Chapter 68
The next day, Han Shuo took a bus to Xingyuan High School.
After getting off the bus at the station, he went to the guardhouse to inquire about the students' dismissal time, and then waited for Meng Yuxiu to come over under the tree at the school gate.
He didn't wait long; about ten minutes later, Meng Yuxiu rode his bicycle over from the road. When he saw Han Shuo, he parked his bicycle by the school wall.
"The students get out of school at 5:30, let's wait here for a while," Han Shuo said to him.
Meng Yuxiu must have been rushing to get here by bicycle. He took a breath and asked Han Shuo how he had managed to have lunch.
"I reheated the meat you stewed yesterday at noon. What about yours?"
Meng Yuxiu said he got some food from the cafeteria.
"Vegetarian or meat?"
"Meat dishes."
Han Shuo didn't believe him. He raised an eyebrow and said, "You'd better eat meat. I'm telling you, don't be too stingy. You still need to supplement your protein intake. I don't want you to be so thin and pale from hunger."
Meng Yuxiu laughed and said, "You're criticizing me, aren't you the same?"
Han Shuo was taken aback. It seemed so. Yesterday he was thinking about saving money, but when it came to Meng Yuxiu, he completely forgot about it.
Did you bring your acceptance letter and transcript?
"I brought it." Meng Yuxiu took his schoolbag off his shoulder and took out his report card and transcript. "How do you think we should set a reasonable price for the tutoring?"
Han Shuo asked him, "You used to charge by the day for tutoring in the county town, it was one yuan a day, right?"
"yes."
Han Shuo pondered for a moment, "Yunxi County pays one yuan a day. Hecheng is one of the top cities in the country, so prices must be rising, right? Hey, did you take any extra classes in the 21st century?"
Meng Yuxiu: "It's been repaired several times."
How much does it cost?
"Three thousand per hour."
Han Shuo could hardly believe his ears at Meng Yuxiu's casual remark. He immediately exclaimed, "How much? How much? Three thousand an hour?!"
"Wow..." Han Shuo looked Meng Yuxiu up and down, exclaiming repeatedly, "Tsk tsk tsk, are your lessons made of gold?"
However, after hearing Meng Yuxiu's suggestion, Han Shuo thought that since it was a big city like Hecheng, tutoring could be charged by the hour. After thinking for a moment, he said to Meng Yuxiu, "Let's raise the price a little and charge by the hour."
Meng Yuxiu hesitated and asked, "Then... two yuan an hour?"
Han Shuo gestured with his chin towards him, "Be bolder."
Three pieces?
"Be bolder," Han Shuo said decisively, "Five yuan an hour!"
Meng Yuxiu gasped, "Five yuan an hour? Is that even possible?"
Han Shuo put his arm around his shoulder, leaned closer, and whispered, "Brother, when it comes to making money, don't always think about saving face. You used to charge less because our county was a poor one, and you were just a high school student back then. It's different now. We're in a bustling metropolis. Look, I can make 50 bracelets for five yuan a month, which is 150 yuan a month. Plus, you're a top student at a prestigious university now, so your value must be skyrocketing, right?"
Han Shuo's words filled Meng Yuxiu with a sense of pride, and he was even inspired by Han Shuo's passionate analysis.
Han Shuo asked him, "Can you teach math?"
Meng Yuxiu nodded, "Yes."
"Is your Chinese language okay?"
"OK."
"Is there a problem with your English?"
Meng Yuxiu shook his head. "No problem."
"That's settled then!" Han Shuo patted Meng Yuxiu's chest with the back of his hand. "You teach Chinese, math, and English all in one hour. If you happen to have a dull student, earning those five yuan will be hard work, okay?"
Meng Yuxiu nodded and said, "Okay, then it'll be five yuan an hour."
"Five yuan an hour. I tutor one student a day on weekdays, and four or five on weekends. Twenty-five yuan from Monday to Friday, and forty or fifty yuan on Saturday and Sunday." Han Shuo calculated, "Damn! That's two or three hundred yuan a month!"
