Chapter 55: The Jianghu Enthusiast

That same night, Li Ye sought out Teacher Ke and learned that she had indeed asked the school for leave because she was going to the capital.

Furthermore, Teacher Ke told Li Ye that she wanted to take the completed portion of *The Fenghuo Taobing in the Flames of War*.

Teacher Ke didn't specify what she was going to do, but Li Ye could roughly guess that she intended to take advantage of the New Year period to go to the capital and pull some strings.

However, Li Ye didn't think it was the right time yet.

"Teacher Ke, I've only written less than four hundred thousand words so far. Shi Cheng has only just appeared, and it's still far from the exciting stages..."

The length of web novels is significantly longer than traditional novels. For example, *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* is 1.2 million words, and *The Deer and the Cauldron*, which is longer, is only 1.5 million words.

But this *The Fenghuo Taobing in the Flames of War* by Xiao Zhi Xianxian, even if it were abandoned, would have over 1.9 million words. (Here, Old Feng pays tribute to Xiao Zhi Xianxian, and I don't know if the big boss is doing well these days.)

Even if Li Ye deleted some filler, because Xiao Zhi Xianxian's writing style was already good, no matter how much he compressed it, it wouldn't be less than 1.5 million words. So, 400,000 words really wasn't enough to show for it.

Teacher Ke smiled helplessly and said, "I know it's not at the exciting part yet, but a 400,000-word manuscript is really not a small amount. It's barely enough to use if we take it out."

Li Ye glanced at Teacher Ke's eyes and saw her urgency and anxiety, immediately understanding that she really couldn't wait any longer.

Li Ye had no choice but to say, "Alright then, I'll rush the manuscript these few days and write a few more tens of thousands of words, striving to write more scenes for Shi Cheng."

But Teacher Ke said, "Actually, there's no need. If someone is interested in this novel, we can mail them the subsequent parts in batches later."

"Mail them in batches?"

"Yes," Teacher Ke said. "I heard that there is a 'serialized' writing method in Hong Kong, with a few thousand words every day, serialized without interruption. The effect seems to be quite good."

【Of course it's good. Aren't so many web novels of later generations playing this game? Hooks, cliffhangers... and you can even change the plot temporarily according to the big boss's requirements...】

【Teacher Ke, you're really something. A smart person is a smart person; it's truly admirable.】

Li Ye truly admired Teacher Ke. To be able to realize the characteristics and advantages of serialization in the closed-off Qingshui County in the eighties, her vision was definitely far beyond that of ordinary people.

"Alright then! When are you leaving? I'll organize the manuscript as soon as possible."

"I've already organized the manuscript. I'm leaving tomorrow, but I have a presumptuous request that I need your help with."

"A presumptuous request?"

Li Ye was a bit surprised because Teacher Ke basically "never asks for help." Usually at school, it wasn't that other teachers didn't offer to provide some help, but she would always handle it very calmly, inadvertently making people keep their distance.

Li Ye was the "only" exception, but it was limited to the cooperation on the novel. In daily life, she never wanted to trouble Li Ye. Even Watching Wen Leyu eating with them was under the guise of proofreading remuneration!

If you were to say she was "aloof," that wasn't it either. Li Ye felt that Teacher Ke was deliberately maintaining that clarity of staying away from the crowd.

But today, Teacher Ke actually had a presumptuous request, so it must be something unusual.

Li Ye said solemnly, "Teacher Ke, tell me what it is. If I can help, I definitely will. If I can't, I'll find someone to think of a way."

Teacher Ke smiled and said, "It's like this: I'm going to the capital this time, and it's not convenient to take Xiao Yu with me. She has always followed closely by my side all these years, and she's timid... During the time I'm away, can you take care of her?"

【I can definitely do that! As long as she's willing, I can take care of her thoroughly... Pfft, pfft, pfft, am I that kind of person?】

Li Ye immediately agreed, "Alright, Teacher Ke, I can definitely do that. I'll take her to my house for the New Year when the time comes. But is Watching Wen Leyu willing to stay in Qingshui by herself?"

