CHAPTER 561: CHAPTER 337: DOUBLE HAPPINESS AND DOUBTS

Feng Tianzhi tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his eyes crinkling into a smile as he looked at Hang Menglin: "Coach Hang, have you perhaps omitted something?"

"I just missed out on announcing it," Hang Menglin said with dissatisfaction, glancing at him: "I still have reservations about this matter."

"Do you mean to say that you don’t agree with Principal Han and Director Li’s proposal?" Feng Tianzhi’s smile faded: "Or is it that you simply can’t treat every student fairly?"

Hang Menglin huffed: "That’s right, I don’t agree with Principal Han and Director Li’s proposal. Just ask her, forming cliques and factions, if we let her take on the role of district team instructor, how will that end?"

"Are you unhappy because your favorite student hasn’t formed any cliques or gained popularity?" Feng Tianzhi ’hmphed’: "The deputy district team used to be held by the district team instructor, yet you insist on splitting the role between two people. What kind of game do you think you’re playing that I don’t understand? Dressing up your selfish motives in such grand terms, do you have no shame?"

"You!" Hang Menglin’s face turned red with anger: "Feng Tianzhi, how disgusting can you be? For the sake of pleasing Luo Ye, you actually attack me in this way!"

Luo Ye quietly stepped back, lowered her eyelids, eyes watching her nose, nose watching her heart, no matter how they quarrel, she doesn’t care, just don’t drag her into a fight.

She also understood the situation. The reason why the deputy district team appointment had not been issued was due to the issue of who would take on the district instructor role. She originally thought that the instructor position was held by Hang Menglin, as there had been precedents.

"I can’t be bothered to argue with someone like you." Feng Tianzhi had also met his match. Usually, he didn’t let others have the last word, but he couldn’t let himself stoop to acting like a shrew.

"As if I’m willing to argue with you. I just don’t understand how someone like you achieved your current position, hmph!" Hang Menglin—stormed off.

Luo Ye quietly curled her lips. These two partners were truly unique in the school.

Feng Tianzhi pulled out the appointment letter for the instructor from Hang Menglin’s desk and handed it to Luo Ye: "You will also take on the role of district team instructor. The appointment will be announced after tomorrow morning’s exercise."

"Yes!" Luo Ye took it and responded.

"As for Coach Hang’s temper, ignore her. She’s as mad as a rabid dog. Actually, working with her is quite a character-building experience." Feng Tianzhi said, waving his hand at Luo Ye: "Go back and rest. Your body still needs time to recover, don’t overexert yourself."

"Yes!"

Luo Ye left the office, sighed deeply, and looked at the two appointment letters in her hand, her eyes curving with delight.

"Feeling proud?"

Luo Ye’s heart jumped at the sudden voice. As she followed the sound, Hang Menglin was standing at the nearby corner, holding a lit cigarette!

"Not proud, quite satisfied," Luo Ye said, walking forward while eying her: "Coach Hang, I remember, smoking isn’t allowed in the office building."

"I just lit it to smell it, who cares?" Hang Menglin said, tossing the cigarette into a trash can. As she passed by Luo Ye, she whispered: "Don’t forget, I helped you once."

"I know, don’t worry, today we’re even," Luo Ye said, running down the stairs without giving Hang Menglin a chance to speak. Hang Menglin was left speechless with her mouth half-open... had she just brushed off the help she gave her?

"Luo Ye, you stop right there!" Hang Menglin yelled and chased after her, but when she got out of the stairwell, Luo Ye was already gone, making her punch the wall in frustration, grinding her teeth in pain: "That girl, she’s recovered quite well, hmph!"

"No... I haven’t recovered yet," Luo Ye quickly appeared from the side of the wall: "I don’t dare to run now, even slow jogging is not okay."

"You..."

"Coach Hang, hello!" Xing Nong emerged from behind the wall, interrupting Hang Menglin.

"Coach Hang, good!" Yaoguang also appeared.

"Alright," Hang Menglin replied, waving her hand: "Let’s go!"

"Yes!" The three of them responded in unison, Xing Nong and Yaoguang quickly taking Luo Ye by the arms on either side: "Luoluo, take it easy, you can’t aggravate your internal injuries."

"Yes, if this causes internal injuries, it would be troublesome, General Lei, Master Jiang, they would definitely come looking to the school for responsibility, then it wouldn’t be about troubling school leadership, right?"

"..."

"Enough, stop nagging, turn here," Luo Ye said, breaking free from the arms of the two: "It would look like I’m at death’s door if someone saw this."

"It’s not like she could hear us, truly punishing you," Xing Nong patted her chest, exhaling a breath of relief: "Rivaling the female Yama, it’s indeed a delight!"

"Luoluo, you’re taking on the role of district team instructor as well as deputy district leader?" Yaoguang looked at the two appointment letters in Luo Ye’s hands, exclaiming with delight.

"No wonder Coach Hang looked constipated." Xing Nong snatched the letters, beaming with pleasure: "Not bad, I’ve got a backer now, haha..."

Yaoguang gave her a nudge: "There’s a saying, ’extreme joy begets sorrow,’ my goodness, can you please not be so pleased with yourself, it makes me anxious."

"Pfft, nonsense! When did I ever act all proud? I’m happy for Luoluo, and this is what you call unity is..." Xing Nong suddenly halted and grimaced, "I still have to practice singing tonight. Just let me die!"

