The Li Family’s New Home!
After seeing Li Gang off, Li Yi settled his eldest sister and young nephew into the west wing, where he and Tang Xue had previously lived.
After that, he packed up some personal belongings and brought Tang Xue over to the new house.
From now on, they would be living here permanently—at least until his older sister was out of her postpartum confinement!
Since most of their belongings had already been moved over, they only brought a few toiletries and traveled light!
Yesterday afternoon, while moving, Li Yi had already given the new place a thorough cleaning.
So, after they entered the house, Li Yi asked Tang Xue to sit on a stool for a moment while he lit the stove!
Lighting the stove is a skillful task; someone without experience might not be able to get it going.
Li Yi deftly stuffed a handful of hemp wood under the large iron stove, placed a few corn cobs on top, and added small pieces of coal.
With a single match, the fire was soon blazing!
Watching Li Yi bustling about, Tang Xue hesitated to speak, her expression a bit conflicted.
After getting the stove going, Li Yi poured some water into the iron teapot, preparing to boil a pot of water to pour into the thermos later.
Once he was done with that, he finally walked over to Tang Xue and said, “Just say what’s on your mind. This isn’t like you to be so tight-lipped!”
“What’s my style?”
“You really want me to say it?” Li Yi asked with a mischievous grin.
As soon as Tang Xue saw that look on his face, she knew he was definitely teasing her about how she’d boldly crawled into his bed earlier. She immediately shook her head and said, “No!”
“So what do you actually want to ask?”
“Can you please stop making things up from now on!” Tang Xue said.
“Talk nonsense?”
“Yeah, why did you have to tell Captain Wang’s older brother about that? Luckily, he didn’t take it seriously—otherwise, it would’ve been so awkward!” Tang Xue said.
She didn’t really want to bring up men’s business, but she felt that such baseless rumors shouldn’t be spread, so she couldn’t help but speak up to remind Li Yi.
However, Li Yi smiled and said, “How do you know I’m talking nonsense?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Of course not. I’m not the type to talk about things that aren’t true!” Li Yi said.
“Then how did you know he was going to get promoted? Do you really know how to read faces?” Tang Xue asked curiously.
“No, don’t believe in that stuff. I just have inside information!”
“Oh, I see. But it seems like Secretary Wang himself isn’t quite aware of this. What’s going on?”
“It’s really no big deal. It’s just that when the higher-ups came to Qing Shan County on an unannounced inspection, they happened to notice he’s quite capable and responsible, so they promoted him. Naturally, he has no idea about any of this!” Li Yi explained.
“Then how did you find out about this?” Tang Xue asked again.
“I happen to know the person who promoted Wang Anmin. I met him in Ning City a few days ago when I was back there, and he mentioned it to me!” Li Yi said, half-jokingly.
“Oh, I see. I was overthinking it!”
“Alright, you’ve been on your feet all day. Go lie down on the kang for a bit. I’ll gather some firewood to heat it up!”
“Okay!”
After settling his wife in, Li Yi went out to the woodpile, filled a wicker basket with hemp wood, and brought it inside.
Then he carried in an armful of dry branches and immediately lit the bed.
Winters in North Province were particularly cold; if the heated bed wasn’t properly warmed up, even lighting a stove wouldn’t be enough.
Most importantly, sleeping on a cold bed could make you sick!
Since Tang Xue was currently pregnant, Li Yi naturally dared not take any chances.
However, just as Li Yi had lit the stove, he heard a noise outside.
He went out to take a look and found Zhang Xinyao and Feng Qian standing outside the front gate.
“Come inside and talk—what are you doing standing out there?” Li Yi called out with a smile.
Hearing Li Yi’s words, the two women immediately pushed open the gate and walked into the courtyard.
Inside the house, Tang Xue had just lain down but hadn’t fallen asleep yet; upon hearing the noise, she sat up immediately.
When she saw that it was Zhang Xinyao and Feng Qian, the two young women, she immediately said happily, “Sister Xinyao, Qianqian, what brings you here?”
Zhang Xinyao smiled and said, “We came to see you, and we also have a few things we’d like to ask your Li Yi!”
“Then come on up to the bed and sit down. Let’s have a good long chat today!”
With all the snow and wind lately, she couldn’t go out with her big belly, so she’d been feeling a bit cooped up.
Seeing her friends from the educated youth commune naturally lifted her spirits.
Li Yi, meanwhile, said with a smile, “Spend the afternoon with Xue. I’ll make you some stewed meat for dinner!”
Zhang Xinyao immediately replied, “We couldn’t possibly accept that. We just came to ask you—when are you going to arrange for us to go to Beijing?”
Ever since Li Yi had spoken to them that night, the two of them had been waiting for him to arrange their trip to Beijing, but then Auntie San’s passing had occurred.
