Nianzishan Village. The Feng Family!
After returning from the county seat, Li Yi drove straight to the home of Feng Kai, the village party secretary.
He had already made arrangements with Factory Director Liang: tomorrow morning, his sister’s husband would arrive in the village with a convoy to load the sheep and transport them to Beijing.
At that time, Long Zhanjun would meet them in Beijing, take the sheep directly to the cold storage facility for slaughter, and then store them in the warehouse.
According to Li Yi’s plan, while he was transporting the sheep tomorrow, it would be best if the village also distributed the proceeds from the sale to the villagers at the same time—that way, everything could be handled in one go.
However, this wasn’t entirely up to Li Yi, and he didn’t want to get involved—he’d leave it to Feng Kai, the village Party branch secretary.
As the village’s most respected veteran Party branch secretary, this was exactly the kind of thing he excelled at.
When Li Yi arrived, Feng Kai was tidying up the yard with his wife.
Seeing Li Yi push open the door and step inside, he immediately set down the shovel he was holding and came over to greet him.
As soon as they met, Feng Kai couldn’t wait to ask, “Xiao Yi, how’s it going? Are you all set over there? Can we sell those sheep in our village yet?”
It was no wonder Feng Kai was so anxious; he was truly at his wits’ end.
That morning, several more families from the village had come to him, hoping to borrow some emergency grain from the production team—otherwise, they’d have nothing to eat.
But the problem was that the only grain the production team had left was seed grain. If they lent it out, how would they manage next month’s spring plowing?
Seeds are not like ordinary grain; they’re carefully selected after the autumn harvest, with every single grain required to be plump and full—it’s certainly not something you can just grab any old grain and call it seed.
Once the seeds are consumed, they cannot be replaced—even with money—since no one is willing to sell seeds.
More importantly, it wasn’t just one or two families in the village facing food shortages—it was dozens of households.
Nianzi Mountain Village has fewer than a hundred households in total, and at least half of them are currently short on grain. If we open this floodgate, we’ll be truly finished.
“Uncle Feng, I came here to discuss this very matter with you. My end is all set—a convoy will arrive tomorrow morning to haul the sheep!” Li Yi said.
“Hahaha, that’s wonderful!”
Then, with a touch of emotion, Feng Kai added, “Xiao Yi, the villagers will get through this crisis entirely thanks to you. I’m thanking you on their behalf!”
“Uncle Feng, please don’t say that. I owe everyone this. If the villagers hadn’t been so forgiving, given my reckless behavior in the past, I’m afraid…”
Before Li Yi could finish, Feng Kai cut him off: “You young man, why bring up the past? Everyone has their youthful days!”
Li Yi nodded without speaking. Although the villagers didn’t make a big deal out of it, there were some things Li Yi himself could never forget.
He’d been a troublemaker since childhood. Fighting and brawling were one thing, but he’d also often led Dongzi, Qiangzi, and the others in causing trouble for the villagers.
In the summer, they’d steal fruit; in the fall, they’d dig up the production brigade’s yams and roast them on the mountain.
That was bad enough, but when he was truly broke, he’d even steal chickens from the production brigade.
Such incidents weren’t exactly major crimes, but if they were pursued, they could have landed him in serious trouble.
However, when it came to such matters, the village officials would at most go to his father and ask him to discipline his son more strictly; they never once considered turning him over to the police or anything of the sort.
Li Yi had kept all these memories close to his heart!
That’s why, after his rebirth, Li Yi added a specific item to his wish list: to lead the villagers out of poverty and into prosperity, ensuring everyone could live a good life.
With that in mind, Li Yi said again, “Uncle Feng, I’ve withdrawn the money today. Please let the villagers know to gather at the village office tomorrow morning—we’ll be distributing the money to everyone!”
“Alright, alright, I’ll let them know right away!”
“Hmm, and while you’re at it, please discuss with Uncle Zhang and Uncle Chen exactly how we should distribute this money!” Li Yi said.
“We’ve already discussed this. Half will be distributed equally among the entire village population, and the other half will be divided equally among the members participating in the cattle and sheep breeding program!” Feng Kai replied.
“Good, as long as the villagers have no objections!”
“It’s all been discussed and agreed upon, so there definitely won’t be any objections!”
“Then it’s settled. I’ll head back now,” Li Yi said.
“Alright!”
