Xin Zhai

He took the first bus back to school, and when he arrived at the dormitory at 6 o'clock, Ye Li tiptoedly opened the door and entered the room, unexpectedly waking Pu Liang up.Pu Liang sat up and looked down at him from the bed.

"Why did you go?"

"Part-time job." Ye Li felt really tired at the moment, sat on the chair and took off his shoes and pants.

Pu Liang asked again in a low voice: "What kind of job do you do? Do you have to work in the middle of the night?"

"Supermarket tally clerk. Haven't found anything else yet, let's do it first."

Pu Liang didn't ask any further questions, and said, "Go to sleep."

Ye Li fell asleep as soon as he lay down, and fell asleep until one o'clock in the noon.When I woke up the dorm was empty.He ate, studied for a while, and then went to work in the supermarket at night.

After living like this for a month, I went to the supermarket seven or eight times.Ye Li gradually got used to it, and the work in the supermarket was done a lot faster.Sometimes it can be finished at four o'clock, and he will lie down on the bench next to the entrance hall of the supermarket and sleep for a while. Take the first bus back at 05:30.

Although Su Xiaoqian and Shi Jingchen didn't ask, they also knew that he worked outside at night.Later, one day, Jingchen and Pu Liang gave him 100 yuan, saying it was their breakfast money.This month, Ye Li would bring them breakfast three or four days a week, and he didn't feel embarrassed to ask them for money.

"So many, I don't have any change."

Pu Liang said: "You take it first, you don't need to look for it, and you have to bring food all the time."

Ye Li didn't count how many times he had bought breakfast for the two of them, but there was no need to do so in detail, so he said, "Then I'll take it first."

Maybe because his family was poor since he was a child, he is still very sensitive to money.Objective conditions require him to count and spend money.He is very frugal himself, but when he gets along with friends, he can't be too shabby.He thought that there should be some family conditions like his in the university, but after arriving, he found that he was almost the worst.These can be easily seen from the usual wear, mobile phones, and even food.

The more this is the case, the more he feels that only when he is equal in money with others can he be equal friends.So sometimes Ye Li is too lazy to go out and ask others to bring food.Then he must find a chance to invite him back.However, people like Shi Jingchen who have good conditions are very nervous about money, and often ask others to buy things for them, but they forget about it.

Ye Li has a younger brother named Ye Qi, who is in the third year of middle school this year.Although the two are only four years apart, he doesn't have too many scenes of brotherly love in his memory.Maybe because he had to play the role of brother and father, Ye Qi was a little afraid of him, and didn't like to tell him many things.Ye Qi called him that day, and after asking him how he was doing, he stammered that he often had to make up classes late in the third year of junior high school and wanted to buy a mobile phone.

Ye Li said, "Didn't Mom disagree?"

Ye Qi was a little anxious, and said "everyone else has it".

Mother didn't buy Ye Qi a mobile phone, because she didn't want to spend money, and she didn't want Ye Qi to fill in another toy when he was in the third year of junior high school.Although his younger brother is not the mischievous type, he usually doesn't put much thought into his studies.The grades are below average, and they often make up nonsense like making up lessons is actually going to an Internet cafe, which is a listless idea.But the phrase "others have it" still succeeded in persuading Ye Li.When he started to understand but didn't understand everything, he used the same reason to ask his mother for things. After being rejected twice, he stopped using it.

He thought that he could buy a passable mobile phone for a few hundred yuan now, and the money from working part-time would come out, so he said to Ye Qi: "After a while, if you do well in the mock exam, I will buy you a mobile phone." .”

Apart from this part-time job in the supermarket, Ye Li continued to look for other more cost-effective jobs.During the National Day, he went to the mall to work as a salesman for a few days.A daytime basic salary is 80, and if you sell more, you will get a commission of tens of dollars.But there are not many opportunities like this. The recruiter saw that he was a boy, and he was not very good at talking, and he didn't like to find him.

Later, a tutoring agency that Ye Li had called approached him and said he had a tutoring job.Teach mathematics, physics and chemistry to a boy in the third year of high school, once a week.But the boy only had time on Sunday afternoon, and he was paid very low wages, 100 yuan for four hours, which was much lower than the market price. He asked him if he would go.Ye Li thought, no matter how little the money is for tutoring, it will be much easier to earn than the money in the supermarket, so he agreed without hesitation.

After Ye left the boy's house once, he discovered the problem.He missed too much homework. He just entered the third year of high school, but he didn't have any enthusiasm for learning.Parents are very anxious, want to find someone to make up lessons, and have requirements, hoping to make substantial progress during the mock exam.No wonder I found Ye Li. I had three students who came here before, but none of them stayed.

This first tutoring is very important to Ye Li, and he must not give it up. At worst, he should spend more time to summarize it for him, and then explain it to him.

A few weeks later, major courses like advanced mathematics are about to usher in midterm exams.Ye Li needs a lot of time to review, especially the big ones. He doesn't understand many concepts well, and he stumbles when doing homework.

So he entered November and was busy all the time.The weather is gradually getting colder. I go to work in the supermarket on weekend nights and wait for the bus for 11 minutes. The heat on my body will dissipate.Fortunately, the temperature in the supermarket is not low. Ye Li walked around all night without feeling cold.

