Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 15: The Poor King Zhou

After lunch, I felt a little sleepy sitting in the office in the afternoon. It was class time after two o'clock, and there were fewer students coming to borrow books. Hu Wenqiong asked Lin Chaoyang to go upstairs to walk around and say hello to the other teachers, and to familiarize himself with the library upstairs.

Lin Chaoyang went upstairs to say hello to his colleagues, and everyone was happy to see him.

There is usually one person stationed on each floor of the library's closed-shelf library. It is inevitable that he will get bored after a long time. He finally finds someone to chat with, but Zheng Tongjiang from the library on the first floor and Tu Mansheng from the library on the second floor refuse to let him go.

Walking up to the sixth floor, Lin Chaoyang took a breath and couldn't help complaining: Yanda was willing to install a lift specifically for books, but was reluctant to install an elevator for its employees.

The female comrade Du Rong was stationed on the sixth floor, and she wore a mask in the library. She was a worker-peasant-soldier student, and graduated from the library science department of Yanda University last year and was assigned to the library.

The Department of Library Science and the Library are corresponding majors and units. The Director of the Department of Library Science at Yanda University usually also serves as the Director of the Library.

Du Rong felt particularly friendly when she saw Lin Chaoyang. They were both young people. Du Rong had just graduated and had been stationed in the empty library for many years, so when she saw Lin Chaoyang, she couldn't help but speak freely.

"This air conditioning doesn't work at all, and it's too hot with the windows open."

"The lift broke down again last week and was just fixed the day before yesterday. It has only been used for less than three years."

"It's okay during the summer vacation. Just hope that this thing doesn't break down after school starts. Otherwise, you'll have to climb the stairs dozens of times a day and won't be able to lift your legs when you get home."

If Lin Chaoyang was an unmarried young man, hearing this complaint from the young and beautiful Du Rong might have been so enthusiastic that she would have acted like a Lei Feng and helped solve the problem.

Unfortunately, he is a married man and wants to just lie down and live a life of leisure.

So when listening to Du Rong's complaints, Lin Chaoyang just listened with a smile and responded from time to time to show his respect.

Du Rong spoke a lot and was obviously a straightforward person.

She's the kind of person who'd be willing to let you do all the work as long as you listen to her.

Besides chatting, Lin Chaoyang asked Du Rong some business questions. She had a very good impression of Lin Chaoyang and answered all his questions, which benefited Lin Chaoyang a lot.

"It's been almost an hour since I came up here. I have to go back."

Lin Chaoyang came down from the sixth floor and took all the work on himself, giving Hu Wenqiong some time to go out and walk around.

Although you want to be a lazy person, you still have to pay attention to your interpersonal relationships with your colleagues when you first arrive at the company. It is not too late to lie down after you get familiar with them.

When it was almost time to get off work, Lin Chaoyang asked Hu Wenqiong about applying for a library card.

"You young people are really enthusiastic about learning. You're thinking about getting a library card on your first day at work."

Hu Wenqiong praised Lin Chaoyang with a smile, and then directed him to the main reception desk.

Lin Chaoyang is now a faculty member of Yanda University, so getting a library card is certainly not a problem. He paid a deposit of 20 yuan and got the library card.

The work at the closed-shelf lending desk is relatively idle during the normal school hours, which is a great time to read.

Five o'clock in the afternoon is the end of get off work time, but it is not closing time. The library will not close until nine o'clock in the evening to make it convenient for students to read and study here. Some staff will be left on duty in the library every day.

Lin Chaoyang had just arrived and it was not yet his turn to be on duty.

When he left the library, he happened to meet the director Xie Daoyuan who was also off work.

"Director!" Lin Chaoyang greeted Xie Daoyuan.

Xie Daoyuan nodded, "Are you getting used to your first day at work?"

Lin Chaoyang had only met Xie Daoyuan once when he was handling work procedures, and knew that he had a good relationship with Tao's father.

“The library has a strong learning atmosphere and the teachers are very easy to get along with. It is a great place.”

Xie Daoyuan's eyes swept over the book tucked between Lin Chaoyang's arms. That was the book Lin Chaoyang had just borrowed from the library, and there was some admiration in his eyes.

"Just get used to it. You young people have unlimited energy. You can't delay your work and you have to keep up with your studies."

"That's what you said."

When he returned home as the sun set, Tao's father had just gotten off work. Seeing Lin Chaoyang bringing back a book, he asked, "A book you borrowed?"

"Well, I was assigned to the front desk of the closed-shelf lending area. Students are quite free during classes, so they can read a book if they have nothing to do." Lin Chaoyang said.

Mr. Tao nodded slightly, academic qualifications do not mean anything, love of learning is more important.

Of course, it is not ruled out that Lin Chaoyang is just pretending, but Tao's father feels that no one is born to love learning, and many times pretending is also the beginning of learning.

