Chapter 211: Arrival in Chang’an

2:00 a.m. Ning City Train Station!

“Woo-woo-woo…”

With a deep, drawn-out whistle, a green-painted train resembling a giant dragon pulled into the station and came to a slow stop alongside the platform.

There were already quite a few passengers waiting on the platform, and Li Yi and Tang Xue were among them.

Half an hour earlier, staff from the state-run hotel had personally driven them to the train station.

This was personally arranged by Wang Anguo!

Originally, Wang Anguo had planned to see them off in person, but since he had urgent business at the bureau, he had arranged for the Municipal Hotel to handle the matter instead.

Although Wang Anguo’s official rank wasn’t high, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Division held considerable authority, so the Municipal Hotel naturally treated them with due respect—after all, this wasn’t a major undertaking.

As for Wang Anguo’s arrangements, Li Yi accepted them.

If it had been just Li Yi on his own, he most likely wouldn’t have accepted a ride, since the City Hotel wasn’t far from the train station.

It was less than two kilometers—he could just treat it as a stroll.

But with Tang Xue, who was pregnant, in tow, Li Yi had no choice but to accept. He couldn’t let his wife go through that ordeal with him.

As the train doors slowly opened, passengers began to file out of the carriages.

Once most of the disembarking passengers had finished, the passengers who had been waiting on the platform for a long time began boarding the train one after another.

Since Li Yi and Tang Xue had booked soft sleeper berths, they didn’t need to wait in line—there weren’t many people there anyway.

After all, a journey that costs just 3 yuan in hard-seat class costs over 20 yuan in soft-sleeper class—only someone with money to burn would do that.

Not to mention, soft sleeper tickets aren’t something you can just buy with money—you have to reach a certain rank to qualify.

If it weren’t for Wang Anguo stepping in, Li Yi might not have been able to secure them.

After boarding, the two made their way to their carriage.

The vast compartment contained only four beds, resembling a dormitory with two bunk beds—only smaller in size, yet the furnishings were quite luxurious.

At that moment, the compartment was empty, with no signs of anyone having stayed there; clearly, the berths had been vacant since the train departed.

After stowing their luggage, Li Yi had Tang Xue lie down on the bed to rest, while he lay down on the bunk next to her.

The bed was very soft; in terms of comfort, it was far superior to a hard bunk.

Lying on the berth, Tang Xue felt a mix of surprise and unease.

In her mind, the most vivid memories of train compartments were of crowding, noise, and filth.

She had never imagined that a train compartment could be so clean and hygienic, with beds as comfortable as those in a hotel.

And the fact that she was able to enjoy all this wasn’t because of her own merits, but because of Li Yi.

It was this man who, worried she might suffer, had arranged everything perfectly for her along the way.

While feeling grateful, Tang Xue also felt a bit of worry and unease.

Was she really worthy of a man like this?

When she first got engaged to Li Yi, both Zhang Xinyao and others—and even she herself—felt she was marrying down.

After all, she had a city household registration, had attended high school, and was an educated youth.

Li Yi, on the other hand, was a country boy who hadn’t spent much time in school and had a bad reputation.

But through their interactions over the past two months—both before and after the wedding—Tang Xue discovered that Li Yi was far more outstanding than anyone had imagined.

Not only was he a shrewd businessman who knew how to make money, but he was also well-read and multi-talented.

More importantly, he had good character and a kind disposition!

When others misunderstood him, he didn’t complain or blame fate; when he was in a position of power, he didn’t bully others or brag about it.

On the contrary, he was naturally open-minded and eager to help others, and before she knew it, he had gathered a circle of friends whose status and influence were seemingly out of reach.

When she saw him conversing freely and on equal terms with billionaires like Wang Anmin, Wang Anguo, Liang Yuke, Li Gang, and even Huang Lixing, Tang Xue felt she truly wasn’t good enough for him.

And to be honest, their marriage was largely the result of her own scheming, which made her feel increasingly anxious.

Li Yi could see her unease and had a vague idea of why.

However, he said nothing; sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

To dispel her doubts, he simply needed to let her know that he truly loved her; everything else would fall into place.

In his previous life, he hadn’t had the chance to do anything for her, but in this life, he was determined to make Tang Xue feel his love!

…….

“Sniff, sniff…”

Two days flew by in the blink of an eye. With a muffled blast of the whistle, the green-painted train finally pulled into Chang’an Station.

And this was the train’s final stop!

So, as soon as the train pulled into the station, passengers poured out in droves.

Li Yi had already packed up his luggage. He then led Tang Xue off the train and followed the crowd toward the station exit.

To Tang Xue’s surprise, once they exited the station, Li Yi didn’t immediately go inside to inquire about train tickets to Shouxian.

Instead, he grabbed a staff member at the exit and bombarded him with questions about the best places to stay in Chang’an, as well as where to find good food and fun activities—asking so many questions that he nearly drove the staff member crazy!

Immediately after leaving the station, Li Yi actually hailed a taxi and headed straight for the Sixth State-Owned Hotel in the city, as the staff member had recommended.

To be honest, Li Yi hadn’t expected that Chang’an already had taxis.

Although the car was a “Shanghai” model—not exactly known for its comfort—the mere existence of taxis was enough to put most major cities in the country to shame.

After weaving through the crowded city streets for over half an hour, the car finally pulled up in front of the State-Owned Hotel.

After paying the fare, Li Yi picked up his luggage and led Tang Xue inside.

Once inside, the decor was indeed quite upscale.

Moreover, judging by the architectural style and the quality of the finishes, it appeared to be a newly renovated property completed within the last year or two—no wonder it was considered a high-end “hotel” in the eyes of the locals.

After checking in, the two made their way to their room on the fourth floor.

As soon as they walked in, Tang Xue couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you pay for three days? Are we going to stay here for three days?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Yeah, that’s the plan!”

“Why?”

Li Yi replied immediately, “First, you’re already exhausted from two days of train travel. I don’t want you to keep rushing around—it’s not only tiring, but it’s also bad for the baby in your belly!”

“Second, Chang’an is the ancient capital of the Han and Tang dynasties, with a rich historical heritage. We’ve finally made it here—it would be such a shame to leave without exploring it!”

In truth, there was one more thing Li Yi didn’t say: this trip back was bound to be anything but smooth, and he had no idea just how much trouble it would cause.

Rather than rushing back to outwit and outmaneuver those people, it would be better to rest up and recharge before returning!

Settling scores is something that needs to be done slowly; there’s no need to rush.

Tang Xue thought Li Yi’s reasoning made sense. Although they’d been in a soft-sleeper compartment these past two days, traveling by train was still no match for the comfort of home.

On top of that, because of her pregnancy, she’d been absolutely exhausted these past two days.

And Li Yi, in taking care of her, hadn’t gotten much rest either.

Moreover, as a native of Qin Province, she had never really explored Chang’an properly in her entire life, so the idea of spending a couple of days there was quite appealing to her.

And so, the two of them decided to stay in Chang’an!

Municipal State-Owned Hotel. Fugui Hall!

When Li Yi walked in with Tang Xue, he found that the spacious private room contained only Huang Lixing and his wife, along with Wang Anguo—there were none of the provincial and municipal leaders he had expected to see.

It was clear that both Wang Anguo and Huang Lixing were well aware of his temperament.

Li Yi was quite satisfied with this!

It wasn’t that Li Yi genuinely disliked interacting with high-ranking government officials; in fact, in China, the reality is that whoever maintains good connections with those in power and has strong influence can make a fortune.

In fact, this isn’t just true domestically; it holds true in the vast majority of countries around the world.

Take, for example, the oligarchs who emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union; or that country with 200 million people going hungry, yet capable of producing Asia’s richest man and the world’s second-richest; or even the so-called “Land of the Free,” where every major conglomerate has built its fortune on this very principle.

However, Li Yi knows full well that he is not yet in a position to raise a glass with those high-ranking officials.

Given his current status and standing, he would have absolutely no say if he were to mingle with those officials!

