Chapter 41

Monday.

After Su Ye bought three meat buns at the cafeteria, she realized she only had two pounds of meat coupons left. Su Ye was stunned, thinking to herself that this amount of meat wouldn’t last until next week.

It’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality. The thought of going without meat for an entire month at this point would be harder to bear than death.

Su Ye couldn’t accumulate the 40 pounds of meat coupons needed, so she thought she might have to settle for just 20 pounds of suckling pig.

However, a small pig couldn’t compare to a large one in terms of skin thickness, fat, and tenderness, so it would be a real shame to settle for less. But if she didn’t take an entire pig, she knew exactly how many meat coupons were available in the house, and she couldn’t just magically make more meat appear.

In order to gather enough pork—oh no, to nurture the pillars of the nation—Su Ye went to the office early in the morning to ask each of the high school teachers.

“I’m planning to compile a list of key points for the exam, but I haven’t taught high school students much, so I need to gather their feedback. Teacher Liu, could I help you with a chemistry class?”

“Teacher Xu, could I substitute for your math class?”

“Teacher Fang—”

Su Ye stretched out her hands, persistently bothering the teachers of the graduating classes.

The teachers of the junior high elective subjects had a lot of free time, especially since by May, science classes had already stopped in preparation for the exams. Now Su Ye had relatively little to do.

When the graduating teachers saw her working so hard, they were all a little intimidated. They’d seen teachers who stayed late to work overtime, but they had never seen anyone so eager to take on others’ tasks.

Math teacher Xu couldn’t help but praise, “Thank you, Little Su. I still have some free time…”

The chemistry teacher hurriedly reached out his hand, “Hey—no, no, no.”

He gently brushed off his clothes, smiling, “Little Su, how about you take a look at our class 1? I was planning to learn from you how to teach.”

After hearing that the students in Class 2 said Su Ye’s chemistry lessons were great, Teacher Fang wanted to learn from her. He had seen the notes Su Ye had compiled, which were detailed and thorough, covering every chemistry experiment and formula. It could be said that if someone memorized those materials, they wouldn’t have to worry about the chemistry section of the college entrance exam.

Su Ye humbly said, “Oh, no, it’s just that the students are too kind. I’m the one who needs to learn. Teacher Fang, let’s exchange ideas.”

As soon as Teacher Fang finished speaking, the other teachers quickly said, “Little Su, we’ll count on you then. I actually have something to do Friday afternoon.”

“Little Su, you’re such a helpful person. I was planning to take the afternoon off, but you’ve really helped me out!”

Su Ye diligently filled out her schedule, watching as her classes for the entire week were almost full.

Another teacher hurriedly said, “Little Su, you’re so diligent and serious. If you’re interested, would you like to come teach a math class for the second-year students? I’d love to learn from you as well.”

When Zhou Yi saw this, he couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh. For a moment, he really wanted to tell everyone not to take advantage of the good-natured person. But how could Su Ye be considered a pushover?

Zhou Yi could only conclude that Su Ye was full of energy and didn’t want to be idle, having an exceptionally high mindset.

Fang Zhou and Liu Qiu, seeing this scene, felt a moment of distraction and shame.

If Su Ye were someone who pretended to be more capable than she actually was, taking on tasks that were too much for her, they might have been able to feel better about it. But with the abilities Su Ye had shown recently, any envious thoughts quickly vanished.

They had all entered the same year, yet after just one semester, why was there such a big gap?

Su Ye took on six classes, and her previously leisurely mornings quickly became busy. After teaching in the middle high department, she took a short rest in the office before heading to the high school department, moving about like a spinning top. By the end of the two days, Su Ye had only accumulated three more pounds of pork belly.

Su Ye wiped the sweat from her forehead, realizing that the rewards from teaching had already been maximized, and she couldn’t keep using hard work to earn more rewards.

On Wednesday morning, as usual, Su Ye opened the backend and checked the amount of pork belly. She froze when she saw it!

After just one night of not checking, she found that 15 pounds of pork belly had been added.

With the scattered meat coupons she had collected previously, Su Ye now had a total of 50 pounds of pork. She felt as joyful as someone drinking a cold cola on a hot summer day, bubbles of happiness rising.

Could it be that the live stream viewers had recognized her as an excellent teacher and gave her a generous reward? But Su Ye had enough self-awareness to know her face wasn’t that thick, and the thought was quickly dismissed.

Beside her, He Meimei, blushing, happily said to Su Ye, “Su Ye, were you even listening to me? You seemed completely distracted just now.”

Su Ye snapped back to reality, clearing her throat as she replied, “Oh, nothing. What were you saying?”

“Lu Siyuan isn’t a bad student at heart. Last weekend, he really upset me, but today he came to school and apologized. A lot of students in our class have also returned. When I saw that they were back, I felt so relieved…”

After hearing this, Su Ye wondered if those 15 pounds of pork belly were… from these students?

