It was already five o’clock by the time they returned to Nianzi Mountain Village. When the little jeep pulled up in front of the Li family’s old house, it immediately drew quite a bit of attention.
Although it had been over two years since the Reform and Opening-Up began, life in a remote backwater like Nianzishan Village hadn’t changed much from five years ago.
If there was any change at all, it was merely that the political climate wasn’t as tense as it had been in previous years—that was all.
Life for the villagers remained as it always had. While bicycles were becoming commonplace in cities like Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, in Nianzishan Village—and indeed throughout the entire Qing Shan County—they were still considered a luxury.
As for cars, well, that goes without saying—every time one shows up, it causes quite a stir.
Inside the house, Zhang Guiying was looking after her eldest nephew, Zhang Ning, while also cooking for the family.
Hearing a commotion outside, she immediately stood up from the stove to investigate.
She was startled to see a car parked right at the entrance.
Just as she was about to carry the child outside to see what was going on, she saw her son Li Yi and her husband walking in from outside, carrying bags of all sizes.
Zhang Guiying quickly closed the stove door and ran out, excited.
“Oh my, dear, how come you’re back so soon?”
Hearing his wife’s startled voice, Li Shankui replied, his eyes slightly reddened, “Of course we’re back—there’s no problem. Otherwise, would we still be staying in the provincial capital?”
Hearing this, Zhang Guiying was instantly put at ease.
This was her husband’s way of telling her that he was in good health.
You see, during the two days the father and son had been away, the whole family had been in a daze.
Zhang Guiying, in particular, had been constantly worried that her husband might have some serious health issue.
It wasn’t really her fault she was worried; the truth was that Li Shankui’s health had indeed been poor these past two years. He coughed constantly, especially when he first got up in the morning or when he was trying to sleep at night—it felt as if he were about to cough his lungs out.
He also frequently struggled to catch his breath—which, by any measure, didn’t bode well.
Li Yi carried the items into the house, then invited Li Gang in to sit for a while, intending to cook him a nice meal to thank him.
But Li Gang declined, citing a busy work schedule. As he was leaving, however, he asked Li Yi to find time over the next couple of days to stop by the county bureau for a chat.
Li Yi agreed. On the one hand, Wang Anguo was about to take up his new post in the city, and Li Yi felt he had to see him off.
On the other hand, he was about to visit his in-laws soon and needed to exchange some national grain coupons and get a letter of introduction, so a trip to the city was unavoidable.
After seeing Li Gang off, Li Yi asked his mother about the family’s whereabouts. He learned that his third sister had gone to the back mountain to pick up the children, while Tang Xue and his second sister were harvesting mushrooms at their new home.
Li Yi immediately asked his mother to pack up the things he’d brought back from the provincial capital, then pushed the bicycle out of the house and headed straight for the new house.
At the Li family’s new house, Tang Xue and Li Lan were busy receiving villagers who had come to sell mushrooms.
Over the past few days, the older sister-in-law and younger sister-in-law had developed a seamless working relationship. Li Lan was responsible for inspecting the mushrooms brought in by the villagers to ensure they met standards and weighing them, while Tang Xue handled the accounting and payments.
Li Yi had established a rule: all mushroom purchases would be settled in cash, and they would never run a tab with anyone.
In fact, to raise enough cash, Tang Xue’s parents, along with Li Lan and Li Na, had handed over all their savings to her to serve as seed money.
Combined with the daily income from delivering mountain produce to the state-run restaurant and selling liangpi, they’ve managed to scrape by so far.
“Ring-ring-ring…”
With the ring of his bicycle bell, Li Yi rode straight into his family’s courtyard.
Seeing Li Yi, the villagers in the courtyard greeted him one after another.
“Yi’s back! When did you get home?”
“Is your dad doing okay?”
“Yi…”
Nianzishan Village was small; news of anything happening in any household would spread from one end of the village to the other in less than half an hour.
And when it came to a “big deal” like Li Yi taking Li Shankui to the provincial capital for medical treatment, the whole village knew about it by the next day.
Listening to everyone’s questions, Li Yi immediately spoke up, “Thanks for your concern, everyone. My dad’s fine—he just smokes too much.”
“Also, my dad’s determined to quit smoking. So from now on, uncles and elders, please don’t offer him cigarettes when you’re with him. He’s not very disciplined, so you can’t tempt him into making a mistake!”
Hearing Li Yi’s words, the crowd couldn’t help but burst out laughing, and they all chimed in with teasing remarks:
“Yi, your dad’s been smoking for decades—how could he possibly quit?”
“Exactly! Even if your dad gave up eating, he’d never give up smoking!”
“Hahaha, Brother Shankui is the kind of guy who’d crush wild yam vines to use as tobacco—how could he ever quit?”
“I don’t know about anyone else, but I just don’t buy that Brother Shan Kui could ever quit smoking…”
Li Yi knew it would be like this. His father was notorious in the village for his heavy smoking; he’d even used a third of their family’s 1.2-mu plot of private land to grow tobacco.
So it was no wonder the others didn’t believe him when he suddenly announced he was quitting.
“Uncles and elders, my father may not have any serious illnesses, but the doctor said he has asthma—what we commonly call ‘shortness of breath.’ With this condition, he simply can’t smoke. If you want my father to live a few more years, you absolutely must stop him from smoking!”
Li Yi continued, “I’ve led everyone in making money together, and I’ve never asked you for anything before. But this time, please, I’m asking for your help.”
Li Yi knew that quitting smoking was all about the environment. If you lived alone, quitting would be easy.
But if you’re constantly surrounded by a bunch of heavy smokers who offer you a cigarette every other day, trying to quit is no joke!
Seeing how serious Li Yi was, everyone knew he wasn’t joking. Immediately, someone spoke up: “Since you’ve said that, Yi, from now on, when I smoke, I’ll make sure your dad doesn’t see me!”
“Right, just make sure he doesn’t see us!”
“Don’t worry, we can definitely handle something like this…”
Seeing that everyone agreed, Li Yi nodded and said, “Then thank you all!”
After saying that, Li Yi walked over to Tang Xue, took the ledger from her hands, and said, “Take a break. I’ll handle this.”
“I’m not tired!”
Li Yi saw that her forehead was already beaded with sweat and her pretty face was flushed, so he smiled and said, “I’ve got nothing else to do anyway. Go sit in the shade for a bit. Once we’re done with this, we’ll head home!”
“Alright then!”
With Li Yi pitching in, the pace picked up considerably.
Before 6:30, they had finished settling accounts for all the mushrooms brought in by the members.
Afterward, Li Yi locked the door and headed back to the old house with Tang Xue and Second Sister!
…….