Looking at Han Shuo, who was leaning against the wall, happily daydreaming about making money, Meng Yuxiu felt a sudden surge of fighting spirit.
A short while later, the school bell rang to signal the end of get out of class at Xingyuan High School.
"Quick, give me your admission notice." Han Shuo hurriedly urged Meng Yuxiu to prepare to recruit students.
Meng Yuxiu handed the admission notice to Han Shuo, while he himself held the college entrance examination score sheet.
As soon as the school's iron gate opened, high school students poured out. Han Shuo, clutching his acceptance letter, called out to Meng Yuxiu as they went to greet them.
Regardless of whether they were male or female students, Han Shuo would grab someone's arm and start offering tutoring services, "Hey classmate, need a tutor?"
"Hey handsome, I'm a top student from Jinhua University, getting tutoring classes. Want to check it out?"
Meng Yuxiu also abandoned his usual reserve. Although he still asked questions politely and refinedly, he was already working harder than ever before as he weaved through the crowd.
"Hello, classmate, do you need tutoring? English or math are both fine."
However, Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu were only this young, and looked no different from high school students, so almost all the students coming out of the gate politely declined their offers.
Once Han Shuo finally found someone willing to learn more, he immediately shouted for Meng Yuxiu to come over.
The chubby boy with glasses stood there dumbfounded by Han Shuo's rapid-fire speech. Han Shuo then unfolded Meng Yuxiu's admission notice, snatched the transcript from Meng Yuxiu's hand, and launched into a passionate sales pitch.
"Look! A genuine admission letter from Jinhua University. And take a look at his transcript. I'm not exaggerating." Han Shuo pointed at Meng Yuxiu. "He's the top student in our city! Hey, classmate, your parents definitely want you to get into Jinhua University, right? Don't worry, they'll make sure you get an extra semester or two..."
The chubby boy remained hesitant, and Han Shuo's mouth went dry from talking, but he still couldn't win him over.
Seeing this, Meng Yuxiu said, "If you have any questions or problems that you can't solve, I can help you take a look now."
Upon hearing this, Han Shuo's eyes lit up. Goodness, if they weren't still promoting the product, he would have given Meng Yuxiu a thumbs up. He readily agreed, "Yes! He solved the problem for you on the spot. If you think it's okay, then we can talk about tutoring."
"Let me look for it." The chubby boy immediately put down his backpack, rummaged through it, pulled out his math notebook, opened it, and pointed out a problem that was troubling him.
Meng Yuxiu took the math notebook and asked, "Do you have a pen and a draft paper?"
"have."
Meng Yuxiu then squatted down under the wall to help the chubby boy solve the problem.
That's how sales work; no matter how eloquently you describe it, it's not as effective as having a customer come in and experience it for themselves. Other students near the school gate saw someone doing exercises under the wall and curiously gathered around.
Meng Yuxiu explained the problem very seriously and in a way that was easy to understand. Han Shuo took the opportunity to quietly promote his product among the students watching.
"He's from Tianjin University. Look at his college entrance exam scores. Many of our high school classmates asked him for tutoring, and they all got into university..."
After listening to Meng Yuxiu's explanation of the problem, the chubby boy agreed to have extra lessons.
Han Shuo was afraid that the other party would change his mind, so he said to him, "It's not even six o'clock yet. Meng Yuxiu will ride his bicycle to take you home. That way, after you finish your one-hour class, you can have dinner at home and save on bus fare."
The chubby boy asked shyly, "Is this okay?"
"no problem!"
Meng Yuxiu pulled Han Shuo aside, frowning as he asked, "And what about you?"
Han Shuo: "Why are you worried about me? I'll just take the bus home. As for you, you probably won't get home until seven or eight o'clock. If you're hungry, see if there's anything to eat on the street and buy yourself something. Hurry up, don't let this easy opportunity slip away."
Meng Yuxiu thought for a moment, then took out some money from his bag and stuffed it into Han Shuo's hand. He said worriedly, "It's too much trouble to light the stove. Why don't you go downstairs to the noodle shop and order a bowl of noodles?"
