pjbooks Chapter 27 Changing the Meals
Chapter 27 Changing the Meals
"Okay, thank you."
Tang Huaiyi helped the two crows preen their feathers and thanked them softly.
The two crows hopped and jumped around merrily, with an air of affection.
Tang Huaiyi spent extra time with them today, only letting the two crows leave and returning to his dormitory after the boys' dormitory called for the lights to be turned off.
Because there were tattletales in the dormitory, Tang Huaiyi didn't speak to Song Siyuan again after returning to the dormitory. He tidied up a bit in the dark and then went to bed to rest.
The next morning, on his way to the classroom for morning reading, Song Siyuan whispered to Tang Huaiyi.
"It must have been He Genbao who filed the complaint."
"When I got back to the dorm last night, Ma Laixi, Li Jialiang, and I were all chatting and laughing, nothing seemed wrong. He Genbao, however, was holding a book and looked annoyed by our conversation. I think it was him."
Tang Huaiyi chuckled: "You're still thinking about that? Even if it were him, what could he do? Were we going to beat him up?"
"Can I hit you?"
Song Siyuan was immediately eager to try.
"That's definitely not allowed. If they beat us both up, they'll have to call our parents. Look at Teacher Tian, does she look like she's trying to get rid of something like that?" Tang Huaiyi said.
Song Siyuan thought about Teacher Tian, who was short, had a bad temper, and always had a cold face, and couldn't help but nod: "That's right, she'll definitely teach us a lesson."
Tang Huaiyi was puzzled again: "Why isn't He Genbao studying in the classroom? The lights are dim in the dormitory, and the other roommates are talking, chatting, and washing up, so it's not a quiet place for studying."
"Who knows? I think he's just a blabbermouth."
Song Siyuan said something that served as a way of venting his anger.
Listening to his description, Tang Huaiyi felt that it was very likely that He Genbao was the one who complained—he was taking his books back to his dormitory to study, and with such poor conditions, he must have had a hard time studying; the more he had a hard time studying, the more likely he was to blame others.
When they arrived at the classroom, before the morning reading began, Tang Huaiyi glanced at He Genbao. He had a rather messy buzz cut, which his family must have cut for him. His clothes weren't much better than Tang Huaiyi's, and his family's financial situation was clearly not good.
He Genbao stared intently at the book, his face stern, looking as if he were so bitter and resentful he wanted to devour it.
In the short time that Tang Huaiyi was looking at him, He Genbao's deskmate reached out and touched He Genbao. He Genbao immediately widened his eyes, thickened his neck, and looked like a bull in a fight, as if someone had delayed his studies, ruined his life and future, and was about to turn on him.
Upon seeing this, Tang Huaiyi suddenly realized what was going on.
Tang Huaiyi had seen more than one student like this in his previous life: someone under immense pressure, obsessively focused on the smallest details of their studies, working themselves to the point of exhaustion yet achieving little.
In every respect, we should keep our distance from such people—those who are obsessed with doing futile work and whose self-imposed pressure is explosive are prone to doing things that defy common sense and reason.
After another morning reading session of memorizing knowledge, the students went to eat one after another.
Song Siyuan stayed behind and took out a small porcelain basin: "Tang Huaiyi, did you finish the pickled vegetables from yesterday? I still have some here..."
"I see you don't have much left, keep it for yourself," Tang Huaiyi said. "I'll ask the squad leader to change the meals today."
"Yes, yes, you two really need to change your diet."
Song Siyuan nodded repeatedly.
Li Xiujuan said softly, "I don't need to change it."
"It's alright, I still have some left." Tang Huaiyi then took out the two coins that the crow had given him last night.
From the time the lights were turned off last night until his morning reading this morning, Tang Huaiyi hadn't had a chance to examine the light carefully until now, when he finally got a clear look.
One is a silver coin with a bald head printed on it, and the other is a copper coin with "Qianlong Tongbao" written on it.
Tang Huaiyi knew the prices of these two without needing anyone's guidance.
Yuan Shikai silver dollars were bought by banks for five yuan each, and sold to private individuals for eight to ten yuan each, which was about the same price as silver dollars.
A Qianlong Tongbao coin was worth only a few dollars in later generations, but now it's worth about one or two cents.
Anything else?
Li Xiujuan was taken aback and stared blankly at Tang Huaiyi.
Tang Huaiyi smiled, put away the two coins, picked up his teacup, and went to have breakfast with Li Xiujuan and Song Siyuan.
Song Siyuan, however, asked a couple of questions out of curiosity.
After receiving the cornbread from Guan Xiaolin, Tang Huaiyi asked how much the noodle soup cost for breakfast and dinner, and how much the vegetables cost for lunch.
Roughly calculated, there are sixteen meals a week, so the number of days to eat at school in a month is basically around twenty-two.
Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan would have a bowl of noodle soup in the morning and evening, along with their original cornbread and the pickled vegetables they brought with them, so they wouldn't be too hungry—the noodle soup was made from flour, which was much more effective than plain water.
At noon, the two of them each ordered an extra dish, which was the same as shredded potatoes and bean sprouts that are common all year round.
Guan Xiaolin did the math: "So, vegetables cost 15 cents, noodle soup costs 5 cents, that's 25 cents per person per day..."
"Tang Huaiyi, are you one person's, or two people's?"
"For two people," Tang Huaiyi said, turning to look at Li Xiujuan.
Li Xiujuan's ears turned red.
Two people?
Guan Xiaolin couldn't help but glance at the two of them.
These two classmates are getting a little too close, aren't they? They're not related at all, yet they eat together, go everywhere together, and now they even pay for their meals together.
However, she didn't ask any further questions and continued calculating: "For two people, that's 50 cents. The steamed buns you two ordered will last for another 21 days, so the total food cost will be an additional 10.5 yuan..."
"It's too expensive," Li Xiujuan said softly. "I think I'd better not go. Tang Huaiyi, you should eat something better."
Tang Huaiyi raised his hand, indicating that she didn't need to say anything more.
Li Xiujuan stared blankly at his arm, a mix of indescribable emotions welling up inside her.
He told me not to say more, so I won't say anything more. I'll give him the noodles, soup, and vegetables after I've received them.
As Guan Xiaolin watched this scene, she secretly made her own guesses.
These two... could they be dating?
Why are you so close, even taking care of each other?
As soon as Guan Xiaolin had this thought, she had a different feeling—watching other people fall in love, she wanted to take a second look and find out more about it.
"Do you want to switch from cornbread to steamed buns? How about eating one steamed bun a day? How can we keep not eating refined grains?" Suppressing her curiosity, Guan Xiaolin suggested again.
Tang Huaiyi pondered for a moment and said, "Then let's change one steamed bun to two cornbread buns for lunch..."
"It would be more appropriate to exchange grain for grain coupons and then use the grain coupons," Guan Xiaolin suggested. This method was more economical. It wasn't that money couldn't be used, but rather that using money wasn't economical.
Tang Huaiyi shook his head slightly: "There isn't much food at home, so I can't bring much... Let's just use money."
"A white flour steamed bun costs four and a half cents. You two will earn nine cents a day. In twenty-seven days, that'll be one dollar and eighty-nine cents."
Guan Xiaolin did the math in her head: "It adds up to a total of twelve yuan and thirty-nine cents. The cornbread we saved can be exchanged for grain coupons, which I will give you when I report it. You can use them as money at school to buy some food and drinks."