Teacher Ke nodded and said, "I talked to her yesterday, and she's willing."

The last bit of worry in Li Ye's heart vanished. Watching Wen Leyu had even deliberately failed her college entrance exam to stay with her mother, so he hadn't expected her to be willing to separate from Teacher Ke temporarily this time.

He glanced at Watching Wen Leyu not far away and found that the little girl was still a bit embarrassed.

Li Ye asked Teacher Ke what time her train was tomorrow, then woke up Li Dayong, who had just crawled into his quilt, and rushed to the provincial capital with Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng and Hao Jian that same night.

In the dead of winter, setting off at two in the morning and riding a bicycle on the road really wasn't a pleasant experience.

For the forty-kilometer journey, Li Ye only rode half of it, then lay on the flatbed cart playing dead, letting Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng and Hao Jian, who were in front, drag him along.

When they arrived at the provincial capital, it wasn't dawn yet, but the malt sugar peddlers who had come to pick up the goods were already waiting at the street corner next to the morning market.

Bags of malt sugar were weighed and paid for; the whole process involved almost no conversation. This strange, silent feeling gave Li Ye the illusion of being in a police-and-thief movie from later generations.

"They are very vigilant now. It's easy to make this money, so they don't want to make a sound and let others notice. They want to keep a low profile and make a fortune in silence."

Li Ye nodded, looking at the bustling morning market not far away.

There were country folk selling cabbage and radishes, city dwellers selling old clothes and old furniture, and even people selling old bicycles.

Li Ye was a bit tempted; his eldest sister at home didn't have a bicycle yet!

Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng hurriedly said, "You can't just buy those bikes; they might be dirty goods."

Li Ye had no choice but to give up. In this day and age, it wasn't strange for a bicycle to lead to a series of major cases. If you weren't careful, you'd be wrongly accused, which wasn't worth it.

Hao Jian's malt sugar wasn't distributed in one place; it had to be distributed in three places. By the time the whole flatbed cart of malt sugar was wholesaled, it was already broad daylight.

The four people, tired from half the night, first ate a hot breakfast to drive away the cold from their bodies.

Li Ye took five hundred yuan from Hao Jian and told him to go back first.

Hao Jian was just wondering where to hide the money on the way back if he went alone. Since Li Ye and the others were holding it, he was naturally happy.

After the few parted ways, Li Ye, Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng, and Li Dayong headed straight for a maze of alleys to the west of the provincial train station.

Arriving at the entrance of a maze-like alley, Li Ye saw more than a dozen people, either squatting or standing in groups, all shrinking their necks and smoking sullenly.

This was a small black market in the provincial capital for trading tickets and certificates.

Li Ye had come to exchange grain coupons for Teacher Ke.

In 1981, having money wasn't enough to eat out; the vast majority of places required grain coupons. Without grain coupons, you could find various ways to get full locally, but traveling without grain coupons made it impossible to move an inch.

Like Teacher Ke's trip to the capital this time, she needed to exchange for national grain coupons.

Teacher Ke received a temporary worker's salary at the county's Second Middle School, and her grain coupon ration wasn't much; she couldn't save much even if she squeezed it out from between her teeth.

Traveling is difficult, and it's even more difficult for a woman to travel. Since it concerned Watching Wen Leyu, how could Li Ye not care?

By rights, it would be easier to find Li Zhongfa for national grain coupons, but Li Ye didn't want his family asking questions, and besides, he needed some other things.

Seeing Li Ye and the three approach, these people were very vigilant, clutching their leather bags tightly.

Li Ye noticed that their positions were all very suitable for greasing the soles of their feet and running away.

Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng took a look and led Li Ye toward one of the men with a side-part hairstyle.

"Brother, do you have national grain coupons?"

"Pfft~, look at what you're saying. If I didn't even have national grain coupons, why would I come here?"

The man with the side-part spat out a puff of smoke, looking at Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng with a ruffian attitude, then looked at Li Ye and Li Dayong. His eyes were clearly showing some contempt.

