Chapter 66: The Simpleton Also Has His Little Schemes

"Brother Peng, what are you doing? Put that down, quickly!"

Seeing Jin Peng reveal a blade, Li Dayong shouted to stop him immediately.

Wang Jianqiang was only stunned for a moment before he wrapped his arms around Jin Peng's waist, trembling as he said, "Don't, don't, don't, Brother Peng, don't."

Li Ye reacted the fastest, but just as he intended to dodge and retreat, he realized Jin Peng's knife was stabbing down toward his own palm.

By the time he realized something was wrong and lunged forward to block it, it was already a step too late.

Jin Peng's knife pierced his own palm, and fresh blood immediately began to flow out.

Li Ye's hand tightly gripped Jin Peng's right hand, which was holding the knife.

Perhaps if Li Ye had been just a fraction of a second slower, Jin Peng's left hand would have been stabbed through.

Li Ye suppressed his anger and asked in a deep voice, "Brother Peng, what are you doing this for?"

Jin Peng smiled and said, "Xiao Ye, I don't know why you don't trust me, but I just want you to understand that I, Jin Peng, am not someone who forgets his roots."

"I haven't been a well-behaved kid since I was small; I've caused plenty of trouble for my family.

Don't look at me acting all happy-go-lucky all day; when there's no one around at night, I worry too... I worry that when my old mother gets old, she won't be able to hold a grandson."

As Jin Peng spoke, he actually began to shed tears.

"But I'm not worried anymore, really not worried. A few days ago, I hooked up with a girl—you guys guess how much I spent?"

Jin Peng laughed and said, "Two cartons of Peony cigarettes and three bottles of Moutai liquor, and I got her sent to the clothing factory to work as a laborer. She wanted to marry me right then and there, hahahahaha."

Looking at Jin Peng, who was bleeding and crying at the same time, Li Ye's mouth twisted in disbelief.

He truly didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

So he teased, "Three bottles of liquor? Does your family give gifts in odd numbers?"

Jin Peng chuckled and said, "I bought four bottles, but on the way back I really couldn't help myself, so I drank one with Hao Jian. It was so fragrant! Didn't even need a side dish..."

Jin Peng's eyes were already bloodshot as he shouted, "If it weren't for you, Xiao Ye, would I, Jin Peng, be able to drink Moutai?

If it weren't for you, Xiao Ye, would I, Jin Peng, be able to get a wife? With this kind of kindness, why do you look at me like I'm an ungrateful wretch? I swear..."

"Alright, alright, no need to swear. I believe you, I believe you. You give me the knife first..."

Li Ye coaxed him like a child and took the knife from Jin Peng's hand.

"Clap!"

Hao Jian suddenly slapped the table and shouted loudly, "Well said! The fact that we can gather here today can be considered an arrangement by the Heavens. If you ask me, we should drink blood wine and become sworn brothers."

"Right, Hao Jian is right."

"Hehe, good... good idea..."

"I have a bottle of clear spirits in my car..."

Watching Li Dayong and the others, some looking for bowls and others grabbing liquor, Li Ye was a bit dumbfounded.

【Are the men of the eighties all this reckless?】

In his previous life, Li Ye had seen several uncles and elders of his father's generation who either had cigarette burn scars on their hands or tattoos indicating their seniority.

But Li Ye's father had said that these guys weren't "toughs" at all; they just lived in an era of spiritual scarcity, listened to too many martial arts stories, and caught a case of "middle-school syndrome."

"Tsk~"

Li Ye pursed his lips and gave a helpless, bitter smile.

【I, the dignified Great Emperor of Transmigration, have formed a pioneering team, and they're all suffering from middle-school syndrome?】

But middle-school syndrome or not, when Li Dayong, Wang Jianqiang, and even Hao Jian pulled out knives without blinking to mix the blood wine, that flavor of "passionate brotherhood" was truly too intense and intoxicating.

The intoxicated Li Ye touched the small knife, gestured toward his own left hand, and pondered which finger—the index or the middle—would be the most convenient, which led to a round of good-natured laughter.

"Hahahaha~ It doesn't hurt, Xiao Ye, it doesn't hurt at all."

The ten fingers are connected to the heart; you say it doesn't hurt? Who are you trying to fool?

"Sigh~~"

Li Ye still chose to cut his arm, splashing the blood and leaving a scar.

After mixing a bowl of blood wine and everyone taking a share, Li Ye spoke up first.

Otherwise, if he heard the oath, "We do not seek to be born on the same day, but we seek to die on the same day," would he accept it or not?

His soul could transmigrate; what if he actually ended up dying because of a slip of the tongue?

"We are in a new society now; oaths should also be updated with new terminology. Let's not talk about being born or dying on the same day; everyone, listen to me!"

