Chapter 421: The Little Maid!
Beiguan Village. Village Entrance!
A filthy jeep drove from north to south, entering Beiguan Village.
Inside the car, Li Yi drove while speaking to his parents: “Dad, Mom, that’s where my shop is up ahead. Let’s stop by the shop for a bite to eat first, then I’ll find you a place to stay!”
“Alright!”
Then Zhang Yuehong remarked with some amazement, “Beijing really is huge and bustling—and the roads are so wide!”
“Mom, we’re not even close yet. This area around Beiguan Village is the suburbs—we’re still nearly twenty li from the city center!”
“Good heavens! We’re not even in the city yet?”
“No, after we finish eating, I’ll take you two into the city for a tour—we’ll see the Forbidden City, the Great Hall of the People, and the Monument!” Li Yi said with a smile.
No sooner had he finished speaking than his father, Li Shankui, said with a hint of solemnity, “All that is secondary. If you’re not too busy, take us to visit your in-laws this afternoon!”
Li Yi knew his father was eager to meet his grandchildren, so he immediately replied with a smile, “Sure, I’ll take you to the Jiang family’s place this afternoon!”
“Hmm…”
Then Li Yi turned to Juanzi, who had been sitting silently beside him, and said, “Juanzi, don’t be shy when we get to the shop. Qiangzi, Dongzi, Shitou, and Feng Zhqing will all be there!”
The young girl nodded, gave a soft “Mm-hmm,” and fell silent once more.
It was her first time traveling far from home, and she was going such a long distance without her parents by her side, so she couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.
Li Yi didn’t say much more; this was something she’d have to get used to on her own—no one else could help her with that.
Soon, the car pulled up in front of the hot pot restaurant!
After parking, Li Yi immediately got out, opened the rear left door, and helped his parents and Juanzi out.
Once everyone was out, Li Yi led them straight into his family’s restaurant.
As they lifted the curtain and stepped inside, a wave of rich, aromatic scents hit them. The enticing smells made everyone, including Li Yi, involuntarily swallow hard!
There was nothing to be done—they were simply too hungry.
It had been over six hours since they’d had a light breakfast around seven in the morning, so they were all famished.
The sound of the door opening startled Li Na, who was just coming out of the kitchen carrying a large aluminum tray filled to the brim with fried meatballs!
To her surprise, when she looked up, she saw her parents standing right at the door. Li Na immediately set the aluminum tray down on the dining table in the hall and then jogged straight toward the entrance.
“Dad, Mom, did Xiao Yi really come to pick you up?”
Then, Li Na spotted Juanzi standing with the group and asked in surprise, “Juanzi? What are you doing here?”
“There was a little trouble at Juanzi’s house. It was your Uncle Zhang who asked Xiao Yi to bring her to Beijing to stay for a while!” Li Shan Kui replied.
“Juanzi’s family…”
Seeing that her third sister was determined to get to the bottom of things, Li Yi took over the conversation and said directly, “Sis, hurry up and get us some food—we’re starving!”
“Sure! We’ve got freshly fried meatballs in the shop, and there’s stewed lamb and pork bones in the pot. What do you guys want to eat?”
Li Yi knew that these stewed meatballs were all prepared for tomorrow’s full-moon banquet.
With a banquet like this, there are so many dishes that it would be impossible to prepare everything on the day itself. Therefore, time-consuming main courses are either prepared in advance or made into semi-finished products.
On the day of the banquet, they could simply reheat them or finish preparing the semi-prepared items, which would save a lot of time.
“Give us a little of everything, and make sure to prepare plenty of steamed buns!” Li Yi said.
“Got it!”
With that, Li Na immediately headed for the kitchen.
While Third Sister was in the kitchen, Li Yi quickly found a table by the window and seated his parents and Juanzi there.
No sooner had they sat down than Li Yi saw Long Zhanjun, Dongzi, and the others emerge from the kitchen and walk toward them.
Upon reaching them, Long Zhanjun hurriedly greeted them: “Uncle Li, Auntie, you’re here?”
Li Shan Kui and Zhang Yuehong had a very favorable impression of Long Zhanjun; they smiled and nodded, then asked, “Are you busy?”
“It’s been okay. These past couple of days, we’ve just been buying and preparing ingredients—we haven’t actually been open for business!”
“I see. That explains it. I was wondering why such a big restaurant didn’t have a single customer!” Li Shankui remarked.
Li Yi smiled and said, “On a normal day, this would be the peak hour—the place would be packed with people!”
“It’s great to have a crowd. You run a restaurant—you shouldn’t be afraid of having too many people…”
Just then, Third Sister walked out carrying a large serving tray. On it was a big dish of braised lamb, a plate of braised spare ribs, and a plate of deep-fried meatballs.
On top of that, there were five or six large steamed buns!
“Dad, Mom, Juanzi, you guys eat first. I’ll go make some soup for you!”
After saying that, Li Na turned and headed back to the kitchen!
Since they were genuinely hungry, the moment the food arrived, they all began to wolf it down…
……..
After the meal, while everyone was taking a break, Li Na suddenly came over and asked, “Xiao Yi, where do you plan to have Mom and Dad stay tonight—the rental or the Jiang family’s place?”
“Dad doesn’t want to stay at the Jiang family’s place—it wouldn’t be appropriate. I plan to have Mom and Dad stay at the new house!” Li Yi said.
“What about Juanzi?”
Li Yi thought for a moment, then turned directly to Juanzi and asked, “Juanzi, do you want to go to school or start working?”
“Brother Yi… I… can I still go to school?” Juanzi asked, looking down.
“Of course you can. If you want to go to school, I’ll find you a school!” Li Yi said.
“But… but I don’t have any money…”
“Don’t worry about the money. Just go to school during the day, and when you get home at night, help Sister Xue take care of the kids and do some chores. I’ll cover your school expenses!”
“Okay, I’ll do as Brother Yi says!” Juanzi replied.
“Alright then, it’s settled!”
Li Yi had already thought this through on the way here. Juanzi was too young; although children her age in the village were indeed already working in the fields.
But Li Yi simply couldn’t bring himself to hire a girl who had just turned 14—and besides, it wouldn’t be legal.
So he’d already made up his mind on the way there: if Juanzi wanted to go to school, he’d let her continue her studies.
If she didn’t want to study, she could stay home to take care of Jiang Xue and work as a young nanny.
That’s right—a live-in nanny!
Given the family’s situation, they really did need a nanny.
After all, Jiang Xue was struggling to care for the two little ones on her own, and on top of that, she had to find time to study for her college entrance exams—she was clearly stretched too thin.
Lately, Zhang Xinyao and his mother-in-law had been helping out, but his mother-in-law’s health wasn’t great, and Zhang Xinyao was already exchanging flirtatious glances with Jiang Longcheng—who knew when they might get married?
Once they’re married, we certainly can’t keep asking Zhang Xinyao to look after Jiang Xue for every little thing!
As for Juanzi, while she might not be able to handle other tasks, taking care of the kids and doing some housework at home shouldn’t be a problem.
This way, he wouldn’t have to look for someone else, and Juanzi could stay at his home with peace of mind—a win-win situation!
After resting for a while at the shop, Li Yi decided to settle them into their accommodations first, considering his parents wanted to see their grandchildren that afternoon, before taking them to the Jiang family’s old mansion.
But to avoid being rude, Li Yi called the Jiang family’s old mansion before leaving to let Jiang Xue know they’d be visiting that afternoon!
After taking care of these matters, Li Yi finally led the group out of the hot pot restaurant!