Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 386 Studying for the Rise of the Nation

Li Ping's shrill screams carried far and wide, startling everyone present.

"Fuck..."

Xue Yi felt as if his eardrums were about to burst, and could only take a step back with a distorted expression to cover his ears.

The two Black men shuddered and immediately covered their heads with their hands, crouching on the ground. Lin Ge's head was also buzzing. He turned around and saw the fool behind Li Ping, who had brought this upon herself, and then rolled his eyes and sighed helplessly.

Seeing that Li Ping, who was flailing her arms in fright, was about to continue screaming, Xue Yi quickly stepped forward and hugged her: "Okay! Okay, stop screaming! It's me, can't you recognize my voice? Li Ping! Li Ping! Calm down, if you keep screaming you'll attract the whole school."

"Huff... huff huff~"

Hearing the familiar voice and smelling the familiar scent behind her, Li Ping miraculously calmed down. She wasn't a brainless idiot after all; Li Ping took a deep breath and immediately understood what the hell was going on.

"You are sick, aren't you?"

With a sharp, precise stomp on Xue Yi's instep, Li Ping broke free from him and angrily said, "Why are you scaring me? I called you here to save my life, not to come and mess with me, you bastard!"

"Hehe... It's mainly because your sneaky behavior is so amusing that I couldn't resist teasing you a bit."

Xue Yi didn't say that it was all Li Ping's fault for scaring herself, but just laughed and took the blame upon himself. Then he looked over there regretfully and said, "What's going on? Where did these two dark-skinned guys come from? By the way, what are you doing here? I almost couldn't find you."

"Oh right, you got here pretty fast!"

Li Ping suddenly realized that Xue Yi had arrived incredibly fast. She had clearly only messaged him a few minutes ago, and he had already sneaked up in front of her.

"Yeah, I was just flirting with some junior girls downstairs! Your message interrupted my nightlife, how are you going to make it up to me?"

Xue Yi chuckled as he walked with Li Ping toward the two Black men squatting on the ground. As for how he immediately grabbed his roommate by the neck and forced him to ride his electric scooter to bring him over as soon as he saw Li Ping's message in the dorm, that goes without saying.

"Tch! A junior high school girl, huh!"

With Xue Yi around, Li Ping was no longer afraid. It's just that this guy's way of speaking was still so annoying—what kind of junior was he?! This bastard who bullies innocent, naive girls!

"You might know that girl. She's only a freshman, but last semester she dared to raise her hand and ask a question during Professor Liu's open class. The question was quite professional, and I heard that Professor Liu praised her at the time!"

Xue Yi loved seeing Li Ping's awkward expression. He stared at Li Ping's chest for a moment and continued to smile, "Maybe in another two or three years, we'll have another intern here. I heard that junior is quite sensible, she could help you out or something."

"Tch! The way you talk is like an old eunuch choosing concubines for the emperor."

Li Ping turned around and glared at him teasingly.

"I'm not a eunuch."

Xue Yi smiled faintly, his eyes sweeping over Li Ping once more.

"You two are flirting! Spring hasn't even arrived yet, and you're already giving off that awful, sour smell of romance!"

Lin Ge gave the two bastards a disdainful look.

He approached the two Black men first, and they did indeed appear reserved and cautious. It turned out that not all Black people were the same; some were arrogant types like Dean, while others were pitiful beings who felt inferior.

At least the two guys hadn't knelt down yet, otherwise Lin Ge really wouldn't know what to do.

"What are your names?"

Getting back to the point, Xue Yi spoke fluent French right away. Of course, Lin Ge didn't realize it, but Li Ping whispered behind his back that this guy actually spoke four languages.

"Hello, my name is Nguza."

"My name is Carson."

Xue Yi's kind attitude greatly reduced the two black men's worries.

