Era: Starting with the struggle to refuse being taken advantage of

Chapter 64 The Uncle's Setback

The Lady of the Camellias?
Wang Chengpeng never expected that Xia Mingyue, who seemed like an intellectual female educated youth, actually preferred books that described love stories.

After all, in this era of limited material wealth, love can even be considered a luxury.

Xia Mingyue eventually realized her lapse in composure and apologized profusely:

"Comrade Wang, I am truly sorry."

"I just came across a book that I really liked, and I got a little excited."

"I thought you were just bragging, but I didn't expect you to actually have these rare classics."

"Although it's not the original version or the Chinese version, it's still good to have an English version. You can learn English while reading it."

At this point, Xia Mingyue seemed to remember something and said:
"Comrade Wang, although it may be presumptuous of me, I would still like to ask you if you could sell me this precious book."

"Don't worry, I definitely won't let you suffer a loss. I'm willing to pay ten yuan!"

No wonder Ji Yongyue runs a scrap metal recycling station in a town. Not to mention the broken appliances, the profit is evident just from the book that Xia Mingyue was willing to pay ten yuan for.

However, Wang Chengpeng firmly shook his head and said, "Xia Zhiqing, we agreed to make friends through books. How can you be so unethical and immediately ask to buy them?"

"Why don't you borrow this book back and return it to me after you've seen that you're willing to give it back?"

"Of course, you can borrow other books if you want, but it's best not to borrow too many, because you can't bite off more than you can chew."

It's not that this book can't be sold, but at least we should wait until Wang Chengpeng has finished reading it himself, right?

These English books are rare teaching materials; Wang Chengpeng can only let go of them once he has fully mastered them.

Xia Mingyue found Wang Chengpeng's rejection perfectly normal, and even looked at him with higher regard because of it.

Even when tempted by ten yuan, Wang Chengpeng resolutely chose books, which shows how much he loves books and learning.

People are sometimes so contradictory; if you don't do what they want, they won't be sad, but rather happy.

If you actually agree to his conditions, he will be upset instead.

After selecting a few more books and expressing her gratitude profusely, Xia Mingyue eagerly pulled An Qiuyun along to head back.

I acquired several books I wanted to read today, so this is destined to be a sleepless night.

Only An Qiuyun watched helplessly as the Wang family's kitchen receded further and further away from her, feeling resentful yet powerless to resist.

Why is Comrade Wang so stingy? She won't even invite me to have a meal. If it's really necessary, I'll pay for it.

……

In fact, even if An Qiuyun stayed, she would never have been able to eat a meal cooked by Wang Chengpeng himself.

He's so busy; every moment is incredibly precious to him. He has no time to be busy in the kitchen.

Poor cooking skills might only affect one's appetite, but not making money could really lead to starvation.

While waiting for dinner, Wang Chengpeng had already repaired the two radios.

As he repaired radios more and more, Wang Chengpeng's skill in repairing radios also improved. Many times, he didn't even need to test them; he could tell whether the devices were malfunctioning and what kind of repairs were needed to make them work again simply by feeling them.

If he weren't worried that his frequent trips in and out of town would attract too much attention, he would have liked to go to town and find a house to live in, and work full-time as a repairman.

He shook his head, banishing the unrealistic thought from his mind. No matter how much he tried to cover it up by saying he was helping, he would still find it difficult to escape responsibility once this kind of reselling was exposed.

The best approach is to play it safe. Although it may be slower, there will be absolutely no problem.

Alternatively, taking on two or three apprentices and only needing to make final checks or handle difficult cases can make things much simpler.

After dinner, it was time for another busy study session.

Wang Zidong may not have had good grades in the past, or even very poor grades.

However, under Wang Chengpeng's guidance, he also realized the importance of learning, and through diligent study, his grades improved by leaps and bounds.

That's why Wang Zidong's family was so supportive of him spending so much time studying with Wang Chengpeng every night, and even the complaints that Wang Zidong had once asked his family for 100 yuan to give to Wang Chengpeng had lessened considerably.

Wang Zidong's family is quite large, and some people will likely object to this kind of behavior of taking money from their own family.

However, things are different now. Throughout history, scholars have always held the highest status in people's minds.

Unless their family's circumstances truly prevent it, they will absolutely give their full support.

If Wang Zidong is fortunate enough to pass the recruitment exam and become a formal employee in the factory, it will be a win-win situation, both in terms of prestige and financial benefits.
This is why sometimes a good job can even earn you several thousand dollars.

However, if they knew that Wang Zidong had given up the opportunity to become an apprentice in order to study, they would probably be devastated on the spot.

How could we miss such a great opportunity just because of studying?

It wasn't that they were short-sighted; they simply felt that being able to become an apprentice was already the best thing imaginable.

While tutoring Wang Zidong, Wang Chengpeng also thoroughly mastered the high school curriculum, and he could not possibly make a mistake on any question with a fixed answer.

Unfortunately, the college entrance examination is still too far away, so Wang Chengpeng didn't have the opportunity to test his academic success. Otherwise, he would definitely have made a name for himself.

In his spare time, Wang Chengpeng started to look through some professional knowledge, because only this advanced knowledge could change his life.

He was like a dried-up sponge, constantly and frantically absorbing knowledge as nourishment.

Perhaps at some crucial moment, the knowledge Wang Chengpeng has learned will become the key to breaking the deadlock!
Just as Wang Chengpeng was immersed in the ocean of knowledge, Wang Jinshan, who prided himself on his good interpersonal relationships, encountered setbacks and suffered many humiliations.

The matter was quite simple; it was simply that a stool in Wang Jinshan's house was broken and needed some materials and tools to be repaired.

In this era, not only is the economy more collective, but so is life.

To save money in daily life, it's very common to borrow tools or ask for discarded materials that others don't want.

This is also why neighbors generally have good relationships; after all, they see each other all the time and there will always be times when they need to help each other.

However, this very act of borrowing something that Wang Jinshan thought was a sure thing turned into a huge blow, even making him question the meaning of life.

A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative, so Wang Jinshan's first target for help was Liang Zhongxiao, who lived nearby.

(End of this chapter)