I Know the Stall Owner

The next day, Fang Bai guided the part-time students in repairing televisions as usual, reading in his spare time, and planned to return to school in the afternoon to ask teachers for help with questions.

In the morning, Fang Shi rode his bicycle to Yongjia No. 1 Middle School, wanting to share the good news about television sales with his wife.

However, when he reached the school gate, no matter how much he explained, the gatekeeper refused to let him enter to look for her, mistaking him for someone making excuses to sneak in and find students.

The gatekeeper saw him looking like a farmer and simply didn't want to bother with him, which was understandable.

Fang Shi had no choice but to stand outside the iron gate and peer in. He happened to spot his wife cleaning not far away and shouted, "Fengqing!"

Liu Fengqing was busy sweeping with her head down when she suddenly heard a familiar call. She looked up and saw a familiar face waving at her.

When they met, Fang Shi told his wife about the booming television sales.

"Oh my god, we sold eighteen thousand in one day!"

Liu Fengqing's eyebrows shot up, and her mouth fell wide open. "Then our family... we're rich, aren't we?"

His monthly salary was only fifty yuan, with no other benefits.

It wasn't that she liked this job, but she couldn't find stable work—otherwise, where would the money for their child's schooling come from?

A few days ago, her son had suggested she quit, and she was still hesitating.

But now, with her son earning more in one day than she did in over twenty years, she had no reason to hesitate anymore.

She decided to go help out with odd jobs.

"That's right, we sold 29 TVs. I was in charge of collecting the money, and my shoulder bag was so stuffed there was no room left.

Our son said there are probably still nearly two hundred units that can be repaired. If we can sell them all, tsk tsk, that's really over a hundred thousand." Fang Shi said excitedly, proud of his son.

This way of making money was even more profitable than running a small factory.

Many people in the village had small workshops in the county town, mostly worth around ten thousand yuan. The one who earned the most, probably over a hundred thousand, had a fairly large factory.

Now, his son had made more from a truckload of televisions than the most successful boss in the village.

He had to maintain a dignified fatherly image in front of his son, but in front of his wife, he couldn't help showing off a bit.

"Alright, I'll go handle my resignation now. You go back and help our son first." Liu Fengqing finally made up her mind.

In the morning, Fang Bai negotiated a lease with the next-door landlord—450 yuan a year, 90 yuan more expensive than his current rental.

Take it or leave it.

Spending an extra 90 yuan for convenience, Fang Bai felt it was fine even if he was being ripped off a little.

Seven people came in the morning to repair televisions, and the original shop was so packed with TVs that it felt extremely cramped—there was barely room to move.

With an extra shop space, everyone had more room to move around.

In the afternoon, Fang Bai bought a bag of apples, about six or seven jin, and went to Oubei No. 1 Middle School.

When he entered the school gate, he gave an apple to the gatekeeper and chatted with him for a bit.

The gatekeeper smiled and let him into the campus, saying he was welcome to visit anytime.

The gatekeeper earned the lowest salary at the school, but to the students, he was second only to the principal in authority.

If you were on good terms with the gatekeeper, you could walk out of the campus boldly without even needing a leave slip.

Fang Bai walked up the steps, crossed the hall, and arrived at the homeroom teacher's office. Just as he was about to enter, he heard several teachers discussing the TV stall at Oubei Bus Station.

Thinking about it, it made sense that the teachers knew about it.

The south gate of Oubei No. 1 Middle School was only two or three hundred meters from Oubei Bus Station. Some teachers lived in the city and passed by there after work, so it was normal for them to see it—they might have even stopped to take a look.

He had left the stall just after four in the afternoon, or else he really would have run into a teacher.

"When I was going home yesterday, I passed by the bus station and saw someone selling TVs. There were tons of buyers. All the TVs were only twenty percent off, including the large color TVs—a 21-inch one was only eleven hundred."

"Why so cheap? Twenty percent off, people must have been grabbing them."

