amaotonovel Chapter 1285 The soft fear the hard, and the hard fear the reckless.
Chapter 1285 The soft fear the hard, and the hard fear the reckless.
Chapter 1285 The soft fear the hard, and the hard fear the reckless.
Watching the siblings' departing figures, Qin Hao stood there pondering for a moment. He then quickened his pace and chased after them.
"Wait a minute!" Qin Hao stopped the siblings in the commune courtyard.
Song Yunhui whirled around, shielding his sister behind him, and stared warily at Qin Hao: "What do you want?"
His voice was clearly hostile, and his fingers unconsciously tightened around his sister's sleeve.
Qin Hao raised his hands to indicate that he meant no harm and gave a friendly smile: "Don't be so nervous. I heard your conversation with the old monkey."
"I think I can help you."
Song Yunhui frowned even more deeply, looking the stranger up and down: "Isn't this the first time we've met? Why are you helping us?"
His tone was full of doubt, and his eyes flashed with distrust.
Qin Hao shrugged, feigning a nonchalant attitude: "I have a grudge against that old monkey. I don't like the look of him. If he's unhappy, I'm happy. Is that reason enough?"
Song Yunhui continued to scrutinize Qin Hao with suspicion, clearly not entirely convinced by the explanation. At that moment, Song Yunping gently tugged at her brother's sleeve and whispered in his ear, "Xiaohui, let's hear how he can help us. This is crucial to whether we can both go to university; what if he succeeds?"
Song Yunhui pursed his lips, his wariness slightly relaxing. He hesitated for a moment before finally asking, "Then tell me, how can you help us?"
Qin Hao waved to the two of them: "Come with me."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
Song Yunhui and Song Yunping exchanged a glance, both seeing hesitation in each other's eyes.
Qin Hao turned around and, seeing they hadn't moved, added, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; don't regret it if you miss it."
Song Yunhui was still hesitating when Song Yunping pulled him along. The three of them had just reached the stairwell when they bumped into Old Monkey, who was coming out of the office.
Upon seeing the siblings return, the old monkey's face immediately contorted into a mocking expression: "What? Still not giving up? Let me tell you—"
"You old monkey!" Qin Hao suddenly shouted, interrupting the old monkey's words. He took a step forward, grabbed the old monkey by the collar, and slammed him against the wall: "Bullying people again? Looks like the lesson of burying you in the snow pit last time wasn't enough!"
The old monkey was so frightened by this sudden turn of events that his face turned pale. He pointed a trembling finger at Qin Hao and stammered, "You...you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Qin Hao grabbed his fingers.
"Ah!" the old monkey cried out in pain. "Let go! Lei Hao, this isn't Little Lei Village. How dare you hit someone here!"
With a slight exertion, Qin Hao caused the old monkey to grimace in pain: "My hand's broken, I give up."
Qin Hao then released the old monkey's fingers, and then considerately straightened his disheveled collar: "Old monkey, you better remember this, from now on you'd better keep your tail between your legs in front of me, or I'll beat you every time I see you."
The old monkey, clutching its swollen, red finger, nodded repeatedly in fright and slunk away.
This scene left Song Yunping and her brother dumbfounded.
As they went upstairs, Song Yunping cautiously approached Qin Hao and asked softly, "Comrade Lei Hao, may I ask you a question?"
Qin Hao turned and glanced at her: "Tell me."
Song Yunping glanced back at the stairs to make sure the old monkey hadn't followed, then lowered her voice and asked, "Why is the old monkey so afraid of you?"
Qin Hao, hands in his pockets, casually remarked as he walked, "Someone like that old monkey, a bully who preys on the weak, will only bully you more if you show weakness. Someone like me, orphaned, single, and young and hot-blooded, even that old monkey is afraid I might impulsively risk a one-for-one trade with him."
Song Yunping burst out laughing at these blunt words: "Comrade Lei Hao, you're really funny."
Her smile was bright, though the tear tracks at the corners of her eyes hadn't completely dried.
Song Yunhui looked at Qin Hao thoughtfully, his wariness gradually replaced by curiosity.
As they spoke, the three of them arrived at the door of Director Yang's office. Qin Hao straightened his collar and gently knocked on the door.
"Come in," came Director Yang's steady voice from inside.
Pushing open the door, Director Yang saw that it was Qin Hao who had returned, this time with two other people, and couldn't help but look puzzled: "Why are you back again?"
Qin Hao walked up with a smile: "Director Yang, I've come to congratulate you."
Director Yang was completely bewildered: "What's there to be happy about?"
Qin Hao stepped aside to let Song Yunhui and her brother pass, and solemnly introduced them: "These two are this year's college graduates from our Shanbei Brigade, especially this one—" He pointed to Song Yunhui, "...is the top scorer in our county's college entrance examination!"
