At 1:00 PM, after an hour and a half of slow-cooking over low heat, Li Yi finally served his family the chicken and mushroom stew he’d prepared.
It was Tang Xue’s first time trying this famous Northeastern dish. The tender, flavorful old rooster paired with wild hazelnut mushrooms instantly won over the young woman from Qin Province.
Whether it was due to her pregnancy or not, Li Yi noticed that Tang Xue’s appetite was growing by the day!
Not to mention how much chicken and mushrooms she ate, she polished off two large bowls of plain rice alone.
Good grief, her appetite was rivaling that of a grown man like him.
And judging by the unflinching expressions on Third Sister and Dad’s faces, it was clear they were used to it by now.
But then again, Tang Xue was carrying twins—eating for three—so it made perfect sense that she’d be eating so much.
After the meal, once the table was cleared, the family gathered around the kang and started chatting.
Earlier, he’d discussed opening a shop in Beijing with Tang Xue and Third Sister, but his father hadn’t been there.
So Li Yi first went over the matter with his father, then outlined his plans for the future.
When Li Yi mentioned that he might have to shuttle back and forth between Qingshan County and the capital, Li Shankui couldn’t help but frown.
As an honest, down-to-earth man, he was fundamentally opposed to this idea. After all, people of his generation hoped their children would have stable livelihoods—not seeking to get rich overnight, but simply wanting them to avoid a life of constant travel.
However, upon learning that Li Yi’s restaurant was turning a profit of several hundred yuan a day, Li Shankui fell silent.
Although he was a bit worried about Li Yi, he knew his son had always been independent-minded and had a long-term perspective. Li Yi might not listen to his advice, and his own views might not be entirely correct.
Consequently, in a rare move, Li Shankui refrained from voicing his opinion this time. He simply insisted that Li Yi must abide by the law and avoid any illegal activities, and with that, the matter was considered settled.
After discussing this, Li Yi thought about his eldest sister’s postpartum confinement.
Although he had already decided in his heart to bring his eldest sister home for her postpartum confinement, he wasn’t the only one in the family. Such a major decision required discussion with the others.
“Dad, Xiao Xue, and Third Sister, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you all!”
“What is it? Go ahead!”
“I’d like to have my eldest sister come back to our family home for her postpartum confinement. What do you think?” Li Yi said.
“Postpartum confinement—at the old family home?” Li Shankui asked immediately.
Li Yi nodded and said, “You know what kind of people my eldest sister’s in-laws are—we can’t count on them at all. And over in the county seat, they’re living in the sugar factory dorms, which isn’t very convenient!”
Upon hearing Li Yi’s words, Li Shankui didn’t offer an opinion but shifted his gaze to his daughter-in-law standing nearby.
Li Na did the same; she didn’t speak either, but just looked longingly at Tang Xue.
This left Tang Xue completely flustered. She was just a new daughter-in-law—how could such a major decision be up to her?
With everyone staring at her like that, Tang Xue couldn’t help but feel a little flustered. She hurriedly said, “I have no objections!”
“It’s fine for Mei Zi to come back for her postpartum confinement, but once she’s back, you and Xiao Xue should move into the new apartment!”
Perhaps fearing Tang Xue might misunderstand, Li Shankui immediately explained, “Xiao Xue, don’t read too much into this. It’s just that women right after giving birth can be quite moody, and with a baby crying nonstop all day long, it’s easy for the noise to disturb you!”
Tang Xue knew her father-in-law meant well, so she replied immediately, “Father, I have no objections. Whatever you say goes!”
Li Yi, however, looked at his father with a touch of admiration. What his father had just said seemed simple on the surface, but it actually made a lot of sense.
A woman’s body is quite fragile after giving birth, and with her hormones constantly fluctuating, her moods are bound to be unstable.
On top of that, after giving birth, visitors are inevitable, and having so many people around naturally leads to some complications.
If there were sisters-in-law or younger sisters-in-law in the household at that time, having a married daughter return home for her postpartum confinement could very well lead to unnecessary conflicts.
That is precisely why, as a general rule, married daughters do not return to their parents’ home for the postpartum confinement period!
Plus, since Tang Xue is currently pregnant, Li Yi had already made up his mind.
Once he brings his eldest sister back, he and Tang Xue will move into the new house.
After all, the new place had been left empty for several months, so it would certainly be ready for them to move in.
At that time, his eldest sister and her child would be cared for by their mother and his third sister at the old house, while he would take care of Tang Xue at the new house—they wouldn’t get in each other’s way.
After discussing the matter, Li Yi noticed Tang Xue yawning repeatedly—she was clearly exhausted.
He immediately wrapped up the conversation and led Tang Xue to the west room.
……
Back in the young couple’s room, Li Yi first asked Tang Xue to wait for him on the kang.