"The TVs were a bit old. They said they were imported test units, so that's why they were so cheap. A lot of people were scrambling for them. Ah, too bad I didn't have any money on me, or I would have bought a color TV too. Couldn't afford a 21-inch, but a 14-inch would have been fine."

"If they actually work, it's really worth buying. I want one too. Teacher Zhang, is that stall still there?" Fang Bai's homeroom teacher, Zhan Feng, asked.

"They said they'll be setting up again tomorrow."

Fang Bai knocked before entering, cheerfully handing out fruit to the three teachers in the office, leaving the most for his homeroom teacher, Zhan Feng.

Last time, he had given fruit to his previous homeroom teacher's office; this time, it was the new homeroom teacher and the other teachers.

Same routine—the teachers politely accepted Fang Bai's fruit and got to know him, finding him a particularly interesting student.

After the teachers accepted the fruit, Fang Bai chimed in, "Teachers, I just overheard you talking about wanting to buy imported TVs."

"We were just chatting. If they're really that cheap, we might consider it."

"Oh, I see.

If you really want to buy one, I know the stall owner. There aren't many discounts, but at most, I can get you ten percent off the original price."

His family's TV was an imported test unit—old, sure, but the quality was fine.

As soon as he said that, the teachers looked a bit surprised.

One female teacher was especially eager to buy a Color TV, her eyes lighting up. "Fang Bai, really? You're not joking, are you? You actually know that boss?"

"Of course I do. We're from the same village, and he's a Fang too. We're on great terms," Fang Bai said with a smile. The "boss" was himself, and the "small boss" was his dad.

He just didn't want the teachers to know his family sold TVs.

Usually, when he asked teachers for help with questions, he felt it was right to show gratitude—it was his way of giving back to society.

Most teachers back then truly gave their all for their students. Working overtime without Overtime Pay to grade homework was routine, patrolling the dorms at night, keeping tabs on each student's home situation, and occasionally doing home visits—all to keep one more kid from going astray.

Besides, since they had crossed paths, giving the teachers a discount wasn't a big deal to Fang Bai. It wasn't about showing off how impressive he was—that would've been boring.

"Oh, I see. So when we buy one, how do we get the discount?"

"I'll go visit that village boss this afternoon. When you buy, just mention my name and say I referred you."

After saying that, Fang Bai turned to the Homeroom Teacher. "If you want one, Teacher, I can get you another 20% off on top of that. That's a friend's price, but only for one unit."

"Fang Bai, thank you. I'll think about it—TVs aren't cheap," Zhan Feng said, tempted by the discount but a little skeptical, unsure if it was real.

Anyway, she'd ask around later and see.

If the discount really was that big, she'd owe the student a favor. So she added, "Thanks in advance, Fang Bai."

"Yeah, same here—thanks, Fang Bai, whether we buy or not," the other teachers chimed in. They felt he might be bragging, but they hoped it was true.

"You're too kind, teachers. It's just a small thing." Fang Bai chuckled, pulled a notebook out of his bag, and unapologetically asked the teachers for help with his questions.

The questions he raised sparked a lively discussion among several teachers.

When Fang Bai walked into the classroom, his classmates were just mildly curious. They wondered why this guy, who barely showed up for school, was even repeating a year.

"Boss, you're finally here!" Wang Dakai stood up with a big grin when he saw Fang Bai arrive.

The other students, hearing him call Fang Bai that, grew even more curious. What had Fang Bai done to make this Big Guy willingly act like his underling?

Of course, most classmates thought the two of them were up to no good, dabbling in gangster stuff, and looked down on them a bit.

"Yeah, I'm here."

Fang Bai patted his shoulder and sat down. If this guy liked calling him "boss," so be it.

He figured the Big Guy was sharp-minded and sincere about friendship—worth keeping around.

Next, Fang Bai sat through two afternoon classes to soak in the classroom atmosphere.

Honestly, sitting there made him a little nostalgic for the days he'd gone to school with Qin Shuyu.

Back in sophomore and junior year, he'd sat right behind her, catching glimpses of her jet-black hair and trading a few words, getting through a great high school life.