Han Shuo accepted the money; if he hadn't, Meng Yuxiu would probably have nagged him for ages.
"Go on, go on." Han Shuo waved to Meng Yuxiu and the chubby boy, "Be careful."
Meng Yuxiu nodded, and the chubby boy sat on the back of the bicycle.
"..." Meng Yuxiu felt as if the bicycle tires had sank down, and he immediately looked down and checked them with a pained expression.
Han Shuo watched Meng Yuxiu's bicycle ride away into the distance. Instead of immediately going to the bus stop, he continued to promote the school at the gate for a while until the gate gradually became deserted before boarding the bus back.
Han Shuo ate all the stewed meat and shrimp from yesterday at noon. After getting off the car, he went to the market to buy some vegetables. When he got home, he started the stove to cook.
The fat boy's address was about two kilometers away from Chang Le Lane where they lived. Han Shuo estimated Meng Yuxiu's tutoring time. After dinner, he put the food in the pot and then placed the pot on the still-heated coal stove.
He went downstairs to take a shower, and when he came back, he sat on the bed stringing beads while waiting for Meng Yuxiu to come home.
Meng Yuxiu arrived at the rented room around 7:30. Han Shuo heard the sound of a bicycle being put down in the hallway and quickly opened the door.
Meng Yuxiu was very happy and walked in with a smile on his face. He took out the tutoring fee he had earned that day from his pocket and handed it to Han Shuo.
Han Shuo, clutching the banknotes, kept praising, "That's really great! Look, you've made the equivalent of me stringing fifty bracelets in just one hour. Come on, sit down, I'll get you some rice!"
Meng Yuxiu looked like a child who had received an award and was being praised by his parents, his expression and eyes showing a hint of pride. When he saw Han Shuo bring the food in from the balcony, he asked, "Didn't you eat noodles downstairs?"
"What's so great about noodles? Nothing beats homemade food." Han Shuo glanced at him. "You didn't buy anything to eat, did you?"
Meng Yuxiu shook his head.
Han Shuo snorted, "I knew it. Hurry up and come eat."
Meng Yuxiu had been starving since noon, and given his physique and the fact that he was still growing, he ate all the remaining rice in the pot.
After he finished eating, he took a shower.
However, when he took his own dirty clothes upstairs and didn't see Han Shuo's dirty clothes, he frowned in dissatisfaction and said, "Han Shuo, did you secretly wash your clothes?"
Seeing the look on his face as if someone had stolen his treasure, Han Shuo couldn't help but laugh and said, "Don't worry, it hasn't been washed yet."
Where?
"It's in our sink downstairs, in the basin, just waiting for you to wash it. Go on!"
A smile returned to Meng Yuxiu's lips as he happily carried his dirty clothes downstairs.
Like every household in the alley, after a busy day, the restlessness of the day in the alley, corridors, and rooms gradually quiets down after nine o'clock.
However, Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu sat on the bed and continued stringing beads for another hour before turning off the lights and going to sleep.
For the next week, both of them found ways to earn money, and every day was busy and fulfilling. Meng Yuxiu would even tutor at home after returning from school, and after tutoring, he would help Han Shuo string beads.
A week later, the military training ended, and Han Shuo was supposed to return to school.
However, Han Shuo planned to bring the cardboard box containing the beads to school as well, to see if he could string two beads together when he had some free time.
During military training, Meng Yuxiu couldn't keep an eye on Han Shuo, who lived in a rented room at school. He was worried that Han Shuo's eyes would get tired from constantly staring at the work, so he refused to let Han Shuo bring his handicrafts to school.
"I said you..." Han Shuo had no choice but to compromise with Meng Yuxiu's stubbornness, "Okay, okay, I'll take half a box with me, or you can give me the whole box. You decide."
Meng Yuxiu frowned deeply and hesitated for a moment before finally separating some beads into another cardboard box.
However, when Han Shuo went out, he discovered that Meng Yuxiu had actually brought out a large number of cardboard boxes.
He asked Meng Yuxiu, "What are you doing?"
Meng Yuxiu said, "I will take this box to school."