With that, Li Yi left the Feng household.
No sooner had Li Yi left than Feng Kai hurried over to the village office next door.
As soon as Li Yi returned to his own courtyard and parked his car, he heard the village loudspeaker suddenly blare.
“Attention, comrades of Nianzishan Village! Everyone must assemble at the village committee office tomorrow morning. We’re going to sell the sheep and divide the proceeds…”
……..
Back at home, his mother, eldest sister, and second sister were preparing yam fish on the kang, but his father was nowhere to be seen.
Seeing Li Yi push open the door, his second sister asked while kneading the dough, “Xiao Yi, I just heard the loudspeaker announce that we’re selling the sheep and dividing the proceeds tomorrow. Have you settled things over there?”
“Yeah, it’s all taken care of!”
Saying this, Li Yi casually set the cloth bag he was holding on the edge of the kang, then went to the kitchen to fetch a bowl, intending to pour some water.
Li Lan thought her younger brother had bought something delicious again, so she immediately opened the cloth bag.
When she saw what was inside, she let out a gasp of surprise.
Her reaction startled Zhang Yuehong and Li Mei, who were standing nearby, but when they followed Li Lan’s gaze, they too were left speechless with astonishment.
When Li Yi returned to the main room carrying the bowl, he saw that his mother and two sisters had stopped working and were all gathered around the cloth bag where he’d put the money, staring blankly at the sack full of “Great Unity” banknotes.
“Xiao Yi, is this the money that’s supposed to be distributed to the villagers tomorrow?” Li Lan asked.
“Right. Since we took the village’s sheep, we naturally have to pay them!”
“It’s such a big bag—how much money is that?”
“There’s a total of 40,000 yuan in the bag, but I don’t think we’ll need that much tomorrow—35,000 at most!” Li Yi said.
“That’s still a lot. Our village has fewer than three hundred people. Even if we divide thirty thousand yuan among us, each person would still get a hundred yuan!”
Their eldest sister, Li Mei, chimed in, “That’s quite a lot. A regular third-level worker at our sugar factory only makes 36 yuan a month—100 yuan would cover three months’ wages for us!”
Unlike her two sisters, their mother was more concerned about another matter.
“Xiao Yi, will you and Xiao Xue get a share when the village distributes the money tomorrow? Oh, and Yunrui and Yunjin too…”
Before she could finish, the second sister immediately interjected, “Why wouldn’t they get a share? Xiao Yi’s family is part of our village too. It wouldn’t make any sense not to give them a share!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Mom, Second Sister, even if the village gives me this money, I can’t accept it!”
“Why can’t you take it? What’s the reason for not taking it?” Li Lan frowned.
“Hehe, according to my agreement with the village regarding the money, I’ve already taken half the profit from these sheep. Why bother quibbling over a hundred or eighty yuan…”
Before Li Yi could finish, his father, Li Shankui, suddenly called out from the main hall, “Well said!”
Immediately afterward, his father pushed open the door and walked in, carrying several free-range chickens with their legs tied together.
“Dad, where did you get these chickens?” Li Yi asked curiously.
“The commune gave them to you. They said you should take them to the capital to help your wife regain her strength!” Li Shankui said.
“Dad, I don’t need that over there…”
“I didn’t plan on keeping them either, but Uncle Zhang and Uncle Feng insisted I bring them back. If I hadn’t, they would have delivered them to your doorstep themselves!” Li Shankui said with a hint of exasperation.
“Alright, then.”
Then his father spoke again: “I heard everything you said earlier. You did the right thing. You’ve already taken the lion’s share. If you were to split the rest of the money, people might not say anything to your face, but they’d certainly have complaints in their hearts. It’s not worth it over a hundred or two yuan!”
“Dad, I understand!”
“Hmm, good that you understand!”
Then Li Shankui asked again, “By the way, when do you plan to return to the capital? Are you going back with the convoy tomorrow?”
“I’m not leaving tomorrow. I plan to finish distributing the money to the villagers first, then move the old house over to the new property. I’ll leave after the move is complete!” Li Yi said.
“No need. We’re living just fine here; there’s no need to…”
Before his father could finish, Li Yi cut him off: “Father, that’s final. You’ll do as I say!”
Seeing that his son was determined to help them move, Li Shankui knew there was no changing his mind. He nodded immediately and agreed!