Chapter 71: A Modest Demonstration Yields Fruitful Results

The school did not make a big fuss with any sort of donation announcement. Instead, they simply invited Jiang Xiaoyan and her family into the principal's office, resolving the matter as discreetly as possible.

This was largely influenced by Li Ye; otherwise, following past conventions, they would have publicized it to some extent.

They would certainly praise the students' academic achievements, highlight the teachers' and the school's dedication to cherishing talent, and then encourage Jiang Xiaoyan to press on and scale new heights, or something along those lines.

After Jiang Xiaoyan's mother, Chen Jinhua, thanked the principal and teachers and walked out of the office, Jiang Xiaoyan's grandfather had already strode angrily out of the school gates.

Watching the scholarship slip through his fingers and his grandson's spot in the advanced class vanish into thin air, the old man was so furious he almost cursed aloud on the spot.

This made Jiang Xiaoyan extremely worried. Her mother fought tooth and nail at home like a fierce tiger, seemingly formidable and imposing in every way, yet Jiang Xiaoyan knew very well that her mother was actually exhausted—deeply, bone-wearily exhausted.

And she, Jiang Xiaoyan, was the heaviest burden weighing down her mother's body and mind.

"What are you crying for?"

Seeing Jiang Xiaoyan lowering her head and wiping her tears, Chen Jinhua immediately reprimanded her sternly, "Lift your head up! Don't let people laugh at you like you're some squatting monkey.

Remember this: a woman's tears are completely useless. Only by getting into a university can you make people look at you with respect and speak to men with your head held high."

Jiang Xiaoyan wiped her tears, but still didn't lift her head, saying in a low voice, "Mom, when you go back, Grandma might complain...

Talk to Dad first. Just tell him that once I get into university, I'll send ten yuan home every month."

"Talking to him is about as useful as a fart! If he could just grow a backbone at home, would I have to struggle like this? Would I need to go around begging people?"

After venting her frustration, Chen Jinhua lowered her voice and warned Jiang Xiaoyan, "Don't ever talk nonsense about sending money home in the future. Once you say it, they'll take it seriously.

They'll latch onto you like giant mosquitoes, happily sucking your blood. The day you fail to send money, they'll treat it as if you've committed a heinous crime and point fingers at your spine."

Seeing that Jiang Xiaoyan wasn't very quick-witted, Chen Jinhua gave her a hard tap on the head. "Did you remember everything I said?"

Jiang Xiaoyan nodded hastily. "Mom, I remember. When the time comes, I'll only send money to you."

Chen Jinhua glared at her. "What money are you sending me? I hold the ladle in this house; could I possibly starve myself?

You don't need to worry about them giving me a hard time either. If they dare to push me around, I'll stuff those three men with salty pickles until they choke every single day. Just take care of yourself. As long as you're doing well, I'm leaving."

Chen Jinhua walked away with broad strides, while Jiang Xiaoyan stood behind her, tears welling up in her eyes, yet fiercely holding them back so they wouldn't fall.

Her mother was uneducated and couldn't even recognize her own name, but she was actually very smart.

A girl nowadays couldn't drag an entire family forward; even a university student couldn't do it.

Around the New Year, Lu Jingyao had been helping her classmates with their reviews at school, and Jiang Xiaoyan and the others had all seen her.

She was still wearing an old cotton-padded jacket, looking pale and thin. Although her eyes were full of spirit, she also looked extremely exhausted.

She looked nothing at all like the vibrant, energetic college students earning a salary that everyone imagined.

***

Because of the commotion caused by her grandfather, Jiang Xiaoyan received special "attention" from her schoolmates.

Li Ye sought out Hu Man and the others, instructing them to go ahead and start cooking at the second grain store first.

"When you get there, cook while chatting about happy things. Don't go around asking intrusive questions, understand?"

Hu Man and the others nodded, half-understanding. Just moments before, they had been planning to ask Jiang Xiaoyan what on earth was going on!

Kids these days were innocent; how could they possibly understand what "fragile self-esteem" was? When they felt a bit curious, they wanted to get to the bottom of it, and the closer the relationship, the more detailed their inquiries would be.

Wen Leyu, on the other hand, because she had been through so much, resonated deeply with Li Ye's train of thought.

Once upon a time, those people had also approached Wen Leyu with "good intentions," asking intrusive questions and offering superficial words of warmth and concern.

Yet in the end, they merely left her with a few worthless comforting words, and then used her distress and sorrow as gossip material to show off to others.

A phoenix that had lost its feathers made the best subject for discussion anywhere, didn't it?