Why did they get so much more pork than she did? She worked so hard to prepare exam materials for the junior and senior high students and only got 15 pounds of pork belly, and spent all her energy teaching for just three pounds. Why did they return to class and get 15 pounds of pork belly?

No wonder so many people enjoy saving those in troubled situations, Su Ye thought to herself.

Su Ye said seriously, “It’s good that they’re back to class. They’re still good kids after all.”

He Meimei thought the same way, nodding in full agreement.

But Su Ye hadn’t thought like this before. She used to believe that if someone didn’t love studying, they couldn’t be forced. People like Yang Chenxing—smart as he was—Su Ye would look at him the way one admires a tall, upright narcissus flower. If the flower grew crookedly, she would just gently support it, but if she couldn’t straighten it, she would let it be.

Given the time in the U.S., wouldn’t it be better to help nurture a smart, hardworking pine tree like Chen Ziming, Qian Xiaohe, or Yang Xue? They could take root even in the wind, and with just a little fertilizer, they would burst into growth.

But this time, she didn’t expect the stubborn fruit to turn out sweet? Su Ye fell into deep thought.

After school.

After finishing her lunch, Su Ye took her lunchbox to the communal faucet to wash it. She carefully wiped the water stains off with a towel, and just as she turned around, she saw a row of male students wearing sailor shirts.

Yang Chenxing scratched his head, and several students chorused, “Teacher Su, please guide us!”

The corner of Su Ye’s mouth twitched involuntarily.

Yang Chenxing pulled Su Ye aside and explained, “These guys want to join the arts troupe and the military’s art troupe, what do you think, Teacher Su? They’ve been practicing really hard lately, and my older brother wants to help them.”

Su Ye was blunt, saying, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Yang Chenxing was left speechless by her straightforward response and asked, “Really?”

Su Ye shook her head and said, “I know you guys like to follow trends, but this kind of work isn’t something just anyone can handle. Let’s not even talk about the arts troupe. As far as I know, the art troupe in the military starts training before dawn every day, and physical training follows military standards. For the first few years, you can only apply for leave after reporting to the military district. Can you guys handle that?”

Su Ye, having lived in the military, was quite familiar with the art troupe. In this time of famine and material shortages, while soldiers received eggs and pork as subsidies, they only got eggs, and each of them was as skinny as a monkey.

Yang Chenxing quietly said to Su Ye, “Their grades aren’t good, so they probably won’t get a graduation certificate.”

The arts troupe and the military art troupe were recruiting recently. If they got into these places, they wouldn’t have to work in factories. In these times, getting into either of these two places would secure them an ^[1]“iron rice bowl” (铁饭碗) is a Chinese idiom that refers to a secure and stable job that provides guaranteed income and benefits for life, often with little risk of being laid off. It … Continue readingiron rice bowl—either becoming an artist, a dancer, or a soldier. It was considered a very popular and desirable job.

“Who said that?” Su Ye glanced at him politely.

“Let them come to class. I’ll make sure they get their graduation certificates.”

Yang Chenxing was once again left speechless, stammering, “They don’t like studying at all, they’re only interested in this. Sigh, since Teacher Su isn’t willing to help, then forget it…”

Why bother fooling them into going back to study?

Su Ye walked up to the group of students, her gaze sweeping over them as she mentally memorized their faces.

After a moment, she said seriously, “I can’t guarantee that the arts troupe or the military art troupe will accept you, but I can guarantee that you’ll get your graduation certificates and have the chance to go to college.”

After saying this, Su Ye turned and left, leaving the group of students staring at each other in confusion.

—

After school, Su Ye returned home and excitedly checked her food and pork inventory.

Fifty-one pounds of pork, one hundred and twenty-three pounds of fine grains!

She was so rich now, and Su Ye was already thinking about spending the weekend in the countryside to “improve her life.” But after the notoriety from her previous trips, she didn’t want to cause another stir.

Her gaze turned to Gu Xiangqian, and an idea popped into her head.

She smiled and asked, “Xiangqian, are you free this weekend?”

Although Gu Xiangqian was still on sick leave, he was the type who couldn’t sit still. If he couldn’t participate in training, he would teach the trainees instead, diligently using every ounce of energy he had.

Gu Xiangqian replied, “I’ll be leading a shooting training session this weekend. Is there something you need?”

Su Ye thought for a moment and then whispered something in his ear.

She spun a story about her deceased parents visiting her in a dream, worried that they weren’t getting enough food. They entrusted her to tell Gu Xiangqian that he was in luck lately, and if he encountered a wild boar, he must bring it home.

Gu Xiangqian, a staunch materialist, of course didn’t believe a word of it. He shook his head and said, “When I get my paycheck, I’ll take you to the canteen to have meat-filled buns.”

What was the appeal of eating meat at the canteen after getting paid for Su Ye?