To put it bluntly, in the eyes of those bigwigs, he was currently nothing more than a tiny, insignificant shrimp—utterly incapable of making any significant waves.

Under these circumstances, associating with them would require him to humble himself to the very lowest level—so low he’d be crawling in the dust.

He might even have to learn to suck up and flatter them.

Or he’d have to be mentally prepared to get crushed—after all, no one would give a young man who lacks power yet acts defiantly a friendly reception.

Take the day Huang Lixing first arrived in Ning City, for example. Just because of the way Li Yi looked at Huang Lixing, a city official jumped in to accuse him of being rude.

Because of this incident, Li Yi was even moved to a different building.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg!

So, until he had sufficient clout, Li Yi really didn’t care for having anything to do with those high-ranking officials.

On the contrary, Li Yi felt more at ease sitting down for a meal with just this small group of people.

When they saw the young couple, Li Yi and Tang Xue, walk in, Huang Lixing and his wife, along with Wang Anguo, all stood up to greet them, while Chen Chuhong walked straight up to Tang Xue and pulled her over to her side.

“Mr. Li, why didn’t you let us know you were coming? If I hadn’t just run into Sir Wang, I wouldn’t have known you were in town!” Huang Lixing said with a smile.

Li Yi replied immediately, “Haha, it’s no big deal—I didn’t want to bother you all!”

“Don’t be so formal—that calls for a drink!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll have one drink, but no more than that. After all, I have to catch a train in a little while!”

“Alright, alright!”

After that, everyone took their seats according to their roles, and the dinner officially began.

Knowing that Li Yi had to catch a train that evening, Huang Lixing didn’t actually make him drink a penalty shot; instead, he simply asked about the destination of his trip.

Upon learning that Li Yi and Tang Xue were returning to Qin Province to visit family, he immediately expressed his own longing for the ancient Han and Tang capitals, adding that he definitely wanted to visit them someday if he had the chance.

After chatting briefly, Li Yi suddenly asked, “Mr. Huang, I heard you’ve been inspecting local rural schools these past few days. What have you learned?”

Instead of answering the question, Huang Lixing smiled and said, “It feels too formal—you calling me ‘Mr. Huang’ and me calling you ‘Mr. Li.’ It sounds a bit awkward. From now on, I’ll call you ‘Brother Li,’ and you can call me ‘Old Brother Huang.’ How does that sound?”

Huang Lixing then added, “Just like you and Wang do!”

Li Yi knew Huang Lixing was intentionally trying to build rapport, so he nodded immediately and said, “Then I’ll take Old Brother Huang’s advice!”

“Hahaha, let’s have a drink to that!”

With that, Huang Lixing raised his glass!

Everyone else immediately raised their glasses and clinked them lightly.

It was Tang Xue’s first time attending such an occasion. Although her cup was filled with plain tea, she was still a bit nervous.

Chen Chuhong, sitting nearby, clearly noticed this. After sitting down, she kept whispering to Tang Xue, trying to calm her down.

With Chen Chuhong’s reassurance, Tang Xue gradually relaxed and soon adapted to the dinner gathering.

Li Yi observed all of this and couldn’t help but nod approvingly to himself.

It must be said that Huang Lixing’s wife may not seem particularly striking at first glance, but she is actually quite capable.

Her appearance wasn’t particularly striking; compared to the female celebrities in Hong Kong at the time, she could be described as plain-looking.

Moreover, her figure appeared somewhat bloated due to her pregnancy.

But to stand out among the many women vying for Huang Lixing’s attention and ultimately become Mrs. Huang, she clearly had to be quite resourceful.

Not to mention, the fact that she could persuade a man of Huang Lixing’s caliber to give up the chance to live and willingly go to his death for her—that certainly speaks to her extraordinary nature.

After finishing his first glass of wine, Huang Lixing immediately said, “Brother Li, to be honest with you, after seeing where those country kids go to school these past few days, I’ve been deeply moved!”

“Before coming to the interior, I knew the country was poor and that educational conditions were poor, but I never imagined they’d be this bad!”

“So I’ve decided to build all one hundred schools to the high standards of a central school. If possible, I’ll keep this project going—we might end up building two hundred, three hundred, or even more!!”

Li Yi could sense the sincerity in Huang Lixing’s words. He suddenly said, “Brother Huang, that’s going to cost a lot of money!”

“Brother Li, I’ve had it specifically calculated. Given my company’s profitability, we can certainly sustain an investment of several million yuan a year!” Huang Lixing said confidently.

Li Yi smiled and said, “Here’s the deal, Brother Huang: if you really pull this off, I’ll give you a windfall next year!”

Hearing this, Huang Li’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately asked, “Do you mean it?”

“Yes, when I, Li Yi, make a promise, my word is as good as gold!”

“Alright then, it’s a deal!”

“It’s a deal!”

……

The meal didn’t last very long; it was over before eight o’clock.

On the one hand, Huang Lixing and his wife had been working hard all day and needed some rest.

On the other hand, Li Yi and Tang Xue had to catch a train in a few hours and couldn’t stay up too late.

Besides, both Mrs. Huang (Chen Chuhong) and Tang Xue were pregnant, so they certainly couldn’t be overworked!

After the meal, on the way back to their rooms with Li Yi and Tang Xue, Wang Anguo asked curiously, “Brother Li Yi, can you give us a hint about what kind of opportunity you’re planning to offer Mr. Huang?”

Li Yi didn’t hide anything; instead, he smiled and said, “I’m giving him a chance to strike it rich!”

“Strike it rich?”

“Yeah. Because of me, he’s donated quite a bit of money. No matter how much he spends, I’ll make sure he earns back ten times that amount!” Li Yi said.

“Ten times?”

Wang Anguo was taken aback by Li Yi’s words. After all, given the current situation, if Huang Lixing were to actually build those 100 schools, it would cost at least 5 to 8 million.

Ten times that would be 50 to 80 million—even for a billionaire like Huang Lixing, that was no small sum.

If he hadn’t known Li Yi’s capabilities, he would’ve thought he was just bragging.

Li Yi smiled and said, “Brother Wang! No need to be surprised. It’ll only take a few months to see if it works out or not. We’ll just have to wait and see!”

“Alright!”

…….

Ning City Bus Station!

Li Yi walked out of the bus station carrying two red suitcases and a strange backpack, with the elegantly dressed Tang Xue following behind him.

Today was the day they were officially heading to Qin Province!

Early in the morning, while it was still barely light out, his father, Li Shankui, drove them to the county seat.

Since there was only one bus a day from Qingshan County to Ning City—and it departed at exactly 8:00 a.m.—they had to arrive at the bus station before 8:00.

And so, today was the only day that the Li family’s two mule-drawn carts did not set out together.

As the couple stepped out of the bus station, they saw Wang Anguo, dressed in casual clothes, standing at the entrance waiting for them.

As soon as he saw them emerge, Wang Anguo immediately stepped forward to greet them.

“What took you guys so long?” Wang Anguo asked with a smile.

Li Yi gave a wry smile. “You know as well as I do what that old clunker of a county car is like—it broke down halfway there, and it took two hours to fix!”

“Hahaha, that bus should’ve been replaced ages ago, but unfortunately, the county doesn’t have the money!” Wang Anguo said with a laugh.

“But it’s really a nightmare for the locals to get around, and it’s not safe either!” Li Yi said.

“I’ll bring it up with my brother later. I’ll see if he can squeeze the funds from somewhere else so we can replace that car this year!”

“That would be great!”

Just then, Wang Anguo suddenly said, “By the way, I’ve already checked for you. The train to Qin Province leaves at 2 a.m. tomorrow. I’ve bought you two soft-sleeper tickets!”

“Also, I’ve issued a certificate for you. When you come back, you can use it to buy a soft sleeper ticket!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Thanks a lot, Brother Wang!”

“Don’t be so formal!”

Then Wang Anguo asked again, “By the way, it’s still early before we board the train. Why don’t we find a place to stay first?”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Let’s go to the City Hotel!”

“Sure!”

Saying this, Wang Anguo pointed to the Jeep parked by the curb and said, “The car’s over there!”

