Chapter 36

Su Ye went to class 2 of the senior year to teach. The students of class 2 were extremely dismissive when they saw her, thinking it was just another physics lesson. The class monitor had not wiped the blackboard, and the desk was covered in a layer of dust.

Su Ye smiled as she walked up to the podium. Seeing the noisy and disruptive students, she said nothing but silently wiped the blackboard and cleaned the dust off the desk.

“Hello, everyone! I’m Teacher Su! Today, I’ll be substituting for Teacher Lu to teach you a physics lesson.”

The senior students were not unfamiliar with Su Ye, as she often attended classes in the neighboring class 1. Some curious students had even learned that Su Ye was only there to supplement her education, attending the senior class as an auditor.

The students in class 2 didn’t take Su Ye seriously. They believed that the school was already doing the bare minimum, with many of the auxiliary subject teachers being unqualified. They didn’t expect the school to send a teacher who hadn’t even graduated from high school to teach them.

Su Ye silently picked up the chalk, and the lively tip of the chalk quickly began to write a series of formulas on the board.

“Hundreds of years ago, Newton was sitting under a tree when an apple fell on his head. He wondered why the apple fell down and hit him, instead of floating up to the sky. His thoughts about the apple marked the beginning of classical mechanics. There is an attractive force between any two objects, and that’s what we call gravity…”

“In an inertial frame, Newton’s laws of motion and universal gravitation…”

Su Ye continued, her fingers swiftly writing more mechanical formulas.

She decided to give them a little insight, to show them what a real review class should be like!

She started with the most basic concepts, gradually moving from simple to complex, connecting all the high school knowledge.

She casually picked a few classic problems from the textbook to demonstrate, teaching them a set of universal formulas for solving problems. Su Ye picked a few exercises from the end of the chapter to solve, and as long as they applied her “problem-solving formula,” they could easily solve the questions even with their eyes closed.

Gradually, the students began to pick up on what was being taught. They unconsciously sat up straighter, and their distracting extracurricular books were set aside without them realizing it.

It’s easy for students to tell whether a teacher is skilled or not. If the board work flows smoothly, the reasoning is rigorous and clear, and the teacher can explain the hardest concepts using simple language, making everything seem so clear and easy to understand, they know that the teacher is highly skilled.

By the end of the class, even students who had never paid attention to physics before could use her problem-solving techniques to solve physics problems without thinking.

After the class, many students from class 2 surrounded Su Ye to ask questions, their eyes filled with curiosity, desire to learn, and admiration.

High school physics is much more difficult than Chinese or Politics. Even students who excel in mathematics may not necessarily do well in physics. However, to apply to engineering universities, they have to take the physics exam.

After so many years of hard work, wasn’t it all for the diploma and to get into university? To get the diploma and take the college entrance exam, physics becomes an insurmountable hurdle, a burning hot potato, or a fierce tiger blocking the way.

When they finally encounter a great teacher, wouldn’t the students want to take full advantage and ask as many questions as they can?

Throughout the entire break, Su Ye answered questions for the students in the hallway. When the bell rang for the next class, the Chinese teacher arrived, and the students reluctantly returned to their classroom.

Su Ye felt extremely satisfied. The time spent earning was too short, and she couldn’t help feeling reluctant to leave.

She smiled and told the students, “Go back to class, I’ll come again next time. When I’m not teaching, I’ll be in the office, and any student with questions can come find me during breaks or after school.”

—

After school, Su Ye checked her backend and found that she had gained three more pounds of meat.

This substantial income made her eyes light up. Ever since she brought the dropouts back to school, she hadn’t had any big earnings for a long time.

Su Ye thought to herself that indeed, it’s best to switch up the sheep she’s shearing. Focusing only on the middle school kids was not sustainable. By switching to a different group of sheep, the results skyrocketed.

She decided to send all the graduating middle school students to high school or vocational school. Whether she could eat well in the second half of the year depended on these kids. If the high school students all got into college, wouldn’t that mean double the earnings?

With this plan in mind, Su Ye began tirelessly preparing for the review work for the middle and high school students.

The atmosphere surrounding exams in the 1960s was much weaker compared to later years. Without supplementary materials, students didn’t have enough practice before and after class, so they couldn’t develop a sense for solving problems or create their own methods for solving them. Who had the time to waste summarizing “clever” solving tricks when they were struggling to get by?

Su Ye asked the teachers in the office for some past exam papers and began analyzing them, organizing key points for math, physics, and chemistry exams as she went along.

—

In the military district compound.

Gao Anna returned to the military district compound again, having been “reported” by a classmate. She had been feeling physically and mentally exhausted these past two months. Not only had the advanced teacher position been taken away, but she was also being transferred to a middle school in the county town.

