Chapter 71
It was getting late. When Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu went downstairs, the first floor was deserted. It was cold, and everyone had gone to bed early after dinner.
That's the downside of rainy days. There are already so many sinks on the first floor, making the ground damp. When it rains, it becomes even worse, like there's water everywhere.
Han Shuo folded his umbrella and made way for Meng Yuxiu to carry his bicycle inside.
Meng Yuxiu carried his bicycle upstairs, then looked back at the wet stairs and worriedly reminded Han Shuo, "Be careful not to slip."
"Don't worry, just take it upstairs quickly."
After a long and tiring day, Meng Yuxiu finally returned to their room after leaving his bicycle in the hallway.
The room was lit by an orange-yellow light, the bed was neat and clean, and a clay stove and a clay pot were placed on the table. In the damp and rainy weather, even just looking at this color scheme seemed to dispel the chill in one's body.
Han Shuo took a towel from the snakeskin bag containing clothes in the corner and called Meng Yuxiu to lower his head, "Come here, let me dry your hair."
"I'll do it myself."
Han Shuo saw that he was still dripping water and that a puddle of water had formed on the ground, so he said, "Oh well, you should just go take a shower. It's no use drying your hair since you're all wet."
As he spoke, he opened the balcony door to fetch the thermos. Meng Yuxiu went outside to the corridor to wring out the rainwater from his clothes and saw Han Shuo carrying two thermos bottles with a noticeable pregnant belly. He quickly went forward and took them from him.
“I’ve boiled four bottles of hot water for you. Wash yourself from head to toe.”
"Okay." Meng Yuxiu quickly carried two thermos bottles downstairs and put them in the bathroom, then went back upstairs and carried the remaining two thermos bottles downstairs.
Han Shuo was carrying a washbasin and a dry towel, about to go up and down the stairs, when Meng Yuxiu quickly called him back to his room.
"Okay, you go ahead and shower. I haven't stewed my fish head tofu yet. I'll go stew it now, so you can eat it right after you shower."
Han Shuo returned to his room, opened the balcony door halfway, and lit the charcoal in the clay stove. Neither he nor Meng Yuxiu were good cooks, but they didn't mind each other; whatever one of them cooked, the other would eat.
When the broth in the clay stove started to simmer and gurgle, Han Shuo lifted the lid, sprinkled in some MSG, and then put the lid aside, letting it simmer in the stove.
When Meng Yuxiu returned from taking a shower downstairs, Han Shuo had already set out the dishes and called him over to eat.
"Don't wash the clothes tonight. It's raining outside anyway, so you can't dry them. Let's do it tomorrow."
"Hmm." Meng Yuxiu closed the door.
Winter does come early in Hecheng. In Yunxi County, it didn't get really cold until almost December, but here it's only November, and the cold rain and wind are already making it feel like winter is coming.
The fish head tofu stew on the clay stove was boiling, filling the small room with white steam. Taking another bite of the smooth tofu felt like the warmth seeped into one's heart, instantly dispelling the chill that Meng Yuxiu had carried from his journey outside.
Han Shuo placed a large piece of fish in his bowl and watched Meng Yuxiu eat. He felt a strange sense of fatherly affection, as if he were watching his own son eat heartily, and he felt extremely satisfied.
"Eat more, don't leave it overnight, otherwise it will be too fishy to eat the next day."
"Okay." Meng Yuxiu placed a piece of fish on Han Shuo's plate. "You eat some too."
After dinner, Meng Yuxiu washed the dishes and came up to find Han Shuo already in bed.
He asked, "Aren't we doing any handicrafts today?"
Han Shuo lifted a corner of the blanket, patted the bed, and urged Meng Yuxiu, "Let's stop now and get a good night's sleep."
The two of them usually stay up until 10 or 11 p.m. when they are busy with handicrafts, so it's rare for them to go to bed so early today.
Meng Yuxiu was quite tired after tutoring in the rain.
