Over at the new house, Tang Xue, Li Lan, Li Shankui, and the others were all busy.
The weather had been quite nice these past few days, and many of the mushrooms drying in the drying room were ready to be bagged, so Li Shankui had put his farm work on hold to come over and help.
After all, his daughter-in-law was pregnant, and his daughter couldn’t manage everything on her own.
Besides, after accompanying his son on a trip to the provincial capital, Li Shankui had come to terms with reality.
No matter how hard he toiled in the fields, he wouldn’t make much money. Perhaps a year’s hard work wouldn’t even cover the cost of his son’s single trip to the supply and marketing cooperative!
So, while he still had to tend the fields, he figured doing just enough was fine—there was no need to work himself to the bone like he used to!
In the shade under the eaves, Tang Xue was balancing the books when she suddenly turned to Li Lan beside her and said, “Second Sister, why do I feel like the amount of mushrooms people have been bringing in these past few days has been getting smaller and smaller?”
Li Lan smiled and said, “Heh, that’s not so great, but it’s perfectly normal!”
Li Lan continued, “After all, those things aren’t growing all over the mountains. With so many villagers heading into the woods every day, the mushrooms simply can’t grow fast enough to keep up with how quickly people are picking them!”
“Will this affect our purchase volume?” Tang Xue asked, frowning.
“No, it won’t. Behind our village of Nianzishan lies a deep, ancient forest. If the mushrooms nearby are all picked clean, the villagers will find a way to go further afield to pick them, or they’ll head into the old forest!” Li Lan said.
“That’s good…”
Just as they were speaking, the sound of a bicycle bell rang out.
The two looked outside and saw that it was Li Yi returning.
Tang Xue’s face lit up instantly; she immediately stood up and went out to meet him.
After parking his bike, Li Yi looked at his wife coming toward him and said with a smile, “It’s so hot—be careful not to get heatstroke!”
“I’m fine. When did you get back?”
“Just walked in the door!”
“Have you eaten yet?”
“I have!”
As they spoke, Li Yi took Tang Xue’s hand and led her under the eaves.
Li Shankui was as taciturn as ever. Upon seeing his son, he merely asked when he’d returned, then went back to his work in the drying room.
Once they reached the eaves, Second Sister Li Lan immediately asked, “So, did you make the money?”
Li Yi shook his head and said, “No. Things were actually going pretty smoothly. If I’d just asked, a few ten thousand yuan wouldn’t have been a problem. But I just felt like I shouldn’t take that money, so I came back!”
“You mean you turned down tens of thousands of dollars that were practically yours?” Second Sister asked in surprise.
“Yeah!”
“You’re not pulling our leg, are you? You’re such a sharp guy—would you really do something like that?” Second Sister asked, looking skeptical.
Meanwhile, Tang Xue, standing nearby, offered comfort: “If we didn’t make the money, we didn’t make it. At worst, we’ll just have to accept a little less in the future!”
“Besides, the villagers haven’t been bringing in as many mushrooms as before these past few days. If we’re a bit more frugal, we’ll manage just fine!”
Hearing his wife’s gentle and thoughtful words, Li Yi felt a deep sense of comfort.
Ever since they got married—and especially after she found out she was pregnant—Tang Xue had become increasingly gentle with him.
They were starting to feel that romantic spark again—it felt wonderful!
At that moment, Li Yi smiled and said, “Don’t worry about the money. Even though we didn’t make any in the city, I stopped by the credit union before coming back and already secured a loan!”
“A loan? How much did you borrow? Is the interest rate high?” Second Sister asked urgently.
Hearing this, even Li Shankui, who had been busy in the drying room, stopped what he was doing and came out.
“I borrowed 40,000 yuan, and there’s no interest!” Li Yi said.
“No interest at all?”
“No, really!” Li Yi replied.
“40,000 yuan? Why on earth would anyone lend you that much?” Li Shankui asked immediately.
