Chapter 97: As Expected of You
Actually, around here, investing in building factories is pretty common.
Usually, it's a joint investment by a village, where they don't get involved in management and just wait for the annual dividends.
A few lucky ones with good instincts and fast moves can end up with their whole family not needing to work, just living a life of leisure, playing mahjong and such.
But most people end up losing money. For example, Li Mu’s parents followed the trend early on and lost hundreds of thousands of yuan.
He silently looked at Yu Fan, who was smiling, then turned to Yang Ye behind him and asked, “This is what you call a poor family background?”
Yang Ye scratched his head awkwardly.
When he had asked Yu Fan about it before, he only heard the first half of the story, not the rest.
“Then if you’re not short on money, why did you get a part-time job?”
Yu Fan was caught off guard for a second. “Part-time job?”
Then he quickly realized, “Oh, that’s just a hobby.”
“Focus on your studies,” Yang Ye reminded. “There’s only a little over two months left until the spring exam. Don’t let your attention wander. Lately, you guys—”
Before he could finish, Li Mu suddenly interrupted and asked, “Teacher, why aren’t you married?”
Li Mu had always been curious about why Yang Ye was still single. Rather than keep guessing and judging in his head, he figured he might as well ask directly now.
If Yang Ye dodged the question or gave a vague answer, then he would have to keep his distance from Yang Ye in the future.
The sudden change in topic caught Yang Ye completely off guard. Even Yu Fan leaned in with interest.
“Yeah, you’re in your thirties, right? And you’re not bad-looking. Why haven’t you gotten married? We’ve never even heard about you having a girlfriend.”
Yang Ye stuffed both hands into his jacket pockets and smiled helplessly at them. “Who's in his thirties? I'm still 27. Can we go back to talking about your grades? Why are you worried about my love life?”
Then he started giving them a motivational talk.
“Think about it. If I spent my time on women, I’d lose money, hurt my health, and maybe end up with nothing. But if I spend that time reading, I gain knowledge. Knowledge is the one partner that can stay with you for life. So study hard, push through these two months, and get into a good university!”
Li Mu quietly stepped back a bit. No matter how he listened to it, it sounded like Yang Ye was just trying to fool them.
“To be honest, I don’t have a house or a car, and no woman is interested in me,” Yang Ye finally admitted with a shrug.
“Teachers don’t earn much. In the past, we might’ve gotten a house through work, but now, with just my salary, some savings, and help from my parents, I only just managed to get a mortgage on an apartment that won’t be ready for a few years.”
“But hey, I can start going on blind dates now.” He smiled at Li Mu. “Why don’t you introduce your sister to me? Age doesn’t matter, I can dress up and look like I’m just in my early twenties.”
Li Mu turned his head in disgust. Before, Yang Ye seemed totally uninterested in his crossdressing. But now, it was clear, he was just a pervert, just hiding it well.
Yu Fan immediately stepped up. “His sister is already my girlfriend!”
“What?” Yang Ye burst out laughing. “You’re something else! No wonder your grades have dropped!”
He was just joking. Even though he could try to date his student's sister, there's no need for him to do it. They had no real connection, and the age gap was too big anyway.
After chatting a bit more, Li Mu finally felt at ease and turned to walk toward the convenience store.
Yu Fan happily followed behind and asked, “You really don’t plan on telling Yang Ye the truth?”
“Tell him what?”
“About your crossdressing. As long as you don’t show up together with your so-called ‘sister,’ he’s just going to keep on guessing.”
“Let’s wait and see. Isn’t he already convinced I have a sister?”
Li Mu let out a soft sigh. Maybe if he just dragged things out like this, Yang Ye would eventually forget about it.
Anyway, he didn’t have much time left at this school. A lot of things could just be brushed off. After the spring exams, he wouldn’t have anything to do with these classmates or teachers anymore.
Running away might be shameful, but it works.
The sports field was full of people. After buying some snacks, Li Mu walked over to the steps in front of the main building and sat down. This spot was on higher ground and also quieter. If you stood up and looked out, you could still see the athletes on the track.
Right now, it was the girls’ 400-meter race. Looking toward the starting line, Li Mu could barely see Wang Ruoyan's small figure.
Yu Fan was munching on snacks next to him and asked with a confused look, “Where did all your roommates go?”
“Probably hiding in the dorm, playing on their phones.” Li Mu felt a little confused too.
Maybe because he noticed Li Mu’s gaze, Yu Fan followed his line of sight and then smiled. “Wang Ruoyan, huh? She joined the city-level sports championship with me last year. I remember she did pretty well.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you like her?”
The sudden question startled Li Mu.
“If not, then why are you staring at her so much?”
Li Mu turned his head away. “Shouldn’t you be the one who likes her?”
“Come on, I’m over 1.8 meters tall. Would I date a girl who’s less than 1.6?”
“That height difference is cute though.”
But suddenly, Yu Fan paused and gave Li Mu a suspicious look, checking him up and down. “Why do you look so guilty?”
After spending so much time with Li Mu, Yu Fan knew that when Li Mu was feeling guilty, he tended to talk more than usual.
Li Mu quickly changed the subject, though a little awkwardly. “I heard Teacher Yang has some events tomorrow afternoon?”
“Yeah, high jump, running, and tug-of-war.” Yu Fan answered without thinking, but then brought the topic back again with a suspicious look. “Did you do something behind my back?”
Why did that sound like he was being questioned about his purity or something?
Li Mu twitched at the corner of his mouth, but still answered honestly. “It’s nothing. Wang Ruoyan just asked me to help her invite you out over the weekend.”
“And?”
“I said no.”
Yu Fan was overjoyed. “Good! Staying home and playing video games on the weekend is way better! These girls just love to make trouble!”
As expected of you!
Looks like I was right about Yu Fan after all.
“You always say you want a girlfriend, but you still choose games over girls.” Li Mu couldn’t help but complain.
“That’s because I haven’t met one I like yet,” Yu Fan said confidently with his hands on his hips. “Those girls walk past me all the time, I never know what’s going on in their heads. If one of them likes me, why not just say it directly? If she’s good-looking, maybe I’ll even say yes!”
The way he talked would probably annoy most guys.
What a show-off.
I’m supposed to be the main character here.
“Especially after seeing you in your girl clothes, my future girlfriend can’t look worse than that.”
So Yu Fan is a total weirdo, huh?
Li Mu sighed in his heart, then stood up and said, “I’m going to write the cheer message now.”
“Then I’ll go watch the races. Don’t eat too many snacks and drinks while you’re writing, it’s for the athletes.” Yu Fan reminded him. “I saw you this morning, eating as much as the entire class of athletes combined.”
“......”