Upon hearing Han Shuo say this, he immediately took off his shoes, covered himself with the blanket, and reached out to hug Han Shuo's waist.
Han Shuo picked up the quilt and sniffed it, then said with satisfaction, "I took the quilt out to air it this afternoon. I didn't expect that even though there wasn't much sun, the quilt still has a sunshine smell. Smell it."
Meng Yuxiu also took a sniff and nodded, saying, "Hmm, it smells warm and cozy."
The lights were still on in the room, and the two chatted in bed for a while.
Meng Yuxiu said he plans to quit tutoring and wants to see if he can start a tutoring center, just like he did in the county town, so he won't have to travel all over the city.
In fact, Han Shuo also had this thought, especially after tonight.
He leaned against his pillow, recalling how Meng Yuxiu had cycled home through the cold, rainy streets that night. Even two hours later, the thought of his rain-soaked face still made him uneasy.
With winter approaching, it's raining today, and it'll snow later. How could he bear to let Meng Yuxiu go through all that trouble?
“Okay, that’s what I meant too.” Han Shuo turned his head and sighed. “Every day when you come back from school, sometimes you don’t even have time to eat before you have to tutor. You run from the east side of the city to the west side and come back late. In fact, most of your time is wasted on the road.”
"Mm." Meng Yuxiu hugged Han Shuo tighter and said softly, "I want to have dinner with you."
Upon hearing this, Han Shuo felt that Meng Yuxiu's tone sounded like he was being coquettish. He hugged Meng Yuxiu's waist back and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Okay, okay, let's eat together. Now tell me your plans. What are you going to do with the tutoring center? How are you going to recruit students?"
Meng Yuxiu looked at Han Shuo with some hesitation.
"What's wrong? Why did you stop talking?" Han Shuo asked, puzzled.
Meng Yuxiu frowned and said, "If we open a tutoring class, it will probably cost a lot of money. First of all, our room is too small. We need to rent a spacious room to open a tutoring class. In addition, we will need to buy desks and chairs."
Han Shuo frowned and pondered.
During their time in Hecheng, he did handicrafts, while Meng Yuxiu tutored. Although he developed a network of contacts through handicrafts, sometimes there weren't enough orders from factories, and the small workshops didn't have enough workers to keep up with demand, so they didn't earn much. Meng Yuxiu's tutoring business, however, was quite good. It was just that while they were happy to save money, they felt a pang of regret when spending it.
However, Han Shuo only thought about it for two minutes. After two minutes, he readily said to Meng Yuxiu, "Let's do it! What's there to be afraid of! I still have eight hundred yuan of dowry money. I can just invest it all! Besides, in the 21st century, so many people have made a fortune in tutoring and training. I don't believe we can't make money in this era. Although not many families are wealthy these days, life is always getting better and better, don't you think?"
Meng Yuxiu smiled and nodded. "Mm."
"Come on, tell me your plans." Han Shuo was now full of energy, as if he had been injected with chicken blood. If it weren't for the darkness and rain, he would have gone out to rent a classroom for a tutoring class.
Meng Yuxiu thought for a moment and said, "Let's rent a classroom and buy desks and chairs first. As for enrollment, I'll ask my current tutoring students to help with promotion and introductions. However, since it's the beginning of the tutoring program, I'll be the only one there at the start, so I'm afraid I won't be able to provide one-on-one tutoring."
Han Shuo asked, "Your school has so many top students, do you think you could recruit a few?"
Meng Yuxiu: "I'll ask around. I just don't know how many students I can recruit in the early stages. I'll do it by myself first. If there aren't many students, I'll ask someone from Jinhua to come over. If we don't make any money, I'll feel bad."
Han Shuo nodded. "That's true. We should wait until things are better before inviting them."
Meng Yuxiu said, "I plan to recruit a group of senior high school students first, and then teach them together. However, the fees will not be the same as for one-on-one tutoring."
"Then let's make it cheaper," Han Shuo thought for a moment. "You charge five yuan an hour for home tutoring, but if we put all the students in one class, then... it'll be three yuan an hour. What do you think?"