Still not daring to stand up, Nguza obediently squatted down and looked up at Xue Yi, saying, "I'm sorry, I know we did wrong. But the subsidy we get from China is only 300 RMB a month, and it's not even paid on time. During New Year's Day, Kasong sent a New Year's letter and some gifts to his mother in China, spending 540 RMB, which used up all the money we had painstakingly saved. Unfortunately, we didn't expect the school to not provide us with food during the holidays, which has left us with no other choice. Eating here is too expensive, and the money we've saved is completely insufficient, so we had no choice but to do something that shames the country."

Kasson, standing beside him, looked ashamed and kept his head down, remaining silent. His fear and timidity were clearly seen by Lingo, who was hiding nearby.

"Three hundred yuan a month?"

Li Ping stared in astonishment. She had spent over three thousand yuan on a set of cosmetics for Christmas, which was almost the living expenses of these two black men for a year.

Thinking about it, she looked at Xue Yi. That bastard had just bought a new laptop a few days ago, and the price of 17,000 yuan was practically ripping people off. With their combined allowance, they wouldn't be able to save that much even if they didn't eat or drink for four years of university.

"But no matter what, stealing is wrong."

Xue Yi had already learned what had happened, and now he sighed and said softly, "If you're short of money, you can ask the school and your counselor for help. To be honest, after all, they are foreign friends, so applying for school aid should be quite easy. Or to put it bluntly, borrowing some from your roommates is better than stealing, right? Although a little takeout doesn't cost much, they're still hungry and waiting for it. What kind of behavior is it if you steal it?"

"sorry!"

The two bowed their heads and apologized again.

Seeing the two of them like this, Li Ping couldn't stay angry any longer. To be honest, seeing them, especially their cautious and self-consciously inferior attitude, always reminded her of the days before liberation when her family was bullied.

That is to say, life is better now, and the economy, culture, and national self-confidence have all improved. Otherwise, according to the old news we know, those older generations who won glory for the country back then might have lived similar lives in the United States and the Soviet Union.

Of course, the older generation would never steal!

They could find ways to support themselves by working odd jobs. It was precisely through such arduous struggle and unwavering perseverance that they were able to complete their studies and return to contribute to the prosperity of the nation.

Li Ping and Xue Yi exchanged a glance, knowing that now that they had witnessed this, they couldn't ignore it.

Whether these two were telling the truth or lying, they couldn't be let off the hook just because they said something, and allowed to continue doing this. So Xue Yi took out his phone and started sending messages, while Li Ping, thinking more deeply, began searching for Lin Ge everywhere.

After confirming the identities of the two Black men, Lin Ge quietly moved away and hid in the treetop of a nearby tree, ignoring Li Ping's attempts to look around for a long time.

"Which department are you from? Who is your advisor?"

After sending the message, Xue Yi looked at the two of them and said, "I just asked, and the director of the school's logistics department hasn't rested yet. Why don't you come with me now? We can clear things up and that'll be fine. The school also bears some responsibility for forgetting about your meal arrangements."

"Um... I don't think it's appropriate to disturb you, right? It's so late, the teachers must all be resting."

Nguza and Kasong exchanged a worried glance. They had finally made it to such a rich and happy country, and they didn't want to be sent back home for offending a powerful figure.

"Hehe, it's nothing. He's playing basketball over there with some school leaders."

Xue Yi smiled and waved his hand.

The two Black men really didn't want to meet the powerful figures; the power to decide life and death with a single word was terrifying to them. Even though they aspired to return to the impoverished and corrupt Democratic Republic of Congo after completing their studies, they didn't want to be expelled from school like this.

However, faced with Xue Yi, whose tone was soft but whose attitude was assertive, and with Li Ping standing next to him looking angry, the two of them really didn't dare to do anything to them.

They knew very well that this country had a very strong legal system and a powerful police force. Leaving aside the possibility that the police might unreasonably protect their own people, the fact that they, with their black skin, couldn't escape this large, predominantly yellow-skinned nation was a different story.

Standing up in fear, the two dared not make any unnecessary movements and obediently followed Xue Yi and Li Ping away.

