The educated youth commune… the girls’ dormitory!
Seeing the brother and sister arrive so late at night, Zhang Xinyao and Feng Qian were both a bit surprised.
Especially Li Yi—when Zhang Xinyao had gone to the Li family’s house that morning to say goodbye to Tang Xue, he hadn’t even returned yet, and now he’d actually come to their educated youth commune in the evening.
“Come warm your hands by the stove. How did you manage to make it over in such cold weather?” Zhang Xinyao said with a smile.
“After he got back, he heard you were going back to the city and said he wanted to have a word with you!”
Li Na had been staying in the female educated youth dormitory quite often because of Tang Xue, so she got along very well with Zhang Xinyao and the others.
So she didn’t hold back at all; as she spoke, she walked straight over and squatted down by the stove!
Zhang Xinyao glanced at Li Yi. Although she didn’t know what he wanted to talk to her about, she asked, “Should we talk inside or outside?”
“Inside!”
Villagers love to gossip. If a man and a woman were seen alone outside, who knows what rumors would spread!
“Okay, then sit down. I’ll pour you some water!” Zhang Xinyao said.
“No need for water. I heard you’re planning to go back to the city?”
“Right. I got my transfer orders a few days ago. I’m planning to leave first thing tomorrow morning!”
Hearing this, Li Na, who was standing nearby, couldn’t help but glance at Li Yi. It really was a good thing he’d come over this late at night.
If she’d listened to her and come tomorrow, he would’ve probably already left.
“Have you made up your mind?”
Zhang Xinyao looked at Li Yi and said, “What’s there to think about? There’s no hope of staying here, and at least back home I’ll have a job!”
Li Yi immediately replied, “There’s something I’d like to discuss with you. See if it works for you!”
“What is it?”
“I’ve opened a shop in Beijing, and I’m short-staffed right now. I’d like you to come to Beijing to help me out. I’ll pay you a salary later!” Li Yi said, making a startling proposal.
“Me, go to Beijing?” Zhang Xinyao asked, looking completely stunned.
“Yeah, Dongzi, Qiangzi, Shitou, and a few others have already gone up there, but we’re still short-handed!”
Zhang Xinyao paused for a moment. Just as Li Yi thought she was going to take some time to consider it, she said directly, “Okay, then I won’t go back!”
Li Yi was taken aback by the girl’s decisiveness and blurted out, “Don’t you want to think it over?”
“No, I know you wouldn’t hurt me. Since you need me to help you, I’ll go!”
To be honest, Zhang Xinyao was truly grateful to Li Yi from the bottom of her heart.
Over the past few months, she and the other female educated youth had made a decent amount of money picking mushrooms with Li Yi.
Although they didn’t earn as much as Dongzi and the others, in less than four months, each of them had made at least 300 yuan.
Combined with the money and grain distributed by the village this year, Zhang Xinyao’s total income for the year exceeded 400 yuan.
It was precisely this money that had greatly eased the financial strain on her family.
Besides, she knew all too well what a mess things were at home. Rather than watching it all unfold and getting upset, she’d rather earn more money with Li Yi and send it back to them.
“Alright then. In a couple of days, once the snow melts, I’ll arrange for you to go to Beijing!” Li Yi said.
“Alright!”
Having managed to keep Zhang Xinyao without much trouble, Li Yi was feeling quite pleased. Just as he was about to head back early to tell Tang Xue the news, Feng Qian suddenly spoke up from the side!
“I… I want to go too. Is that okay?”
Li Yi was taken aback when he heard this!
As for Feng Qian, the female educated youth, Li Yi hadn’t had much interaction with her in his previous life; he’d only occasionally heard Zhang Xinyao mention her.
From what Zhang Xinyao had told him, Feng Qian seemed to be the most successful among their dorm mates—not only had she married a husband who doted on her, but she’d also managed to secure a permanent government position in the county.
“If you want to come along to Beijing, it’s not out of the question. I’m just a little worried I might hold you back—your family circumstances seem better than Xiao Xue’s and Sister Xinyao’s!” Li Yi said.
