Chapter 1330
Li Juan's admirer, Li Qiang's good friend
Amidst the teasing and ambiguous glances of her roommates, Li Juan walked out of the dormitory and downstairs with an air of nonchalance.
Waiting outside the building was my classmate Kong Xiaodong.
Kong Xiaodong, dressed in a suit with his hair parted in a 3/7 style and holding a bouquet of flowers, immediately smiled and said to Li Juan as she came down, "Hello, Li Juan, do you have time tonight? The cinema is currently showing 'The Bell of Qingliang Temple,' which stars Japanese actress Kurihara Komaki. I've already bought two tickets, please come and see it."
Li Juan knew that Kong Xiaodong was a native of Yanjing. She heard that his parents were both government officials, and his grandfather had been reinstated as a senior cadre in the early 80s, so his family was quite well-off.
Several girls in the class liked his type. Li Juan also knew that someone had written a love letter to Kong Xiaodong, but he reportedly didn't respond.
Li Juan only recently learned that Kong Xiaodong had feelings for her. Actually, when she first arrived at the school, Li Juan, who came from the Northwest, was not particularly noticeable in her class.
Some people even looked at her with regional prejudice.
After all, the Northwest has always been a harsh and cold place, and eastern cities naturally have an advantage in this respect.
However, Li Juan didn't care about this. She was a good student and didn't have any distractions at school. She quickly became one of the top students in all subjects and became a representative of excellent students in front of professors and teachers.
In addition, Li Juan's family was well-off and she was not stingy with money. Moreover, she had Gu Xiaoyu as her aunt, so everyone's opinion of her quickly changed.
In less than a year of university life, Li Juan's transformation was no less than that of an ugly duckling turning into a swan, which attracted the attention of many people, including Kong Xiaodong.
Many people who get into Renmin University want to stay in Beijing, and those with family backgrounds like Kong Xiaodong, who have a natural advantage, are naturally more sought after.
However, he was quite picky and wasn't satisfied with any of the women he spoke with, so he has now set his sights on Li Juan.
Of course, Kong Xiaodong wasn't just thinking about playing around; he had done his research.
Most people at the school didn't know that Li Juan owned a courtyard house in Yenching, but Kong Xiaodong did. He also knew that Li Juan had a relative in Yenching and had a good relationship with a certain liaison office in Beijing.
In addition, considering Li Juan's good family background, her score was quite high.
Kong Xiaodong hadn't expected that his usual kindness would only earn him Li Juan's politeness. Feeling somewhat resentful, he decided to take the initiative to pursue her.
Kong Xiaodong's family background was different from others. His family had planned his career path long ago. After graduation, he would work in a ministry, then work at the grassroots level, and after two or three years, he would be transferred to a government agency.
In this way, by having someone in his family who could interfere with his career development, he could quickly establish himself in the ministry in the most efficient way.
Because of family connections, a strong partnership isn't necessarily required. Therefore, the ideal partner would be someone from a well-off family, but without official connections, so that they can provide sufficient financial support.
After getting to know her from multiple sources, Li Juan became the best candidate.
While most students were dreaming of pure love at this time, Kong Xiaodong had already begun planning his career, or rather, looking for a suitable partner who could help him in his career.
Li Juan took a step back, making way for the flowers Kong Xiaodong offered. To be honest, this was the first time she had ever received a bouquet of flowers in her life.
However, she didn't feel anything special. Li Juan shook her head and said, "I have something to do tonight, so I can't go to the movies with you. You go with someone else."
His tone was calm, without any sense of apology or remorse. Because of this, Kong Xiaodong hadn't consulted Li Juan beforehand, acting somewhat unilaterally and forcefully.
This made Li Juan a little unhappy. Of course, another major reason was that Li Juan didn't like Kong Xiaodong.
The Li family's traditions are not feudal or outdated, so after Li Juan went to university, the Li family did talk about her dating life.
The gist is that academic studies are the priority, and if a suitable person comes along, they'll start a relationship.
Regarding Li Juan's future, her family members had several differing opinions. Li Jianguo and others hoped that Li Juan could stay in Yanjing, which would be ideal.
Liang Yuemei didn't have such a broad vision; she felt that it would be best if she could return to the northern frontier.
Li Juan also consulted her uncle Li Long and aunt Gu Xiaoxia, and they both agreed that it was up to Li Juan. According to them, Li Juan was an adult and should be able to make reasonable plans for her future.
Kong Xiaodong was somewhat surprised. In his mind, if he proactively brought flowers and bought movie tickets to invite someone over, usually no one would refuse.
