Chapter 8: Is This Really the 90s?
"Was that a little too much?"
After Song Xiaodan left, Shen Jiannan, who hadn't even put his pants on yet, lay on the bed and muttered to himself.
What he did today felt a little unethical. Asking for money right after they had slept together seemed crass.
However, Shen Jiannan quickly dismissed such meaningless thoughts. Since Song Xiaodan had agreed, it could only mean she was satisfied with his performance last night.
"I have that bowl of mutton soup to thank. Its effect was better than any legendary aphrodisiac."
"Just think of it as a transaction!"
Having embraced his shamelessness, Shen Jiannan soon felt at ease. They were both adults, after all, and in this day and age, with all the talk of equality between men and women, it was only reasonable for him to receive a reward for his services.
What's more, it had been his first time too.
He could just consider it a red envelope!
He got up and dressed, but when he pulled back the quilt to fold it, Shen Jiannan's sense of ease vanished.
At some point, a touch of dark red had appeared on the blue-and-white checkered bedsheet. That crimson stain made Shen Jiannan's eyes narrow. Thinking about Song Xiaodan's reaction last night…
It wasn't an act.
The corner of Shen Jiannan's mouth twitched into a smile that was both self-satisfied and self-deprecating.
***
"The essence of value *is* quantitative existence. It is a quantifiable thing, being, or fact that exists in both nature and human phenomena. As a philosophical category, it possesses the highest universality and generality. Therefore, to say that value *is* quantity is not wrong.
"So what determines value?
"Price.
"In theory, price is the value expressed by various equivalent standards or exchange standards, such as cost, replacement cost, or market price.
"Value is the socially necessary labor embodied in a commodity, and its quantity depends on the amount of socially necessary labor time required to produce it. So, theoretically, things that have not been processed by human labor, such as air, have no value, even if they have use-value for people.
"But in practice, when determining the amount of value, the final decision does not depend on factors like cost. Therefore, the philosophical concept of value is a pseudo-concept."
In a classroom for economics majors at Huahai University, Shen Jiannan stood on the podium in a neat tunic suit, speaking freely.
He smiled like a spring breeze, giving people a very trustworthy feeling, and his confident tone made people believe everything he said. No one noticed that he didn't even have a textbook in his hand, let alone realized that what he was saying was, essentially, nonsense.
"Why do I say that?
"Have any of you heard about the Clivia craze in Changchun a few years ago?"
At Shen Jiannan's question, a girl in the middle of the classroom excitedly raised her hand, eager to speak.
"Yes, this student here. Please, go ahead." Shen Jiannan smiled and gestured to the girl.
The girl blushed and stood up immediately.
"My family is from Changchun," she said. "I was only in junior high when it happened. I heard from my mother that the minimum price for a Clivia on the street was ten thousand yuan, and some varieties went for fifty to sixty thousand. You couldn't even trade a car for a single pot of the 'Fengguan' variety."
"And now?"
"Now, we have dozens of pots of Clivia planted in the yard behind my house."
As soon as the girl finished speaking, the entire class fell silent for a moment.
A minimum of ten thousand yuan per pot, some for fifty or sixty thousand, and some worth more than a car. That meant the dozens of pots in her yard were worth at least a hundred thousand yuan.
"Tan Chunyan, your family is that rich?"
"Whoa, Tan Chunyan, is your family a bunch of landlords?"
"Dozens of pots… that has to be worth at least a hundred thousand, right?"
"So wealthy."
"..."
The girl, Tan Chunyan, blushed like a cooked shrimp. She waved her hands and said eagerly, "No, no! My father found them abandoned on the street later on. Nowadays, you can't even get one yuan for a pot."
"You can't even get one yuan for a pot?"
"Didn't you just say the minimum was ten thousand?"
"Why does your family grow so many if nobody wants them?"
"My father said that since the price was so high before, he'll raise them for now. If he can sell them for even half the original price in the future, we'll make a fortune."
"..."
The chattering voices made Shen Jiannan's face break into a smile. He was enjoying the feeling of being a teacher more and more. He waved his hand to stop the students' discussion.
"According to my research, in 1983, the Clivia was just an ordinary potted plant in some households, similar to the wild chrysanthemums on our campus. But over the next two years, the price did nothing but rise. During this period, the Clivia's role remained purely ornamental; it had no other inconceivable effects. Its planting cost was the same as it was two years prior—it could be grown with just a bit of soil and a bowl of water.
"So, why did its price skyrocket to astronomical heights when its fundamentals never changed? And why did that sky-high price then become worthless, when the fundamentals, again, did not change?"
Quiet. Utterly quiet.
Shen Jiannan's two questions had the students staring at him, not even blinking.
Everyone wanted to know the answer, and everyone understood the implications behind it.
But at that moment, a crisp bell rang.
*Ding, ding, ding…*
"Alright, students, that's all for today. Class is dismissed."
Boom!
The classroom erupted.
"Mr. Shen, don't end class yet! You have to tell us!"
"Yes, Mr. Shen! Please, tell us more!"
"Teacher Shen!"
"..."
The boys in the class looked at Shen Jiannan with pleading eyes, while some of the bolder girls even rushed to the podium, cooing and begging him to continue.
Someone completely ignored the boys, but the eager eyes, coquettish gestures, and sweet tones of dozens of girls made him blink again and again. They were all delicate flowers in bloom, arguably the highest-quality young women of this era.
"Mr. Shen, don't dismiss us yet!"
"Mr. Shen, please continue. Why did the price change so much when the fundamentals didn't?"
Shen Jiannan's hesitation only made some of the students bolder. Two girls with sweet faces and fashionable dresses simply grabbed Shen Jiannan's arms and shook them.
*Didn't they say girls in the 90s were very conservative? Didn't they say they were very reserved?*
The soft voices and the feel of their hands on his arms made Shen Jiannan wonder if he had traveled through time to some fake version of the 90s. Their forwardness was a bit overwhelming.
Quickly breaking free from their grip, Shen Jiannan escaped the classroom as if fleeing for his life.
"Haha…"
"Teacher Shen is shy!"
"Haha…"
***
"Is this really the 90s?"
"What the hell. No wonder Sister Fu Rong always talked about the time the principal had to let that girl go. If it wasn't for my own strong resolve, I would have fallen into that trap myself. Being a teacher is a high-pressure job!"
"Xiao Shen, class is over! Come have some tea with me in my office when you have a moment."
After leaving the classroom, Shen Jiannan had just reached the stairs on the second floor of the teaching building when he suddenly heard a voice from downstairs. Looking toward the sound, his heart skipped a beat.
A tall, burly figure was descending the last flight of stairs. Shen Jiannan could guess who it was just from his back. Tang Jiefang, the school principal. Principal Tang was the only person at the school with that distinctive crew cut.
*Principal Tang couldn't have heard what I just said, could he?*