This was the best outcome. If a serious investigation had been conducted, Gao Anna would not only have lost her honor but also her job. In order to preserve her reputation, she had no choice but to sincerely apologize to Ye Ning and settle the matter privately.

She compensated Ye Ning with 100 yuan. After working hard for half a semester, she hadn’t saved any money and had even had to dip into her family’s funds for the compensation. Gao Anna was worn down and had lost a few pounds in the process.

Before she was about to be transferred to the county middle school, she went to her aunt’s house for a final farewell.

Li Hongli quietly asked her cousin, “Strange, how did Ye Ning find out about this? Did he go check the exam papers?”

It was hard to believe that such an honest person, who couldn’t even get a fart out of him with a stick, would do such a thing.

Gao Anna never imagined her cousin would help her use connections to transfer jobs. When Ye Ning reported her, she truly felt the bitterness of being wronged. But she hadn’t expected the final result: she had indeed taken Ye Ning’s spot.

Gao Anna said, “I don’t know how he found out. The exam papers are at the No. 1 High School, so it’s easy for anyone to check. Anyway, the matter is settled, so let’s not bring up Comrade Ye Ning anymore.”

After she said that, she bid farewell to her cousin’s family. After receiving comfort and support from her aunt and uncle, she quickly packed her bags and headed to the county town.

Li Hongli didn’t know why, but suddenly, Su Ye’s face appeared in her mind.

Just after Gao Anna had reported Su Ye, she lost her chance for the award and was transferred to the county. If Su Ye wasn’t somehow involved, Li Hongli would have a hard time believing it.

—

After school, Su Ye returned home.

She had just entered the door when she saw the house was filled with young men and women, as well as some leaders. They were kindly bringing rice and pork to comfort Gu Xiangqian.

This scene wasn’t unfamiliar to Su Ye. During the New Year, when she was struggling and didn’t have much food or meat, she barely got by thanks to the nutritional supplements the army provided for Gu Xiangqian.

Gu Xiangqian’s direct leaders were meeting Su Ye for the first time. Commander Yao carefully looked her over, “Xiangqian’s wife looks very spirited.”

When elders praise younger people, they usually compliment their looks if they are good-looking, their intelligence if they are knowledgeable, and if there’s nothing to mention, they just say they look spirited.

Many of the people here were Gu Xiangqian’s comrades, also meeting Su Ye for the first time. At first glance, they just thought she seemed ordinary. Compared to Gu Xiangqian, her appearance wasn’t as striking, but then again, there weren’t many people who could compare to him.

Commander Yao’s niece, Yao Chunyu, was very clever and charming, and everyone praised her for being beautiful. Having grown accustomed to his niece, it didn’t surprise Commander Yao to praise Su Ye for looking spirited as well.

Everyone laughed lightly.

Zhou Honghan gave him a glare and said, “How do you compliment people? This girl clearly looks beautiful and smart. Su Ye, hurry up and pour some good tea for the leaders to taste.”

Su Ye greeted the leaders warmly and personally brewed a pot of tea for them.

She lifted the teapot lid and poured the tea leaves in, then slowly poured the boiling water into the cup. For the first three infusions, she discarded half of the tea, and by the fourth infusion, the tea had turned clear and bright. The entire process was smooth and seamless, and it was clear that there was a certain skill in it.

The tea leaves in the cup were wrinkled at first but gradually unfurled like fresh new leaves, perfectly brewed.

Everyone sipped the fragrant hot tea, their eyes lighting up. It had been a long time since they’d tasted tea of such good quality. After finishing, they looked at Su Ye again, noticing that she was more pleasing to the eye, her whole being exuding an aura of vitality.

Commander Yao smiled and said, “This is good tea, it smells wonderful. Su Ye is much more capable than my niece. You young people should enjoy your time together. I have some official business, so I won’t disturb you.”

Suddenly called out, Yao Chunyu unexpectedly glanced at Su Ye.

She had heard about Gu Xiangqian’s ex-wife from her uncle. Whenever he mentioned Su Ye, he would shake his head repeatedly. But now, during their first meeting, he actually praised her?

Su Ye remembered that she still had the responsibility of helping her fellow villagers with their livelihoods. She quickly wrapped some tea leaves and handed them to the leaders. She said warmly, “These were given to me by some villagers. They’re not worth much, but you can take them and try.”

She also divided the tea leaves she had at home into several portions and gave them to Gu Xiangqian’s comrades.

Everyone who received the tea was surprised, not expecting that Gu Xiangqian’s wife would be so generous, thoughtful, and straightforward.

