Li Yi slept particularly soundly that night, and when he woke up, it was already getting dark outside.
Li Yi climbed out of bed and noticed that Tang Xue beside him was already up; only a thin quilt lay crumpled to one side.
At the same time, muffled voices could be heard faintly from the main room.
It must be Tang Xue chatting with Third Sister, but to avoid waking him, they were deliberately keeping their voices down.
Li Yi glanced at his watch; it was almost six o’clock. No wonder it was already so dark outside.
He immediately got up, put on his shoes, and walked out of the west room.
Seeing Li Yi push open the door, Tang Xue asked right away, “Why didn’t you sleep in a little longer? Did our talking wake you up?”
“No, I just woke up!”
Li Na, standing nearby, launched into her usual rant: “You slept through your nap until it was pitch black—what more do you want? That’s just Little Yi for you. If it were me or Big Sister or Second Sister doing that, Mom and Dad would’ve been yelling at us ages ago!”
Li Yi didn’t argue. At home, his parents did indeed favor sons over daughters—and they made no secret of it.
Actually, it wasn’t just the Li family; the vast majority of households in the village were the same.
“Where’s Dad?”
“He went out to tend to the mules and horses. He should be back soon!” Tang Xue replied.
Li Yi hummed in acknowledgment and asked, “What were you two talking about just now? I could hear you whispering back and forth from inside the house!”
Tang Xue replied immediately, “We were talking about Xinyao!”
“Xinyao? You mean Zhang Xinyao, the educated youth? What’s up with her?” Li Yi asked offhandedly.
“Xinyao is going back to the city. Sister Na and I were discussing whether to give her a little gift, just as a keepsake!”
“Zhang Xinyao is going back to the city? When is that?” Li Yi frowned.
Although Tang Xue didn’t know why Li Yi had that look on his face, she still said, “She came over this morning and told me that her family has already arranged her transfer back to the city. The brigade and the commune are willing to let her go, so it should happen in the next day or two!”
Li Na, standing nearby, interjected, “I don’t think she’ll be leaving anytime soon!”
“Why?” Tang Xue asked, puzzled.
“You’re so clueless! With all this snow, forget about getting to the county seat—even if you made it there, you still couldn’t get to the city!”
“You’re right. That means we still have a few days to prepare!” Tang Xue said, sounding a bit pleased.
Li Yi immediately chimed in, “You two seem pretty invested in this. Why do you insist on giving her a gift?”
“First, Xinyao is practically a fellow villager of mine. We get along really well, so she’s like a sister to me.”
Tang Xue continued, “Second, she’s such a kind-hearted person. When I first came to the village, I had a hard time adjusting, and she was the one who looked after me.”
“Especially during the time we weren’t married—she was the one who kept cheering me up. Otherwise, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through that period.”
At that moment, Third Sister Li Na chimed in: “To be honest, you should thank Xinyao too—she’s said plenty of good things about you to Xue!”
Hearing this, Li Yi paused to think for a moment, then asked, “Do you know anything about Zhang Zhique’s family situation?”
“I know a little bit. Xinyao’s family has four children; she’s the second oldest, with two younger brothers—one two years younger than her and the other four years younger.”
Tang Xue continued, “Her father works as a boiler operator at the county high school, and her mother is a temporary worker at a textile factory. Since they’ve always been struggling financially, a few years back they even had to rely on Sister Xinyao to save her food rations and send them back home!”
Li Yi immediately felt more confident and said, “I want to keep her here. Do you think that’s possible?”
“Keep… keep her?” Tang Xue asked.
“Keep her for what?” Li Na asked.
Li Yi knew this could easily lead to misunderstandings, so he paused to gather his thoughts before saying, “As you know, we have a store in Beijing. Business is booming, but we’re currently short-staffed!”
“You want Xinyao to go to Beijing to help you?” Tang Xue asked thoughtfully.
“Exactly!”
“Don’t you already have Brother Long and Qiangzi there? I heard you even brought that kid Liu San over. Isn’t that enough staff?” Li Na frowned.
“We run a restaurant, and there are actually a lot of tasks that aren’t suitable for men to do—like washing vegetables and serving dishes, or washing pots, wiping dishes, and cleaning up. Girls have a natural advantage in these areas!”
Li Yi continued, “Actually, I’ve been thinking about where to find a few hardworking and reliable women. Now that you mention it, I think Zhang Zhqing would be a good fit!”
“Why do you have to bring in outsiders? Can’t I, your third older sister, help you out?”
Hearing this, Tang Xue couldn’t help but laugh. She knew full well why Li Na was so eager to go to Beijing!
“Our shop is five or six hundred square meters—that’s bigger than our entire courtyard. One or two people won’t cut it; I reckon we’ll need at least four or five women!” Li Yi said.
Tang Xue thought for a moment and said, “If that’s the case, I could ask Sister Xinyao. How much do you plan to pay them?”
“I heard from Sister Xinyao that the job she got back home is at a cannery, and she makes about 25 yuan a month. We definitely can’t pay them less than that!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “So do you know how much I pay Dongzi, Qiangzi, and Shitou?”
“No idea!”
“100 yuan!”
“A year?”
“A month!” Li Yi said.
Hearing this, Tang Xue and Li Na were both stunned—this wage level was completely beyond their wildest imagination!
Although they had grown accustomed to Li Yi’s “huge” daily earnings of several hundred yuan during this period, the Li family’s expenses for collecting mushrooms were also substantial. Essentially, they would settle the bill at the state-run restaurant in the morning and distribute the money to the village members as soon as they returned.
In reality, after several months, the Li family hadn’t saved much money.
Precisely because of this, they were actually quite sensitive about money and didn’t consider 100 yuan to be a small sum just because they were earning a lot.
On top of that, they knew that their eldest sister and brother-in-law, working their butts off at the sugar factory, barely made 72 yuan a month combined.
And yet Dongzi and his friends—just teenagers—were actually making a hundred yuan a month. How could they not be surprised?
“Isn’t a hundred yuan a month a bit too much?” Tang Xue whispered.
Li Yi nodded and said, “It is a bit high, but they’re brothers who’ve been working hard alongside me—it’s only fair to give them a little extra!”
“So do you plan to give Sister Xinyao a hundred-yuan salary too?”
“Since she’s your good friend and spoke so highly of me, I’ll give her 100 yuan too. But I can’t do that for anyone else!”
Li Yi had his own thoughts on the matter of wages.
It’s only natural for the founding members to be paid more—not only should their salaries be higher, but they could even be given equity incentives when necessary.
But for everyone else, paying above the industry average is sufficient.
But to Tang Xue, those words carried a different meaning: “It’s because of you that I want to keep her; and it’s because of you that I’m offering her a higher salary.”
So, upon hearing Li Yi’s words, Tang Xue was utterly moved.
“You… you’re so good to me!”
Seeing the look of gratitude on Tang Xue’s face, Li Yi knew she had misunderstood.
But he didn’t correct her—this misunderstanding was rather sweet, and explaining it would take away the charm.
More importantly, some things simply couldn’t be explained—like why he wanted to keep Zhang Xinyao around!