Chapter 100

Xie Tingyu collapsed as soon as his head hit the pillow. Aside from the period when he was building a reservoir in the countryside, Ye Qingshui had never seen him this exhausted.

However, Ye Qingshui soon understood what was going on.

A few days later, Shen Weimin secretly came to the Xie family in the middle of the night to find Xie Tingyu.

He discreetly pulled a stack of “Great Unity” bills from his pocket and handed them to Xie Tingyu: “Here, Brother Yu, this is yours.”

“Are we going to keep going? I’m counting on you…”

Shen Weimin watched his brother nervously.

He hadn’t cared about something this much in a long time. His heart was burning, yet he felt tormented, like a pancake being cooked.

“What are you… doing?”

Ye Qingshui saw Shen Weimin retract his hand, and Xie Tingyu casually put the money back into his pocket. Although the clothes he wore in spring weren’t thick, the stack of money was tucked in without leaving a visible trace.

Ye Qingshui put her hand out in front of Xie Tingyu, palm up.

The man looked at her and, resigned, took the money out of his pocket and placed it in her palm.

Ye Qingshui was stunned. It was a hard, thick stack of money. By its thickness, it was probably close to a thousand yuan.

Ye Qingshui was shocked.

Shen Weimin covered his face and wiped it with his hand.

Seeing that he couldn’t hide it, he came into the couple’s room and told Ye Qingshui everything, point by point.

“Brother Yu extracted silver from spent fixer solution…”

It turned out that Xie Tingyu had also been earning money during this time, but his method was unique.

A long time ago, Xie Tingyu discovered that silver was contained in the waste fixer solution from photo studios. He studied it in the lab for a few days and figured out a simple method to extract the silver. He and Shen Weimin decided to rent a car and collect the spent fixer solution from photo studios every day.

In those years, private sales of gold and silver were forbidden outside of official government monopolies. After Xie Tingyu extracted the silver from the fixer solution, Shen Weimin was responsible for gradually converting and selling the silver.

Silver was a circulating currency in the past, and even now, it was a raw material for precious jewelry. It was highly liquid and welcome everywhere, with no shortage of buyers.

Ye Qingshui’s eyes lit up as she listened.

No wonder Xie Tingyu scored full marks in Chemistry. The way educated people made money was different from ordinary people.

Shen Weimin’s heart thumped as he held out a finger, “I feel like I’m dreaming. One hundred kilograms of waste fixer solution can yield almost half a kilogram of silver.”

How much did a gram of silver cost? This question immediately popped into Ye Qingshui’s mind. But when the man placed another thick, warm bundle of banknotes in front of her, Ye Qingshui’s eyes couldn’t move.

“Brother Yu has the sharpest mind. I am completely convinced by him. How would an ordinary person think of extracting silver from waste fixer solution?” Shen Weimin said.

However, the work was not easy. The two dignified university students used a tricycle to search all the photo studios in the city after class. Luckily, the people in the capital had some money in their pockets, and the photo studio business was good. They happened to catch the high traffic period right after the New Year.

Otherwise, in a small place like Hongqi County, collecting fifty kilograms of waste fixer solution a day would be considered good.

After Shen Weimin left.

Xie Tingyu took out the money and said to his wife, “We earned a total of over 3,400 yuan this time. We split it in half.”

Ye Qingshui counted the banknotes. After deducting the costs, Xie Tingyu’s share was 1,580 yuan.

She smiled as she counted the money, looking like a landlord counting her gold in a vault.

Xie Tingyu couldn’t help but chuckle, seeing his wife so happy.

However, after counting the money, Ye Qingshui pressed her lips into a smile and handed it all back to him, along with the money he had previously saved with her.

Xie Tingyu was stunned.

He said, “No need. Just keep it with you. The money I earn should naturally be spent by my wife.”

Xie Tingyu had known about this method of extracting silver from waste liquid for a long time, but he had never tried it. This time, he was purely stimulated by his wife.

His wife was heavily pregnant yet still earning money to support the family through her own labor. As a man, how could Xie Tingyu remain indifferent? Although he wished his wife could live comfortably, his wife was definitely not the kind of housewife who relied on her man.

As a husband, Xie Tingyu could only provide more financial support.

Ye Qingshui smoothed the corners of her mouth, her heart melting, feeling sweet and warm.

She swept her gaze over him, giving him a look: “I don’t want to manage money for you.”

Ye Qingshui straightened Xie Tingyu’s clothes and said softly, “You’re a man. There are still many places where you need to spend money. If you want to start another business, feel free to ask me for funds. I’ll keep a lot of money stored up for you here.”

Ye Qingshui counted carefully. The eight hundred yuan he gave her before, the rent from the courtyard house in his name, plus this 1,580 yuan added up to about three thousand yuan.

In a few months, China would welcome the reform and opening up. If Xie Tingyu wanted to start a business, having money on hand would be convenient. Ye Qingshui was worried that this silly man would want to start from scratch even though the family had money.

