CH 8

Wen LiYan put the books down on the room’s desk, the smile on his face remaining the same. "Didn't Aunt Zhao say that I should help you with your homework?"

Jiang Mu stood opposite him and saw that she was half a head taller than him. She looked down at him with a condescending scrutiny, "Do you think I will believe it?"

"Why don't you believe it? Are your grades not bad enough, or have you already found a junior high school that you can transfer to?" Wen LiYan leaned against the wall lazily.

Jiang Mu frowned slightly, and stared at the other party seriously, trying to see his real purpose from his eyes, but even with her thirty years of experience, she couldn't understand his real thoughts.

Jiang Mu was a little irritable. She squinted her eyes and warned, "You'd better be quiet."

LiYan’s answer was to give her a handwritten math test paper. The handwriting is neat, sharp, and wanton, which is completely different from the gentle and sensible side he showed.

Jiang Mu remained vigilant, this guy was so good at pretending, there must be some undisclosed purpose.

"You only have one hour." Seeing her thoughts wandering into space, Wen LiYan gently reminded her.

Jiang Mu withdrew her thoughts and looked at the questions. She had almost forgotten all the things she’d learned in junior high school. She knew the answer subconsciously for simple calculations, but she got a headache from proof questions. She’d forgotten how to do all of them.

The result is self-evident, and Jiang Mu simply put the paper down incomplete. She has done so horribly, even she herself has some doubts about life; is she now a scumbag?

She, the top student in the college entrance examination who used to occupy the first place in high school year after year, is now a scumbag?

Wen LiYan put away the test paper and fell into deep thought.

Jiang Mu felt a little embarrassed. How many years has it been since she hasn’t passed such a test?

Wen LiYan shook the test paper, and said seriously, "Now I understand why Aunt Zhao likes me so much."

Jiang Mu raised her clenched fists and showed a slight smile on the corner of her mouth, her little canine teeth were shining white, and looked a little fierce. "You want to be beaten, is that right?"

Wen LiYan was obviously taken aback, and then he smiled even brighter, not the kind of hypocritical smiles he gave earlier, but one from the heart.

He put the test papers into a tube and hit her on the head with it, "Do the rest of the papers. I need to know your overall level before I know how to tutor you."

She was hit on the head! She was pissed!

Jiang Mu looked at the four papers of Chinese, English, physics, and chemistry, and suddenly realized a very serious matter. Her plan was to go to buy wool and sell gloves tomorrow. How could she have the time to do exam papers?

With a thud, she threw herself onto the bed, what was this new life all about?!

Jiang Mu was troubled all night; money must be earned, and only by accumulating enough principal could she firmly grasp the opportunity when it comes.

You have to do the paper, otherwise who knows how Wen LiYan will plot against her.

Messy thoughts filled her head, and Jiang Mu didn't sleep well all night.

She didn't realize until the next day that the white lotus did it on purpose!

She thought that Wen LiYan would stare at her homework all day, but who knew, Zhao Yue and Wen LiYan went out in the morning. She had worried about this problematic person all night, but he didn’t even show up!

When Sun Quan came over, Jiang Mu was fascinated by the steamed buns her mother had left behind for her to eat.

"You went back so late yesterday, did Aunt Zhao scold you?" Sun Quan asked worriedly.

Jiang Mu turned her gaze to him, and laughed out loud, showing her little canine teeth. Sun Quan shuddered unconsciously at the sight, "You laugh so cruelly."

Jiang Mu took a bite of the white steamed bun and chewed it vigorously, imagining that the steamed bun is Wen LiYan.

"Did anything bad happen? Let me tell you, I have collected all the protection fees already, so I will definitely protect you." Sun Quan shook his hand, and the brand-new black gloves he wore were very conspicuous.

"It's okay, it's just a white lotus flower!" Jiang Mu boldly took a bite of the steamed bun, and chewed it even more vigorously.

Sun Quan stared suspiciously at the steamed bun in her hand; it looked quite soft, did it need to be bitten so hard?

