Reborn 92's Business Tycoon

Chapter 28: Going to Xiao Zhijie's house

For Feng Yiping, life in junior high school was as monotonous and boring as ever. Day after day, there were never any waves, it was very peaceful, but also very fulfilling. There was no entertainment, and music class was often taken up by other teachers, as was gym class. It was very good to be able to guarantee one class a week.

What was sad was that there was really nothing to do in gym class. There was no space, no equipment. Apart from teaching calisthenics and doing somersaults, the gym teacher left the rest of the time to the students' own devices, as long as they didn't disturb the other classes.

Many students, consciously or unconsciously, went back to the classroom, while others took their books to the playground. For them, the teacher's urging them to study was annoying, tiring and stressful. But if they really were told to do nothing, they would be unaccustomed to it and would have to hold a book even if they were just pretending.

They would have to hold a book in their hands, whether they read it or not.

Feng Yiping saw the students gathered around the ping-pong table, each with a book in their hands, and couldn't help but laugh. This must be an illness!

This weekend, Feng Yiping would not be going to his grandfather's house. He asked Wang Changning to give his grandfather a message that he was going to Xiao Zhijie's house.

When he left the school gate, he told Xiao Zhijie to wait for a moment while he ran towards the tuck shop. Xiao Zhijie saw him carrying two bottles of wine and refused to do it. 'What are you buying these for?'

Feng Yiping put his arm around his shoulder and walked on, 'It's not good to go to your house for the first time with empty hands, it's a matter of etiquette, you know that, kiddo.'

Xiao Zhijie stood still, 'You're not an adult, where did you get all these manners? Besides, your parents aren't home, where did you get the money to buy this? Did you ask your grandfather for it? Then let Changning bring it to him!' He said and was about to go after Wang Changning.

Feng Yiping quickly stopped him. It's true that Feng Yiping now demands a lot of himself in many ways, like behaving like an adult. He's really not used to visiting someone's home for the first time and going empty-handed.

'My grandfather doesn't drink. The money was sent by my parents for my pocket money, and I don't really need it at school. I'm not buying the wine for you, I'm buying it for your father. Just leave it.' Feng Yiping continued, "If you go to my house, your parents will also tell you to bring something, won't they?'

Xiao Zhijie said, "You don't need to buy two bottles, one bottle is enough.'

The wine is produced by the county winery and is considered good local wine. It costs three yuan for a bottle, so two bottles cost six yuan. At this time of year, a gift of five yuan is considered generous, so two bottles of wine is a decent gift. If it hadn't been for the five yuan his grandfather gave him last week, he really wouldn't have been able to buy two bottles like this. But one bottle is not good enough. There is an unwritten rule here that it is impolite to bring just one thing when you visit someone's home.

Xiao Zhijie added, 'I'll return one bottle.'

Feng Yiping let go of him. 'As you wish.'

The PE teacher's wife is a Paiyou, which means she only takes in but never gives out. Of course, not everything can be returned. For example, if Zhang Qiuling bought something and wanted to return it, on account of his father being the vice-principal, there would be no problem and it would be returned immediately. Xiao Zhijie and Feng Yiping, on the other hand, did not have that kind of face.

Xiao Zhijie's family lived halfway up the mountainside in a small village of twenty or so relatively well-off households. The mountain they lived on was the highest in the town and had the best vegetation. Thick trees were common halfway up the mountain, and the mountain was densely forested with many produce. Each household was allocated a large forest. The road passed at the foot of the mountain, making it convenient to sell the things they picked. They could wheelbarrow their goods to the foot of the mountain and then catch a bus to the town.

Feng Yiping's first impression was that the firewood they burned here was all very good. The firewood stacked in the open space in front of Xiao Zhijie's house was bundled up, each thicker than his thumb, like the small shrubs Feng Yiping had chopped down during the summer vacation, as well as the thatch grass, which they absolutely did not want here.

It was all the same. The family had already prepared dinner and was waiting for Xiao Zhijie to come home from school. Knowing that Feng Yiping was coming this week, Xiao Zhijie was also waiting at home. Hearing a voice, they welcomed them to the door.

Feng Yiping called out, 'Uncle, aunt.'

Xiao Zhijie's mother and Mei Qiuping shared the same surname and had known each other since they were girls. Feng Yiping had also attended her first month celebration. "Yiping, you've grown so big, I wouldn't have recognised you if we'd met on the street. How's your mother's health?'

