“Woo…”
The green-painted train slowly pulled into Ning City Station. Li Yi stretched, picked up his simple bag, and walked to the door of the carriage, ready to get off.
Through the train window, Li Yi saw that the sky outside was looking rather gloomy.
Large snowflakes were drifting gently from the sky; the entire station was already blanketed in white, and the same was true in the distance.
Under normal circumstances, Li Yi would certainly have stopped to enjoy the snowy scenery, taking in the enchanting beauty of the snow-covered landscape.
But now, his mood was just like the sky outside—somewhat gloomy and oppressive!
He knew all too well the condition of the road from Ning City to Qingshan County; once heavy snow fell, the slippery roads and broken-down vehicles made travel impossible.
To prevent traffic accidents, operations would have to be suspended under these conditions.
In other words, he would likely be unable to return to Qingshan County today.
He might even be stuck for many days to come, unless the sun came out and the snow melted!
But winter in Saibei Province comes with its own built-in “cold buff”—once it starts snowing, it’s common for it to last three or four days.
So it’s not unusual for traffic to be cut off for ten days or even half a month!
The problem is, while he can wait, his older sister can’t.
Although his older sister giving birth doesn’t necessarily require him, her younger brother, to be by her side.
But when he thought of his eldest sister’s tragic fate in his past life—the miscarriage that led to massive bleeding and the loss of both mother and child—Li Yi couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
So, no matter what, he had to go back!
As soon as the train came to a stop and the doors opened, Li Yi quickly got off and headed toward the exit!
Once outside the train station, Li Yi didn’t hesitate; he headed straight for the bus station across the street.
As soon as he entered the station, he went straight to the ticket counter and asked the staff if the bus to Qingshan County was still running this afternoon!
The staff member replied that they hadn’t received any notice of service suspension yet, which gave Li Yi a slight sense of relief.
As long as there was no notice of suspension, there was still a chance—after all, there were less than two hours left before the bus was scheduled to depart.
In other words, as long as the station didn’t receive an official cancellation notice within those two hours, the bus would run as scheduled.
Without delay, Li Yi bought a ticket and immediately turned to leave the bus station.
Since he still had some time, Li Yi planned to head to the city’s main market to check the prices of dried goods.
For Li Yi, nearly all of his income from the past six months had gone into mushroom harvesting, and now his family’s total stock of dried mushrooms exceeded 100,000 jin.
Therefore, the price of dried goods directly affected Li Yi’s profits.
That was precisely why he was so concerned about the price of dried goods.
Back in the capital, Li Yi had often visited the market to check prices, and currently, a pound of top-quality dried mushrooms there had already risen to 1.7 yuan.
That means the batch of dried mushrooms at Li Yi’s home is worth at least 170,000 yuan!
However, this price is still somewhat below the peak price Li Yi had in mind.
Furthermore, transporting such a large quantity of mushrooms to the capital is a hassle, so Li Yi wanted to check the prices at the dried goods market in Ning City.
If the prices weren’t too different, selling them directly in Ning City would be a good option—after all, it would be more convenient.
But when Li Yi arrived at the big market in the city center and checked the prices for dried goods there, his heart sank.
Good grief, only 1.2 yuan.
This left Li Yi feeling helpless; 1.2 yuan was practically his cost price.
Keep in mind that it takes five pounds of fresh mushrooms to produce just one pound of dried mushrooms, and Li Yi’s purchase price was around 20 cents per pound. At 1.2 yuan per pound, his profit would be only 20 cents.
Clearly, this profit margin fell far short of Li Yi’s expectations.
Most importantly, the market in Ning City was limited in size, with a finite demand for dried goods. It simply couldn’t absorb the 100,000 pounds of dried mushrooms Li Yi had on hand. It seemed this shipment would ultimately have to be transported to Beijing.
With a touch of regret, Li Yi returned to the bus station.
It was already noon, so Li Yi had a bowl of noodles at the state-run restaurant right outside the bus station.
Afterward, he went to the station’s waiting room to patiently await the bus’s departure.
At 12:40, when the station announcement called for passengers bound for Qingshan County to check in, Li Yi’s mind finally settled.
……
At 4:30 p.m., the bus arrived in Qingshan County on time!
You have to admire the veteran driver’s skills—with snow this heavy, roads this terrible, and a bus this beat-up, he actually managed to arrive on time. I’m truly impressed!
