The next day,
Fang Bai, as usual, guided his part-time students in repairing televisions and read books in his spare time. He planned to return to school in the afternoon to ask his teachers questions.
In the morning, Fang Shi rode his bicycle to Oubei No. 1 Middle School, wanting to share the good news of television sales with his wife.
However, when he arrived at the school gate, no matter how he explained, the guard would not allow him to enter the campus to look for someone, mistakenly thinking he was using an excuse to enter the campus to find students.
It was normal for the guard to see him as a farmer and not want to bother with him.
Fang Shi was also helpless. He stood outside the iron gate, looking inside, and happened to see his wife cleaning not far away. He shouted, "Fengqing!"
Liu Fengqing was busy cleaning with her head down when she suddenly heard a familiar shout. She looked up and saw a familiar person waving at her.
When they met, Fang Shi told his wife about the booming television sales.
"My heavens, we sold eighteen thousand in one day!"
Liu Fengqing's eyebrows shot up, and her mouth dropped open. "Then our family, aren't we rich?"
His monthly salary was only fifty yuan, with no other benefits.
It wasn't that she liked the job, but that she couldn't find stable work. Otherwise, where would the money for her children's schooling come from?
A few days ago, her son suggested she resign, and she was still hesitating.
But now, her son had earned more than twenty years of her salary in one day, so she had nothing left to hesitate about.
She decided to go and help with some odd jobs.
"Yes, we sold 29 televisions. I was in charge of collecting the money; my satchel was so full there was no more room.
My son said there are still nearly two hundred sets 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 money-making model earned more than running a small factory.
Many people in the village ran small workshops in the county town, mostly earning around ten thousand yuan. The highest earners probably made over a hundred thousand, and their factories were larger in scale.
Now, his son, by tinkering with a cart full of televisions, earned more than the most impressive boss in the village.
He had to maintain his glorious image as a father in front of his son, but in front of his wife, he was a little smug.
"Alright, I'll go handle my resignation now. You go back and help our son first," Liu Fengqing finally decided.
…
In the morning, Fang Bai negotiated a lease with the landlord next door. The annual rent was 450 yuan, which was 90 yuan more expensive than his current rent.
Take it or leave it.
Spending 90 yuan more for his own convenience, Fang Bai felt it didn't matter if he was slightly ripped off.
Seven people came to repair televisions this morning, and the original shop was so packed with televisions that it felt especially cramped, making it difficult to even move an inch.
With an extra shop, everyone would have more space to move around.
In the afternoon,
Fang Bai bought a bag of six or seven catties of apples and went to Oubei No. 1 Middle School.
When entering the school gate, he gave an apple to the guard and chatted with him for a couple of minutes.
The guard smiled and let him into the campus, telling him to come back to school often.
The guard earned the lowest salary in the school, but to students, he was second only to the principal in importance.
If you were familiar with the guard, you could swagger out of school without a leave slip.
Fang Bai walked up the stairs, crossed the hall, and arrived at the homeroom teacher's office. Just as he was about to enter, he heard several teachers discussing the sale of televisions at a street stall near the Oubei Bus Station.
Upon reflection, it was normal for these teachers to know.
The South Gate of Oubei No. 1 Middle School was only two or three hundred meters from the Oubei Bus Station. Some teachers lived in the city and passed by there after work in the afternoon, so it was normal for them to see it, and they might have even joined the crowd to take a look.
He had left the stall at four in the afternoon; otherwise, he would have really run into a teacher.
"Yesterday, when I was on my way home, I passed the bus station and saw televisions being sold. There were so many buyers, and all televisions were only 20% of the original price, including large color TVs. A 21-inch one was only eleven hundred."
"How can it be so cheap? At 20% off, people must be scrambling to buy them."
"Those televisions were a bit old, said to be imported test units, which is why they were so cheap. Many people were rushing to get them. Oh, it's a pity I didn't bring any money. Otherwise, I would have bought a color TV. I couldn't afford a 21-inch one, but a 14-inch one would have been fine."