"Top scorer in the college entrance examination?" Director Yang seemed to be hearing this for the first time, and looked at Song Yunhui and his sister with great interest.
Seeing that the two were still in a daze, Qin Hao quickly gave them a wink: "Hurry up and hand over your political background check materials to Director Yang."
Song Yunping then seemed to snap out of her daze, hurriedly taking a brown paper envelope from her cloth bag and handing it to Director Yang with both hands: "Director Yang, this is our political background check material."
Director Yang took the materials and carefully reviewed them. When he saw Song Yunhui's report card, his eyebrows visibly raised: "Not bad, to rank first in the whole county, that's impressive."
Qin Hao noticed that Director Yang's reaction wasn't enthusiastic enough, so he leaned closer and lowered his voice, saying, "Director Yang, have you been watching the news lately?"
Director Yang was completely bewildered: "I saw it, so what happened?"
Qin Hao said seriously, "Then you should understand the current policy direction. A college entrance examination was just held last winter, so why are we holding another one this year?"
Director Yang fell into deep thought, and Qin Hao pressed on, saying, "This shows that our country urgently needs college students, especially those from last year and this year."
He gave Song Yunhui a meaningful look: "After graduation, they'll definitely have a bright future, maybe even going into politics. Let's take this opportunity to build good relationships with them; who knows, it might bring unexpected rewards in the future?"
Director Yang's eyes lit up. He glanced at the materials in his hand, then at the uneasy Song Yunhui and his sister standing to the side. Suddenly, he stood up, walked over to Song Yunhui, and said kindly, "Well done, Song! You got first place in the whole county, bringing honor to our Shanbei Brigade!"
He patted Song Yunhui on the shoulder: "Don't worry, I will personally deliver your political background check materials to the county."
Upon hearing this, Song Yunhui and his siblings were overjoyed. Song Yunping's eyes welled up with tears again, and she repeatedly bowed, saying, "Thank you, Director Yang! Thank you, Director Yang!"
Song Yunhui also bowed excitedly.
However, at that moment, the office door was suddenly flung open. Old Hu stormed in, furious, and pointed at Song Yunhui and her brother, shouting, "Director Yang, don't be fooled by them! Their family has a bad class background!"
Song Yunping was both angry and anxious. Just when things had finally taken a turn for the better, this old monkey came to cause trouble again. Song Yunhui wanted nothing more than to rush over and tear the old monkey's mouth apart. He was trembling with rage.
Seeing this, Qin Hao retorted, "Director Yang, I remember the official document clearly states that as long as there is no violation of laws or regulations, regardless of background, only academic performance matters, and everyone can go to university."
After searching through the documents, Director Yang actually found the official document, but he still hesitated.
"Director Yang, there are always those who add flowers to brocade every year, but there is no one in the world who can help others in need."
Upon hearing this, Director Yang gritted his teeth and said to the old monkey, "You haven't even explained your own problems clearly yet, but you have time to come here and meddle in my business. Have you finished writing the report I asked you to write last time?"
The old monkey's face turned pale and then red. He glared fiercely at Qin Hao, then reluctantly took out the report from his briefcase and respectfully handed it to Director Yang.
"You've only written this much? Don't you have any idea how many mistakes you've made over the years? Take it back and rewrite it!"
"Oh, Director Yang, I'll go back and rewrite it right away."
Song Yunhui and Song Yunping both looked at Qin Hao with surprise and curiosity, but they didn't want to ask in front of Director Yang.
After seeing the old monkey off, Director Yang solemnly said to Song Yunhui and her brother, "You two go back first. Leave the materials to me. Remember, study hard in university and bring honor to your hometown in the future."
Song Yunhui and Song Yunping bowed repeatedly, saying, "We will certainly live up to your expectations!"
The siblings left happily, while Director Yang looked at Qin Hao with a mocking gaze: "You know how to use this opportunity, but don't be too happy yet. If that girl really goes to university, she might not even look at you."
"Director Yang, that's underestimating me. Let alone a college student, even if she gets a doctorate in the future, it's just a matter of a word for me to win her over."
"Keep bragging."
When Qin Hao left the commune compound, the sun was already setting.
Song Yunping and her brother were waiting for him at the door. They bowed deeply to Qin Hao, saying, "Comrade Lei Hao, thank you so much today! Without you..."
Qin Hao waved his hand: "It was nothing."
Song Yunhui stepped forward, hesitated for a moment, and then extended his hand: "Lei Hao, thank you for today. I apologize for my previous suspicions."
Qin Hao grasped the other person's hand: "I understand. If I had such a beautiful older sister, I'd also see everyone as having ill intentions."
