Chapter Twelve: The Simple-Minded Youth

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Every teacher hated students who refused to follow the rules or insisted on doing things their own way—especially troublemakers who disrupted classroom order.

In Teacher Luo’s eyes, Li Ye was exactly that kind of detestable troublemaker.

Three classes had been merged into one, and the arrangement was already unstable. If Xia Yue, the former monitor of Class One, was unfit to remain monitor, then replacing her with anyone at all would only throw the class into greater chaos.

Under ordinary circumstances, Teacher Luo would have taken Li Ye aside by now for a “thorough discussion,” so that he could learn that the iron fist of a man of letters was not to be trifled with.

But he could not do that now, because Li Ye had challenged Xia Yue’s qualifications as class monitor on the grounds of “insufficient moral character.”

In those days, the word “morality” was a weighty standard that could easily be elevated into a political issue—even dragged into accusations of being a “traitor.”

Had no one noticed that all the villains in the movies were moral degenerates and scoundrels?

“What evidence do you have that Xia Yue’s moral character fails to meet the standards required of a class monitor?”

Teacher Luo spoke coldly, giving Li Ye a chance to explain himself.

Li Ye answered calmly, “Student Xia Yue used her position as a class cadre to take classmates’ parcels and letters without permission. Without the recipients’ knowledge, she opened their mail and withheld their correspondence.

“If a letter contained something urgent, or if a parcel held valuables, how much harm and loss might her actions cause the person who was supposed to receive it?

“Does she not know that opening someone else’s parcel without permission is against the law?

“Why would a student be so bold? Why would she treat the matter so casually?

“I believe that, because of her position as class monitor, Xia Yue developed a desire for power above and beyond that of her classmates, resulting in this moral failure.”

“……”

The entire class was dumbfounded. They could not understand how Li Ye had managed to connect what seemed like a minor incident with criminal behavior and moral corruption.

Yet when they thought about it carefully, every word he had said was reasonable and unassailable.

Xia Yue grew frantic and argued with him. “I only helped you retrieve your parcels and letters. That was simply classmates helping one another. You’re slandering me.”

“I’m slandering you?”

Li Ye let out a scornful laugh. “Did you not open my parcel and look through the books other people had sent me?”

Xia Yue’s face turned ugly as she struggled to defend herself. “I was only helping you… studying together with you. Classmates are supposed to help each other…”

Li Ye cut her off. “You only need to answer whether you opened my parcel. Any excuse is merely a lie pasted over the true nature of what you did.”

“……”

Xia Yue opened and closed her mouth, unable to say a word.

The evidence was as solid as a mountain. How could she possibly argue her way out of it?

Teacher Luo glanced at Xia Yue and immediately understood the general outline of what had happened.

This sort of matter could be considered minor or serious. At its mildest, it was simply curiosity getting the better of a student, opening someone else’s parcel to satisfy a desire to pry. At its worst, it was… bullying at school.

When he thought of the recent rumors about “Huang Shiren” spreading around campus, as well as the large shipment of low-priced grain the school’s logistics department had just managed to obtain, Teacher Luo could not help feeling a headache coming on.

In those days, grain was still distributed through the rationing system. If a family had even one big eater or a growing adolescent boy, its allotted grain was certain to fall short. Anyone who wanted to eat their fill had to buy expensive grain outside the rationing plan.

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The old man had only just helped solve your difficulties, and now his grandson was being bullied at school. What were you people trying to pull?

Holding the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords… no, holding the grandson hostage to command the grandfather?

Damn it, was that something decent human beings did?

“You two may sit down. I’ll investigate this matter and get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible. But no matter what disagreement you have, you cannot interfere with the other students’ lessons.”

Teacher Luo shot Xia Yue a fierce glare, then strode out of the classroom.

Xia Yue sank into her seat, utterly distraught. Even when Teacher Ke walked up to the lectern, she failed to call out, “Stand.”

Teacher Ke did not take offense. She picked up a piece of chalk and wrote her name on the blackboard:

Ke Zhiyu.

“Good morning, everyone. My name is Ke Zhiyu, and I’ll be teaching you English from now on… Please turn to page eighteen and read after me once.”

Only then did Xia Yue come to her senses. Along with her frustration, a surge of indignation shot straight to the top of her head.

A connection who failed every subject has the nerve to question me? Does he think that reporting on me behind my back will get him into college?

Does he even know how to study? Does he understand anything about English? He’s a poor student, and he’ll always be one. Sooner or later, the teachers will realize who is truly capable of bringing honor to the school.

Xia Yue turned around and glared viciously at Li Ye. Then she opened her textbook, straightened her back, and prepared to demonstrate the abilities of a top student to the teacher.

In this era, when the percentage of students admitted to university was pitifully low, every student with even a chance of passing the entrance examination was a treasure to the school—and each enjoyed privileges that were never openly stated. Even if Teacher Luo stripped Xia Yue of her position as monitor, the teachers of her other subjects would still speak up on her behalf.

And when it came to English, Xia Yue possessed absolute confidence.

After Lu Jingyao had been admitted to the Capital Institute of Foreign Languages, Xia Yue, her closest friend, had immediately gone to find her. She obtained Lu Jingyao’s English study notes and humbly asked her to share every one of her “secret study methods.”

