Can You Cook?

When Li Ye called out to several classmates and left right in front of Teacher Luo, declaring that they would no longer study in the classroom, Xia Yue and the others thought they had misheard.

Judging by Li Ye's fierce manner just now, he did not look like someone who would let the matter rest.

Did we... win just like that?

Watching Li Ye and the others leave, Xia Yue could not help feeling the joy of holding her head high and breathing free.

Xia Yue had once been a diligent, hardworking student herself. Girls in those days all knew how precious the chance to study was. To escape a fate as monotonous as a thousand identical pages, they studied with everything they had.

But whenever she saw Li Ye, the fire in her heart surged upward, impossible to suppress no matter how hard she tried.

Was it because of Lu Jingyao?

Even Xia Yue herself could not explain it.

"Finally drove those black sheep out."

"Exactly. Our ears can finally have some peace and quiet. Ever since Li Ye came to our class, there hasn't been a single peaceful day."

"They shouldn't be in Class One at all. They should be sent to Class Two or Class Three."

"..."

Jin Shengli and the others were also delighted. In their view, the whole class, under the core leadership of him and Xia Yue, had defeated a small band of heretics who undermined class unity and foiled Li Ye's sinister scheme to drag down Retake Class One's overall grades.

So after Li Ye and the others had gone a little farther, Jin Shengli led several classmates in excited applause, waving their fists as symbols of victory.

Li Ye led the seven of them across the sports field when faint applause drifted from behind them.

He did not care, but the classmates walking with him had already been uneasy and uncertain. Hearing the applause now made them even more anxious.

"Li Ye, is this really okay?"

The one who spoke was Han Xia, a girl who had been transferred from Class Two to Class One together with Hu Man and Li Ye. During the recent conflicts with Xia Yue and the others, she had also been one of the people who firmly defended Li Ye.

Li Ye smiled. "What do you think is not okay?"

Han Xia hesitated before saying, "We didn't do anything wrong, so why are we running away? If this goes on, people will laugh at us, and we really will become the ones who don't unite with our classmates."

Li Ye glanced at Han Xia and said seriously, "Han Xia, remember this: we only unite with people worth uniting with."

"People worth uniting with?" Han Xia was a little stunned. She asked softly, "Just the few of us? Isn't that too few?"

"Seven people is not few," Li Ye said firmly. "Right now, you may feel that the few of us are a minority who have broken away from the organization and the group.

"But one day, you'll understand that if a person truly has seven close friends in their lifetime, that is an extravagance and a blessing beyond measure."

"Haha, Li Ye, the way you put that... sigh."

After hearing Li Ye's words, Han Xia and the others felt much less uneasy, and their hesitant steps grew lighter.

Only one female classmate kept her head down and silently trailed at the very back, more than ten meters away from Li Ye and the others.

Han Xia turned around and called, "Jiang Xiaoyan, hurry up. Stop dawdling."

The girl looked up at Li Ye, softly answered, "Oh," and quickened her pace slightly.

Like Li Dayong and Fu Yingjie, Jiang Xiaoyan had originally been one of Retake Class One's top students, but she had always been on the fringes of the class.

After Hu Man became the new class monitor, she noticed this girl who was almost transparent, and with only a few test papers, successfully "lured" her over.

Then the few of them worked through problems and explained them to one another, gradually discovering that they got along remarkably well.

Especially after the last test, Jiang Xiaoyan had firmly concluded that Li Ye was not some Huang Shiren at all, but a capable and kind good student.

When Xia Yue once spread lies about Li Ye, Jiang Xiaoyan, weak and soft as a lump of dough, had actually argued with Xia Yue and the others. Though Xia Yue eventually scolded her to tears, she kept arguing even as she cried.

That was why Li Ye had chosen her as one of the seven.

Jiang Xiaoyan was timid by nature. When Li Ye called for her to leave the classroom and find another place to study today, she had been deeply hesitant and terrified. In the end, perhaps knowing that Xia Yue and the others would target her if she stayed in the classroom, she lowered her head and followed Li Ye.

For a dull, honest student to suddenly break away from school, it was only natural to feel panicked.

Fu Yingjie, Hu Man, Han Xia, and the others were also somewhat panicked and hesitant.

Perhaps Wen Leyu was the only one who followed Li Ye without a second thought.

At the time, she had not asked a single question. The moment Li Ye said they would find their own place to study, she immediately began packing her schoolbag and was the first to rush out of the classroom, walking faster and with greater resolve than Li Ye himself.

That little girl was clever!

You bunch of blockheads, what do you know about Li Ye's good points?

In the 1980s, the grain system was unquestionably a powerful sector. All kinds of grain and oil shops and distribution stations supported countless state employees who walked around with their chins held high.

Second Grain Store was one such grain and oil supply station. It was not usually very busy, but once the monthly quotas came down, urban residents from half the county would bring their ration books to buy low-priced rice, flour, oil, and salt, then head to the vegetable company for vegetables, purchasing their daily necessities all along the way.