Ringo watched silently as the two Black men emerged from the woods and came to the bright light of the streetlights. Only then did he realize that despite the cold weather, they were only wearing thin clothing. Although there were no patches, their clothes were clearly old and ill-fitting. Katzon's thin down jacket was at least two sizes too small, and his dark belly was showing as he walked. Only someone with a relatively thin build could have gotten into it.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Ge dialed the phone number in the collar.

"Wow, he really is Black. How can someone be so ridiculously dark?"

This wasn't the first time Li Ping had seen Black people, but it was the first time she had been so close to them. The two Black men's cautious manner reassured her considerably, and a surge of national pride welled up within her.

"Life in the Democratic Republic of Congo must be tough, right? You guys must be among the most outstanding students in the DRC to be able to study abroad on government scholarships, right?"

As Xue Yi walked, he inquired about the two people's situation, switching to Chinese so that Li Ping could understand. He only repeated the words in French when Nguza and Kasong couldn't understand them.

“We were selected from 90 schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a total of 180 top students. Kasson and I came from different schools, but we were both number one in our schools. It was only after we came here that we realized how little and how simple what we were learning was. Haha... It took us three months to barely be able to understand Chinese and communicate. And even after the last semester ended, we were still working hard to catch up on your high school curriculum.”

Nguza explained with a wry smile, his words tinged with pride, helplessness, and bitterness.

To put it bluntly, he knew very well that Zhangzhou University wasn't particularly prestigious among universities in the country. Even so, all the students in his class were far more outstanding than them. One of the top 180 students in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he felt like a bottom-of-the-barrel student here. Add to that the enormous amount of time they spent learning Chinese, leaving them barely enough time for extra classes, let alone time to work and earn money.

"The Democratic Republic of Congo has fewer than a hundred institutions of higher learning in total?"

Li Ping was stunned for a moment. Guangzhang City alone had more than a dozen high schools, and it was just an ordinary prefecture-level city in Chu Province. Taking Chu Province as an example, the number of high schools alone completely surpassed that of the entire Democratic Republic of Congo.

"In the Democratic Republic of Congo, changing one's destiny through education is almost impossible."

Upon hearing Li Ping's words, Kason lowered his head and said, "Even if most people graduate, they can only become lackeys of the rich or subordinates of corrupt government officials. It's difficult for them to make any significant changes to the country. That's why I highly recommend the course on moral cultivation and legal foundation that your country teaches, and I'm also very interested in the course called 'Mao Zedong Thought' that we'll be taking next semester. I borrowed that book from an upperclassman; Mao Zedong was indeed a very great man."

"You studied humanities?"

Li Ping turned her head in surprise, "Only liberal arts students would study Mao Zedong Thought in their first year, right? I thought you were trying to change the Democratic Republic of Congo and would study science and engineering."

"Carson is a history student, and I am a civil engineering student."

Upon hearing this, Nguza sighed again and said, “Our grades aren’t good, and we’re not qualified to choose what we want to study. The government needs people to rewrite the history of the DRC and to be responsible for building houses, but it doesn’t need us to change the status quo of the DRC. But that’s okay! After we’ve mastered the content of our department, we will try our best to learn more! The government’s needs and our aspirations are not actually completely contradictory.”

"The main reason is that many of your people have built factories in our area, providing numerous job opportunities for the poor in the DRC and generating significant tax revenue for the government. Therefore, the DRC doesn't need its own factories or businesses. The government only needs to collect taxes; the future is unimportant. Ah! Of course, this isn't your fault! I apologize if I've been offensive. Many DRC people live because of your kindness and fairness, and please accept our heartfelt gratitude for that. The Chinese are forever good friends of the DRC, and we will never forget all the help you have provided to the DRC and to me."

As Kason spoke, he realized something was amiss and quickly turned to bow to Li Ping and Xue Yi.

Nguza was also startled by Kason's offensive remarks and careless words, and quickly apologized to the two of them.

Li Ping and Xue Yi looked at each other again, and their mood suddenly became inexplicably heavy.

The group lost all interest in chatting and continued walking in silence. Ahead lay the floodlit sports field, the very place where Xue Yi had mentioned the logistics director was currently located.

"Ah! My apple!"