Seeing the things in his hands, "You've come all this way, why did you bring anything?'

Feng Yiping said, 'It's nothing, just a little something from the heart.'

Xiao Jianping took Xiao Zhijie's school bag, 'Okay, go sit in the house, dinner is ready. Zhijie, show Yiping where to wash his face. Yiping, don't be a stranger, make yourself at home.'

Xiao Zhijie took Feng Yiping with him and went to the laundry sink outside the house to wash his face with a towel and basin. Inside the house, his mother was talking to Xiao Jianping, 'Qiuping has always been in poor health, and medical treatment always costs money. It seems like the family is having some difficulties. This time, he even brought two bottles of wine. Is he afraid that I'll underestimate her?'

Xiao Jianping said, 'You're thinking too much. This is just a courtesy. It's fine. When he leaves tomorrow, just take back two of the more expensive things.'

The lunch was indeed very generous, with not only meat, but also fish and chicken. Xiao Jianping and his wife kept on serving Feng Yiping, saying, 'Don't be shy when you're at home, eat more.'

In the past, Feng Yiping would have been a bit reserved and always be the one to decline, but now he is different. He doesn't need to be polite when eating, it's the time for him to grow. So he should eat meat and eat rice, of course, he can't have meat with every chopstick.

Xiao Zhijie is the same. He hasn't eaten at home for a week, and today's meal is delicious. In no time at all, the two of them have eaten most of the rice in the pot.

Xiao Zhijie's mother laughs, 'Thank goodness I cooked two litres of rice.'

Xiao Jianping opens a bottle of wine that Feng Yiping brought, and drinks it himself. He also laughs when he hears it, 'Every time you come home on holiday, I can eat more than one bowl when I see how much he can eat.'

Feng Yiping said, 'My parents also say that now I eat more than both of them when I'm eating alone.'

Xiao Zhijie's mother said, "Now you need to eat more. Look at you, so skinny.'

Feng Yiping said, "My mother also always asks me, where does all that food go when I eat so much, I don't gain any weight.'

Xiao Jianping said, 'Some people just don't gain weight, and that's a good thing.'

Feng Yiping and the others sat at the table and waited until Xiao Zhijie's parents had finished eating and put down their chopsticks before they went to play in the village, which was also a matter of etiquette.

In fact, there was nothing interesting in the village, and there was nothing good to watch on TV. Xiao Zhijie had a cousin who studied at the Open University in the county, and his family had some magazines. His cousin only came back once a month, and at this time he was not at home. Xiao Zhijie brought over a few magazines. Feng Yiping looked at them and saw 'Zhiyin' (知音), 'Banyuetan' (半月谈), 'Jingu chuanqi' (今古传奇) and 'Gushi hui' (故事会), but of course none of them were from the current month.

He flipped through them, and one of them was an old copy of 'Ancient Tales', which was serialising 'Spring Snow Vase', the sequel to 'Jade Dragon'. It seems that 'Jade Dragon' was based on, or rather, copied a lot from Wang Dulu's 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' by the Five Masters of the Northern School. It's almost the same thing, and Ang Lee's hugely successful movie 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' was based on 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'.

The story of 'The Spring Snow Vase' was read to Feng Yiping and his sister by Mei Qiuping at night before, and he never thought he would be able to read it again. Of course, he chose this book.

It was very interesting, and it should be said to be an absolute masterpiece among our martial arts novels. However, as the warm sun shone, Feng Yiping fell asleep without knowing when.

When Xiao Zhijie woke him up, it was almost four o'clock. He wiped his mouth and said, 'It's so late, so hurry up and do your homework.'

This week, there was homework in Chinese, maths, English and physics. He could write the composition tomorrow afternoon at school, but he had to finish the rest of the homework today, because they were going to the mountains to collect persimmons the next morning.

The table was too greasy, so they simply brought two high chairs and sat on the large wooden cabinet where the grain was stored to do their homework. There weren't many questions, and they weren't difficult, so Feng Yiping wrote quickly. Xiao Zhijie, however, was a little distracted. Feng Yiping joked, 'What's the matter? You're not used to not having Zhang Qiuling around, are you?'

Xiao Zhijie threw an eraser at him, 'What are you talking about? Don't let my parents know.'

Feng Yiping asked again, "So you're not afraid of Principal Zhang finding out?'

Xiao Zhijie puffed up, "I haven't done anything, so what's there to be afraid of?'