This day, after counting the goods, he took a water glass to the water room to get water, and by mistake walked into a room next to the water room where the sundries were kept.As soon as Ye Li opened the door, he saw a person sitting crookedly on a stool in the corner.When the man heard the movement, both of them were taken aback.

"Liu Na?"

Liu Na seemed to be dozing off, she looked at Ye Li sleepily, and was stunned for a few seconds before she recognized him.

Ye Li asked: "What are you doing here?"

"Going to work, I'm too sleepy, I want to come here and take a nap for 10 minutes." Liu Na rubbed her eyes and smiled sheepishly, "Why are you here?"

"I've been working here on weekend nights, why haven't I seen you?"

"I just came here last weekend, this is the second time."

Liu Na's sleepiness has passed, and she washed her face again.It turned out that Liu Na also came to work as a tally clerk, and she was assigned to the snack area.After a few words, the two went back to work.

After Ye Li got off work, he was still lying on the stool by the door, and he heard Liu Na calling him in a daze.So they went to take the first bus together.Ye Li guessed that his family's financial situation is relatively poor, otherwise a girl would not come to work the night shift.But he was embarrassed to ask.The two of them talked about school for a while on the road, but they didn't mention anything about working in the supermarket.

As a result, in the next week's three midterm exams, Dawu's questions were a bit difficult.Ye Li felt that he was not sure about the three major questions, and he had no idea at all about the last one.

There was no Internet in the dormitory, so the four of them went to the computer room to check the results that day.Shi Jingchen was the first to yell, "I wipe, the big thing is hanging up."

Pu Liangwei went over to look: "55? I will also pass, 62."

Ye Li's heart skipped a beat. When he reached the inquiry page, he saw a form in the middle. The first column contained subjects, and the second column contained grades.

Next to the four words "University Physics", there is a "58" written in small characters.

Ye Li was very disappointed.Shi Jingchen didn't, but he didn't study much by himself at all, and he either went on dates or went to Internet cafes on weekends.Ye Li does not work part-time, and spends the rest of his time studying.Although his college entrance examination results are not very top-notch, he has always studied science well, and he has always felt that he is not stupid.The university's first exam made him doubt his IQ and learning ability.

At this moment Ye Li heard Pu Liang say again: "Xiaoqian, you are so tall, Xueba is really different."

Su Xiaoqian scored 97 in one subject and 96 in the other, and Dawu was the lowest with 89 points.

After checking the results, several people went to the dormitory. It's late autumn in City Y in November, and a cold rain just fell that day.The main road is covered with golden sycamore leaves.Shi Jingchen bought a bicycle some time ago, and while pushing the bicycle, he complained about the teacher nicknamed "Old Wei".

Su Xiaoqian was so brooding about his 89, he kept a dark face and didn't speak.

Pu Liang took a step and jumped onto the back seat of Shi Jingchen's bicycle.He had just seen that Ye Li and Shi Jingchen had failed one course, and he said comfortingly, "It's just the midterm exam, and there's the end of the semester. And the attendance and homework still account for 10% of the final grade."

In fact, Ye Li was not entirely worried about the end of the semester, but rather at a loss, feeling a little at a loss about his university studies, his position, university life, and everything else.He understands that hard work does not necessarily pay off, and he also knows that grades are not the only measure in college, and everyone has their own way to go.But which way is his, he can't see clearly at all.

After returning to the dormitory, Pu Liang and several boys from the opposite door all gathered at Shi Jingchen's place to watch a movie.Shi Jingchen's computer has never been taken away, because he lives locally, and on weekends he goes home to download movies and take them back to school to watch.During this period of time, their dormitory is noisy at night, and they can catch up with the teahouse and movie theater.

Su Xiaoqian seldom stays in the dormitory, and he didn't go out in the cold today, so he put on earplugs and lay on the bed to read.

Ye Li then took the dirty clothes to the sink to wash. Halfway through washing, he heard Pu Liang calling him from the room: "Ye Li, call! Teacher Tong!"

Ye Li turned off the faucet and returned to the house, and saw three large characters flashing on the phone: "Teacher Tong".He picked up his phone, opened the balcony door, and walked out.

"Hello, Teacher Tong."

"Do you have anything to do tomorrow afternoon? Come to my office and find me."

Since the beginning of school, Ye Li has only been to his office once, to deliver the family information sheets of all the students who have been counted.Tong Yan usually tries his best to talk on the phone when he has something to do.

"Tomorrow," Ye Li thought for a while, tomorrow Sunday, he will go to tutoring in the afternoon, so he said, "I have something to do tomorrow."

"What's the matter?"

Ye Li paused and said, "Tutor."

"Tutor?" Tong Yan seemed a little surprised, and thought for a while, "Then what about tomorrow morning at 11 o'clock?"

At 01:30 in the afternoon, he was going to the student's home. Ye Li didn't dare to ask what was the matter, and he didn't dare to refuse. At worst, he would skip lunch and go directly to the student's home.

He said "OK".Tong Yan let out a "hmm" and hung up the phone.