Now, the girl in front of him was a chubby-faced one named Zhang Xiao Ai, pretty lively, and her deskmate was a skinny, acne-covered girl named Zheng Ran, very shy.

Not that Fang Bai was put off by their looks—he still chatted with them during breaks.

When Zhang Xiao Ai saw Fang Bai sit down, she turned around and squeezed out a big smile. "Fang Bai, haven't seen you in days."

"Yeah, Classmate Xiao Ai, long time no see." Fang Bai suddenly thought of the voice wake-up commands from future smart devices and almost laughed.

"Boss, Little Cutie's pretty great, you know."

Zhang Xiao Ai raised her eyebrows. "Big Guy, I don't allow you to call me that. Call me Zhang Xiao Ai."

Wang Dakai grinned goofily. "Sure thing, Little Cutie."

Zhang Xiao Ai snorted, ignored him, and turned back to her book.

Fang Bai knew the Big Guy was playing dumb—did he actually have a thing for Zhang Xiao Ai?

Well, they made a good match.

"Boss..." Wang Dakai wanted to chat.

"Read your book. Less talk."

"Oh, okay." Wang Dakai straightened up and picked up his book seriously.

Fang Bai focused on studying. The monthly exam was in a few days, and though he'd been busy with business, he couldn't let his studies slide.

He spent the most time on English, followed by physics and math, and the least on Chinese.

Fang Bai figured if he could raise his Chinese score from 92 to 100, that'd be passable. For the other subjects, he needed at least 80% of the full marks.

With a total of 710 points, 80% was 568—enough for a top-tier university and to meet the requirement of jumping two grades.

If it were a 750-point system, that'd be 600, which was extremely tough.

So getting into a top university was no joke.

Fang Bai threw himself into studying, hoping to leave no regrets.

After school let out, Fang Bai ran to the teachers' office again to ask questions, delaying his departure by over ten minutes.

When he got back to his rental, he saw his Younger Sister and mother had arrived, and his father was back too.

Fang Tingting saw her brother come back and immediately ran up to cling to his arm. "Older Brother, you got so many TVs—doesn't that mean each of us gets one Color TV? I can hog one for myself, hehe."

Fang Bai heard his sister's question and knew she hadn't left campus in days. "As long as it doesn't affect your studies, you can watch one with each eye if you want."

"Wow, really? Older Brother is the best."

"Liar. Dream on. Watch too many TV dramas and your brain's full of maggots."

"No way, you just promised me. When break comes, I'm taking one."

Liu Fengqing was also delighted to see the kids. Suddenly remembering something, she took a letter from her small bag and handed it to her son. "Son, Xiao Yu wrote you a letter. Make sure you write back."

The envelope was from Shencheng University of Finance and Economics, signed "Qin Shuyu." She knew who it was from and urged her son not to overlook anything important. In those days, letters were usually signed, so if they couldn't be delivered, they'd be returned to the sender.

Fang Bai quickly took it. "Mom, when did it arrive?"

"Last night, the village head announced it over the loudspeaker. I came home this afternoon and brought it to you."

Fang Bai grunted an acknowledgment. Mail was typically delivered to the elementary school, and the village head would broadcast announcements over the loudspeaker every so often; otherwise, you'd have to check the school's mailroom yourself at irregular times. In some villages, the mailman delivered straight to the door, but their village had steep terrain, so the mailman wouldn't bother unless it was an important document or a notice to pick up at the town post office.

Fang Bai took the letter back to his room, opened the envelope, and read it. He first checked the date—it was written on October 16, mailed home on October 24, and today was already Thursday, October 25.

Just as he started reading, his sister slipped in, grinning ear to ear. "Bro, I've got a sister-in-law now, and she's a college student! You're so awesome. Mom says she's really pretty. Why did a flower end up rooted by a pig like you? I can't figure it out."

"Your brother's charm is unstoppable, got it?"

Fang Bai pushed his sister out of the bedroom and locked the door behind her. She was distracting him from reading the letter.