'Comrade Xiao, which one do you like better, Zhang Qiuling or Huang Jingping?'

Xiao Zhi Jie whispered, 'I get along better with Zhang Qiuling, and Huang Jingping is the prettiest in the class.'

'Haha,' Feng Yiping laughed out loud, quite honest indeed.

'I hope that when you were in primary school, you didn't pass notes to them?'

'I was in the same class as Huang Jingping, and Zhang Qiuling was in another class. I didn't pass notes to Huang Jingping, and the other students in the class did, but Huang Jingping ignored them all,' Xiao Zhi Jie said.

'I could see that too. Huang Jingping is a girl who works very hard at her studies and puts them first. If you want her to like you, you have to get good grades first, and you can't do worse than she does.'

'You're right,' Xiao Zhijie said, and then he speeded up his homework.

Because Feng Yiping was there, Xiao Zhijie's parents came home early in the afternoon, before five o'clock.

At dinner that night, Xiao Zhijie's mother asked, 'Yiping, what are your parents doing in the provincial capital?'

Feng Yiping said, 'After the chestnuts were collected, they went to the provincial capital. My younger uncle found a place and they sold fried chestnuts in sugar. They won't be back until the New Year.'

'Fried chestnuts in sugar?'

'Yes, it's fried raw chestnuts with river sand, with oil and sugar added. The provincial capital has been selling this for a long time. You know the situation in my family. We started with very little. My mother owed a lot of money for medical treatment and building the house. My younger uncle told me that my parents wanted to give it a try, since they had chestnuts at home anyway.

'Oh, I see. So, how is it going?' Xiao Jianping asked.

'It's OK. We can buy an average of ten catties a day now, and we can make a profit of a dollar a catty. It's better than farming at home,' Feng Yiping said.

'So that's about 300 to 400 yuan a month, which is pretty good,' Xiao Jianping said, a little surprised but not tempted. In addition to farming, Xiao Jianping also learned the technique of growing Poria cocos, and took advantage of the geographical location to grow it on the mountain. Like last year, he sold nearly 3,000 yuan of Poria cocos, which is a very good income in the countryside.

Feng Yiping said, 'They are also forced to do it. Working hard farming the land at home, they don't make much money each year. Some debts have been outstanding for three or four years and I can't always pay my tuition fees. Besides, I've always wanted to study more, so they want to try their luck while they are still young.'

Xiao Jianping said, 'You're right, you must study hard. Xiao Jie, you must remember that you just need to study, and if you can't afford it, we adults will find a way. In the future, as long as you get into university, we parents will tighten our belts and let you study.'

Feng Yiping said, 'Uncle is right. In our generation, at least we need to go to university, otherwise it will be hard to find a job in the future.'

Xiao Jianping said, 'Going to university is no big deal these days. Many people go on to get a master's or a doctorate, and some even study abroad. I heard from Xiaojie that Yiping has very good grades and is top of the class, right? Then you'll definitely be able to get into the county's No. 1 high school. It's just Xiaojie that I'm worried about. He might not make it to high school, so Yiping, you need to help him more often.'

Feng Yiping said, 'Being the top student in your year is nothing. There are still more than two years of junior high school left, and maybe next semester Zhi Jie will overtake me. Zhi Jie is very good at maths, and is always in the top few in class.'

Xiao Jianping said, 'I know, he's not exactly clever, but he's certainly not stupid, he just doesn't apply himself very much.'

Feng Yiping said, 'Uncle Zhi Jie is working harder than I did. It's just that exams are unpredictable. Some people do well in class, but make mistakes when it comes to exams.'

Xiao Zhijie's mother said, 'I've heard of this kind of thing. Some children do well in class, but make mistakes when it comes to exams. I heard that some even faint during exams.'

Feng Yiping said, 'Yes, I heard that nowadays when the college entrance exam is being held in the city, ambulances are parked outside the school.'

Xiao Jianping laughed when he heard this, "So it's not easy to go to school these days, it's even more difficult than farming for us, and you have to go to the hospital all the time.'

Feng Yiping said, "That's why I told my family before the start of the semester that if I didn't do well in the college entrance exam and couldn't go to No. 1 High School, I wanted to repeat the year.' This is the topic Feng Yiping wants to talk about today.

Xiao Jianping immediately agreed, 'That's right, if you don't do well at the time, we'll repeat the year too. There are quite a few people repeating now, some for three or four years.' Feng Yiping felt relieved to hear this.