Liu Fu changed much faster than Liu Jian had imagined. Watching Liu Fu drinking and eating with the director of the grain depot every day, Liu Jian didn't know what to say. He was happy for Liu Fu's change, but also saddened by the fading sense of justice.
After a while, Director Wang of the Heishi Grain Depot frequently ran to the city's Grain Bureau to ask for project funds. Liu Fu did not come forward, but worked with the accountant of the Heishi Grain Depot to prepare a report for an additional budget. The rest was no longer Liu Fu's concern. As long as there was profit, everything was easy to handle. Liu Fu, who had been unable to get the project funds for so long, finally saw the power of a professional debt collector and understood that some things were not decided solely by the director.
The project funds were quickly transferred to the grain depot's account. Without delay, the money quickly reached Liu Fu's hands. Of course, these officials couldn't work for nothing. According to Liu Fu's idea, each person should receive a thousand or two. The corrupt officials of this era were not as greedy as those of later generations. With a monthly salary of a few hundred yuan, receiving a thousand yuan was a great gift.
Liu Jian stopped him. Compared to Liu Fu's naiveté, Liu Jian understood the ins and outs of the situation. Perhaps it wasn't that Liu Fu didn't understand, but rather that Liu Fu rarely thought about the darker side of things, and therefore some things he did were not appropriate.
Liu Jian said, "Dad, it's not that we're afraid of giving too much, it's that we're afraid they won't dare to accept it. This isn't just for the previous project payments, it's also for the additional project budget. Everyone knows how the additional budget will be divided in the end. It's a tacit agreement that the grain depot will deduct a portion. As for how much they actually deduct, isn't that up to them? Besides, they stay around to find a way to issue bonuses, so why don't we be the good guys? For example, if they plan to leave 100,000 yuan for the grain depot from the additional budget. And that 100,000 yuan, in the end, will be split among all the employees of the grain depot. How much will be left in the hands of these leaders? If we privately give these leaders 50,000 yuan, will they still want the remaining 50,000? If they don't want it, it's ours, so in that calculation, we get an extra 50,000. Which is more, which is less?"
After Liu Jian said this, Liu Fu also knew what to do. This was the first time he had given such a large gift. Liu Fu was very worried that the money would be wasted. Out of trust for Liu Jian, Liu Fu gritted his teeth and sent the big gift.
These days, corrupt officials are still relatively trustworthy, delivering benefits immediately. They not only got two-thirds of the project funds for a half-completed project but also secured an additional budget of nearly two hundred thousand. What was originally an eight hundred thousand yuan project has now exceeded one million. Who knows how much more will be added in the future. The granary accountant privately told Liu Fu that all the extra budget money was for Liu Fu's pocket, and the granary wouldn't be accounting for it.
Leaving the finance department's door, Liu Fu sighed, looking at Liu Jian leaning against his "bitch" (car), smoking Hongtashan cigarettes. He didn't know if his son was growing up too fast or if he was getting old, needing his son to remind him about so many things. Liu Fu was a little puzzled; with Liu Jian's performance lately, how could his studies be bad? It seemed Liu Fu didn't realize that IQ and EQ are two different concepts.
When chatting with Liu's mother in the evening, he mentioned these things. Liu's mother offered a summary: you're getting old, listen to your son. Just this additional project funding alone is equivalent to a net profit of over a hundred thousand, more than you earn from an entire project.
Standing at the gate of the No. 1 High School, Liu Jian felt a sense of collapse. Liu Fu, who had never had high expectations for Liu Jian's studies, attributed all the ideas Liu Jian had come up with recently to Liu Jian's "culture." The uncultured Liu Fu insisted that it was precisely because of so many years of schooling that Liu Jian could grasp the key points at once and see through many problems. So after discussing it with Liu's mother, Liu Jian was miserably driven back to school.
What made Liu Jian even more devastated was that because the new students had already reported, he became a shameful transfer student. What was this all about?
Speaking of which, Liu Jian's life had been pretty good. A few days ago, he pestered his mother to buy him a whole set of Nikes, he held a Motorola phone in his hand, and "555" brand cigarettes in his pocket. An eighteen-year-old social youth like him was rare, if not unique, in this era.
I didn't expect the happy days to last only a few days before I was sent back for "re-education" again. Recalling the fierce argument that day, Liu Jian still felt a chill down his spine. If he hadn't run fast, he probably would have been beaten up by Liu Fu. Even though Liu Jian was just a teenager, facing Liu Fu, who was a reconnaissance soldier, he only had one fate: to be beaten!
When Kong Xianrong walked out of the principal's office, his face was still a little pale. As a professionally trained teacher, he hated sponsored students the most. Not only were their grades poor, but these students were often the most mischievous. They not only didn't study themselves but also interfered with others' learning. Moreover, school had already been in session for a month, and suddenly a student was being assigned, not to mention a sponsored student. What was even more infuriating was that this student's grades weren't even good enough for a regular high school. One can imagine how angry this made a teacher who aspired to become an excellent homeroom teacher and strive to get every student into college.
Liu Jian didn't know that he was already hated by his homeroom teacher before he even started class, and even if he did know, he wouldn't care. Before coming, he had already made an agreement with Liu Fu: he would just be himself at school, learning as much as he could. As for going to college in the future, Liu Fu had already decided to spend money to get Liu Jian through. So the father and son reached an agreement that they would never bring up Liu Jian's grades or force Liu Jian to attend class every day.