That said, Gu Xiangqian wasn’t poor. His salary in the military was above average, much higher than that of an ordinary person. Had it not been for the three years of famine, he would have been able to eat meat every day. But Su Ye, on the other hand, wanted to eat meat every day right now.

Su Ye made Gu Xiangqian promise to bring the wild boar home, and he agreed.

Saturday.

Gu Xiangqian took the soldiers deep into the mountains for shooting training. It was a cloudless day, and the heat was so intense that people were sweating profusely.

As the sun began to set, Gu Xiangqian had yet to see the wild boar Su Ye mentioned. The deputy squad leader led the team away from the training field while Gu Xiangqian stayed behind to clean up the area and record some data.

Just as the entire team was nearly gone, suddenly—a fierce-looking, strong, and round wild boar came charging out of the deep mountains, kicking up a cloud of sand with its four legs as it sprinted. From a distance, it seemed to weigh at least two hundred pounds.

The soldier who was picking up shell casings was still happily collecting them when he saw the boar. His heart nearly stopped.

For a moment, he was so panicked that he even forgot to run and stood frozen next to Gu Xiangqian.

Gu Xiangqian swiftly drew his rifle from his waist, loaded it, grasped the stock with his left hand, and pulled the trigger, firing three shots in quick succession.

The wild boar was hit by one bullet, but its running didn’t stop. It took two more shots before it suddenly collapsed about a hundred meters away, blood pouring out of it.

Gu Xiangqian put away his smoking rifle and walked over to inspect the boar.

It turned out to be a wild boar, just as Su Ye had said, but unfortunately, there was no bowl available to collect the blood. The blood was spilling all over the ground. After thinking for a moment, Gu Xiangqian poured the water out of his kettle and filled it with the boar’s blood.

Seeing this, the young soldier felt a pang of sympathy and imitated him, emptying his canteen and filling it with the boar’s blood.

—

When Gu Xiangqian brought the whole boar to the canteen to get meat coupons, he didn’t know how many envious looks he attracted.

The only witness— the young soldier who had seen the whole event—returned and described it to everyone. He talked about how the wild boar charged down the mountain with incredible speed, its terrifying destructive power, only to be shot dead by Gu Xiangqian, who was a hundred meters away, with three quick shots.

To them, the wild boar at a hundred meters was no bigger than a copper coin. If they had been there, could they have easily brought the wild boar home like Gu Xiangqian did?

Gu Xiangqian’s feat inspired the soldiers who were just starting to learn shooting. They listened eagerly as their blood boiled.

Gu Xiangqian’s team not only completed their training but also killed a wild boar, eliminating a pest for the farmers. This story spread throughout the military district that very day.

The wild boar, which destroys farmers’ crops, has always been a target of public hatred. Hunting wild boars is seen as a righteous act, protecting the people and eliminating pests. Especially now, during this difficult time of famine, Gu Xiangqian brought back a wild boar, and he became the object of admiration and respect in everyone’s eyes.

After hearing the news, Yao Chunyu couldn’t help but admire Gu Xiangqian even more.

When she heard that Gu Xiangqian had received one hundred jin (about 50 kg) of meat coupons from the canteen, she was even more envious. Although her family wasn’t worried about food, getting pork was extremely difficult. Pork hadn’t been available in the market for a long time, and even the highest-ranking officials only got about five liang (about 250 grams) of pork per day. How much more difficult was it for ordinary people?

Although young people today always talk about dieting, when there’s no oil in their bellies, they’ll understand just how delicious pork really is.

Hearing about Gu Xiangqian’s one hundred jin of pork, Yao Chunyu couldn’t help but think of Su Ye. She seemed to do nothing, yet she could always get food at the snap of a finger, enjoying pork just by benefiting from Gu Xiangqian’s hard work.

In these famine-stricken times, being able to eat pork was something to be envious of. Given Su Ye’s lazy and indulgent habits, the pork Gu Xiangqian worked so hard to bring back would probably not be enough for her to squander.

—

After receiving the pork, Gu Xiangqian saw the bowl of fresh boar’s blood, and a thought flashed in his mind.

He asked Master Yang from the kitchen for some pig bones, two and a half jin of pork belly, and a few pig intestines to take home. The large intestines could be stuffed with blood to make delicious blood sausages, and the casings could be filled with pork belly to make sausages.

Su Ye, who was preparing lesson plans at home, already knew that Gu Xiangqian had brought the wild boar back.

When she heard footsteps, she turned around and saw that Gu Xiangqian had returned, holding a string of meat in his left hand and a pack of ribs in his right.

“You’re back! Why are your hands full of meat? Looks like I was right, huh?”

Gu Xiangqian pressed his lips together and smiled faintly, “It’s a coincidence, I really did encounter a wild boar today and brought it back.”

Su Ye immediately praised him without hesitation, “Great! Hurry and fry up some ribs to satisfy the craving, I haven’t had meat in two days.”