Once they were in the car, Li Yi immediately asked, “Brother Wang, have Mr. Huang and his wife left yet?”

“Not yet. They’ve been inspecting sites in Qing Shan County and the city outskirts these past few days. They’ve already finalized the locations for 21 schools!”

“That many?”

Wang Anguo nodded and said, “Yeah, you can tell Mr. Huang really wants to do good. The areas he’s chosen are genuinely lacking in educational resources. Plus, he’s building integrated elementary and middle school complexes—each one costs over 50,000 yuan.”

“So far, the investment in these schools alone is no less than 1.5 million yuan. And he says he’s determined to build a full hundred schools in Saibei Province!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Tang Xue exclaimed in surprise, “A hundred schools? That would require seven or eight million yuan, wouldn’t it?”

“Hmm, and that’s just a conservative estimate!”

“What’s in it for them?” Tang Xue asked, puzzled.

Wang Anguo smiled and said, “You’ll have to ask Brother Li Yi about that!”

“Ask him?”

Tang Xue then looked at Li Yi and said incredulously, “This… this isn’t your idea, is it?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Yep!”

“Why?”

“Didn’t I tell you before that I did them a huge favor? And the condition I set back then was for them to build 100 schools in North Sai Province—as a way of praying for the well-being of both their children and ours!”

“And they agreed?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s millions of dollars! They’re really willing to spend that much!” Tang Xue exclaimed in amazement.

“A few million is certainly a lot, but if they really pull this off, the return in the future could be ten, a hundred, or even a thousand times that!” Li Yi said calmly.

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm!”

Listening to the couple’s conversation, Wang Anguo smiled but said nothing.

It seemed this younger sister-in-law knew nothing of Li Yi’s abilities. If she knew her husband was the kind of master who could make such precise predictions, she probably wouldn’t have asked such a question!

Of course, Wang Anguo didn’t say anything more.

Since Li Yi hadn’t mentioned it himself, he certainly wasn’t going to say anything more.

Soon, the car arrived at the City Hotel.

Accompanied by Wang Anguo, Li Yi and Tang Xue quickly checked into their room.

As luck would have it, their room was once again Room 315 in Building 2—right next door to Huang Lixing and the others.

However, the couple had been out on an inspection that morning, so they weren’t in the room.

When they entered the room and saw the interior decor and furnishings, Tang Xue was completely stunned.

It was so luxurious—far beyond her expectations.

Then, when Tang Xue learned that a room like this cost a whopping 15 yuan per night, she was completely dumbfounded!

Unlike Tang Xue, who was both shocked and heartbroken, Li Yi took it in stride.

A dozen or so yuan a night wasn’t exactly cheap, but there was a reason for the high price.

Besides, his wife was pregnant, so she deserved a comfortable place to rest.

So this money was well spent!

After settling their luggage, Li Yi took Tang Xue and Wang Anguo to the VIP restaurant at the City Hotel for dinner.

This meal once again blew Tang Xue’s mind—the three of them had just spent 25 yuan on a single meal, which was equivalent to more than half a month’s wages for an average worker. It was simply too extravagant!

Tang Xue finally understood why her second and third sisters called their husbands “prodigals”—he certainly lived up to that label.

Fortunately, she also knew just how good Li Yi was at making money; in just a few short months, he had earned more than most people could amass in several lifetimes.

Honestly, if the world didn’t keep changing, their family’s assets alone would be enough to support them for the rest of their lives.

So, even though it pained her, she didn’t say much!

Besides, she didn’t have the energy for it anyway!

To catch the bus today, she’d gotten up just after five in the morning, and ever since, she’d either been on the bus or on her way to catch it—she was already exhausted.

So after dinner, Tang Xue yawned her way back to the room and fell asleep almost immediately.

Li Yi was no different; after Tang Xue fell asleep, he wrapped his arms around her and drifted off as well!

She didn’t know how long they’d been asleep, but in a daze, Li Yi heard what sounded like someone knocking on the door and woke up immediately.

He went to the door and looked through the peephole—to his surprise, it was Wang Anguo standing outside.

Li Yi immediately opened the door and stepped out; since his wife was sleeping, he didn’t let Wang Anguo come inside.

“Hey, Brother Wang, why are you here again?”

Wang Anguo smiled and said, “You must be half-asleep. It’s already 6:00 p.m.—I’ve finished work!”

“Six o’clock?”

Li Yi was momentarily taken aback. He remembered that it hadn’t even been 1:30 when the three of them finished dinner; he hadn’t expected it to be 6:00 in the blink of an eye.

He glanced at his watch and saw it was already 6:15. He was momentarily speechless.

“Come on, stop staring. Boss Huang is back, and when he found out you and your sister-in-law were here, he insisted on treating you to dinner!”

“Huh, then why hasn’t he come up yet?”

“He’s over at the restaurant making arrangements. You hurry up and have your sister-in-law get ready—we’re heading straight to the Fugui Hall on the second floor of the restaurant!” Wang Anguo said.

“Alright, we’ll get ready!”

“Alright!”

With that, Wang Anguo turned and left!

Early the next morning, Li Yi got up at the crack of dawn. First, he and Third Sister prepared the cold noodles and white flatbreads, then they drove the horse-drawn cart into town to deliver the goods.

After delivering the mushrooms, Li Yi went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and began a major shopping spree.

Since they were heading to Qin Province—a round trip that would take several days—they had to carefully plan for food, drink, and supplies for the journey.

First, Li Yi bought two red suitcases to pack their clothes and other essentials.

In addition, he bought two olive-green canteens and two new lunch boxes, also for the journey.

All that’s left is food and supplies—we’ll need to bring along sponge cakes and shortbread, as well as canned goods, peanuts, sunflower seeds, milk candies, and candied fruit.

After all, we’ll be traveling by car or train the whole way, and for the vast majority of the time, we won’t be able to buy anything.

And since Tang Xue is pregnant, I have to make sure I’ve prepared plenty of food and drink for her.

Besides, when going home, everyone wants to make a grand entrance.

Regardless of the outcome of this trip—whether it ends in disaster or not—I have to make sure my wife looks her best.

Although Tang Xue already had quite a few new outfits, it still wasn’t enough.

So Li Yi bought Tang Xue a yellow floral dress and a new set of underwear.

Finally, Li Yi bought 10 bags of Fuqiang flour and two buckets of cooking oil all at once, filling up a cart to haul back to the village.

Back home, Tang Xue was packing her things with her mother’s help.

They had laid all the clothes out on the kang and were about to pack them into a burlap sack.

Seeing this, Li Yi immediately told them to stop.

He was indeed prescient to have bought two suitcases.

Otherwise, his mother would have actually made him carry that burlap sack while taking Tang Xue back to their hometown.

Seeing that Li Yi had actually bought two such beautiful suitcases, Tang Xue was overjoyed.

Girls, after all, have a natural fondness for bags and suitcases.

She then happily took the suitcases and packed all of their clothes inside.

In the afternoon—perhaps knowing they were about to leave—Second Sister returned.

This time, however, she didn’t bring her eldest nephew, Zhang Ning; instead, she left him with her husband.

Upon asking, they learned that Second Sister’s mother-in-law had offered to babysit for them.

My second sister knew this was her mother-in-law’s way of reaching out to them. Although she still harbored some resentment over the favoritism the elderly couple had shown a few years back, she reminded herself that they were, after all, her husband’s own parents—and her son’s grandparents. In the end, she decided not to hold a grudge and left the child with them.

Li Yi also thought his second sister had handled the situation perfectly!

My second sister’s in-laws were different from my eldest sister’s in-laws. The scum of the Yang family were the kind who would devour people whole, while my second sister’s in-laws were simply biased because they had a younger child.

But this kind of thing is all too common in the countryside, and the root cause is poverty.

Given limited resources, after marrying off the eldest son, they naturally expected him to help support his younger siblings—and strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong with that.

Since the old couple has already made the first move to be friendly, what’s there to hesitate about?

Besides, I’m leaving tomorrow. If my second sister doesn’t come back, I’ll have to ask my third sister to put her street stall on hold—after all, the family’s mushroom business is more important.

