RYEY -Chapter 270 Li Huan’s Showy Move

“Qiao, I feel like you must have some kind of plan,” Ye Jun said.

Cheng Qiao nodded. She leaned over and whispered a few words into Ye Jun’s ear. His eyes instantly lit up—so it was true, no deception at all.

Cheng Qiao nodded again. By this time next year, her master might finally have his name cleared and be rehabilitated. Naturally, the Zhao family living behind Uncle Niu’s courtyard would likely be returning as well.

At last, a look of relief appeared on Ye Jun’s face. He finally understood why Cheng Qiao had always been pushing Li Huan so hard to study and do exercises—so they already knew what was going on behind the scenes.

Still, if they knew the inside story, then his cousin Ye Chengying should have known even earlier. What he didn’t know was that Ye Chengying had also sensed the change in the political winds and had already begun laying out his plans.

“Who else knows?” Ye Jun asked.

“I only hinted at it to Zhang Yuefang, telling her to prepare. Other than that, basically no one knows,” Cheng Qiao replied.

“Zhang Yuefang…” Ye Jun nodded.

Da Mao’s wife. Da Mao hadn’t come back for a long time, and Zhang Yuefang hadn’t gone to the City either. There were probably problems in that marriage.

By the end of August, Li Huan and Wang Xiangyang packed their bags and prepared to leave for the Worker-Peasant-Soldier University. Chen Weidang gathered several strong men, and everyone beat gongs and drums to send off the two future college students.

Uncle Niu had prepared early as well. Aunt Wang and Wang Duocai were so happy they kept wiping away tears—they had never imagined that the Wang family would produce a college student.

“Xiangyang, you must come home every week. Your wife is pregnant—you need to come back often and look after her, understand?” Aunt Wang nagged anxiously.

She was afraid Xiangyang would end up like Da Mao—gone like a yellow crane, never to return. Wang Xiangyang nodded repeatedly, smiling at Caiqin and winking at her.

The young couple had already discussed it. Xiangyang would come back every week, and when it was time for the baby to be born, he would ask for leave and come home to accompany Caiqin through childbirth.

Uncle Niu drove the ox cart to the long-distance bus station. After the two boarded the bus and it puffed out a cloud of gray smoke as it drove away, he smiled contentedly and headed toward the state-run restaurant.

He had been craving the big meat buns from the state-run restaurant for ages. Taking out his money and ration coupons, he bought two. Then he suddenly thought of Little Cheng Li and the other children. Gritting his teeth, he bought ten more.

Along the way, Uncle Niu munched on a meat bun while imagining how happy Little Cheng Li and the others would be when they saw the buns in his hands.

But suddenly the old ox stopped. Uncle Niu looked up and saw Niqiu standing beside the ox, staring longingly at the meat buns in his hand, stubbornly refusing to say a word.

“Ah, poor child. Here—Grandpa Niu will treat you to a big meat bun.”

“Grandpa Niu, really? You’re really treating me to a big meat bun?” Niqiu asked in disbelief.

“Take it, take it. You kids—if you think too much at such a young age, you won’t grow up properly.”

Uncle Niu stuffed a meat bun into Niqiu’s hand, shook his head, called out to the ox, and headed off toward the foot of the mountain.

Watching the direction the ox was going, Niqiu knew exactly where Grandpa Niu was headed—definitely to Little Cheng Li’s house. Xuhui was so lucky; he already called Cheng Qiao “Mom.” He also wanted a mother like Cheng Qiao.

At that moment, Little Cheng Li was holding little Li Ming’s hand, teaching him to recognize and write characters. Little Li Ming had written the Arabic numeral “2” to look like a duck, making Little Cheng Li so angry his eyes turned red.

“Little Cheng Li, Little Li Ming—want to eat buns? Big meat buns!” Uncle Niu called out.

Little Cheng Li hadn’t even reacted yet when little Li Ming threw down his pencil and ran toward Uncle Niu, cheering. Uncle Niu was so delighted his eyes nearly closed with laughter.

“One each. There are also some for Lele and Xuhui. Your younger brothers and sisters are still little, so they don’t get any.”

Uncle Niu handed out four more meat buns. Seeing that five buns were still left in the cloth bag, he felt satisfied and drove the ox cart back home.

At noon, Li Huan and Wang Xiangyang carried their large bundles toward the Worker-Peasant-Soldier University. But just as they reached the university gate, they were stopped by more than a dozen students.

“Comrade Li Huan, a warm welcome to the Worker-Peasant-Soldier University!”

“We’ll be classmates from now on. We hope to work hard together and make progress together…”

A female student stepped forward. She had a neat student haircut, a snow-white shirt, well-tailored black trousers, shiny black leather shoes gleaming in the sunlight, and bright, sparkling eyes.

She extended her fair hand toward Li Huan. His gaze didn’t even flicker. That hand was only white—compared to his wife’s, it was far inferior.

Seeing Li Huan give her a cold glance and continue walking forward, the female student felt embarrassed. After all, when she had seen Li Huan’s photo in the newspaper, she had been deeply attracted to him.

They had calculated the days carefully. Today was the third day of freshman registration—if he didn’t come today, his recommendation qualification would be canceled. So this welcoming group had waited a full three days.

They finally got their man—but he was so indifferent. The female student felt humiliated. After a second of thought, she resolutely stepped in front of Li Huan.

“Comrade Li Huan, my name is Lin Xinxin. I’m the class monitor of the accounting class. Please advise me in the future.”

Li Huan frowned. How could this girl be so tactless? Didn’t she see that he was carrying bags and bedding? All he wanted now was to drop everything off and go eat.

“Comrade Lin, we’re carrying so much stuff—it’s really inconvenient to chat right now. Could you please step aside? We’ll talk after we finish registering, alright?” Wang Xiangyang said quickly.

He knew Li Huan’s temper well. Seeing his expression, he knew Li Huan’s rogue patience was at its limit, so he hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.

Only then did Lin Xinxin notice the large bundles in their hands. Her face instantly turned red. She quickly stepped aside, making way for them.

A male student stepped forward and reached out to take Li Huan’s luggage.

“Comrade Li Huan, I’m Yang Sifan, a student representative in charge of welcoming freshmen. I’ll take you to register and help arrange your dormitory, meal card, and everything else.”

Li Huan nodded. Now this was how you welcomed new students. That female student earlier—aside from making a spectacle of herself, she was worth nothing at all.

Under Yang Sifan’s guidance, the two handed over their recommendation letters for the Worker-Peasant-Soldier University, their letters of introduction, and their junior middle school diplomas. Only then did they receive their student IDs, meal cards, and dormitory keys.

“Brother Huan, we’re assigned to the same dorm. That’s great,” Wang Xiangyang said happily.

“Mm. Hurry up and make the beds, then let’s eat. I’m starving to death—today I’m eating extra,” Li Huan replied.

“Ah! My mom didn’t pack me a lunch box. How am I supposed to eat?”

“I brought two. I’ll lend you one—take it.”

Li Huan shot Wang Xiangyang a look. Sure enough, his wife had been farsighted. It wasn’t that Aunt Wang had forgotten to pack a lunch box—her family simply didn’t have any nice-looking ones. Bringing a big enamel mug would’ve been too embarrassing, so she just didn’t bring one at all.