where you needed tickets to buy anything, the temptation of this kind of sweet food was really too great.

It was estimated that this guy was waiting at the school gate, ready to tempt those students.

The man smiled and quoted the price: "One yuan a jin, little brothers, how much do you want?"

Li Dazhuang almost jumped up: "One yuan a jin, White Rabbit is only one yuan five, I think you are..."

"Hey hey hey, you misunderstood."

The man hurriedly explained: "I said it's a kilogram. White Rabbit is one yuan five for a jin, and you need sugar tickets..."

Damn, he's still a profiteer.

Li Ye smiled and didn't expose this guy, just threw two yuan over.

The man quickly stuffed the two one-yuan bills into his pocket, then picked up the scale to weigh the sugar for Li Ye.

He had long seen that this young master was a wealthy person, but he didn't expect him to be such a big customer.

He waited at the school gate to sell for a day, and it was all one cent, two cents, or even five or six cents. It might not be possible to gather two yuan in several days.

Li Ye didn't care about a few dollars. He was the only male in the family. His grandfather, grandmother, father, and sister all gave him pocket money. He couldn't be called a monopoly, but he was at least a small landlord.

However, seeing the man selling malt sugar press his right little finger on the scale rod, he couldn't help but feel annoyed.

Playing tricks on the scale without looking at who it is, trying to fool me because I'm young?

"Cough~"

A light cough scared the man selling malt sugar into hurriedly stopping, grabbing a large piece of malt sugar from the pottery basin and adding it to the scale pan, pressing the scale rod until it flew up.

"Received two yuan from you, two kilograms and four taels, shall I wrap it into two portions for you?"

"Wrap it into three portions!"

The man took out the cut white paper from the bundle, skillfully wrapped the malt sugar into three portions, and handed them to Li Ye.

Li Ye and Li Dazhuang each ate one portion, and the other portion was put in the schoolbag.

The man selling malt sugar squatted down, looking at the school gate, waiting for the next customer.

He had already sold half of the malt sugar in his basin, and it was estimated that he would have a good harvest today.

Li Ye ate the malt sugar while chatting with the man.

"Are you an educated youth who came here? Didn't you return to the city?"

"Married a wife here, can't go back."

"Leave a contact address, I'll find you if I need you later."

"I'm just wandering around the city, either at the gate of County No. 1 Middle School or at the gate of Yuhong Middle School..."

Fine, he's very vigilant. He's a dog-leg worth recruiting. *** **Chapter 5: I Have the Final Say at Home**