"..." Han Shuo laughed in exasperation, "I give up! Fine, fine, you can take them to school to play with."
When Han Shuo arrived at school, he had completely lost his enthusiasm for playing. Back in high school, he would occasionally think about playing basketball, but now all he could think about was making as much money as possible. However, he couldn't play anymore; his belly was getting bigger every day, and sitting for too long made his back ache.
He was engrossed in stringing beads, but as he continued, he kept feeling eyes on him from the side.
He subconsciously turned his head and saw Gao Ze's thick eyebrows and big eyes.
Gao Ze kept glancing at his stomach.
Han Shuo was exasperated. "What are you looking at the most?"
Gao Ze was caught off guard, his expression slightly embarrassed. He quickly turned around and sat upright in his seat. But after a short while, he couldn't help but quietly ask Han Shuo, "Han Shuo..."
"What? Spit it out."
"You...you're really pregnant?" Gao Ze asked, his eyes wide.
"Hmm," Han Shuo replied dismissively.
Gao Ze then asked, as if he were a thief, "Did Meng Yuxiu do it?"
Han Shuo turned his head again, then stared at Gao Ze's face, his facial muscles twitching violently. "What the hell are you talking about? If he didn't do it, did you?"
Gao Ze's mouth dropped open, his expression froze, and then he hurriedly explained, "That's not what I meant, I meant..."
Suddenly, Gao Ze recalled Meng Yuxiu's aloof face and taciturn personality when he was in high school.
Although Meng Yuxiu and Han Shuo were married, Gao Ze couldn't believe that such a cold person could get someone pregnant. He couldn't believe that Meng Yuxiu was also capable of intimate acts, and... Han Shuo was still in college!
Gao Ze couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "I really admire Meng Yuxiu so much, how could he... My God, Han Shuo, why couldn't he just wait until you finished school? Was he in such a hurry?"
"..." Han Shuo said speechlessly, "Isn't it normal to get married and have children? Besides, he's young, energetic, good to his wife, and capable. Why can't he have children?"
Gao Ze nodded and stammered, "That's true, hehe."
Han Shuo shook his head and continued stringing beads.
Gao Ze leaned closer and asked, "Why are you stringing beads?"
"Making money, working part-time while studying."
Gao Ze exclaimed, "Weren't you just saying that Meng Yuxiu was good to you? How come he's making you work part-time?!"
"What are you yelling about?" Han Shuo couldn't stand Gao Ze's loudmouth. "Meng Yuxiu is busy too."
If Han Shuo is already so proactive, Meng Yuxiu will only work even harder.
Dong Xin was increasingly impressed with his new friend. While others were still enjoying the novelty of university life, Meng Yuxiu was skillfully stringing beads with his head down.
Dong Xin called him several times, asking if he wanted to play ball or go to the toilet, but Meng Yuxiu politely declined each time. Then, like a monk who had been away from home for many years, he continued to busy himself with his work.
When Dong Xin chatted with him, he would occasionally respond, but Dong Xin suspected that Meng Yuxiu had no idea what he was saying.
Until he asked, "Meng Yuxiu, I didn't expect you to have a wife at such a young age?"
Meng Yuxiu suddenly stopped what he was doing, looked up at Dong Xin and smiled slightly, "Yes, we just got married this year."
Dong Xin: "You got married quite early."
"It's alright," Meng Yuxiu said. "It's not too early."
Dong Xin looked at the beads in his cardboard box and asked, "Once these bracelets are strung together, can they be sold for money?"
Meng Yuxiu nodded and said, "My wife found this job, so I'll help her with it."
"Stringing these things together must be tiring after a while, right?"
Meng Yuxiu: "Yeah, it's quite tiring. My wife has been doing this for several days, and last night she said her hands were sore."
“Oh…” Dong Xin suddenly felt that Meng Yuxiu was not a man of few words either. “How much can these bracelets sell for? I’m also planning to find a job this semester to support myself.”
Meng Yuxiu suddenly thought of something and asked Dong Xin, "Do you want to make bracelets? Do you want to work for my wife?"
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