Listening to their accents, they were country folk from the north, either from Qingshui or Beiyang, and two of them were little brats. At first glance, there wasn't much profit to be made.

Li Ye didn't care about this guy's gaze and asked directly: "Then what other tickets do you have? Do you have cigarette tickets or liquor tickets? Can you get sleeper train tickets? How are they exchanged?"

The man with the side-part's eyes lit up and said, "What cigarettes do you want to buy? What liquor do you want to buy?"

Li Ye said, "Chunghwa cigarettes, Moutai liquor."

The man with the side-part rolled his eyes directly, baring his teeth and saying, "Are you teasing me early in the morning? What ticket can buy Chunghwa cigarettes?"

Li Ye stopped talking. He only knew that first-class cigarettes required tickets at this time, but since his rebirth, he hadn't bought Chunghwa cigarettes, so he didn't know the inside market.

Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng waved his hand and said, "Let's buy grain coupons first! National ones, we need fifty jin."

The man with the side-part shook his neck and said, "One yuan and two per jin, fifty jin is exactly sixty."

"........."

Both Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng and Li Ye were stunned.

This price wasn't just black; it was truly damn black to the core.

They had inquired in advance; the market price for national grain coupons in the provincial capital was around five mao, four mao was normal, and six mao wasn't expensive. The price this man with the side-part quoted had doubled.

Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng turned and left. Was he trying to cheat a fool?

But the man with the side-part shouted at the others at the entrance of the alley: "Others are even more expensive; mine is the cheapest here."

Sure enough, Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng and Li Ye asked a few more people, and the prices they quoted were even more outrageous.

Li Ye smiled and walked back to the man with the side-part.

"Alright then, yours is the cheapest. We'll each buy fifty jin of grain coupons, and add some liquor tickets and cigarette tickets."

The man with the side-part looked at Li Ye sideways and asked, "Do you have that much money?"

Li Ye reached into his pocket, pulled out half a stack of money, and showed it off. It was thick, with at least several hundred yuan.

The man with the side-part was stunned for a moment, spat out his cigarette butt, flicked his chin, and signaled for Li Ye to follow him.

Li Ye followed the man with the side-part into a side alley, and only then did he notice that a young man squatting on the side was also following them in.

That young man was bald, with sharp eyes, and a very unusual aura of ferocity about him.

The man with the side-part said proudly, "Don't worry, this is my brother, who just came down from the battlefield in the south. If you don't provoke him, he definitely won't provoke you."

No wonder the man with the side-part dared to bully the market and openly extort people; it turned out he had something to rely on.

But no matter what he relied on, Li Ye wouldn't take this kind of loss!

Li Ye exercised his ankle and kicked the wall on one side of the alley.

"*Thump~*"

With a muffled sound, the wall built of green bricks shook slightly twice.

Watching Watching Watching Jin Peng and Li Dayong's reactions were no slower. One kick each, one after another, hit the wall. "*Thump, thump*" two sounds, and it felt like that wall was about to be kicked down by them.

The bald young man immediately flashed and blocked in front of the man with the side-part, staring fiercely at Li Ye and the others.

Li Ye twisted his wrist and said faintly, "What price did you just say it was?"

Fighting was impossible. If you could use force to deter, why fight?

The three people had a tacit understanding and slowly pressed toward the bald man.

The bald man's eyes were sharp, and he didn't move, but he said to the man with the side-part behind him, "Run~"

Two simple words indicated his nervous mood.

An expert knows the ropes. Even if he had come down from the battlefield, he wasn't sure he could handle Li Ye and the others one-on-three.

However, the man with the side-part didn't abandon the bald man and run away. Instead, he reached out and blocked him, arching his hands in a fist-and-palm salute.

"A few brothers, we are all out seeking wealth. What matters is harmony. You can ask for a high price, and I can bargain on the spot. There's no need to resort to knives and guns. We'll meet again in the mountains and rivers... Black eating black is not the way of friends..."

The man with the side-part babbled on, leaving Li Ye in an awkward position.

Well! This guy was actually a Jianghu enthusiast. ===== CHAPTER 56 =====