Chapter 28: The Whisper of the Wind

An Chen's mother was still a step too slow and failed to stop her eldest son. An Ning jumped onto his bicycle and vanished in a flash. An Chen's mother bent at the doorway, cursing loudly at An Ning’s disappearing figure. Only when she saw Li Jixiang passing by did she straighten up, forcing a helpless smile, her face marked by defeat as she walked into the tofu workshop.

Her husband had gone to the countryside to collect soybeans, and she was counting on her eldest son to sell tofu at the evening market. Now that An Ning had run off, she feared the tofu she made today would go unsold and spoil.

"An Auntie, if the tofu doesn’t sell, you can turn it into dried tofu. Dried tofu stewed with meat and eggs is delicious. You can also soak it in soy sauce to make soy sauce dried tofu or use thirteen spices to make spiced dried tofu. Give it a try. Maybe it’ll sell even better than plain tofu—you might earn more," Li Jixiang suggested warmly, hoping to help An Chen’s mother out of her predicament. He didn’t want the An family’s business to suffer just because An Ning was his partner.

"I’ll give it a try. Nobody in town seems to make dried tofu. Will it work?" An Chen’s mother was skeptical.

"Only those who dare to try something new can make big money," Li Jixiang replied, mounting his bicycle and heading towards the school. As he passed the fork behind the hill, he glanced toward the brick factory in the distance, guessing that An Ning was already inside the grain wholesale shed. That afternoon, Li Jixiang planned to haul goods to the rice shop in the township with his friends.

After careful planning, Li Jixiang had moved his grain wholesale operation to the back of the brickmaker’s earthen kiln behind the hill. Not only was it free from the smoke pollution of the kiln, but it also ensured a dry environment safe from damp winds—a true feng shui treasure. The shed An Ning and his two friends built was both hidden and secure. All Li Jixiang needed to do was show up at set times, prepare the required grain, and wait for the money—no more worries.

Entering the classroom to the sound of the bell, Li Jixiang calmly took his seat. He glanced at the string of pink numbers, noticing a few new digits had been added. Presumably, the morning’s exam scores had been released, attracting more classmates who admired her.

Last night, the intermediate wealth base quietly opened before Li Jixiang. Reading the fruit orchard manual, she was not as excited as she had been when unlocking the primary wealth base. Still, curiosity got the better of her, and she exchanged for three limited-time, limited-quantity Li Fruits. The effects of the Li Fruits had yet to reveal themselves—she kept them in her backpack, feeling their weight, as if they pressed down the bottom panel of her desk.

This time, the midterm exam used a standardized provincial test paper, much harder than usual. The scores would be the measure of each school’s teaching quality, making students anxious and teachers even more so. Even if not for the whole province, school rankings within the county alone affected whether a school could secure more subsidies from the education bureau and improve teacher welfare.

After the morning math exam, every student exclaimed how difficult it was. Teacher Ren didn’t rest at noon, and before the afternoon Chinese exam, several students already knew their math scores.

“Don’t panic, everyone—read the questions carefully,” said Zhang Chunfen, tearing open the seal on the test papers. Her brows knitted tightly as she saw the last reading comprehension and essay questions. The shadow of her recent divorce still lingered, and a trace of melancholy crossed her face.

She had guessed wrong on both essay topics and several reading questions. A cursory glance told her this essay would be particularly tough. Despite her own anxiety, she forced herself to remain calm, urging the students not to be nervous.

Fill-in-the-blank, single-choice, multiple-choice, true or false, term explanations…

Li Jixiang spread out her test paper and swiftly wrote her answers. Whether Ma Hongmei could copy her answers or not, she no longer cared. When it came to learning, one ultimately had to rely on oneself; cheating could never yield true knowledge, nor could one rely on luck forever.

Ma Hongmei twisted and turned, trying to copy Li Jixiang’s answers. Unfortunately, Chinese wasn’t as easy to cheat as math, and after much futile effort, she had to rely on herself. Ever since Li Jixiang helped solve her hunger issues, her mother’s illness had become less frequent, and she began to focus on her studies.

She had copied a few calculation answers from Li Jixiang during the math exam that morning, but had completed most of the questions herself. She scored seventy-one, still ranking near the bottom of the class, but compared to before, her progress was remarkable.

The old desks and chairs creaked, echoing like an alarm in the silent classroom. All eyes instantly turned to Li Jixiang. Everyone knew she would be the first to finish, and though they had grown used to her being the top student in every subject, curiosity persisted.

A chorus of gazes focused on Li Jixiang, inadvertently including Ma Hongmei in their circle. Ma Hongmei had grown accustomed to her classmates’ attention, but still wrote her answers nervously.

She kept her head slightly lowered, eyes straight ahead, maintaining her quiet, low-profile manner. Having handed in her paper, Li Jixiang left the classroom, retrieved her bicycle from the shelter, and quickly rode toward the brick factory behind the hill.

She took pride in occasionally inspecting her grain wholesale base. After all, this was her own empire built from scratch, unlike her life as Li Tian’er, born with a silver spoon and destined to inherit her family’s business, becoming an arrogant female tycoon.

The bicycle she bought at a high price in the county was the latest model for women and attracted plenty of attention in Xingqiu Town. When she first got it, people often chased after her, asking where she bought it. She’d always reply carefully, “This isn’t my bike—I borrowed it from a relative in the county.”

To strangers, she spoke only a third of the truth. Extra caution never hurt. At all times, one should avoid flaunting wealth and remain low-key to steer clear of trouble and petty people.

Fearing another encounter with the shirtless workers at the brick factory, Li Jixiang avoided the main road in front, instead taking the mountain path for over a hundred meters to reach the back of the factory.

Wild grass on the hillside stood taller than a person, even higher than the corn and bean seedlings in the fields. The wind swept through the grass, creating a rustling wave.

The path grew narrower and steeper, prompting Li Jixiang to dismount and push her bike. The warmth of the sun made her sweat, so she stopped to wipe her brow.

Her gaze wandered to the hillside, where clusters of wildflowers bloomed so brilliantly she couldn’t look away. Joy welled up in her heart. On a whim, she parked her bike and dashed toward the sea of blossoms.

When she returned, arms full of wildflowers, her bicycle was gone. The mountain path was empty ahead and behind. She had kept an eye on where she left her bike while picking flowers, and it had only been five or six minutes. Unless ghosts were involved, her bicycle couldn’t have vanished into thin air.

Li Jixiang looked around. Her instincts told her the bike was still nearby.

The wind stirred the wild grass, rustling once more. Glancing at the grass-covered ditch beside her, Li Jixiang smiled.