Dinner was served at 6:30 in the evening, and the three siblings of the Tao family came back one after another.

At the dinner table, Tao's mother Du Ruohui suddenly spoke up: "Yushu, you went to school alone before, and you didn't have to pay for your meals. Now that both of you are eating at home, you have to pay for your meals."

After Tao's mother said this, everyone at the table looked at Lin Chaoyang and his wife. Tao Yushu said dissatisfiedly: "I'm still a student, why should I pay for food? If I pay, then Yumo has to pay too!"

Tao Yumo immediately shouted, "Sister, you have subsidies but I don't!"

She was very dissatisfied with her sister's attempt to shift the blame to others, and her eyebrows were raised as she spoke.

"If Yumo goes to college and still eats at home, he still has to pay."

Tao's mother's words sealed Tao Yushu's room for quibbling. Her eyes flashed with some pain, "How much is it?"

"15 yuan per person per month."

"This is too expensive. We only have two meals at home, and the breakfast doesn't even have an egg."

Mother Tao said angrily, "Aren't firewood, rice, oil and salt money? Buying vegetables and cooking doesn't take effort? Do you think I'm a nanny?"

Tao Yushu ignored his mother's advice and calculated on his own: "Fifteen yuan is fifty cents a day, which is two meals, twenty-five cents a meal. At school, I can eat meat for both meals, but at home, I don't have meat for a day."

She was calculating so much that Mother Tao was so angry that she glared at her and said, "Then you can eat at school!"

Seeing that the mother and daughter were unwilling to give in to each other, Lin Chaoyang acted as a peacemaker and whispered to Tao Yushu, "Just pay it. Mom and sister-in-law have a hard time cooking."

Tao Yushu glared at him with an expression exactly the same as her mother's.

Lin Chaoyang ignored her and said to Tao's mother, "Mom, I'll give you this month's food allowance after dinner."

Only then did Tao's mother nodded with satisfaction.

Tao Yushu reached out and pinched Lin Chaoyang's thigh under the dining table. He grimaced in pain but pretended nothing had happened.

After dinner, Tao Yushu returned to the house. He was still angry, like a cat in a bad mood, and said fiercely, "You are the only one who is rich! You are the only one who is generous!"

"I'm doing this for the sake of family harmony!" Lin Chaoyang sat by the bed, holding Tao Yushu's hand and persuading her, "We have government subsidies for meals at school, but not at home. Besides, even if you don't think about the hard work of mom and sister-in-law, we paid the money, and the food at home will be better. Wouldn't you be happy eating it?"

Tao Yushu pulled his hand away and said, "You are a good person."

The tone was still harsh, but the attitude had softened.

"It's not that I want to be a good person. It's hard for me to live in this family. Your mother doesn't like me to begin with. If I eat for free again, won't she be even more angry with me in the future?"

Lin Chaoyang used a self-torture trick, and Tao Yushu could no longer sit still. "It's not as exaggerated as you say. Don't I still have you?"

As soon as she said this, she laughed out loud, not knowing what she was thinking of.

"Have we got our roles reversed?"

Lin Chaoyang had a doting smile on his face, "It doesn't matter whether it's positive or negative, as long as you're not angry."

Hearing his words, Tao Yushu's face brightened, "That's about right."

Lin Chaoyang was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he saw Tao Yushu's eyes turn and asked, "How much money do you have?"

Lin Chaoyang's nerves suddenly tensed up, "It's not much money."

“How much money is there without much money?”

Seeing Lin Chaoyang hesitating, Tao Yushu pressed him harder and even resorted to some trickery, hugging his arms to his chest and rubbing them left and right.

Finally, Lin Chaoyang couldn't resist the temptation of beauty, and he handed over all the 216.30 yuan in his pocket.

He felt that if he had been in the Anti-Japanese War, he would have been a traitor.

"Didn't Mom give you 500 before you left? When I left at the beginning of the year, Mom also gave you 200, and I also gave you 100."

Tao Yushu counted the money like a money-grubber and replied, "I bought so many things when I went back. Do you think it's free?"

All those things I spent on love affairs were my money, right?

However, he also knew that the money he gave might not be enough for the things Tao Yushu brought back.

After counting the money, Tao Yushu smiled and put it into her own piggy bank. Perhaps she realized that it was a bit unfair for her to fish out all the trouble this time, so she comforted him, "We are husband and wife, so it doesn't matter who the money is with."

"Yes, your money is your money, and my money is also your money."

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's complaints, she used her beauty trick again and put her arms around his neck and sobbed.

Lin Chaoyang felt that this girl must have been Daji in her previous life, bringing disaster to the country and the people.

But if I think about it carefully, it doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t I become King Zhou?
(End of this chapter)