“I asked Director Liang from the sugar factory for help. He took me straight to Director Li at the county credit union—he’s the one in charge of this!” Li Yi said.
“Is that Director Li’s name Li Yeqiao?”
“Yes! Dad, do you know Director Li?”
“Hmm, I don’t, but your grandfather knew his father when he was alive. They once went back to our hometown together to pay respects to our ancestors,” Li Shankui said.
Actually, Li Yi knew this too; in his previous life, he had heard his father mention it. However, at the time, his father had brought up Li Yeqiao solely because he had been sentenced to death.
Li Yi still clearly remembered his father’s exact words back then: “If you really want to count it, he’s technically a blood relative of ours—and one who’s just passed the five-generation mourning period…”
That was precisely why Li Yi had taken the trouble to look into Li Yeqiao’s situation, which is why he’d said those words to Liang Yukui today.
Tang Xue said with some concern, “Didn’t we say the other day that our family’s funding shortfall was only about fifteen or sixteen thousand yuan? Why did you take out such a large loan all at once?”
Li Lan also thought of this and chimed in, “Yeah, 20,000 yuan would’ve been enough. You borrowed so much more than that—what are you planning to do?”
“What could I possibly do with it?”
Li Yi knew his family couldn’t possibly understand his thinking, so he immediately continued, “I figured this is a rare opportunity—no collateral and no interest. When you come across a good deal like this, you might as well go all out!”
“If we can use this money to harvest more mushrooms, then we’ll harvest more mushrooms. If we don’t need it, we’ll just put it in the bank. As long as we don’t go on a spending spree, everything will be fine!”
Li Shankui was still a bit worried about his son’s impulsive nature, so he said right away, “Once we get the loan, set aside a portion for Xiaoxue to keep, and put the rest in the credit union. Withdraw only what we need as we go!”
“Alright, alright, whatever you say…”
Just as they were speaking, the village loudspeaker suddenly blared: “Attention all commune members and educated youth… Attention all commune members and educated youth! This is an emergency. Every household must send one representative to the commune headquarters for a meeting!”
“Attention all commune members and educated youth…”
The loudspeaker repeated the announcement five times before stopping!
“What’s the production team up to now? Holding a meeting in this sweltering heat—I can’t believe they’d even think of that!” Second Sister couldn’t help but complain.
Li Shankui shot his second daughter a glare and said, “You’re always so talkative. It might be an emergency at the brigade!”
Then Li Shankui turned to Li Yi and said, “There are still quite a few mushrooms drying in the room that need to be packed. You go do it—don’t let Xiaoxue help!”
“Got it!”
With that, Li Shankui brushed the dust off his clothes, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked out of the courtyard!
After his father left, Li Yi chatted with Tang Xue for a while longer, then went into the drying room to gather the dried mushrooms that had been laid out to dry!
They had harvested top-quality wild mushrooms from the mountains; the fresh ones were plump and rich in flavor, and the dried ones were just as aromatic.
In the city, under normal circumstances, a pound of dried mushrooms would cost roughly 1.2 to 1.5 yuan.
However, as the effects of reform and opening-up took hold, living standards in coastal regions rose significantly. Coupled with droughts in many areas during this summer and fall, no one had the time or inclination to sun-dry mushrooms.
As a result, by winter, the price of dried mushrooms had skyrocketed.
By the time the Lunar New Year approached, the price had even reached the 2.4 yuan mark per jin.
Therefore, for Li Yi, whether he could make his first fortune depended entirely on this batch of mushrooms.
In truth, Li Yi had plenty of opportunities to make money if he wanted to, but most of them required him to travel to other regions.
But he didn’t want to leave Tang Xue before the baby was born, so he had no choice but to resort to this old-fashioned method of making money.
Fortunately, Li Yi wasn’t overly concerned with money at the moment; as long as he had enough to get by, that was fine.
Making money is a slow process—no need to rush!