A Warning (Third Update-Asking for Votes)

"Stop chopping, stop chopping. Oh, Li Ye, have you ever cooked before?"

In the small storeroom behind the Second Grain Store, Li Ye was swinging a thick-backed cleaver, hacking fiercely at half a rack of ribs with crack, crack, crack.

It was freezing outside. Jin Peng and the others had bought the ribs at a rural market, and they had frozen solid on the way back. Even Li Ye, who fancied himself a skilled fighter, found them hard to chop.

And perhaps because the knife was not sharp enough, or perhaps because Li Ye swung it too slowly, after his bout of wildly slashing like a cloak whipping in the wind, bits of meat had been flung to the floor by the blade.

It was not just Jiang Xiaoyan who felt heartache; even Hu Man and the others muttered that Li Ye was being far too wasteful.

But this really was not Li Ye's fault.

They had agreed earlier that Jiang Xiaoyan would cook, and she was quick and capable. She would not even let anyone else touch a job like chopping ribs.

To protect Jiang Xiaoyan's pride, Li Ye had deliberately assigned everyone else to set out the tables and arrange the chairs, intending not to interfere.

But when he saw Jiang Xiaoyan cut up a small basin of radishes yet only chop three or four liang of ribs to go with them, Li Ye could not stand it anymore.

Why had Li Ye told Jin Peng and the others to buy groceries and cook for themselves?

Was it really because getting food from the cafeteria wasted too much time?

Bullshit. Wasn't it because he was craving good food?

Ever since crossing over, Li Ye had utterly detested the cooking habits of everyone around him.

A serving of cafeteria food cost a few cents, and it was hard to find even a trace of oil in it. A meat dish cost twelve cents and barely counted as something meaty.

Even when he occasionally went home, and Grandma said, "My eldest grandson is back. I'll make something delicious today," it only meant a few extra slices of fatty pork in Li Ye's bowl.

That was for a family like Li Ye's. In these times, if no one in a household earned a salary, measuring cooking oil out with chopsticks was nothing strange. (The author's father had experienced this: Grandma would dip chopsticks into the oil bottle, flick the oil on them into the wok, and start stir-frying.)

So although Li Ye had eaten three dishes every meal these past days, the great Chinese foodie genes carved into his soul had long since raised banners and protested a hundred times over.

Before, he had lacked the means. Now that he had the means, why should he keep suffering?

By the end of 1981, private meat vendors had already begun selling meat at rural markets. A few days ago, Li Ye had told Hao Jian and Jin Peng that when they went to the provincial capital to sell candy, they should stock up at the markets along the way. Chicken, duck, fish, meat—anything was fine. Buy whatever they found.

It was winter anyway. The natural refrigerator would keep food from spoiling for several days. There were markets in countless nearby villages; as long as they had money, they would never lack food.

Since food was not in short supply, why count every meat cube before tossing it into the pot like plucking feathers dry?

And ribs were less valuable than lean meat these days, while lean meat was less valuable than fatty meat. A few cents per jin—what was there to save?

So Li Ye chased Jiang Xiaoyan away, picked up the cleaver himself, and only stopped after chopping two or three jin of ribs in one go.

"From now on, cook according to this standard for the side ingredients. Ten cents a meal! We have to let the brothers know what it means to get their money's worth."

Li Ye would not cook personally, but he would direct them according to recipes.

"Blanch out the blood first, then stir-fry it in oil. Add water and stew everything together. Simple."

"Are you using your family's oil? There's so little oil that the ribs are about to burn. We can't cheat people, can we?"

"Not bad, not bad. Add the star anise and get ready to take it off the heat."

Li Ye directed Jiang Xiaoyan through every step of the cooking, correcting her penny-pinching habits at each turn. Once the big pot began to bubble and gurgle, everyone gathered around it, eyes wide, lips pressed together, swallowing their saliva.

A specially made ten-cents-a-meal dinner, and this was what you were letting us eat?

Mm, mm, mm—Li Ye, you really were a great benefactor.

Li Ye had underestimated his classmates' appetites. By the end, the huge pot of ribs stewed with radish had left only a little broth.

Girls like Hu Man, Han Xue, and Jiang Xiaoyan had been shy and awkward at first, too embarrassed to dig in.

But once the rich, fatty flavor of oil and fat bloomed on their tongues, even the most ladylike girls could no longer hold back. Like Jin Peng, Li Dayong, and the others, they opened their mouths wide and wolfed the food down.

