Chapter 23 Still Need to Make Money
The first snow of 1981 finally fell.
The biting wind and snow howled past, and overnight, the land felt the chill of winter.
With great willpower, Li Ye shook off the temptation of the warm bed, put on his clothes quickly, and walked out of the dormitory to the classroom in the cold wind.
It’s cold. Too cold.
Only now did Li Ye understand the meaning of "climate warming" in later generations. Qingshui County could only be barely regarded as a "northern city", but the temperature often dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius, which was very rare in later generations.
Moreover, the heating conditions in this era are even more scarce.
There was no heating equipment in the dormitory of the County No. 2 Middle School. At night, the temperature was so high that not only did the water freeze, but even the walls were covered with frost.
The boarding students covered themselves with quilts and pretended to be cuckoos, suffering in endless agony.
The stove in the classroom is basically a face-saving project. The daily quota is just a handful of firewood and a few pounds of coal cakes, and it's gone in the blink of an eye.
But even such harsh conditions cannot stop students' enthusiasm for learning.
When it was dawn, some students started studying in the classroom. Those like Li Ye who came just when the bell rang were all lazy people with no future.
However, as soon as Li Ye sat down at his seat, several people came over.
"Brother, can you tell me about these questions after dinner?"
Li Dayong handed two still hot steamed buns and half a pot of warm water to Li Ye, and then waited by the side with a test paper.
The County No. 2 Middle School does not provide breakfast, and the steamed buns were from last night. If you want to heat them up while the stove is still smoking, you’d need to be able to squeeze into a bus at Bawangfen.
While eating a steamed bun, Li Ye took out his own test paper and threw it over, saying, "Check your answers first, and ask if you don't understand."
Li Dayong and others quickly took the papers and gathered together to copy and discuss.
After Li Ye finished his meal, squad leader Hu Man quickly handed Li Ye a bottle of water to warm his hands, and then placed the test paper with the questions marked in front of Li Ye.
The hot water in the bottles is saved by everyone, and it can be around 70 or 80 degrees, which is a luxury in this weather and conditions.
"This set of questions is actually not difficult, let's take a look at it first."
Li Ye put the thermos in his arms and warmed his hands while he quickly finished explaining the problem before sending Hu Man, Fu Yingjie and others away.
The test papers were distributed during the evening study session yesterday. He and Wen Leyu had finished them long ago, but Li Dayong and the others had a much harder time.
But Li Dayong and Fu Yingjie were not the ones who had the most difficulty. The ones who had the most difficulty were Xia Yue, Jin Shengli and others who claimed to be the "top students".
When Teacher Ke handed out the test paper with novel questions, Xia Yue and others felt relieved and proud after feeling depressed for many days.
Although Teacher Ke emphasized that "it was Li Ye who provided the test papers and the school printed them", they felt that it was the school that provided these valuable test papers and had nothing to do with Li Yemao, and they did not owe Li Ye any favors.
Xia Yue and others held their breath, vowing to prove who in the class was the "academic master".
But the reality is very cruel. After only two days, Xia Yue and others were hit hard.
Teacher Ke usually hands out the papers during self-study class, and Li Ye and Wen Leyu will finish all of them before the class is over.
As a result, even on the next day, Xia Yue, Jin Shengli and others were still worrying about the difficult questions on the test paper!
When this time comes, Hu Man, Li Dayong and others will go to Li Ye to discuss the questions, and then discuss and share with other students.
However, the scope of this discussion and sharing automatically stopped when it reached Xia Yue and others.
Everyone seemed to have a tacit understanding and drew a clear line between themselves and the small circle of Xia Yue and others.
Even Hu Man, the squad leader with the best temper, was stern with Xia Yue and the others, and rejected their "requests" neither softly nor harshly.
"What's the point of eating and chewing like a baby all day long?"
At this point, Xia Yue and Jin Shengli could only talk tough, but one moment they laughed at Hu Man and the others for "taking advantage of Li Ye", and the next moment they had no choice but to go to the teacher for advice. It was obviously the same routine, but they still felt they were a step ahead of Hu Man and the others.
Li Ye doesn't want to pay attention to them now. When he gets used to the happiness of doing papers every day, and suddenly there are no papers to do, his true heart will be reflected.
. . . . . .
When school was about to end at noon, a teacher suddenly came to the repeat class to look for Li Ye.
"Li Ye, Li Ye, your family is here to see you, waiting at the school gate!"
"My family?"
Li Ye was a little confused and walked out quickly.
He was afraid that something urgent might happen at home.
Li Dayong also thought of this and hurriedly followed.
Today is Sunday. No one is in class except for the repeater class. The empty campus is covered in white snow, which can be seen from far away at a glance.
From a distance, Li Ye saw a small figure at the school gate, stamping her feet and jumping high due to the cold. It turned out to be his adopted sister Li Juan.
Li Juan was carrying a large bag and huddled up in the cold wind, looking even thinner, weaker and more lonely.
Li Ye quickly shouted: "Xiaojuan, what's wrong?"
Li Juan heard Li Ye's call, but did not reply immediately. She just jumped hard and smiled at Li Ye.
Li Ye hurried to the door and asked, "Xiaojuan, why are you here? Is there something urgent at home?"
Li Juan quickly shook her head and said, "It's okay, it's okay. You should have gone home yesterday to get your living expenses. My mother saw that you didn't go back, so she asked me to bring you some cotton clothes and a mattress.
Grandpa gave me a pair of suede cotton shoes, and I sent them to you as well. It’s just right to wear two pairs alternately.”