Xia Yue had secretly studied at home for several months, and her English had improved by leaps and bounds. Now, in Class One, if she claimed to be second-best at English, no one dared claim to be first.

After all, it was 1981. Just a few years earlier, neither junior nor senior middle schools had offered English classes. English had never been counted toward the total score in the national college entrance examination, and in a small place like Qing County, no one had paid it much attention.

Only this year had an announcement been issued stating that, beginning with next year’s examination, English would count for half of the total score. At that point, every school began taking the subject seriously.

The teaching staff at Qing County No. 2 High School was weak. In the past, the school had not even had a dedicated English teacher. English classes had been taught by two teachers from other subjects, and their heavily local-accented English had sounded almost comical.

By comparison, Xia Yue’s English was now unrivaled. She was certain that Teacher Ke, standing at the lectern, would recognize her at a glance as a thousand-mile horse awaiting the right rider.

“The Monkey and the Crocodile.”

“One day a little monkey was playing in…”

The moment Teacher Ke began speaking, Li Ye was taken aback.

This Teacher Ke was the real thing!

In his previous life, Li Ye had fought a long, bitter battle with English. He had listened to countless recordings and read all kinds of original English materials. Although he could not claim to comprehend that mysterious thing called “the beauty of English,” he could certainly tell whether someone’s pronunciation was pleasant.

Teacher Ke’s pronunciation seemed even better than that of the English teacher he had had at university.

Compared with the pronunciation of the two English teachers at Qing County No. 2 High School over the past few days, the difference was like that between a national radio announcer and a loudspeaker in a village committee courtyard.

“The Monkey and the Crocodile.”

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“One day a little monkey was playing in…”

The students of Class One began reading along. Xia Yue’s voice was especially loud, while the voices of the other students sounded downright feeble by comparison.

Li Ye had no intention of mocking them. Their exposure to English was not even on the level of a fourth-grade elementary school student in later generations. Mute English was the norm, and only a minority had the courage to read aloud.

Li Ye quietly followed Teacher Ke through the passage. He neither showed off nor tried to stand out, but the difference between him and the others was simply too great. His deskmate could not help looking at him.

Wen Leyu stole a glance at Li Ye. Her eyes, clear as autumn waters, held unmistakable surprise.

A little over a year earlier, she and her mother had crowded into a dilapidated room at Liuqiao Township Elementary School, living quiet and impoverished lives. Then one day, a Teacher Lu had arrived at their door with gifts and asked her mother to tutor his daughter in English.

Her mother had initially refused. She did not want to invite complications into their lives. But Wen Leyu had merely stared at the bag of White Rabbit milk candies, swallowed several times, and secretly eaten one. Her mother had agreed at once.

The next day, Wen Leyu met Lu Jingyao—and another unexpected person: Li Ye, who had brought Lu Jingyao there.

Lu Jingyao was kind by nature and diligent in her studies. It took her very little time to win Wen Leyu’s mother’s affection.

Li Ye, on the other hand, left something to be desired. He looked a little slow-witted, and more often than not he sat staring at Lu Jingyao in a daze instead of focusing on his studies.

Later, Wen Leyu’s mother said that the boy had not come to study at all. He had merely come to keep Lu Jingyao company, and he would probably never make it to university.

Still, neither Wen Leyu nor her mother disliked Li Ye. Every few days, he brought them scarce goods such as sweets, meat, rice, and flour. He also tactfully explained that, according to the customs of the countryside, students were supposed to provide their teachers with meals.

Although Li Ye ate with Lu Jingyao after the food was cooked, they could never finish it all. Most of it ended up being sent back to Wen Leyu and her mother.

Later, perhaps because his English grades had not improved much, Li Ye shifted his efforts to the subjects counted toward the college entrance examination and stopped visiting Wen Leyu’s home for tutoring so often.

But he never stopped bringing them daily necessities.

Then one day, Wen Leyu’s mother quietly asked Li Ye, “What will you do if Lu Jingyao gets into university and you don’t?”

Li Ye had laughed. “We’re engaged. What else could I do?”

Even now, Wen Leyu still remembered the expression on his face. It had not been the domineering confidence of a powerful man, but rather a calm, indescribable sense of fulfillment.

Wen Leyu’s mother had said that it was the anticipation of happiness.

But such anticipation did not necessarily lead to a happy ending.

Wen Leyu did not know all that had happened afterward. Her mother had said that in matters like this, it was difficult to say who was right and who was wrong. But she believed that the boy before them had been betrayed by Lu Jingyao.

After learning more about the college entrance examination, she felt even greater pity for Li Ye’s devotion.

The examination was becoming more and more difficult. Although the admission rate did not appear to have changed much, for someone of ordinary talent like Li Ye, the possibility of reaching the capital to find Lu Jingyao was growing smaller and more remote by the day.

Yet just now, when Wen Leyu heard Li Ye reading along with the passage, a thought arose in her mind almost involuntarily.

So he really has been studying English seriously? For the sake of the woman he loves, he has changed this much?

Wen Leyu read along with the passage, her thoughts drifting as she occasionally glanced at Li Ye without realizing it.

But when she stole a third glance, she discovered that Li Ye was quietly looking at her.