Now that Second Sister is back, it really is the best of both worlds!

…….

That afternoon, Li Yi, Tang Xue, and Second Sister continued harvesting mushrooms at the new house, while Zhang Yuehong stayed home to cook.

Since her son and daughter-in-law were leaving for Qin Province tomorrow, Zhang Yuehong decided to cook a nice meal that evening to send them off.

She slaughtered a chicken, plucked it, and put it in a pot to simmer.

At the same time, Zhang Yuehong scooped out two bowls of the cured pork she’d been saving—too precious to eat—to prepare a pot of braised cured pork with glass noodles.

However, just as she was busy, she heard someone calling from outside the front gate.

Upon hearing the voices, Zhang Yuehong immediately put down what she was doing and went out to see what was going on.

To her surprise, there were more than a dozen people at the gate.

Upon closer inspection, she realized the leader was none other than Feng Kai, the village Party branch secretary.

The rest were the male educated youths who had been taken away from the village some time ago, along with their families. After all, most of them had visited the Li family before, so Zhang Yuehong still had some influence over them.

“Xiao Yi’s mom, is Xiao Yi home?” Feng Kai asked with a smile.

“He is, but he’s over at the new house. What’s the matter?” Zhang Yuehong asked, sounding a bit nervous.

Although she wasn’t quite sure how these male educated youths had been released, as a mother, she was still worried that they might cause trouble for her son.

“Nothing much. These kids have been released, and their families wanted to come thank Xiao Yi, so I brought them over!” Feng Kai said.

“Thank him?”

“Yes, Xiao Yi wrote a statement of forgiveness for them, so the court acquitted them!” Feng Kai explained.

“Then… what about that kid surnamed Xu? Was he released too?” Zhang Yuehong asked, furrowing her brow.

“Not him. Xiao Yi didn’t write a statement of forgiveness for him, so he was sentenced to eight years!” Feng Kai said.

“Oh, if you want to see Xiao Yi, you should go to the new house!” Zhang Yuehong said.

“Okay.”

Feng Kai then turned to the male educated youths and their families and said, “Put your things down. I’ll take you to the Li family’s new house!”

Hearing Feng Kai’s words, the male educated youths bowed their heads and presented the various gifts they were carrying to Zhang Yuehong.

Zhang Yuehong had never seen anything like this before and hurriedly refused to accept them.

Just then, a woman in her forties took Zhang Yuehong’s hand and said, “Sister, please just take them. If you don’t, we won’t feel at ease!”

“That’s right, Sister. If it weren’t for your son Xiaoyi showing mercy, our Junzi would have been sentenced to prison. If that had happened, his whole life would have been ruined!”

“Sister, please just take them—they’re not worth much anyway…”

…

After all, Zhang Yuehong was just an ordinary rural woman; how could she possibly argue with these city folks? In the end, she had no choice but to accept the gifts.

Then, she watched as Feng Kai led the group over to the new house.

When they arrived at the new house, they happened to run into the villagers delivering mushrooms.

At that moment, the courtyard of the Li family’s new house was packed with villagers waiting to have their mushrooms weighed and paid for.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “Hey, isn’t that Zhou Zhqing, Liang Zhqing, and the others? How come they’ve all been released?”

Everyone immediately turned to look outside and instantly spotted Zhou Guangya, Yang Yi, Liang Jianjun, and the others.

Li Yi also heard the commotion and walked over to see what was going on.

Upon seeing them, Li Yi realized the court had handed down its verdict, and these people had been released.

When the group approached Li Yi, a middle-aged man in his fifties turned to Zhou Guangya behind him and said, “Comrade Zhou Yang is right here. Go up and speak for yourself!”

Zhou Guangya looked much thinner than before, his face somewhat pale. He walked up to Li Yi and bowed first.

Then, with a complex expression, he said, “Li Yi, first of all, I want to say I’m sorry to you and Tang Xue. Because of my jealousy and ignorance, I committed that shameful act. I regret my actions—please forgive me!”

“Secondly, I’d also like to say thank you. Actually, before the trial began, I had already prepared myself for prison, and the guys in the cell had told me that for people like us, it’s at least three years minimum.”

“But I never expected that you would put the past behind you and write a letter of leniency on our behalf. Thank you…”

At this point, tears suddenly welled up in Zhou Guangya’s eyes, and his voice choked with emotion.

No one knew how he had spent his time in the detention center.

Worry, fear, helplessness, and uncertainty about the future gnawed at his heart every day.

Added to that were the beatings and bullying from other detainees, which had left him utterly despairing.

But happiness came just as suddenly. On the day of the hearing, he had thought it would mark the beginning of his descent into darkness, yet the outcome was his immediate release.

So, at that moment, his gratitude toward Li Yi was genuine.

Li Yi patted him on the shoulder and said, “I’m very glad to hear you say these things; it shows you’ve truly grown.”

“But I want you to know that this is just a small misstep in your life that can still be corrected. More often than not, however, once you make a mistake, there’s no chance for redemption—you’ll have to pay the price.”

“So I hope you’ll take this as a lesson for the future. No matter what decision you make, you must always consider whether you can bear the consequences!”

“Yes, I’ll remember that. Thank you!”

Afterward, Yang Yi, Liang Jianjun, and the others all stepped forward to express their remorse and gratitude, and Li Yi accepted the apologies and thanks they offered.

With that, the educated youth poisoning case—which had shaken the entire Hongqi Commune and even the whole of Qingshan County—finally came to a close.

Of the six male educated youths who had been arrested, all but Xu Hong—who had intentionally administered the poison—were released without charges after being detained for a few months.

Li Yi’s decision to put the past behind him and issue letters of forgiveness for these male educated youth was met with unanimous praise from the villagers.

After all, most villagers were kind-hearted; they did not want to see so many educated youth in the village sentenced to prison—that would have been too cruel.

The current outcome can be said to be the one that best aligns with everyone’s expectations.

Likewise, Li Yi was very satisfied with this outcome.

Moreover, having this matter resolved before his departure gave him a sense of relief, sparing him the worry of carrying it with him as he set out.

With the matter smoothly resolved, he could now take Tang Xue back to her parents’ home with a clear conscience!

……….

After delivering the money to his second sister’s husband, Li Yi didn’t linger and headed straight back to Nianzishan Village.

He told his second sister to stay home for a few days and come back in a couple of days, since he was leaving for Qin Province in two days and the family needed her to be there to keep things in order.

Since the return trip was mostly downhill, it was quite easy.

He made excellent time, arriving back in less than an hour and a half.

By the time he got home, it was nearly noon. Li Yi took it upon himself to cook, preparing a pot of fragrant steamed rice for his family.

After lunch, braving the scorching sun, Li Yi hopped on his bicycle and headed for the county seat.

Once in town, Li Yi first stopped by the credit union to deposit a portion of the money Huang Lixing had given him.

Out of the 52,000 yuan, Li Yi gave 12,000 to his second sister’s husband, kept 10,000 for his own family, and deposited the remaining 30,000.

He planned to use this money later to buy other mountain produce, such as pine nuts, hazelnuts, and chestnuts.

He hadn’t originally planned to buy these items, mainly because the costs were high and he didn’t have enough capital.

Now that the funding issue was resolved and he had enough help at home, there was no harm in collecting them all at once when the time came.

After depositing the money, Li Yi went back to the office area behind the credit union, found Li Yeqiao, and asked how things were going with the loan.

Li Yeqiao was quite straightforward; he handed the loan contract documents directly to Li Yi—the matter had already been settled.

After that, Li Yi didn’t linger in the office; he took the documents to the front lobby.

He converted the loan from the contract directly into his own deposit—the kind he could withdraw at any time—and only then did he leave the credit union.

After leaving the credit union, Li Yi didn’t head to the market stall to find his father and third sister; instead, he rode his bicycle back to the village.

His second sister wasn’t there today either, so he had to get back early to help harvest the mushrooms; otherwise, Tang Xue would definitely be overwhelmed on her own.