Meng Yuxiu smiled and nodded, "Okay."
Han Shuo lay on the bed, his mind already racing with daydreams. He smugly imagined, "First, we'll recruit a batch of senior high school students. If business is good, you can go to Jinhua University and hire some top students, and we'll continue recruiting juniors and freshmen. If business is booming, then we'll expand! We'll offer one-on-one tutoring, expert guidance, everything. If we can't fit all the students, we'll rent a large building. Hehe, maybe our educational training institution will be the first of its kind in this century!"
Looking at Han Shuo's smug expression, Meng Yuxiu couldn't help but laugh and said, "But in the future, the teacher training program might be rectified like in our world."
Han Shuo chuckled and pinched Meng Yuxiu's cheek. "Are you stupid? Even if this world is similar to ours, that's so many years in the future! You're eighteen now, but you'll be over forty by then. We'll probably have made enough money to retire..."
Han Shuo was laughing when he suddenly realized something, and his expression slowly turned somber.
"Why think so far ahead?" He sighed deeply, staring at the ceiling. "Anyway, I'm leaving soon."
Han Shuo didn't say anything more, and the room fell silent.
After a long while, he sighed deeply, and casually turned his head, only to find Meng Yuxiu quietly watching him.
Han Shuo suddenly recalled his first encounter with Meng Yuxiu. At that time, Meng Yuxiu was an arrogant young man with unapproachable eyes.
And now, he and Meng Yuxiu were right next to each other, so close that he could see every single one of Meng Yuxiu's long eyelashes, so close that Meng Yuxiu's dark pupils were completely filled with his face, as if every breath they took was witnessing their intimacy.
It was precisely this close bond that gave Han Shuo the strength to support him amidst the anxieties and uncertainties of family relationships.
He touched Meng Yuxiu's slender fingers and felt the wrinkled lines on the other's fingertips, which were left from traveling in the rain and being soaked in the rain for a long time.
Han Shuo gently rubbed his fingers together, a slight soreness welling up inside him.
Are you tired?
Meng Yuxiu gently shook his head on the pillow.
Han Shuo was deeply moved, and he couldn't help but reach out and put his arm around Meng Yuxiu.
"Come here," he whispered, "let me hug you."
With a deep smile in his eyes, Meng Yuxiu also hugged Han Shuo tightly, and casually tucked Han Shuo's two legs between his own.
Han Shuo chuckled and asked, "What?"
Meng Yuxiu looked up and smiled, "To warm you up."
Han Shuo chuckled, "My feet aren't cold, why would I need to warm them?"
"It's a little cold," Meng Yuxiu said. "Let me put some on your plate for you."
"I don't feel cold, let go quickly, be careful your legs get cold."
"No," Meng Yuxiu said stubbornly, like a child. "I'll put it on your plate."
"Okay, okay, I'll put some on your plate." Han Shuo laughed and pulled his head close, giving him a big kiss on the forehead.
Han Shuo was an impatient person. Since he had decided to start a tutoring class, he stopped doing handicrafts for the next few days and went out of the school with Meng Yuxiu to rent classrooms in the streets and alleys of Hecheng.
After several days of investigation and negotiation, the two finally rented a 70-square-meter two-bedroom apartment in a tenement building near the city center. Since it was a privately owned house and the location was good, the rent was 120 yuan a month.
Although it hurt to pay, the couple still paid the rent on the spot because there were several high schools nearby and the location was good. However, after paying three months' rent plus the deposit, the bride price was instantly reduced by more than half.
As Han Shuo came downstairs with the keys in his pocket, he kept rubbing his chest to ease the pain.
Seeing him grimacing and contorting in pain, Meng Yuxiu, fearing he might choke, could only pat his back repeatedly to help him catch his breath.
"We'll earn it back later."
Han Shuo let out a deep breath and nodded. "We have to earn it back for him, we have to make a big profit!"
"Um!"
