Late at night, in the western room of the Li household!
On the small heated bed, Tang Xue and Li Yi were snuggled up close together, tender and intimate!
By now, they had both wrapped themselves in thick quilts.
It was already quite cold in North Sai Province in mid-October, especially in the wee hours of the night—a thin quilt simply wouldn’t suffice.
With such a major undertaking as leading the villagers in raising cattle and sheep, Li Yi naturally couldn’t keep it from Tang Xue—besides, since she lived in the village, it was impossible to hide such a thing from her anyway.
So, after returning from the Feng family’s house earlier, Li Yi had told Tang Xue, his mother, and his third older sister about it.
Although Tang Xue hadn’t said anything at the time, Li Yi could tell she had some reservations. Perhaps out of consideration for his feelings, she hadn’t felt comfortable criticizing him in front of her parents.
So, Li Yi decided to ask her about it after they went to bed, to see what his wife really thought!
“Xiao Xue, do you disagree with me using my money to buy cattle and sheep for the village?” Li Yi asked straight to the point.
After all, she was his wife—there was no need to beat around the bush.
Tang Xue paused briefly, then sighed and said, “It’s not that I disagree, but you’ve taken on a bit too much this time!”
“With so many people in the village, even if each person earns an extra 50 yuan, that’s tens of thousands of yuan. How many cattle and sheep would that require? Most importantly, you’re the one who has to shoulder all the risk.”
Tang Xue continued, “I’m not against you helping our fellow villagers, but I hope you’ll act within your means when helping others—and think more about the three of us!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “I understand what you mean, but this matter is crucial to what we’re planning to do next, so I have no choice but to do it!”
“What are we planning to do next?” Tang Xue asked curiously.
“Right. I’m planning to go to Beijing in a couple of days, and I plan to start a food business!” Li Yi said.
“The food business? Selling liangpi?”
Li Yi burst out laughing and said, “The food industry is so vast, and all you can think of is selling liangpi!”
Tang Xue blushed and said sheepishly, “Don’t laugh—I was just saying that off the cuff!”
“Okay, I won’t laugh!”
Li Yi continued, “Since the capital is only allowing food service and small-scale trade this time—either opening a restaurant or a general store or convenience store—I think opening a restaurant is still a pretty good choice!”
“Do we even have a chef to run a restaurant?”
“Why do you need a chef to run a restaurant?” Li Yi asked with a smile.
“How can you run a restaurant without a chef?” Tang Xue retorted.
“Heh, think about it—didn’t we eat cold-boiled mutton and grilled meat at that state-run restaurant without a chef?”
Tang Xue paused for a moment, then said, “Are you thinking of opening a cold-boiled lamb or grilled meat restaurant in Beijing?”
“No, I want to open a place that combines grilling and hot pot!”
“A combined grill-and-hot-pot place?”
“Yeah, you can grill meat and have hot pot with lamb—whichever you want!” Li Yi said.
“Is… is that even possible?”
“Technically, it’s no problem, but there’s an issue with the meat supply!”
“What kind of problem?”
“Meat supplies in the capital are limited. Not only are prices high, but you also need ration tickets. If we open a restaurant, we’ll go through too much meat every day—there’s no way we can afford meat at those prices!”
“Then what should we do?”
“My idea is that we raise our own cattle and sheep and slaughter them ourselves!” Li Yi said.
“But… but how are we going to transport them all the way to the capital? I’m afraid the shipping costs alone would eat up our profits. Besides, will they even let us bring cattle and sheep into the capital?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “You can rest assured about that—I’ll handle it. But right now, we also need to consider the issue of long-term supply. That’s why I thought of asking the villagers to help me raise cattle and sheep. I’ll be responsible for selling them in the capital. If we do this right, it’s a win-win situation—and we’ll make a bigger profit!”
“Is that really true?”
“Hmm, have I ever lied to you?” Li Yi asked.
“All right then, but you have to know your limits. Don’t try to be a hero—we’re not here to save the world!” Tang Xue said.
“Alright!”
Then Li Yi asked again, “By the way, I’ve pretty much finished airing out the new place, and I’ve cleaned it up. Do you want to move into the new house after I leave?”
“Will I be alone?”
“You can’t possibly be alone. I’ll have Third Sister stay with you!” Li Yi said.
“Just the two of us girls? I’m still a little scared. Besides, getting water and stuff over there isn’t very convenient. Let’s just forget it!” Tang Xue said.
“That’s fine, too. Anyway, with Mom and Dad taking care of you here, I’ll feel more at ease!” Li Yi said.
“Mm-hmm!”
“Go to sleep!”
…….
Early the next morning, Li Yi got up and carried a bucket to the well at the east end of the village to fetch water.
Usually, his father handled this kind of work, but now that Li Yi had some free time, the task fell to him.
There were quite a few people drawing water at the well. When they saw Li Yi approaching, they all made way for him, letting him go first.
Although Li Yi hadn’t had the best reputation in the village before, over the course of that summer, he had successfully turned his image around in the eyes of his fellow villagers.
For one thing, everyone had made a decent amount of money following him over the past two months—ordinary households earned at least 200 yuan, and some even made 300 yuan.
Families like Shitou’s, Qiangzi’s, and Dongzi’s had made at least seven or eight hundred yuan.
Not to mention, thanks to Li Yi, a big-time businessman from Gangcheng had invested 100,000 yuan in the village to build a school, leading to the town’s central school relocating to Nianzishan Village.
To the villagers, this was truly a project that would benefit future generations and bring immediate benefits to the present!
So, everyone held Li Yi in the highest regard from the bottom of their hearts.
“Xiao Yi, I’m here to fetch water for your dad. Come on over—I’ll carry it for you!”
Seeing that it was Dongzi’s father, Li Yi didn’t hesitate and immediately brought over the two large iron buckets from his house.
“Uncle Leizi, aren’t you busy today? I didn’t see you out working,” Li Yi asked with a smile.
“How could I not be busy? Secretary Feng told everyone to gather at the production team at nine o’clock for a meeting, so I’ve had to take the morning off!”
Hearing this, Li Yi knew that Uncle Feng must be discussing the matter of raising cattle and sheep with the villagers. After all, this involved the interests of every member of the village, and a handful of village officials wouldn’t dare make the final decision on their own.
Just then, Liu Darei suddenly asked, “By the way, Yi, I heard from Dongzi that you’re planning to take a few of them to Beijing. Is that true?”
“Yes, the mushroom business fell through, so I thought I’d take them to Beijing for a bit. If we get a chance, we’ll make some money; if not, we’ll just treat it as a chance to broaden our horizons!” Li Yi replied.
He didn’t mention the restaurant plan—it wasn’t the right time yet.
“Alright then, take Dongzi with you when you go!” Liu Darei said.
“Uncle Lei, aren’t you afraid I’ll lose Dongzi?”
“Hahaha, compared to that, I’m more worried he’ll end up just like me—stuck in this backwater for the rest of his life!”
“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind!”
With that, Li Yi set off for home, carrying a large iron bucket filled with water!