Walking behind, Wen Leyu looked at Jiang Xiaoyan's back ahead of them and said to Li Ye, "Maybe my experience is limited, but I've never seen anyone help others the way you do."

Li Ye smiled and asked in return, "How do I help people?"

Without smiling, Wen Leyu said earnestly, "When you help others, you always do it with such cautious care, as if you're afraid they won't accept your help."

Li Ye shook his head. "I'm not as good as you make me out to be. My help is selective. There are some people I wouldn't help even if it killed me—look at Xia Yue and the others, they practically hate my guts!"

Wen Leyu looked at Li Ye, savoring his words for a few seconds before softly saying, "Then they must be blind. If you aren't a good person, then truly no good people exist."

Li Ye smiled and said, "Good people don't live long, while scourges live for a thousand years. Look at the good people in the movies—aren't they always the first to die? And the bad ones—don't they always manage to survive until the very final showdown?

Therefore, I absolutely refuse to hold myself to the standards of a good person. Which means..."

Li Ye turned his head to look at Wen Leyu, teasingly adding, "I occasionally do bad things too, you know!"

Wen Leyu stared blankly for a long time, then slowly failed to hold back her laughter, looking as if she were trying very hard to suppress it.

"Fine! You must be a good person when it comes to me, and you can be a bad person when dealing with others—the thoroughly rotten kind... Hahahahahaha."

Wen Leyu's loud laughter left Li Ye slightly baffled, but he was immediately captivated by her radiant brilliance.

Wen Leyu was truly flawless; even during unrestrained laughter, there was no awkward exposure of her gums—only dazzling white teeth and a brilliant glow blooming magnificently.

As she laughed, Wen Leyu suddenly looked toward the distance and bolted away.

"Mom! You're finally back."

Li Ye turned his head to see Teacher Ke walking toward them from the opposite direction.

Like a light-footed little deer, Wen Leyu ran up to her mother and pressed close to her in an affectionate embrace.

More than a dozen days of separation and longing had only increased, rather than diminished, the girl's attachment to her mother.

***

Yet upon seeing Wen Leyu like this, Teacher Ke was filled with profound astonishment.

Ever since the family tragedy, she had never seen Wen Leyu run so freely or laugh so heartily. Yet after only a few days, how had her daughter become so cheerful?

Li Ye, however, knew the exact reason.

[Cultivation and nurturing is a technical craft. A preliminary attempt has yielded results, and the old man... is immensely pleased.]

***

Teacher Ke first went over to exchange polite pleasantries with Principal Chang, reported back for duty from her leave, and only then began discussing the novel with Li Ye.

With a smile, she asked, "Li Ye, has your writing been affected at all during these past few days?"

Li Ye replied, "I've merely integrated some usable material into the writing. Anything else that might have affected the outline and main plotline, I left out, and... I don't plan on using it in the future either."

It wasn't that Li Ye didn't want to use them; he simply couldn't.

With all those era-defining war web novels from his past life that had been entirely swallowed by the censorship beasts, how could he not know the rules of the game?

Things that shouldn't be written absolutely must not be written; even Teacher Ke's influence wouldn't make it easy to bypass.

Hearing this, however, Teacher Ke looked relieved and said, "I can rest easy knowing you think that way.

You have no idea—though I've received plenty of complaints and suggestions these past few days, there is an even stronger desire to see how the subsequent plot unfolds.

In truth, as long as someone is willing to write stories about the experiences of those years, people are already very happy."

Hearing this, Li Ye felt a slight twinge of embarrassment and said, "I'll do my best to meet the readers' demands. I'll try to incorporate whatever characters and plots are feasible!"

After a moment of thought, Teacher Ke smiled and said, "That's fine too. We will probably receive many more letters and opinions in the future,

but you can just think of them as a bunch of stubborn old men who used to compete with each other in their youth, suddenly reigniting their old rivalries and bickering after all these years! Just listen to them, no need to take them too seriously."

Li Ye agreed, and then brought up several sensitive questions he had accumulated over the past few days to discuss with Teacher Ke.

In reality, the atmosphere for literary creation in the early 1980s was still very inclusive and open-minded, with restrictions even fewer than in certain periods of later generations.

After all, Li Ye wasn't a native of this era, and listening to Teacher Ke's professional advice gave him a deeper grasp of his future writing.

At the end of the conversation, Teacher Ke indicated, "Publication might be delayed, but rest assured, it will definitely be published."

Li Ye expressed his understanding. Yet from beginning to end, he never asked how Teacher Ke's personal family matters were going.

Regarding such affairs, one only had the qualification to know when the other person was willing to share.

And only when that time came would Li Ye truly cease to be an "outsider."