Early the next morning, Li Yi got up and got to work.
Unlike the previous days when Li Yi had to do everything on his own, after realizing that selling liangpi at a street stall was indeed profitable, Li Shankui had Li Na stay home specifically to help Li Yi.
Li Yi was, of course, more than happy about this!
To be honest, at three fen per work point in the production brigade, Li Yi really didn’t think much of it.
After all, a girl like Third Sister, even after working hard all day, would only end up with seven or eight work points—which, when calculated, amounted to just over two mao.
You read that right—just two mao!
And that was during a good harvest year; in a famine year with no crops at all, she wouldn’t even make two mao after a full day’s work.
This was precisely why the educated youth were desperate to return to the city, while country girls would rather marry a man of modest means than stay in the countryside.
With Li Na’s help, Li Yi had everything ready before nine o’clock.
Then, he hitched up the mule cart and headed back to the county seat.
This time, however, he didn’t take Li Na with him—not because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t!
Although it was already 1980, the authorities’ stance on the private sector and commerce had not yet been fully clarified.
Take the famous “Shamgu Sunflower Seeds,” for example—just for selling sunflower seeds, they’d been arrested and released several times.
Therefore, setting up a street stall still carried risks; one misstep could lead to a charge of profiteering!
Li Yi wasn’t afraid himself and had a plan to handle it, but he didn’t want Li Na to take that risk with him.
Seeing her younger brother absolutely refuse to take her to set up a stall, Li Na was genuinely a bit annoyed, but there was nothing she could do.
She knew her brother’s temperament all too well—he was a spoiled rich kid through and through, and once he made up his mind, no one could change it.
With no other choice, Li Na had to head to the educated youth commune to help that good-for-nothing keep an eye on his wife.
Li Na knew full well that whether it was at the educated youth commune or among the unmarried young people in the village, there were countless men with their eyes on Tang Xue.
And some people, with that classic “sour grapes” mentality, were using the previous incident as an excuse to gossip behind her back. She had to keep a close eye on her—she couldn’t let anyone steal her man, nor could she let anyone bully Tang Xue.
County Town. State-Owned Restaurant!
When Li Yi arrived, he spotted Liu Jingshan standing at the restaurant entrance from a distance, looking around as if he were waiting for someone!
Spotting Li Yi’s familiar red donkey cart, Liu Jingshan hurried over to greet him!
“Hahaha, Brother Li Yi, you’re finally here!”
Li Yi said with some surprise, “Brother Liu, you weren’t waiting for me here, were you?”
“You bet. I’ve been waiting for you for over an hour!” Liu Jingshan said with a smile.
“Just tell me what you need, Brother Liu. There’s no need for the general manager of a state-run restaurant like you to be waiting here for me!” Li Yi asked, feeling a bit flattered.
“I won’t keep this from you, Brother Li Yi. A high-ranking official from the city has been inspecting Qing Shan County these past few days, and he’s been dining at our state-run restaurant every day. After trying the mushrooms you sent, he was very pleased and hopes our restaurant can regularly supply a batch of mushrooms to the state-run restaurants in the city!” Liu Jingshan explained.
Li Yi knew that Liu Jingshan had come to ask him for a supply.
After all, he’d only supplied him with a little under 200 pounds of mushrooms over the past few days. He wasn’t even sure there would be enough to meet the county-run restaurant’s needs—let alone have any surplus to send to the city.
“Are you asking me to send over more mushrooms?” Li Yi asked with a smile.
“That’s exactly what I mean. I wonder if Brother Li Yi could…”
Before Liu Jingshan could finish, Li Yi cut in: “Brother Liu, you know that mushrooms are wild fungi—their yield is unpredictable. I really can’t guarantee a fixed supply at set times!”
Hearing this, a hint of disappointment flashed across Liu Jingshan’s eyes, but he still nodded in understanding.
However, Li Yi then changed the subject and said, “Brother Liu, although we can’t guarantee the quantity of wild mushrooms, we can prioritize supplying the city and use some substitute products for our own use. Would that work?”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?” Liu Jingshan asked urgently.
“Brother Liu, besides wild pine mushrooms and trumpet mushrooms, the mountains also yield inch mushrooms, tea tree mushrooms, white button mushrooms, lion’s mane mushrooms, and more. There are also wild wood ear mushrooms, white silver ear mushrooms, and other mountain delicacies—all of which are rare and delicious!”
Li Yi continued, “I can have the villagers gather more of these mountain products. In the future, you can send the pine mushrooms and trumpet mushrooms to the city first, and we’ll use the other varieties here in the county. It shouldn’t have much of an impact!”
Liu Jingshan thought for a moment and said, “That’s certainly a solution, but I’m still a little worried.”
“Brother Liu, there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll come up with a few new dishes for you later—I guarantee your state-run restaurant’s performance will be top-notch!” Li Yi said confidently.
“Alright, let’s go with your plan. And make sure to send some of the other wild mountain produce our way from now on!”
“No problem!”
After that, the two immediately weighed the three large baskets of mushrooms Li Yi had brought and settled the bill.
187 jin, totaling 131 yuan!
As he walked out of the state-run restaurant with the money in hand, Li Yi felt as if he were floating on air.
Although in his previous life he was worth tens of billions, to Li Yi, even a fortune of that magnitude didn’t bring him the same sense of accomplishment as this mere hundred or so yuan.
It wasn’t about the amount of money, but the fact that now, when he earned money, he had someone to share the joy with!
In his previous life, he had been alone, watching the numbers in his bank account grow endlessly—a numb and hollow existence!
Just as Li Yi stepped out of the restaurant, preparing to head to the sugar factory to set up his stall, he didn’t expect someone to come rushing toward him from outside.
The person was moving so fast that Li Yi didn’t see him coming and was knocked right to the ground.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, I really have an urgent matter!”
The person was quite polite, helping Li Yi to his feet while apologizing.
Li Yi noticed the man was wearing olive-green fatigues and a wide-brimmed cap—clearly a police officer.
Thinking the man might genuinely have an urgent matter, Li Yi immediately said, “I’m fine. Comrade, if you’re in a hurry, go ahead and take care of it!”
“Thank you so much…”
Just as the officer was about to leave, Li Yi suddenly thought of something and hurriedly called out, “Wait a minute!”
“Comrade, is there something else?”
Li Yi stared intently at his face, confirming it was indeed the person he recognized, then immediately pulled a one-yuan coin from his pocket.
He then walked up to the police officer, slipped the coin directly into his jacket pocket, and said, “Comrade, take this!”
“Comrade… fellow villager… we don’t take a single thread from the people…”
Li Yi smiled and said, “This money isn’t for you—it’s to save your life!”
“Save my life?” The police officer clearly didn’t understand what Li Yi meant and looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“I see a dark spot between your eyebrows—you’re in for a bloody disaster soon. Keep this coin in your pocket and don’t take it out; it’ll save your life when the time comes!”
Seeing him being looked at as if he were a lunatic, Li Yi said again, “Whether you believe it or not, just take this coin for now. If you’re lucky enough to survive, you can give it back to me later!”
With that, Li Yi walked away without looking back, leaving the officer standing there speechless.