Knowing Li Yi had been busy those days and had no time for anything else, Zhang Xinyao and the others hadn’t come to bother him.
But now that Auntie San had been laid to rest, and Li Yi still hadn’t made a move, Zhang Xinyao and Feng Qian were starting to get restless.
Li Yi immediately replied, “I haven’t forgotten about this. I was just a bit busy the past few days, and with the snow blocking the roads, I couldn’t arrange for you to go!”
“Oh, I see. We thought you’d forgotten all about it!” Zhang Xinyao said with a smile.
“Not at all!”
Li Yi then added, “Here’s what we’ll do: go back and pack your things. Tomorrow, I’ll have someone take you to get your letters of introduction, and then I’ll arrange for you to go to Beijing!”
“Alright!”
After wrapping up the business talk, Li Yi continued stoking the heated bed. A heated bed like this needs to be stoked for a while; if you don’t keep it going long enough, it’s not much use.
Taking advantage of the moment, Tang Xue called Zhang Xinyao and Feng Qian over to the heated bed, and the three of them chatted happily.
Seeing how happily they were chatting, Li Yi decided not to join in.
Once the bed was properly heated, he asked Zhang Xinyao and Feng Qian to stay in the room and keep Tang Xue company for a while while he went out to run some errands.
Then, Li Yi got dressed and headed straight out the door!
……….
Li Yi first went to Yongzi’s house, called him over, and then the two of them went together to Xiaogouwa’s house.
When they arrived, Xiaogouwa was helping Ergouzi clean up the trash in the yard.
The courtyard had been left in a mess during the funeral a few days earlier, with plenty of trash left behind.
Now that the funeral was over, the two brothers decided to clear all the trash out; otherwise, it would be much harder to deal with once it started snowing in a few days.
Upon seeing Li Yi and Yongzi, Xiaogouwa immediately came over to greet them.
“Brother Yi, Brother Yongzi, what brings you here?”
“We came to see if there’s anything else we can help with, and also to have a chat with you two!” Li Yi said.
Xiaogouwa replied right away, “Everything’s taken care of. There’s nothing left to do. Let’s go inside and talk!”
“Alright!”
Then, the group went inside together.
Inside, Daya was tending the fire by the stove, while Erya was circling around her older sister.
Upon seeing Li Yi and Yongzi, the two little girls immediately greeted them!
Daya even went so far as to fetch bowls for Li Yi and Yongzi, intending to pour them some water, but Li Yi stopped her.
Time was tight; he still had to go back and cook for Tang Xue, Zhang Xinyao, and the others, so he needed to keep this brief.
“Yongzi, Xiaogouwa, I called you over today mainly to discuss our future plans and to hear your thoughts!” Li Yi said.
Yongzi immediately replied, “Brother Yi, go ahead—we’re all ears!”
“Well, I know your situation—it’s definitely not feasible for you to go to Beijing right now. So I wanted to ask if you’d be interested in helping me out here in the village!” Li Yi said.
“Brother Yi, whatever you say, we’ll do it. But what exactly can we do in the village?” Xiaogouwa asked.
“In the future, our village will be focusing heavily on livestock farming, and the cattle and sheep we raise will be shipped directly to Beijing to supply my shops there!” Li Yi continued, “And since I’ll inevitably be moving to Beijing permanently and won’t be able to stay in the village for long periods, the two of you will need to handle the village affairs for me!”
In Li Yi’s plan, Nianzishan Village was destined to become his livestock breeding base.
Right now, we might be supplying just one store, but in the future, it could be dozens of chain stores, so we must have a stable and reliable source of ingredients.
Buying from others is not only expensive but also lacks quality assurance, so raising the animals himself was the most reliable option.
But running a farm isn’t easy, and relying solely on his elderly parents clearly wouldn’t work.
Yongzi and Xiaogouwa were young and driven, and as people he trusted, they were exactly the kind of responsible candidates Li Yi had in mind.
“What about Uncle Li and Auntie?” Yongzi asked.
“My parents are getting on in years and aren’t in the best of health. They can lend a hand, but the main work will still fall on the two of you!”
Li Yi immediately added, “Of course, I won’t have you work for free—I’ll pay you a salary!”
Li Yi didn’t specify the exact amount; he was afraid of scaring the two young men.
“Alright, I’ll listen to Brother Yi!”
“Me too!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “Yongzi, go to my house tomorrow morning to catch the bus, then head to the educated youth camp to pick up Zhang and Feng. Take them to the commune to get their letters of introduction!”
“No problem!”
“Xiaogouwa, you don’t have to do anything for the next few days. Just take care of things at home first. In a few days, I’ll have a task for you to handle!” Li Yi said.
“Got it!”
………