Luo Ye did some mental calculations and asked in confusion, "Each team has one performance, and there are a total of eight teams across the school. Plus the teachers’ shows, are there any other performances besides these for the New Year’s Day event?"

"I have no idea. The team leader wasn’t there at the time. Female Yama just said we needed a group performance, didn’t mention anything else, and there was no talk of any review or anything." Xing Nong tapped her forehead and pondered, "Probably they think we’re too tired, and we’re given a shorter performance on New Year’s Day to have a good rest."

"Forget about it..." Luo Ye suddenly paused, and Xing Nong and Yaoguang followed her gaze. Zhu Jiangyu and Yu Na were walking shoulder to shoulder, and Yu Na looked pretty cheerful.

"Don’t bother them, let’s take a detour," Luo Ye said, pulling the two of them abruptly in a different direction.

"Their speed is really fast. Just a few days ago, Yu Na was gritting her teeth, and today she’s openly paired up," Xing Nong shook her head, "I don’t understand."

Yaoguang slapped her on the back, "Why do you care so much? If Yu Na really likes Zhu Jiangyu, she wouldn’t be meddling with Luoluo and Ye Xuan’s business."

"The question is, does her meddling do any good?" Xing Nong pouted.

But Luo Ye suddenly thought of something urgent, glanced at the time, and urged the other two, "Let’s hurry, it’s the perfect time for a morning phone call, I have an urgent matter."

"Come on, we’ve just brought up your future husband, and you can’t wait anymore?"

"Buzz off, what rubbish are you talking about? I’ve got serious matters to deal with," Luo Ye hastened her steps, and Xing Nong and Yaoguang quickly followed, grabbing hold of her: "No matter how urgent, it’s not worth skipping this one round. If Female Yama catches you, then you’re in real trouble."

...

Li Xiaobei’s grandfather returned home and told the family about the jujube buying, which made everyone overjoyed. That very night, Li Xiaobei’s father and uncle accompanied Old Sir Li to the Secretary’s house for a visit.

At eight in the evening, the loudspeakers announced a meeting at the brigade headquarters for all households with jujube gardens.

A dozen or so jujube-possessing households in the village, anxious about not being able to sell their crops, perked up upon hearing the Secretary’s voice, wondering if the brigade had come up with a solution.

Once everyone excitedly gathered at the brigade headquarters with their little stools, the village Secretary announced with a grin that the meeting was convened by Li Zhushuan.

Li Zhushuan, also known as Li Xiaobei’s grandfather, Elder Li, briskly stepped forward and announced the good news about the jujube purchase. Everyone burst into laughter:

"Fourth Grandpa, you’re so obsessed with selling jujubes, you’re just fooling us for fun, right?"

"Secretary, what good cigarettes has Fourth Uncle given you that you’re helping him fool us?"

"Fourth Grandpa, it’s the idle season anyway. If you want us to entertain you, just give us a shout, and we won’t blame you."

"Hahaha..."

The Secretary couldn’t sit still either. When the Li family men came to tell him the jujubes were no longer a concern, he was over the moon. The jujube traders hadn’t come by recently, and everyone was worried, afraid that if left at home over winter, they would lose value to barely fifty cents a pound.

Therefore, without asking how much per pound, after some idle chit-chat, he rushed to the brigade headquarters to gather the folks for the Li men. If he had known the price they proposed beforehand, he would have definitely conducted a thorough interrogation before announcing it. But what was the point of the Li men duping their own villagers? The more he thought about it, the more confused he became.

Elder Li had already anticipated the crowd’s reaction. If not for his personal hand in raising his two sons, they too might not have believed him. He lit a cigarette, leisurely puffing away, letting the crowd buzz with excitement.

Not until someone stood up to take their stool and head home did Old Sir Li extinguish his cigarette: "Whoever leaves now might regret it later. Let’s do this. The buyer has entrusted me with the jujube purchase, and we’ll start weighing tomorrow morning.

It will be done at my eldest son’s newly built house. The buyer is a friend of our Xiaobei. We can’t cheat them. Tonight, everyone go home and sort out your jujubes. Pick out the bad bugs, small stones, small twigs, and clods.

Tomorrow, my eldest will manage the scales, and my second son will inspect the goods with the younger generation. I’ll say this upfront: anything not up to standard that gets sent back, no foul language or dishonesty allowed."

The room fell silent.

Elder Li’s integrity was trustworthy; given the assurance in his words, there was no telling whether this was true or not.

Farmers never lacked the strength to work. Right away, someone patted their chest and promised, "Fourth Grandpa, if it’s really three and a half yuan a pound, we’d happily pick only the large ones!"

"Absolutely, three and a half yuan a pound. We can make sure they’re all uniformly large, no issue there!"

"..."

"As fellow villagers for so many years, if you trust me, go home and start selecting now. If there are any that are not dried properly and have too much moisture, don’t rush to weigh them tomorrow. Let them dry out for a couple more days."

"Alright!"

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly carried their stools home. No matter how reliable the news sounded, they had to try it to find out. They didn’t want to end up regretting their laziness in the end.

Nu’an’s first update is here, and a special thanks to all the guys who have always supported Nu’an. It’s getting cold, everyone wear more clothes, beauty from freezing ain’t worth it. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for Recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)