Chapter 105: Visiting My Eldest Sister
Hongqi Commune, Juziwa Village!
Looking at the small mountain village just a stone’s throw away, Li Yi felt incredibly excited.
He was about to see his eldest sister soon, and he could already feel his whole body trembling.
In his previous life, when his eldest sister had passed away from massive hemorrhaging after a miscarriage, Li Yi had already left the village because of the incident involving Tang Xue. By the time he returned, eight years had passed.
And back then, all he saw was a small mound of earth—not even a gravestone.
So, if asked who Li Yi missed most from his past life—aside from Tang Xue and that unborn child—it was his eldest sister.
Heaven had granted him this chance at rebirth, and Li Yi was determined not to let his older sister suffer the same fate as in his past life.
After calming his agitated heart a little, Li Yi called out to the red mule. The intelligent animal immediately quickened its pace and trotted swiftly toward the village.
Li Yi remembered that his eldest sister’s home was in the center of the village—a small, detached house with its own courtyard.
Following the route from his memory, Li Yi drove the cart pulled by the big red mule to the entrance of his eldest sister’s home.
Since the cart was loaded with quite a few items, Li Yi didn’t dare leave it outside. Instead, he pushed open the wooden gate and drove the cart directly into the courtyard.
Li Mei was washing clothes in the courtyard when she suddenly heard a noise outside the gate. She immediately stood up and looked out.
To her delight, she discovered that it was her younger brother, Li Yi, who had arrived.
She immediately tossed the dirty clothes into the basin, wiped her hands on the clothes, and came out to greet him.
Seeing his older sister with her large baby bump, Li Yi hurriedly said, “Sis, take it easy!”
Li Mei smiled and said, “It’s no problem!”
Li Yi immediately unhitched the cart and tied the big red mule to a tree in the shade outside before walking over to his older sister.
Seeing his older sister’s frail figure, Li Yi could no longer hold back his longing. He embraced her tightly, and tears began to fall.
Li Mei was startled by her younger brother’s sudden action. Once she had regained her composure, she hurriedly asked, “Xiao Yi, what’s wrong with you? Have you gotten into trouble again?”
Li Yi just kept crying, saying nothing.
Two lifetimes of longing had made him forget to explain himself to his older sister; he just wanted to vent the remorse and longing in his heart.
“Xiao Yi, what on earth happened? Tell your sister—as long as I’m here, there’s nothing to fear!”
Hearing his older sister’s unfailing concern, Li Yi felt a mix of emotions.
Perhaps it was precisely because of the boundless doting from his sisters that he had been so rebellious in his previous life.
It wasn’t until he lost his sisters’ protection—and was further shaken by the incident with Tang Xue—that he finally came to his senses.
After finally calming his emotions, Li Yi wiped away his tears and said to his eldest sister, who was looking at him with concern, “Sis, I’m fine. I just missed you a little!”
Li Mei immediately let out a sigh of relief and said, “You’re a grown man now, and you’re still being so sentimental. Be careful or you’ll never find a wife!”
Li Yi smiled but said nothing. Instead, he took the sponge cakes, malted milk powder, and other items off the mule cart and said, “Sis, I bought these for you!”
Li Mei exclaimed in surprise, “Why waste your money on this? That must have cost a pretty penny!”
“Money doesn’t matter. The main thing is that you’re pregnant and need to nourish yourself properly—don’t let my grandnephew go hungry!” Li Yi said.
“Hahaha, I’m not even five months along yet. How do you know it’s a nephew?”
“Hahaha, I just know!” Li Yi said with a laugh.
He really did know. As his second sister later explained, when his eldest sister had a miscarriage, she was already more than eight months along, and the baby that was born was indeed a boy.
It’s just a shame…
Li Yi took the items down and headed toward the house. As he passed the covered porch under the eaves, he saw a huge pile of dirty clothes and a large metal basin filled with water.
And right now, there were still dirty clothes in the basin that hadn’t been washed yet!