Song Yunping blushed, stomped her foot, and ran a long way. Qin Hao said to Song Yunhui, "I have something to do. See you again sometime."
"Yes, I work at the pig farm in Shanbei Brigade, doing agricultural support. You can come visit me if you have time," Song Yunhui said sincerely.
Qin Hao chuckled. This silly boy was really something. Who would go to a pig farm to play? It smelled terrible.
"Goodbye."
"goodbye!"
After saying goodbye to the siblings, Qin Hao walked alone on the dirt road back to the village. A gentle evening breeze carried the fragrance of the rice paddies.
However, when he got home and saw the only basket of sweet potatoes in the house, his good mood vanished instantly.
Eating sweet potatoes occasionally is fine, but eating them every day is really unbearable.
"We still need to make money."
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Qin Hao went down to the fields carrying a bamboo basket.
In the summer rice paddies, the steam rises and the mud is warm, which is the time when loaches and eels are most active.
He rolled up his trousers, stepped barefoot into the muddy water, and probed his fingers into the mud holes along the edge of the field. Soon he pulled out a slippery eel. The eel wriggled its body with considerable strength, but Qin Hao reacted quickly, grabbing it by its neck and tossing it into the bamboo basket.
"Haozi, what are you doing touching this thing so early in the morning? It smells awful!" A passing villager, carrying a hoe, said with a look of disgust.
Qin Hao grinned: "Uncle, I'm craving something sweet, get me some to go with my drinks!"
The villagers didn't pay much attention. They thought it was a painstaking process to eat and there wasn't much meat in it. They figured they might as well go catch some fish in the river and leave.
Qin Hao didn't explain, and continued to search. Loaches were easier to catch than eels; they liked to burrow into the mud crevices of shallow water, and you could easily find several at a time. He worked quickly, and before noon, his bamboo basket was filled with five or six pounds of loaches and about ten pounds of eels, so heavy that the basket rope dug into his shoulders.
Back home, Qin Hao put the loaches and eels into a water tank to keep them alive.
Before dawn the next day, Qin Hao set off with his bamboo basket on his back. After walking for more than two hours, he finally arrived at the county's aquatic product market.
The market was bustling with noise. Long queues formed in front of the state-owned aquatic product company's stalls, where rare crucian carp and grass carp swam in glass tanks, but all required meat coupons and were exorbitantly priced. Qin Hao bypassed the main entrance and headed straight for the back alley—where many "solo vendors" were squatting, all farmers who had secretly come to sell their goods.
"How much are the loaches?" A middle-aged man in a polyester shirt came over and glanced into the bamboo basket.
Qin Hao lifted the lid of the basket: "Loach is 5 cents a pound, eel is 8 cents, no tickets required."
"So expensive?" The man frowned. "A crucian carp only costs 6 cents at the state-run store!"
Qin Hao remained calm and said, "Brother, the crucian carp in state-run stores are all artificially raised, and you need ration coupons for them. Mine are wild, and they're ten times better for nourishing the body than farmed ones!"
The man hesitated. His wife had just given birth and wasn't producing enough breast milk, so he was worried about where to buy supplements. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Give me three pounds of eels!"
After opening, business became increasingly smooth. A bespectacled cadre-looking man, upon hearing that eels were good for the kidneys, immediately bought the remaining five jin (2.5 kg); there was also an older woman with permed hair who specifically chose the live, jumping loaches, saying she was making soup for her daughter-in-law who was in postpartum confinement.
Before noon, the bamboo basket was empty. Qin Hao squatted in the corner counting his money—12 yuan and 7 mao! That was almost half a month's wages for a worker in the city!
Not to mention Xiao Lei Village, where a strong laborer can only earn ten work points a day, which is equivalent to only seven cents.
After counting his money, Qin Hao bought some rice and flour and headed home. However, he was immediately spotted as soon as he entered Xiao Lei's house.
"Hey, Haozi, you've struck it rich? You've bought so much rice and flour." Lei Sibao grinned and came up to him.
His shout also brought several of his close friends over. Shi Hongwei, Lei Shigen, and Lei Zhengming all stared longingly at the refined rice and flour on Qin Hao's shoulder.
"Get lost, what does it matter to you whether I get rich or not?" Qin Hao glared at the group and walked home on his own.
Lei Sibao clung to him like a leech: "Haozi, what are you saying? We've been brothers since we were kids, practically inseparable..."
"Don't give me that. You guys are all almost twelve years older than me, and you have the nerve to try and get close to me."
Lei Sibao continued to pester Qin Hao, who then kicked him to the ground.
"Go back to your own homes if you like what you're looking for. Don't try to take advantage of me. I don't owe you anything!"