“Don’t worry, if your teacher can come up with the questions, I can solve them,” David Clark said. “When I was in the army, our company commander was a college graduate, and I learned a lot from him.”

“That’s great.” Emily Clark was half-convinced, but her brother had already given her quite a few surprises today, so she’d rather believe everything David Clark said was true. “A lot of my classmates have older siblings who can help them with their studies. If you can tutor me, I’ll try to get into the top twenty in the class.”

“No way? That’s all you’re aiming for?” David Clark felt like crying. Top twenty in the class? That’s nothing to be proud of.

“Then what rank do you think I should aim for?”

“In a year, try to get into the top three in the whole grade,” David Clark said conservatively.

“You’re just talking nonsense.” This time Emily Clark flat-out rejected it. She could believe her brother learned a thing or two in the army, but to say he could teach her into the top three in the whole grade—that was just too much bragging.

“I mean what I say,” David Clark replied. “By the way, is Grace Thompson also in her first year of high school? How about I tutor both of you, and in the future, one of you will be first, the other second.”

“Grace Thompson didn’t go to high school. She started working as a temp in a factory right after graduating from junior high. She’s already been working for two months now,” Emily Clark said.

“Why?”

“Her grades weren’t good, so there was no point in going to high school,” Emily Clark explained. “Actually, I wanted to work as a temp in the factory too, but there were no spots left. Uncle Thompson told me to go to high school for two years first, and after I graduate, I can take over our parents’ quota and become a permanent worker.”

“Why not go to high school for three years?” David Clark asked.

“Are you cursing me to repeat a year?” Emily Clark said, her pretty eyes showing a hint of annoyance.

Oh right, back then high school was only two years. David Clark remembered—there were just too many things he needed to adjust his thinking for.

“Bro, how much money do you have right now?” Emily Clark turned to a more practical question.

“I have over 200 yuan, why?” David Clark asked.

“You have that much?” Emily Clark said happily.

“Yeah, it’s my demobilization pay, plus some money I earned in Tanzhou.”

“You could earn money too?” Emily Clark said in surprise.

David Clark vaguely explained what happened in Tanzhou, but he credited everything to a fictional old rightist professor, saying he’d heard the professor talk about such things before, which was why he could solve people’s technical problems.

“Bro, you’re amazing,” Emily Clark said. “I’ve saved up 30 yuan too. Let’s put our money together later.”

“Where did you get your money?”

“Didn’t the factory give us each 15 yuan a month as a pension? When you joined the army, you stopped getting it. I get 15 yuan a month, give 10 yuan to Auntie Cooper for meals, and have 5 yuan left for pocket money. Over two years, I’ve saved 30 yuan,” Emily Clark said.

“You keep your savings for yourself,” David Clark said carelessly. “Now that I’m back, I’ll take care of you.”

“Bro, your money has to be managed by me,” Emily Clark said, counting on her fingers like a little housekeeper: “Once you start working, you’ll get 37 yuan a month, and after you become permanent, it’ll be 43 yuan. I still have 15 yuan in pension, so together that’s 52 yuan. For food, we’ll need 30 yuan a month, pocket money won’t exceed 10 yuan, and we’ll save 12 yuan every month.”

This time it was David Clark’s turn to look at his sister as if she were a little monster: “No way, sis, how old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

“How come you seem like you’re sixty?”

“Pfft!” Emily Clark said. “Before you joined the army, we each got 15 yuan in pension, so 30 yuan in total. You used to spend it on cigarettes, and we never had enough money, so Auntie Cooper’s family had to help us out. Before you came back, Auntie Cooper told me to manage your money. If you don’t agree, she’ll tell the factory to give your wages to her to manage. So, do you want me to manage it, or Auntie Cooper?”

David Clark knew that in this era, relationships between people were so pure it was admirable. Everyone knew the siblings were orphans, and the old David Clark was a troublemaker, so everyone worried about whether they could get by. It seemed that if David Clark hadn’t turned over a new leaf, Susan Cooper really would have gone to the factory to ask to manage his wages, and the factory would have fully supported her. David Clark probably wouldn’t even have a chance to argue.

“Alright, alright, you manage my money,” David Clark agreed quickly. He took out his money, counted out 20 big bills, and handed them to Emily Clark: “Here, 200 yuan. I’ll keep the rest for pocket money. I just got back, and there’ll be a lot to take care of. The rest is yours, you’re in charge of the household now.”

“So much money?” Emily Clark had never seen 200 yuan in her life. She quickly stuffed the money into her shirt and ran out: “I’m going to the bank to deposit it right now. Bro, don’t tell anyone we have money at home!”

Chapter 009: Rowdy Friends

“Are you kidding me?” David Clark shook his head as he watched Emily Clark’s flustered figure. In his later life, even as just a graduate student, he’d handled tens of thousands of yuan, and never imagined that 200 yuan could make his sister so excited and nervous.