Chapter 23: Still Need to Make Money

The first snowfall of ’81 finally came down.

The biting wind and snow howled through the night, and in a single night, the land was thoroughly chilled by the cold of winter.

With great determination, Li Ye shook off the temptation of the warm quilt, quickly dressed with a shiver, and braved the biting cold as he left the dormitory for the classroom.

Cold. Bitterly cold.

Only now did Li Ye truly understand the future concept of “global warming.” Qingshui County could barely be considered a northern city, yet temperatures often plunged below minus twenty degrees—a rarity in later eras.

Moreover, heating conditions in this time were severely lacking.

The dormitories at County No. 2 High School had no heating at all. At night, the cold was so intense that not only would water freeze instantly, frost even formed on the walls.

Boarding students huddled under their blankets like winter birds, enduring the bitter torment.

In the classroom, the stove was mostly for show. Each day’s allocation was just a handful of firewood and a few pounds of coal briquettes, which barely smoked before burning out.

Yet, such hardship could not dampen the students’ passion for learning.

By dawn, some students were already self-studying in the classroom. Li Ye, who just made it by the bell, was looked down upon as a lazy “slacker.”

No sooner had Li Ye settled into his seat than a few classmates gathered around him.

“Brother, can you explain these problems to me after breakfast?”

Li Dayong handed Li Ye two still-warm roasted buns and half a jar of lukewarm water, clutching a test paper as he waited nearby.

County No. 2 High School did not provide breakfast; the buns were leftover from last night. To toast them while the stove still smoked required a skill akin to squeezing onto the bus at Eight Kings’ Tomb.

Li Ye munched on a bun and tossed his own test paper over, saying, “Check the answers yourself first. Ask if you don’t understand.”

Li Dayong and the others eagerly grabbed the papers, huddling to copy and discuss.

When Li Ye finished eating, the class monitor Hu Man quickly handed him a hot water bottle for warming his hands, then placed a marked test paper in front of him.

The hot water inside was saved and shared by everyone, still about seventy or eighty degrees—a luxury in such weather and conditions.

“This set of problems isn’t hard. Let’s look at…” Li Ye tucked the hot water bottle into his chest, warming his hands as he swiftly explained the questions, then sent Hu Man, Fu Yingjie, and the others on their way.

The test paper had been handed out during last night’s study session, and he and Wen Leyu had finished it long ago. But Li Dayong and the others struggled greatly.

Yet they were not the most challenged—those were the so-called “top students” from Class One, like Xia Yue and Jin Shengli.

When Teacher Ke distributed the uniquely styled papers, Xia Yue and her crew felt a surge of pride after days of frustration.

Though Teacher Ke emphasized that these papers were provided by Li Ye and printed by the school, they believed they came from the school itself, not Li Ye, and thus owed him nothing.

Bristling with suppressed resentment, Xia Yue and the others vowed to prove who truly was the “academic ace” of Class One.

But reality was harsh. Within two days, they were disheartened.

Teacher Ke typically handed out the papers during self-study periods, and before the session ended, Li Ye and Wen Leyu had finished them all.

Meanwhile, Xia Yue and Jin Shengli were still struggling with the toughest questions the next day.

At this point, Hu Man, Li Dayong, and the others would seek Li Ye’s help with the problems, then share and discuss with classmates.

Yet this sharing stopped at Xia Yue’s circle, as if by silent agreement, drawing a clear boundary.

Even the mild-tempered Hu Man refused their requests with neither softness nor harshness.

“Always spoon-fed like babies—what use is that?”

Now, Xia Yue and Jin Shengli were left only with empty bravado. They mocked Hu Man and the others for “eating off Li Ye’s leftovers,” but in the next breath, they had to ask the teacher for help themselves—same method, yet they still felt superior.

Li Ye no longer cared to engage with them. Only when he grew used to the daily joy of solving papers would he see people’s true nature when the tests suddenly disappeared.

—

Near noon on a Sunday, a teacher suddenly came looking for Li Ye in the repeating class.

“Li Ye! Your family is here, waiting at the school gate!”

“My family?” Li Ye was puzzled and hurried out, afraid something urgent had happened at home.

Li Dayong, realizing the same, quickly followed.

It was Sunday. Apart from the repeat class, no one else was around. The campus lay blanketed in snow, easy to spot anyone from afar.

Far off, Li Ye saw a small figure at the school gate, stamping feet and hopping in the cold—it was his younger sister, Li Juan.

She carried a large bundle, shivering in the biting wind, her small frame appearing even more fragile and alone.

Li Ye called out, “Little Juan, what are you doing here?”

Li Juan heard him but didn’t reply immediately, instead hopping harder and smiling at him.

Li Ye hurried to the gate. “Why did you come? Is there an emergency at home?”