"'If we become rich, let us not forget each other'—it means that no matter how wealthy we become in the future, we must not forget the brothers who suffered through poverty and hardship together."

Hao Jian, Jin Peng, and the others were a bit stunned. They hadn't heard this new phrase before, but listening to Li Ye's explanation, it did have a certain meaning.

But Li Ye didn't give them time to ponder; he raised his big bowl directly and said with a sincere face, "'If we become rich, let us not forget each other.' Cheers!"

He took a sip and then smashed the bowl on the ground.

"'If we become rich, let us not forget each other.' Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

After drinking, Li Ye hurriedly took Jin Peng to the hospital. The cut on his hand wasn't shallow; if he didn't get tetanus, he would at least be left with a large scar.

Hao Jian originally wanted to follow, but Li Ye chased him away. It was the dead of winter, and he still had to pull a flatbed cart for forty miles through the night.

After Hao Jian left, Li Ye asked Jin Peng in a low voice, "Brother Peng, were you cutting yourself to show me, or to show him?"

Jin Peng was stunned for a moment, then said solemnly, "Of course I wanted you to understand that I'm not an ungrateful wretch. However, this Hao Jian guy..."

"He's a cunning ghost. I discussed with him who would lead the way to Guangdong Province; he was too scared to go because he was holding the money.

But if I go, he's afraid we'll leave him behind. Think about it, if it weren't for our connections, he wouldn't even be able to gather the raw materials for malt sugar..."

"Tsk, he got a huge bargain today."

Jin Peng meant that Hao Jian had drunk with them and gained the status of a "brother," which was a huge bargain.

Li Ye smiled and said nothing. Given his current situation, Hao Jian could already be considered a "capable subordinate." Being able to win him over with just the title of brother was the real bargain.

After taking Jin Peng to the hospital to get stitches and medicine, as they were leaving, Jin Peng suddenly brought up Wang Jianqiang.

"Be careful on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Qiangzi's family will definitely go to pay their respects to the old master, so be prepared."

"What kind of preparation?"

"I got a bicycle ticket through Ma Rui and bought a bicycle for my wife. Qiangzi's family found out...

Qiangzi's mother pestered my mother for a long time to get information; I reckon she's got some ideas. That family of Qiangzi's... Heh."

Li Ye thought for a moment, called Wang Jianqiang over, and asked, "Qiangzi, do you know what to say when you go home today?"

Wang Jianqiang grinned, "Brother, I won't say anything. I've just been following Brother Peng to earn my meals for the past few months!"

"Good, you're not completely stupid."

"Hehehe~"

However, Jin Peng said, "Qiangzi's mother is a formidable character. Little Ye, you should still be careful; she is, after all, your elder."

"I won't be home on the first day of the Lunar New Year; what can she do to me?"

Li Ye had made up his mind: on the first day of the Lunar New Year, he would accompany Wen Leyu and wouldn't have time to cater to any "elders."

But the devil is always one foot taller than the priest. Li Ye had only prepared for the first day of the Lunar New Year, but the woman showed up on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Li Ye was in his room rushing to finish his manuscript when he saw that simpleton Wang Jianqiang being dragged through the door by a short, middle-aged woman.

"Master is home! Oh my, you're a big bureau chief and you're hanging clothes yourself? Sister, you really are something, how can you let your father-in-law do this kind of work?"

"Oh, Xiao Yue, why is this coat of yours so good-looking? It's wool, right?"

"Why don't I see the mistress? I haven't seen her in a long time; I must have a good chat with her today."

Wang Jianqiang's mother hadn't been in the house for more than a few minutes before she was acting like she was at home, mingling with the Li family.

Li Ye's younger sisters, Li Juan and Li Ying, heard their mother being criticized by an outsider and ran to Li Ye's room, pressing their faces against the window to look outside.

As the family's "Crown Prince," Li Ye occupied the room with the best lighting; their room's window wasn't bright, so they couldn't see clearly.

"Brother, who is that old woman? It's the twenty-ninth and she came empty-handed; what is she here for?"

"Qiangzi's mother. She's here to ask for money."

Li Ye was also annoyed. Coming empty-handed on the twenty-ninth before the New Year—truly stingy.

Hmm, thick-skinned enough. She came with ill intent.

Sure enough, within a few minutes, the old master called Li Ye over.

"Little Ye, that Hao Jian guy, is he your connection? Now that Qiangzi has done work for him but can't get his wages, this matter has to fall on your shoulders."

"........"

Li Ye blinked, looking at Li Zhongfa, who was acting like a high-ranking official, and really wanted to spit out some complaints.

Don't you know what the situation with Hao Jian is? At a time like this, you, Bureau Chief Li, aren't helping me settle this, but instead letting me, a small fry, take the fall?

