Another day passed.
November 27th, Monday morning.
In this era, without mobile phones, finding someone was incredibly inconvenient.
Fang Bai went to find the landlord, and fortunately, he found him.
He shook hands with the landlord as a formality, assessing his character.
If the landlord had poor character, even if he was willing to sell the house cheaply, Fang Bai would not choose his house, as the possibility of him going back on his word later was very high.
Alternatively, if the landlord was involved with the underworld or gambling, Fang Bai was unwilling to have too much interaction with such people, as it might bring trouble to his family.
Fang Bai walked on thin ice with every step, extremely cautious.
Before renting, he had some understanding of the landlord, and today he delved deeper, discovering that the landlord was running a legitimate business and was not involved in any illicit activities, which put his mind at ease.
He knew the landlord wanted to sell, but no one had offered a suitable price, so he preferred to buy a plot of land elsewhere and build his own house.
His house was exactly four years old, covering an area of 70 square meters, and was of brick-concrete structure, which was common for most self-built houses.
Before buying, Fang Bai inspected the quality of the house and felt it was acceptable.
Next, things became much simpler; Fang Bai explained the disadvantages of the location, engaged in some bargaining, and then pushed the price down to the seller's lowest psychological limit.
The two houses together cost 48,000 yuan!
After the price was agreed upon, a lawyer was arranged to draft the contract, formalizing the transaction, and then they went to the relevant departments for registration and paid all due taxes, to prevent the original landlord from backing out.
Fang Bai only handled the transaction; the specific procedures and other trivial matters, which were time-consuming, were all entrusted to his father, and the property was transferred under his father's name.
Perhaps he would purchase many properties in the future, so it was good for his father to familiarize himself with the process.
After the contract was signed, the houses belonged to Fang Bai's family.
Liu Fengqing, holding the house contract, smiled, her eyebrows like willow leaves, and couldn't help but kiss the contract twice.
"We're city folks now, with houses in the city, and two of them!"
She was originally from the countryside, but every time she heard others say, "I'm going back to the city, come visit me sometime," and saw their air of superiority, their expressions, she felt a pang of bitterness.
"Hmph, I don't care for city people. What's so good about the city? No small courtyard, inconvenient for growing vegetables."
She could list all the bad things about the city, even more clearly than city people themselves.
Once the houses were hers, she began planning with her son how to use them, intending to plant green onions on the rooftop and also grow some flowers, just like city people.
"Mom, whatever you want, you can do whatever you like, even if you want to park an airplane on the rooftop." Fang Bai said indifferently, understanding her current mood.
"Nonsense, how could an airplane be parked on the rooftop!"
She was just showing off to her son and sharing her joy; she didn't need his permission for these things.
Fang Bai had been busy reviewing recently; the monthly exam was tomorrow.
He arrived at school in the afternoon, entering the classroom just as class ended, and saw his classmates immersed in a tense atmosphere.
Even though it was just a monthly exam, every re-taker wanted to verify the results of their past month's efforts, to see how much they had improved and which knowledge points they had not reviewed.
The teacher had said, "Improve by one point, eliminate a thousand people," and everyone wanted to avoid missing key exam points.
Take their class, for example: out of 60 students, under normal circumstances, certainly less than half would pass the junior college line, and that included two fifth-year high school students.
For them, there was no significant difference between the undergraduate line and the junior college line; the scores were not far apart. As long as they could get into university, they would be fine, as they would be assigned jobs after graduation.
In fact, what they didn't know was that starting from 1994, the state would no longer guarantee job assignments. Of course, some regions might implement the policy later.
That is to say, if they got into junior college, it would be difficult to get a job assignment three years later.
If they pursued an undergraduate degree, then by the time they graduated, it would already be 1995.
If one had connections, getting a job assignment was still not a big problem, but for most graduates, the state no longer guaranteeing job assignments was a very difficult result to accept.
Fang Bai's arrival surprised his classmates slightly, and then they resumed their studies.
His absence was considered normal.