By the time he got home, it was already 2:30 p.m. As soon as he walked in, he saw Tang Xue wearing a sun hat, leading her mother out the door.

Judging by the situation, Tang Xue was planning to have her mother-in-law go over to the new house to help out.

Seeing this, Li Yi chuckled; it was good to see the girl wasn’t trying to be too independent.

After pushing the bicycle inside, Li Yi told his mother to stay home and wait for his father and third sister to return, while he and Tang Xue headed over to the new house.

Once they arrived at the new house, Li Yi had Tang Xue sit in the shade for a while while he gathered up the mushrooms that had been dried over the past few days.

If he didn’t put them away, there wouldn’t be room to dry the new batch later.

Tang Xue wanted to help, but Li Yi wouldn’t dare ask her to do such work.

But Tang Xue didn’t want to sit in the shade alone, so she leaned against the doorframe of the drying shed and watched Li Yi work.

Li Yi worked with great efficiency, getting the job done both quickly and well.

Tang Xue thought Li Yi looked really handsome at that moment. Although she didn’t know how to describe it, Li Yi, working so earnestly, was truly charming and captivating.

Ever since she was a child, Tang Xue had always thought that Tan Cheng, the eldest son of Uncle Tan’s family, was the most handsome boy around; she had even fantasized about marrying him when she grew up.

But now, watching Li Yi work so hard, she suddenly felt that Tan Cheng didn’t seem quite as handsome after all, and that she didn’t like him as much as she had imagined.

On the contrary, her feelings for Li Yi were growing stronger by the minute.

For a moment, Tang Xue couldn’t help but be completely captivated!

…….

It was late at night, and all was quiet!

In the west room of the Li family’s old mansion, Tang Xue lay pale-faced on the kang, covered by a thin blanket.

She wasn’t ill, but suffering from morning sickness.

At dinner that evening, her mother had made her some chicken soup and chicken noodle soup.

Perhaps because the food was too greasy—or for some other reason—she had only taken a couple of bites before she started vomiting violently.

Seeing that she really couldn’t eat any more, Li Yi had no choice but to send her back to the west room to rest for a while.

“Creak!”

Hearing the sound, Tang Xue looked up and saw Li Yi coming in, holding a bowl.

“I don’t have an appetite…”

Li Yi smiled and said, “You’re saying you don’t have an appetite without even knowing what’s in it?”

“I don’t want to eat anything!” Tang Xue said listlessly.

She hadn’t eaten much tonight, so now she lay on the kang feeling listless.

Li Yi brought the bowl over, and she saw that it contained a pale yellow substance.

“Is that powdered milk?”

“No, it’s milk!”

“Milk? You mean the kind cows produce?” Tang Xue asked, somewhat surprised.

“Yep!”

“Where did you get the milk?” Tang Xue asked curiously.

“That big yellow cow in the production team had a calf. I asked Uncle Zhou to milk a teacup’s worth of colostrum for me.”

Li Yi continued, “Colostrum has high nutritional value. It’s rich in protein, which can boost a pregnant woman’s immunity and help replenish protein.”

“Additionally, colostrum contains various enzymes that aid digestion and absorption in pregnant women and inhibit bacterial growth, which is especially beneficial for someone like you who suffers from severe morning sickness.”

“You really know your stuff!”

“Get up and try some right away!” Li Yi said.

“Okay!”

After climbing out of bed, Tang Xue took the large bowl Li Yi handed her and took a small sip.

Although the fresh milk had a faint taste, it was rich in milky aroma.

After taking that first sip, a glimmer of delight flashed in Tang Xue’s eyes, and she began sipping it slowly.

However, just as she had drunk about half of it, Li Yi called out to her, “It’s evening now. Don’t drink too much milk. I’ll heat up the rest for you to drink tomorrow morning!”

“Okay!”

Li Yi then pulled a brown paper bag out of his pocket and said, “Try this!”

“What is it?”

“See for yourself!”

Tang Xue took the paper bag and discovered it contained candied fruit.

“Oh, where did these candied fruits come from?”

“Who cares where they came from? Just eat them if you like!” Li Yi said with a smile.

Tang Xue glanced at the sweat on Li Yi’s forehead and his half-damp shirt, then suddenly asked, “You… you didn’t just go to the supply and marketing cooperative, did you?”

“Yeah! I saw you weren’t eating anything, and I thought the sweet-and-sour candied fruit might help with morning sickness, so I went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some!” Li Yi explained.

“It’s so late—is the supply and marketing cooperative still open?”

“Hehe, the supply and marketing cooperative over at the commune stays open late!”

Although Li Yi said that, Tang Xue knew that no matter how late they closed, they couldn’t possibly still be open past eight o’clock.

This silly man must have just barged in and bought these candied fruits for himself.

“You…”

She managed to utter just one word before her voice caught in her throat, and tears began to fall uncontrollably.

From childhood to adulthood, no one had ever treated her this well—not even her parents, brother, or sister.

Whether she was sick or tired, they never showed any concern for her, let alone did things for her the way Li Yi had.

Li Yi stepped forward, gently patted her shoulder, and said with a smile, “Why are you crying now?”

“You’re so good to me, I’m just a little…”

“Hehe, well, just be nice to me in return from now on!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“Okay!”

“By the way, I’ve already sorted out the loan today. Let’s pack our bags tomorrow, and we’ll set off for Qin Province the day after,” Li Yi said.

“Are we really leaving? Have you decided?” Tang Xue asked.

“Yeah, we’ll have to face it sooner or later. The sooner we deal with it, the better!” Li Yi said.

“Alright!”

…….

Early the next morning, Li Yi didn’t go to the county seat himself; instead, he had his father, Li Shankui, drive the black horse-drawn cart into town to deliver the goods.

As for himself, he rode his bicycle back to Yaogou Village with his second sister and his eldest nephew, Zhang Ning.

First, his second sister had been visiting her parents’ home for nearly a month, so he wanted to go check on her.

Secondly, he needed to send some money to his second sister’s husband, since the volume of mushrooms he was buying every day was no small amount.

Although the purchase price was relatively low—just 10 or 15 cents per pound of mushrooms—and the price wasn’t fixed, the daily cash outflow was still substantial.

A while back, his sister-in-law’s husband had mentioned running out of money, so the family had scraped together two thousand yuan for him—though given the massive volume of purchases, that sum likely wouldn’t last long.

Li Yi guessed his funds must have run out long ago; he had no idea how he was managing.

After riding for over two hours, Yaogou Village came into view in the distance.

With a child and an adult in tow, and the road still sloping upward, even Li Yi—with his sturdy build—was starting to feel the strain.

Seeing her younger brother panting, Li Lan said with concern, “It’s not far now. Let’s take a break before continuing!”

Meanwhile, his older nephew, perched on the crossbar of the bicycle, excitedly patted the handlebars and shouted, “Uncle, go!”

Li Yi was breathing heavily but smiled and said, “It’s okay, sis. Just hang in there—we’re almost there!”

After riding for another twenty minutes or so, they finally reached the village entrance.

Before they even entered the village, they saw several women coming toward them, some carrying baskets and others carrying backpacks.

When they saw Li Lan, the women were taken aback at first.

Since Li Lan hadn’t had to work in the fields during her stay at her parents’ home, she was wearing relatively clean clothes.

Plus, Li Yi had bought her a floral blouse and plastic sandals, so her outfit was far more stylish than that of the rural women in front of her—she looked just like a city woman.

Consequently, at first, none of them actually recognized her.

“Oh my, is Ningning’s mom back?”

“Good heavens, I almost didn’t recognize you!”

“You’ve been away at your parents’ place for quite a while this time—it’s been almost a month, hasn’t it…”

Second Sister hurriedly got out of the back seat of the car and greeted the women.

After chatting for a few minutes, the women realized Second Sister was in a hurry to get home, so they didn’t hold her back to chat any longer—especially since they were busy heading out to pick mushrooms themselves.

Even though the women had walked away, Li Yi and Li Lan could still hear their voices—filled with either exclamations of surprise or envy.

