Chapter 17: Clever Kitten

When Li Ye was reading the letter with a gloomy face, Wen Leyu, who was sitting next to him, glanced at him inadvertently.

But given Wen Leyu's good upbringing, she never actually peeked at the contents of the letter.

However, Li Ye was holding back his anger, and the way he wrote furiously on the back of the letter made Wen Leyu very curious.

What did Lu Jingyao write to Li Ye that made this kind boy so angry?

Finally, the young spy could no longer hold back, and he quietly and slowly stretched his neck and moved closer like a kitten stealthily trying to catch a mouse.

But at this time Li Ye had finished writing, folded the letter paper, and turned around to bump into Wen Leyu.

Wen Leyu froze for a moment, then retracted his neck with a whoosh, sat up straight, and wrote and scribbled rapidly with the pen in his hand, looking like a good child who was studying hard and making progress every day.

This little beauty is interesting.

Most of Li Ye's unhappiness was instantly eliminated.

He held his chin with one hand, resting his elbow on the desk, and looked sideways at Wen Leyu who was writing seriously. His eyes were pure and peaceful, as if he was appreciating a beautiful and vivid painting.

Wen Leyu seemed not to notice, and the pen in her hand did not stop moving, but a faint blush gradually appeared on her cheeks, adding vitality to her overly white skin.

"What are you writing?"

Li Ye did not continue reading. The girl was already embarrassed, and speaking quickly to resolve the awkwardness was a considerate way of communicating.

Wen Leyu really breathed a sigh of relief, pushed the homework book in his hand to Li Ye, and then wrote a few words on the piece of paper.

"I've given you some questions to do. If you don't understand anything, you can ask me."

Li Ye took Wen Leyu's homework book, looked at the several pages of densely packed English test questions, and asked, "Why do you want me to do these questions? Is this what Teacher Ke wanted?"

Wen Leyu was stunned for a moment, then quickly took the note and was about to write something to Li Ye on it.

Li Ye couldn't help but whispered: "Although your handwriting is indeed very beautiful, can you talk to me?"

Wen Leyu was stunned again, and this time she was stunned for a few seconds before she whispered, "Aren't you going to take the entrance exam to Tsinghua University or Peking University in Beijing? I think I can help you."

In fact, Wen Leyu has a very nice voice, but I don’t know what she has experienced over the years that made her become a “little mute”.

And when she mentioned that Li Ye "took the exam to go to Beijing", she obviously changed her words urgently. It was probably because he originally wanted to say that he went to Beijing to find Lu Jingyao.

Li Ye laughed in his heart and nodded, "Thank you, I accept your help, but you have to accept my help too."

Wen Leyu blinked and said, "What kind of help?"

Li Ye took out his homework book and started doing math problems on it.

"I'll also give you a test paper to do. If you have any questions, you can ask me."

Wen Leyu was a little curious and unknowingly stretched out her swan-like neck again, looking at the pen in Li Ye's hand and quickly writing out test questions one after another.

At the beginning, she was very confident because she could answer all the questions Li Ye asked at a glance.

But when Li Ye wrote on the third sheet of paper, she became serious.

Because she had never seen these types of questions before.

"Can you do all these questions?"

"certainly!"

"So what was your score in math in this year's college entrance examination?"

“…………”

Li Ye stopped writing, looked at Wen Leyu who was full of curiosity, and said helplessly: "Can we not ask this kind of question?"

Wen Leyu looked at Li Ye blankly at first, then his eyes moved and he nodded heavily.

It seemed as if Li Ye saw the cat he had raised in his previous life again.

Silly and cute, but actually very smart.

. . . .

"Jingyao, you are so smart. Senior Brother Qian Shun just gave you a hint that day, but your poem was actually published?"

"Yes! Junior Sister Jingyao's talent is the best I have ever seen. Our Qingya Literary Society will rely on you to carry forward its success in the future."

In an activity room of Beijing University of Foreign Languages, Lu Jingyao was surrounded by a group of seniors, her face flushed with shame and embarrassment.