Only Wen Leyu was different. She was not embarrassed, but her little mouth moved at a rapid pace like a rabbit nibbling grass. Somehow, she still looked elegant.

Li Ye had long said that she, as the proofreader, deserved a share of the manuscript fees.

But she did not want money. She only asked that he feed her, and these past days, whenever Li Ye got food from the cafeteria, he brought a portion for her too.

Little streams ran long. If she stuck with Li Ye, she felt she would earn more in the end.

Li Ye ate the last piece of radish while standing, then went out with Hao Jian to walk off the meal.

In the cold, desolate night, two cigarette tips flickered brightly and dimly. After a long while, Hao Jian finally spoke.

"This half month's shipment volume has exceeded our estimates again. Do you think... something might happen?"

Li Ye took a drag, tossed half the cigarette to the ground, and crushed it beneath his shoe.

"What do you think could happen?"

Hao Jian looked at the half-smoked Da Qianmen crushed beneath Li Ye's shoe, felt heartache for a fraction of a second, then took a newspaper-wrapped brick from his clothes.

The newspaper was wrapped tightly around it, making it look like a brick. Naturally, inside was Li Ye's share of the cash from this round.

Hao Jian handed the money to Li Ye and said heavily, "We're making too much money."

"Pfft."

Li Ye laughed, weighed the "brick" in his hand, and asked, "How much? Enough to become a Ten Thousand Yuan Household?"

Hao Jian nodded and said quietly, "Almost. Not this year, but definitely next year."

Li Ye laughed again. "Don't you read newspapers all day? You tell me—does being a Ten Thousand Yuan Household break the law?"

In an era when the average monthly salary was thirty or forty yuan, a "Ten Thousand Yuan Household" was absolutely synonymous with enormous wealth. Such a household might not be equivalent to someone who had achieved a "small goal" in later generations, but they were certainly comparable to a multimillionaire.

But the first Ten Thousand Yuan Household publicly reported on had appeared in 1979. It was already 1981 now, and even the sunflower seed businesses had assets of several million yuan. What was there to fear?

So Li Ye believed that by 1981, becoming a Ten Thousand Yuan Household would no longer cross any line or violate any rule. There was no need to panic over it.

But Hao Jian stared at Li Ye and slowly said, "A Ten Thousand Yuan Household isn't illegal, but what about a hundred-thousand-yuan household? If a hundred-thousand-yuan household isn't illegal, what about a millionaire?"

Li Ye was stunned. Looking at the increasingly excited Hao Jian, he could not help but reassess him.

When Li Ye had first met Hao Jian, he had already thought highly of him.

But Li Ye truly had not expected that after only a few days, this crafty businessman would possess such courage and ambition.

In 1981, anyone who dared to think in the direction of becoming a millionaire was either delusional or extraordinary.

As long as the latter did not capsize, he would surely become a figure in his own right someday.

Li Ye took out a cigarette and wanted to light it, but then put it back into the pack.

Like an interviewer questioning a senior employee, he asked Hao Jian, "Malt candy isn't a business with much of a barrier to entry. Do you think it can make that much money?"

As if he had prepared for this, Hao Jian said, "It can. Maybe malt candy itself can't make that much, but the channels can—the channels you mentioned."

Li Ye smiled. "So you finally understand what channels are?"

Hao Jian became completely excited. "I figured it out these past few days. Those people who distribute goods for us can distribute more than malt candy. They can sell anything. At most, we just give them a little support.

"A few days ago in the provincial capital, I met some Southerners secretly selling clothes at night. They can sell them, so can we. They sell retail, but we can do wholesale."

Li Ye looked at Hao Jian and had to admire this talent who had only graduated middle school.

Though Hao Jian's understanding of channels was not quite accurate, his mind was certainly quick, and his business instincts were sharp enough.

Before, limited capital had restricted his ability to act. Now, as the capital in his hands kept growing, his horizons were gradually broadening as well, and the ambition buried in his heart naturally swelled.

Hao Jian spoke in one breath for a long time before finally stopping.

Li Ye nodded with a smile and said approvingly, "Not bad. But some things can't be rushed. Before the malt candy business hits a bottleneck, just focus on steadily developing retailers."

After Li Ye said that, he turned to head back, but Hao Jian hurriedly called out, "Li Ye, now that our business is getting bigger and bigger, can you let me meet your grandfather?"

"Hmm?"

Li Ye slowly turned back. Looking at the anxious Hao Jian, his face was cold, without the slightest smile.

"Getting you the paperwork for a rural cooperative processing household still isn't enough?"