It could be said that even before they entered the village, Li Lan could already sense the changes among the villagers.

It certainly wasn’t like this before!

Because of her feisty nature—especially the incident where she’d used a kitchen knife to force her second sister’s husband and her parents to divide their property—the villagers dared not say anything to her face, but behind her back, they had no shortage of gossip about her.

On top of that, everyone knew that her second sister’s family was in a tough spot, so people used to avoid them like the plague.

How different it was now—these people actually greeted her when they met, and with such warmth.

Li Lan knew that this shift in their attitude wasn’t because she had changed, nor because her family had changed—it was because her younger brother, Li Yi, had made something of himself.

Thanks to him, she and her husband had also become respected figures in the eyes of the villagers, which was why they now looked at her with newfound respect.

Thinking of this, Li Lan’s gaze toward her younger brother held a touch of gratitude!

Li Yi, riding his bicycle ahead, didn’t notice his second sister’s expression; he was simply relieved to have finally reached their destination.

To the villagers, a bicycle was a luxury item, but in Li Yi’s view, it was fine for short distances; for anything over 10 kilometers, it really wasn’t as good as a mule cart—it was just too tiring!

Arriving at his second sister’s courtyard, Li Yi saw his brother-in-law working shirtless in the yard.

The courtyard had completely changed since his last visit; the vast space was now almost entirely filled with wooden frames.

These frames were built with logs as thick as a bowl’s rim as the main supports, then covered with thinner wood and bamboo poles, and finally layered with waterproof tarps, one layer upon another.

As expected, these were set up by his sister-in-law’s husband for drying mushrooms.

Zhang Ning hadn’t seen her second sister’s husband in over half a month. Upon seeing him, she immediately cried out excitedly, “Dad… Dad…”

At the same time, he struggled to climb down from the truck’s crossbar.

Fearing he might fall, Li Yi quickly set him down on the ground.

Hearing his eldest nephew’s cries, my second sister’s husband immediately turned his head.

When he saw that his daughter-in-law and son had returned, he immediately dropped what he was doing and ran out to greet them.

After exchanging pleasantries, the group went back inside.

Once inside, Li Yi asked right away, “Second Brother-in-Law, how’s the harvest going over here?”

“It’s going great. Everyone’s really enthusiastic. It’s not just our village—even the villagers from nearby Xuejiawa, Xiaoyushuying, and Fugou have come to sell mushrooms. We’re collecting at least four or five thousand catties every day!” her second brother-in-law said.

“Where do you keep all those mushrooms? I don’t see many here at home,” Second Sister asked in surprise.

“How much can we possibly store in this tiny place? I’ve put them in the village’s big warehouse!”

“The big warehouse?”

“Yeah. It’s not harvest season yet, so the production team’s warehouse is empty. I just asked Uncle San if I could borrow it for a while!”

Second Sister’s husband’s Uncle Three was the village production team leader—Li Yi knew this. Storing the mushrooms there wasn’t a bad idea, but preventing theft was another matter.

Li Yi immediately asked, “Aren’t you worried they’ll get stolen if you leave them there?”

“I only send them over after they’re dried. Dried mushrooms aren’t exactly something people in our village are keen on!”

Then my second sister’s husband added, “Besides, the big warehouse is right in the village committee’s courtyard. There’s a livestock shed there, and to prevent the large animals from getting lost, the villagers send someone there every night to keep watch!”

“Heh, that’s actually a good thing—a free warehouse that even comes with security guards on night watch!” Li Yi said with a laugh.

“Actually, everyone’s happy to help keep an eye on the mushrooms in the warehouse!”

“Why?” my second sister asked, puzzled.

“Heh, that’s the only way I can feel at ease collecting everyone’s mushrooms, and the villagers get to earn some money too, don’t they?” her husband explained.

Hearing Second Sister’s husband mention money, Li Yi immediately asked, “Second Sister’s husband, logically speaking, you should have run out of money by now. Why haven’t you gone home to get more?”

“Last time I went, your Second Sister said there wasn’t much money left at home, so I’ve been running a tab for now. I’ll pay them back later!”

“Will the villagers be okay with that?”

“Of course they’ll be happy—it’s not like I’m not going to pay them!” Second Sister’s Husband said with a laugh.

“How much do you owe?” Li Yi asked right away.

“About two thousand yuan.”

“Hmm!”

Li Yi immediately unfastened the shoulder bag he was wearing, pulled out a thick stack of 10-yuan notes, and pushed it toward his second sister’s husband.

“Brother-in-law, here’s twelve thousand yuan. Take it and keep it. From now on, just take as much as you need—money isn’t an issue!”

Staring at the bundles of brand-new, crisp 10-yuan bills before him, Zhang Xuefeng was dumbfounded.

Twelve thousand yuan—that’s twelve hundred bills. He’d never seen that much money in his entire life.

You have to understand—even if the two of them worked their fingers to the bone for a whole year, the money they’d end up splitting between them would never exceed 500 yuan.

And that was only in a good year; in an average year, they’d be lucky to split a few hundred yuan.

Twelve thousand yuan—even if his whole family worked their entire lives without eating or drinking, they might not be able to earn that much.

For a moment, Zhang Xuefeng found himself looking at his wife, completely at a loss.

Li Lan naturally understood how her husband felt. She smiled and said, “This money all belongs to Xiao Yi. I gave it to you so you can use it to buy mushrooms—just keep it and use it as you see fit!”

“Alright!”

……

Night. The Li Family Mansion!

The Li family had just finished dinner. Since they’d spent quite a bit of time with Huang Lixing and the others that afternoon, the mushroom harvest had been slightly delayed.

By the time all the members’ mushrooms had been processed, it was already past eight o’clock in the evening.

After dinner, the entire Li family sat in the living room chatting, the topic still revolving around Huang Lixing and his wife’s donation of 100,000 yuan to the school.

Earlier during dinner, Li Yi had already explained his relationship with Huang Lixing.

Of course, Li Yi didn’t mention any of the mysterious details.

He simply said that when he went to the city a few days ago, he happened to do Huang Lixing and his wife a huge favor—essentially saving their entire family’s lives.

As for the rest, he didn’t say anything.

“Xiao Yi, does that Mr. Huang really plan to spend 100,000 yuan to build a school in our village?”

Second Sister Li Lan still found it hard to believe and asked for confirmation again.

“Yeah, the project’s already been approved. Construction will start soon, and then the villagers will have their hands full!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“Huh? What does this have to do with our village members? Are they going to make us help build it?” Third Sister Li Na asked, puzzled.

“It’s not about helping out—it’s about hiring!”

“Hired?”

“Yeah, a project this big requires a lot of workers, and it’s not feasible to bring them in from elsewhere—the costs would be too high!”

Li Yi continued, “So the construction workers for this school will most likely be hired from the nearby villages!”

“If they’re hiring, that means they’ll have to pay. Is there really such a good deal?”

“I’d say so,” Li Yi replied.

At that moment, Second Sister spoke up again: “That Mr. Huang is quite an interesting fellow. You helped him, so he should have thanked you directly, but instead he used the money to build a school!”

“It was my idea!”

“Yours?”

“Yeah. Actually, he wanted to give me the money from the start, but I turned it down!”

Li Yi continued, “I thought it would be nice to use that money for a good cause—as a way of praying for their children, and for my and Xiaoxue’s children too!”

Li Shankui, who had remained silent the whole time, suddenly said, “That’s great. You did the right thing!”

With his father’s approval, Li Yi felt a bit pleased.

But Second Sister said with a hint of regret, “That’s a hundred thousand yuan! If we’d given it all to Xiao Yi, our family would’ve become a hundred-thousand-yuan household overnight, and we wouldn’t have to take out a loan anymore!”

Tang Xue smiled and said, “Second Sister is such a money-grubber, but I think he did the right thing!”

Li Na added, “I think Xiao Yi did the right thing too. Once the school is built, everyone in the village will be indebted to our family!”

Second Sister glared and said unhappily, “So it turns out I’m wrong for standing up for Xiao Yi? You’re all good people, and I’m the only one who’s money-hungry!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “No, I know you’re just looking out for me, Second Sister. It’s just that there’s some money we can take, and some we shouldn’t.”