Wang Dakai, who was one meter ninety tall, saw Fang Bai arrive and quickly moved Fang Bai's chair aside, smiling playfully:
"Boss, you're here! I missed you so much."
"Da Ge Zi is the only one in the whole class who sits at a double desk. During class, the teacher often looks in his direction and asks him more questions." Zhang Xiaoai, sitting in front of Da Ge Zi, turned her head and couldn't help but expose him with disdain.
Under her curved eyebrows were a pair of almond eyes, a cherry mouth, which looked much smaller under her round, big face, a bit striking, and adorably silly.
"Xiaoai, you're talking nonsense. Don't doubt my longing for the boss."
"Da Ge Zi, saying something like that, do you have any shame?"
"Xiaoai, I have no shame. Why do you want my face?
Do you want to secretly kiss it? If you want it, just say so. It's not like I wouldn't give it to you. If you don't say it, how would I know you want it?"
"Get lost, you shameless pervert!"
Fang Bai watched the two live treasures bickering. After so many days of not coming, they had actually teamed up.
He took out a bag of fruit candies he had bought from his backpack, weighing several jin: "Share these fruit candies with everyone. It'll help relieve stress."
"Boss, did you buy these?"
"No, they're fruit candies bought for a relative's wedding. I saw a lot left over that weren't distributed, so I brought them for everyone."
He had indeed bought them, but he just didn't want his classmates to know he had spent money on them.
A few jin of candy didn't cost much, but it could foster good relationships, which might be useful in the future.
Moreover, classmates meet for a reason. He often didn't come to class, making him an anomaly, out of place with the rest of the class, feeling less like a student of the class.
"Boss, you're truly generous." Wang Dakai took the candy and distributed it from the back row to the front, shouting, "Fang Bai's fruit candies for everyone, a few pieces each."
At once, the classroom became lively. Students who received candy thanked Fang Bai, and their goodwill towards him significantly increased.
Everyone was reluctant to spend money on candy, or simply too lazy to buy it, and hadn't eaten candy in a long time.
Good grades didn't count for much; having good relationships with classmates and getting along well was what mattered for having fun.
Even Li Hui, who often reported him, felt strange after receiving the candy: to eat or not to eat?
Watching everyone eating with relish, he finally couldn't resist the temptation, tore open the candy wrapper, put it in his mouth, and with a lick of his sharp tongue, felt something melt.
However, he still grumbled under his breath: "You think this will buy me off? Not so easy."
Soon after Wang Dakai finished distributing the candy, the bell rang. Seeing the teacher enter, everyone quickly put the candy into their drawers and quickly closed their mouths, holding the candy.
The class monitor shouted: "Stand up!"
Teacher: "Hello, students!"
"Hello, teacher!"
The whole class's greeting was unclear, mostly in low voices, and some students didn't even shout, which made the teacher frown and slap the desk: "Haven't you eaten? You have no spirit at all! Shout again, louder!"
"Hello, teacher!"
This time, it was back to normal, but many students accidentally spit out the candy in their mouths while shouting, which the teacher noticed and immediately became furious: "You, Li Hui, Li Feiyu, Ye Fan, and you, stand for this class. How dare you eat during class!"
As soon as his words fell, the whole class: "..."
Fang Bai: "..."
The named students obediently stood up, while those not named quickly swallowed the unfinished candy and swiftly hid the rest.
This was the most venomous chemistry teacher, like hydrogen meeting oxygen; even a small spark could cause an explosion.
Anyone who dared to retort would be made to stand outside the classroom.
During this class, the entire class was on tenterhooks.
The next day,
November 28th, Tuesday.
The re-take class's second monthly exam began; current year students still did not participate.
Fang Bai stepped into the classroom again and sat down in his seat.
"Boss, what rank are you aiming for in this monthly exam?"
"The way you say that, it's as if I know the answers."
"I believe the boss will surely amaze everyone."
"Scoring zero points would also be amazing."
Two days later, the monthly exam ended, and for Fang Bai, everything felt calm.
After the exam, the teachers quickly graded the papers, and the homeroom teachers of each class compiled the scores.