Chapter 924: Peking University Daycare!

The next morning!

After a night of hard work, Li Yi was fast asleep when a rustling sound reached his ears, jolting him awake.

Opening his eyes, he saw that Jiang Xue was already up, dressing the two little ones.

“Huh, so early?”

“You go back to sleep. We’re heading to school!” Jiang Xue said.

Hearing they were going to school, Li Yi sat up straight on the bed and said, “Wait, I’m coming too!”

“No need. With Zhang Feng tagging along, nothing will go wrong. You were completely exhausted last night—you should get some more rest!” Jiang Xue said.

Exhausted?

Li Yi was taken aback by his wife’s sudden change of pace—she’d practically run him over with her words.

“It’s not that I don’t trust her—I just think this day is pretty meaningful. After all, it’s Yunrui, Yunjin, and Ruirui’s first day of school. I have to document it!” Li Yi said.

That’s right—today wasn’t just Jiang Xue heading to school; Yunrui, Yunjin, and little Ruirui were going too.

In other words, starting today, the three little ones—Li Yunrui, Li Yunjin, and Yang Rui—would be attending daycare, and not just any daycare, but the one on the campus of Beijing University.

Li Yi had originally planned to have his older sister stay home to look after the little ones, but unexpectedly, she was pregnant with her second child. With the situation having changed, he had no choice but to send the children to daycare.

Actually, for a family like the Lis, hiring a few nannies would be quite suitable, but Li Yi didn’t do that.

For one thing, finding a suitable nanny was difficult; given his family’s circumstances, not just anyone could be allowed into their home.

On the other hand, hiring a nanny carried risks. There was no way around it—many things that would be commonplace in later times were considered utterly outrageous in this era.

Take hiring a nanny, for example. Although there was no explicit ban against it, those who could afford to hire one were typically families with elderly relatives who needed care.

If young people like them dared to hire a nanny, word would get out, and it would easily damage his and Jiang Xue’s reputation.

In this day and age, reputation is more important to a person than ability or education. It doesn’t matter if you lack ability or education; as long as you’re willing to work hard, you won’t starve to death.

But if your reputation is tarnished, the consequences are far more severe than the “social death” of later generations. It’s no exaggeration to say that it could endanger not just your job or career, but even your very life.

Especially starting next year, how many people have been inexplicably rounded up and put on government rations simply because of a bad reputation?

So, after discussing it as a family, they decided to send the three little ones to daycare, where they would be looked after by professionals, giving both the eldest sister and Jiang Xue some peace of mind.

To make daily drop-offs and pick-ups more convenient, Jiang Xue decided to have the children go with her to Capital University and attend its on-campus daycare.

Although not just anyone’s child could get into the university’s on-campus daycare, for Jiang Xue—with the Jiang family backing her—it was no problem at all.

After making a phone call to her mother, Ye Lingyun, the matter was quickly settled…

Before long, Li Yi was up!

After washing up and having a simple breakfast prepared by his older sister, the group set off in two cars, a grand procession.

When the cars arrived at the entrance of Jingcheng University, Li Yi and Jiang Xue carried Yunrui and Yunjin, while Zhang Ziqiang carried Ruirui. Accompanied by his older sister, Zhang Feng, and Zhou Wen—who was holding a camera—the group headed straight for the university’s on-campus daycare center.

As they approached, they spotted Li Yi’s mother-in-law, Ye Lingyun, and a woman in her forties or fifties standing at the entrance of the daycare center from a distance.

Upon seeing Li Yi and Jiang Xue, Ye Lingyun immediately came over to greet them.

It was then, through Ye Lingyun’s introduction, that Li Yi and Jiang Xue learned the middle-aged woman beside her was none other than Jiang Chaoya, the director of the daycare center.

After briefly discussing the three children’s situation, Jiang Chaoya asked Li Yi and Jiang Xue to take the children inside the daycare center.

Normally, that would have been the end of it—they would simply come back in the evening to pick the children up.

But what they never expected was that when they handed the children over to the daycare teachers, the kids refused to go along with it and started wailing at the top of their lungs.

This startled Li Yi, Jiang Xue, and their older sister Li Mei. As first-time parents who had raised the children themselves from infancy, they simply couldn’t bear to see them like this.

Seeing this, the three of them immediately stepped forward to take the children and comfort them.

Jiang Chaoya, seeing this, immediately stepped forward to reassure them: “All children react this way on their first day at daycare. Don’t worry—they’ll adjust in just a few days.”

Hearing this, they finally handed the child back to the teacher.

But hearing the children’s cries, Li Yi and the others were still a bit worried.

Fortunately, after Jiang Chaoya repeatedly assured them that everything would be fine, the group finally left the daycare center, looking back every few steps.

After leaving Beijing University, Li Yi turned to Zhou Wen and asked, “Did you get it all on camera?”

“Got it all!”

“Great. Have someone develop the photos later. These are the little ones on their first day of school—we’ve got to keep them safe!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“Brother Yi, where are we going now?” Zhang Ziqiang asked.

“Let’s take Big Sister home first, then we’ll head to the company!” Li Yi said.

“Got it!”

The car then pulled away, heading straight for the Li family’s courtyard house.

Just as he had escorted Big Sister inside, Li Yi was about to head to the branch office when he saw Yang Miao, who had been staying at home, rush out and say, “Brother Yi, wait…”

Hearing Yang Miao’s call, Li Yi stopped immediately and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“The Commander just called looking for you,” Yang Miao said. “When he found out you weren’t home, he asked me to tell you to call him back as soon as you return!”

“Which commander are you talking about?”

“It’s the old man from the Jiang family!” Yang Miao said cautiously.

“Oh, I see!”

With that, Li Yi strode back to the main hall, picked up the phone, and dialed the Jiang family’s ancestral home.

“Ring ring…”

The call was answered quickly, and a young voice came through the receiver: “Hello, who’s this?”

“Secretary Jiang, this is Li Yi. Please put the old man on the line!” Li Yi said.

“It’s Comrade Li Yi, isn’t it? Hold on a moment!”

Then, there was a rustling sound over the line, followed by the Old Master’s familiar voice: “I hear you sent the two kids to daycare?”

“Yeah, my older sister is pregnant, and Xiao Xue and I don’t have enough time to watch them all the time, so…”

Before Li Yi could finish, the old man cut him off: “You don’t have time, but I do. Helping you look after the kids is the perfect way to pass the time!”

Li Yi’s mouth twitched. You’re almost eighty years old—how could I possibly ask you to do that!

“Grandpa, let’s not do that. Even though you’ve stepped back from the front lines, you’re still serving as an advisor—you can’t possibly keep an eye on two little kids all the time!”

“Why not? Do you think I’m too old and useless now, you little rascal?”

Li Yi didn’t want the old man to keep harping on this. He knew the old man loved Yunrui and Yunjin and genuinely wanted to help look after them, but it simply wasn’t realistic.

He quickly changed the subject: “No… no. By the way, Grandpa, you were in such a hurry for me to call back—has everything been arranged with Old Chen?”

Hearing this, the old man replied as expected, “Mm-hmm. I spoke with Old Chen on the phone. He’s canceled his plans for tonight. Just be at the old house by six o’clock!”

“Alright, I’ll be there on time!”

“Alright, give some thought to the financial aspects and be thoroughly prepared!” the old man advised.

“Got it…”

……….