My Brother Is Different with Her

The small warehouse at the Second Grain Store was very quiet, with only the scratch of fountain pens across paper and the tick-tick-tick of the second hand on the "horseshoe clock."

Li Dayong, Hu Man, and the other four students had their heads bowed, agonizing over their own test papers.

Li Ye had produced three sets of questions that evening. Though none was a complete exam, they had to copy down the questions themselves and listen as Li Ye explained problems they could not solve, so time was extremely tight.

Only Wen Leyu had finished her paper early. Sitting beside Li Ye, she quietly watched him write and helped proofread his manuscript.

Li Ye had been busy that day—truly busy.

He had to organize their special meals, set questions, and explain questions, yet no matter how busy he was, he had not neglected the novel he and Wen Leyu were "creating together."

That finally made Wen Leyu feel much better.

Though Wen Leyu had firmly followed Li Ye out of the classroom to study here,

she had actually been somewhat unhappy.

Back in the classroom, Li Ye had basically "belonged to her." Here, however, he had to divide much of his attention among Li Dayong, Hu Man, and the others.

That was why Wen Leyu had said so icily earlier, "Anyone who doesn't believe it can leave."

After more than ten days of close contact, Wen Leyu had actually given up on the notion of "creating together." She peacefully served as the coordinator between Li Ye and Teacher Ke, properly weaving clue after clue and piece of material after piece of material into the novel in Li Ye's hands.

She simply had no ability to offer guiding suggestions for Li Ye's novel. She could only occasionally ask him in a roundabout way, "Could this Shi Cheng have a bigger role?"

Every time, Li Ye would nod generously and add a few more strokes to Shi Cheng's character, making him more brilliant and more prominent.

Wen Leyu was delighted. She felt that Li Ye respected her opinions and cared about what was in her heart.

But how could she know that Li Ye understood her little thoughts like the back of his hand?

When Li Ye had taken on "this job," he had decided to use Deserter in the Flames of War as the blueprint and adapt it into a high-end custom-made work exclusively for Teacher Ke.

And the first step of the adaptation was determining who had a close relationship with Teacher Ke.

The story material Teacher Ke provided was broadly about a weak fighting group made up of "crooked melons and split dates" that was tempered and remade through battle, continually shedding its old skin and transforming.

Within that little group were bandits who had surrendered just to scrape together a meal, and simpletons with a screw loose in their heads who had nothing but brute strength.

There was also a "jinx" cursed by fate, who had gotten dozens of comrades killed, as well as the orphaned child of a martyr, young in years but already a slick old veteran.

There were also miscellaneous guerrillas who joined later, and half-grown children not even as tall as their rifles.

And all their fates underwent a complete transformation because of Hu Yi, the murderous fiend who had come over after surrendering.

After receiving these character materials, Li Ye had worried most that Teacher Ke might be too deeply entangled with that murderous fiend. That would truly have been difficult to write—this was 1981, not 2001.

But later, Li Ye discovered that among the characters, there was one for whom Teacher Ke had provided the most material, and it was especially rich.

After several rounds of probing and communication, the two of them tacitly agreed that this "Shi Cheng" was the book's "super supporting character."

Shi Cheng's character prototype was a guerrilla fighter. He had only officially joined the unit in 1938, but the man had a life as tough as iron. By the time the japanese soldiers surrendered, he had endured his way up to battalion rank.

Because he had enlisted late, he had long since married and had children. Judging by his age, Li Ye reckoned that he was most likely from Wen Leyu's grandfather's generation.

And as the writing continued, proofreader Wen Leyu clearly paid more attention to this "Shi Cheng," so Li Ye did his best to give him some artistic polish as well.

Clang-lang-lang~

At ten-thirty that night, Li Ye's "horseshoe clock" suddenly rang.

This kind of mechanical alarm clock was extremely loud. If it suddenly went off early in the morning, it could make someone jump out of their skin.

The six students, who had been doing their papers with tightly furrowed brows, also looked up in shock like pheasants startled by gunfire.

"Is it already time? I haven't finished yet!"

"I haven't finished either, Li Ye. Wait for us a little longer!"

"I'm not sleepy, I'm not sleepy. I wouldn't be sleepy even if I studied all night."

Li Ye did not care whether they were sleepy or not. He stood and began collecting the papers.

"This is only our first day holding self-study outside school. If you can't return to the dormitory on time, what will the school think? Will it continue allowing us to study on our own?"

After spending five minutes marking right and wrong, Li Ye immediately began sending them away and told them to return to the school dormitory.

He was planning to sleep on the small heated kang in the inner room, but the others could not. He had to bear responsibility for organizing these people to study outside.

In truth, if Li Ye wanted to save himself trouble, he could ignore everyone and help no one, quietly wait for the college entrance examination, and soar into the sky in one leap.