“Sigh, I just feel that you’ve done them such a huge favor, yet you didn’t get a single benefit out of it—it all went to outsiders. I feel it’s a waste for you!”

Just then, their mother, Zhang Yuehong, suddenly said, “Oh, right. When you guys went out earlier, two young men brought some things in, saying they were for Xiao Yi!”

“What was it?” Li Yi asked immediately.

His mother pointed to several red gift boxes in the corner of the room and said, “They’re over there. They must be some pastries!”

Li Yi immediately jumped down and carried the gift boxes up onto the kang.

The gift boxes looked familiar—they were local pastries that people usually brought during festivals or for engagement and wedding ceremonies.

However, as he picked them up, Li Yi noticed that the weight of these gift boxes was noticeably different—they were much heavier than the pastries he had ever bought.

Under the puzzled gazes of the others, Li Yi untied the string on one of the boxes.

But when Li Yi opened the box and saw what was inside, everyone was stunned.

The gift box was filled to the brim with cash—all brand-new 100-yuan bills.

“Wow… why is it all money?”

“My goodness, how much money is that?!”

“This… this is way too much…”

Li Yi immediately opened the other gift boxes as well and found that they were all the same as the first one—filled with money.

Although Li Yi had already guessed as much, he was still somewhat shocked.

Afterward, the family took all the money out of the gift boxes and counted it carefully.

A full 52 stacks of ten-yuan notes—a total of 52,000 yuan!

Li Yi guessed that the gift boxes could only hold that much; otherwise, given Huang Lixing’s character, he surely wouldn’t have sent just this amount!

After the initial shock subsided, his mother suddenly asked, “Xiao Yi, what should we do with this money? Maybe we should send it back. It makes me a little uneasy!”

At that moment, everyone’s gaze fixed on Li Yi.

After all, the money was a gift from him, so whether to accept it or not was ultimately up to Li Yi.

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Let’s keep it!”

Tang Xue asked in surprise, “Didn’t you say you couldn’t accept their money?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “I couldn’t accept it the first time they offered it, but this is the second time they’ve given it to me. If I don’t accept it now, it wouldn’t make sense!”

Although he didn’t know what Huang Lixing was thinking, he knew that his decision to leave the State-Owned Hotel that very day had made his stance quite clear.

Yet Huang Lixing had still come, and had even given him 50,000 yuan—clearly, this was a genuine gesture.

If he didn’t accept it, he would feel somewhat uncomfortable, even a little uneasy.

Besides, while fifty thousand yuan was an astronomical sum in the eyes of his parents and Tang Xue, to Huang Lixing, it was merely a drop in the bucket.

“All right then, if you say I should take it, I’ll take it. It’ll save us from having to take out a loan from the credit union!” Tang Xue said.

However, Li Yi just smiled and said, “Why not take out the loan?”

“Oh, so you mean we’ll take the money but still take out the loan?” Tang Xue asked, somewhat surprised.

“Yep!”

“But… but we can’t possibly use that much money!”

“How could we not use it? I’ll issue a notice tomorrow: from now on, we’re lifting the twenty-jin limit per household. For the autumn harvest, we’ll buy whatever the villagers harvest!” Li Yi said.

“Aren’t you worried this will affect grain production?”

“The autumn harvest is almost here—what’s there to worry about? At worst, we’ll just stop collecting mushrooms during the harvest season,” Li Yi said.

Previously, due to funding constraints—and to prevent villagers from spending all their time picking mushrooms and wild produce to make money—Li Yi had set a limit of twenty pounds per household per day.

Now that they had the funds, and since the village’s grain production hadn’t been affected, Li Yi decided to go all out.

Second Sister was obsessed with making money, and Third Sister was just as money-hungry, so they both agreed to Li Yi’s idea without a second thought.

Soon after, the Li family quickly reached a consensus on the matter!

By the time Li Yi and Li Na returned to the village, it was already 3:00 PM.

Even before entering the village, he sensed something was off—there were an unusually large number of ruts on the gravel road.

There was only one main road leading in and out of their village. Normally, it was used by mule carts or bicycles—not only was it in terrible condition, but it was also incredibly narrow!

You could tell just by looking at the ruts what kind of vehicles had passed through.

But today’s ruts were all over the place—there were tire tracks everywhere, clearly showing that quite a few vehicles had passed through.

Recalling what his father had said last night, he knew those so-called high-ranking officials had already arrived—he just didn’t know if they’d left yet.

However, when he reached the village entrance, he found more than a dozen vehicles parked haphazardly all over the place.

There were Volga sedans, 212 jeeps, and even a few three-wheeled mopeds—they were practically blocking the entire village entrance.

Carefully maneuvering the mule cart through the convoy, the two headed toward their home.

Before they even entered the courtyard, Li Yi spotted two women chatting under the eaves.

He was a bit puzzled—it was already three o’clock, yet his wife and second sister hadn’t gone over to the new house yet. If they waited any longer, the villagers would likely start bringing mushrooms over.

But when he drove the cart into the courtyard, he realized something was off—the woman with her back to him was clearly not his second sister; his second sister was much sturdier than her.

A guest?

The moment the woman turned around, Li Yi was stunned. Wasn’t this Huang Lixing’s wife?

What was she doing here?

It didn’t take Li Yi long to figure it out. It seemed the high-ranking officials visiting the village today were Huang Lixing and his entourage.

Upon seeing Li Yi return, Chen Chuhong immediately stood up, walked over to him, and bowed respectfully.

Huang Lixing hadn’t kept Li Yi’s situation from her; after A Long and that vicious woman were arrested, he had told his wife everything.

When Chen Chuhong learned the details, she was startled, yet also filled with gratitude toward Li Yi.

Seeing her with her large baby bump, Li Yi immediately told her not to be so formal.

At the same time, to prevent the mules and horses from startling her, Li Yi asked Tang Xue to take her to sit aside for a moment while he attended to the carriages and horses before joining them.

After unloading the mule-drawn cart and completing the full routine of watering and feeding the animals, Li Yi finally washed his face and walked over to Tang Xue and Mrs. Huang.

After a brief exchange, he learned that Huang Lixing and the others were at the elementary school discussing plans for its construction.

Without even stopping for a meal, Li Yi headed straight for the elementary school.

Soon, Li Yi arrived at the elementary school.

His appearance caused quite a stir; after all, the events of the day had far exceeded most people’s expectations, especially those of the village members and educated youth.

No one had expected Li Yi’s network to be so extensive—not only did he have connections with officials in the city, but he also had ties to that wealthy man who spoke an incomprehensible language.

Not only had this man come all the way from afar to build a school for their village, but he’d also mentioned a sum of 100,000 yuan right off the bat.

Wang Anguo, Huang Lixing, and the others spotted Li Yi and immediately came over to greet him.

“Mr. Li, it’s good to see you again. Please forgive us for dropping by unannounced!” Huang Lixing said, sounding slightly nervous.

Li Yi replied with a wry smile, “Mr. Huang, there’s really no need for that!”

“Hehe, don’t we have an old saying in China? ‘One should repay a drop of kindness with a gushing spring.’ Mr. Li, you saved our family’s lives—how could I just keep quiet and pretend nothing happened?”

“All right, then!”

Li Yi then glanced at Wang Anguo and said with a smile, “Brother Wang, I’m pretty sure this was your idea again. You should’ve given me a heads-up before coming—always pulling these surprise visits!”

Wang Anguo chuckled and said, “I was afraid you wouldn’t let us come, so this was the only way!”

Just then, several executives came over to greet Li Yi.

Suddenly, Li Yi found himself the center of everyone’s attention.

After a chaotic round of small talk, Li Yi immediately turned to Huang Lixing and asked, “I heard you’re planning to build a school here, Old Huang?”

“Yes. Didn’t you tell me, Mr. Li, to build more schools to pray for the well-being of my wife and children? Well, I’ll start right here in your hometown!” Huang Lixing replied.