After all, Kong Xiaodong was quite confident in his own abilities. When he joked with Li Juan a few times, Li Juan didn't seem to have any strong resistance.
Was she being coy or was she really refusing? Kong Xiaodong couldn't figure out Li Juan's true thoughts for a moment, but Li Juan didn't give him much time to think about it and turned to go upstairs.
Kong Xiaodong panicked and hurriedly reached out to grab her arm, but Li Juan shook him off, her face turning pale.
Kong Xiaodong hurriedly explained, "Don't misunderstand, I just wanted to know what you have planned for tonight? After all, there are no self-study classes tonight, and I heard from the girls in your dorm that you don't have any group activities..."
People around were already pointing and whispering. Li Juan, not wanting to push things too far, suppressed her anger and said, "My aunt is coming over tonight, I'm going to her place."
After saying that, he turned and went upstairs.
Kong Xiaodong was somewhat disappointed. He couldn't get a date on his first try, so it would be difficult to arrange another one in the future.
It seems I haven't handled this relationship well; I was a bit too confident.
He glanced at Li Juan's disappearing figure in the building, then turned and walked back, thinking about the mistakes he had made that day.
Kong Xiaodong is not someone who gives up easily; he just felt that he needed to adjust his strategy.
He knew that most of the girls in his class actually wanted to stay in Beijing. He originally thought that with his own qualities, if he took the initiative to ask them out, even if it wasn't an easy win, the other party would at least consider his qualities and not refuse.
This setback came unexpectedly. However, it also suggests that Li Juan's goal might not be to stay in Beijing, or that she might not necessarily need to find a boyfriend from Beijing to stay in the city.
Let's adjust our strategy then.
When Li Juan returned to her dormitory, some classmates were eager to ask what had happened. She didn't try to cover for Kong Xiaodong and told them the truth.
My roommates had all sorts of expressions. Some were envious, some had strange looks, and some joked, "Hey, you really gave that guy surnamed Kong a good beating! He's always so cool and confident, who would have thought he'd get rejected so easily?"
Li Juan smiled but didn't say anything. She was simply stating the facts to prevent others from exaggerating. As for what her roommates thought, she couldn't care less.
At 6 p.m., Li Juan left the dormitory with her small bag to get her bicycle. After waiting for a few minutes at the school gate, she saw Gu Xiaoyu also riding her bicycle over.
The two chatted as they rode their bicycles to the courtyard house.
Gu Xiaoyu has less contact with her family now. Her mother's focus is on that family, and she herself is not very cooperative with their plans, so less contact is inevitable.
With Li Juan here, her life is a bit more fulfilling.
Gu Xiaoyu had already bought the ingredients, and the two of them were cooking dinner together in the courtyard. As Gu Xiaoyu was tidying up the ingredients, she asked, "Juan, you're so outstanding, you must have a lot of boys pursuing you at school, right?" Li Juan blushed slightly and said, "Yes, there are, but I don't like them."
When Gu Xiaoyu asked for details, she recounted how Kong Xiaodong had delivered flowers that day.
Gu Xiaoyu was somewhat surprised after learning about Kong Xiaodong's family background and asked, "This guy comes from a good family. I think you should get to know him."
Li Juan shook her head and said, "I always feel that his motives aren't really that he wants to date me. It's like... he went through a bunch of people and decided that I was the one who met his criteria, and then he started dating me. I feel very uncomfortable with this feeling, so I don't want to date him."
Gu Xiaoyu couldn't understand this feeling, but since Li Juan had already made up her mind, she naturally supported her.
…………
Li Long didn't stay in the cotton field for long; he was still thinking about the fish. After explaining the drip irrigation cotton planting technique to Xie Yundong, he drove back to the Li family home to get the fish, left Team 4, and went to the township.
There was no one left at the experimental field. After wandering around for a while, Li Long didn't go to the agricultural extension school and went straight home.
Before Sister Yang returned, Li Long put some of the fish in the refrigerator and prepared to stew the rest.
He planned to go see Professor Yang immediately after the meeting to learn more about the application process for the support project. To be honest, the yield per acre of the experimental field was making him very eager to try it; he really couldn't stand the current method of flood irrigation.
Of course, even if the support projects are secured, the support funds are basically used for infrastructure construction, and the means of production still need to be produced by ourselves.
So when Li Long was stewing the fish, he called Director Du and asked him to bring over a set of drip irrigation tape production equipment.
Producing your own drip irrigation tape will always save you a lot of costs.
When the call was made, Director Du answered. Knowing that Li Long planned to set up his own drip irrigation tape production plant, he naturally agreed without any problem.
