A tavern in the provincial capital.
The pot was bubbling and the aroma of meat filled the whole house.
Qin Chuan swallowed his saliva, his eyes fixed on the chicken in the pot. As soon as he heard the word "ready to eat", he couldn't wait to pick up a piece of meat and put it in his own bowl. Then he remembered something and happily picked up a piece of meat and put it in Li Heng's bowl as well.
"You eat." Xu Jing took a spoon and added half a bowl of soup, drinking it slowly. After drinking half a bowl of soup, the warmth in his body dispelled all the fatigue.
"Boss, do you have anything to say?"
Hou Liang ordered a dozen beers, opened a few bottles, and passed one to each of the customers. He was a sharp-minded man who had noticed something was amiss with Li Heng when they were dividing the money. Now that they were the only four left in the tavern, he decided to let it all out.
"Monkey, what are your plans for the future?"
"I make money by following you." Hou Liang said without thinking.
"Don't have to go to school anymore?"
Hou Liang smiled, pointed at himself, and said, "With my level, I'm lucky to be able to go to a regular high school. After the class division, I can't understand what the teacher is saying anymore. Classes are like listening to a foreign language."
Xu Jing silently took a sip of his wine and said, "What about you, Wu Yu?"
Wu Yu pushed the frame of his glasses and thought for a moment. "I'm still planning on taking the college entrance exam. Even if I don't get into university, it would be nice to get into a junior college."
This is the path that ordinary people pursue.
In a small county, the best you can hope to earn is 10,000 yuan a year. People with a little dream will do everything they can to get out. And the only way to get out is to study.
"What about you, Li Heng?"
Xu Jing said, "I plan to take a year off from school."
"I'll keep you company." Hou Liang took a few gulps of the wine without blinking. Foreign liquor is just hard to drink, far worse than Shaodaozi.
"No need. Just stay with Wu Yu and go to school. I plan to wait until your senior year to take the college entrance exam. If you pass, you can go. If you don't, you can follow Qin Chuan to farm."
Qin Chuan, whose name was called, smiled happily. "Okay. I'll plant with you."
"Boss, are you crazy? Whether you do small business or gamble, you can make money faster than farming. Why do you have to be so obsessed with farming?"
Even Hou Liang, who couldn't tell the difference between crops, knew that learning a trade was more practical than farming at this stage. How could a job that depended on the weather be as profitable as working in a factory?
"Yes," Wu Yu said earnestly, "I don't think you need to drop out of school. Just stay with us and study. Then get into a good university. It'll give you face when people tell others about it, right? You finally got out of the mountains, so why are you thinking of going back now?"
Xu Jing drank half a bottle of wine and said, "We have to give it a try."
"What's there to try? Are you willing to do tiring and hard work?"
Hou Liang grabbed Qin Chuan's hand and spread it out. His wrinkled skin was peeling off in places that should have peeled off due to years of hard work, and there were thick calluses on the joints that could not be wiped away.
"Look at your own hands and think, is this the life you want?"
His hands were as white as jade, with slender, white knuckles and distinct fingers, forming a sharp contrast with Qin Chuan's hands.
"Monkey." Qin Chuan was extremely angry and pulled his hand back. He didn't understand what they were saying, but he knew from the monkey's expression that it wasn't a good thing.
Qin Chuan's mind was blank, and he finally came up with a few words after a long time. "I can eat my fill."
"It's just enough to eat." Wu Yu bluntly punctured Li Heng's dream. "You followed him and gave up the best years of your life just to farm. Your sister would probably die of rage if she heard that."
Xu Jing pursed his lips, thought for a moment, and said, "I won't be satisfied if I don't try."
"Boss" Hou Liang tried to persuade him again, but Wu Yu stopped him. "People with different ideals cannot work together. Monkey, you should calm down too. He's not on the same page as us."
Wu Yu understood clearly that this meal was more of a farewell dinner than a celebration dinner.
All good things must come to an end, and no one can stay with anyone for a lifetime.
"I'm done eating. Monkey, come with me to the guesthouse."
"I..." Before Hou Liang could say anything, Wu Yu dragged him away.
Qin Chuan was a little confused. He hadn't even touched a single bite of the whole pot of chicken, so how could he be so full? Chicken must be so delicious.
"Eat more." Xu Jing put some meat into his bowl and said with a smile, "You're still growing, so eat more."
"Yeah." Qin Chuan shook his head, shook off the negative emotions and began to concentrate on eating.
Most of the chicken in the pot went into his stomach. After he was full, Qin Chuan touched his bulging belly and burped with satisfaction. It felt so good to be full.
Xu Jing paid the money, and on the way back, Qin Chuan asked: "Are you unhappy?"
"No."
"You're lying." Qin Chuan reached out and touched his frown. Only unhappy people would frown. Li Heng was really a liar.
"It's okay." Xu Jing held his hand and said with a smile, "There's a pharmacy next door. Let's go buy some medicine."
"No." He pulled his hand back nervously. When Li Heng paid the bill, he saw that he took out a Great Unity banknote and some Mao Zedong's banknotes, a lot of them.
Chicken was so valuable. The money he earned from working for three years was only enough for five meals. Thinking of this, Qin Chuan decided to start saving money from today on. As long as he saved money, he could keep Li Heng well fed. He could support him.
As for medicine, he was a rough man and didn't need it. In the past, injuries he'd healed in a few days, so there was no need to waste money.
He smiled faintly, pointed to his neck and said, "It's okay, it doesn't hurt anymore."
"If it's not treated, the wound will get infected." Xu Jing didn't give Qin Chuan a chance to refute and pulled him into the pharmacy.
After a simple disinfection, he patiently applied medicine to Qin Chuan.
As he got closer, Qin Chuan realized how long his eyelashes were. They fluttered like butterflies in the fields. His skin was also very white, unlike his own, which was as dark as charcoal.
"Li Heng." He suddenly stuttered. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
He really couldn't understand why Li Heng would treat him well when he had nothing and was ugly. He also had nothing worth Li Heng's attention.
"Do I need a reason to be nice to you?" Xu Jing thought for a moment and said, "I'm nice to you because I like you."
"You're lying again." That's obviously not the case.
Xu Jing patiently applied the medicine to him. He glanced at him and saw that the oil bottle hanging from the corner of his mouth had not been put down yet. He rubbed Qin Chuan's head and said softly: "I want to be good to you."
Qin Chuan remembered this sentence for a long time.
Long afterward, he could still remember the way Li Heng patiently applied medicine to him in the small pharmacy in the provincial capital. He shone like a bodhisattva in a temple, making his eyes ache.
No one had ever been so nice to him.
Even if Li Heng ran away from him tomorrow, he would still remember what he had left for him.
He was so moved that tears started to fall.
"Don't cry." Xu Jing patiently wiped away his tears. "I'm here, I won't leave you alone."
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