Chapter 427: Old Huang’s Trouble!

Beijing. Hot Pot Restaurant!

“Ring-ring-ring!”

The urgent ringing of the phone made Li Yi, who had just stepped away from the counter, stop in his tracks. He turned back and picked up the phone.

“Who is this?”

“Is this Brother Li Yi? It’s Huang Lixing here!”

Actually, Huang Lixing didn’t need to identify himself—Li Yi knew it was him right away. That distinctive Hong Kong-accented Mandarin was something mainlanders just couldn’t pull off.

“Old Huang, it’s been ages! What made you think to call me?” Li Yi said with a laugh.

“Nothing much. My brother-in-law gave me your number…”

Old Huang’s broken Mandarin was indeed hard to understand. Before he could finish, Li Yi couldn’t help but say, “Old Huang, just speak Cantonese—you know I can understand that!”

“Alright, my Mandarin really isn’t that great!”

“Then you’d better practice your Mandarin more. You’ll definitely need it when doing business on the mainland—not everyone can understand Cantonese like I can!” Li Yi said with a laugh.

“Alright, I’ll work on learning Mandarin more from now on!”

Huang Lixing then continued, “After Ah Ying sent me your number yesterday afternoon, I meant to call you, but some things came up and delayed me.”

“I heard yesterday was your niece and nephew’s full-moon celebration. I’m really sorry I couldn’t make it!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “It’s no big deal. Once the weather warms up, you and your wife should come to Beijing—we can get together!”

“That’s a great idea. We’ll do that when the weather warms up!” Huang Lixing agreed.

Li Yi suddenly recalled Chen Chuying’s hesitant expression from that day. A thought struck him, and he immediately asked, “Old Huang, how have things been for you lately?”

“Great! Everything’s going smoothly!”

“Really going smoothly?”

Old Huang’s voice on the other end of the line paused for a moment, then he said with some surprise, “Brother, have you figured something out again?”

“That’s none of your business. Just tell me—what exactly happened?” Li Yi asked in a low voice.

Huang Lixing was silent for a moment, then said, “There’s been a bit of a problem with the business, but I can handle it!”

“I’m guessing it’s not exactly legitimate business, is it?”

Huang Lixing’s voice trembled slightly before he replied, “Right, someone in Hong Kong is trying to take me down!”

“Why are they after you?”

“Brother Li Yi, you know I used to be part of a triad in Hong Kong. Some of my dealings involved the gray market.”

Huang Lixing continued, “Ever since Amin was born, I suddenly lost interest in the triad’s business. I’d planned to become an honest businessman from now on, but I didn’t expect those guys in the triad to refuse to let me step back, so things have gotten a bit tense.”

Hearing this, Li Yi immediately understood.

Huang Lixing wanted to wash his hands of the underworld, but others weren’t happy about it, leading to a conflict between the two sides.

Li Yi could certainly understand why Old Huang wanted to go straight.

After all, he’d spent the first half of his life as a desperado—lugging heavy loads at the docks, slashing people on the streets—surviving amidst a hail of bullets and a fog of blood. It was only after narrowly escaping death time and again that he’d managed to make a name for himself.

Now, nearing fifty, he’d grown weary of a life of violence.

With the birth of his daughter, it made perfect sense that he’d want to retire, cut ties with the underworld’s feuds and vendettas, and live out the rest of his life in peace.

But his thinking was still too naive—is the underworld really a place you can just walk away from whenever you want?

“Old Huang, tell me straight—what kind of business are you running on Hong Kong Island?” Li Yi asked in a low voice.

Huang Lixing, on the other end of the line, paused briefly before replying, “Mainly smuggling, and a few casinos on the side!”

“What exactly are you smuggling?”

Li Yi needed to know exactly what kind of business he was in before he could decide whether to help him; after all, there were certain lines that simply couldn’t be crossed.

“Cars, home appliances, cigarettes, and so on!”

“Any drugs?”

“No, my operation doesn’t deal in that!” Huang Lixing said.

“You really don’t?”

“Yeah, I’m from Humen!” Huang Lixing said.

Hearing this, Li Yi felt reassured. He thought for a moment and asked, “Old Huang, do your smuggling routes involve the mainland?”

“No, they don’t. We’re smuggling appliances and cars from Japan and South Korea into Hong Kong. Our ships don’t even go near mainland waters—we have no choice; the inspections are too strict!” Huang Lixing said.

“If that’s the case, I don’t think it matters if you hang up your hat!” Li Yi said, making a startling remark.

“Brother Li Yi, what do you mean by that?”

Li Yi sighed and said, “Old Huang, your current situation isn’t right for you to hang up your hat!”

“Why?”

“If you quit now, it won’t end well for you!” Li Yi said.

“Well…”

At that moment, Li Yi spoke again: “Old Huang, do you read wuxia novels?”

“Of course I do. There aren’t many people in Hong Kong who don’t read wuxia novels!”

Li Yi immediately replied, “Since you read novels too, you should know that those who try to wash their hands of the underworld and retire rarely meet a good end. More often than not, they fail to retire and end up with their families destroyed and their lives ruined.”

“Well…”

“Have you read Jin Yong’s *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer*?”

“I have. I’ve read that book three times from cover to cover!” Huang Lixing replied.

“Then do you remember Liu Zhengfeng, the junior disciple and leader of the Hengshan Sect in the book? He had originally planned to wash his hands of the martial arts world and retire. Yet on the very day he was to retire, he was dragged back into conflict. Not only did he watch his family members die one by one right before his eyes, but in the end, his entire family was wiped out. Isn’t that tragic?”

Hearing Li Yi’s words, Huang Lixing’s spirits sank to the depths.

Then, in a heavy voice, he said, “Brother Li Yi, are you saying that if I ever retire from the underworld, my family could be destroyed?”

“It’s possible! If you retire now, you’ll not only put yourself in danger, but you’ll also drag your family down with you!”

Li Yi wasn’t trying to scare Huang Lixing; there were simply too many cautionary tales to draw upon.

It’s no easy feat to wipe away all the merits, demerits, honors, and disgraces of one’s past in the underworld in a single day.

Once you set foot in that world, you become entangled in a web of debts and grudges with others—how could anyone possibly remain untouched and walk away unscathed?

Washing your hands of the underworld means you’ve let down your guard and have no intention of killing—why would your enemies in the underworld pass up such an opportunity?

Furthermore, for a major figure like Huang Lixing, there are always intricate web of interests connecting him to others in the underworld—it’s not something one can simply walk away from at will.

If he were to step back, he would inevitably sever the chain of interests. Others would see him as having harmed their interests—and if not him, then who else?

“So what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to live this life of violence and bloodshed forever?”

Huang Lixing continued, “In the past, I didn’t really see anything wrong with this kind of life. But ever since Amin was born, I’ve suddenly grown tired of it. All I want is to be there to watch Amin grow up!”

Li Yi immediately replied, “I understand how you feel, but the underworld has its own rules. You can’t just come and go as you please!”

“Then what should I do?”

“Keep running your business, but at the same time, start preparing to retire completely!” Li Yi said.

“What kind of preparations?”

“Protect yourself!”

“Protect myself?”

“Exactly. People will come after you because your withdrawal harms their interests, and once you retire, you’ll lose the influence that made others fear you!”

Li Yi continued, “Before, people didn’t dare mess with you because they respected your standing and connections in the underworld. Once you step back, you’ll be nothing more than a toothless tiger—no one will fear you anymore!”

“So, if you want to retire from the underworld peacefully, first of all, you mustn’t infringe on anyone else’s interests—including those of your partners and subordinates.”

“Second, you must always retain the power to keep others in check, so they dare not act rashly!”

After hearing Li Yi’s words, Huang Lixing frowned and said, “If that’s the case, can I still call it ‘washing my hands of the underworld’?”

“Yes, you have!”

Then, Li Yi thought of something and immediately said, “Don’t worry about this just yet. In a little while, I’ll make a personal trip to Guangdong Province, and I’ll teach you how to break the deadlock then!”

“Alright, then I’ll be waiting in Guangdong Province for you, Brother Li Yi!” Huang Lixing said.

“Alright, I’ll give you a call before I go!”

“Alright…”

……….

The night passed without incident!

Early the next morning, Li Yi got up early!

After changing the two little ones’ soaked diapers, he headed to the kitchen to cook.

To his surprise, by the time he got there, Third Sister had already finished cooking the porridge.

Seeing Li Yi come in, she said to him, “Look at this fire—I’ll go out to the street and buy some steamed buns or fried pancakes!”

“I’ll go!”

With that, Li Yi turned and headed straight out the door.

The temperature in Beijing had already risen considerably in March. Although it was still a bit chilly early in the morning, it no longer had that bone-chilling cold of January and February.

There were quite a few street vendors out. Knowing his mother had never tried jianbing guozi before, Li Yi immediately bought two sets of jianbing and five or six large meat buns before heading back home.

By the time he returned, Jiang Xue and the child had already woken up.

Whether it was because they were hungry or something else, as soon as he walked in, he heard the child crying inside.

He placed the breakfast he’d bought on the dining table, then took off his padded coat to let the chill in his clothes dissipate a bit, so it wouldn’t transfer to the child.

After doing all that, he finally walked into the inner room.

Inside, Jiang Xue was breastfeeding their son, while Yun Jin, in her grandmother’s arms, was crying loudly.

“Mom, let me handle this!”

“You’re a grown man—how could you possibly comfort a baby…”

Before she could finish, Jiang Xue interjected, “Mother, just give Yunjin to him. This little girl is especially close to him!”

Hearing her daughter-in-law’s words, Zhang Yuehong handed her little granddaughter to Li Yi with some hesitation.

Strangely enough, as soon as the little girl was in Li Yi’s arms, she sniffled once, then quickly stopped crying.