She shook her head quickly. “No, no emergency. Yesterday you should have come home for living expenses. Mom saw you didn’t, so she sent me to bring you some cotton clothes and a quilt. Grandpa sent a pair of shearling boots too. You can alternate wearing both pairs.”

Li Ye’s heart warmed. He reached out to take the bundle from her back and noticed her entire right side was soaked with dirty water, frozen with ice crystals.

Likely, she had walked from the west side of town to the east, stepping into deep snowdrifts and soaking through her fabric boots.

He hurriedly asked, “Where did you fall? Are you hurt? Your boots are soaked—aren’t you freezing?”

Li Juan shook her head like a rattle. “No, no, Brother, I’m really fine… Soaking boots don’t matter. I’ll warm up by the fire when I get back.”

Li Ye felt a pang of concern. “Then why didn’t you come inside to find me? Why stand out here in the cold? You could wait in the security office!”

Li Juan shrank her neck and whispered, “They wouldn’t let me in.”

“They wouldn’t let you in?”

Li Ye frowned and looked at the security office by the gate.

Though the school rules forbade outsiders, they usually turned a blind eye. Who would be so rigid in this weather?

And the chimney smoke showed there was a stove inside. Anyone seeing a little girl frozen outside would surely let her in to warm up. Why was she forced to stand in the chill?

Just then, the security guard glanced out, locked eyes with Li Ye, rolled his eyes, smirked, and turned away.

Now this was interesting.

Li Ye took a step forward to ask, but Li Dayong tugged his arm.

“That old Liu at the gate is a distant relative of Xia Yue. Probably just looking for trouble.”

So it was his fault after all.

Li Ye thought it over and abandoned the thought of stomping on the foul mess—stepping on it wouldn’t kill, but the stinking filth on the sole was disgusting.

He handed the bundle to Li Dayong. “Let’s go. I’ll take you to eat first.”

Li Juan shook her head, pulling out a wad of money. “No, no. Mom’s waiting for me to eat. This is your living expense for the month.”

But Li Ye ignored her protests, grabbing her arm and heading out.

—

At that moment, the security office window suddenly slid open. A grumpy older man scowled, “School’s not out yet! You’re trying to skip class?”

Li Ye glanced back and cursed, “None of your business! Watch your gate so no one steals it.”

“Who are you cursing? Come back here! I’ll tell your homeroom teacher… have your parents come…”

Old Liu roared, stretching his neck and shouting at Li Ye, who ignored him and pulled his sister away.

Other students might have been intimidated, but having lived two lives, Li Ye knew all these tricks.

The more you back down, the bolder they get, thinking they’re important.

They were just petty troublemakers, wielding petty authority. If they dared escalate to the academic office to summon his parents, Li Ye would call his grandfather to come and give them a good dressing down.

How dare they leave his granddaughter freezing outside? Hadn’t they given away discounted grain the other day?

…

A few hundred meters east of County No. 2 High School was a state-run lamb soup restaurant. Near noon on a Sunday, steam and aroma wafted from afar.

Li Juan no longer had the energy to talk with Li Ye, just keeping her mouth from watering.

Inside, Li Ye bought two bowls of lamb soup and a stack of baked meat buns. They began to eat.

At first, Li Juan was hesitant, but after half a bowl of soup and breaking into a sweat, she devoured the food ravenously.

Li Ye watched as the small girl finished the buns and lamb soup, downing even the broth, her appetite nearly matching his own.

He stood to buy more, but Li Juan urged, “No more, Brother. I really can’t eat anymore.”

Li Ye waved her off. “I’m not full either. I’ll get one more bowl, we’ll share.”

Only then did Li Juan relent and wait as Li Ye returned, continuing to eat—no telling if her small stomach was full.

Seeing Li Juan contentedly burp, Li Ye smiled and asked, “How long has it been since you last ate meat?”

She held up one finger. “A week since I’ve seen meat.”

“...” Li Ye patted the pile of money in his pocket, feeling a pang of shame.

His father gave him twenty yuan a month for living expenses, his grandfather added ten, and his sister chipped in five. This time, he had thirty-five yuan.

At eight mao per jin, that was enough to eat meat every day, and more.

Yet the family hadn’t had meat in a week. His freeloading was a bit too extreme.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you to buy a pair of cotton boots.”

After eating and drinking their fill, Li Ye planned to take Li Juan to buy a pair of shearling boots at noon.

Her boots had been soaked walking through the snow, and the ice on the surface had just melted in the restaurant—a thought that filled him with tenderness.

The labor service and military service shops both sold shearling boots, waterproof and snowproof, costing about a dozen yuan a pair—affordable for Li Ye.

He thought shy little Li Juan might refuse, but after a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Brother, I don’t need shearling boots, but Xiaoying’s feet always freeze. Buy a pair for her!”

Li Ye felt his heart tighten and a determination to earn money welling up inside him.