But Wen Leyu was beside him!

And Li Dayong was behind him.

Tending one sheep was tending; driving a flock was driving. That was why Li Ye had selected Hu Man and the others, who were at least somewhat "loyal."

Hu Man had been thinking constantly about the unfinished paper. After hesitating for a long while, she said softly, "Then we'll take them back to finish. We guarantee we won't let anyone see them."

"What did you say?"

Li Ye's face suddenly turned cold. His stern gaze swept over the students, then he turned and walked to the stove, opened its cover, and stuffed all the papers inside.

"..."

Orange-red flames leaped up, and the seven papers vanished into ash in an instant.

"Don't, Li Ye."

"What are you doing?"

The students, especially Hu Man and the other girls, stamped their feet in distress. The timid Jiang Xiaoyan even burst into tears.

They had not finished those papers yet!

The test papers the school usually handed out were done over and over several times. In their eyes, these unfinished papers were treasures.

It was only because Li Ye was so stern and frightening at that moment that they did not rush forward to snatch them back.

With a dark face, Li Ye said icily, "It seems you did not understand what I meant just now. Then I'll repeat it for you."

"Nothing in this warehouse—not a single word, not a single sheet of paper—is allowed to leave this place."

Pointing toward the school, Li Ye asked Hu Man, "Can you tell me why we came out of the school today? What was the original cause?"

Hu Man pressed her lips together. Only after a long while did she say, "Because you wouldn't explain problems to the other students, they became jealous of you and then spread rumors to slander you."

Hearing the nasal tone in Hu Man's voice, Li Ye softened his tone slightly. "Think about it. These past days in Retake Class One, how much time did you spend arguing with Xia Yue and the others?

How much time did you spend sulking? How much time did you spend explaining yourselves to the teachers?"

"And the root of all this is that we have enough test questions to change our own fates."

"Don't think that being careful is enough to guarantee no one sees them. You have no right to take that risk, because this is not just about yourselves."

"Unless you are willing to go back to tearing at Xia Yue and the others every day, cursing and fighting every day, wasting all your energy on meaningless rotten nonsense, and letting your fates rot forever in that mud pit called Class One."

Hu Man and the others were all cowed by Li Ye's severity.

But then they recalled all the vexing matters of recent days.

Ever since they had begun opposing Xia Yue and the others, the quality of their studying had plummeted. Their minds were constantly disturbed by all sorts of chaotic thoughts.

Yet in just the past few hours, they had lived with incomparable "purity."

They had completed two and a half sets of papers, listened to Li Ye explain problems, and before they knew it, the entire evening had passed in a full and productive way.

This pure and fulfilling study environment felt truly wonderful to them.

Compared to this place, Retake Class One, envied by every student at the second high school, really was a mud pit.

"Sorry, Li Ye. We were wrong. I swear here that I'll keep the secret strictly. My head may be cut off and my blood may flow, but I won't leak a single word."

"We swear too."

"..."

The students swore one after another, as resolute as the warriors in films of that era.

Only then did Li Ye open the door of the small warehouse, put on his coat, and escort them back to school.

But once they stepped outside, they discovered that the office at the Second Grain Store was still lit.

When Li Ye and the others came out, the office door opened, and Li Ye's grandfather Li Zhongfa and grandmother Wu Juying came out.

Li Ye froze for a moment, then asked, "Grandpa, Grandma, when did you get here? Why didn't you come in?"

Li Zhongfa waved a hand solemnly. "I already told them that as long as your door is closed, no one is allowed to enter."

"No one is allowed to disturb my grandson while he writes novels. No one is allowed to stop the children of our work unit from becoming great writers."

The person in charge of the Second Grain Store followed up, "Director Li is right. In all these years, our unit has never produced a proper cultured person, has it?"

Well then!

Li Ye, a child of the grain system, had somehow become his work unit's hope for culture.

"Alright, I'll take these classmates back first, then come back and talk to you."

"No need. I only came to have a look. It's late, so get some rest. I'll take them to the school gate for you."

Li Zhongfa was a decisive man. He shoved Li Ye back inside, then left with his wife and Li Dayong's group.

Li Ye was somewhat baffled.

It was understandable that Grandpa Li Zhongfa had come to take a look, but why had Grandma Wu Juying come?

After Li Zhongfa left through the back door of the Second Grain Store, he cleared his throat.

Quick-witted Li Dayong immediately moved closer. "Advisor, what is it?"

Lowering his voice, Li Zhongfa asked like a secret agent, "Which one is that little girl you told me about?"

Li Dayong carefully pointed at Wen Leyu and whispered, "Advisor, I can't be certain either, but my brother is different with this Wen Leyu. Really different."