She even looked up at Li Yi and gave him a gentle smile, leaving Zhang Yuehong, who was standing nearby, marveling at the sight.

Witnessing such a heartwarming scene, she finally realized that her own “little troublemaker” had truly changed.

Even though her son had made a fortune in the past and amassed a substantial family fortune in a very short time, Zhang Yuehong still harbored some concerns.

After all, in her eyes, the things her son did were just like a gambler placing a bet: if he won, he’d be a millionaire; if he lost, he could lose everything—it was completely unpredictable.

But seeing her son gaze tenderly at his little granddaughter, without a trace of impatience on his face—it didn’t seem like him at all.

That expression was almost exactly the same as the one her husband had worn when he held her son all those years ago.

Her son had finally grown up. He would surely become a responsible father just like his own father!

Li Yi had no idea that in just that brief moment, so many thoughts had flashed through his mother’s mind.

After helping Jiang Xue finish feeding the baby, they placed the two little ones on the kang, and the group hurried to eat breakfast.

It was Mother’s first time trying pancakes, served with warm, stomach-soothing millet porridge—the combination was simply divine, and she couldn’t stop raving about it.

After breakfast, his mother and Jiang Xue stayed home to look after the children, while Li Yi took his third older sister and left the house, heading straight for Beiguan Village.

……..

Since Jiang Longcheng had driven him home the previous night and then taken the jeep with him, the two had no choice but to take the bus to the shop.

After over an hour of traveling, they finally arrived at the shop at 9:15.

At that moment, Long Zhanjun was leading Dongzi and the others in preparing ingredients, while Father and Juanzi were also lending a hand.

The full-moon banquet was over, and the restaurant was set to reopen today.

Seeing Li Yi and Li Na walk through the door, Long Zhanjun immediately came over and said, “Brother Yi, Director Jiang just stopped by. He asked you to give him a call as soon as you arrived—he has something he wants to discuss with you!”

Hearing Long Zhanjun call him “Brother Yi,” Li Yi immediately felt a sense of unease.

Although Long Zhanjun was older than him, Li Yi had lived for several decades in his previous life, so he didn’t mind Long Zhanjun calling him “brother.”

But now that he was dating his third older sister—and would soon be her husband—he felt a bit of a burden calling him “Yi.”

“Alright, I’ll give him a call right now!”

Li Yi then went to the front desk and immediately dialed the number for Jiang Longcheng’s office.

After a few rings, Jiang Longcheng’s booming voice came through the receiver: “This is Jiang Longcheng. Who’s this?”

“Third Brother, it’s me!”

“Brother-in-law, hahaha, you’re finally awake!”

“Third Brother, I heard you came to the store first thing this morning. What’s up?” Li Yi asked right away.

“Well, the factory released its February revenue figures a few days ago, and I wanted to discuss them with you…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi cut him off: “My father-in-law already told me about that!”

“I know, man. You wouldn’t believe those jerks at the factory—when they found out we made 1.19 million in just 20 days, they were all stunned. Seeing their faces was pure satisfaction, hahaha!” Jiang Longcheng said smugly.

“Come on, is all this fuss really worth it over such a small amount of revenue and profit? Let me tell you, a measly million-plus a month doesn’t even meet the passing grade—what’s there to be happy about?”

Li Yi knew this guy’s personality—he was the type to get a big head at the slightest success. If he didn’t knock some of the wind out of his sails, who knows how big he’d blow his own horn.

“Uh… Brother-in-law, that’s 1.19 million. How is that not even passing?” Jiang Longcheng said, looking dejected.

“Let me ask you this: what annual profit target is specified in the agreement I signed with the factory?”

“20 million!”

“Then let me ask you this: what’s 20 million in profit averaged out per month?”

“Well…”

“It’s 1.666 million yuan. In other words, the cotton mill has to make at least that much profit every month for me to get my dividend. Do you think this month’s 1.19 million is enough?”

“No… no!” Jiang Longcheng said, sounding a bit dejected.

“So, you guys still have to work hard from here on out. Otherwise, I’ll have worked for nothing this whole year!” Li Yi said.

“Alright, alright. We can’t let all your hard work go to waste, can we?”

Then Jiang Longcheng added, “By the way, I called you here today to discuss expanding production!”

“Oh, what do you have in mind?”

“It’s not about what I want to do. Comrade An Hong came to see me yesterday and said he wants to open flagship stores in Shanghai and Guangzhou in a few days—and he plans to open four stores in each city!”

Jiang Longcheng continued, “Don’t you think opening that many stores in one place all at once might be a bit much?”

Li Yi didn’t answer his question but asked in return, “Third Brother, do you know how many permanent residents there are in Shanghai and Guangzhou?”

“I… I don’t know!”

“Shanghai has at least ten million, and Guangzhou has three or four million. Is opening four specialty stores in cities that big really too many?” Li Yi asked.

“Then that’s certainly not too many!” Jiang Longcheng said.

Li Yi immediately continued, “It’s not just Shanghai and Guangzhou—we need to set up specialty stores in major cities like Chuncheng, Rongcheng, and Jinling as soon as possible, and make sure the staff is properly trained. We have to seize the market before the other cotton mills have a chance to react!”

“Hahaha, hearing you say that puts my mind at ease!”

“Right! We might as well take bigger steps—we won’t fall flat on our faces!” Li Yi said.

“Alright, got it. I’ll have to go now—I’ve got a meeting with those bastards!”

“Alright, dxmbang!”

But just as Li Yi was about to hang up, Jiang Longcheng’s voice came through the receiver again: “Oh, right, there’s something I forgot to tell you. Jianhua asked me to let you know that he’ll be coming over to hang out with the two of us after work tonight!”

“Alright, got it!”

After saying that, Li Yi hung up the phone this time.

However, just as Li Yi was about to go talk to his father, the phone he’d just hung up suddenly rang again…

………

“Ugh!”

The first thing Li Yi felt when he opened his eyes was the room spinning, and his head was heavy and foggy—the aftereffects of a hangover.

He lay on the kang for a while, and once the discomfort in his body had eased slightly, he slowly sat up.

He looked around and realized he was actually in his new house.

“Wasn’t I hosting a full-moon banquet for the baby? How did I end up back at the courtyard house?”

Li Yi’s memory was still stuck at the full-moon banquet—he’d completely blacked out!

But after thinking for a moment, he finally remembered: the full-moon banquet had been a huge success, with a large number of relatives and friends coming to support him.

They had originally expected sixty or seventy guests, but unexpectedly, over a hundred people showed up, which made Li Yi very happy.

During the toasting session at the end of the banquet, to express his welcome and gratitude, he refused his third sister’s suggestion to swap the wine with water and instead went around to every table with a small wine cup to toast everyone.

Although he only drank a small cup at each table, there were more than ten tables, and by the time he made his way around the entire room, he had downed nearly half a pound of liquor.

Man, with his drinking capacity—where just two liang of baijiu would send him crawling under the table—the consequences of downing that much all at once were predictable.

So, he was pretty much out of the picture for what happened afterward!

He glanced at his watch—it was already past eight o’clock!

He looked outside—it was pitch black; night had clearly fallen.

Hearing murmurs coming from outside, Li Yi got up, put on his shoes, and walked out of the bedroom.

Opening the door to the living room, Li Yi saw his third older sister chatting with his mother on the sofa, but neither his father nor Juanzi was there.

Hearing the sound of Li Yi opening the door, the two immediately stopped talking, and their eyes all turned to him.

“Xiao Yi, you’re awake. Just wait a moment—Mom will bring you some food!”

Before his mother could get up, his third older sister stood and headed straight for the kitchen next door, muttering as she went, “You really are something. You can’t hold your liquor, yet you try to prove yourself. You’ve made a fool of yourself!”

Li Yi gave an awkward smile and said, “I was just in a good mood today!”

“You can’t drink that much just because you’re happy. Don’t you know how worried your father, mother, and Xiao Xue were when they saw you crawl under the table?”

“Yeah, I won’t do that again!”

With that, Third Sister brought Li Yi a small bowl of warm millet porridge from the kitchen, along with two large white steamed buns.

“Don’t eat anything greasy after drinking—have plenty of porridge!”

“Got it!”

Li Yi then took the bowl and chopsticks and began eating heartily.

Although dinner was simple, for someone who’d been drinking, nothing could have been more comforting.

After finishing his meal, his stomach felt warm and cozy, and that queasy feeling vanished instantly.

“Mom, where are Dad and Juanzi? I don’t see them.”

“They’re at your shop!”

“What are they doing there…”

Before he could finish, Third Sister chimed in, “You just drank until you dropped, but someone’s gotta clean up the mess you left behind after your ‘adventures,’ so Dad and Juanzi stayed at the shop to help out!”

“So that’s how it is. Does that mean they won’t be coming back tonight?” Li Yi asked.

“Probably not. It’s so late—how would they get back? Don’t do anything so reckless again…”

Watching Lao San constantly nag at her son, Zhang Yuehong hurriedly interjected, “Come on, Nana. After all, it’s the baby’s full-moon celebration today—it’s understandable if he had a few too many!”

Hearing her mother’s words, Li Na couldn’t help but shake her head.

The reason her younger brother had turned into such a good-for-nothing was precisely because their mother had spoiled him rotten.

Every time the kid got into trouble outside, whenever her father and second sister wanted to discipline him, her mother and eldest sister would do everything in their power to stop them.

Over time, this had fostered the fearless, street-wise attitude of a troublemaker.

“Mom, Third Sister is right. I really was in the wrong this time!” Li Yi admitted his mistake of his own accord.

Just then, the door next to them opened, and to Li Yi’s surprise and delight, Jiang Xue walked in.

“Xiao Xue, you’re back too? I thought you’d be spending the night at the old family home tonight!”

