Chapter 55: Jianghu Fan

Li Ye went to see Teacher Ke that evening and learned that she had indeed asked for leave from school because she was going to Beijing.

Teacher Ke also told Li Ye to take away the already written part of "Deserter in the Fire".

Teacher Ke didn't say specifically what she was going to do, but Li Ye could roughly guess that Teacher Ke was going to take the manuscript to Beijing to build some connections during the New Year holiday.

But Li Ye thought it was not the right time yet.

"Teacher Ke, I have only written less than 400,000 words. Shi Chengcai has just appeared on the stage, and it is far from the exciting stage."

The length of online novels is obviously longer than traditional novels. For example, The Legend of the Condor Heroes has 1.2 million words, and The Deer and the Cauldron is a bit longer at only 1.5 million words.

But Xiaozhi Xianxian's book "Fugitives in the War", even if it is discontinued, has more than 1.9 million words. (I would like to pay tribute to Xiaozhi Xianxian here. I don't know if the big boss is doing well now.)

Even if Li Ye deleted some of the words in the article, because Xiao Zhixianxian's writing style is good, no matter how it is compressed, it will not be less than 1.5 million words, so 400,000 words are really not enough.

Teacher Ke smiled helplessly and said, "I know it's not the best time yet, but a manuscript of 400,000 words is really not a small amount. It's barely enough to show it off."

Li Ye glanced into Teacher Ke's eyes, saw her eagerness and anxiety, and immediately realized that she really couldn't wait any longer.

Li Ye had no choice but to say, "Well, I'll rush to finish the manuscript in the next few days and write a few tens of thousands of words, and try to include more scenes for Shi Cheng."

But Teacher Ke said, "Actually, that's not necessary. If someone is interested in this novel, we can send him the subsequent parts in batches later."

"Record it in batches?"

"Yes," Teacher Ke said, "I heard that there is a 'serial' writing method in Hong Kong Island, which is several thousand words a day, serialized continuously, and the effect seems to be quite good."

[Of course it’s good. Aren’t all the online novels of later generations using this trick? What hooks, chapter breaks, and even the temporary change of the plot according to the boss’s request]

[Teacher Ke, you are really good. A smart person is a smart person. I have to admire you. 】

Li Ye really admires Teacher Ke. He was able to realize the characteristics and advantages of serialization in the closed Qingshui County in the 1980s. His vision is definitely far beyond that of ordinary people.

"Okay then! When you leave, I'll finish the manuscript as soon as possible."

"I have already organized the manuscript and will leave tomorrow, but I have an unwelcome request and need your help."

"An unwelcome request?"

Li Ye was a little surprised, because Teacher Ke is basically a person who "never asks for help". Usually in school, there are teachers who take the initiative to offer some help, but she always handles it very calmly, which inadvertently discourages people.

Li Ye was the "only" exception, but that was only limited to their collaboration on novels. In daily life, she was never willing to trouble Li Ye, even though Wen Leyu had dinner with him, and he did so under the name of proofreader's remuneration!

You want to say she is "aloof"? Not really. Li Ye feels that Teacher Ke is deliberately staying away from the crowd.

But today, Teacher Ke actually has an unreasonable request, which must be unusual.

Li Ye said seriously, "Teacher Ke, if you have any questions, please tell me. I will definitely help if I can. If I can't help, I will find someone to help."

Teacher Ke smiled and said, "It's like this. I'm going to Beijing this time, but it's not convenient for me to take Xiaoyu with me. She has always been by my side all these years, and she's timid. Can you take care of her during my absence?"

[Of course I can! As long as she is willing, I can take care of her completely. Pah, am I that kind of person? ]

Li Ye immediately agreed: "Okay, Mr. Ke, I can definitely do this. I will take her to my house to celebrate the New Year. But is Wen Leyu willing to stay in Qingshui by herself?"

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

The last bit of worry in Li Ye's heart was gone. Wen Leyu deliberately failed to get into university in order to be with her mother. Unexpectedly, she was willing to separate from Teacher Ke temporarily this time.

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

. . . . .

Li Ye found out what time Teacher Ke would be taking the train the next day, then woke up Li Dayong who had just gotten into bed, and followed Jin Peng and Hao Jian to the provincial capital that evening.

It's really not a pleasant experience to set out on a bicycle at two in the morning in the winter.

Li Ye rode only half of the 40-kilometer journey, then lay down on the scooter and pretended to be dead, letting Jin Peng and Hao Jian in front of him drag him along.

When we arrived at the provincial capital, it was still dark, but the hemp candy vendor who came to pick up the goods was already waiting at the intersection next to the morning market.

Bags of sesame candy were weighed and money was collected, and hardly a word was spoken during the entire process. This strange feeling of silence gave Li Ye the illusion that he was in a police and gangster movie of later generations.

"They are very cautious now. Since it's easy to make money, they don't want to make a noise and attract attention. They want to make a fortune quietly."

Li Ye nodded and looked at the crowded morning market not far away.

There were country people selling cabbages and radishes, city people selling old clothes and old furniture, and even people selling old bicycles.

Li Ye was somewhat tempted, because his eldest sister at home didn't even have a bicycle!

Jin Peng said quickly: "You can't just buy those cars casually, they might be unclean goods."

Li Ye had no choice but to give up. These days, it was not uncommon for a bicycle to lead to a series of major cases. It was not worth it to be wrongly imprisoned if you were not careful.

Hao Jian’s sesame candies are not distributed in one place, but in three places. By the time all the sesame candies in the trucks lined up together are wholesaled, it is already dawn.