"There is indeed a relative of a classmate named Hao Jian, but I just recommended him to set up a cooperative processing household. The paperwork should have been handled by my sister, right?"

Li Ye cast his gaze toward his biological sister, Li Yue.

Li Yue curled her lip and said, "I have so much to do all day; how would I remember some Hao Jian or Li Jian? You hurry up and get the money back for them."

Oh wow, you guys are all just taking the benefits and not doing any work, right?

Li Ye was very angry.

This year he had earned a large sum of royalties, and no one could find fault with how he spent his money, so he had taken his grandmother to tour the provincial capital with the whole family. Wool coats, leather coats—everyone got one!

Now it's fine, when there's trouble, no one wants to take charge?

Fine, you guys just wait for me. Next year, you won't get a single cent.

"Ahem," Li Zhongfa kept winking at Li Ye, saying, "Is Hao Jian home now? Qiangzi should be getting at least ten or twenty yuan a month, right? Why don't you advance thirty or twenty, and let Qiangzi take it back to spend for the New Year?"

Li Ye didn't say a word. So everyone knows I'm the big moneybags, and it's only right that I get slaughtered, right?

But just as he remained silent, Wang Jianqiang's mother let out a howl that gave the Li family a fright.

"Thirty or twenty isn't enough! Master, you don't know, Qiangzi has been out for three or four months, working for them day and night without rest.

Even Jin Peng, who was with him, got a Flying Pigeon bicycle! Why shouldn't my Qiangzi get a Thousand-Mile Horse?"

Damn it, what a greedy lion's mouth!

Li Yue couldn't listen anymore and said, "Ni Dashen, temporary workers only get eighteen yuan and fifty cents a month. You want a bicycle for four months of work? I've been working for a year and I'm still walking!"

But Qiangzi's mother immediately replied, "Xiao Yue, you don't know, money isn't worth much these days."

"Doesn't Li Ye get two or three thousand for writing a book? My Qiangzi has worked for so long, day and night, shouldn't he get several hundred?"

"Cooperative households are all under the grain system. We, our own people, can't let capitalists bully us! Besides, the working class is the most glorious, isn't it?"

"........."

Li Ye was shocked. He finally understood why Li Zhongfa and his sister Li Yue were so determined not to get involved. Isn't this just a scam?

Wang Jianqiang had run away from home for four or five months, and the Wang family hadn't even bothered to look for him, just letting him sponge meals off Jin Peng to save food for the family.

Now that they saw Jin Peng making money, they turned around and demanded equal treatment.

Were his grandfather and sister asking him, this hot-headed youth, to step onto the stage and settle the matter with one slap?

Li Ye hung his head and said coldly, "Ni Dashen, I don't know what kind of work Qiangzi did for them.

But they provided food and housing for these few months, and even bought Qiangzi a leather-lined cotton coat for the New Year. How can you call them capitalists?"

Speaking of this, Li Ye suddenly asked Wang Jianqiang, "Hey, Qiangzi, where is your leather-lined cotton coat? Are you saving it to wear on the first day of the Lunar New Year?"

When Li Ye saw Wang Jianqiang the day before yesterday, he was wearing a new leather-lined cotton coat, but today he had changed into a tattered cotton coat that was obviously too small and stretched tight.

Wang Jianqiang shifted his butt on the stool and said in a low voice, "That leather coat didn't fit me, so I swapped it with my second brother."

The Li family couldn't watch anymore. Li Zhongfa coughed and stood up to leave.

Being related by marriage, there was no way to deal with this.

Wang Jianqiang's mother was also a bit embarrassed, but she immediately complained to Li Ye's grandmother, "Sister, look, every family has its own troubles. When your family was struggling before, didn't I lend you two catties of corn flour?

Now that your family has recovered, Qiangzi's second brother is already 22 after the New Year, and he still doesn't have a wife, doesn't have decent clothes to wear when he goes out, doesn't have a bicycle, and girls won't even look at him properly..."

A round of snot and tears made Li Ye feel disgusted.

He had no choice but to say, "Ni Dashen, don't misunderstand. I was just afraid Qiangzi was being cheated! A leather coat costs forty or fifty yuan!"

Then Li Ye asked Wang Jianqiang in a deep voice, "Qiangzi, did Hao Jian tell you exactly how much wages he owes you?"

Wang Jianqiang hung his head and said, "I didn't earn as much as Brother Peng, just one hundred and eighty. My mother said... to keep twenty for me."

Li Ye was shocked.

So even a simpleton has his own little schemes.

Wang Jianqiang not only hid the one-thousand-yuan gift money, but he also kept the rest of the money hidden.

Very good. He finally understood the principle that "a man without private savings has no dignity."

He has a bright future. ===== CHAPTER 67 =====