Chapter 77: The Preliminary Exam Is Also the Gaokao

“Xiao Ye, have you ever seen high heels? Real high heels, just like in the movies,”

“When a woman wears them, her calves are taut—so straight, so damn beautiful. I bought three pairs for my wife, and she fell twice...”

“Hahahaha~”

"Brother Xiao Ye, Brother Xiao Ye, you won’t believe it—we saw it in Yangcheng... that thing... you know, that thing... I wanted to spend thirty yuan to try it... but got beaten up by Brother Peng..."

“Hahahaha~”

“If I didn’t beat you, you wouldn’t even know how you died. Do you even know what a ‘fairy scam’ is?”

“If you can’t keep your pants on, stay home and don’t come out with us—you’ll just embarrass yourself.”

“Hahahaha~”

“I... I’m not like you, Peng Ge. You’ve got a wife—you don’t know what it’s like to be hungry. I’ve never touched a woman’s hand except my mother’s... I don’t even know what women feel like...”

“Drink your damn wine, you good-for-nothing. If you work hard, you’ll never lack a wife.”

“Next year, at most the year after, we’ll each get an electric moped—then we can pick any flower girl from all the townships in Qingshui County...”

“I don’t want flowers—I’m not manure!”

“Hahahaha~”

In the small warehouse of the Second Grain Store, wine and meat flowed freely.

Four “heroes” who had ventured into Guangdong returned victorious, slapping their chests, stomping their feet, spitting saliva everywhere, boasting wildly as they flaunted their exploits to Li Ye.

They weren’t just showing off for the sake of it—they wanted to share the “worldly sights” they’d seen with Li Ye.

But Li Ye just smiled silently, nodding calmly, his composure leaving Jin Peng and the others feeling “unsatisfied.”

Because back home, when they’d just shown off the high heels and blown their own horns, all the little brothers who’d been making candy in the village had stared blankly, drooling.

Even Wang Qiang, that idiot, had clung desperately to Jin Peng’s sleeve, crying and sniveling, begging to be taken next time.

So why was Li Ye so calm?

Hssss~

Jin Peng suddenly had a wicked idea.

【Could Xiao Ye be uninterested in women because of Lu Jingyao, that bitch?】

Of course, Jin Peng was smart enough not to say it aloud—if he had, Li Ye would’ve spat in his face.

What do you know about high heels and flower skirts? You’re showing off to me?

Have you ever seen lace-up thigh-highs? Have you ever seen DJ’s sky-high stilettos?

Have you ever seen an 18- or 19-year-old girl doing a full split around a steel pole? Can you even imagine that?

I’ve seen it all—live.

I haven’t even introduced you to the teachers yet!

If you’d seen what those teachers could do, you’d all be running to old herbalists within days.

Of course, Li Ye didn’t look down on these brothers.

Just look at Li Dayong beside him—lost in awe, the cigarette butt burning his fingers before he noticed—this generation of young men was truly “innocent.”

The only one in the small warehouse still keeping his cool was Hao Jian.

Watching Li Ye sit quietly, listening without a flicker of emotion, he quickly raised his cup.

“Brother Xiao Ye, let’s drink one. You go easy—I’ll down mine!”

He swallowed a two-ounce teacup of 45-degree Fangzi Bai Gan in one gulp.

Li Ye drank too—but his was beer, three jiao a bottle.

Hao Jian and the others had returned over a month late; it was already the third lunar month, well into April.

The preliminary college entrance exam was coming soon, and his own pressure was mounting—he couldn’t afford to get drunk.

Hao Jian set down his cup, winced, swallowed a bite of food to settle the liquor, then sighed and opened up.

“Brother Xiao Ye, I won’t lie—last year, I looked at everyone around me and thought they were all fools. I, Hao Jian, was the genius of heaven and earth, the hidden hero...”

“But after meeting you, Xiao Ye, and spending less than half a year in the provincial capital, I realized I was just a frog in a well...”

“Then we got to Yangcheng, saw the commercial hotbed you described—and we realized we weren’t even frogs. We were just ants in a crack in the ground...”

Hao Jian chuckled bitterly and continued: “Brother Xiao Ye, you don’t know how I felt when I met Guo Donglun—it was just like when I first met you...”

“I just can’t understand how there are so many demons in this world. Why didn’t the thunder on the second day of the second month strike you down?”

“Hahahaha~~”

Li Dayong, Jin Peng, and the others laughed.

Hao Jian’s words were clearly flattery—calling Li Ye a supernatural demon.

But Li Ye’s expression turned strangely grim, his gaze toward Hao Jian cold.

【I haven’t laid a finger on you since we became friends. Have you forgotten I can snap bricks with one hand? You want lightning to strike me? I’ll strike you first!】

Hao Jian instantly sensed Li Ye’s mood—he blurted: “I messed up, I messed up! You’re a god, you’re even friends with the Thunder God! I just meant Guo Donglun... he’s not ordinary.”

The crippled youth Hao Jian met at the Yangcheng machine repair plant was Guo Donglun.

After proposing his “zero investment, fifty-fifty split” deal, Hao Jian couldn’t decide on his own and immediately wired Li Ye for instructions.

Li Ye replied quickly: “Ask him if he has connections in the Light Industry Bureau or the Foreign Trade System. If he does, agree. Once the channels are open, they’ll be ours—no loss.”

When Hao Jian probed further, the cripple gave nothing away—just said lightly: “I can get you a business license.”

Holy shit—Hao Jian nearly signed on the spot.

As a “blind migrant,” he knew better than anyone how vital a business license was.

But Hao Jian wired Li Ye again—let the major shareholder decide.

After all, in Hao Jian’s eyes, Guo Donglun was “too shady.”

When Li Ye heard the news, he thought long and hard.

