“Why don’t you hire someone?” Chen Lishu suggested after thinking for a moment.
Xu Ning’s eyes darkened slightly. “Given my family’s situation, who would be willing to come and take care of things? Besides, hiring someone would cost a lot of money.” Their family was already struggling financially and couldn’t afford such an expense.
“You could hire a neighbor to help. There are older people at home with nothing much to do. You could pay them five or eight yuan a month to help with just one meal, like lunch. They’re at home anyway, and earning a little money to supplement their household income would definitely make them happy. As for other things, you can deal with them when other family members return, can’t you?”
Hearing Chen Lishu’s suggestion, Xu Ning’s eyes gradually brightened. She had never dared to think about hiring someone, let alone thought of such a solution. While a few yuan a month was still a considerable expense, she could manage it with a little more saving.
Thinking of this, Xu Ning finally showed the first smile she had had in many days.
As she was leaving, she specifically wrote a promissory note for Chen Lishu, even specifying the interest.
Chen Lishu took it, then left. She first found a savings bank to deposit the money before taking the bus back to school.
…
“Hello, I’m Chen Lishu’s friend. Could you please call her for me?” The newspaper with the interview was out, and Zou Liang specially brought it to Chen Lishu.
Li Zhiwei sized the man up from head to toe. With his charming eyes and prominent ears, he looked like he wasn't a straightforward person. “What kind of friend are you to her? Why have I never seen you before?”
Zou Liang flashed the newspaper in his hand. “I’m a reporter from the provincial newspaper, here to deliver the newspaper from the interview that day.”
“Oh.” Li Zhiwei extended his hand. “Just give me the item, and you can go.”
Zou Liang’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly. “I think I’d rather give it to her personally.”
Li Zhiwei said impatiently, “She’s not here.”
“Li Zhiwei, it’s almost time for class. Why are you standing by the doorway?”
Zhang Xue came over from not far away. As she passed by Zou Liang, her gaze swept over him without much thought, then landed on Li Zhiwei.
“Hello, classmate. I’m a reporter from the provincial newspaper, my surname is Zou. Could I trouble you to call Chen Lishu for me?”
A reporter from the newspaper? Zhang Xue’s steps, which were about to take her into the classroom, suddenly halted. She turned back to look at Zou Liang, her eyes shining slightly. “You’re looking for Chen Lishu, right? Wait a moment, I’ll go get her for you.”
Li Zhiwei watched her hurried figure and said angrily, “Didn’t you just say it’s almost time for class?”
Zhang Xue ignored him and went straight into the classroom.
Chen Lishu was doing exercises when she heard Zhang Xue calling her. She got up and went out, smiling as she greeted Zou Liang, “Reporter Zou.”
Zou Liang raised his hand. “The newspaper with the interview is out.”
Chen Lishu smilingly took it. “Thank you for going to the trouble of coming all this way.”
Zou Liang smiled. “You’re too kind. I happened to have another interview, so I came this way.”
Li Zhiwei, standing not far away, couldn’t help but curl his lips upon hearing his words. “His words are so insincere. He doesn’t look like a good person at all.”
Zhang Xue tilted her head. “How come I didn’t see that?”
Li Zhiwei glanced at her. “You’re blind.”
Zhang Xue: “…”
Seeing that she had received the newspaper, Zou Liang awkwardly took out two movie tickets. “Are you free this weekend? Someone gave me two movie tickets when I was interviewing.”
Chen Lishu was taken aback. Understanding his intention, she smiled and refused, “I’m afraid I can’t. I’ve already made plans with my husband. I have to go home to accompany him this week.”
Zou Liang was surprised. “You’re married?”
Chen Lishu nodded. Before she could speak, Li Zhiwei’s voice came from behind, “Not only are you married, but you have a two-year-old child too.”
Chen Lishu was speechless. So, he was still holding onto the fact that she had lied about having a child.
After all, this was only the second time they had met. Although a little disappointed, Zou Liang quickly adjusted. He didn’t put away the tickets in his hand but pushed them forward again. “Two tickets for just one person is a waste. How about I give them to you and your husband to watch together?”
Chen Lishu didn’t take them. “Thank you for your kindness, but he’s very busy with his work and usually doesn’t have much time.”
“Is that so?” Zou Liang didn’t insist. He took back the tickets, said goodbye to her, and turned to leave.
Watching him leave, Chen Lishu turned back and glared at the two people who had been standing nearby ‘eavesdropping’. She then took the newspaper and returned to the classroom.
Before she could even take a close look, the class bell rang, and soon the teacher walked in.
After the class ended, Chen Lishu finally took out the newspaper and scanned it from beginning to end. She finally spotted a picture of the school’s main teaching building in the bottom right corner at the end of the paper.
Next to the picture were the editor’s words. Zou Liang hadn’t recorded much during the interview that day, and Chen Lishu had expected him to just do a perfunctory job, so she hadn’t held out much hope. However, after reading the content, her perception of Zou Liang completely changed.
His content and wording were excellent, and the skill was evident in every line. Although it wasn’t a major news story, it still gave readers a strong sense of campus life.
The article, several hundred words long, specifically mentioned Chen Lishu’s name and praised her, portraying her as a model university student. Chen Lishu felt a little embarrassed by the praise.
“Lishu, let me see.” Zhang Xue leaned over. After reading the content, she was also somewhat amazed. “This report is written really well. It makes me want to reapply to our school. And you, you’re practically a student model!”
Chen Lishu smiled. “That’s because the writing is good. You know what I’m like.”
Sun Ling, overhearing their conversation, turned back and sneered, “So what if she’s in some newspaper? You’re chattering endlessly! Such country bumpkins who have never seen the world. How many people read newspapers? If you have the ability, getting on TV is true skill.”
Zhang Xue rolled her eyes at her. “I wondered why there was such a strong smell of sourness. So, someone knocked over the vinegar jar. How dare you talk about others? If you have the ability, go get yourself into a newspaper first.”
Sun Ling choked. Thinking of something, her gaze fell on Chen Lishu. “Chen Lishu, didn’t the teacher mention that there’s a university English competition coming up soon? Do you dare to participate and compete with me to see if your ‘student model’ title is genuine or just superficial?”
She might not dare to say this about others, but she was confident of winning against the likes of Zhang Xue and Chen Lishu.
Chen Lishu didn’t even lift her eyelids. “You are not worthy.”
Her cool remark almost made Sun Ling pass out from anger.
“Pfft, haha…” Seeing Sun Ling’s face turn the color of an eggplant, Zhang Xue couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“What are you guys talking about that’s so amusing?” Li Zhiwei came over, asking curiously.
“There’s a university English competition coming up soon. Sun Ling was saying…”
Zhang Xue quickly explained the situation to Li Zhiwei. Li Zhiwei looked at Sun Ling. “I say, Sun Ling, who gave you the courage to even think about participating in a competition? With your grades, are you going to be the one at the bottom?”
Sun Ling jumped up in anger. “Li Zhiwei, you’re talking nonsense!”
Jiang Yuwei suddenly turned around, her gaze falling on Chen Lishu. “Do you dare to compete with me?”