Who is the One Who Plans Without Error?

After Li Ye and Hao Jian finalized a few matters, he no longer concerned himself with the malt candy business. He also told Hao Jian not to come looking for him at school unless it was something important.

Hao Jian was very obedient and didn't visit for several days. It was only on the fifth day that he had Jin Peng return the 26 Phoenix bicycle.

Jin Peng said, "That Hao Jian is quite capable; his business dealings aren't bad. He's sold over sixteen hundred catties of malt candy these past few days, and it's estimated to be even more in the coming days.

Yesterday, we got our hands on a flatbed cart, so we don't need this Phoenix bicycle for now! It's inconvenient for you, Li Ye, not having a bicycle, and this one is a bit conspicuous too."

Li Ye nodded, "That works. You guys be careful. Safety first, making money second."

"Of course, I know that," Jin Peng said thoughtfully, hinting at something, "Don't worry! I'm keeping an eye on things!"

Li Ye could understand Jin Peng's meaning. This guy had probably taken on the role of a "supervisor," keeping a close watch on Hao Jian, making sure he wouldn't cause any trouble.

Li Ye said, "Just make sure you know what you're doing. Anyway, you and Qiangzi will get a share of the profits. We'll split the money at the end of the month."

Jin Peng chuckled and left.

In just a few days, he had earned over thirty yuan, which was about the same as a month's wages for a bricklayer at a construction company. It was no wonder he was happy.

Time flew by. More than ten days passed in the blink of an eye. By the end of the month, Li Ye's manuscript for "Latent" was ready to be submitted.

"Li Ye, are we only submitting to two publishing houses? Shouldn't we send it to more? I can copy manuscripts quickly; I can make another copy tomorrow."

Little Mute, Wen Leyu, said this as she helped Li Ye put the manuscript into an envelope, still trying to persuade him.

Li Ye smiled confidently, "Two is enough. Trust me, I guarantee you'll get your commission for the royalties."

Wen Leyu glanced sideways at Li Ye, playfully chiding him, "Don't always be talking about money, okay? I don't want your commission."

When Li Ye had Wen Leyu "proofread" the manuscript, he had mentioned giving her "labor fees." Wen Leyu hadn't paid much attention at first, thinking he was joking. But now that Li Ye brought it up again, she felt it was inappropriate.

They were so familiar with each other; why bring up money?

Li Ye didn't argue with Wen Leyu anymore. Instead, he neatly organized two thick envelopes and personally went to the post office to pay the "overweight postage," mailing them to two publishing houses in the provincial capital and the island city, respectively.

He was very grateful for the lenient submission requirements of the publishing houses in the 1980s. If he dared to submit the same manuscript to multiple places in later years, he'd be completely blacklisted by editors.

Those who are fickle and lack dedication will never be accepted by me.

As for any uncontrollable situations that might arise if both publishing houses accepted Li Ye's manuscript, that was also impossible.

Because the novel was quite long, Li Ye only sent the first quarter of it. He also humbly noted at the end, "If you are interested in publishing, please mail back your contact phone number, and the author will provide the full manuscript."

Once he got their phone numbers, it would be time to negotiate terms.

After leaving the post office, Li Ye didn't immediately return to school.

Today was the day he had agreed to split the profits with Hao Jian, and he needed to travel to Chenzhuang Township, thirty li away.

Hao Jian had originally planned to bring the money to the county town for the distribution, but Li Ye hadn't yet visited the malt candy processing site, so he decided to go and see it.

Li Ye rode the 26 Phoenix bicycle, slowly crossing the street against the backdrop of the winter sunset. He saw cinema staff at the entrance of a movie theater, painting a large poster for "Lushan Love" on the display board.

"Lushan Love" was a classic film that had moved Li Ye's parents' generation. It told the love story of a wealthy young woman returning from overseas who found her soulmate in a local man, fulfilling all the aspirations of the innocent hearts of that generation.

The actress who played the female lead, Zhang Yu, had no doubt stolen the hearts of countless pure young boys in their dreams.

A prominent online commentator in later years had claimed that eighty percent of "Lushan Love's" immense success was due to the female lead's identity as a rich, overseas-educated young lady.

If Zhou Yun had been replaced by a country girl, no matter how deeply she loved the male lead or how touching her emotional journey was, it wouldn't have reached the same scale of sensation as the original film.

However, looking at Zhang Yu's round face on the poster, Li Ye couldn't quite grasp the feeling of a "beauty of the era."

Instead, it was the tall, slender, and taciturn Wen Leyu who had appeared in his dreams once or twice.

Li Ye chuckled and teased himself, "Alas, my advanced aesthetic sense makes me so unique."

Chenzhuang Township was thirty li from Qingshui County town. After meeting up with Jin Peng, Li Ye took an hour to reach the place after dark.

Upon arrival, Li Ye discovered that Hao Jian's house was situated isolated on a dirt slope, at least two li away from the village.

Jin Peng introduced Li Ye, "Hao Jian is from out of town. Because he married a beautiful local girl, he was ostracized by the villagers.

So, when he was building his house, he was pushed to build it far from the village. This actually provides some convenience for our malt candy processing."

Li Ye looked around and said, "Convenience comes with drawbacks. It's too desolate; what about security?"

