Night fell, and the sky grew dark!
Under the faint moonlight, Li Yi held Tang Xue’s hand as they walked along a country lane.
These past few days, walking Tang Xue back to the educated youth commune at night had become Li Yi’s happiest moment.
Since she had already accepted Li Yi from the bottom of her heart, and with everyone else mostly asleep at night, Tang Xue didn’t refuse Li Yi’s occasional displays of affection; gestures like holding hands seemed to have become second nature to them.
Moonlight bathed Tang Xue’s figure, and a gentle breeze stretched their shadows long.
The feeling was truly pleasant, and both of them were in high spirits.
“Honey, do you hold it against me?” Li Yi asked suddenly.
“Blame you for what?”
“For not giving you that spot at the factory!”
Tang Xue shook her head and said, “No. Working at the sugar factory is certainly a good option, but I know you had your own reasons for making this arrangement. You wouldn’t do anything to harm me!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “Aside from the fact that my older sister and brother-in-law really need help, the biggest reason I didn’t want you to work at the factory is that it’s too exhausting—and it’s not your only option!”
“Huh?”
“Actually, I didn’t tell Mom and Dad, but today, Director Liang initially wanted to recruit me—he offered to hire me directly at their sugar factory as head of security or office director, with official cadre status!” Li Yi said.
“So… so you turned it down?”
“Yeah, I don’t want to work at the factory, and I don’t want to stay cooped up in this little mountain village forever—and neither do you!”
Li Yi continued, “Our future shouldn’t be spent living a mundane life in this remote mountain village. What I want is to conquer the stars and the seas, and you’ll follow in my footsteps, always being the harbor of my soul!”
“Am… am I up to it?” Tang Xue asked, sounding a bit unsure.
“You can, because you’re the one I, Li Yi, have chosen—you’ll definitely be able to!”
“Okay!”
At that moment, Li Yi spoke again: “My plan for you is still to go to college. In the next day or two, I’ll get you some middle and high school textbooks. After we’re married, you can study at home—don’t worry about anything else!”
“Okay!”
In truth, Tang Xue had always longed to go to college from the bottom of her heart.
Back in middle school, she was an excellent student and had even been accepted into the best high school in the county.
But just as she was overjoyed to share the news with her parents, her mother told her that the family could only afford to send one child to school, and they had already decided to let her younger sister—who was still in eighth grade—continue her education.
As for her, she was told she couldn’t go to high school!
This wasn’t the first time Tang Xue had been treated differently. Although she longed to continue her education, she could only silently accept her parents’ decision.
Afterward, she went home to make a living by assembling cardboard boxes to help support the family.
She never would have dreamed that, just as she was about to get married, Li Yi would be willing to let her continue her studies—and even encourage her to go to college. This surprise came as a complete shock.
The walk to the educated youth settlement wasn’t far, and before long, the two arrived at the gate.
Just as Li Yi was about to bid Tang Xue a reluctant farewell, she grabbed his hand and said, “Um… those male educated youth came looking for me today!”
“Because of the mushrooms?”
“Yeah, they heard from somewhere that you took us female educated youth out to pick mushrooms to make some money, so they want to join in too!”
“What did you say?”
“I… I turned them down. You told me not to like them!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Those guys have provoked me time and time again, and they’ve been picking on you. There’s no way I’d help them!”
“But I saw how upset they looked when they left. I’m worried about them…”
“Don’t worry. If they behave themselves, that’s fine. But if they dare pull any more stunts, don’t blame me for dealing with them harshly!” Li Yi said coldly. dxmbang
“Okay!”
“Go on in. See you tomorrow!”
“See you tomorrow!”
……..
After returning home, Li Yi sorted through the mushrooms and other mountain produce the children had brought and loaded them onto the cart, then began kneading the dough.
Normally, he could have done this the next morning and still made it in time, but there were simply too many orders for tomorrow, so he had no choice but to prepare the dough in advance and get up at dawn to finish the work.
Watching Li Yi haul out five or six bags of Fuqiang flour all at once, Li Shankui looked utterly stunned.
He had previously watched his son make liangpi, and even then, using just over a bag of flour had already surprised him.
He never imagined that in such a short time, his son’s small business had grown so much.
Seeing how hard his son was working, Li Shankui immediately offered, “Why don’t you take a break? Let me help you knead it.”
Li Yi shook his head and said, “Dad, you don’t knead it evenly enough. It affects the proofing and washing later on. I’ll handle it.”
“Hmm, I’ve been thinking it over, and giving both spots to your older sister and brother-in-law might not be the best idea!” Li Shankui said, puffing on his pipe.
“What’s wrong with that?” Li Yi asked immediately.
“I’m worried your second sister might feel left out. You know she’s always been a bit headstrong…”
Hearing his father mention his second sister, Li Yi smiled and said, “It’s fine. My second sister is different from my eldest sister. Even if she has an issue with it, she’s easy to handle!”
“Well, you’d better make sure to talk it over with your second sister beforehand, so she doesn’t end up beating you up!”
Li Shankui clearly knew his second daughter’s temperament very well; if she got upset, she might just really give her son a good thrashing in front of everyone.
Li Yi just smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll handle it!”
As for his second sister, Li Lan, she was essentially a more intense version of Mrs. Su from the TV series *Everything’s Fine*.
If the eldest sister’s gentleness represents one extreme, then the second sister’s domineering nature represents the other.
Her mother-in-law was also quite the character. Back then, she’d heard that the Li family’s daughters were gentle, virtuous, and hardworking, so she sent someone to propose the marriage.
After Second Sister Li Lan met her husband, Zhang Xuefeng, she also thought he was quite a catch, so she agreed to the marriage.
However, after the wedding, when her formidable mother-in-law tried to manipulate her, she discovered that Second Sister’s personality was nothing like the gentle girl she’d imagined. Second Sister had a sharp tongue and was highly combative; her in-laws’ attempts to stir up trouble were repeatedly thwarted, leaving them thoroughly humiliated.
Later on, Second Sister grew tired of arguing with them. She simply brandished a kitchen knife and forced her husband to split from the old family home, and the two began living their own little life.
As for my second sister’s husband, he was the classic “henpecked husband”—whatever my second sister said went. So Li Yi sometimes felt he was a lot like Su Daqiang, just much younger.
Li Yi had actually considered whether Second Sister might have any objections regarding the factory positions secured for Eldest Sister and her husband.
Of course she would—it’s only human nature.
But Li Yi wasn’t neglecting his second sister and her husband. Both of his older sisters had been very good to him—they were all his flesh and blood—so how could he possibly ignore his second sister?
It’s just that right now, there are priorities. As soon as an opportunity arises for his second sister, he certainly won’t let her down.
Besides, in his previous life, the family he likely owed the least to was Second Sister’s. He had no children of his own, his eldest sister had passed away young, and his third sister refused to forgive him—so he was closest to Second Sister’s family.
In fact, before he died, he had already notarized a significant portion of his assets and gifted them to his second sister’s family without compensation. So, in this life, he would put his second sister’s affairs on hold for the time being.