Li Ye felt warm in his heart and quickly reached out to take the bag from Li Juan's back. Only then did he realize that the entire right side of Li Juan's body was soaked in sewage and covered with ice.
Moreover, Li Juan walked through the snow from the west to the east of the city. She must have stepped into snow puddles, and her cloth cotton shoes were already soaked.
He hurriedly asked: "Where did you fall? Are you injured? Your cotton shoes are soaked, are you frozen to death?"
Li Juan shook her head like a rattle: "No, no, brother, I'm really fine. It doesn't matter if my cotton shoes are soaked. I can just go back and warm myself by the fire."
Li Ye felt distressed and asked again: "Why don't you come in to find me? Why are you standing here in the cold wind? If you really can't make it, you can go into the message room and wait for me!"
Li Juan shrank her neck and whispered, "They won't let me in."
"You're not allowed in?"
Li Ye was a little puzzled and turned to look at the message room at the school gate.
Although the school has regulations prohibiting outsiders from entering or leaving the school, the school has always turned a blind eye. Who can be so upright and firm in this kind of weather?
And looking at the chimney of the message room, it is obvious that there is a stove inside. Logically speaking, a little girl is so cold, anyone should let her go in to warm up. Why let this child be outside in the cold wind?
The person in the message room happened to look outside, made eye contact with Li Ye, rolled his eyes, curled his lips, and turned his head back.
This is interesting.
Li Ye was about to go over and ask a few questions, but Li Dayong pulled his arm.
"The gatekeeper, Old Liu, is a distant relative of Xia Yue. He's probably looking for trouble!"
Well, it turns out it’s my own fault.
Li Ye thought about it and gave up the idea of stepping on the stinky dog shit. It wouldn't kill it if he stepped on it, and the stinky poop on the soles of his shoes would make him feel disgusted.
He handed the bag to Li Dayong and said, "Let's go! I'll take you to eat first."
Li Juan hurriedly shook her head and took out a wad of money from her pocket: "No, no, my mother is waiting for me to go back for dinner. This is your living expenses for this month."
But Li Ye ignored Li Juan's objection and pulled her arm and walked out.
At this time, the window of the message room was suddenly pushed open, and a middle-aged man said with a sullen face: "School is not over yet! Are you going to skip school?"
Li Ye turned his head and glanced at him, cursing, "What does it have to do with you? Just keep an eye on your gate, don't let anyone steal it."
"Who are you scolding? Come back here! I'll tell your class teacher and ask your parents to come."
Old Liu was furious and stretched his neck to yell at Li Ye, but Li Ye ignored him and walked away with his sister.
If it were any other student, they might really be intimidated by this old man, but Li Ye, who had lived two lives, knew all these intricacies too well.
The more timid you are, the more arrogant he becomes. He really thinks he is a big shot.
They were just using chicken feathers as a token of authority to create trouble. If they really dared to go to the Academic Affairs Office and ask Li Ye to call his parents, Li Ye would call his grandfather over and give him a good scolding.
You dare to let my granddaughter stamp her feet in the cold outside the door? Did you give me the affordable grain for free a few days ago?
. . . .
A few hundred meters east of the County No. 2 Middle School, there is a state-owned mutton soup restaurant. It is almost noon and it is Sunday, and the steaming aroma can be smelled from far away.
Li Juan didn't have the heart to argue with Li Ye at the moment. She was lucky enough to stop drooling.
After entering the mutton soup restaurant, Li Ye bought two bowls of mutton soup and a pile of meat buns, and started eating with Li Juan.
Li Juan was a little hesitant at first, but after drinking half a bowl of mutton soup and breaking out in sweat, she began to wolf it down.
Li Ye watched the little girl eat the steamed buns and mutton soup, even drinking up the soup base. It turned out that her appetite was not much less than his own.
Li Ye stood up and was about to buy more, but Li Juan quickly stopped him: "Don't buy anymore, brother. I can't eat any more. I really can't eat any more."
Li Ye waved his hand: "I'm not full either, buy another bowl and we can share it."
Li Juan then stopped and waited for Li Ye to buy it back. After a while, she started eating again, not knowing whether her little stomach was full or not.
Seeing Li Juan burping comfortably, Li Ye asked with a smile: "How long has it been since you had meat at home?"
Li Juan held up a finger and said, "I haven't seen you in person for a week."
“.”
Li Ye touched the stack of money in his pocket and felt secretly ashamed.
His father gave him 20 yuan a month for living expenses, his grandfather gave him another 10 yuan, and his sister added 5 yuan, so the living expenses he received this time totaled 35 yuan.
A pound of meat is only 80 cents now, and even if you eat it every day for 35 yuan, you still can't finish it.
But my family hasn't had meat for a week. I'm really being too much of a parasite.
"Come on, I'll take you to buy a pair of cotton shoes."
After the brother and sister had eaten and drunk their fill, Li Ye planned to take Li Juan to buy a pair of suede cotton shoes at noon.
Li Juan came today walking on the snow. After staying in the mutton soup restaurant for a while, all the ice on the surface of her shoes melted. Just thinking about how that felt, it really makes people feel sad.
At this moment, both the Labor Protection Service Center and the Military Service Center have suede cotton shoes for sale, which can protect against snow and moisture. A pair costs only a dozen yuan, so Li Ye can still afford them.
Li Ye thought that the timid Li Juan might still refuse, but after hearing what Li Juan said, she did not refuse immediately.
She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Brother, I don't need to wear leather cotton shoes, but Xiaoying's feet are frozen every year, buy her a pair!"
Li Ye felt a pang in his heart and had the idea of "making money".
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(End of this chapter)
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