Jiang Xue smiled and said, “This is our home, after all. I haven’t been here once since we bought it. Now that I’m finally out of my postpartum confinement, I just had to come take a look!”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Third Sister “mercilessly” exposed the lie of her best friend and sister-in-law: “Give it a rest. You’re just worried about this kid. He’s just had a few drinks—what’s the big deal? And you even called me back specifically to take care of him!”

Jiang Xue’s face flushed, and she retorted, “What? Are you blaming me for interrupting your romantic moment?”

“No, don’t say that…”

Hearing Jiang Xue’s words, Li Yi suddenly recalled how, earlier that morning when he’d gone to the kitchen to look for Long Zhanjun, the guy had given him a somewhat evasive look.

Combined with the resentful tone in his third sister’s voice just now, Li Yi immediately sensed that things weren’t looking good.

Could it be that the two of them had finally taken the plunge, and she’d actually made Long Zhanjun her brother-in-law?

“Third Sister, just tell me the truth—are you and Dalong…”

“Mm-hmm!”

“You… you two are together?” Li Yi asked urgently.

“We are together!”

Li Yi instinctively glanced at his third sister’s stomach, and Li Na, noticing her brother’s strange look, blushed and said, “What are you thinking? We’re not as quick as you and Xuexue—we’ve just made our relationship official!”

“You haven’t slept together yet?”

“No, no way!”

Li Yi breathed a slight sigh of relief; he’d genuinely feared the two of them might lose control and make things official before they were ready.

It wasn’t that he wanted to oppose them—in his previous life, both his third older sister and Dalong had ended up alone, and neither had found happiness in the latter half of their lives.

If the two of them could end up together, it would actually be a decent choice.

But Li Yi understood men well: they never cherish what comes too easily. Besides, in this day and age, getting pregnant out of wedlock could severely damage a woman’s reputation, and Li Yi certainly didn’t want Third Sister to be the subject of gossip.

Although, given his third sister’s feisty personality, she might not care about such things, Li Yi did.

So, it’s fine for the two of them to date, but it’s best not to cross that final line before marriage.

At that moment, Zhang Yuehong, who had been watching the spectacle from the sidelines, suddenly realized: Could it be that her third sister had actually started dating Comrade Xiaolong?

After the initial shock, Zhang Yuehong immediately asked, “Nana, are you really dating Xiaolong?”

Upon hearing this, Li Na instinctively lowered her head.

No matter how carefree she was, discussing her love life in front of her parents was still a bit embarrassing.

“Well, say something!” Zhang Yuehong urged.

“Um…”

Although Li Na’s voice was soft, Zhang Yuehong heard her clearly. She immediately exclaimed excitedly, “Oh my, thank goodness! You’ve finally found someone, you little girl!”

The moment those words left her mouth, everyone else in the room was stunned!

“Mom, what are you saying? Aren’t you afraid I’m being taken advantage of?” Li Na frowned.

“If he were going to deceive me, he would have done so long ago. It’s too late for me to say anything now. Besides, I can tell Xiaolong is a good fellow—you’d be lucky if he didn’t take advantage of you!” Zhang Yuehong said.

Li Yi and Jiang Xue couldn’t help but burst out laughing upon hearing their mother’s words.

That was truly their mother—no one else would understand their third sister so well.

In truth, Li Yi knew that his mother and others like her weren’t just worried about him—the troublemaker—but had also been fretting over his third sister’s marriage prospects all along, and they felt a twinge of guilt about it.

Normally, girls in the neighborhood start looking for a husband at seventeen or eighteen, and most are married by the time they’re twenty.

But their third sister was already 25 this year and hadn’t even found a husband yet.

At this age, she was already considered an “old maid” in the local community. On top of that, the Li family’s financial situation had never been particularly good, so any young man with even slightly better prospects wouldn’t even consider her.

Her parents had lost count of how many gray hairs they’d gained worrying about her marriage.

“Mom…”

“All right, this is wonderful news. We’ll find a time to make this official!” Zhang Yuehong said with a smile.

To be honest, she never imagined happiness would come so suddenly.

When she went home for the New Year, the third son hadn’t even mentioned this.

The New Year had barely ended, and yet such a major matter had already been settled—how could she not be happy?

“Mom, aren’t we rushing things a bit?” Li Na asked, blushing.

No sooner had she spoken than Jiang Xue chimed in with a laugh, “Don’t pretend—you’re dying to marry into the Long family as soon as possible!”

Caught red-handed, Li Na was instantly “flustered and angry,” and retorted, “How dare you talk to your elder cousin like that! Just you wait, I’ll teach you a lesson!”

With that, Li Na charged at Jiang Xue, and in an instant, the living room was filled with the sounds of the girls playfully wrestling…

……..

March 6, 1981—the first day of the second lunar month!

Today was Yun Rui and Yun Jin’s full-moon celebration. Li Yi got up early in the morning, went out to buy a dozen or so large meat buns, and brought back a small bowl of millet porridge.

After a simple breakfast, Li Yi took his parents and Juanzi to the Jiang family’s old residence.

He planned to take Jiang Xue, the babies, and both sets of in-laws to a photo studio in town to have some pictures taken.

In those days, without smartphones, people couldn’t snap photos of their loved ones anytime, anywhere, so they could only go to a studio to have pictures taken on special occasions.

In the car, Li Yi said as he drove, “Dad, Mom, how did you sleep last night?”

“Not bad!”

In contrast to his father’s terse reply, his mother, Zhang Yuehong, was quite different. She smiled and said, “I think it’s more comfortable and warmer than our house back in the village, though it does use a lot of coal!”

“Mom, if you’re cold, just keep adding coal to the stove—we certainly don’t lack the money for it!”

To be honest, even though it had been nearly a year since his rebirth, Li Yi still hadn’t quite adjusted to the prices of this era.

Take coal, for example: a ton of top-quality refined coal cost just over thirty yuan, which worked out to an average of one fen and five li per jin.

Keep in mind that forty years later, the price of a single ton of coal easily exceeded 1,000 yuan, and at its peak, it even briefly surpassed 2,000 yuan.

Back in those days, apart from industrial goods, the prices of everything else were really quite affordable.

“I see, but I think it’s a lot warmer here in the capital than back home!” said Mother.

“Heh, that’s because the dimensional level here is lower…”

“What dimension?”

Hearing this, Li Yi was instantly stumped—how was he supposed to explain this to his mother?

Just then, Juanzi, who was standing nearby, suddenly said, “Auntie, ‘dimension’ here means ‘north-south.’ We all know that the further south you go, the warmer and more humid the climate gets. The capital is located a bit further south, so it’s warmer!”

“Oh, I see!” Mother said, looking as if a light bulb had gone off in her head.

Li Yi quickly added, “Besides the influence of latitude, there are also all these tall buildings in the capital blocking the wind. Most of the wind gets blocked out, so the temperature naturally stays warmer!”

“That makes sense…”

As they chatted and laughed, the car arrived at the Jiang family’s old mansion.

Li Yi asked his parents and Juanzi to wait in the car while he went into the Jiang family’s old residence alone.

Inside the old residence, Jiang Shiying and his wife, along with Jiang Xue, were already waiting.

When they saw Li Yi enter, Ye Lingyun first asked him if he had eaten yet.

After receiving an affirmative answer, the group prepared to set off.

Li Yi and Jiang Xue each took a child in their arms, while Jiang Shiying carried a cloth bag filled with clean clothes and diapers, and the group set off in a grand procession.

Actually, regarding the photo shoot, Li Yi had considered bringing the old man along as well.

But Jiang Shiying thought it wasn’t appropriate—after all, the old man’s status was special, and it wasn’t suitable for him to go out.

She also mentioned that the old man’s 80th birthday was coming up soon, so if Li Yi wanted to take a photo with him, they could do it at home then!

For this very reason, the old man wasn’t included in the family portrait this time.

After seeing Jiang Xue and the child off in his father-in-law’s car, Li Yi returned to his own small SUV, started the engine, and led the way.

Li Yi had already picked out the location for the photoshoot—a state-run photo studio near Wangfujing Street.

Rumor had it that this studio not only boasted state-of-the-art equipment but also employed master photographers whose craftsmanship was second to none; the photos they produced were not only sharp but also had a warm, inviting feel.

Soon, the car arrived at the studio!

Today happened to be the start of the Jingzhe solar term, so there were more people coming to have their photos taken than usual.

When Li Yi and his group walked in, they found several families already queuing up at the counter, so they joined the line inside.

They waited until past nine o’clock before it was finally their turn.

As Li Yi requested, they not only took a family portrait but also individual photos of every family member, including Juanzi.

On top of that, Li Yi gave the two children special attention, taking individual shots, sibling photos, and pictures of them being held by their grandparents and maternal grandparents.

All in all, the whole family went through a massive amount of film today.

On top of that, Li Yi insisted on having three copies of every photo developed. When the final bill came, the entire photo session cost Li Yi over eighty yuan—nearly equivalent to a worker’s two months’ wages—leaving Li Shankui, his wife, and Juanzi utterly stunned.

Li Yi, however, didn’t seem to mind at all. Eighty yuan was no small sum, but compared to these photos capturing such precious moments, it was practically nothing.

By the time they finished taking photos, it was nearly 11 o’clock. Li Yi discussed it with his father-in-law and decided not to go home, heading straight to Beiguan Village instead.

When Li Yi led the group into the shop, he found that quite a few people had already arrived—all familiar faces.

Besides Jiang Longcheng and Zhang Xinyao, Ye Jianhua and Lin Ying were there as well.

Also present were Lin Yi, An Hong, and Lin Jianguo from the foundry—no one knew where that guy had gotten the news.

As soon as Li Yi, Jiang Xue, and the others walked in, everyone came over to greet them.

