Chapter 49 My Brother and She Have an Unusual Relationship

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The small warehouse of the Second Grain Store was exceptionally quiet, broken only by the rustle of fountain pens scratching across paper and the steady ticking of the alarm clock.
Li Dayong, Hu Man, and four other students sat with their heads lowered, wracking their brains over their test papers.
Tonight, Li Ye had prepared three sets of questions. Although none of them were complete exam papers, the students had to copy the questions down themselves and pause intermittently to listen to Li Ye explain the problems they could not solve. Consequently, their time was extremely tight.
Only Wen Leyu had finished her test paper early. She sat quietly beside Li Ye, watching him write and helping him proofread.
Li Ye was busy today—truly busy.
He had to organize the private meals, write the test questions, and explain them. Yet, no matter how busy he was, he never neglected the novel he was "co-authoring" with Wen Leyu.
This made Wen Leyu feel much more at ease.
Although Wen Leyu had resolutely followed Li Ye out of the classroom to study here, she had actually felt somewhat displeased beforehand.
Previously in the classroom, Li Ye essentially "belonged" entirely to her. Here, however, he had to divide a significant amount of energy to take care of Li Dayong, Hu Man, and the others.
That was why Wen Leyu had delivered that chilling remark just moments ago: "Those who don't believe me can leave."
After more than ten days of close interaction, Wen Leyu had actually abandoned the notion of true "co-writing" and peacefully settled into the role of a coordinator between Li Ye and Teacher Ke, properly weaving various plot threads and source materials into the novel in Li Ye's hands.
She lacked the ability to offer constructive guidance on Li Ye's novel; she could only occasionally ask him cryptically, "Can this character, Shi Cheng, have a slightly larger role?"
Every time, Li Ye would generously nod, writing a few more strokes for the character of Shi Cheng to make him more brilliant and prominent.
Wen Leyu was overjoyed, feeling that Li Ye deeply respected her opinions and catered to her wishes.
Little did she know that Li Ye was entirely aware of her subtle thoughts.
When Li Ye accepted this "assignment," he had decided to use *Deserters in the Flames of War* as a blueprint, adapting it into a high-end customized piece of writing exclusively for Teacher Ke.
The first step of the adaptation was to determine who had a close relationship with Teacher Ke.
The story material provided by Teacher Ke was broadly about a weak, ragtag combat group consisting of misfits who were reborn through battle and underwent continuous transformation.
Within this small group, there were bandits who had surrendered just to get a meal, blockheads who lacked a bit of sense yet possessed brute strength, a "jinx" with bad fortune who had caused the deaths of dozens of comrades, and an orphan of a revolutionary martyr who was young yet already a veteran soldier.
Additionally, there were miscellaneous guerrilla fighters who joined later, and half-grown children not even as tall as a rifle.
The fates of all these people underwent a complete transformation following the arrival of the surrendered killer Hu Yi.
After receiving these character materials, Li Ye's biggest concern was that Teacher Ke might have been too deeply entangled with that killer, making it extremely difficult to write. After all, this was 1981, not 2001.
Later on, however, Li Ye discovered that Teacher Ke had provided the most and the richest material for one specific character.
Following several rounds of probing and communication, the two of them tacitly confirmed that "Shi Cheng" was the "super supporting character" of this book.
The prototype for Shi Cheng was a guerrilla fighter who officially joined the ranks only in 1938. But this man was extraordinarily lucky; by the time the Japanese soldiers surrendered, he had already risen to the rank of battalion commander.
Because he enlisted late, this man had already married and had children long before. Calculating his age, Li Ye deduced he was most likely of the generation of Wen Leyu's grandfather.
During the subsequent writing process, Wen Leyu, acting as the proofreader, clearly paid much more attention to this "Shi Cheng," and Li Ye would embellish him artistically whenever possible.
"Clatter—"
At half-past ten at night, Li Ye's alarm clock suddenly rang.
This kind of mechanical alarm clock was extremely loud; if it went off abruptly early in the morning, it could give someone a fright.