Hao Jian and the others craved a business license because they didn’t understand history. To Li Ye, a time-traveler who saw through the fog, licenses would be worthless in just a few years.

In 1980, Shenzhou issued its first individual business license—to a small department store—but it took over a year to process, full of uncertainty.

By 1984, Shenzhou’s first private enterprise was founded, along with Legend, Haier, Vanke, Delixi, TCL, Jianlibao, and others.

The pace of development was astonishing.

But in early 1982, even in the vanguard of reform, getting an individual business license wasn’t easy.

And if they had such a license, it would greatly aid Li Ye’s profit plans.

Hao Jian and the others were making candy in the countryside near Qingshui County—agricultural products, local production and sales, thriving only within their own region.

But trading clothing? That was pure middleman arbitrage.

Wasn’t that the very definition of “speculative profiteering”?

With a formal Yangcheng business license, they’d have room to maneuver—filling the biggest gap in Li Ye’s fledgling operation.

So Li Ye agreed to Guo Donglun’s terms.

And Guo Donglun delivered—within a month, he secured the license, sourced the goods, and arranged transport.

Then Hao Jian and the others rushed the goods back to Dongshan’s provincial capital and came to report to Li Ye.

“Here’s a copy of the business license. I kept the original with San Shui—he’s in Gaodi Street, and without a license, he’s uneasy.”

Hao Jian handed Li Ye the license.

Li Ye took it, glanced at it: “XX Clothing Wholesale Market, No. XX, XX Clothing Wholesale Department.”

The registered owner’s name: “Jin Peng.”

This was the result of a discussion between Hao Jian and Jin Peng. Li Ye couldn’t be the frontman. Hao Jian had voluntarily given it to Jin Peng—but whether that “voluntary” act was truly free or forced, Li Ye had no intention of asking.

Given Jin Peng’s ruthlessness, if Hao Jian had even a hint of deceit, that knife he carried would’ve come out.

Li Ye returned the license to Hao Jian—it would be needed for the distribution process.

Then, calmly, he asked: “Where’s the official seal?”

Hao Jian, with a look of reverence, pulled a small square wooden box from his chest.

Li Ye took it, wiped it hard, and said: “Nice box. Where’d you get it?”

Hao Jian smiled: “Bought it at a secondhand market in Yangcheng when I had free time. Only this box deserves the seal.”

Li Ye smiled, opened it, glanced at the seal, then casually slipped it into his pocket.

Hao Jian’s eyelids twitched.

A seal! A 1982 seal! Do you know what that means?

It opens every door.

Only an official letter bearing the seal carried real authority.

To Hao Jian, this seal was sacred power.

But Li Ye slipped it into his pocket—and Hao Jian didn’t utter a word of protest.

“Xiao Ye, these next few days we’ll meet Guo Donglun’s people and start distributing the goods. Shouldn’t we... be careful?”

Jin Peng, watching Hao Jian hand over the seal, finally spoke to Li Ye.

“Careful of whom? Guo Donglun?” Li Ye said coolly. “He supplies. We handle distribution. We’ll play it by ear—if he oversteps, we cut ties.”

Jin Peng nodded gravely: “Guo Donglun isn’t ordinary. In Yangcheng, while we sourced goods, shipped them, got the license—he never showed up. He never told us who his contacts were.”

“Every time we needed him, he’d send us to some middleman. We don’t know his roots. Won’t we be completely at his mercy in Yangcheng?”

“Heh. Isn’t that the same? When outsiders come to our turf, don’t they have to bow to us?”

Li Ye smiled and said no more.

They were all local snakes—only he played a higher game.

Qingshui County was small, relationships simple. It couldn’t compare to Yangcheng’s tangled webs. Besides, Li Ye’s own network wasn’t that deep yet.

He merely relied on his advanced insight and vision to avoid dead ends and man-eating traps, riding the wind and current while secretly cultivating himself.

And a crucial part of cultivation was still the college entrance exam.

After drinking and eating their fill, as everyone dispersed, Hao Jian hesitantly spoke to Li Ye.

“But I always feel that our big deal, Guo Donglun doesn’t take seriously—he seems to be... playing around.”

Li Ye nodded, lost in thought.

【Hmm, perhaps he’s just bored sitting in his wheelchair, playing a game.】

But isn’t Li Ye the same?

In early May, Hao Jian and Jin Peng finally retrieved their goods from the train station and began slowly, carefully distributing them.

Meanwhile, Li Ye devoted himself entirely to preparing for the first round of the 1982 college entrance exam—the preliminary exam.

Shenzhou’s preliminary exam system began in 1981 and ended in 1989, designed to ease the immense pressure of the main college entrance exam.

In those years of rebuilding, too many people crowded onto this single path, while the institutions’ capacity was limited, hence this cruel pre-screening system.

In flat, densely populated regions like Qinghe County, over two-thirds of the candidates were eliminated after the preliminary round.

That is, more than two-thirds of the candidates were not qualified to enter the official college entrance exam hall.

Think about it! After years of grueling study, they couldn’t even earn the right to write their name on the exam paper—how cruel was that?

Thus, despite the eight-member group led by Li Ye each possessing top-ten class strength, they still nervously asked Li Ye as the preliminary exam approached.

“Li Ye, should we control our scores in the preliminary exam?”

“Yeah, Li Ye, how do we control it? What score should we aim for?”

This time, Li Ye couldn’t give a clear answer.

He couldn’t say, “Even if you fail one or two subjects, you’ll still pass the preliminary.”

The preliminary exam was still the college entrance exam.

This all-or-nothing elimination system could ruin someone’s entire life with one misstep.

In the end, Li Ye could only use himself as an example.

“I can’t guide you, but if the preliminary’s difficulty is similar to our regular mock exams, I’ll aim for around 300 points—you... do as you wish.”