After a round of pleasantries, Li Yi seated his parents and in-laws at the table at the very front—as it was a formal gathering, family members were naturally supposed to sit there.

Just as he had settled his family, he saw more people coming in—it turned out to be his eldest uncle’s family.

In addition to his eldest uncle, Jiang Shirong, and his eldest aunt, Wu Yongmei, Li Yi was surprised to see his eldest sister-in-law, Xu Qiuman, and his eldest brother’s two children.

Seeing this, Li Yi immediately went to greet them!

Just as he had ushered them in and settled them down, his second older brother, Jiang Longyin, walked through the door with his wife, Yang Rong, and their children.

Soon after, Uncle Jiang Shiming’s entire family arrived as well—another group of over ten people.

Right after that, the entire Ye family arrived. Just as Li Yi thought the guests had mostly arrived, a large group of people walked in—it turned out to be the group of officials from the cotton mill, including He Tianming, Chen Rui, Sun Feng, Director Tan, Xu Taofang, and others.

Later on, even Fat Jin—who had somehow gotten wind of the gathering—rushed over.

As the crowd grew larger and larger, Li Yi couldn’t help but worry whether the food they had prepared would be enough.

Although he had already instructed the chefs he’d hired to prepare as much as possible, the number of guests had clearly exceeded his expectations, and he was genuinely worried the food wouldn’t be enough.

As soon as he entered the kitchen, he saw that most of the restaurant’s staff were helping out there, including Long Zhanjun and Third Sister Li Na.

“Da Long, how’s everything coming along?”

Hearing Li Yi’s voice, a flicker of unease crossed Long Zhanjun’s face, but he quickly replied, “Most of the dishes are ready; we just have to stir-fry the greens now!”

“There are far more people here today than I expected. I’m not sure if we’ve prepared enough food,” Li Yi said.

“How many more than you expected?”

“At least three tables!”

Long Zhanjun replied immediately, “Three tables shouldn’t be a problem. I had Chef Liu and Chef Zhao make extra portions of every dish just in case!”

“That’s good. What about the drinks? We don’t want to run out, do we?” Li Yi asked again.

“I’ve prepared ten cases of Moutai, plus 500 liters of beer and over twenty cases of orange soda. That should be plenty!” Long Zhanjun replied.

“Alright, then. Try to prepare enough food for a few extra tables just in case—we wouldn’t want to run out. That would be awkward!”

“Alright, I’ll talk to the head chefs about that!”

“Mm-hmm!”

With Long Zhanjun’s assurance, Li Yi felt more at ease and went outside to greet his family and friends!

Just after noon, Li Yi and Jiang Xue each carried a child onto the stage. After a few brief remarks, they announced the start of the full-moon banquet for little Li Yunrui and Li Yunjin!

Once in the study, father-in-law and son-in-law sat down on opposite sides of the desk where Jiang Xue usually read and studied.

“Dad, is there something you need to discuss?”

“Hmm, I heard you’ve withdrawn from the cotton mill business?” Jiang Shiying asked, looking at Li Yi.

“Basically, yes, but I signed an agreement with them. I’ll be fully committed to helping them turn the mill around, and if the annual profit reaches a certain threshold, the mill will give me a share of the profits!” Li Yi explained.

“20 million, 12%?”

“Did Third Brother tell you about this?” Li Yi asked in return.

“No, but someone called me a couple of days ago and specifically mentioned you and this matter!” Jiang Shiying said.

“Who? Was it Second Brother?”

“No, not your Second Brother, and not Longcheng either. It was a senior official from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. They’ve had their eye on you for quite some time!”

Hearing this, Li Yi couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine.

Listen to the way his father-in-law phrased it—”noticed.” That wasn’t a good sign.

“Don’t worry, they don’t intend to take action against you. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have called me!” Jiang Shiying said.

“Then what do they want?”

“Do you know, you idiot? A couple of days ago, Longcheng’s factory finalized its February profit settlement!”

Li Yi was taken aback for a moment, then replied, “I hadn’t noticed. As you know, I’ve been busy these past few days with my child’s full-month celebration—I hadn’t paid any attention to that at all!”

Jiang Shiying nodded and said, “According to the person from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the cotton mill had been officially operational for less than 20 days in February, yet its revenue reached 3.05 million. After deducting your share and various other expenses, the net profit was a staggering 1.19 million!”

“This revenue and profit not only turned the cotton mill’s losses into profits but also set a record since the mill’s establishment. Neither revenue nor profit has ever been this high! It’s safe to say the cotton mill has delivered a jaw-dropping report card right at the start of the year!”

However, Li Yi replied with a calm expression, “Over three million in revenue for a single month is barely passing.”

Indeed, in Li Yi’s view, this performance was indeed barely passing.

After all, the cotton mill employs over 2,000 workers, operates the country’s only fashion brand, has fully consolidated its market presence in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, and is gradually expanding into Shandong, Henan, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and the Northeast.

With so many favorable conditions, achieving such results was entirely to be expected.

Jiang Shiying looked at Li Yi with some surprise; he truly hadn’t expected his son-in-law to say something like that.

Three million in revenue and 1.19 million in net profit over 20 days—and in his eyes, that was barely passing.

After a brief pause, Jiang Shiying asked again, “So, in your opinion, what level of monthly revenue would constitute a good result for the cotton mill?”

“10 million!”

“Ten… ten million in revenue? You’ve got some nerve, don’t you?”

However, Li Yi just smiled and said, “Dad, you’re thinking too small. What I mean is 10 million in net profit!” he added.

“Ten million in net profit?” Jiang Shiying exclaimed in astonishment.

“That’s right. I told Third Brother before that I’d help him turn the cotton mill into a mega-enterprise with annual profits exceeding 100 million. That averages out to about 10 million in profit per month, doesn’t it?”

“Annual profits exceeding 100 million? Is that even possible with that run-down little factory Longcheng manages?”

“Not yet. The main issues are insufficient production capacity and sales channels that haven’t been fully established, but it shouldn’t be a problem within three years!” Li Yi said.

Hearing this, Jiang Shiying couldn’t help but feel a stir of interest.

If that run-down little factory under Long Cheng’s management really did develop into a state-owned giant with annual profits exceeding 100 million, it would bring countless benefits—both for Long Cheng and for the Jiang family.

By then, not only would Long Cheng have more options, but Long Yin might also be able to advance further.

With that in mind, Jiang Shiying said in a low voice, “How confident are you in this?”

“As long as the leaders at the cotton mill don’t hold us back, I’d say there’s an eighty percent chance of success!”

Li Yi was very familiar with the situation at the cotton mill. The machinery and workers were both in good shape; the reason performance had been declining year after year was primarily due to management issues.

Beyond that, there was the broader market environment: there were simply too many textile and cotton mills in the country right now, and the market was already saturated.

Now that they’ve completed their business model transformation—shifting from textiles to apparel—they’re entering this burgeoning, massive market.

Once they’ve established their sales channels, they’ll be raking in the cash.

“Are you really 80% sure?”

“Absolutely!”

“Alright, then go ahead and give it your all. If you need any support, just let me know—I’ll make sure to put in a good word for you with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission!” said Jiang Shiying.

“Alright. By the way, you still haven’t told me why the SASAC called you, or what their purpose was in mentioning me,” Li Yi asked again.

“Originally, they were very unhappy about you hiring workers from the cotton mill to set up production. After all, if you really look into it, the nature of the matter is quite serious, so they planned to give you a stern warning…”

Hearing this, Li Yi’s expression darkened. “Are the higher-ups planning to take action against me?”

“Don’t panic just yet. They did have that intention earlier, but they’ve changed their minds now!”

Jiang Shiying continued, “You really are bold, turning hundreds or even thousands of employees from a major state-owned factory into your own hired hands. It would have been only natural for the higher-ups to take action against you!”

Li Yi gave a slightly awkward smile and replied, “I had no choice at the time. If I hadn’t enlisted those workers from the cotton mill, we’d never have been able to move that batch of fabric!”

“If you couldn’t sell it, you should’ve just let it go. There are certain lines and principles you simply shouldn’t cross!” Jiang Shiying said.

“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind. Go on, Dad.”

Jiang Shiying nodded and continued, “Just as the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission was discussing how to deal with you, they never expected you to make a bold retreat and decisively pull out. By the time they were ready to come after you, you had already completely withdrawn from the cotton mill’s transactions and even handed over such a massive business to the mill. So they decided to wait and see.”

“What they didn’t expect even more was that within a few days, the cotton mill’s February revenue and profit figures were reported to the district and the ministry. Those staggering numbers completely stunned them!”

“In light of this, they called me to pass the message on to you. They’ve approved your partnership model with the cotton mill and hope you’ll offer some guidance whenever you have the time!”

Hearing Jiang Shiying’s words, Li Yi suddenly snapped out of his daze and said, “Dad, so the folks at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission are worried I’ll just walk away and stop managing the cotton mill?”

“That’s part of it, but more importantly, they want to use this to reassure you—and to make a commitment to our Jiang family!” Jiang Shiying said.

“I see. With their support, I can let the cotton mill go all out. Who knows, we might even hit the annual profit target of 100 million ahead of schedule!” Li Yi said.

“Just do your best, but don’t wear yourself out. And remember, family comes first!” Jiang Shiying said.

“Got it!”

The father-in-law and son-in-law chatted about other matters for a while longer until Ye Lingyun came in to call them to dinner, at which point they finally emerged from the study!

Beijing. The Li Family’s New Residence!

When Li Yi arrived at the courtyard house with his parents and Juanzi, the elderly couple Li Shankui and Zhang Yuehong looked at their son’s new home with a mix of surprise, joy, and excitement.

