Just then, Third Sister Li Na walked over and asked, “What’s the deal with that car?”
“I bought it, of course!” Li Yi replied matter-of-factly.
“You really bought it? Did you manage to get a bike voucher?” Li Na asked in surprise.
“I did. It cost me 10 yuan!”
“Whoa! That’s so expensive?”
Li Na couldn’t help but gasp. Ten yuan—that was worth over three hundred work points!
“It’s not that bad. These things are hard to come by—it’s worth the ten yuan!” Li Yi said.
“Then why did you buy a 26-inch one? Why not a 28-inch?” Li Na frowned.
“This bike is for my wife to ride, so of course I had to get a smaller one!”
Hearing this, Tang Xue, who was standing nearby, was stunned!
“You bought it for me?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Of course I bought it for you. Didn’t I tell you? Whatever others have, you’ll have too!”
“It’s not just a bike—I’ll get you a sewing machine, a watch, a radio… whatever you want, I’ll get it for you. Even if it’s a star in the sky, I’ll pluck it down for you!”
These sudden words of affection instantly warmed Tang Xue’s heart; she could sense his affection for her in Li Yi’s words.
Although his reputation was indeed poor—some called him a good-for-nothing, others a wastrel—few people had anything good to say about him.
And their union wasn’t born of love, but rather out of necessity—they had no other choice.
But just now, Tang Xue had heard sincerity and affection in Li Yi’s words—it felt very real.
This made her feel a little delighted, but mostly terrified!
“You…”
Tang Xue knew her own heart; in it resided her childhood sweetheart, Brother Tan Cheng.
She had also heard from Li Na that Li Yi seemed to have always had a crush on the village beauty from the neighboring village, so Tang Xue had never harbored any expectations for this marriage.
She understood her situation: if they were just to get by as familiar strangers, she felt she could handle it.
But if Li Yi really did fall for her, she truly didn’t know how to respond to him.
For a moment, Tang Xue fell completely silent!
Li Yi noticed Tang Xue’s unease. He patted her head affectionately and said gently, “Don’t put pressure on yourself. Just let things take their natural course!”
“He… he figured it out!”
Tang Xue’s heart raced, and her pulse quickened uncontrollably!
Just as she was wondering how to face Li Yi, the whistle signaling the end of work sounded.
Tang Xue frantically hoisted her shovel, ready to head back to the brigade headquarters to turn in her work.
But just as she was about to leave, Li Yi grabbed her hand.
“Let Third Sister handle the task report and tools for you. You ride the bike back to the educated youth camp!”
Tang Xue paused for a moment, then shook her head immediately. “Let’s just forget it!”
“What do you mean, ‘forget it’? This bike was bought for you—if you don’t ride it back, who will?” Li Yi said, frowning.
Seeing Li Yi’s furrowed brow, Tang Xue felt a sudden sense of unease for some reason. She hurriedly said, “I know you care about me, but you know how it is at the knowledge youth camp. Once work starts, there’s not a soul in sight. A bicycle is such a valuable item—it wouldn’t be safe to leave it anywhere!”
Li Yi thought about it and realized Tang Xue had a point!
“Here’s what we’ll do: we’ll keep the bike at my place for now. Once we’re married, you can ride it to work every day!”
“Okay!”
“Come on, let me take you for a spin!” Li Yi said again.
“Ah, maybe not…”
Li Yi knew she had a gentle, introverted personality. If he didn’t take the initiative to ask her out, he’d probably never be able to bring them closer together.
He snatched the shovel from Tang Xue’s hands and tossed it to Li Na standing nearby, saying, “Third Sister, please hand in the work for my wife. I’m taking her home first!”
Li Na: “*&……%￥”
…….
On a dirt road in the countryside, riding a brand-new bicycle, Li Yi pedaled ahead while Tang Xue sat on the back seat, her arms wrapped around his waist.
The guy was handsome, and the girl was beautiful!
In the setting sun, the shadows of the two riders stretched out long behind them!
The bicycle passed one farmworker after another on their way home from work, and everyone who saw them wore a look of surprise.
With the villagers staring at them like that, Tang Xue—who was already extremely shy—was blushing bright red and didn’t dare to look up.
The road was short, and before long they were back at the educated youth settlement!
After seeing Tang Xue inside, Li Yi didn’t linger. He simply reminded her to take care of herself, then hopped on his bike and headed for the back mountain.
When Li Yi arrived at the reservoir, he saw that the young men had already gathered there.
The embankment where they’d been playing earlier was now lined with bamboo baskets and wooden buckets, all brimming with various mountain produce.
However, Li Yi also noticed something: there were more children here today than before—as many as a dozen or so.
Looking at the group of ten- or eleven-year-olds in front of him, Li Yi couldn’t help but furrow his brow and ask, “Dongzi, what’s the story with these kids?”
Dongzi hurriedly explained, “Brother Yi, Dali and Yingzi are on vacation and have nothing to do. They saw us going up the mountain to pick mushrooms every day, so they wanted to come along and earn some pocket money.”
“I figured they must go up the mountain to play often and know which mushrooms are edible and which aren’t, so I brought them along!”
After hearing Dongzi’s explanation, Li Yi’s stern expression finally softened slightly.
After a moment’s thought, Li Yi spoke up: “It’s fine for them to come mushroom picking with us, and I’ll pay them just the same. But this is only for the holidays—once school starts, they must be in class. Understand?”
The kids’ faces immediately lit up with happy smiles, and they all agreed that was fine.
Actually, for Li Yi, having a few extra hands was a good thing. After all, mountain produce was in high demand in the city right now—no matter how much they had, they weren’t worried about not being able to sell it.
And if they really couldn’t sell them right away, they could always dry them and sell them in the winter, when they’d fetch a higher price.
But Li Yi knew all too well how short-sighted the villagers were; many of them were the kind of people who would do anything for a quick buck.
Li Yi was worried that once the children’s parents saw they could make money, they might deprive the children of their right to pursue education and better themselves for the sake of a little immediate profit.
If that happened, it would be a huge disaster for these children.
Since today’s harvest was quite varied—including various edible mushrooms, wood ear fungus, and white fungus—Li Yi personally taught the children how to process these items.
In fact, the reason these wild mountain products caught the eye of the state-run restaurant wasn’t because the quality of the produce from this area was particularly high, but because Li Yi had processed them further.
Don’t underestimate the simple process of cleaning off dirt and debris and sorting out the ones that are too small—it makes a world of difference.
Once these wild products—pre-sorted and thoroughly cleaned—were neatly arranged in the baskets, their visual appeal increased severalfold.
No matter who looked at them, they would conclude that Li Yi’s produce was of much higher quality than what others had gathered.
After organizing the wild produce, Li Yi had Dongzi lead a group to carry everything back home.
He then paid them their wages for yesterday’s mushroom-picking—five yuan each. Watching the children head home, beaming with joy as they held their money, a faint smile couldn’t help but appear on Li Yi’s lips.