He scooped the cold ashes from beneath the stove into an iron dustpan, added a few more pieces of charcoal, placed a teapot filled with water on top of the stove, and only then climbed onto the kang.
Once on the kang, Li Yi was about to find a spot to catch some sleep—after staying up all night, he was pretty exhausted.
But to his surprise, Tang Xue patted the spot next to her, motioning for him to lie down beside her.
Although he was a little worried that he might roll over and press against Tang Xue’s belly, he lay down next to her anyway.
Once they were lying side by side, Tang Xue placed Li Yi’s hand on her belly, letting him feel the movements of the two little ones inside.
The moment Li Yi’s hand touched her belly, he felt a slight tremor.
At first, Li Yi thought Tang Xue was just a little nervous, but he soon realized something was different—it was the little ones inside her moving.
When he clearly saw the outline of a tiny foot appear on Tang Xue’s belly, his mouth dropped open in surprise!
“Are they always this active?” Li Yi asked curiously.
“Not really. They usually only move around 2:00 PM and 10:00 PM. The rest of the time, they don’t move much!” Tang Xue said with a smile.
“I knew it! With all that movement, how could you possibly get any sleep?”
“That’s true. Whenever they move, I wake right up!”
“You’ve got your work cut out for you!”
Tang Xue smiled and said, “It’s not too bad. It was a bit hard to get used to at first, but I’ve gotten used to it over time.”
Li Yi suddenly remembered something and said immediately, “The verdict is in for Tang Jizhong and Tang Meiqin’s case. Did you know?”
“I heard it from Brother Long!”
Perhaps fearing Li Yi might worry about her, Tang Xue added, “When I first heard the news, I did have mixed feelings, but I’ve come to terms with it now. They got what they deserved!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “That’s right. Besides, they never really treated you like a member of the Tang family!”
“Yeah, let’s not bring them up again. It’s just upsetting.”
Li Yi paused briefly, then said, “Alright, we won’t bring it up again. Let’s go to sleep.”
“Okay!”
Watching Tang Xue slowly close her eyes, Li Yi couldn’t help but sigh.
He had originally wanted to tell Tang Xue about the recent events in Yong County, but seeing her lack of interest, Li Yi decided to hold off on that for now.
It was clear that the events involving the Tang family had deeply hurt Tang Xue, so it was best not to let her know about certain things.
However, thinking about what had happened over there, the corners of Li Yi’s mouth couldn’t help but turn up slightly!
In fact, Long Zhanjun’s visit had brought quite a few explosive pieces of news.
First, Tang Meiqin’s son, Liu Zhengyang, had been arrested and was likely facing prison time, though the case was still under trial and no verdict had been handed down yet.
Originally, given Tang Meiqin’s cooperation, Li Yi hadn’t planned to take action against him—that was the promise he’d made to her.
But he never expected the kid to be asking for trouble. After Tang Meiqin was arrested, the guy lost all restraint, completely let loose, and plunged headfirst into the gambling ring set up by Wu Dabaozi.
In just a few short days, that Wu guy swindled him out of a lot of money, and he racked up massive gambling debts.
To pay off his debts, he not only sold the house Tang Meiqin had worked so hard to save up for, but when that wasn’t enough, he stole and sold grain from the grain station where he worked.
It wasn’t long before the truth came out, and the grain station’s management turned him in to the police station.
And then there’s Tan Cheng—that bastard was clearly hooking up with Tang Bing, yet he still had his eyes on his own wife.
On top of that, this kid had played no small part in Tang Xue’s suicide in his previous life, so before he left, Li Yi told Long Zhanjun to make sure he took good care of that bastard.
Long Zhanjun didn’t disappoint Li Yi. After a series of maneuvers, he managed to sabotage Tan Cheng’s lousy job and ruin his reputation.
What no one expected, however, was that after his job fell through, Tan Cheng actually let loose—not only did he secretly start buying and reselling goods,
That would have been bad enough, but the kid also got involved with Tang Bing, who was already married.
Then there was Liu Ermaozi, the man who’d married Tang Bing—he’d been up to no good lately, getting cozy with several women at the steel mill, including his brother-in-law’s mistress.
My goodness, each piece of news is more explosive than the last.
Right now, Long Zhanjun’s people have already gathered quite a bit of evidence.
So this time, he came over to ask Li Yi if they should pull some strings behind the scenes to make them turn on each other.
Li Yi, of course, didn’t hold back. He immediately had Long Zhanjun send a message to Yong County, instructing the brothers stationed there to leak the details of Tang Bing and Tan Cheng’s affair to Liu Ermaozi.
Given Liu’s temperament, he certainly wouldn’t let it go, and there’d be quite a show to watch in Yong County.