Chapter 92: Plans to Buy Mules and Horses

At three in the morning, Nianzishan Village was beautiful. The sky was dotted with starlight, and a light had come on in Li Yi’s house.

The light from the house mingled with the starlight above, yet everything appeared hazy and indistinct.

The distant green mountains had turned into a dark, forbidding mass.

The occasional bark of a dog echoed through the village, adding a touch of mystery to this quiet hamlet.

Since there was simply too much liangpi to make today, Li Yi had no choice but to get up several hours early to rush through the work; otherwise, it would be impossible to deliver over a thousand portions of liangpi to the city before noon.

Li Yi skillfully placed batches of proofed dough into clear water to wash them, filling all ten or so of his newly purchased, massive aluminum basins to the brim.

Washing the dough was hard physical labor, so even though early morning was the coolest time of the day, Li Yi was still working up a sweat.

At four o’clock, his third older sister, hearing the commotion, climbed out of bed and came over to help.

Although she was happy to see her younger brother had turned his life around and become so hardworking, Li Na’s heart was filled with joy.

But seeing him rise before dawn every day to make liangpi, spend his days driving a mule cart to set up stalls and deliver goods, and sort mountain produce at night—busy as a spinning top—she couldn’t help but feel a pang of concern for him.

So, whenever she could, she tried to help out as much as possible!

What could she do? After all, she was the older sister!

Watching sheet after sheet of liangpi come out of the pot and get placed in large basins to set aside, both sister and brother were delighted!

Every sheet they made meant 15 cents in their pocket.

Don’t look down on 15 cents—in an era where people haggled over every penny, 15 cents could buy an incredible amount.

For example, a pound of flour costs just 16 cents, rice is 18 cents, corn is 9 cents, and cabbage is 2 cents. Even a movie ticket in town costs only 20 cents.

So a profit of 15 cents per sheet of liangpi was practically a windfall!

Most importantly, making liangpi doesn’t require much skill; in most households in Qin Province, people make it themselves. It’s only up here in the north that people consider it a rarity.

But regardless, right now this is a unique business opportunity—and it’s a surefire way to make money!

By 8:00 a.m., over 1,400 servings of liangpi were ready, filling two large buckets.

The siblings then went to the vegetable garden to pick greens for the side dishes.

But they soon realized there weren’t enough vegetables in the garden.

The Li family’s vegetable garden was quite large—nearly an acre—and every year they grew more vegetables than they could possibly eat, occasionally even sneaking some into town to sell.

But this year, since Li Yi had started this small business selling liangpi, their vegetable consumption had skyrocketed. In just half a month, they’d already used up nearly all the vegetables they’d grown themselves.

So Li Yi asked Uncle Shuanchu next door for permission and went over to pick a few baskets of vegetables from his garden.

Of course, he paid for them!

If they were short on a particular vegetable at home and asked their neighbors for some, it would naturally be free.

But this was a different matter, and since the quantity was substantial, he had to pay.

However, time was a bit tight today, so he didn’t discuss the price with Uncle Shuan Zhu in detail—they’d settle that when he got back!

At eight o’clock, the bright red mule cart finally set off for the educated youth commune.

By the time they left the sent-down youth camp, the entire mule cart looked rather overloaded.

Because there was so much cargo, not only was the entire cargo area filled with baskets of all sizes, but there was even a layer piled on top.

Even though everything was tied down with ropes, it still looked pretty dangerous.

Li Na suggested borrowing another cart from the production team, but Li Yi shot down the idea.

Their family had already borrowed one mule cart from the production team; borrowing another would invite gossip from the others.

Since borrowing wasn’t an option, he decided to buy one!

That’s right—the mule cart they were currently using didn’t belong to Li Yi’s family; it was borrowed from the production team.

Ever since the days of the agricultural cooperatives, all means of production—including cattle, horses, mules, and donkeys—as well as tools, had been collectively owned. Before the nationwide implementation of the household contract responsibility system, ordinary members did not own their own large livestock.

The main reason Li Yi had been able to use the big red mule for so long was that his father, Li Shankui, was the production team’s wagon driver, and the big red mule was under his care.

During the off-season, to make it easier to care for the big red mule, Li Shankui brought it home—a decision that unexpectedly turned out to be a great help to Li Yi.

However, field work would soon pick up again, so the matter of the cart had to be addressed.

After all, borrowing the production team’s mule cart every day didn’t seem right; having one of his own would always be more convenient.

But he’d have to discuss this properly with his father first!

…….

Since they had set out late today, it was already 10:30 by the time they arrived at the State-run Hotel.

After hurriedly unloading 400 portions of liangpi and five or six baskets of mountain produce, Li Yi didn’t wait for Liu Jingshan to settle the payment; instead, he headed straight for the sugar factory on the outskirts.

After delivering the cold noodles and white flatbreads to the sugar factory, Li Yi didn’t wait for payment either, and then hurriedly left.

He had no choice—today was the beam-raising ceremony for the new house back home, and Li Yi had to hurry back to cook for the workers helping build it.

After leaving the sugar factory, Li Yi dropped Li Na off at the entrance to the textile mill, unloaded the cart, and then rode his big red mule back to the village.

Compared to a horse-drawn cart, riding a mule was much faster.

Don’t let the mule’s appearance fool you—it may not look as majestic or imposing as a horse, but it actually combines the best traits of both horses and donkeys. Whether in terms of endurance or speed, it far surpasses a horse.

The bright red mule covered the dozen-mile journey in just over half an hour.

Li Yi first made a trip to the educated youth commune. With the house-raising ceremony at his family’s home today, they needed to prepare meals for over twenty people—a task Li Yi certainly couldn’t handle alone.

So Li Yi had already arranged for Tang Xue and the other female educated youth to come help.

By the time Li Yi arrived, Tang Xue, Zhang Xinyao, Feng Qian, and the others were already ready. When the female educated youth saw that Li Yi had actually ridden over on the big red mule, their eyes widened in surprise.

Already tall and handsome, Li Yi looked full of vigor and vitality as he sat atop the mule, just like a knight from ancient times.

Riding up to Tang Xue, Li Yi swung himself down from the mule’s back and said to her, “Want to give it a try?”

Tang Xue was quite tempted, but she still said, “I don’t dare!”

“It’s fine. I’ll hold the reins for you. We won’t run—we’ll just walk slowly!” Li Yi said.

“You really won’t run?”

“Yep!”

Tang Xue was just a teenager, naturally full of curiosity about new experiences.

After receiving Li Yi’s assurance, she nodded immediately.

Then, Li Yi helped her onto the back of the bright red mule, had her grab a tuft of its mane, and, holding the reins himself, the group headed straight for Li Yi’s home!