Furthermore, Director Du shared some good news with Dililong: "The price of polyethylene granules, the raw material for this drip irrigation tape, has dropped somewhat. Domestic petrochemical companies have increased their production significantly, so this price reduction in raw materials will significantly lower costs—this is fantastic news!"
Li Long was naturally delighted; this was undoubtedly great news. The biggest obstacle to the widespread adoption of drip irrigation for water-saving farming is currently the price of drip irrigation tape. If the price of drip irrigation tape can be reduced, then water-saving farming projects will gradually expand and eventually become mainstream.
Factory Director Du agreed that the equipment Li Long needed could be picked up at any time. He also told Li Long that the factory had already sold more than a dozen sets of equipment since January of this year, and there were still dozens of orders.
The factory's production workshop has now been expanded, and the factory buildings are also being expanded.
There's no other way; we have many main products, and they're all selling well, so we have to increase production.
Li Long could hear the smugness in Director Du's tone, and he was naturally happy too.
When the factory is doing well, his dividends are also high; everyone shares the same fate, whether it's a loss or a gain.
After hanging up the phone, Li Long began to imagine where the factory should be built.
…………
In the dormitory of the county's No. 1 High School, Li Qiang was reading a book while playing with the wild boar tusk he had gotten from Li Long.
A couple of days ago, I went hunting with my uncle. The wild boar we were hunting didn't have big tusks, so neither of us wanted it.
After returning home, Li Long found a large wild boar tusk, about the size of a palm, in a jar in the spare room and gave it to Li Qiang so he could play with it.
Li Qiang was overjoyed. This thing was a rare find, and if he took it to school and showed it off, it would definitely attract everyone's attention.
A roommate came over and patted Li Qiang on the shoulder, saying, "Li Qiang, let's go get some food."
Li Qiang then put away the book, put the wild boar tusk in his pocket, and took his rice bowl to get his food.
The others followed in twos and threes. The canteen of the county's No. 1 Middle School was contracted out to three or four families, each doing their own thing.
Dinner consisted of noodles, rice, steamed buns, and fried noodles. Li Qiang bought a serving of fried noodles and sat down on the edge of the bed to eat it slowly.
There was a Kazakh student in the dormitory named Yerlan. He got his steamed buns and vegetables from a canteen run by Hui people. After finishing his meal, he rinsed his bowl with boiling water, then took a jar of ghee from his bedside, scooped a spoonful into his bowl, poured boiling water over it, and prepared to drink it.
He shook the canned food and asked Li Qiang, "Would you like some?"
Li Qiang quickly shook his head and said, "I don't like this."
They really couldn't get used to the taste. Li Long brought back a lot of ghee from the mountains and sent it to his elder brother's family. He also demonstrated how to eat it, but no one really could get used to it.
Yerlan didn't press the matter. He put the can back in the jar, shook his own bowl to cool the ghee water, and asked Li Qiang, "What kind of tooth was that you were playing with, that big one?"
“A wild boar tusk,” Li Qiang explained. “My uncle used to hunt in the mountains and he caught it.”
Yerlan's eyes lit up, and he put down his rice bowl, asking, "Do you have any wolf fangs? If so, could you sell me one?"
Li Qiang was somewhat surprised and asked, "Isn't your family living in the mountains? You should be able to get this, right?"
Yerlan shook his head: "My family is also in the countryside. Although we herd livestock, we're not in the mountains. We don't have wolves there. I have a little brother who was born to my uncle. I want to give him a gift, and I'd like to get him a wolf fang."
Li Qiang remembered the jar of wolf teeth in his uncle's spare room and asked, "Are you really planning to buy it?"
Yerlan said somewhat embarrassedly, "I don't have much money right now, I can only give 10 yuan."
These days, most of them spend 15 to 20 yuan a week on food, and 10 yuan is actually quite a lot.
Li Qiang thought for a moment and said, "I do have wolf fangs, but I won't sell them. I'll go back and see if I can find one for you."
He didn't plan to ask his uncle for it. He remembered that his uncle had given it to the family when he was in elementary school. His family didn't seem to care much about it. They definitely had it, but he didn't know if they could find it.
Li Qiang and Yerlan had a good relationship, so he thought it would be fine to give him one.
While the other students in the dormitory were eager to try, Li Qiang added, "I can't guarantee I'll find it. My uncle hasn't hunted in a long time. He gave it to me a long time ago. I have to go back this week and look for it carefully."
That one sentence shut down the thoughts of some others.
Having lived in the dormitory for so long, Li Qiang has made great progress in his interpersonal skills and is no longer so naive and simple-minded.
This is a good thing. (End of Chapter)