Looking at the sixth class of the first grade's nameplate, Liu Jian marveled at the greatness of habit. Even though he was so late to school, he was still assigned to this class.
Looking at Liu Jian behind him, Kong Xianrong didn't know what to say. Recalling the conversation in the office just now, Kong Xianrong was filled with annoyance.
Originally, he intended to give this newcomer a hard time to make him behave himself, so Kong Xianrong sat on his stool grading papers, ignoring Liu Jian. Who knew that after waiting for a long time, he didn't hear anyone speak. When he looked up, he almost fainted from anger.
Liu Jian took a novel out of his backpack and was reading it with great interest. In his previous life, although Liu Jian wasn't a good student, he didn't cause trouble either. Besides playing basketball and soccer, and occasionally skipping class, he didn't do anything excessive, so these teachers had good relationships with Liu Jian, and they knew Kong Xianrong very well.
As for this show of force, Liu Jian was mentally prepared when he found out he was assigned to Class 6. Liu Jian was forced to come to school this time. After spending so many years in society, he no longer felt afraid of teachers, so he didn't take it seriously at all.
Liu Jian looked at Kong Xianrong, whose face was turning pale with anger, and said with a smile, "Teacher Kong, I was forced to come to school, and you were forced to accept me, so we are in the same boat."
Kong Xianrong was stunned by Liu Jian's words, and then felt a bit dumbfounded.
Liu Jian continued, "Teacher Kong, how about we make an agreement? At school, I promise not to cause you any trouble, nor will I affect the teaching of any teachers. You, in turn, can just pretend I'm not one of your students, and just treat me as an auditor. I'll get a high school diploma, and if I do well, maybe I can even go to college. If it comes to senior year and you're worried about affecting the class's promotion rate, I can enroll in another school."
Looking at the student who was talking to him so eloquently through the light, Kong Xianrong was suddenly startled. What kind of student was this? How could he have such mature ideas? Was he really the underachiever who scored just over 400 points, as the records showed?
Kong Xianrong pushed up his glasses and asked, "In that case, why did you come to No. 1 High School? Wouldn't it be better to go to the private Yucai High School, where you would have more freedom? Besides, now that you're in my class, you're my student, how could I let you have your freedom?"
Liu Jian slapped his forehead in frustration. How could he be so forgetful? This teacher's favorite thing to do was to put a bad student on the right path. In his previous life, this homeroom teacher had watched him for three whole years to get him to reform, only ending when the college entrance exam was over. Falling into his hands, and he still wanted freedom?
Liu Jian gave a bright smile and said, "Teacher, please let me off the hook. I'm really not cut out for studying. There are so many students in the class, and they're all more important than me. You should focus on them. Teacher, to tell you the truth, I'm currently helping out in my dad's company. Even now that I'm in school, if something happens at the company, I still have to deal with it. I simply don't have time to study properly, and I don't know how all this studying for the college entrance exam will help my future life, so please let me go."
On the way from the office to the classroom, Kong Xianrong was still thinking about Liu Jian's words, "I don't know how all this studying for the college entrance exam every day will help my future life." He wanted to refute Liu Jian's viewpoint, but after thinking for a long time, Kong Xianrong didn't know what to say. So, when he arrived at the classroom door, Kong Xianrong's face was still dark, even darker than when he had left the principal's office.
In the end, Kong Xianrong did not grant Liu Jian's request to be placed in the corner. Kong Xianrong knew that this transfer student was different from all the other students in the class, displaying obvious aversion to learning. What was particularly regrettable was Liu Jian's logical thinking ability and language expression ability, which were clearly higher than other students. So how could he give up on such a student, how could he let him drift? Kong Xianrong secretly made a resolution to bring Liu Jian back to the right path.
Zhang Ying sat in the fourth row, looking at Liu Jian below the podium. Her eyes couldn't help but light up. It was the same familiar face, the same nonchalant attitude, but his temperament had changed. The previous fluster was gone. Zhang Ying breathed a sigh of relief and said to herself, "Liu Jian, you still came. I knew we would meet again. How could a proud person like you stand being left behind? How could you not come to the best high school in Panshi?" Although she didn't know why he had been delayed for so long, he had finally arrived.
Liu Jian also saw the girl who was always so dazzling in the crowd at a glance. Her eyes were still so bright, her hair was still so black and long, and beneath her big eyes was a high nose bridge and a cherry-like small mouth, perfectly shaped like willow leaves, perfectly set on a fair, oval face. Who wouldn't be amazed by her, who wouldn't be crazy about her? He remembered the phone call he received late one night many years ago: "Liu Jian, I'm leaving, leaving to go abroad. Wait for me, you must wait for me, when I return to China, we'll get married."
Just for this one sentence, he had waited bitterly for ten years, until his parents could no longer bear it and took him back to Panshi, arranged a job, and arranged a marriage, but he still did not receive any response from that girl.
Before his rebirth, Liu Jian had always wondered if Zhang Ying had gotten married in a soapy way in a foreign country, or if she would come to his wedding day and drag him away from the scene, or if she had already had an accident, just leaving him with a hope to live on. But he didn't wait for any of this to be confirmed before he was reborn back to the present.
Maybe I've always been unwilling to go back to high school, afraid of facing that girl again, Liu Jian asked himself once in his heart, and then silently looked at the playground outside the window, what a melodramatic life!