When she was in Qingshui County, she liked to discuss poetry and literature with Xia Yue and others. When it was time to choose clubs in college, she naturally joined the literary club called "Qingya".

After several months of getting to know each other, Lu Jingyao plucked up the courage to submit a manuscript to the school magazine of the School of Foreign Languages, and unexpectedly it was actually published.

Then an embarrassing scene happened. Several seniors from the clubs gave her compliments without asking for money.

Especially the looks of some of them seemed as if they wanted to eat her up. Their overly enthusiastic attitude made her extremely uncomfortable.

"Ahem, today's publication of Junior Sister Jingyao's work is a big event for our Qingya Literary Club, so I suggest that we go out for dinner together, okay?"

"good!"

"That's as it should be!"

"Come on, come on, tonight is a good night with good wine, don't go home until you are drunk!"

The members of the club excitedly went out for dinner, which saved Lu Jingyao from the embarrassing situation of "eating so much flattery that she vomited".

But then she started to worry again.

Dining out costs money. At the last Qingya Literary Society dinner, each person paid for more than two yuan, which was more than one-tenth of her monthly student allowance.

In order to save money to send back home, Lu Jingyao survived the week after the dinner by living on steamed buns and pickled vegetables.

Although her poem was published in the school magazine today and she received a fee of 5.5 yuan, Lu Jingyao had originally wanted to scrape together 10 yuan to send back home to supplement the family income. If she had another dinner party, she would not be able to scrape together 10 yuan.

"Let's go Jingyao, what are you thinking about?"

He Xue, who was also a member of the literature club, put her arm around Lu Jingyao and dragged her to catch up with the others.

Lu Jingyao finally realized and said, "Oh, I didn't think about anything. I'm leaving now."

As He Xue walked, she said excitedly: "It's hard to get a treat today, I'm going to have a big meal, braised pork, braised pork elbow, sweet and sour fish"

Lu Jingyao felt relieved, and even her steps became lighter: "Really? Who's treating us today?"

He Xue turned her head to look at Lu Jingyao in surprise and said, "Of course it's you! You won't just ignore me after earning the royalties, right? The tradition of our literature club is that whoever earns the royalties pays the bills!"

“.”

Lu Jingyao's steps sank, and she felt her legs suddenly become as heavy as if they were filled with lead.

[My treat?] It turns out that I'm the one treating. When did I say I would treat? What does the tradition of the literary club have to do with me? 】

[A dish like braised pork, braised pork elbow, and sweet and sour fish costs at least 40 or 50 cents, and at most 80 or 90 cents. Given the appetite of the people in the literature club, one person can show off three dishes as if it were a piece of cake. 】

[This is not to mention drinking. These people drink like crazy. A bottle of liquor costs only 30 or 40 cents if it's cheap, and several yuan if it's expensive. How many bottles will they drink until they're drunk? 】

[Even worse is beer, which costs only 2 cents a bottle, and a few bottles won’t do any harm…]

It took Lu Jingyao less than a second to calculate the cost of today's dinner. It would be at least thirty yuan, and all the food coupons issued by the school for several months would have to be included.

She regretted why she joined the Qingya Society and why she published poems in the school magazine.

Thirty dollars! My monthly allowance is only 22.5 yuan, and I have to save some every month to send back home to redeem the bicycle for my younger brother.

Lu Jingyao now can’t even come up with 20 yuan, let alone 30 yuan.

"Hey, Jingyao, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so unhappy? Are you worried about the money?"

"Ah? No, no. I was a little cold from the wind just now."

Lu Jingyao lowered her head, pursed her lips tightly, and walked forward with dragging feet, her heart in a tangled mess.

She wanted not to go, but was afraid of being laughed at.

But if I go, where will I get the money to pay the bill?

Lu Jingyao felt as if she had returned to more than a year ago.

The house was leaking more and more severely, and my mother's cough was getting more and more severe, but the family couldn't afford an extra dollar.

Then, a boy broke into her life, poked a hole in the gloomy sky, and sprinkled bright sunshine.

And today, where is my sunshine?

(End of this chapter)