On Friday, he and Meng Yuxiu arranged to go to the flea market to find tables and chairs. They couldn't afford new ones, so as long as the tables and chairs were functional, they could always replace them when business improved.
The young couple had already discussed it and decided that if the tutoring center succeeded, they would hand it over to Meng's father and Han Hong to manage before the baby was born next year.
After class, Han Shuo packed his bag and walked towards the school gate, his pregnant belly protruding. Gao Ze, having nothing to do, chatted with Han Shuo as they walked.
Han Shuo had previously assigned the handicraft work to Gao Ze and his roommates. After tasting the sweetness of making money, Gao Ze and his friends kept clamoring for Han Shuo to give them more work.
However, the factory has had fewer orders recently, and with the classroom rentals to pay, Han Shuo hasn't assigned them any work these past few days.
Han Shuo walked to the front door and said to Gao Ze, "Next time, if there's work to be done next time, I'll definitely call you."
Gao Ze: "Okay, mainly because my roommates keep asking me what else I can do if there's no handicraft work. Can you help us take a look?"
As Gao Ze spoke, he raised his thick eyebrows and big eyes and smiled shyly, "Han Shuo, ever since we started doing handicrafts with you, the rest of us have dared to order braised pork in the cafeteria."
Han Shuo laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "Okay, got it!"
Gao Ze stood and chatted with him for a while longer before preparing to return to his dormitory. Han Shuo stared at his tall figure and suddenly thought of something.
"Hey Gao Ze!"
Gao Ze ran over again, "What's wrong?"
Han Shuo asked him, "I do have a job right now, do you want to do it?"
Gao Ze's eyes lit up. "Of course we'll do it! Is there even a question?"
Han Shuo told Gao Ze that he and Meng Yuxiu were going to start a tutoring class and asked Gao Ze to be their salesperson.
Gao Ze asked, confused, "How do I become a salesperson?"
Han Shuo: "Isn't this a simple matter? When you have free time, go to the high schools in Hecheng to recruit students. You'll get a commission for every student you recruit."
Gao Ze became interested and excitedly asked, "How much commission do you get?"
Han Shuo suddenly had an idea. He had been thinking about recruiting top students for tutoring at Jinhua University, so he hadn't considered Gao Ze, whose grades were only average. Now he thought that instead of having him brag at school, it would be better to have him recruit students outside the university.
Han Shuo: "Tsk, would I treat you badly? I'll go home and talk to Meng Yuxiu about it with you later."
Gao Ze nodded excitedly, "Hey Han Shuo, now that you're the boss, can you give me a position too? Can I bring all my roommates along?"
Han Shuo smiled and glanced at him, "Alright! How about I make you the admissions director then?"
"Director?" Gao Ze was overjoyed. "That sounds so prestigious! Okay, okay, I'll be the director!"
Meng Yuxiu hadn't arrived yet, but now that they had their first soldier, Han Shuo felt it was time to assign him some tasks.
He said to Gao Ze, "We've rented a room to use as a classroom, and we're going to the secondhand market to buy desks and chairs later. You're the admissions director now, why don't you come with us?"
"Absolutely!" Gao Ze happily raised his hands and threw a basket at the air.
The two waited at the school gate for a while before Meng Yuxiu arrived on his bicycle.
"Meng Yuxiu," Gao Ze greeted him.
Meng Yuxiu stopped his bicycle and said to Gao Ze, "Gao Ze, thank you for taking care of Han Shuo for me at school."
Gao Ze said generously, "We all came from the same high school, and I'm your best man, so don't be so formal."
"Okay." Meng Yuxiu nodded slightly, then looked at Han Shuo. "Let's go."
Gao Ze was already excited and eager to try.
Han Shuo gestured with his chin toward Gao Ze, then said to Meng Yuxiu, "I've made Gao Ze our admissions director. He'll be leading his dorm to promote admissions at high schools in Hecheng. Oh, and he'll come with us to the flea market to help move tables and chairs."