Xie Tingyu felt warmth in his heart as he listened.

He chuckled, “I’m just a student. Where would I need to spend money?”

“When we can’t collect waste fixer solution anymore, I’ll sell this method.”

Ye Qingshui also truly felt sorry for her husband: “It’s better not to do it anymore. This work is tiring after all.”

The more profitable a method was, the less likely it was to be sustainable long-term. Xie Tingyu knew this well. In the later stages, more and more people would join, greatly increasing costs and squeezing profit margins.

It was better to leave early and earn a sum of money in the process.

Xie Tingyu didn’t expect that he and Shen Weimin would continue this work until summer, to the point where the staff at the photo studios in the capital could recognize the two of them with their eyes closed.

Finally, one day, a photo studio employee couldn’t resist his curiosity and asked, “Why do you collect this? I heard you can extract silver from it. Is that true?”

Xie Tingyu glanced at Shen Weimin.

Shen Weimin coughed and, already prepared, took out a small advertisement with a phone number from his chest pocket.

He spoke mysteriously, close to the person’s ear: “This is a technique we paid to learn elsewhere. Eight hundred yuan guarantees you’ll learn it. If you know anyone who can save up that much money, they can recover the cost in a few months just by collecting this waste fixer solution.”

The photo studio employee looked at it, his eyes somewhat dizzy.

“A quick way to get rich: Silver extraction from waste liquid. Interested parties, please contact Mr. Liu immediately…”

His heart couldn’t stop pounding. He quickly put the advertisement in his pocket. “Is this really true?”

Shen Weimin glared back, “If it wasn’t true, would we have been collecting waste fixer solution for half a year straight?”

After Xie Tingyu decided to stop, he entrusted all the closing matters to Shen Weimin.

Shen Weimin was also amazing. He spent money to have this advertisement posted on streets and alleys. Whether tucked into newspapers or thrown into people’s grocery baskets, this advertisement, which most people would be skeptical of, actually drew many inquiries.

Shen Weimin earned a total of 6,400 yuan in tuition fees from teaching the technique. He joked, “Eight hundred yuan in tuition fee. If you work hard and diligently for a month, you can definitely earn it back. Brother Yu, we lost out big time.”

“Why don’t we keep going?”

The five thousand yuan ‘retirement’ fee was split in half, and Xie Tingyu took 3,200 yuan.

Xie Tingyu counted the banknotes and said seriously, “We’re done. We need to focus on our studies. If this kind of thing comes up again, I’ll call on you.”

*

After Xie Tingyu made a sum of money extracting silver from waste fixer solution, he managed to get some fabric for his wife from the black market.

Summer arrived, and Ye Qingshui could no longer wear the clothes she had before she got pregnant last year. Heavily pregnant women can’t stand the heat. Xie Tingyu bought an electric fan for his wife to use, but she still sweated profusely.

Xie Tingyu felt distressed. He bought lightweight silk gauze and made several dresses for his wife.

Wearing the light fabric dresses, Ye Qingshui felt less stuffy and hot.

She looked at her bulging belly with some distress, “It looks so big.”

“The doctor said it might be twins. You’ve worked hard, Shuier.”

Xie Tingyu felt a little nervous looking at his wife’s belly. He leaned in to listen and kissed her belly, “Babies, be good, don’t make Mom work so hard.”

Having twins was a bit of a family factor. Wen Zhihua also gave birth to twins.

Xie Tingyu’s maternal grandmother also had twins, but one passed away when they were very young and did not survive to adulthood.

Wearing the soft fabric and having the fan blowing on her, Ye Qingshui was now as comfortable as could be. She told her husband, “Aren’t you afraid people will say you’re adopting those bourgeois practices?”

Xie Tingyu whispered to his wife, “Yes, how could I not be afraid? But I still couldn’t resist buying them.”

“So, let’s just wear them at home.”

When Ye Qingshui was unbearably hot, she would miss the air conditioning of later generations and couldn’t help but crave cold things.

As the months progressed, she reduced her working time significantly and would read when she had free time.

Although Ye Qingshui couldn’t do strenuous work anymore, she hired a helper, paying a salary of forty-five yuan per month.

Zhang Hongying would come over every day to help Ye Qingshui with work. She was a military wife from the countryside with a low level of education, so she couldn’t find a good job in the capital. The military unit arranged for her to work at a nursery caring for children, but Zhang Hongying considered the salary she got from Ye Qingshui to be higher and politely declined the job.

Zhang Hongying wasn’t very observant and didn’t recognize the fabric Ye Qingshui was wearing.

She just thought it felt strangely comfortable and only looked at it a couple of times at most.

But Xu Maofang’s ancestors were tailors; how could she not recognize it? The fabric Ye Qingshui was wearing was xiangyunsha (gambiered canton gauze), the only existing textile dyed with pure plant dyes, known as “soft gold” in the textile industry.

