Child of Destiny

"Brother, one pair is enough. Really, just one pair."

Inside the Qingshui County military service cooperative, Li Juan clung tightly to Li Ye's arm, stopping him from taking out his money.

She had originally told Li Ye to buy only her younger sister Li Ying a pair of fleece-lined leather cotton shoes, to ease the pain of her feet freezing.

But after Li Ye arrived, he told the clerk, "Two pairs of fleece-lined cotton shoes. One size 35, one size 32."

Though touched, timid Li Juan could not accept it. If she brought the shoes home, wouldn't old mother scold her to death?

Was she such a grown person and still so thoughtless? Her brother's money had all gone toward buying them cotton shoes—were they supposed to live on the northwest wind? No cigarettes? No meat?

But just as the two began tugging at each other, the salesclerk said, "No size 32, and no size 35 either. The smallest is 36. Do you want them?"

"..."

Now there was nothing left for the brother and sister to argue over. Li Juan's size 35 feet could just barely make do in size 36 shoes, but Li Ying was still in elementary school! She definitely could not wear size 36.

"Then fine! Older Sister, give me a pair of size 36 first. Also, can you reserve a pair of size 32 for me? If not, size 33 will do too."

As Li Ye took out his money, he asked the young salesclerk.

"Reserve them? You young man really has some strange ideas."

Perhaps because he was handsome and sweet-talking, the usually lofty salesclerk did not find him annoying. She explained, "We don't sell small-sized shoes here. If you want them, go take a look at the Department Store! Though I reckon they probably won't have any either."

Li Ye thought about it and realized that was true. Children of this era actually had it pretty rough. They basically wore cloth-padded shoes made by mother, while their clothes were hand-me-downs from older sister and mother.

With no market, naturally there was no trade. Qingshui County was not some big city, and people were not very conscious about serving the budding flowers of the motherland. Stylish children's leather shoes like those could only be found in big cities.

"Come on, put them on and try them."

"Brother, forget it! I have shoes to wear."

"Quit talking nonsense."

The salesclerk took out a pair of size 36 shoes, and Li Ye had Li Juan try them on.

Li Juan hesitated and fidgeted for ages before finally pulling her feet out of her wet cotton shoes. There were actually three holes in her soaked socks, exposing three little radish toes.

Li Ye hurriedly bought two more pairs of socks and had Li Juan change into both the socks and shoes.

"How are they? Do you need another two pairs of insoles?"

"No, Brother. They fit perfectly. They're really warm."

The little girl was no longer resisting now. Though fleece-lined leather shoes looked tacky and low-class through the eyes of later generations, she looked quite pleased wearing them at the moment.

"Alright, then let's go!"

Li Ye packed Li Juan's cotton shoes into the shoebox and turned to leave the military service cooperative. But Li Juan did not follow. Instead, she timidly said from behind him, "Brother, Brother, wait. Change shoes."

Li Ye turned around and understood at once. The little girl could not bear to wear her new shoes through the snow, and wanted to put back on her soaking old cotton shoes before leaving.

Li Ye said unhappily, "I bought these shoes so you could walk through snowy roads. What else did I buy them for?"

Seeing Li Ye pull a long face, Li Juan reflexively shrank her neck, lowered her head, and cautiously followed him.

Back when she and Mother had first married into the family, this brother had worn a stern face all day long. His expression had been like Big Yellow after someone stole his dog bowl—frightening as could be.

Li Ye walked a few steps and noticed that the little girl was falling farther and farther behind.

She was trying not to get her new shoes wet, carefully avoiding places where the snow lay thick, twisting and turning as if she were performing some maze-walking footwork.

Li Ye could not help laughing, remembering himself when he had owned his first car in his previous life.

That new car had been dearer than his wife. If a fingernail scratched even a tiny mark into it, he would take it to the 4S shop for the original factory paint job.

Later, as long as it could still run, he would not repair it even if beaten to death—a thoroughly fickle lover of the new and hater of the old.

"Hurry up, we still need to go to the non-staple food store and buy White Rabbit candy!"

"Brother, why buy candy? We just had malt candy a few days ago. Slurp. Let's not buy it!"

The little girl, who had been weaving around as she walked, immediately protested at the mention of it. But the natural reflex of drooling made her extremely embarrassed, and her face turned red.

Sweets were simply too tempting for children of this era. A single lollipop luring away a child was no legend at all.

"You look pretty in your new shoes, but what about Ying? You know the saying, 'Better fear unevenness than poverty,' right? When she feels wronged and cries, won't you need candy to plug her mouth?"

Li Juan was fourteen this year, while the younger Li Ying was only eleven. Li Ye could imagine with his toes how resentful the little girl would become when Li Juan came home in new shoes. Without a little sweetness to soften things, wouldn't the sisters end up in conflict?

"No need, right? Slurp. Little Sister will only cry for a while. Slurp. It's no big deal."

Though deeply embarrassed, Li Juan still quickened her pace and caught up behind her brother.

White Rabbit candy! The White Rabbit, queen of all candies~~

She had eaten it once when Mother married into the family. That taste was something she could remember for a lifetime.