Although the courtyard wasn’t very large—it couldn’t compare to the two courtyards they owned in Nianzishan Village—

But this was the capital! To be able to acquire a courtyard within the inner city of the nation’s capital—how incredibly difficult that must have been.

Moreover, their son’s residence had clearly been recently renovated; aside from the bricks and tiles, everything else was brand-new, making it a pleasure to look at.

Most importantly, on their drive over, the couple had seen the Forbidden City with their own eyes—it was just a street away from their son’s residence.

In other words, their son had settled right at the foot of the Imperial City—who knows, he might even be able to soak up some of the imperial aura!

Li Yi didn’t dwell on it too much. Once he arrived at the courtyard, he first unloaded everything from the car into the house, then busied himself with lighting the stove.

The courtyard had been vacant since the renovation was completed, and with the biting cold of early spring setting in, the house felt as chilly as a freezer.

To make it livable for the night, he had to light the stoves early to warm the house!

Fortunately, Li Yi had already prepared coal and firewood, so the stoves in the main hall and the west wing were soon ablaze.

After finishing these tasks, Li Yi glanced at his watch and realized it was already 4:30 p.m.!

He then told Juanzi to stay home while he took his parents straight to the Jiang family’s house!

Over at the Jiang household, upon learning that Li Yi’s parents were coming, Jiang Shiying and Ye Lingyun took the matter very seriously.

Although Jiang Shiying had met the couple before and knew they were honest, down-to-earth farmers who weren’t particularly fussy,

However, out of respect for their son-in-law Li Yi, they had the kitchen prepare dinner well in advance and specifically instructed them to add a few extra dishes.

They certainly couldn’t let their in-laws feel that the Jiang family was too high and mighty to treat them with proper respect.

More importantly, they had heard from their daughter that during her years in the countryside, Li Shankui and his wife had taken great care of her.

Especially during her first year in Nianzishan Village, not only was she in a strange place with no one to turn to, but she couldn’t even manage to feed herself properly.

While other educated youths at least had some support from home—with money and food sent by mail every few days—she was the only one completely neglected. Worse still, that scum of the Tang family even demanded she send the resettlement allowance the government had given her back home.

Jiang Xue’s memory of that time can be summed up in one word: hunger!

Just as she was on the verge of collapse, Li Na could no longer stand by and watch; she reached out to help her, and the two became close sisters and best friends.

From then on, Li Shankui and his wife would often have Li Na invite her over for a home-cooked meal.

Jiang Xue had told her parents all about these things; in her words, the Li family had done her a great favor.

That’s exactly why Jiang Shiying and her husband placed such great importance on the visit from Li Yi’s parents.

………

Li Yi’s courtyard wasn’t far from the Jiang family’s old residence—less than two kilometers as the crow flies.

Although the drive took a slight detour, it was still less than a five-minute ride.

Upon arriving at the Jiang family’s gate, Li Yi had barely stepped out of the car when he saw the gate to the old Jiang residence suddenly swing open.

Immediately afterward, Li Yi saw his father-in-law emerge from inside—whether he had been waiting there all along or was just about to go out.

Upon seeing Li Yi, Jiang Shiying’s eyes lit up, and he immediately walked toward the car.

Upon reaching Li Shankui and Zhang Yuehong, Jiang Shiying immediately said, “Brother Li, Sister-in-law, you’re here! Thank you for making the trip!”

Li Shankui, now aware that Jiang Shiying was a high-ranking official, replied somewhat nervously, “It was no trouble… no trouble at all!”

Seeing his father’s nervousness, Li Yi immediately took over the conversation and asked, “Dad, when did you get back?”

“I just walked in a moment ago!”

Then he added, “Let’s not just stand here—let’s go inside!”

“Wait a moment. My parents brought quite a few things for Xiaoxue and the kids. Let’s take them inside together!”

With that, Li Yi opened the back door of the car and pulled out two bulging burlap sacks.

Then, under Jiang Shiying’s stunned gaze, he took a basket and a cloth bag from the back of the car.

Seeing this, Jiang Shiying immediately said to Li Yi, “This much? Why didn’t you stop them? We don’t need any of this at home…”

Li Yi grinned and said, “I tried to stop her, but it was no use!”

Zhang Yuehong hurriedly interjected, “Dear in-law, we didn’t bring much—just a few old hens for Xue’er, some of her favorite snacks and eggs, and some clothes and bedding for the baby!”

“Thank you so much, Sister-in-law. Xue’er really has hit the jackpot marrying into your Li family…”

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group carried the items into the Jiang household!

Li Yi led his parents straight to the main hall where Jiang Xue was waiting. Before they even entered the room, Jiang Xue was already waiting at the door.

“Father, Mother, please come inside!”

As soon as Zhang Yuehong saw her daughter-in-law, she hurried forward a few steps, took her hand, and said, “It’s cold out here. You haven’t even finished your postpartum confinement yet—don’t catch a chill!”

“Mother, don’t worry, I’m fine!” Jiang Xue said with a smile.

“You silly girl. A woman has to take good care of herself during the postpartum period; otherwise, she’ll be plagued with ailments in her old age…”

Once inside, Jiang Xue immediately pulled Zhang Yuehong over to the small crib and said, “Mother, look!”

Zhang Yuehong looked at the two little babies sleeping soundly in the crib, her expression filled with emotion. She reached out with a slightly trembling hand, wanting to touch the children.

But just as her hand was about to touch the baby’s little face, she suddenly pulled it back.

She quickly wiped her hand on her clothes, then cautiously touched the child’s little face.

“Is… is that Yunrui, and that Yunjin?”

Jiang Xue pointed to the slightly older-looking baby on the left and said, “This is our eldest, Yunrui, and the one next to him is our youngest, Yunjin!”

Standing nearby, Li Shankui gazed at his grandchildren with equal excitement. Though not one for many words, he remained silent, yet his eyes never strayed from the two children.

Moreover, judging by his father-in-law’s attitude just now, they were indeed very easygoing and didn’t treat his son as a son-in-law who had married into the family.

This gave Li Shankui a slight sense of relief!

Ever since he learned that his son and daughter-in-law had moved into the Jiang family’s ancestral home, he’d been worried that the Jiang family might look down on his son or treat him like a son-in-law who’d married into the family!

The Li family had only this one son; he simply couldn’t be treated as a son-in-law who had married into the family.

It seemed now that he had overthought it!

What Li Shankui didn’t know was that Jiang Shiying had been dreaming of making his son a son-in-law who moved into the wife’s family’s home. Unfortunately, Li Yi was both capable and proud; he had already purchased the estate before the baby was even born—and not just one, but two courtyards.

Jiang Shiying realized this young man had a stubborn streak and would never agree to become a son-in-law by marriage, so she let the idea drop!

Just then, the main door swung open, and Li Yi saw his mother-in-law, Ye Lingyun, walk in carrying a teapot.

Li Yi immediately introduced her to his parents, and so the group exchanged pleasantries once more.

After the pleasantries, Li Yi turned to Jiang Shiying and asked, “Father, is Grandfather home?”

As the eldest member of the Jiang family, it was only proper for his parents to pay their respects to the old man first—that was the bare minimum of courtesy.

“He’s not here. One of Grandfather’s old comrades-in-arms returned to Beijing today and asked to meet with him. He’s expected back this evening!” Jiang Shiying replied.

“Then I’ll bring my parents over once Grandfather returns!”

“Alright!”

While Li Shankui and his wife were focused on the two little ones, Jiang Shiying suddenly said, “Xiao Yi, come with me to the study for a moment!”

Li Yi knew his father-in-law had something to discuss with him, so he immediately said goodbye to his parents and followed Jiang Shiying into the small study next door.

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!

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…

…….

The Li Family’s Old Mansion!

Zhang Tongfu first tapped the ash from his pipe onto the sole of his shoe, then spoke up: “Xiao Yi, there’s something I’d like to ask you. Would that be okay?”

“What is it? Go ahead,” Li Yi said.

“Could… could you help Juanzi find a job too?” Zhang Tongfu asked, looking a bit embarrassed.

“Juanzi? How old is she?” Li Yi asked in surprise.

Juanzi was Zhang Tongfu’s granddaughter. Li Yi wasn’t sure exactly how old she was, but she couldn’t be very old.

Unlike Dongzi and Xiaogouwa, who followed Li Yi around every day, Juanzi was kept on a tight leash by her mother and rarely played with Li Yi and the others.

Of course, strict supervision was one thing, but more importantly, Li Yi had previously been a good-for-nothing, and few people held him in high regard.

There were plenty of other boys and girls like Juanzi in the village!

“She’s 16 this year—not a child anymore. She’s old enough to help out!” Zhang Tongfu said.

Hearing that age, Li Yi immediately frowned.

The villagers were using the traditional Chinese age system—16 by that reckoning meant she was actually 15, and if she was born in a younger month, she might even be 14.

What could a girl that young possibly do?

Besides, if he really took her to work, he might as well be employing a child laborer.

Thinking of this, Li Yi shook his head and said, “Uncle Zhang, I can’t agree to this!”

“Xiao Yi…”

Before Zhang Tongfu could finish, Li Yi spoke again: “It’s not that I don’t want to agree, but Juanzi is simply too young. At her age, she should be in school—that’s the right thing to do. How could I let her go out to work and earn money?”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Feng Kai sighed and said, “Xiao Yi, you’ve misunderstood Uncle Zhang. He’d love nothing more than to send Juanzi to school, but the She Qing couple just won’t have it!”

“Is it because of money?”

Li Yi spoke up again: “If it’s about tuition or something like that, that’s no problem at all. I’ll even pay for Juanzi’s tuition myself!”

It wasn’t that Li Yi was particularly wealthy; it was simply that tuition fees were genuinely inexpensive these days.

At the central school in the commune, tuition for a semester was less than 10 yuan.

