Chapter 22: Seeing How Many Are Ungrateful Wretches

After Teacher Ke was hired by the County No. 2 Middle School, her relationship with the other teachers of the repeat classes was lukewarm. Primarily, her status was still ambiguous, and everyone operated under the principle that it was better to avoid trouble, keeping a deliberate distance. Furthermore, teachers like Mr. Luo held formal tenured positions, while Teacher Ke was a hired "temporary worker," creating a somewhat subtle dynamic.

However, once Li Ye’s exercise book was exposed, the teachers all shed their pretenses and sought Teacher Ke’s help. Li Ye’s book contained practice problems for mathematics, physics, and chemistry, and every subject featured questions that struck the teachers as both novel and ingenious.

"Teacher Ke is truly worthy of being a college student from the sixties. She’s not just brilliant at English; she’s a polymath..."

"Teacher Ke, please help these children! Their pressure is immense; for every set of problems you provide, their chances of passing the exam increase by a fraction..."

Teacher Ke replied with calm grace, "I did indeed provide Li Ye with a few sets of problems. Since they have proven effective, I shall contribute my share of effort."

However, when Teacher Ke took the exercise book from Li Ye, her expression shifted sharply, though she quickly regained her composure. She had assumed the problems Mr. Luo and the others were talking about were the ones she had given Li Ye so he could "exchange ideas" with her daughter. But now, looking at them, something felt strangely off.

Still, as a college student from twenty years prior, Teacher Ke soon grasped the sophistication of the problems in Li Ye’s book.

"These problems are not simple."

Teacher Ke reached that conclusion immediately. How could they be simple, when they were the product of forty years of accumulated experience in exam-oriented education? Though seemingly just a few problems, they covered a vast array of knowledge points and were far better structured for student mastery—leaps and bounds ahead of the level seen in the eighties, when the college entrance exam had only just been reinstated and was still in its experimental stages.

Teacher Ke calmed her mind, carefully absorbing the essence of the problem types, and then attempted to compose some of her own. Yet, after writing a few, she couldn't help but feel discouraged. She had intended to absorb the essence of Li Ye’s book, combine it with her own experience, and create a fresh set of questions in her own style. But when she actually set out to write, she found she couldn't bypass Li Ye’s logic; at most, she could only change the numbers or tweak the wording—the core of the problems remained firmly his.

*Am I to "borrow" from that child?*

"Borrowing" was a polite term; to put it bluntly, it was "plagiarism." Think about it: Li Ye had provided these problems for her daughter, and if she turned around and changed a few numbers to pass them off as her own work to students, wouldn't she be a laughingstock? Teacher Ke was a cultured person with talent and character, and she still had a thin skin.

Hesitant, she spoke with her daughter that evening. Wen Leyu, who had no defenses against her mother, proudly brought out several more exercise books from her schoolbag. Teacher Ke was utterly defeated, though she was also deeply curious about where Li Ye had obtained such innovative test questions.

"Mom, what are you doing?"

Wen Leyu, sharp and clever, quickly sensed something was wrong, as if her own private treasure were about to be touched by others.

Teacher Ke said calmly, "The school has entrusted me to create some test questions to help the students in the class improve their scores. I want to look at these books to learn from the experience."

Wen Leyu instinctively disliked the idea, but since these were Li Ye’s things, she could only say, "You have to discuss that with Li Ye. Some people in the class say nasty things all day; don't be kind only to be met with ingratitude."

Teacher Ke’s gaze flickered. "That goes without saying. But what kind of nasty things are they saying?"

Wen Leyu said angrily, "They say Li Ye is like Huang Shiren... that he secretly copied our problems, and they even say we’re stingy..."

Listening to her daughter prattle on for so long left Teacher Ke both delighted and worried. How long had it been since the little girl had spoken so much in one breath? Yet, considering the entanglement between Li Ye and Lu Jingyao, Teacher Ke felt a sense of helplessness.

*Li Ye is studying English so hard; he must be doing it for Lu Jingyao’s sake. If, in the future...*

If Li Ye knew what Teacher Ke was thinking, he would surely cry out in injustice. But no one around them believed that Li Ye, having fallen so deeply in love, would ever give up on Lu Jingyao—after all, her appearance better fit the aesthetic standards of this era.

...

The next day, Teacher Ke came to discuss the matter with Li Ye. She believed that these problems were resources Li Ye had acquired through family connections with great difficulty. The college entrance exam was like a thousand troops crossing a single-log bridge; no one wanted the advantages meant for their own children to be shared with others. Therefore, she felt she had to obtain Li Ye’s consent and make it clear that the contribution was his.

"Li Ye, Mr. Luo showed me your exercise book yesterday, and you told him that I was the one who gave you the problems. You’ve put me on the spot! Do you think you could share your problems with everyone? Of course, I will make it clear that it is all your credit..."

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said, "Alright then. Let’s release a portion of them first and see, then we’ll decide."

Teacher Ke immediately caught the nuance. "Release a portion and see? See what?"

Li Ye smiled and said, "See how many people are ungrateful wretches."