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The six students furrowed their brows over their test papers, startling and raising their heads like pheasants hearing a gunshot.
"Is the time up already? I haven't finished yet!"
"I haven't finished either! Li Ye, give us a little more time!"
"I'm not sleepy, I'm not sleepy at all. I wouldn't be sleepy even if I stayed up all night."
Li Ye cared not a whit about whether they were sleepy or not. He stood up and began collecting the papers.
"This is only our first night studying outside. If you can't even return to the dormitory on time, what will the school think? Will they continue to allow us to study on our own?"
After taking five minutes to grade the answers, Li Ye immediately began shooing them away, ordering them to return to the school dormitories.
He planned to sleep on the small brick kang in the inner room, but others couldn't. Since he was organizing these people to study outside, he had to shoulder the responsibility.
Actually, if Li Ye wanted to take the easy route, he could have ignored everyone, helped no one, and quietly waited to soar to success during the college entrance examinations.
But he had Wen Leyu by his side!
And Li Dayong right behind him.
Herding one sheep was just as easy as herding a flock, which was why Li Ye had carefully selected Hu Man and the others, who still possessed a sense of loyalty.
Hu Man was still obsessing over the unfinished test paper. After struggling with herself for a moment, she whispered, "Then can we take them back to finish? We promise not to let anyone else see..."
"What did you say?"
Li Ye's face suddenly turned frosty. His stern gaze swept over the students, and he turned, walked straight over to the stove, opened the lid, and stuffed all the test papers inside.
"........."
Bright orange flames flared up, and the seven test papers were instantly reduced to ashes.
"No, Li Ye..."
"What are you doing?"
The students, especially the female students like Hu Man, stamped their feet in heartache. The timid Jiang Xiaoyan even burst into tears.
They hadn't finished these test papers yet!
Usually, everyone had to repeat the test papers issued by the school several times, and these unfinished papers were treated like treasures in their hearts.
If Li Ye hadn't been so stern and terrifying at that moment, they would have rushed forward to snatch them back.
With a dark and chilling expression, Li Ye said, "It seems you didn't understand what I meant just now. Let me repeat it to you again."
"Everything inside this warehouse—every single word, every single piece of paper—is strictly forbidden from being leaked outside."
Pointing in the direction of the school, Li Ye asked Hu Man, "Can you tell me why we left the school today? What was the root cause?"
Hu Man pressed her lips together, and after a long silence, she replied, "Because you wouldn't explain the problems to the other classmates, so they grew jealous and spread rumors to slander you."
Hearing the nasal congestion in Hu Man's voice, Li Ye softened his tone slightly and said, "Think about it, how much time have you spent in Class One of the repeaters bickering with Xia Yue and the others these past few days?
How much time have you spent brooding in frustration, and how much time explaining things clearly to the teachers..."
"And the root cause of all this lies in the fact that we possess enough test questions to change our own destinies."
"Don't assume that being careful enough guarantees no one else will see. You have no right to take this risk, because this isn't just your personal affair."
"Unless you are willing to go back to squabbling and shouting matches with Xia Yue and the others all day long, wasting your energy on meaningless nonsense, and letting your fate rot forever in the cesspool that is Class One."

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Hu Man and the others were thoroughly cowed by Li Ye's sternness.
However, they soon recalled all the harrowing aggravation of this past period.
Ever since they began confronting Xia Yue and the others, the quality of their studies had plummeted, their minds constantly disrupted by chaotic thoughts.
Yet in the past few hours, they had lived through something exceptionally "pure."
They had completed two and a half test papers, listened to Li Ye explain the problems, and unconsciously, the entire evening had passed with utmost fulfillment.
Such a pure and fulfilling study environment felt truly wonderful to them.
Compared to this place, Class One of the repeaters—envied by all the students of No. 2 High School—truly was a cesspool.
"I'm sorry, Li Ye, we were wrong. I swear right here, I guarantee I will keep this a secret. Even if my head is cut off or I bleed to death, not a single word will leak out."
"We swear it too..."
"........."
The students took turns making vows, as resolute as the heroes in the movies of this era.
Only then did Li Ye open the door of the small warehouse, put on his overcoat, and escort them back to the school.
However, once outside, they discovered that the office of the Second Grain Store was still brightly lit.
Seeing Li Ye and the others emerge, the office door opened, and Li Ye's grandfather, Li Zhongfa, and grandmother, Wu Juying, stepped out.
Li Ye was slightly stunned and asked, "Grandpa, Grandma, when did you get here? Why didn't you go inside?"
Li Zhongfa waved his hand very seriously and said, "I told people already: as long as that door of yours is closed, no one is allowed to enter."
"No one can affect my grandson writing his novel, and no one can stop a youth from our own work unit from becoming a great writer."
The person in charge of the Second Grain Store chimed in, "Bureau Chief Li is right. Our unit hasn't produced a proper intellectual in all these years!"
Well!
Li Ye, a child of the grain system, had unexpectedly become the cultural hope of his own work unit.
"Alright then, I'll escort these classmates back first, and then I'll come back to talk with you."
"No need, I just came to take a look. It's so late, you go get some rest! I'll walk them to the school gate for you."
Li Zhongfa was a decisive man. He pushed Li Ye back inside, brought his wife along, and followed Li Dayong and the others.
Li Ye was left somewhat bewildered.
It was one thing for Grandpa Li Zhongfa to come take a look, but what on earth had Grandma Wu Juying come for?
...
After stepping out of the back door of the Second Grain Store, Li Zhongfa let out a cough.
The quick-witted Li Dayong immediately hurried over and asked, "Grandpa, what is it?"
Lowering his voice to a secret-agent pitch, Li Zhongfa asked, "That little lass you told me about, which one is she?"
Li Dayong cautiously pointed a finger at Wen Leyu and whispered, "Grandpa, I can't say for certain, but my brother and this Wen Leyu... they're unusual. Truly unusual."