Chapter 7 The Way of Life 1
1449 Words
The world is vast, but hats are the biggest.
Chen Qi sent hats flying one after another, and his opponent’s health dropped rapidly. In the blink of an eye, they were left with only a sliver of health.
Grabbing the other’s collar like a soul-reaping grim reaper, he demanded, “Which unit are you from? Today, you insulted the working people! You’re not leaving until you explain yourself!”
“Let go of me!”
“You let go first!”
The young leader of the group seemed to recall something, his face turning pale as he struggled desperately to break free.
“I actually prefer you with that defiant look. Why don’t you get back to that?” Chen Qi grinned.
“Big brother! Boss! Ancestor! I was wrong, okay? I shouldn’t have provoked you! It was my mouth running off, alright? I’ll slap myself, just let me go!”
To be fair, these guys weren’t exactly evil—just cocky and uncultured. But now, seeing how things were spiraling out of control, they panicked and just wanted to escape.
“What are you all crowding around for?”
“Make way!”
At that moment, a police officer in a white uniform pushed through the crowd. Seeing the situation, his heart sank—another fight?
It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption. With 400,000 unemployed youth in the city, who knew how many incidents they caused daily? The higher-ups had repeatedly emphasized that such matters must be handled with caution.
“Officer, here’s what happened…”
Chen Qi released his grip and stepped forward to explain. The officer listened with a blank expression and then said, “No matter what conflict you have, talk it out properly. No pushing and shoving. This is Qianmen Street—there are many foreign visitors here. Mind your conduct.”
“We would never cause trouble for you. But he insulted us, so we want the street committee to talk to his workplace. We won’t settle this privately, and we definitely won’t resort to violence.”
The officer studied him for a moment, then looked at the twelve young intellectuals standing behind him. It wasn’t just twelve individuals—it was an enormous, powerful group! He turned back to the young man and asked, “Which unit are you from?”
“Speak up! Which unit?”
The man stammered, mumbling something incoherent.
“Where?”
“Plastic Factory No. 2…”
“Alright, got it. Thank you, officer!”
Chen Qi let go and stepped back.
Then he spat on the ground. A plastic factory? Acting all high and mighty? You’re not even from a steel mill! This isn’t some big-deal industry—just a bunch of nobodies!
Once those guys fled in terror and the officer left, the young intellectuals erupted in excitement. In mere minutes, they had gone from anger to confusion, then shock and joy. It was an emotional rollercoaster—what a rush!
“Chen Qi, you’re incredible!”
“Wow, how are you so good with words? I was completely at a loss back there.”
“I have a newfound respect for you! You’re the real deal!”
Even the girl who had begrudgingly given him pickled vegetables earlier changed her tune. Excitedly, she said, “From now on, you don’t have to do any work. We’ll handle everything! You just sit there if you want—squat all day if you like!”
“Why would I squat all day? Do I have hemorrhoids?”
Chen Qi waved them off and walked over to the cash box. “Keep selling. Half the day’s gone—I’ll count how much we made.”
This time, no one accused him of slacking. They happily continued selling big-bowl tea, as if the whole incident had blown over and discrimination would never touch them again.
“Bunch of rookies.”
Shaking his head, Chen Qi started counting the money. It was a hassle—mostly one- and two-cent coins. The sheer amount made him sigh. I’m a boss, and yet I’m stuck counting loose change?
Half an hour later, he finished. Half-day earnings: 20 yuan, 6 mao, and 8 fen!
That meant they had sold over a thousand bowls of tea.
Damn! The early days of the reform era were wild. At this rate, you could become a millionaire selling sunflower seeds, let alone tea!
He only shared this info with Huang Zhanying—no need to let the others get too excited and spill the beans. Then, on his first day of work, he promptly requested leave.
“I suddenly don’t feel well. Sorry, everyone—I’ll take half a day off.”
“Go, go! Rest up!”
“No worries, we got this!”
“Yeah, you’re the brains of the operation—leave it to us!”
Their attitude had taken a complete 180. No one minded at all.
“Alright then, I’m off!”
Chen Qi walked away, then turned back for one last look. He couldn’t help but chuckle. A bunch of naïve rookies…
—––
1:00 PM.
Chen Qi returned home. His parents were at work.
He glanced at his script. Most of it was done—just a little more before it was finished. The whole thing was about 50,000 words long. Half the day had been wasted selling tea, so he didn’t want to delay any further.
The pen scratched across the manuscript paper. A simple love story unfolded. Though simple, in an era where romance was taboo, this would shock plenty of people.
Finally, he put down his pen, exhaled in satisfaction, did a quick check, and packed the manuscript into a manila envelope. On the front, he wrote:
“For ‘Film Creation’ magazine, Beijing Film Studio.”
Thanks to constant interruptions, writing this script had taken him ten days. Now, Chen Qi felt a small thrill—finally, he’d get to stay at the studio’s guesthouse.
Even though Beijing Film Studio was in the same city, local connections meant he could stay there for free. That was just how things worked.
“Chen Qi! Are you home?”
“Chen Qi!”
Outside, in the dry spring wind, Auntie Wang’s breathless voice rang out.
The elderly woman rushed in, nearly triggering her high blood pressure. Clearly, she’d heard the news. Just as she entered, she spotted the manila envelope in his hands and immediately shrieked, “What’s that?! What are you holding?!”
“This?”
“Oh, my dear heavens!”
Auntie Wang almost fainted. “You actually wrote it? You must not lose your mind over this!”
“What’s the big deal? You’re familiar with this stuff, aren’t you?”
“It’s because I’m familiar with it that I’m scared! I’m too old for this kind of drama. The moment I heard, I rushed over to stop you…”
She pleaded with him like he was her own grandson. “I know what happened. But come on, the guy just ran his mouth a little—was it worth making such a fuss? This kind of thing isn’t something you can just write about!”
“I don’t like what I’m hearing. That wasn’t just ‘running his mouth’—he was pointing at us, the 400,000 unemployed youth, and insulting us!”
He continued, “Have we been troublemakers? No! No fights, no messing around. We respected you as an elder and sold big-bowl tea like you asked. But why should we be insulted for that?
We were the victims, and yet you’re siding with them? That’s unfair!”
Chen Qi wiped his eyes and sniffled, looking genuinely aggrieved.
“I know it hasn’t been easy for you…”
“No, you don’t know!”
He cut her off. “Even if we let this go today, can you guarantee it won’t happen again? We sell big-bowl tea—do you really think people won’t look down on us?
If it happens again, do we keep swallowing our pride? Again and again, until we finally explode?”
Explode?
Auntie Wang shuddered.
“What do you plan to do?”
“First, those bastards need to be punished. Second, they must publicly apologize!”
“In public?!”
“Yes! Right at the tea stand, in front of everyone!”
“That’s humiliating for their workplace! They’ll never agree.”
“Then I’ll publish this article!”
“Wait! Give me time—I’ll talk to their unit!”
“…Fine, but only because it’s you.”
Auntie Wang left, her head throbbing.
Chen Qi smirked. One way or another, this isn’t over.
- Writer