...

At noon in the County No. 2 Middle School cafeteria, a long line waited for food. Li Ye, feeling hungry enough to eat a horse, stood in the back, shuffling forward silently.

Someone once said that eating big chunks of meat and drinking from big bowls was for the young and strong, while being picky about fine food was for the old and frail. Li Ye was currently in the stage of being "strong and robust, enough to eat a rich man into poverty."

Furthermore, the saying went that "the scholar is poor, the martial artist is rich." Unlike children who had sat on benches reading books since they were small, Li Ye had practiced martial arts with his grandfather since childhood, which had forged his digestive system to be exceptionally robust and his appetite huge. Especially since transmigrating, Li Ye felt his body was like a bottomless pit; no matter how much nutrition he poured in, it was quickly absorbed, and his physical strength, agility, and endurance were all steadily and covertly improving. The cost of this was simple: he was prone to hunger, often starving before mealtime.

With his stomach pressed against his spine from hunger, Li Ye felt he could eat a whole cow if it were placed in front of him.

The County No. 2 Middle School cafeteria didn't have cows, only three dishes served in large aluminum basins.

"One portion of cabbage, one portion of potatoes, and one portion of radish stewed with meat."

After finally reaching the window, Li Ye ordered one of everything. The eyes of the surrounding students immediately converged on him, mostly with looks of "that rich landlord’s son is so wasteful."

The cook, seeing it was Li Ye, smiled and said, "Cabbage is five cents, potatoes six, radish with meat is twelve. Do you want steamed buns?"

"I'll take two buns."

Li Ye fished out a stack of meal tickets from his pocket and began to count. In this day and age, meal tickets were exchanged for money and grain coupons; many students lived counting every single ticket, and there were very few who ate as freely as Li Ye.

But who was Li Ye? Even the Orcs knew what was needed to "never be a slave." Was he, a dignified transmigrator, supposed to starve his own stomach? What a joke.

Li Ye carried his overflowing, large enamel mug through the crowd, met with a collective look of astonishment and the sound of people swallowing their saliva.

*What a resource-deprived era this is! Just one dish with meat makes them this greedy. If they had two roast chickens every meal... well, that would be a bit extravagant.*

"Brother, what's gotten into you lately? Your appetite is rising uncontrollably!"

"Oh, give it a rest! You're a glutton yourself, isn't your appetite big enough?"

Li Dayong followed him with two portions of potatoes. Despite his bear-like frame, his appetite couldn't keep up with Li Ye’s anymore. Li Ye naturally wouldn't tell him about the changes in his body, so he just brushed it off.

The school had no dedicated tables for students; there were only the serving windows, so students either squatted outside or ate in the classroom. Li Ye and Li Dayong were eating in the classroom when the study committee member, Jin Shengli, walked over.

With a solemn face, he said, "Li Ye, I must have a word with you."

Li Ye stopped his spoon and said coolly, "Talk about what?"

Jin Shengli swallowed hard and said, "I think your deliberate actions targeting Xia Yue are highly inappropriate. Our class originally had a very good, unified atmosphere, but look at it now—it's falling apart..."

In truth, the repeat class wasn't very unified, but it was just a rift between two groups. After Li Ye produced the practice problems, most of the class benefited, but Li Dayong’s "strict gatekeeping" had isolated the small group led by Xia Yue and Jin Shengli. Xia Yue was extremely "tough," and her grudge against Li Ye grew deeper, but Jin Shengli couldn't sit still. As the study committee member, he felt he had the ability and responsibility to guide Li Ye, who was on the wrong path, back to the right one for the sake of the class’s collective progress.

"Falling apart?" Li Ye interrupted with a laugh. "How do I not see it falling apart? And even if it were, what does that have to do with me?"

"How can you say that? We all gathered here from all over the place to study. If anyone has any learning resources, they should share them. We did that before, but Li Ye... you are just too selfish."

Li Ye smiled without speaking, but Li Dayong’s booming voice broke in.

"Jin Shengli, can you stop spouting nonsense? Last time you got test papers from the No. 1 Middle School, did you let us copy them? Did Xia Yue let us see the notes she got from Lu Jingyao?"

"..."

Jin Shengli’s face turned red, and he stammered, unable to speak. Everyone had already been through one cruel college entrance exam and knew how dangerous the single-log bridge was. If he couldn't even stand firm himself, how could he really practice "resource sharing"?

However, just as Jin Shengli was at a loss for words, Li Ye said, "Fine, I have already handed the problems over to the school. Everyone will have papers to work on soon."

Jin Shengli was overjoyed. "Really?"

Li Ye nodded. "Really!"

Jin Shengli nodded repeatedly. "Thank you, Li Ye. You really are a good person."

"..."

After Jin Shengli left, Li Dayong said impatiently, "Brother, don't trust people like that. They are the most selfish ones..."

Li Ye smiled and said, "Do you know what it means to say, 'It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality'?"

Li Dayong stared blankly for a long time before giving a thumbs up, imitating the sycophants in the movies. "Brother, that’s deep, truly deep."