So Second Grain Store's street-facing storefront was not large, but the courtyard behind it was quite spacious. It had not only a large warehouse for stored grain, but also smaller warehouses for scarce goods.

Li Ye led Wen Leyu, Hu Man, and the others out of the school gate, walked a little over a hundred meters, and circled around to the back entrance of Second Grain Store. Before they could knock, a burst of barking came from inside.

A yellow native dog pressed itself against the crack in the gate and barked a wary threat at Li Ye and the others, scaring several timid girls away from approaching.

But the gate soon opened. A middle-aged man in his forties kicked the yellow dog aside, then smiled at Li Ye.

"Xiao Ye, why did you come today? Didn't you say tomorrow?"

"It's fine, Uncle Huang. The room has already been cleaned up. A day earlier or later doesn't matter."

Li Ye led his classmates inside. He was not especially familiar with this man; he only knew that his surname was Huang and that he was in charge of Second Grain Store.

After Li Zhongfa learned that Li Ye had been helping people set questions, he spoke to the people below him and had a small warehouse at the nearby Second Grain Store cleared out for Li Ye to use as a study room.

Old Huang, however, was extremely enthusiastic toward Li Ye and led him toward a door hung with a cotton curtain.

"Once Director Li gave the order, we hurried to get it cleaned up. The plaster on the newly built wall is still a little damp, though. I've already lit the stove, and it'll be completely dry by tomorrow."

They lifted the curtain, pushed open the door, and entered.

A new wall had been built down the middle of the small warehouse, dividing it into one large room and one small room. There were even two stoves installed inside and out, their coal fires roaring brightly.

A thick warmth immediately enveloped Hu Man and the others, who had been shivering and hissing from the cold.

"Ohhh, this is so comfortable I could die."

Li Dayong was the first to cry out. After enduring so many days in icy classrooms and dormitories, suddenly arriving somewhere like this naturally felt unbelievably good.

The girls were delighted as well.

Even the poorest girl loved beauty. In the dead of winter, who wanted a pair of delicate little hands frozen red like carrots, perhaps even split open in several places?

Li Ye was also quite satisfied. Old Huang was a clever man; the partitioned smaller room even had a small heated brick bed. Li Ye immediately decided that he would sleep here at night.

"You've troubled yourself too much, Uncle Huang. But a few friends will be bringing things over later, so tie up the dog first."

"Sure, sure, I'll tie it up right away. Our work unit is different; at night, we really need something to listen for movement. Please understand."

Old Huang had just turned to go tie up the dog when it started barking outside again.

Jin Peng and Hao Jian dragged a flatbed cart into the courtyard.

"Come on, classmates, help unload the cart!"

Li Ye called Li Dayong and the others over to unload a huge pile of pots, bowls, ladles, basins, tables, chairs, and benches.

Hu Man asked curiously, "Li Ye, are you planning to cook here?"

Li Ye said, "That's right. From now on, we need to speed up our study progress. We have to line up at the school cafeteria, so saving even a little time is good. One meal costs ten cents. Eat as much as you want."

"Great! You're such a big rich man, and you're still charging us? We thought we'd be following you to feast at a rich man's expense."

Han Xia had a lively personality, so she joked with Li Ye.

Of course everyone had to pay. In those days, people scrambled to pick up even a single cent from the road. Who would deliberately take advantage of someone else?

But Li Ye noticed Jiang Xiaoyan lower her head, twisting the corner of her clothes between both hands, clearly looking uncomfortable.

Li Ye knew why.

When it came to Jiang Xiaoyan, Li Ye felt that she was comparable to Sun Shaoping.

Every month, she carried grain from home to exchange for meal tickets at the school cafeteria. When it was time to eat, she always waited until no one else was left and went last.

She spent three cents on a steamed bun, ate it with pickles brought from home, and filled her stomach with boiled water.

By the end of the month, even the pickles might be gone. Sometimes if she went too late, there would not even be boiled water left, and she could only swallow dry mouthfuls down her throat.

Poor and stubborn, yet upright at heart, Li Ye thought she was a very good girl.

Clang!

"There are ribs to eat!"

Jin Peng carried half a rack of ribs down from the cart and flung it onto the platform beside the stove, making the mouths of the students water.

"Well, we need someone to cook regularly. It takes time and effort, so we won't pay wages, but that person definitely won't have to pay for meals."

Li Ye pointed at Jiang Xiaoyan and asked, "Can you make braised ribs with radish, Jiang Xiaoyan?"

"Ah... I can."

Jiang Xiaoyan raised her head. Her eyes sparkled with joy, and they were beautiful.

Thanks to reader "20211029110351113" for the tip, thanks to reader "Lingran" for the tip, and thanks to reader "1686560818040958976" for the tip. Thank you all, Thanks(ω)!

There will be another chapter this afternoon or tonight.