Seeing their expressions, Su Ye knew what they were thinking and smiled slightly.

Their purchasing power was higher than average, and they had wide networks, but the ^[1]“fat sheep” is a metaphor, often used to refer to someone who is seen as an easy target for exploitation or manipulation, usually because they are wealthy, naive, or unaware of how they … Continue reading”fat sheep” didn’t yet realize they had become the fat sheep.

Fang Xiulian, having just finished a bowl, was impressed and poured herself another bowl. After tasting it again, she nodded in approval. She gently asked, “Sister-in-law, why is there so much good tea here? Did your fellow villagers sell it? Can you get me a pound?”

Su Ye smiled and replied, “Sure, when I have some free time, I’ll write and ask them for you.”

Fang Xiulian felt that Su Ye had suddenly become more approachable, and she was a bit caught off guard by the change.

After finishing her tea, Zhou Honghan suddenly asked, “Xiangqian, when are you two going to hold a wedding banquet?”

Gu Xiangqian didn’t respond, and Su Ye had never thought about having a banquet before.

She said, “We don’t have any plans for a banquet at the moment. These days, we advocate for thrift and savings, and everyone’s circumstances are tough. Earning a bit of salary and food is already not easy. We can simply have a meal together to celebrate, no need for a banquet.”

Everyone felt that it seemed as though the brother was being too frugal with his wife. What woman doesn’t want a grand wedding? He didn’t seem like a stingy person, but when they thought back to how he was injured at the frontline, and Su Ye only came to the hospital to take care of him a month later, it became clear to everyone.

Ning Xingdou disagreed and said, “You can’t lack food for Brother Xiangqian, right? Sister-in-law, don’t feel sorry for him.”

Zhou Honghan nodded. “Although we advocate for thrift, a wedding banquet still needs to be held.”

Su Ye nodded, passing the responsibility to Gu Xiangqian, “That’s true. When it happens will depend on you, Brother Xiangqian.”

She opened the care packages the leaders had brought and saw that they were quite rich—one pound of pork, half a pound of eggs, five pounds of rice, pig bones for nourishing the body, and a can of milk powder. It was clearly better than the last nutritional supplement.

Su Ye sat next to Gu Xiangqian, and he became a bit more formal. He glanced at the time, took the food, and stood up to go to the kitchen in the compartment room.

When it was time for dinner, everyone discreetly stood up and returned to their own homes.

Su Ye followed him into the kitchen, kissed his cheek forcefully, and said, “You’ve worked hard.”

Gu Xiangqian wiped his face and stopped Su Ye, saying, “Behave yourself.”

Yao Chunyu walked into the kitchen and saw this scene. She felt that Su Ye was being too reckless and rude. Gu Xiangqian, a man as cold as ice, was always indifferent to women and certainly wouldn’t approve of such behavior.

Many young women in the compound had once admired Gu Xiangqian… yet he had never shown interest in any of them, solely focused on his career. He kept a normal distance from women, and if he detected any romantic intentions, he wouldn’t outright reject them but would sever contact instead. As a result, Yao Chunyu had never dared to express her feelings.

If it weren’t for that feudal leftover engagement, how could someone like Su Ye even have a chance?

Yao Chunyu observed the atmosphere between them. When Su Ye spoke, Gu Xiangqian always kept a cold face, not smiling at all. Remembering Su Ye’s rough and unruly behavior at the hospital last time, she knew that the two of them definitely didn’t share much common ground.

She remained silent for a moment, then smiled and suggested to the people who hadn’t left yet, “I remember that Brother Xiangqian was injured and needs to rest in bed for a month. How can we let a patient work? Let us stay and help out.”

Ning Xingdou readily agreed, and Fang Xiulian did as well.

Of course, Su Ye wouldn’t refuse help with the work. She took out some documents and started studying. The hardworking people took on their tasks—one washing vegetables, another simmering the bones, Li Maogang cooking rice, and Yao Chunyu cutting pork.

While everyone was busy with their own tasks, Su Ye finally sat down and stretched her waist. After a whole day of lessons, diligently pulling in wool, if it weren’t for her youth, she definitely wouldn’t dare to burn herself out like this.

Gu Xiangqian couldn’t help but place his hand on her back and rubbed it. “Are you very tired?”

Su Ye didn’t respond but went to get a basin of water, adding hot water to soak her feet. Gu Xiangqian squatted down and started massaging her feet.

After Su Ye had enough, she kicked his hand away and said, “Behave yourself.”

When Li Maogang finished cooking and came out, he saw this scene. He was already used to it, so it didn’t seem strange to him.

Ning Xingdou couldn’t help but feel his eyes sting again.