Thinking of his older sister’s half-wet sleeve, Li Yi suddenly got a little angry. He stared at the pile of dirty clothes and said, “Sis, were you doing laundry just now?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“Hmph! Where are all those Yang family folks? Why should you, a pregnant woman, be doing the laundry? It’s such a huge pile—aren’t you afraid of exhausting yourself?” Li Yi snapped angrily.
Li Mei’s heart warmed at her brother’s concerned words.
To avoid worrying her younger brother, she feigned nonchalance and said, “It’s no big deal. It’s just a few clothes. I used to wash them all the time back home!”
“But it’s not the same! Back home, you were a young, unmarried girl, but now you’re pregnant!”
Li Mei clearly didn’t want to upset Li Yi over this, so she immediately took his hand and led him into the house.
“Calm down. What bride doesn’t face a little hardship when she marries into a family? I’m fine, and your brother-in-law treats me well!”
Then, as she poured her brother a glass of water, Li Mei asked, “Did Mom and Dad send you here?”
Although Li Yi felt deeply resentful, seeing his older sister like this, he forced himself to suppress his anger and replied, “Yeah, but I missed you too!”
“Is everything okay back home?”
Although the two villages were less than ten kilometers apart—a distance that wouldn’t take long to walk—Li Mei hadn’t returned to her parents’ home in over a year.
On the one hand, her family’s living conditions were poor—they had only two rooms and didn’t even have a place to stay.
On the other hand, she couldn’t very well return to her parents’ home empty-handed. However, her in-laws were still resentful that she had used all the dowry money to subsidize her parents’ home, so they wouldn’t give her a single penny, making it difficult for her to visit.
“Luckily, my family’s building a new house, and I’m getting married too!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“Really?” Li Mei asked, her face lighting up with surprise.
Then she asked, “Is she from that village? Do I know her? What’s she like?”
“You know her too, Big Sister. It’s Tang Xue, the educated youth from our production team!” Li Yi replied.
“The educated youth Tang? Is she the young girl who gets along so well with Nana?”
Li Mei had a vivid impression of that quiet, demure young girl. Back then, she’d even thought to herself, “How wonderful it would be if such a pretty girl could become my brother’s wife!”
Little did she know her words would come true—she’d actually hit the nail on the head!
“Mm-hmm!”
“Tell me honestly, sis. How could a girl as wonderful as Tang Xue possibly fall for a rascal like you?”
Li Yi glanced at his older sister and teased, “Sis, what are you implying? Am I not good enough for Xiaoxue?”
“Haha, what do you think?”
Although Li Mei doted on her younger brother, she also knew just how unreliable he was. From a girl’s perspective, he certainly wasn’t a suitable match.
Not to mention, Tang Xue’s background was simply out of reach for a humble family like theirs!
Not only was she beautiful, but she was also an educated youth from the city—and reportedly had a high school education.
A girl like that in the city would have suitors lining up for miles—there’s no way her little brother would stand a chance.
Li Yi just smiled and said, “Sis, there have definitely been a lot of misunderstandings between Xiao Xue and me that led us to where we are now, but our relationship is actually really good right now!”
Li Yi then recounted every detail of what had happened between him and Tang Xue to his older sister, even mentioning the possibility that Tang Xue might be pregnant.
After hearing Li Yi’s story, Li Mei couldn’t help but pinch his arm and said, “You, you’re getting more and more out of hand. Thank goodness Xiao Xue isn’t holding it against you—otherwise, wouldn’t she have charged you with indecent assault?”
“You’d better treat Xue well from now on. Otherwise, even if Mom and Dad go easy on you, I won’t let you off the hook!”
Li Yi immediately replied, “I’ll definitely treat her well—she’s my wife, after all!”
“Good to hear! She came all this way, giving up the chance to return to the city, just to marry you. That takes immense courage and determination—you must never forget that!”
“I’ll remember. Don’t worry!”
Then Li Yi added, “Sis, by the way, I came here today to tell you something important!”
“Go ahead!”
……..