Today, Li Yi slept in for the first time ever. If it weren’t for his third older sister, Li Na, coming into his room to wake him up, he might have slept right through until dawn.
But even after getting up, he had noticeable dark circles under his eyes, just like a national treasure—a panda.
Li Na didn’t think much of it; it was obvious he hadn’t gotten enough rest.
After all, his younger brother had been working from dawn till dusk every day lately, without a single day off. Especially these past few days, with the demand for liangpi skyrocketing, he’d had to get up at four or five in the morning to knead and let the dough rest—so it was only natural he wasn’t getting enough rest.
If making liangpi weren’t such a technically demanding process—and if she knew how to do it herself—she definitely wouldn’t have woken Li Yi up.
Since Liu Jingshan’s order alone required four hundred sheets, Li Yi would need to make at least seven hundred sheets of liangpi today.
Even with his enhanced physical constitution, he was finding it a bit too much to handle.
It wasn’t until eight o’clock in the morning that Li Yi finally finished making all seven hundred sheets of liangpi.
He then loaded the cart and, with Li Na in tow, headed straight for the educated youth commune!
By then, Tang Xue at the sent-down youth camp was already ready. As soon as Li Yi’s mule cart arrived, she helped load several baskets of mushrooms and mountain produce onto it.
However, she wasn’t going to the county seat with them today, because last night she had promised Zhang Xinyao and Feng Qian that she would go into the mountains with them that afternoon to pick mushrooms.
Li Yi didn’t press the matter, but simply reminded her to be careful, avoid climbing up and down steep slopes as much as possible, and stay safe.
Then, he drove the big red mule, taking Li Na straight to the county seat.
As soon as they left the educated youth commune, Li Na couldn’t help but ask, “Xiao Yi, tell me, are you two…”
Seeing his third sister looking as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t bring herself to, Li Yi immediately said, “Sis, just say what’s on your mind. Don’t look like that—it’s hard to watch!”
“You and Xiaoxue… haven’t you been doing *that* again?”
Li Yi froze for a moment upon hearing this, then asked, “What exactly are you talking about?”
Li Na’s face flushed red. She pressed her two thumbs together and said, “You know, that thing!”
Li Yi immediately got the picture. He shot her a look and said, “Sis, I really want to know what’s going on inside your head. You’re way too dirty-minded!”
“What’s so dirty about it? Just look at the two of you—you’re both sporting panda eyes. And you came home so late last night. It’s only natural I’d wonder!” Li Na said indignantly.
Li Yi thought about it carefully. Tang Xue had seemed—or perhaps, maybe… probably—to have dark circles under her eyes just now. Clearly, she hadn’t slept well last night either.
“I’m telling you, it’s a coincidence. Do you believe me?”
“Like hell I believe you! Two people losing sleep at the exact same time? How coincidental is that?”
“If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“Xiao Yi, you two are getting married soon. I don’t mind you being too intimate, but you’ve got to think about Xiao Xue. She’s still young—don’t go causing a tragedy so soon!” Li Na said.
Li Yi grinned and said, “Sis, you’re a little late with that!”
“What do you mean?”
“Figure it out yourself!”
Li Na suddenly covered her mouth and stammered, “You… you… she… Xiao Xue…”
“Come on, it’s just a pregnancy. Is it really that big of a deal?” Li Yi said.
“You little bastard, she’s pregnant! How can you say it’s no big deal?!”
At that moment, Li Na suddenly realized something. She stared at Li Yi and said, “Wait a minute. It’s only been about a month and a half since your first time together. How could you tell Xiao Xue was pregnant so quickly?”
“I couldn’t tell!”
“Then you… you little bastard, you were just messing with me, weren’t you?”
Li Na snapped, making a move to yank Li Yi’s ear.
Li Yi hurriedly said, “Sis… sis, calm down, we’re trying to catch the bus!”
“Hmph, I’ll let you off this time. But if you dare pull a joke like that again, I’ll break your legs!” Li Na said through gritted teeth.
But Li Yi just smiled and said, “Sis, I wasn’t entirely joking just now. My wife might actually be pregnant!”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. Although the symptoms aren’t very obvious yet, I’ve noticed she’s been feeling a bit chilly, dizzy, and weak these past few days. Plus, her appetite hasn’t been great. And when I held her hand yesterday, I noticed her temperature was higher than normal!”
Li Yi continued, “At first I thought she had a cold, but after asking her about it, it didn’t quite fit. It actually sounds more like early pregnancy symptoms!”
“Is that for real? Am I going to be an aunt?”
“It’s very likely. Otherwise, I wouldn’t let her do anything at all!” Li Yi said.
“Have you told Xiaoxue yet?” Li Na asked again.
“No!”
“Why not? How can you not tell her about something this big?” Li Na panicked as soon as she heard that.
“Sis, pregnant women are very emotional, and we’re not even married yet. If word of her pregnancy gets out, it’ll be considered a premarital pregnancy. You can just imagine how the village gossips will tear us apart.”
“But you can’t keep hiding it from her forever…”
“We don’t have to keep it from her forever. We’re getting married in another two weeks. It won’t be too late to tell her then, and we won’t have to worry about others finding out!” Li Yi said.
“Hmm, you really do think of everything!”
“That’s exactly why I asked you to take over the liangpi stall—I need to focus on planning the wedding from now on. Xiaoxue isn’t just the woman I’ve chosen to marry; she’s also a major contributor to the Li family. This wedding has to be exactly what she wants!” Li Yi said.
“You’re right. Don’t worry about the stall—I’ll take good care of it for you!” Li Na said confidently.
“Alright!”
…….
Upon arriving in the county seat, he went to the state-run restaurant to deliver goods as usual.
After handing over most of the truckload of mushrooms to Liu Jingshan and his team and settling the payment, Li Yi planned to head to the sugar factory to set up his stall.
But as soon as he stepped outside, he saw a small jeep parked next to the bright red mule cart.
Through the car window, Li Yi immediately recognized the person inside as none other than Wang Anguo.
This guy was quite something. Just yesterday, he’d told Wang that as the captain of the criminal investigation squad, showing up at the state-run restaurant first thing in the morning to wait for him was bound to invite gossip.
Well, he’s clever—he’s simply changed his tactics and switched to a jeep.
Didn’t he know that these days, a car stands out far more than a pedestrian?
Seeing Li Na and Li Yi emerge from the state-run restaurant, Wang An Guo rolled down his window and said with a smile, “Brother Li Yi!”
“Captain Wang, is your Criminal Investigation Unit that idle?” Li Yi teased.
“Idle? Don’t you see we’re all sporting dark circles under our eyes?”
The next thing they saw was Li Gang’s head poking out the back window, his face full of resentment.
Li Na, standing nearby, couldn’t help but laugh when she saw his face—two distinct dark circles were clearly visible against his relatively fair complexion.
On closer inspection, Wang Anguo looked much the same, though his face was naturally dark, so you wouldn’t really notice unless you looked closely.
With Li Yi included, the three grown men all looked the same—just like a gathering of pandas.
At that moment, the three of them noticed each other’s peculiar appearance, and once they caught on, they couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
…….