After getting off the bus, Li Yi noticed that the snowfall in Qing Shan County was even heavier; the snow at the bus station was already a foot deep.
Fortunately, there was no wind; otherwise, in this weather, you wouldn’t be able to move an inch!
After leaving the station, Li Yi headed straight down the road toward the city center.
He wasn’t planning to go home just yet; instead, he intended to head to the sugar factory dormitory first to check on his older sister.
However, the bus station was outside the West Gate, while the sugar factory was on the outskirts—at least three kilometers apart.
There were neither buses nor taxis in town, so he had no choice but to walk.
After walking for an hour and a half, he finally reached the sugar factory before dark.
Good grief, even in the freezing cold, Li Yi had worked up a sweat.
The security guards at the sugar factory knew Li Yi was a friend of the factory director and the brother-in-law of Section Chief Yang from the Transportation Department, so they let him in right away.
When Li Yi told them he was there to visit his sister and brother-in-law, they escorted him to the door of Yang Wenguang’s dormitory.
At that moment, in the cadre dormitory, Yang Wenguang had just gotten off work and was cooking dinner for his wife and mother-in-law.
Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door. He immediately put down his spatula, walked to the door, and asked, “Who is it?”
“It’s me!”
The voice sounded somewhat familiar, but Yang Wenguang couldn’t quite place it.
However, assuming it must be someone he knew, he opened the door anyway.
When he saw Li Yi standing outside, covered in snow, Yang Wenguang was completely stunned.
He knew Li Yi had been in Beijing lately. Although Li Yi had said before leaving that he would definitely return before his older sister gave birth, Yang Wenguang had assumed he must be extremely busy—especially since just a few days ago, Li Yi had been scrambling to transfer staff to Beijing and had mentioned that the store there had already opened.
So Yang Wenguang had assumed Li Yi wouldn’t be back anytime soon. He never expected him to brave the wind and snow to rush back, and for a moment, he was completely taken aback.
Li Mei, who was sitting in a chair, saw her husband standing motionless at the door and immediately asked, “Who is it? Why aren’t you letting them in?”
Hearing his wife’s voice, Yang Wenguang finally snapped out of it and immediately said with a smile, “Meizi, look who’s here!”
With that, he pulled Li Yi inside!
Li Mei hadn’t expected her younger brother to show up so late either, and she was equally taken aback.
Zhang Yuehong was the first to react. She put down her needlework and came over to ask, “Xiao Yi, where are you coming from? Home or Beijing?”
“Beijing!” Li Yi replied, brushing the snow off his clothes.
“Did you just get back today?” Yang Wenguang asked in surprise.
“Yeah, I just got to the county seat at 4:30!”
Li Mei knew her brother was worried about her; he’d come to see her right after getting off the bus without even going home first. She was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes.
“Why are you crying? Don’t you want me to visit you?” Li Yi said with a smile.
“No, I just heard you’ve been really busy lately. Why come all this way just to see me? I’m just having a baby—it’s no big deal!” Li Mei said.
“That’s not good enough. I can’t rest easy unless I’m by your side!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“With your brother-in-law and Mom here, what’s there to worry about?”
Her older sister’s husband, Yang Wenguang, chimed in, “Xiao Yi, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? Sit down for a bit—I’ll go make some food!”
“Sure!”
However, just as her husband turned to head toward the kitchen stove to cook, he suddenly heard his sister-in-law cry out, “Ouch!” She then clutched her stomach and sat down in a chair.
Li Yi immediately rushed over and asked, “Big Sister, what’s wrong? Are you going into labor?”
“I don’t know, my stomach just hurts a little!” his older sister said, clutching her stomach.
His mother came over to check on her and said, “Labor hasn’t started yet, but looking at her, it won’t be long!”
Li Yi immediately said, “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s pack up and go to the hospital!”
But the older sister said, “Why go to the hospital? We can just have the baby at home. With Mom here, there’s definitely no problem…”
But before she could finish, Li Yi cut her off: “Enough. You’re going to listen to me on this one!”
Then Li Yi turned to his sister’s husband standing nearby and said, “Brother-in-law, we’ll pack our things. You go find a car—we’re heading to the hospital right now!”
“Alright!”
With that, Yang Wenguang hurried out the door.