The night passed without incident!
At five o’clock the next morning, Li Yi got up early.
He started the car and drove north, heading straight for Yaogou Village, where his second older sister lived.
He planned to bring his second older sister to the old family home to stay for a few days and keep his eldest sister company.
Since his parents had finally made the trip to Beijing, Li Yi wanted them to enjoy their stay for a few days. He planned to take them around the city, visit the Forbidden City, and stroll through Wangfujing.
Although Li Yi hadn’t planned exactly how long his parents would stay in Beijing, it wouldn’t be too short—after all, they weren’t busy right now.
And Li Yi himself was in the same boat—having just wrapped up the cotton mill project, he planned to take some time off as well!
But with his parents gone for such a long stretch, he naturally worried a bit about his eldest sister, Li Mei, back home.
With his parents gone, it would be just her and her young nephew at home, which would be somewhat inconvenient.
In addition to fetching water, stoking the stove, and cooking, the most important task was caring for the mule and horse at home—providing hay, feed, and water. His eldest sister certainly wouldn’t be able to handle it all on her own.
Actually, Li Yi had considered bringing his older sister along to the capital, treating it as a little vacation.
Unfortunately, she flatly refused. Aside from the fact that no one would be left to look after the house, she also felt the child was too young to make such a long journey.
With no other choice, Li Yi could only bring his second sister to live with him!
The jeep jolted along the gravel roads of the northern countryside.
It had to be said that the infrastructure in Qing Shan County was truly abysmal. The entire county didn’t have a single decent paved road; in most areas, the main thoroughfares were all gravel roads like this.
The potholes and rough terrain were bad enough, but after a snowfall, the roads became even more treacherous.
To be honest, only a jeep could barely manage it; if it were a regular sedan, it would likely break down before getting very far.
Yaogou Village isn’t far from Nianzishan Village—less than twenty kilometers—so Li Yi arrived quickly.
By then, it was just beginning to get light out.
Li Yi parked the car in front of his second older sister’s house and got out.
The house was quiet; clearly, his second older sister and her husband hadn’t gotten up yet.
It wasn’t even March yet, and the local spring plowing hadn’t started, so ordinary families didn’t have much important work to do; they usually slept in until seven or eight o’clock.
The wooden gate wasn’t locked, so Li Yi simply pushed it open and walked in.
He went to the front door and gave the wooden door a push, but found it wouldn’t budge—it must have been propped open with a doorstop.
Li Yi then lifted the cotton curtain to peek inside and, sure enough, heard his second sister’s husband, Zhang Xuefeng, snoring loudly.
Without hesitation, Li Yi began knocking on the window while calling out for his second sister to open the door…
In her sleep, Li Lan seemed to hear someone calling out from outside.
She instinctively kicked Zhang Xuefeng beside her and murmured, “What’s that noise? Go check it out!”
Although Zhang Xuefeng was reluctant, the habits ingrained in him over years of being a devoted husband under his wife’s thumb compelled him to sit up on the kang.
The moment he opened his eyes, he thought he heard his brother-in-law’s voice.
Just as he was wondering if he’d misheard it, his brother-in-law Li Yi’s voice rang out again from outside.
Zhang Xuefeng snapped awake instantly. He hurriedly threw on a robe, got out of bed, and went to the entrance of the main room, asking, “Who is it?”
“Second Brother-in-Law, it’s me, Li Yi!”
Hearing that it really was his brother-in-law, Zhang Xuefeng immediately removed the bar from the door and opened it.
As Li Yi pushed the door open, a blast of cold wind swept in, causing Zhang Xuefeng—still wearing only his thermal underwear—to shiver involuntarily. He immediately slammed the door shut.
“Yi, when did you get back?”
Zhang Xuefeng asked as he led Li Yi into the house.
“Yesterday afternoon!”
At that moment, Li Lan, who was in the room, woke up. Seeing that it was her younger brother Li Yi, she immediately turned on the light and sat up in bed.
“It’s barely a few o’clock—why did you come over so early in the morning?” Li Lan asked, a bit puzzled.
“I’m here to take you back to our family home for a few days!”
“What’s going on? Why all of a sudden do you want to take me back to our parents’ house? Is it about Mom and Dad…”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Yunrui and Yunjin are about to celebrate their one-month birthday, and I plan to take Mom and Dad to Beijing for a visit…”
Li Yi then explained the situation to his second sister and her husband.
After hearing Li Yi’s explanation, Li Lan finally let out a sigh of relief and said, “When do you plan to return to the capital?”
“We’ll leave in a little while!”
“So soon?”
“Yeah, I’ve got some very important matters to attend to back there!”
“Oh, then I’d better get packing!”
Li Lan quickly got out of bed and began packing her things.
While Second Sister was packing, her husband first poured Li Yi a glass of water, then said, “When you were in eighth grade, your sister and I went back to her parents’ house. Third Sister (Li Na) gave me five thousand yuan, saying you told her to give it to me. Actually, you didn’t need to give that much!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Just keep it. That’s what we agreed on!”
“But it wasn’t that much. We agreed you’d pay me five cents per pound, and I only bought about 40,000 to 50,000 pounds at most. I couldn’t possibly take that much from you!”
“Dried goods are fetching higher prices this year, so I’ve made more than expected. It’s only fair that I give you a little extra!”
“But…”
“Alright, let’s not bring this up anymore!”
Then Li Yi added, “By the way, Second Brother-in-Law, are you busy? If not, you’re welcome to come along with my second sister!”
“I’ll pass. We’ve got plenty of grain at home. If both you and my sister were to leave, someone might break in!”
“That works too!”
Just then, my second sister’s husband suddenly asked, “By the way, Yi, are you still picking mushrooms this year?”
“No, I won’t.”
“Well, do you think I could harvest them?”
Li Yi thought about this year’s prices for dried goods. Overall, they were a bit lower than last year; the going rate for a pound of dried goods was only about 1.6 to 1.7 yuan. Compared to the village’s purchase price, there was still a profit to be made.
“Sure. You know how to harvest and dry them now, so you might as well treat this as a side business!” Li Yi said.
With Li Yi’s support and encouragement, Zhang Xuefeng immediately grinned and said, “Then I’m really going to do it!”
“Go for it. You handle the collection in the village, and once it’s dried, I’ll help you find buyers in Beijing. As long as the quality is good, you won’t have any trouble selling it,” Li Yi said.
“Hahaha, that sounds great!”
Then Zhang Xuefeng added, “I don’t plan on going too big—collecting three or four thousand pounds should be enough!”
“Don’t make it too small—it’s not worth shipping to Beijing if it’s too little! If the money from the mushrooms isn’t enough, I’ll set some aside for you later,” Li Yi said.
“Alright…”
Just then, Li Lan had nearly finished packing up. She immediately reminded Zhang Xuefeng to take good care of his son, Zhang Ning, at home, and only then did she signal to Li Yi that they could leave.
After that, the sister and brother left the Zhang household and headed back to Nianzi Mountain Village along the same path.
By the time they returned to Nianzishan Village, it was nearly 6:30.
When they entered the house, their mother had already prepared breakfast, but their father was nowhere to be seen.
Upon asking, they learned that their father had gone to the well to fetch water.
He planned to fill both water jars so that it would be more convenient for their eldest and second sisters when they needed water.
Just as they were talking, a series of heavy footsteps and the creaking sound of a pole being dragged by a heavy load came from outside.
Soon, Li Yi saw his father walk in carrying two large water buckets, followed by a timid little girl…
…….