Chapter 121: Inviting My Second Sister and Her Husband
Nianzi Mountain Village. The Li Family!
After seeing off his eldest sister’s husband, Yang Wenguang, and the others, Li Yi asked Tang Xue to keep his eldest sister company and help his second sister look after her eldest son.
Meanwhile, he took his second sister and her husband to the new house!
With the villagers’ help, construction on the new house was progressing faster than anyone could have imagined.
In just half a month, not only had three main rooms risen from the ground, but the side rooms, drying shed, storage shed, and tall courtyard walls were all completed as well.
The new house was now not only the most beautiful and well-proportioned residence in the entire village of Nianzishan, but also one of the few brick-and-tile structures in the village—a sight that made countless families envious!
Seeing this tall, beautiful house before them, Li Lan and Zhang Xuefeng were both stunned.
They knew their family’s financial situation all too well. Although their parents were hardworking, they could save at most a hundred or two hundred yuan a year.
And that was only if their younger brother didn’t get into trouble—otherwise, they’d be lucky not to have to dip into their own pockets!
A brick-and-tile house like this couldn’t possibly be built for less than a thousand or two yuan—where on earth did their family get the money?
When they thought back to all the nice things their younger brother had brought them that afternoon, and the fact that they’d just heard him arrange jobs in the city for their eldest sister and brother-in-law, they were even more stunned.
At that moment, Li Lan looked at her younger brother and asked, “Xiao Yi, tell your older sister the truth—has our family struck it rich?”
“I wouldn’t call it striking it rich, but I have made some money!” Li Yi replied.
A mere few thousand yuan might be a windfall to others, but to him, it was practically nothing.
“Who earned it?”
“Me, of course!” Li Yi replied.
Li Lan frowned and said, “You rascal, whatever way you made that money, you better not have done anything shady!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “What do you mean by ‘shady ways’? Do you really think I’m that unreliable in your eyes, Second Sister?”
“Yes!” Li Lan said with a serious expression.
Li Yi: “%￥#@#￥%……&”
This answer wasn’t exactly a surprise. Considering his past behavior, it made perfect sense that his second older sister would think that way.
Li Yi then briefly recounted the events of recent days to his second older sister and her husband.
Of course, he only mentioned what he could and should say; there were certain things he couldn’t reveal, so naturally, he kept them to himself!
Even so, after hearing Li Yi’s account, Li Lan and her husband were still utterly stunned.
They never imagined that in just a single month, their younger brother’s life could undergo such a dramatic transformation.
After a long silence, Li Lan said in surprise, “Xiao Yi, are you saying that just by selling mushrooms and running a street stall, you managed to build this brick-and-tile house and save several thousand yuan in just a month?”
“Yeah. If you count the money I’ve spent during this time, I’ve made nearly five thousand yuan in less than a month!”
“All this money came from my business. As for the kickbacks from Li Gang and Liang Yukui, those naturally don’t count toward this total.”
“F… five thousand yuan?”
Li Lan and her husband were completely dumbfounded!
There was a brick and tile factory in Yaogou Village. Besides earning work points in the fields, the couple relied on Li Lan’s husband to help out at the factory whenever he had free time.
But even so, at the end of the year, aside from their per-capita grain ration, the cash they actually received never exceeded 200 yuan.
Yet their younger brother had earned in less than a month what they had earned in 25 years combined—a fact that made the whole thing feel almost unreal to them.
Li Yi smiled and said, “Don’t be jealous. You guys couldn’t do this anyway. The state-run restaurant only buys mushrooms from me now—I’ve got an exclusive deal, so of course I’m making money!”
Li Lan suddenly fixed her gaze on Li Yi and said, “You’ve arranged jobs for Big Sister and her husband, and you’ve even taken Nana with you to set up a stall and make money. What’s the deal? Have you forgotten about me and your second brother-in-law?”
As soon as Zhang Xuefeng heard this, he hurriedly tugged at her sleeve and said, “Xiao Yi, don’t listen to your sister’s nonsense. We…”
Before he could finish, Li Lan snapped, “Zhang Xuefeng, get lost! This has nothing to do with you!”
Li Yi knew his second sister’s temperament, so he smiled and said, “Come on, Second Sister, how could I forget about you and your husband? There are plenty of opportunities to make money—I’ve already set everything up for you!”
“Really? Is it a job at the factory?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “If you want to work at a factory, that’s no problem. Just pick whichever one you like from the factories in our county.”
However, before Li Lan could speak, Li Yi changed the subject and added, “But I don’t actually recommend you work at a factory!”
“Why not? Working at a factory is such a prestigious job,” Li Lan said, frowning.
“Second Sister, do you know how much a factory worker makes a month these days?”
“About 36 yuan, I think. It hasn’t gone up in years!” Li Lan replied.
“Right. That means if you and my brother-in-law go to work at a factory, you’ll make a little over 860 yuan a year at most…”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Second Sister’s husband, Zhang Xuefeng, exclaimed in shock, “Good heavens! Over 800 yuan a year? That’s way too much!”
For them, this was equivalent to a fourfold increase in income—an incredibly tempting prospect.
However, Li Yi replied calmly, “That’s just the theoretical income. In reality, once you start working at the factory, you’ll have to buy your own food, plus other expenses—saving 600 yuan a year is already the absolute limit.”
“Six hundred yuan? That’s still a lot!” my second sister’s husband said.
Second Sister glanced at Zhang Xuefeng and said, “Look at you—Xiao Yi thinks a few thousand a month is pocket change, and you’re satisfied with 600 a year? What a loser!”
“Don’t be like that. How many people are as capable as Xiao Yi?” Second Sister’s husband retorted.
Li Yi immediately chimed in, “Second Sister, if you want to make big money, just follow my lead. I’ll guide you in business, and I guarantee you’ll earn far more than you ever would working in a factory!”
In his previous life, his second sister and her husband had been Li Yi’s most capable business partners. Though his second sister hadn’t had much formal education, she was bold yet meticulous, and possessed great drive.
With her holding down the fort for Li Yi, he could charge ahead with confidence.
In his previous life, Second Sister played an indispensable role in expanding Li Yi’s business empire to such a vast scale.
So, in this life, Li Yi still wanted his second older sister and her husband to help him.
Li Lan was clearly persuaded by her younger brother and immediately asked, “Xiao Yi, do you think this will work?”
“It’ll definitely work. I don’t have anyone I can trust right now, so I need you and my brother-in-law to come help me!” Li Yi said.
“Alright, the autumn harvest is coming up soon. Once it’s over, I’ll have your brother-in-law come find you!” Li Lan said.
“Alright!”
Then Li Yi pointed to the messy courtyard and the house under renovation and said, “But before we make any money, you two need to help me clean this place up first!”
Li Lan and her husband: “%￥#@#…”
…….