Before leaving, Jiang Mu packed a math book. Even if she doesn't know that white lotus flower's purpose yet, if she gets good grades and no longer needs his tutoring, then he will have no reason to stay. As long as he doesn't hang around Zhao Yue, there is no threat.

Drain from the bottom of the pot, perfect. (T/N: As far as I can tell, this is a gardening reference meaning that you should water a plant till water drains from the bottom. Essentially Jiang Mu wants to do so well with her studies that she pushes out LiYan)

Jiang Mu had figured out her plan, and now she was not so anxious anymore.

After leaving and going to Sun's house, she was shocked by the neat pile of gloves, there must be more than thirty pairs of gloves! There are more than a dozen pairs of gloves with five fingers separated!

"Grandma Sun, Grandpa Sun, your health is very important, don't make yourselves too tired, you are old, so you have to keep healthy." With so many gloves, they must have rushed to work overnight.

Who knew that Sun Hong Fen’s wrinkled face was full of smiles, "I'm not tired, I can make money sitting at home; it's better than going outside and blowing the cold wind. Even if I was outside all day, I can't make any money. Thanks to you I can finally have an income."

"That's right, MuMu, you've really helped our family a lot! Grandpa won't be going out today, instead he’ll stay at home knitting gloves too, so soon there won't be enough wool." Grandpa Sun reminded her.

Jiang Mu worried that the two old people would be too tired, "I'm going now to go buy wool. I'll buy more this time, but you two weave slowly, don't worry.

“Your Grandpa and I have been working all our lives and we’ve never done such an easy and profitable job. This pace is still us weaving slowly, if we don’t worry about weaving too much then there may not be anything for you to sell, so we should do more now,” Sun HongFen smiled heartily.

Jiang Mu had a warm feeling enter into her heart, and she smiled brightly at the old couple. "Don't worry about this, just do as much as you can and we will sell what you finish."

When the two old people heard this, they were happier and full of energy. Their hand movements became faster and the fine needles in their hands shuffled back and forth so quickly that Jiang Mu's eyes were dazzled. As expected of an old textile worker, their skills weren’t low.

Jiang Mu asked the old man for his opinion, and decided to buy some other colors of wool this time in order to give others a chance to buy gloves that matched their outfits, and so that the two can also weave some exquisite patterns on the gloves.

After paying wages to the two old people for their work today, she stuffed the knitted gloves into her suitcase. There was no other way than to pack them in, there were more than 40 pairs, and her schoolbag could no longer fit them.

Sun HongFen happily looked at the 13 yuan in her hand, and laughed so hard that everyone could see her teeth easily. She happily arranged the money carefully, put it in a handkerchief, wrapped it tightly, and put it on her waist pouch.

"Grandpa Sun, Grandma Sun, I'm leaving first, and I'll come back later today. If I come back too late and my mother asks, please tell her that I went to the bookstore." Jiang Mu pulled the army green suitcase and left.

She wasn’t walking for long before the job of pulling the suitcase was taken away by Sun Quan.

"I'll go with you."

"No, didn't you learn how to knit gloves yesterday? You should continue helping your grandparents at home." Jiang Mu refused.

"We don't need him, let Sun Quan go with you and have a companion." Grandma Sun said immediately.

Sun Quan nodded, his sallow face looking extremely serious, "I've collected the protection fee, so naturally I will protect you."

Jiang Mu was helpless, isn’t the price of your protection fee too difficult for me to bear?

"Didn't you want to buy wool? Let Sun Quan carry it, he's a boy with great strength." Grandpa Sun also chimed in.

Jiang Mu knew that the old couple was worried for her, so she didn't refuse anymore, and accepted the old people’s kindness. She would have plenty of opportunities to make up for their helpfulness in the future.

On the bus, they went by the factory they went to yesterday, but they didn't get off the bus until after they had passed it. Sun Quan was puzzled, "Aren't we going to sell at the factory?”

Jiang Mu carefully observed both sides of the road, trying to reckon the quiet past scene in front of her with the bustling and prosperous metropolis this would become in later generations.

"Then where are we going?" Sun Quan asked suspiciously.

A light flashed across Jiang Mu's clear eyes, “It's a good place.”