Jin Peng replied, "Nothing yet. A few days ago, Hao Jian's brother-in-law came to help with boiling the sugar. Plus, Qiangzi lives here, and we have a few dogs. If you're still worried, I can move in too."

Li Ye pondered for a moment, "Let's see first. If it doesn't work out in a few days, you can move in. I'll give you extra for your hard work."

Jin Peng smiled and didn't refuse. He was a smart man and knew what he should do and how much he deserved.

Li Ye and Jin Peng entered the courtyard and saw Hao Jian, Wang Jianqiang, and a thin young man in his early twenties loading goods.

At this time, there wasn't much emphasis on hygiene for food. The dried malt candy was directly packed into washed fertilizer bags and stacked onto the flatbed cart.

Li Ye counted them; there were about eight to nine hundred catties.

Seeing Li Ye and Jin Peng enter, Hao Jian said to the thin young man, "Erzhu, go take the dogs for a walk. Cui'er's mother, go buy two packs of cigarettes from the supply and marketing cooperative."

The thin young man untied the leashes of two local dogs and let them run around, while a good-looking woman led a little girl out of the house.

The little girl kept looking back at Li Ye as she walked. She was small and thin, looking timid and pitiable.

Li Ye asked Hao Jian, "How is your daughter's illness?"

Hao Jian replied, "It's better. She hasn't had an episode these past few days. Once I save up some more money, I'll take her to a big hospital in a big city."

Hao Jian led Li Ye into the house. Jin Peng and Wang Jianqiang, as if on cue, stood guard at the courtyard gate, making it feel like a secret agent meeting.

Hao Jian lifted a cloth bundle from a hole in the heated brick bed inside. As he pulled it out, he said, "I don't think we can distribute money once a month anymore. There's too much. These past few days, I've been lying on the bed, and I haven't been able to sleep soundly."

"Too much money?" Li Ye chuckled. "The first time you scammed me out of money, did you ever think there'd be a day you'd complain about having too much?"

Hao Jian shook his head and gave a sheepish laugh. Back then, when he was selling candy at the entrance of No. 1 Middle School, he had indeed intended to treat Li Ye as a sucker. He never expected that after just a few days, they would all be entangled together in a group.

"Puff~ puff~"

Hao Jian patted the dust off the bundle and unfolded it layer by layer, revealing stacks upon stacks of cash inside.

"As you instructed, I've already divided the money in advance. Your share is 1396 yuan and 52 cents. I bought five pairs of shoes according to the list you gave me, costing 87 yuan and 3... I've rounded it up to a nice 1320 for you. My share is 950. Jin Peng..."

Even though Li Ye had once seen "hundreds of thousands" of yuan, he still felt a warmth seeing the pile of cash that belonged to him now.

Among the more than a thousand yuan, there weren't many ten or five-yuan bills. Most of them were two and one-yuan notes, forming a large, rustling pile.

This was even after Hao Jian had tried his best to give the larger bills to Li Ye. The other shares were mostly made up of small bills.

Li Ye put the money into his shoulder bag and called Jin Peng in, giving him nearly two hundred yuan as a "escort fee."

Jin Peng had anticipated this and accepted it calmly. However, when it came to distributing money to Wang Jianqiang, the simpleton actually refused to take it.

"Brother, it's too much, too much! I don't want it. I'm full, that's enough. I've been able to eat my fill these days."

Li Ye thought about Wang Jianqiang's family situation, so he put the money away and said to Wang Jianqiang, "I can hold onto this money for you for now, but you need to remember the amount yourself. This time, you're entitled to 89 yuan. I'll give you 9 yuan first and keep 80 yuan here for you. Do you understand?"

"Mmm-hmm, I remember, brother."

Wang Jianqiang happily took the nine yuan, his mouth splitting into a grin that reached his ears.

After all the money was distributed, Li Ye and Hao Jian agreed to divide the money every half month from now on. If the amount was too large, they would do it every ten days.

However, just as Li Ye was about to leave, Hao Jian handed him a package and said, "These are the shoes you asked me to buy for you from the provincial capital. Also, there's another matter. A few days ago, a village cadre asked me what I'd been busy with. I covered for you, but who knows if they'll ask again. See if you can pull some strings and get some paperwork done."

Li Ye's eyes narrowed. He asked, "What strings? What paperwork?"

Hao Jian looked a bit guilty but still said, "I heard Jin Peng mention that your grandfather works in the grain system. In the past, the grain system had food processing and rural cooperative households..."

Li Ye gave Hao Jian a cold glance and pushed his cart away with Jin Peng.

Halfway there, Li Ye asked Jin Peng, "Was it you who leaked my grandfather's identity to Hao Jian?"

Jin Peng chuckled. "Do you think I accidentally let it slip?"

Li Ye asked doubtfully, "Could it be that you deliberately told the old man?"

Jin Peng said, "Xiao Ye, we've been buying rice, glutinous rice, and other raw materials constantly these days. Do you think the old man hasn't heard any rumors? He's an investigator by training."

"..."

Li Ye was taken aback for a moment and then understood.

He realized that just when he thought he had planned everything perfectly and was in control, his family had already been covering for him.