Chapter 73: Taking the Initiative

At 3:30 p.m., Li Yi returned to the village, much earlier than usual!

Since Li Yi had only prepared a little over two hundred servings of liangpi today, and the textile factory had far more workers than the sugar factory,

Furthermore, the textile factory was predominantly staffed by women, and women naturally have little resistance to delicacies like liangpi, so the supply sold out in no time.

Upon returning home, Li Yi saw that no one was there, so he unloaded the supplies from his cart into the house.

Then he gave the big red mule some water and a basket of fresh grass.

After finishing these tasks, Li Yi pushed his bicycle out of the house and rode straight toward the new house!

When Li Yi reached the eastern end of the village, he could see from a distance that quite a few people were busy working on the site of the former black rock field, which was piled high with building materials like stones and red bricks.

It wasn’t until he got closer that he could see clearly—there were quite a few people there to help build his house, more than thirty in fact.

Li Yi even spotted Tang Xue in the crowd; the girl was helping carry stones alongside Third Sister and Zhang Xinyao.

Seeing this, Li Yi was taken aback.

He knew full well that she was already carrying his child.

Although it had only been half a month, and it was likely still just a fertilized egg, lifting stones like this could still be dangerous for her.

Li Yi pushed down hard on the pedals, pedaling quickly a few times before bringing the bike to a stop right next to the pile of stones.

After parking the bike, Li Yi hurried over to Tang Xue’s side. Amid the stunned gazes of the onlookers, he snatched the basin-sized stone from her hands.

“Let me handle this. Don’t do heavy lifting like this anymore!”

Hearing Li Yi’s words—one part reproach, two parts concern, and seven parts doting affection—everyone present was stunned!

This dose of romance came completely out of the blue!

Tang Xue was also startled by Li Yi’s bold move—he was way too bold, especially with so many people watching!

Li Na shot her younger brother a disapproving glance, then turned to Zhang Xinyao beside her and said, “All this kid sees now is Xue!”

Zhang Xinyao smiled and replied, “I think this is actually pretty good. It’s better than the two of them standing together all awkwardly!”

“You’re right. At first, I was worried that Xiao Xue wouldn’t like my brother, and I was also afraid that Li Yi would be reckless and end up hurting her!”

Li Na continued, “Fortunately, it seems they’ve hit it off now, so I can finally rest easy!”

“Hmm, you can tell your brother really cares about Xiaoxue. You can’t hide your feelings for someone!” Zhang Xinyao said.

“Yeah, I can tell too. He treats Xiao Xue better than he treats me, his own sister!”

“That’s for sure—a sister can’t compare to a wife!” Zhang Xinyao said with a laugh.

Li Yi carried the stones over to the foundation trench, handed them to the workers laying the foundation, and then returned to Tang Xue’s side.

Seeing that she was about to step in to help, he hurriedly said, “It’s okay, take a break!”

“Everyone’s busy. What am I supposed to do just sitting here by myself?” Tang Xue said.

Li Yi then turned to Li Na and Zhang Xinyao and said, “Sis, Zhang, you two take a break too!”

Then, Li Yi called his parents over as well!

“Xiao Yi, everyone’s busy. Is there something you need us for?” his mother, Zhang Yuehong, asked as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

Li Yi replied immediately, “Dad, Mom, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you. See if you think it’s a good idea!”

“What is it?” Li Shankui asked bluntly.

He knew his son well. Don’t let the boy’s meek tone fool you—he’s a man of strong convictions.

Judging by the way he was acting, this didn’t seem like a consultation at all—he’d likely already made up his mind and was just here to inform them!

“Dad, I want to replace the ‘soft-inside, hard-outside’ bricks with solid bricks. What do you think?”

Although a “soft interior, hard exterior” structure was already quite decent by today’s standards, Li Yi still felt that an all-brick construction would be better.

The reason they’d opted for the soft-inside, hard-outside construction plan earlier was mainly because they didn’t have enough money on hand.

But now he could earn several hundred yuan a day, and his savings had already reached four thousand yuan.

And building a house made entirely of brick would cost no more than six or seven hundred yuan at most. There was no need to skimp on a few hundred yuan and make life difficult for himself, Tang Xue, and the child.

Li Shankui knew his son had been making good money lately; the money he’d given him just for the house alone was over 800 yuan—more than enough to build a house made entirely of bricks.

“All right then. I’ll have your Uncle Yougen go to the brick yard tomorrow to bring back two truckloads of red bricks. It’s just a shame about those mud bricks!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “The mud bricks won’t go to waste—they’ll be perfect for building the courtyard wall!”

“Hmm, that works too!”

“Dad, you’ve got to keep a close eye on the construction, especially making sure the drainage system I drew up is done right, along with the bathroom and toilet—those are for your daughter-in-law!” Li Yi said.

Hearing this, everyone’s gaze shifted to Tang Xue, instantly making the young woman blush bright red.

“Alright, I’ve already given the blueprints you drew to Master Zhao. Don’t you trust his craftsmanship?” Li Shankui said.

“Alright then! Dad, you guys go ahead and get to work. I need to take a trip to the back mountain!”

With that, Li Yi grabbed Tang Xue’s hand and headed for the door.

Tang Xue looked completely flustered at that moment. She instinctively tried to pull her hand away from Li Yi’s grasp, but found he was holding on tightly.

After struggling a few times to no avail, she gave up.

When they reached the bicycle, Li Yi straddled the crossbar himself first, then asked, “Do you want to sit in front or in back?”

“In the back!” Tang Xue replied without hesitation.

Not only was the front seat uncomfortable, but the position also looked rather unseemly; from a distance, it would appear as if he were holding her in his arms.

Although Tang Xue had been trying to accept Li Yi, she wasn’t yet mentally prepared for such close physical contact with him.

What she didn’t know was that Li Yi had already noticed her change.

Realizing that the girl had developed feelings for him, Li Yi immediately decided to take the initiative and keep stepping up his efforts, aiming to completely win over her heart before they got married.

Li Yi knew his future wife was slow to warm up emotionally and had a somewhat gentle disposition. If he didn’t take the initiative, she might eventually come to like him, but the process could take years.

But if he took the initiative and gradually broke through her emotional defenses, it would certainly shorten that timeframe significantly.

So today, Li Yi was exceptionally bold, catching Tang Xue somewhat off guard!

That said, Tang Xue didn’t shy away from it. She knew their relationship was a bit complicated, and if she kept ignoring his advances, it might lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.

Besides, she wasn’t the type to turn people down.

Since she had decided to marry Li Yi and to take him seriously as a person, Tang Xue felt she could occasionally accept this kind of “excessive” behavior from him.

But what she didn’t realize was that a thousand-mile dyke can be breached by a single ant hole; once her inner defenses crumbled in one place, it would inevitably lead to a total collapse!