July 8th—only two days left until the wedding!
Li Yi got up at two in the morning and immediately got busy with various tasks.
At six o’clock, after preparing the cold noodles to be delivered to the state-run restaurant that day and those needed for his third sister’s street stall, he hopped on his bicycle and headed straight to the educated youth commune.
At the sent-down youth camp, Tang Xue had already woken up and was waiting for him in the dormitory.
Li Yi arrived at the sent-down youth camp and rang the bell on his bicycle outside the women’s dormitory. Tang Xue, as if responding to a signal, stepped out of the dormitory.
Seeing Li Yi, Tang Xue asked curiously, “You had me get up early this morning just to wait for you—what’s it all about?”
“We’re going into town!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“We go into town every day—do we really need to get up this early? Besides, aren’t we going to wait for Sister Na?” Tang Xue asked, puzzled.
“Heh, we’ve got a lot to buy today, so there’s no need to wait for her!”
With that, Li Yi motioned for Tang Xue to hop on the bike!
Although Tang Xue had no idea what Li Yi was up to, she obediently climbed onto the back of the bicycle, and the two headed straight for the county seat.
The bicycle was simply faster than the mule cart; a journey that normally took two hours was covered in less than an hour.
By the time they reached the county seat, it was already broad daylight, and the streets were bustling with people.
Just as Tang Xue was wondering where Li Yi was taking her so early in the morning, she saw that he had actually brought her to the state-run restaurant.
Liu Jingshan was surprised to see Li Yi walk in with Tang Xue, but he didn’t spot the familiar bright red mule cart or black horse-drawn cart.
“Brother Li Yi, how did you get here on a bicycle?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Hehe, the mule cart is right behind us—my sister’s driving it!”
“Oh!”
Then Li Yi added, “Brother Liu, first get us two bowls of heluo noodles, and later, could you keep my bike for me for a few hours?”
“No problem!”
For a small favor like this, Liu Jingshan naturally agreed without hesitation.
Before long, two steaming bowls of noodles were on the table. Li Yi had ordered plain noodles for Tang Xue and specifically asked for a fried egg to be added to hers.
This was Li Yi’s own creation; such a practice wasn’t common in this era.
After all, in this era of scarcity, eggs were a rare delicacy—more valuable than meat—and adding an egg to noodles was a truly extravagant treat.
Li Yi, on the other hand, ordered a bowl of local buckwheat noodles without an egg.
Seeing that there was no egg in Li Yi’s noodles, Tang Xue immediately picked up half an egg from her bowl and placed it in his.
Li Yi was immediately at a loss for words—he hadn’t ordered the egg not because he was worried about the cost, but because he genuinely couldn’t stomach it.
But seeing the stubborn look on his wife’s face, he didn’t say anything; he could only obediently eat the half-fried egg.
After a simple breakfast, Li Yi handed his bicycle to Liu Jingshan and left the state-run restaurant with Tang Xue.
“Where are we going? The Supply and Marketing Cooperative isn’t open yet, is it?” Tang Xue asked again.
“Hehe, you’ll find out in a minute!”
With that, Li Yi continued leading her west along the county town’s main street.
When they reached the area near the west gate of the county town, Tang Xue began to catch on and immediately said, “You aren’t taking me to the bus station, are you?”
“Hehe, you figured it out?”
“Hmm, where are we going by bus?” Tang Xue asked curiously.
“To the city!”
“The… the city? What are we going to the city for?”
Seeing Tang Xue looking a bit nervous, Li Yi smiled and said, “Didn’t I tell you before? We need to buy wedding clothes and stuff!”
Actually, Li Yi was going to the city to see if he could find a wedding dress. In their hometown, brides usually wore traditional red attire, and his family had already had one made for her.
But Li Yi still wanted to see what his bride would look like in a wedding dress. Since there were no shops selling wedding dresses in Qingshan County, he could only take Tang Xue to the city to try their luck.
But Tang Xue hesitated. The city wasn’t like the county—things there were so expensive.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go!”
Li Yi knew she was worried about the cost, so he immediately replied, “Come on, it won’t cost much. Besides, I only plan to get married once in my life, so I have to make sure I have no regrets. Don’t you agree?”
Tang Xue didn’t know what came over her, but that simple remark seemed to move her deeply.
“All right then, but we really can’t spend too much!”
“Hehe, okay, whatever you say!”
Although Tang Xue knew Li Yi was probably just stringing her along, she nodded anyway.
Soon, the two arrived at the bus station outside the West Gate!
The bus station in Yunsan County was rather shabby. The ticket booths consisted of just two small, dilapidated brick buildings, painted bright white on the outside. However, because the windows and glass were so small, the interior looked pitch-black, making it feel somewhat eerie for anyone sitting inside.
There was no waiting room either, just a few makeshift shelters to keep out the rain, where a few people were currently standing, waiting for the bus.
Li Yi told Tang Xue to wait by the shelters while he went to the ticket office with his letter of introduction to buy tickets.
Although it had been more than two years since the reform and opening-up began, household registration controls remained extremely strict.
No matter where one went, a letter of introduction was required—for lodging away from home, for collecting money orders, and even for buying train tickets.
If you lost your letter of introduction, you’d be stuck—it was extremely inconvenient.
What’s more, in those days, not only did you have to have a letter of introduction, but you also had to carry it with you at all times and keep it safe; otherwise, you might not only be arrested as a vagrant, but in more serious cases, you could even lose your life.
This is by no means an exaggeration; just a few years ago, some people were even labeled as class enemies for not having an introduction letter.
Although Qing Shan County wasn’t far from the city—just 70 kilometers away—Li Yi had prepared his letter of introduction in advance just to be on the safe side.
Thanks to the letter of introduction, he was able to purchase his ticket quickly.
Looking at the old-style ticket in his hand, Li Yi felt a bit nostalgic.
To be honest, his memories of this kind of old-style ticket were already quite vague.
As far as he could recall, he had only used a local ticket once—when he left Qing Shan County.
By the time he returned to this place—a full decade later in the 1990s—they no longer used these old-style tickets here.
Tang Xue watched as Li Yi kept staring at the ticket in his hand and asked curiously, “What are you looking at? Haven’t you ever seen a train ticket before?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “It really is the first time I’ve seen one!”
“Really? It’s your first time seeing one?” Tang Xue asked, somewhat surprised.
“Yeah, this is the first time I’ve ever left Qing Shan County for a long trip, so of course it’s my first time seeing a ticket like this!” Li Yi said.
“But you seem pretty familiar with it—you even had the letter of introduction ready in advance!”
“Haha, haven’t you ever seen a pig run, even if you’ve never eaten pork?”
“You’re such a strange person. I feel like I don’t know you at all!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “We’ve got plenty of time. A lifetime is more than enough for you to get to know me!”
Tang Xue’s face flushed, and she suddenly didn’t know how to respond. Just then, the engine of the dilapidated car parked nearby suddenly started up…
……