Of course, that was the tuition when Li Yi was in school; so many years had passed, and he didn’t know if it had gone up.

But even if it had gone up, twenty or thirty yuan a year would be more than enough—a drop in the bucket for Li Yi right now.

Zhang Tongfu shook his head and said, “It’s not about the tuition. If it were just tuition, I could still afford to support Juanzi. It’s Juanzi’s ‘crazy’ mother—she wants to betroth Juanzi to someone!”

“Uh… Betrot her? How old is she? Uncle Zhang, aren’t you going to do anything about it?” Li Yi asked.

Zhang Tongfu sighed and said, “How could I possibly control that ‘stubborn old woman’? She’s completely unreasonable, which is exactly why I thought you should take Juanzi away to hide for a while!”

From Zhang Tongfu’s tone, Li Yi could clearly hear his dissatisfaction with his eldest daughter-in-law.

“What about Brother Sheqing? Doesn’t he have anything to say? Isn’t he going to look after Juanzi?”

“Why bring up that good-for-nothing? If he could keep that ‘stubborn mutt’ in line, things wouldn’t be in such an uproar!” Zhang Tongfu said.

Thinking of Juanzi’s father, Li Yi couldn’t help but shake his head.

He was a towering, burly man with a fierce, intimidating appearance, yet he was a classic case of a henpecked husband.

Just then, Li Shankui, who had been sitting on a small stool without saying a word, suddenly spoke up: “Xiao Yi, if I can help, I’ll do my best. We can’t just stand by and watch Juanzi fall into the fire!”

Li Yi paused briefly, then said, “Uncle Zhang, if you really want Juanzi to get out of there for a while, I could take her with me!”

Changing the subject, Li Yi added, “But once we get her to Beijing, I probably won’t let her work at the shop. She’s too young—in her words, I’d be breaking the law!”

“Alright, take her out of here to hide for a while!”

“But what about Sheqing and the others…”

“No problem. I’ll talk to them in a minute and tell them you’re willing to take Juanzi to Beijing to work. They’ll definitely agree!”

Zhang Tongfu continued, “Come year-end, I’ll give some money to that ‘live stock’ and say it’s money Juanzi earned. That’ll settle the matter!”

“Alright! But I’m leaving for the capital first thing tomorrow morning, so you’ll have to get Juanzi to pack up early!” Li Yi said.

“Alright, I’ll head back right now!”

With that, Zhang Tongfu stood up, picked up the empty basket, and left the Li household.

Seeing this, Feng Kai immediately followed him out!

After seeing them off, Zhang Yuehong glanced at Li Shankui and couldn’t help but complain, “You really are something. You have to show off about everything. Is the Youth League secretary’s wife someone you should be messing with? Aren’t you just causing trouble for Little Yi?”

Hearing Zhang Yuehong’s nagging, Li Shankui sat on a small stool without saying a word.

That was just his personality—he was very reserved!

Seeing this, Li Yi hurriedly said, “Mom, please stop. Dad meant well…”

“He’s just a soft-hearted old man who wants to take the lead in everything, but there are some things we really can’t control. If it ends up in a total mess, I’d like to see how you get Xiao Yi out of this!”

“Mom, it’ll be fine. Maybe things aren’t as bad as you think…”

Before Li Yi could finish, Li Shankui sighed from the side and said, “Do you know which family the village youth group’s wife plans to betroth Juanzi to?”

“No, who is it?” Zhang Yuehong asked instinctively.

“It’s that dim-witted son of Secretary Liu from the commune!”

Hearing this, the rest of the Li family froze in shock.

Liu, the town official’s mentally disabled son, was well-known throughout the surrounding villages. It was said that a fever in his childhood had damaged his brain, leaving him with the mental capacity of a six- or seven-year-old despite being in his twenties.

He’d have moments of clarity, but would also fly into rages and lash out.

No wonder Dad said he didn’t want Juanzi to fall into a pit of fire—he was absolutely right!

“What was Juanzi’s mother thinking? Why would she betroth Juanzi to that dim-witted boy?” Zhang Yuehong asked in bewilderment.

“What else could it be? Greed, of course. I heard the Liu family promised Juanzi’s mom 500 yuan as a dowry, plus they’d provide all the necessary household goods—that ‘dumb thing’ was tempted!” Li Shankui said angrily.

“A 500-yuan dowry? Are they marrying her off or selling her?”

“Selling her!”

Then Li Shankui added, “I want Xiao Yi to help Juanzi. Besides feeling sorry for the kid, it also reminds me of Meizi!”

Hearing this, Li Yi immediately understood his father’s meaning.

It was clearly a case of having been through the rain himself and wanting to hold an umbrella for others.

Back then, hadn’t his eldest sister been in exactly the same situation as Juanzi now? To clean up after him, she knew full well that Yang Wenguang was physically disabled, yet she had no choice but to marry him—all for that 100-yuan dowry.

And for the three years after she married into the Yang family, she toiled like a beast of burden, subjected to everyone’s abuse.

Although his father hadn’t spoken of it, he had always kept it in his heart.

“Dad, don’t worry. I’ll handle Juanzi’s situation!”

Li Yi continued, “And as for my eldest sister, please don’t worry about her. Her husband is actually a decent man—it’s people like Yang Zhong, Yang Wenxi, and Yang Wenjuan who are the troublemakers!”

Li Mei quickly chimed in, “Father, Wen Guang and I are doing just fine now. Please don’t blame yourself!”

Li Shankui nodded and said, “Juanzi was raised by your Uncle Zhang and his wife all these years. She’s a good kid; she shouldn’t cause you any trouble!”

“Alright, then let’s take Juanzi with us when we leave tomorrow!” Li Yi said.

“Mm-hmm!”

……..

Qingshan County, Nianzishan Village!

After leaving the school construction site, Li Shankui couldn’t help but ask, “Where did you get the car?”

“I borrowed it—it belongs to Xiaoxue’s third older brother!” Li Yi replied.

Hearing this, Li Shankui frowned and said, “Did you drive this car all the way back from the capital?”

“Yeah!”

“Pull over!”

Hearing his father’s angry snort, Li Yi knew immediately that trouble was brewing—his father was definitely furious!

Familiar with his father’s temperament, he ignored the order and continued driving while saying, “Dad, if there’s something bothering you, just say it—I’m listening!”

Li Shankui understood his son’s temperament as well; the boy had rarely listened to him his whole life, so it made perfect sense that he wouldn’t respond.

“You’re no spring chicken anymore,” he snapped. “Why can’t you show a little more judgment in what you do?”

“Are you talking about me driving home?”

“Yes. Setting aside how dangerous it is to drive all this way back, just the fact that you borrowed a car from your brother-in-law is reckless—it makes you look foolish!”

Li Shankui continued, “Our Li family may not be wealthy, but we certainly don’t need to borrow things from my father-in-law’s household just to show off!”

“Dad, you’re overthinking it. I didn’t drive back this time to show off—I have something important to take care of!” Li Yi said.

“What kind of important business requires this thing? Can’t it be handled without it?”

“Heh, actually, it is!”

Li Yi then explained his plan to take his elderly parents to Beijing for their grandchildren’s full-moon banquet.

After a long silence, Li Shankui finally spoke up: “Is it really appropriate for your mother and me to go to Beijing? Besides, where would we stay? If we have to stay at your in-laws’ place, we’re not going!”

Li Yi knew his father had always been a man of principle with a strong sense of pride. He smiled and said, “If you don’t want to stay at the Jiang family’s place, I have a house in Beijing!”

“You’ve bought a house in the capital?”

“Yes, I’ve bought two courtyards—one large and one small. If you and Mom are willing, I’ll bring you both to live in the capital!” Li Yi said.

“No way. We’re just fine here in the village. What would we even do in Beijing?”

Then, before Li Yi could try to persuade him, he continued, “Besides, I heard from Nana that the streets in the capital are packed with people. If you can’t read, you won’t even be able to find a restroom once you step outside. The village is much better!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “We’ll talk about that later. This time, when you go there, you and Mom should stay for a few extra days to see if you can get used to it!”

“Alright…”

As they spoke, the car pulled up in front of the Li family’s old house.

Father and son entered the house one after the other. As soon as they walked in, they saw their eldest sister bustling about the stove, and the room was filled with an enticing aroma!

“Sis, what are you doing?”

“Mom said you might not have eaten, so she asked me to cook you something!” Li Mei said with a smile.

“I had a light snack on the way, so I’m not really that hungry!”

“Well, you must be a little hungry then. Just wait a moment—it’ll be ready soon!”

“Okay!”

In the main room, her young nephew was already asleep on the kang, while his mother sat nearby doing needlework.

Seeing her husband and son come in together, Zhang Yuehong set down the thimble she was holding and looked up. “Honey, Xiao Yi says he wants to take us to the capital. Should we go or not? You decide.”

“We’re going, of course!” Li Shankui replied.

Hearing her husband’s decision, Zhang Yuehong was overjoyed: “Alright, then let’s pack up and see what we need to bring!”

Li Yi quickly interjected, “Mom, we don’t need to bring anything—the capital has everything we need!”

“We can leave the other things behind, but we absolutely must take the little clothes I made for the baby. And we’ve saved a few old hens for Xiao Xue—we’ll slaughter one and take it with us, and then there’s…”

Listening to his mother rattle off a long list of essentials, Li Yi was instantly overwhelmed…

Since there were only two days left until the baby’s one-month celebration, and Li Yi also needed to return early to keep an eye on the shop, he had to set off tomorrow.

So, after dinner, Li Yi and his father began packing up all the various items they needed to take with them!

Although Li Yi really wanted them to travel to the capital light, the elderly couple insisted that this item was essential and that one thing couldn’t be left behind.

After his repeated attempts to persuade them proved futile, Li Yi had no choice but to go along with it!

