Era: Rise from the Wilderness

After a while, Gao Fu's bedroom door was reopened.

He carried a worn-out canvas backpack, bulging and bulky, his face showing a complex mix of reluctance and relief.

"Yun Jing, shall we... talk outside?"

Gao Fu suggested quietly, glancing at the closed door of his mother's room.

"OK."

Li Yunjing put down the watermelon rind and wiped his hands.

The two walked out of Gao Fu's house one after the other.

After going downstairs, I came to a secluded corner where the streetlights couldn't reach.

The summer night breeze carried a hint of coolness.

Gao Fu took off his schoolbag, unzipped it, and took out a square package wrapped in newspaper, handing it to Li Yunjing: "These are the treasury bonds I acquired."

His voice was filled with pain.

Li Yunjing took it; it felt heavy in his hand. He opened a corner of the newspaper, and inside were several stacks of neatly bound treasury bonds.

"As agreed, see how much money I still owe you."

Gao Fu's voice lowered even further, "It's all a mess, I haven't even calculated how much it is, anyway... anyway, it's all here. You see... you see how much it's worth?"

Li Yunjing squatted down and, in the dim light, began to quickly search and count the items.

Skilled technique, sharp eyes.

Gao Fu watched nervously from the side, not daring to breathe.

After taking a count for about ten minutes, Li Yunjing had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

These treasury bonds range in denomination from five to one hundred yuan, but are mostly small in value.

A rough estimate puts the total face value at around 1,200 yuan.

Given Gao Fu's mediocre skills, the acquisition cost was estimated to be between 85% and 90% of the original price, which is a little over a thousand yuan.

"The face value is approximately 1200."

Li Yunjing stood up, dusted off his hands, and looked at Gao Fu. "You know exactly how much you paid for it. In the current market, if you're in a hurry to sell, I can only offer you 5% off the face value, which is about 1,150 yuan."

"I'll give you back five hundred and fifty!"

"That's all?"

Gao Fu cried out, his face full of heartache, "I...I bought some at more than 10% off! This...isn't this a loss?"

"Then you can keep it and redeem it at the bank when it matures."

Li Yunjing said calmly, "Anyway, I need 600 yuan now, I can't wait any longer."

He was certain that Gao Fu had neither the patience nor the ability to deal with these "stockpiles," and was even more afraid of his family finding out.

Gao Fu's expression shifted, and after struggling for a moment, he finally lowered his head in despair: "Fine...fine, you...you can take it with you."

He was thoroughly annoyed by this pile of "papers" and was also afraid that things might get complicated if he waited too long.

"I didn't bring that much cash with me."

Li Yunjing said, "Okay, I'll give you the 550 yuan in person tomorrow morning when you go to school!"

The algorithm was a bit convoluted, but Gao Fu's mind was a mess at the moment. He was only thinking about getting rid of this pile of stuff and debt as soon as possible, so he didn't think about it carefully and nodded randomly.

Li Yunjing took out paper and pen from his schoolbag and, under the streetlight, quickly wrote two simple notes, meaning that the two of them had settled their accounts. After writing them, he had Gao Fu sign and put his fingerprint on them.

After completing the formalities, Li Yunjing carefully wrapped the bundle of treasury bonds, put it into his schoolbag, and then reminded Gao Fu, "Don't forget tomorrow!"

Looking at the new document, Gao Fu felt a mix of emotions: relief, resentment, but mostly fear of Li Yunjing's methods.

He never expected that this classmate, who used to skip class to play basketball with and seemed to have no guile, would now handle things so decisively and skillfully, taking things step by step, making him no match for him at all.

"Okay...okay."

"Well... I'll go up first."

Gao Fu looked somewhat lost and turned to leave.

"etc,"

Li Yunjing stopped him, "What's your situation now? You're not in college?"

"I'm not going to study anymore. I'm working at a lumber mill. My dad got me a position as the head of the security department."

Gao Fu stiffened, nodded, and hurried upstairs, his back view showing some panic.

"Hold!"

"That bastard has found a good place to go."

Li Yunjing stood there, weighing the heavy schoolbag in his hand, and muttered a curse.

Thinking about this, he calculated that he had 1700 yuan in treasury bonds and 800 yuan in cash left!

"It seems that after school starts, I will take advantage of the holiday to go to Bincheng and exchange the treasury bonds I have."

……

On September 1st, the autumn sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly.

This is a brand new beginning.

Li Yunjing carefully packed his schoolbag at home.

Inside was a brand-new lesson preparation book, a tin pencil case, and 550 yuan in cash for Gao Fu.

He zipped up the jacket, casually slung it over his shoulder, hopped on his old Forever bicycle, and rode off towards school with high spirits.

As soon as he rode into the school gate, he was stunned by the sight before him.

The campus was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder, with students and their parents dressed in all sorts of colors everywhere.

The noise, laughter, parents' admonitions, bicycle bells... all kinds of sounds mixed together, forming a huge sound wave that assaulted the eardrums.

Compared to the empty and quiet campus during the summer vacation, it's like two completely different worlds!

Li Yunjing pushed his bicycle, struggling through the crowd. Looking at the energetic and youthful faces, he couldn't help but smile, his heart filled with joy.

In his eyes, these weren't students at all; they were clearly walking, incredibly cute "RMB" (Chinese currency)!

A huge consumer market is right in front of us!

After finally managing to squeeze his bicycle into a narrow spot in the crowded parking lot, he quickly walked towards his family's small shop.

Even from more than ten meters away, I could hear a series of noises coming from that direction.

He squeezed through the crowd and was overjoyed by what he saw!

There were at least twenty or thirty students gathered in front of the small shop!

The mother, He Ling, was busy behind the counter, taking goods, collecting money, and giving change. Fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, but she didn't even have time to wipe them away.

Li Hongfeng, the father who should have been at work at this time, was also wearing an apron and helping to maintain order and hand over goods!

Despite being busy, the genuine, radiant, and slightly excited smiles on his parents' faces clearly told Li Yunjing: Good luck with the opening!

Business is booming in the morning!

Seeing that his parents were busy but enjoying themselves, Li Yunjing felt relieved.

He didn't linger in the noisy, crowded shop; he just stood at the door for a few glances before turning and quietly leaving.

Today, he still has his own "important business" to attend to.

Sure enough, not long after, he saw Gao Fu on the playground.

"Cloudscape..."

Gao Fu, sporting dark circles under his eyes, strode quickly toward Li Yunjing.

This 550 yuan became a major worry for him; he didn't sleep well all night. So, he came to school early this morning to wait for Li Yunjing.

"Okay! Come here!"

Li Yunjing nodded to Gao Fu, gesturing for him to follow him to a secluded shady spot under a tree.