"If they work, they're definitely worth buying. I even want to buy one. Teacher Zhang, is that stall still there?" asked Zhan Feng, Fang Bai's homeroom teacher.
"They said they'd be back tomorrow," she replied.
Fang Bai knocked before entering, smiling as he distributed fruit to the three teachers in the office, saving most of the fruit for his homeroom teacher, Zhan Feng.
Last time, he gave fruit to the teachers in his old homeroom teacher's office; this time, it was the turn of his new homeroom teacher and the other teachers.
With the same gesture, the teachers politely accepted Fang Bai's fruit and got to know him, finding him to be a very interesting student.
After the teachers accepted the fruit, Fang Bai interjected, "Teachers, I just heard you wanted to buy imported televisions."
"We were just talking. If it's really that cheap, we could consider it."
"Oh, is that so?
If you really want to buy one, I know the owner of that stall. There aren't too many discounts, at most 10% off the original price.
His televisions are imported test units; they are old, but the quality is fine."
As soon as he finished speaking, the teachers were slightly surprised.
One female teacher was very eager to buy a color TV, her eyes gleaming: "Fang Bai, really? You're not joking, are you? Do you really know that owner?"
"Of course, I know him. We're from the same village, and he's also surnamed Fang. We have a very good relationship," Fang Bai said with a smile. He was the boss, and his father was the small boss.
He just didn't want the teachers to know his family sold televisions.
It was only right to seek guidance from teachers and show gratitude to them; it was also a way of giving back to society.
Most teachers in those days truly devoted themselves to their students. Working overtime without pay to grade assignments was common, as was patrolling student dormitories at night, paying attention to each student's family situation, and occasionally making home visits, not wanting society to have more hooligans.
Besides, since they knew each other, it was nothing for Fang Bai to give the teachers a discount. He wasn't trying to show off how great he was in front of them; that would be too boring.
"Oh, so that's how it is. Then how do we get the discount when we buy?"
"I'll go visit that fellow villager, the owner, this afternoon. When you buy, just mention my name and say I introduced you."
After Fang Bai finished speaking, he told his homeroom teacher, "If the homeroom teacher wants to buy, an additional 20% off the original price is no problem. This is a special friendship price, limited to one unit."
"Fang Bai, thank you. I'll consider it. After all, televisions aren't cheap." Zhan Feng was tempted by the discount but was slightly skeptical, unsure if it was true.
Anyway, she would ask about it later.
If there really was such a big discount, she would truly owe the student a favor, so she said to Fang Bai:
"Thank you, Fang Bai."
"Yes, I also thank Fang Bai now, whether I buy it or not," the other teachers said, feeling that Fang Bai might be bragging, but also hoping it was true.
"You're too kind, teachers; it's just a small matter," Fang Bai said with a laugh, taking out his notebook from his backpack and unhesitatingly asking the teachers for guidance.
Several teachers eagerly discussed the questions he raised.
When Fang Bai entered the classroom, the students were only slightly curious this time, feeling that this guy often didn't come to school for classes, so what was the point of repeating a grade?
"Boss, you're finally here!" Wang Dakai saw Fang Bai arrive and stood up, greeting him with a smile.
Other students heard him call Fang Bai that and became even more curious. How could Fang Bai be so capable as to make this Da Ge Zi willingly become his subordinate?
Of course, most students thought the two were idle and involved in gangster activities, and they looked down on them.
"Yeah, I'm here!"
Fang Bai patted his shoulder and sat down. This guy liked to call him "Boss," so he let him.
He felt that this Da Ge Zi was quick-witted and sincere in friendship, making him worth befriending.
Next, Fang Bai attended two afternoon classes, experiencing the learning atmosphere in the classroom.
Actually, sitting in the classroom, he felt a bit nostalgic for the days he went to school with Qin Shuyu.
In his second and third years of high school, he sat behind Qin Shuyu, could still see her raven-black long hair, and could chat with her, spending a wonderful high school life.
Now sitting directly in front of him was a chubby-faced girl, Zhang Xiaoai, who was quite lively. Her deskmate was a thin girl with a face full of acne, Zheng Ran, who was very shy.