By the time dusk was falling, the already compact jeep was packed to the brim with all sorts of items, leaving only the two reserved seats empty.

However, just as Li Yi and his parents were packing, they saw the village Party branch secretary, Feng Kai, and the production team leader, Zhang Tongfu, push open the door and walk in.

As the two approached, Li Yi noticed that each was carrying a basket covered with a cloth, and he had no idea what was inside.

“Uncle Feng, Uncle Zhang, you’re here?”

Feng Kai said, puffing on his pipe, “We came to talk to you about something. We hope we’re not disturbing you!”

With that, Feng Kai and Zhang Tongfu set the baskets they were holding on the large red cabinet in the room.

“Uncle Feng, Uncle Zhang, what’s this?”

“Nothing much—just some eggs, brown sugar, and the like. To help your wife regain her strength!”

Li Yi knew this was a local custom: whenever a woman in the village gave birth, relatives and friends would bring gifts—mostly eggs, brown sugar, and white sugar, though some also brought honey and pastries.

“Uncles, you’re too kind. Besides, my wife isn’t even in the village!”

“It doesn’t matter if she’s here or not—it’s the thought that counts!”

Then, Feng Kai turned to Zhang Yuehong standing nearby and said, “Sister Yuehong, clear out some space in the basket for us—we’ll need to take it back with us when we leave!”

Zhang Yuehong glanced at Li Yi; seeing that he had no objection, she nodded in agreement.

She then picked up the basket and headed toward the west room…

After his mother left, Li Yi said, “Uncle Feng, Uncle Zhang, if you have something to discuss with me, please go ahead!”

“We came over to talk to you about that batch of cattle and sheep!” Feng Kai said.

“What’s up with the cattle and sheep? If I do the math, they shouldn’t be ready for market yet, right?”

Feng Kai nodded and said, “The calves aren’t ready yet, but the lambs have grown quite a bit. We estimate they’ll be ready in another two or three months!”

“There are still several months left. Let’s just keep raising them for now,” Li Yi said.

“That’s not it. We’d like to discuss something with you. Once this batch of cattle and sheep is fully grown, could we keep a few ‘mothers and offspring’ for breeding instead of selling them all off?” Feng Kai said.

“Sure, but that means the village will have to adjust its crop structure!” Li Yi replied.

“Why’s that?” Zhang Tongfu asked, a bit puzzled.

“When developing livestock farming on a large scale, the most critical issue is feed. Especially for cattle and sheep—they need not only grass but also sufficient grain. Relying solely on wheat and barley straw definitely won’t be enough!” Li Yi explained.

“So how should we adjust it?”

“Plant more corn and sugar beets. Not only is corn a high-yield crop, but its stalks are tall and substantial, making them ideal for feeding cattle and sheep.”

Li Yi continued, “And the yield of sugar beets is equally impressive—the green leaves can be used as forage, while the beets themselves can serve as feed.”

“Alright, let’s go back and discuss it!” Feng Kai said.

“Alright!”

At that moment, Feng Kai spoke up again: “There’s one more thing I need to discuss with you—it concerns you, Dongzi, Qiangzi, and the other educated youth.”

“Uncle Feng, are you referring to their per capita grain rations?”

“Right. Their grain entitlements are still registered in the village. According to the regulations, regardless of whether they participate in the labor, the village has to allocate their per capita grain rations during the autumn harvest!”

Feng Kai continued, “Last year, at least they were still in the village, so the villagers didn’t have any complaints. But this year, they’ve all gone to Beijing with you. If we keep giving them their per capita grain rations, it’s bound to cause some complaints!”

“Then don’t give it to them!” Li Yi said.

To be honest, neither Li Yi nor Dongzi and the others really cared much for the meager rations and money the village distributed each year.

It wasn’t that they were getting big-headed; it was simply that the village’s rations were truly pitiful.

Take the past two years, for example: the per-capita grain ration the village distributed to each person was a paltry 270-odd catties.

The cash was even less—less than fifty yuan per person.

With such a meager amount of money and grain, it didn’t really matter whether they received it or not.

“As long as you have no objections, we’ll put out a notice in the village later to avoid any complaints from the villagers!” Feng Kai said.

“Alright!”

Just as Li Yi thought they were in the clear, Zhang Tongfu spoke up again!

PS: “Muzi” — the local term for a female sheep; a male sheep is called a “Jiezi.”

After leaving home, Li Yi headed straight for the southern slope outside the village, where the construction site for the central school was located.

Originally, the village had planned to have Huang Lixing tear down the old village school and simply build a new one on the same site.

But they hadn’t anticipated that the wealthy and influential Mr. Huang would want to build a massive central school. The three dilapidated rooms of the old village school simply didn’t have enough space—it was nowhere near sufficient.

After some discussion, the village decided to set aside a large plot of land from the relatively barren southern part of the village for the school.

And so, the site for the new school was set on the southern slope!

With a jeep to get him there, it took Li Yi only a few minutes to reach the construction site.

As soon as he arrived, Li Yi saw that quite a few buildings had already been erected on the site—all brick-and-tile structures, forming four or five rows.

However, Li Yi had previously reviewed the design plans for this central school and knew that Old Huang intended to build a teaching building here; clearly, these brick-and-tile structures were meant as temporary housing for the project staff.

To be honest, if Old Huang hadn’t insisted on building the central school here, Li Yi would have thought these few rows of brick-and-tile houses would have been sufficient.

After all, these spacious, well-lit brick-and-tile houses would be more than enough for the dozens of children in the village!

In addition, Li Yi noticed that mule-drawn carts were constantly coming and going on the construction site, loaded with either bricks and stones or cement and rebar—it looked incredibly busy.

Among the people driving the carts, Li Yi spotted quite a few familiar faces, including Dongzi’s father, Liu Darei, and the production team leader, Zhang Tongfu.

There were also some unfamiliar faces, likely people from other villages.

At the same time, Li Yi noticed a sedan parked next to a row of brick-and-tile houses up ahead.

It wasn’t until Li Yi got closer that he realized the car was none other than a Hu Cheng SH760 sedan.

Li Yi was quite familiar with this model. Although its performance was average, it was one of the few domestic brands currently capable of producing family sedans, and it was also the designated vehicle for municipal-level officials and for hosting foreign guests.

It was indeed rare to see such a car in the remote village of Nianzishan; after all, with its exorbitant price tag, even high-ranking county officials couldn’t afford it.

But considering Huang Lixing’s billion-dollar fortune, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if his brother-in-law drove a Mercedes-Benz, let alone a car like this.

After getting out of the car, Li Yi headed toward the house!

At that moment, several people inside the house had heard the car’s engine and were just about to go out to investigate when they ran into Li Yi as he pushed the door open.

Upon recognizing Li Yi, Li Shankui and the village Party branch secretary, Feng Kai, were taken aback for a moment before approaching him.

“Dad, Uncle Feng, Uncle Zhang—you’re all here!” Li Yi greeted them.

A barely perceptible flicker of excitement passed through Li Shankui’s eyes, and he asked, “When did you get back?”

“I just got back. My older sister told me you were over at the construction site, so I came right over!” Li Yi replied.

“Why didn’t you give us a call before coming back?”

“Every time I call, I have to bother Team Leader Li. I didn’t want to bother him unless it was something really important!” Li Yi explained.

“I suppose you’re right…”

Just then, a young man in his late twenties walked over and asked with a slightly odd accent, “Who are you…?”

At a single glance, Li Yi was certain this must be Huang Lixing’s brother-in-law.

Don’t ask why, but only people from Hong Kong speak Mandarin with such a thick, lisping accent.

What’s more, the young man was wearing a suit—a rare sight around here—his leather shoes were polished to a mirror-like shine, and his hair was styled in the side-parted look currently all the rage in Hong Kong.

Based on these details alone, his identity was practically screaming out.

Without hesitation, Li Yi extended his hand and said in Cantonese, “Hello, I’m Li Yi!”

Upon hearing Li Yi’s name, the young man paused for a moment, then exclaimed excitedly, “So you’re the Master Li my sister mentioned! My apologies for the misunderstanding. My name is Chen Chuying!”

Chen Chuying had heard his sister and brother-in-law speak of this Master Li many times, saying he possessed profound martial arts skills and an uncanny ability to predict the future. Had he not intervened to save them six months ago, he and his sister would have perished at the hands of Ah Long and that venomous woman.

After learning the details of the incident, Chen Chuying felt deep respect for this Master Li, whom he had never met before.

“Welcome to our village of Nianzi Mountain, Mr. Chen. On behalf of the local children, I thank you—and I also thank Old Huang and your older sister!” Li Yi said.

“Master Li, you’re too kind. Just call me Chu!”

“Alright…”

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group entered the house!

Once inside, Li Yi realized that the room was, in fact, a project command center.

The large outer room was filled with desks, where several people in work uniforms were busy at their tasks, their desks covered with various blueprints.

Further inside was a reception room furnished with chairs and a coffee table—clearly a space for receiving guests.

In addition, there was a door to the left of the reception area, though it was currently closed; it was likely a private rest area.

Although the entire room was slightly cluttered, it was clear that real work was being done here.

Moreover, judging by the professionalism of these people, they were no amateur operation, which also demonstrated the high priority Huang Lixing and his wife placed on this school.

After everyone had taken their seats, Chen Chuying poured water for Li Yi and said, “Uncle Li told me that Master Li has been in Beijing all this time. When did you return?”

“I just got back. I heard Mr. Chen was visiting the village, so I came over. I hope I’m not disturbing you,” Li Yi said with a smile.

“No… not at all…”

Chen Chuying’s demeanor was very respectful!

Before coming here, Huang Lixing had worried that his brother-in-law might offend Li Yi with his loose tongue, so he specifically warned him to keep a low profile once he arrived in Nianzishan Village and not to bring his Hong Kong ways here.