Feng Qian shook her head. “What’s there to hold me back? My family’s just average. Besides, if Sister Xinyao leaves, I’ll be the only one left here, and I wouldn’t dare stay on my own!”
“Since you want to come along, then let’s go!”
“Thank you!”
“Haha, you’re coming to work for me—I’m the one who should be thanking you!” Li Yi said with a smile.
Zhang Xinyao and the others heard this and laughed along!
…….
By the time they left the educated youth commune, it was already 7:30.
Li Yi had originally planned to go home, but as he passed by Xiaogouwa’s house, he heard a child crying inside, even though the lights were off.
Thinking of Xiao Gouwa’s situation, Li Yi immediately took Li Na by the hand, pushed open the gate, and walked in.
The room was pitch-black; he couldn’t see a thing, only hear the sound of a child crying.
Li Yi immediately called out through the door, “Aunt San, Xiaogouwa, are you home?”
The house fell silent, but no one answered Li Yi.
Realizing something was wrong, Li Yi and Li Na immediately pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Passing through the pitch-black main room, the siblings made their way straight to the inner room.
It was just as dark and cold inside.
It was the dead of winter, yet there was no fire burning in Xiaogouwa’s home—how could that be?
They searched the heated bed but saw no one; Third Aunt, who was usually bedridden, seemed to be missing as well.
Li Yi tried calling out, “Auntie San,” but still received no answer.
Fortunately, Li Yi always carried matches with him. He immediately pulled one out and struck it. By the faint light, he spotted two tiny figures in the corner beneath the edge of the kang.
Because it was so dark, the two little girls didn’t recognize Li Yi. The sisters clung tightly to each other, shivering.
“Daya, Erya, don’t be afraid. It’s Big Brother Yi!”
Perhaps recognizing Li Yi’s voice, the slightly older of the two, Daya, asked timidly, “Are you really Big Brother Yi?”
Li Na spoke up then: “Daya, it’s Sister Na. Come over here quickly—the floor is cold!”
Hearing Li Na’s voice, the two little girls instantly burst into loud sobs.
Hearing the children’s cries, Li Yi felt a pang of sorrow. He immediately stepped forward with his third older sister, and they each picked up one of the little ones.
After comforting them for a while, once the two little girls had calmed down, Li Yi asked, “Where’s your mom and your older brothers? Why are there only the two of you at home?”
“Mom’s sick. Big Brother, Second Brother, and Yongzi are pushing Mom to the doctor… Sniffle, sniffle…”
Although he had already suspected as much, hearing this still made Li Yi’s heart skip a beat.
Auntie San’s illness had been going on for quite some time; in fact, she’d been unwell even when Uncle San was still alive. He hadn’t expected Uncle San to pass away so early, while she’d managed to hold on until now.
And ever since Uncle San’s unexpected passing, the burden of the household had fallen on Xiaogouwa’s shoulders—it really was a heavy burden for him to bear.
“Do you know where your brother took your mom for treatment?” Li Yi asked Daya again.
“To town!”
Li Yi knew there was a small clinic in town, so it was clear that Little Gouwa had taken his mother there.
As for the two little girls, they were too young to bring along, so they had to stay at home.
Worried they might get burned by the stove or suffocate from the smoke, he simply put out the fire.
With that in mind, Li Yi immediately said, “It’s too cold at home. Why don’t we stay at Uncle Li’s house tonight?”
“Big Brother doesn’t let us just go to other people’s houses!” said the older girl.
“Uncle Li isn’t just anyone’s house. Come on, let’s go home and have some good food!”
With that, Li Yi picked up Daya, and Lina picked up Erya as they left Xiaogouwang’s house.
When they first left, Li Yi had intended to lock the door, but after searching everywhere, he couldn’t find the key, so he had to give up.
Besides, apart from that half-barrel of mixed grains, there wasn’t much of value in Xiaogouwa’s house anyway, so it didn’t really matter whether they locked it or not.
And so, Li Yi and Li Na took the two little girls back to the Li household!