Of course, Fang Bai didn't dislike them for being unattractive; he could still chat with them after class.
Zhang Xiaoai saw Fang Bai sit down, turned her head, and squeezed out a big smiling face: "Fang Bai, I haven't seen you in many days."
"Yeah, Zhang Xiaoai, long time no see." Fang Bai suddenly thought of the voice activation words for smart devices in the future and felt like laughing.
"Boss, Little Cutie is very good, you know."
Zhang Xiaoai raised her eyebrows: "Da Ge Zi, I don't allow you to call me that. Please call me Zhang Xiaoai."
Wang Dakai grinned foolishly: "Okay, Little Cutie."
Zhang Xiaoai snorted, too lazy to bother with him, and sat up straight to read.
Fang Bai knew this Da Ge Zi was pretending to be foolish. Could he really like Zhang Xiaoai?
Well, they made a good pair.
"Boss…" Wang Dakai wanted to chat with Fang Bai.
"Read your book, less nonsense!"
"Oh, okay." Wang Dakai also sat up straight, picked up his book, and began to read seriously.
Fang Bai read diligently. The monthly exam was in a few days. Recently, he had been busy with business, but he couldn't neglect his studies.
He spent the most time on English, followed by physics and mathematics, and the least on Chinese.
Fang Bai believed that improving Chinese from 92 to 100 was acceptable, while other subjects needed to reach at least 80% of the full score.
With a total score of 710, 80% was 568 points, which would allow him to attend a key university and fulfill the requirement of advancing two grades.
If it were a 750-point system, that would be 600 points, which would be extremely difficult.
Therefore, it was very difficult to get into a key university.
Fang Bai studied with all his might, hoping to have no regrets.
After school in the afternoon, Fang Bai again ran to the teachers' office to ask questions, delaying his departure from school by more than ten minutes.
As soon as he returned to his rented room, he saw that both his sister and mother had arrived, and his father had also returned.
Fang Tingting saw her brother return and ran over clingingly, hugging his arm: "Big brother, you got so many televisions! Does that mean our family will have one color TV per person?
I can hog one, hehe."
Fang Bai heard his sister ask this and knew she hadn't left school these past few days. He said, "As long as it doesn't affect your studies, you can watch one with each eye."
"Wow, really? Big brother is so nice."
"Fake. You're dreaming. You watch too many TV dramas; your brain is full of worms."
"No way! You just promised me. When the holiday comes, I'm going to hog one."
Liu Fengqing was also especially happy to see her child. She suddenly remembered something and took out a letter from a small bag, handing it to her son: "Son, this is a letter from Shuyu. Remember to write back to her."
The envelope was from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and the signature was "Qin Shuyu." She knew who wrote it and reminded her son not to miss anything important.
Letters in this era generally required a signature; if they couldn't be delivered, they could be returned to the sender.
Fang Bai quickly took it: "Mom, when did it arrive?"
"The village chief announced it with a loudspeaker last night. I picked it up when I went home this afternoon to give it to you."
Fang Bai said "Oh." Postmen usually delivered letters to the elementary school. The village chief would announce it to the whole village with a loudspeaker every now and then; otherwise, he wouldn't know when to go to the elementary school's mailroom to check.
In some villages, postmen delivered directly to the doorstep, but their village had a large elevation difference, so postmen were unwilling to deliver door-to-door unless it was a particularly important document or a notice to pick it up in town.
Fang Bai took the letter to his bedroom, opened the envelope, and read it.
He first looked at the date it was written: October 16th. It arrived home on October 24th, and today was already October 25th, Thursday.
He had only been reading for a moment when his sister slipped in, grinning widely: "Brother, I have a sister-in-law now, and she's a university student! You're so awesome. Mom said she's so beautiful. Why did a pig like my brother get such a beautiful flower? I don't understand."
"Your brother's charm is invincible, understand?"
Fang Bai pushed his sister out of the bedroom, then locked the door to prevent her from disturbing his reading of the letter.