Li Ping suddenly screamed. Only then did she realize that her shared bike was still over in the woods! She wondered if the apples hanging on the bike had been stolen, and that bastard bike was still charging her. She had to lock it up immediately.

"You gave Teacher Liu apples again? By the way, what's the deal with the apples where you live? They've been getting more and more expensive these past few years. Why didn't they have so many different varieties and grades before?"

Xue Yi frowned.

"None of your business! I need to go back and get them right now, you just take them with you. Honestly! The apples I brought are better than the ones that sell for thirty-one yuan a pound outside, it would be a huge loss if they were stolen."

Li Ping glared at Xue Yi and hurriedly ran back.

"Apples that cost thirty yuan a pound?"

"better?"

Nguza and Kasong exchanged a glance. So their combined monthly allowance couldn't even buy ten kilograms of apples?

"I thought the apples I sent back to my mother, which cost six yuan a pound, were the best I could get."

Kasson lowered his head, muttered to himself, and then looked up again: "Never mind, it's okay! Apples that cost six dollars a pound are precious in the Democratic Republic of Congo too. Four apples can be shared by Mom and my younger siblings, so they can also enjoy their deliciousness."

"Perhaps we can choose to stay in this country after graduation. After all, it's so prosperous here, and we can provide a better life for our families."

Nguza shrugged.

Actually, he hadn't thought that way before, but Li Ping and Xue Yi's politeness and tolerance made him realize the kindness and inclusiveness of this country once again.

Unlike the prosperous but discriminatory United States, he was quite content with the environment in this country. If he didn't have ambitions like changing the Democratic Republic of Congo, he could easily provide a very happy life for his family back home by doing any job he took in this country.

"I will go back to the Democratic Republic of Congo! Even if it's just to write history, I will make sure future generations know about the suffering that happened in the Democratic Republic of Congo and that its future must be changed!"

Carson's stance remained firm.

Xue Yi, standing nearby, observed the differences in the two people's moods, attitudes, and aspirations.

Of course, he didn't say anything, but quietly kept this scene in his heart forever. He even planned to tell his juniors about what he saw and thought during his opening speech some time later.

Especially those who, because of online arguments, treat university as a relaxation after a tough high school life, a place to play and unleash their youth, and university studies as a task rather than absorbing knowledge, and those bastards who start discussing how to skip classes and avoid roll call in their freshman year, need to know just how lucky and happy they are.

Even if their studies are only for themselves, please don't waste these four precious years.

"Ah! Director Ye!"

"Hey? Little Darling?"

Panting, Li Ping ran to the bicycle, relieved that it hadn't been stolen. But then she saw Lin Ge squatting next to the bike, and she suddenly realized why she felt something was missing from the group.

"You're causing me trouble again. Fine, I understand. I won't notify the police station. I'll handle this personally tomorrow."

A stranger's voice came from Xiao Guai, but Li Ping wasn't surprised. After Lin Ge finished his call, she jogged over and said, "You little rascal, you actually know how to watch my things! Hehe... It wasn't for nothing that I've been taking care of you for so long."

"Pah! Who's being served by you?"

Lin Ge gave Li Ping a disdainful look, then suddenly sensed something strange about her. Her chest heaved noticeably as she ran, as if she weren't wearing a bra. It was only because everyone was wearing thick clothes this season that it was so obvious.

No wonder Xue Yi kept glancing at Li Ping earlier; he probably noticed her. This woman is quite attractive; Xue Yi is in for a treat.

"Huh? You noticed?"

Seeing the cat's strange gaze, Li Ping looked down and chuckled, "I just took a shower, and it felt like too much trouble to wear one. Luckily, Xue Yi didn't notice, or I would have been so embarrassed. I don't want to go over there anymore, shall we go straight to Teacher Liu's?"

"Xue Yi will probably be very disappointed, right?"

Lin Ge gave a wicked smile, then abandoned his bicycle and lazily followed behind Li Ping.

Last day! Let's check if we still have any monthly passes left. Thanks everyone for your hard work!

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(End of this chapter)