As for what Li Ye said, that her wearing new shoes home would make her unfairly treated little sister shed tearful, resentful tears—she did not care at all!

In this era, the bloodline suppression of an older sister was just that tyrannical. You wanted good shoes and nice clothes? Wait until your older sister replaced them!

Not convinced? If you were not convinced, she would beat you. Even if you ran crying to Mother, you would have no case, because you were the younger sister, not a younger brother!

Li Ye spent three yuan to buy two jin of White Rabbit candy, wrapped into two packets, and handed them to Li Juan. Li Juan hurriedly undid the front of her padded jacket and tucked them inside, clutching them tightly as though holding a son.

"After you get home, one packet is for you two to eat, and the other goes to Grandma for distribution. Remember?"

"Mmm, mmm. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm."

Li Juan had candy in her mouth and could not bear to chew or swallow it. She nodded her little head repeatedly, promising that she would get it done. Her brother had already given her a handful to eat on the road; no matter how it was divided, she had come out ahead.

Li Ye walked Li Juan partway home. Only after watching her tiny figure turn around the street corner did he return to County Second High School.

As he walked, he pondered how he could make money both safely and quickly.

Since he had come into this world, never mind lofty ambitions for now. At the very least, he had to let those around him live a good life where they never had to worry about having a roast chicken every day, right?

In this era, opportunities that could make pigs fly were everywhere; even a chicken feather could soar into the sky with the wind.

But no one knew how many pigs had fallen to their deaths and how many chickens had drowned.

For example, if he headed south to Guangdong Province now to sell clothing and general merchandise, he might indeed get a chance to be among the first to eat crab.

But he might also have his pockets picked on the train, get cheated out of his goods in Guangdong, or even get robbed outright or have everything confiscated. All kinds of accidents were possible.

Moreover, Li Ye's current age and status placed enormous restrictions on him.

Could an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old high school student, whose teachers called roll every day, toss aside his studies and go into private business?

His dad would break his legs, believe it or not, and Grandpa and Grandma would not even step in to stop the fight.

Even taking a step back, if his family agreed that he should not take the college entrance exam, they would still have him enter a work unit and get a job. Would they let him go out and speculate for profit?

Even if the Li family were unbelievably open-minded and willing to let Li Ye do whatever he wanted, it still would not work!

Born in this era, yet refusing to take the golden road of "class advancement" that was the college entrance exam and taking a detour into business instead—

Only a huge idiot would do that.

The rise of private enterprises was still many years away. Current self-employed businesspeople had less social standing than even a staffed gatekeeper at a state-owned work unit.

So if you wanted to do business now, you basically had to follow the path of small peddler—big peddler—big merchant, fighting your way up from the very bottom as some inspirational heroic figure.

Then, in the great Celestial Dynasty, after throwing yourself into the sea of commerce, sweeping through it undefeated for decades and earning a mountain of wealth, you would inevitably run into the barriers of the upper class.

You would carry a pig's head to the temple gate in homage, only for the gate to open and reveal—

Holy shit, the person inside whom you had to shamelessly kowtow and bow to before he would even lift his eyelids was actually a huge BOSS who had graduated from university in the 1980s.

Just tell me, would you submit? Just tell me, would you be pissed?

University students of the late seventies and early eighties rose through the ranks at rocket speed.

Especially graduates of the four prestigious schools—Tsinghua-Peking Universities, Renmin University, and Peking University of Science—there were countless who rose smoothly through the clouds and entered the central leadership.

If Li Ye got into Tsinghua-Peking Universities, Renmin University, or Peking University of Science this year, then in just four years, he would already have one foot through the "temple gate," leaping several levels upward from the bottom of the pyramid.

For someone from an ordinary background, this kind of opportunity was truly precious, truly precious. Once you passed this village, there would be no such shop.

Even if Li Ye could not stand being constrained in the future, chose not to enter politics, and went into business instead, that enormous alumni network would be like adding wings to a tiger—a massive source of support that would naturally place him several tiers above those chicken-feather merchants.

Because with all kinds of BOSSes, he would either be someone from the same circle, or be able to reach them after taking a few turns.

What was the name of that university student Chen Jiang He met on the train again? By the time that man graduated, what kind of difference in status was there between him and Chen Jiang He?

Were you more capable than Chen Jiang He?

So if he wanted to make money right now, he could only balance both sides without affecting his studies. That put far too many restrictions on him.

What was he supposed to do?

He had to make money. A man could not bend his back for a single penny, and he had to eat both fish and Bear Paw.

Li Ye lowered his head and walked back to County Second High School. Lost in thought, he failed to notice someone squatting at the entrance.

But that person saw him.

"Little brother, little brother. Hehe. Have you eaten? Have some candy, have some candy."

Looking at the man before him, whose nose was running from the cold but whose face was still piled with smiles, Li Ye could not help feeling puzzled.

Could it be that I really have the protagonist template, that I'm a Child of Destiny, and someone just happens to bring me a pillow when I yawn?