Xu Maofang touched it under the pretense of greeting Ye Qingshui.

She was startled and froze for a long time.

Ye Qingshui, who earned money by selling sausages, could actually afford this kind of fabric.

Xu Maofang finally sobered up. She no longer opposed her daughter making sausages. If selling a few sausages could bring in a huge profit, she would want to do it herself.

So, when Zhang Hongying was making sausages, she felt that she was constantly being watched by Mrs. Xie’s gaze.

She wasn’t stupid. It was this stepmother who had caused Xie Tingyu and his wife to move out last time. She turned her back and deliberately closed the kitchen door.

“What, is Mrs. Xie interested in this vulgar stuff too?”

If Xu Maofang weren’t Mrs. Xie, Zhang Hongying would have slapped someone who was so clearly trying to steal a skill. Many military wives in the complex were envious that Ye Qingshui could earn money with this skill and had asked Zhang Hongying countless times, subtly and overtly.

Zhang Hongying was already wary and understood as soon as she saw Xu Maofang’s look.

Xu Maofang smiled gently, “Xiaoying, you must be tired. Sit down and have a drink before you continue.”

She withdrew her gaze. In fact, it didn’t matter if she watched or not. Ye Qingshui had been making sausages at home for over half a year, and Xu Maofang could generally guess how to make them. The key was Ye Qingshui’s spice recipe.

Xu Maofang hadn’t studied spices or herbs. Every time Ye Qingshui brought back twenty-some large and small spices, she would be dazzled.

Ye Qingshui watched from the side, her eyes holding deep meaning.

She ate some fruit and spoke softly to Zhang Hongying for a moment, “Save some braised meat today. I’ll take some to Brother Yu and Big Brother to eat.”

Zhang Hongying’s eyes also flashed when she heard this. She glanced into the kitchen and said, “Qingshui, you’re heavily pregnant and can’t carry the braised meat. I’ll go with you.”

Zhang Hongying scooped out 5kg of braised meat and put it in an iron basin. She quickly sliced the braised meat; the slices were moist and glistening with oil.

After working for a while, she went with Ye Qingshui toward the military academy.

Xu Maofang watched the two leave. Only after hearing the sound of the lock clicking did she slowly walk into the kitchen and take out the spices Ye Qingshui usually used from the shelf. Xu Maofang didn’t take the whole bag but took a little bit, wrapped it in paper, and put it in her pocket.

*

Ye Qingshui arrived at Peking University and went to Xie Tingyu’s dorm. Zhang Hongying took the other basin of braised meat to Xie Tingjue.

If Xie Tingyu didn’t go home at noon, he would rest in the dorm.

Everyone in his dorm recognized Ye Qingshui. When they saw her bringing a basin full of braised meat, the young men let out shouts of surprise.

The person who received the most envious looks in the entire dorm was Xie Tingyu; he was simply a winner in life.

Not only was he married, but he was also about to have a baby. His sister-in-law was not only gentle and beautiful but also brought him food every now and then. The food Ye Qingshui chose was the rations these young men craved the most—meals full of meat.

In this era of scarce clothing and food, who could resist the charm of meat?

When Xie Tingyu ate, the entire dorm silently craved it. Fortunately, he had some conscience and would share a little with his roommates.

This was also one way for an off-campus student to quickly solidify the pure friendship between roommates.

“Brother Yu went to the English oral examination. Sister-in-law, you came at an inconvenient time.”

Ye Qingshui didn’t know about her husband’s oral exam. The second eldest in the dorm, Fang Qingzhuo, said, “It’s better to come late than to miss it entirely. We were planning to go watch, too. Sister-in-law, would you like to come with us?”

“Walk slowly, sister-in-law. Even if we arrive late, there’s still something to see,” Fang Qingzhuo said unhurriedly.

He looked at Ye Qingshui’s bulging belly, feeling a little nervous.

If he took his sister-in-law to the auditorium, would Xie Tingyu settle the score with him later?

“Exactly, walk slowly. Sister-in-law probably doesn’t know how amazing Brother Yu is. He usually wins most of the competitions he enters. We’re all tired of seeing it; there’s no suspense.”

“He’s very popular. The professors appreciate him greatly.”

No, Ye Qingshui knew.

She had already experienced the intellectual crushing power during the college entrance examination.

But it wasn’t until she arrived at the venue that she realized what the man had transformed into over the past six months. The description “He’s very popular” was an understatement. Ye Qingshui watched for half an hour, and the audience’s reaction was generally mild when other contestants spoke.

It wasn’t until his turn to speak that the hall erupted in enthusiastic applause.

Sansukini: Wow, we’re almost at the end of the novel.

Support Sansukini on Ko-fi

Thanks for visiting. If you like this story, then I’m shamelessly asking you to visit NovelUpdates and give a 5⭐ review. (人❛ᴗ❛)♪тнайк　чоц♪(❛ᴗ❛*人)

You can also check out my other translations Here