"No, no, it's not that. I just have some matters I want to report to Director Li."

Hao Jian took several steps back before managing to explain himself.

He still did not understand what an "aura" was, but all at once, he felt the "kindness and generosity" on Li Ye vanish, replaced by "indifference and sharpness."

Li Ye was indeed angry.

Hao Jian did not want to report anything to his grandfather. He wanted to bind himself completely to the Li family and share the risks together.

As Hao Jian had said, in these times, a Ten Thousand Yuan Household or even a hundred-thousand-yuan household would not face much danger if they kept a low profile.

But a millionaire was harder to say. After all, Qingshui County was a relatively closed-off northern Xiao Cheng, not the open and fertile soil of the South.

No matter how profitable the malt candy business was, Li Ye would not allow Hao Jian, his outer protective shell, to come into deep contact with his grandfather Li Zhongfa.

Li Ye finally lit his cigarette again. After exhaling a thin mist into the winter night, he asked Hao Jian, "What could an ordinary cooperative processing household possibly have to report to my grandfather?"

Hao Jian felt his mouth go dry. Swallowing hard, he said, "We're making too much money, and we'll make even more later. I want to hear Director Li's opinion."

"Heh."

You're looking for a guarantee, aren't you?

Li Ye smiled and blew out a mouthful of smoke, spat tobacco juice onto the ground, then jerked his chin toward the small storeroom behind the Second Grain Store.

"Fine, I understand. Go inside and call Jin Peng out to see me alone."

"..."

Hao Jian's feet seemed nailed to the ground. He did not move an inch.

And in the freezing depths of winter, sweat actually appeared on his forehead.

What was Li Ye going to do? Why was he calling Jin Peng out? Was he going to replace him? He knew it, he knew it...

These past days, Jin Peng had followed Hao Jian to the provincial capital. When they delivered goods to those peddlers who distributed them, Jin Peng did not speak much, but he knew and recognized every single small vendor.

Why was Li Ye telling Hao Jian to go inside and send Jin Peng out now?

Hao Jian did not dare gamble.

If he lost the gamble, his Ten Thousand Yuan Household, his hundred-thousand-yuan household... all of it would be gone.

These past days, Hao Jian had watched money pour in like flowing water, impossible to stop, and he had begun to think he was somebody.

But now, with just one airy sentence from Li Ye, he had been knocked from the clouds into mortal dust and made to understand what it meant for everything to end in emptiness.

Seeing Hao Jian stand there without moving for a long time, Li Ye asked with a grin, "What's wrong? Is it cooler outside? Don't want to go in?"

Hao Jian struggled and twisted inside, but he still managed to smile.

"I'm not that scared, really. But I have a wife and children."

Li Ye looked at Hao Jian in silence for a long time before saying, "Do you know about the enterprise contracting document issued from above this year?"

Hao Jian's mind immediately began turning. "There was something like that, but what does it have to do with us?"

Li Ye said, "It has nothing to do with us now, but that may not be true later. When the time comes, if you contract a small collective enterprise, wouldn't that solve everything?"

A great sweat broke out all over Hao Jian's body, and he instantly relaxed.

You little bastard, you already had arrangements. Why didn't you say so?

Contracting a small collective enterprise would definitely still require the Li family's help. Only after Hao Jian confirmed that Li Ye had no intention of abandoning him at any moment did he finally set his mind at ease.

Li Ye returned to the back courtyard of the Second Grain Store with Hao Jian and saw Wen Leyu, Hu Man, and several other girls feeding leftover bones to the dog.

But the enormous Big Yellow Dog did not even look at the pile of bones. He only whimpered softly at the girls.

Li Ye asked, "What are you doing?"

Wen Leyu replied, "This dog is so fierce. We wanted to give him something tasty, or he'll always bite us later, but he won't eat the bones."

"Damn."

Li Ye cursed lightly. "You girls gnawed those bones cleaner than a dog could. How is he supposed to eat them? Dogs have dignity too, okay?"

Hao Jian, following behind Li Ye, nearly stumbled and fell.

Only now did he suddenly see the light, as though waking from a dream.

In the malt candy business he ran with Li Ye, profits were split forty-sixty. Hao Jian had already eaten his fill.

I should be satisfied. I should be satisfied. Fuck, why wasn't I satisfied? What an idiot.

Hao Jian regretted it beyond measure, yet felt endless relief as well.

The promised third update is here. Please vote, please support, please give everything. Also, thank you to reader "20211029110351113" for the tip. Thank you all!