Gao Ze nodded repeatedly from the side.
Meng Yuxiu thought this was a good idea. Without Gao Ze and the others joining in, he and Han Shuo would probably have to take time to recruit students. If he started tutoring, he wouldn't feel comfortable letting Han Shuo recruit students alone.
"Thank you, Gao Ze," Meng Yuxiu said.
Gao Ze waved his hands repeatedly, "No need to thank me, you'll be my boss from now on, hehe."
"Okay." Meng Yuxiu nodded and said, "Then let's set off."
Gao Ze: "Okay, okay."
With Gao Ze added to the group, Han Shuo told Gao Ze to take the bus.
Gao Ze said he didn't bring any money.
Han Shuo pulled out some banknotes from his pocket, but nobody knew which bus route he would have to take to get from Hecheng University to the secondhand market.
Gao Ze went to the guardhouse to inquire, and when he returned, he was told that it would take three transfers to get there.
Han Shuo was overwhelmed by the route. He was worried that the secondhand market would close if he kept going, so he looked at Meng Yuxiu's bicycle.
Meng Yuxiu followed Han Shuo's gaze and looked down at his bicycle.
Gao Ze also looked over.
Han Shuo hesitated and discussed with Meng Yuxiu, "How about... we let Gao Ze ride a bicycle too?"
Meng Yuxiu's bicycle was a 28-inch model, and since it had that front bar, it must have served a purpose.
However, Meng Yuxiu frowned and hesitated, asking, "...Will it work?"
"Give it a try," Han Shuo asked him. "I'm just worried that you might not be able to handle it."
Meng Yuxiu answered uncertainly, "Let's give it a try."
The two of them looked at Gao Ze at the same time.
Gao Ze glanced at the bar in front of him, then at Han Shuo's large belly. He knew he couldn't let Han Shuo sit in front with his big belly, so he went around to the front of Meng Yuxiu and moved his own bottom up there.
The moment he moved the car onto the crossbar, Meng Yuxiu felt as if the front of the car almost flew off.
Gao Ze, with his large frame hunched over in front, turned his head and smiled at Meng Yuxiu and Han Shuo, "Alright, I'm sitting tight."
"Alright then." Han Shuo then sat down in the back.
Aside from Han Ting, Meng Yuxiu had never carried such a huge load on the bar in front of him before, so much so that when Han Shuo sat down and urged him to hurry up, he was already exhausted.
Meng Yuxiu pressed the pedal hard, but it wouldn't go down.
Gao Ze turned his head and asked, "Aren't you leaving?"
Meng Yuxiu: "Right away."
Han Shuo asked from behind, "Is it okay?"
Meng Yuxiu nodded, and finally gritted his teeth and pedaled the bicycle up in one go.
Along the way, the muscles in his arms and legs reached their limit. If he were to take off his clothes at this moment, he would definitely have an excellent physique from the gym, with a perfect V-shaped torso, biceps, chest, abs, and even V-line.
He rode until his eyes were spinning, finally arriving at the flea market. After Gao Ze and Han Shuo got off, he kept his mouth tightly shut, his nostrils flaring with heavy breathing.
Gao Ze walked in front, while Meng Yuxiu followed behind, dragging his bicycle.
Han Shuo noticed that he kept looking down at the bicycle.
"What are you looking at?"
Meng Yuxiu said with concern, "It feels like the bicycle is broken."
Han Shuo quickly looked down and checked it over. "It's not broken."
"When I was riding my bike just now, I felt that the wheel was deformed."
Han Shuo looked down to check again, "Isn't it fine? Both wheels are round and not deformed."
Meng Yuxiu continued dragging the bicycle, head down, inspecting it, muttering to himself, "I have a feeling it's broken... If it's broken, my dad will scold me for being wasteful..."
Han Shuo clicked his tongue and whispered, "Alright, stop whispering. If Gao Ze hears us, he'll think his butt broke our bicycle, and that we invited him to ride on it."
"All right."
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