The four people, who were tired after working all night, first had a hot breakfast to dispel the coldness in their bodies.

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

Hao Jian was thinking about where to hide the money on the way back alone! Since Li Ye and his men took it, of course he was happy to do so.

After they parted, Li Ye, Jin Peng and Li Dayong went straight to an alley west of the provincial capital railway station.

Arriving at the entrance of an alley with many paths leading in all directions, Li Ye saw more than a dozen people, some squatting or standing in several groups, each of them hunching their necks and smoking silently.

This is a small black market for trading tickets in the provincial capital.

Li Ye came to exchange food coupons for Teacher Ke.

In 1981, if you wanted to eat out in a restaurant, you didn't just need money. Most of the time, you needed food coupons. Without food coupons, you could still find ways to get enough to eat locally, but when you were on a business trip, you couldn't take a single step without food coupons.

Like Teacher Ke, when he goes to Beijing this time, he needs to exchange it for national food coupons.

Teacher Ke was paid a temporary worker's salary at the County No. 2 Middle School, and his food ration was even less, so he couldn't save a penny.

It's hard to go out, and it's even harder for a woman to go out. Since it concerns Wen Leyu, how can Li Ye just ignore it?

Logically speaking, it would be easier to ask Li Zhongfa for national food coupons, but Li Yeyi didn't want his family to ask him too many questions, and he also needed some other things.

Seeing Li Ye and the other two coming, these people became very alert and held the briefcases in their hands tightly.

Li Ye found that the position they were in was very suitable for escaping.

Jin Peng took a quick look and walked towards one of the men with side-parted hair, taking Li Ye with him.

"Brother, do you have national food coupons?"

"Pfft~, look at what you said, there's not even any national food coupons, what am I doing here?"

The man with the split hair exhaled a puff of smoke, looked at Jin Peng in a gangster manner, then looked at Li Ye and Li Dayong with obvious contempt in his eyes.

From their accents, I could tell they were country folk from the north, either from Qingshui or Beiyang. Moreover, two of them were little brats, and it was obvious they didn't have much money.

Li Ye didn't care about the guy's look and asked directly: "What other tickets do you have? Do you have cigarette tickets or wine tickets? Can you get sleeper tickets? How do you exchange them?"

The man with split hair had bright eyes and asked, "What cigarettes do you want to buy? What wine do you want to buy?"

Li Ye said: "Zhonghua cigarettes and Maotai liquor."

The man with the split hair rolled his eyes and said with his teeth bared, "Why are you entertaining me so early in the morning? What kind of ticket can I use to buy Zhonghua cigarettes?"

Li Ye stopped talking. He only knew that a certain type of cigarettes required a ticket, but he had never bought Zhonghua cigarettes since his rebirth, so he didn't know the market price.

Jin Peng waved his hand and said, "Let's buy food coupons first! For the whole country, 50 kilograms."

The man with the split hair shook his neck and said, "One dollar and twenty cents per pound, fifty pounds is exactly sixty cents."

“.”

Jin Peng and Li Ye were both stunned.

This price is not just a steal, it's really fucking stealth.

They had inquired in advance and found out that the national food coupons in the provincial capital were going for around 50 cents, 40 cents was normal, and 60 cents was not expensive either. The price quoted by the man with split hair was double that.

Jin Peng turned around and left. Was he going to trick that idiot?

But the man with split hair shouted to the others at the entrance of the alley: "Others are more expensive, mine is the cheapest."

Sure enough, 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 split hair.

"Okay, you have the cheapest price here, let's buy 50 kilograms of food coupons each, and some wine and tobacco coupons."

The man with split hair squinted at Li Ye and asked, "Do you have that much money?"

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

The man with the split hair was stunned for a moment, spat out the cigarette, shook his chin, and motioned Li Ye to follow him.

Li Ye followed the man with the split hair into a nearby alley, and then he found that a young man squatting nearby also followed him in.

The young man was bald, with fierce eyes and an unusual bravery.

The man with split hair said proudly: "Don't worry, this is my brother, he just came down from the battlefield in the south, he will never mess with you if you don't mess with him."

No wonder the split man dares to bully people and even extort money openly. It turns out he has something to rely on.

But no matter how much he relies on, Li Ye will not suffer such a loss!

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

"Boom~"

There was a dull sound, and the blue brick walls shook slightly.

Jin Peng and Li Dayong reacted not much slower. They kicked the wall one after another. With two "bang" sounds, it felt like the wall was about to be kicked down by them.

The bald young man immediately stepped aside and stood in front of the man with the side-parted hair, staring at Li Ye and others with fierce eyes.

Li Ye twisted his wrist and said calmly: "What price did you just say?"

It is impossible to fight. If we can deter others with force, why should we fight?

The three men understood each other's intention and slowly pressed towards the bald man.

The bald man had sharp eyes and was motionless, but he said to the man with split hair behind him: "Go~"

These two simple words showed his nervousness.

An expert knows the ins and outs. Even if he came from the battlefield, he was not sure he could deal with Li Ye and others in a one-on-three situation.

However, the man with the split hair did not abandon the bald man and run away. Instead, he stretched out his hands to block him away and cupped his hands in a fist gesture.

"Brothers, when you go out to seek wealth, you should be friendly. If you ask for a high price, you should pay it back on the spot. There is no need to resort to violence. We will meet again in the mountains and rivers. Black people rob black people and we are not friends."

The man with the split hair kept talking and talking, which made Li Ye feel awkward and embarrassed.

Well! This guy is still a fan of Jianghu.

Thanks to book friend 150506005913374 for the reward, thank you brother.

(End of this chapter)