At the same time, Huang Lixing had shared with Chen Chuying quite a few secrets he’d uncovered, which gave Chen Chuying a deeper understanding of Li Yi’s affairs—and naturally made his attitude all the more respectful.

Then Li Yi asked again, “What have you been up to lately, Old Huang?”

Chen Chuying paused briefly before replying, “I’m not at liberty to discuss the specifics. You’d better ask my brother-in-law yourself!”

Li Yi clearly sensed something was amiss in Chen Chuying’s words. It was obvious that Old Huang had been engaged in some covert activities lately. Considering his background, Li Yi couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

Immediately, Li Yi asked again, “Has your brother-in-law been in Hong Kong or on the mainland lately?”

“On the mainland! Since last year, my brother-in-law has spent most of his time back in our hometown in Guangdong Province with my sister and Amin, only returning to Hong Kong occasionally!”

Chen Chuying continued, “Originally, my brother-in-law and my sister planned to come over personally to oversee the project, but Amin suddenly caught a cold, so they sent me ahead to lay the groundwork. They’ll be coming over in a little while!”

“Hmm, a child’s health comes first!”

“Master Li, my brother-in-law asked me to bring you a letter when I came this time. I already gave it to Uncle Li a few days ago—please be sure to read it!”

“Alright!”

Li Yi then added, “Actually, I have a phone installed at my shop in Beijing; it’s just that Old Huang doesn’t know my number. I’ll give you the number in a moment—if you and Old Huang need anything, you can always give me a call!”

With that, Li Yi took out the paper and pen he carried with him, wrote down the shop’s phone number, and handed it to Chen Chuying.

Taking the slip of paper from Li Yi with both hands, Chen Chuying respectfully folded it in half and placed it in his jacket pocket.

Then, he said solemnly, “I’ll send the number to my brother-in-law tomorrow!”

“Great!”

Li Yi then asked Chen Chuying a few more questions about the construction project. Chen Chuying, of course, answered every question thoroughly and with a very pleasant attitude.

Upon learning that the school was expected to be completed by fall, Li Yi felt reassured.

Thinking he had matters to attend to at home, he promptly took his leave and left the construction site with his father.

Qingshan County, Nianzishan Village!

The journey from Beijing to Qing Shan County was over 360 kilometers, requiring a drive across the northwestern part of Hebei Province.

Even though Li Yi had set out early in the morning, by the time he returned to the village, it was already past two in the afternoon.

There was nothing to be done about it; the road conditions were simply terrible, with winding mountain roads everywhere, making it impossible to drive at any speed.

This made Li Yi miss the G6 and G7 expressways from his previous life. Since those two highways opened, the trip from Beijing to Qing Shan County took no more than three hours.

How different from now—it often takes six or seven hours, which is absolutely grueling!

But there was nothing to be done. At the moment, infrastructure development across the country was severely lagging behind. Never mind expressways—in many places, even basic gravel roads hadn’t been built yet.

Qingshan County was at least somewhat better off; it had basic road access.

As the car pulled into the village, Li Yi couldn’t help but feel a mix of emotion and excitement.

This was his first Chinese New Year since his rebirth, and he had originally planned to spend it at home with his parents.

But unfortunately, due to the matter of Jiang Xue’s family reunion, he ended up having to spend the holiday in Beijing, which truly left Li Yi feeling a bit regretful.

But while he felt a sense of regret, Li Yi had no regrets.

After all, Jiang Xue and the baby’s safety were more important; with her due date approaching, it simply wasn’t practical for her to return to her hometown to give birth.

Now that the baby had been born safely and he had successfully become a new dad, the greatest regret of his past life had been made up for.

Just as Li Yi’s thoughts were racing, the car entered Nianzishan Village.

Through the car window, Li Yi saw that the village looked just as it had before—not much had changed.

If there was any change at all, it was that every household had hung up bright red Spring Festival couplets, giving the place a very festive look.

To be honest, Li Yi had long since stopped caring much about the Lunar New Year.

Especially in his previous life, aside from Qingming Festival—when he would remember to visit “Tang Xue’s” grave—Li Yi never celebrated any other holidays.

The reason was simple: most holidays were a time of bright lights and family reunions, yet he was always alone, a solitary figure. That agony was something few could truly understand.

So, seeing the village so full of the festive spirit, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but turn up slightly…

At the Li family’s old residence, Zhang Yuehong was playing with her little nephew on the kang, while Li Mei was crouched on the floor washing clothes.

“Meizi, look at this little cutie. He keeps smiling at me—he really loves me!”

Li Mei smiled and said, “That’s for sure. Mom’s been helping me raise him all this time, so of course he’s close to you!”

“Exactly. This kid gets attached to whoever takes care of him!”

Suddenly, Li Mei sensed her mother’s mood had grown a bit somber, and she immediately knew her mother must be missing her younger brother, Xiao Yi, and her two grandchildren!

“Mom, are you missing your grandkids?”

“A little. I reckon the baby will be a month old in a couple of days, and neither your father nor I have even seen what he looks like yet!”

Then Zhang Yuehong couldn’t help but start nagging about her son, adding, “Xiao Yi really is something. It’s one thing not to come back, but why hasn’t he even sent a single photo of the baby to the family!”

Li Mei hurried to reassure her: “Mom, don’t be hard on Xiao Yi. He’s got to take care of Xiao Xue and the baby, plus he’s busy running the shop—he must be incredibly busy.”

“Maybe once the baby is past the postpartum period and a little stronger, he’ll bring his younger sister, her husband, and the baby back to visit you all!”

“I’m not blaming them, Mom. I just want to know what the baby looks like…”

Just as they were speaking, a sudden “rumbling” sound came from outside.

Zhang Yuehong looked out the window and saw a car driving straight into her yard—that was the source of the noise.

“Meizi, a car has pulled in. Go see who it is!”

Hearing her mother’s voice, Li Mei didn’t dare delay. She hurriedly stood up from the stove bench and rushed out the door.

As soon as she opened the door, Li Mei saw her younger brother, Li Yi, getting out of the car and unloading things from it.

“Oh, it’s Yi! He’s back!”

Li Mei then hurried over to help.

Seeing that his older sister wasn’t wearing any warm clothes, Li Yi hurriedly said, “Sis, go inside first. Don’t catch a chill—you might get sick!”

“It’s fine, I’ll help you!”

“No need… there isn’t much. I can handle it myself!”

Saying this, Li Yi took several cloth bags from the car and followed his older sister back inside.

Zhang Yuehong, sitting on the kang, knew her son had returned and was equally thrilled.

Seeing Li Yi come in, she hurriedly asked, “Xiao Yi, are you here alone? Have Xiao Xue and the kids come back yet?”

“It’s just me—they’re all still in the capital!”

“Why didn’t you bring them back with you?” his mother asked, frowning.

“The children are too young; they can’t handle the rigors of such a long journey. We’ll bring them back once they’re a little older!” Li Yi explained.

Li Mei, standing nearby, chimed in, “Mother, Xiao Xue hasn’t even finished her postpartum confinement yet—we can’t invite trouble!”

“Oh…”

Seeing the look of disappointment on his mother’s face, Li Yi smiled and said, “Mother, although Xiao Xue and the baby can’t come back, you and Father can go to the capital to visit them!”

“Ah… we’re going to the capital?” Zhang Yuehong said, looking surprised.

“That’s right. The baby will be one month old in a couple of days. I came back this time specifically to take you and Dad to the capital for the full-month celebration!” Li Yi said.

“But… are we really going to the capital? Will your father and I be able to handle it?”

Knowing that his mother had never traveled far in her life—the farthest she’d ever gone was the county seat—he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous about taking her to the capital.

With that in mind, Li Yi hurriedly said, “Of course you can! Both my third sister and I are in the capital—do you think we’d lose track of you and Dad?”

“I… maybe you should ask your father first!”

This was such a big decision; Zhang Yuehong didn’t dare make it on her own, even though she really wanted to go to the capital.

“Where’s Dad? Why don’t I see him?”

“He went to help out at a construction site. He’ll be back tonight!” Li Mei replied.

“What construction site? What kind of work can they do in this freezing cold?” Li Yi asked curiously.

“It’s the school construction site. A few days ago, Mr. Huang’s brother-in-law came by and said they’ll start construction soon, so they need to prepare the materials in advance!”

Hearing this, Li Yi immediately understood: temperatures here would rise in April, making construction possible.

It was already March, so it made sense for the construction crew to arrive early to get ready.

But there were still some things he didn’t quite understand, so he asked right away, “Sis, they’re starting to build a school—what’s Dad doing there?”

“It’s nothing much. It’s just that Mr. Huang’s brother-in-law came to visit Mom and Dad specifically a few days ago and brought quite a few gifts.”

Li Mei continued, “He also mentioned that he’s new to the area and doesn’t even speak our language well, so he asked Dad to find some people to help out on the construction site. Dad figured that Mr. Huang has been pretty good to you, so he agreed!”

“I see. Well, I’ll go check out the construction site!”

With that, Li Yi started to head out, but just as he stepped through the door, he turned back.

He walked over to his mother, pulled out a stack of crisp new 100-yuan notes, waved them in front of his little nephew, and said, “Here, this is your New Year’s money from Uncle. Reach out and take it!”

It was unclear whether the little guy understood what Li Yi had said, but he actually reached out and grabbed the colorful stack of bills.

“Xiao Yi, why are you giving a child so much New Year’s money?” his older sister asked, somewhat surprised.

“Hehe, don’t worry about that, sis. This is for my nephew!”

With that, Li Yi smiled and walked out the door!

Shortly after, the sound of a car starting up could be heard outside once more!

PS: One more chapter to go—stay tuned!