Wang Anguo then added, “Mr. Huang has decided to relocate the central school of your Hongqi Commune here and invest 100,000 yuan to build a modern comprehensive school.”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “I think that’s a good idea!”

Just then, Director Yang, the newly appointed head of Hongqi Commune, suddenly walked over to Li Yi and said, “Comrade Li Yi, could you please talk to Mr. Huang about building that large school in Huangtu Village instead? After all, that’s where the commune headquarters is located!”

However, Li Yi shook his head and said, “Director Yang, I understand what you mean, but have you considered that Huangtu Village doesn’t actually have a pressing need for this school?”

“What do you mean?”

“Our commune is relatively close to the county seat, so many people actually prefer to send their children to school there. On the other hand, Nianzishan Village is more remote; building a school here could serve dozens of surrounding remote villages,” Li Yi explained.

“Well…”

In truth, they were all well aware of what Li Yi was saying.

But when they thought about a school built with 100,000 yuan—how large and luxurious it would be—and the fact that placing it at the commune headquarters would not only make management easier but also boost their prestige,

However, they also knew that the reason Mr. Huang from Hong Kong was willing to spend 100,000 yuan to build a school was entirely because of Li Yi.

With that in mind, Director Yang and the others felt too embarrassed to say anything further.

Afterward, Huang Lixing discussed his vision and plans for the new school with Li Yi.

After listening to Huang Lixing, Li Yi realized he was referring to the model of private schools in Hong Kong.

To put it bluntly, while such a model was suitable for cultivating elites, it was not suitable for the current situation in mainland China.

After all, the urgent issue facing the country right now is the shortage of basic educational resources. Therefore, Li Yi explained the model of the Hope Primary Schools from the future to Huang Lixing and the others.

After hearing Li Yi’s “vision,” Huang Lixing, Wang Anguo, Wang Anmin, and the provincial and municipal leaders were all utterly amazed.

The concept was truly excellent; once implemented, it would not only resolve the local shortage of educational resources but also generate significant social benefits, offering substantial advantages to both the donors and the recipient region.

Immediately, with the joint approval of these officials and Huang Lixing, the Nianzishan Village Lixing Primary School project was officially launched.

The name of the elementary school was also the result of joint deliberation between Li Yi and Huang Lixing.

Originally, Huang Lixing had intended to name the school Hongyi Primary School—”Hong” from his wife Chen Chuhong’s name, and “Yi” from Li Yi’s name. This would have served both to bless his wife and children and to express his gratitude to Li Yi.

However, Li Yi rejected the idea, finding the combination of his own name and that of Huang Lixing’s wife rather awkward.

Moreover, Li Yi had his own plan: once he became successful, he intended to establish his own charitable foundation.

Just like in his previous life, his Hongyi Foundation was one of the top charitable foundations in the country, helping countless people every year.

In this life, his achievements would only surpass those of his past life—they would certainly not fall short.

So he had no need to rely on someone else’s money to lend his name to a charity!

Seeing Li Yi’s firm refusal, Huang Lixing had no choice but to back down and decided to name the school Chu Hong Primary School.

However, Li Yi believed he could name the school Lixing Elementary and position it as a brand for Huang Lixing.

It also meant that if this project was executed well, it would benefit his business development.

In fact, Li Yi’s reasoning was that a good reputation would make investing in mainland China much smoother.

Consider the companies and individuals in later generations who are passionate about educational philanthropy: although they have spent a great deal of money, they have earned the unanimous recognition of the people nationwide for their reputation.

The common people are down-to-earth; they won’t let truly kind-hearted people come out on the losing end.

Right now, Huang Lixing might be using his own money to help others, but when the time comes, the entire nation will rally to support him—the results are easy to imagine.

However, Huang Lixing didn’t delve deeply into what Li Yi had said. He simply thought, “The Li Yi brothers have seen through something again; they’re offering me guidance.”

He made the decision on the spot: the school would be named Lixing Primary School, and all the schools he donated to in the future would bear the same name!

It must be said, this was a perfect misunderstanding!

The Li Family’s Old Mansion!

Tang Xue was reading in the courtyard, keeping an eye on her second sister’s son while she was at it.

This had practically become her daily routine!

Ever since her marriage, the entire Li family had treated her like a goddess, especially after learning she was pregnant.

Not only was she forbidden from working in the fields, but she wasn’t even allowed to help with the household chores.

In other families, once a daughter-in-law is brought into the household, she inevitably faces her mother-in-law’s harsh criticism; they’d love to have her working in the fields every day, and few of them have it easy.

In contrast, Tang Xue slept until she woke up naturally every day.

Even though she woke up late, she never had to worry about missing breakfast, because her mother-in-law, Zhang Yuehong, would thoughtfully leave it for her in the pot every day.

After breakfast, she didn’t have to do any housework either. She spent the rest of her time either reading in her room or out in the courtyard.

When she gets tired from reading, her second sister-in-law brews her some tea or takes her for a walk to the village entrance!

It isn’t until the afternoon that she heads over to the new house to help with the bookkeeping!

To Tang Xue, this period was the most comfortable and pleasant time she had experienced since joining the commune.

Just then, a clear voice drifted in from outside: “Xiao Xue, Xiao Xue…”

Tang Xue looked up and was surprised to see her good friend Zhang Xinyao. She immediately smiled and called out, “Why are you standing out there? Come on in!”

“I’m not going in. I’ve got some things to take care of over at the commune!”

“Then why did you rush all the way over here?” Tang Xue asked immediately.

“I came to tell you that some officials from higher up are here to inspect our village, and they want to meet your husband!” Zhang Xinyao said.

“Meet Li Yi? Why?”

“I’m not sure. Also, there’s this guy speaking a language I can’t understand who said he wants to build a school for our village. He said it’s because this is Li Yi’s hometown, so that’s why they chose this place!” Zhang Xinyao added.

“Oh, because of Li Yi?”

“Yeah. If your husband’s back, tell him to go meet those people right away—it’s over by the elementary school!”

“Okay!”

But Zhang Xinyao didn’t even wait for her to finish speaking; she hurried off, leaving Tang Xue standing there, completely dumbfounded.

Second Sister Li Lan and Mother-in-Law Zhang Yuehong had also heard what was said just now, and they looked just as incredulous.

“Xue, did I hear that right? The bigwigs want to meet Yi, and it’s because he’s building a school for our village?” Second Sister asked excitedly.

“That’s what Xinyao said, but I’m not entirely sure what’s going on!” Tang Xue replied.

“Why don’t we go take a look?”

“Is that okay?”

“Why not? If they really are here for Xiao Yi, we can’t let this slip by!” Li Lan said.

“Alright, then!”

The two immediately left Xiao Zhangning in Zhang Yuehong’s care and headed over to the elementary school together.

The Li family’s home wasn’t far from the elementary school, and besides, Nianzishan Village had only a little over a hundred households—it wasn’t a long walk from one end of the village to the other.

They arrived in no time!

When the villagers saw Tang Xue and Li Lan, they were all abuzz. Everyone made way, letting the two women through.

Wang Anguo, part of the inspection team, was constantly on the lookout to ensure the safety of Huang Lixing and the others, so Tang Xue and Li Lan’s appearance immediately caught his attention.

Having attended Li Yi’s wedding, he had a vivid memory of Li Yi’s beautiful city-dwelling wife.

Immediately, Wang Anguo quietly tugged at Huang Lixing, who was discussing his plans for the new school with the leaders, and briefly explained Tang Xue’s identity to him.

Upon learning that Li Yi’s wife had arrived, Huang Lixing did not dare to be disrespectful.

He stopped immediately, smoothed out his clothes, and walked over to Tang Xue with his wife, Chen Chuhong.

As the center of attention, every move Huang Lixing made was the focus of everyone’s gaze, and this action immediately caught the others’ attention.

When they saw the Huang couple walking toward two simply dressed village women, everyone’s gaze instinctively fixed on Tang Xue and Li Lan.

“Hello, Mrs. Li. I’m Huang Lixing, a friend of your husband’s!” Huang Lixing said very formally.

Little did he know that his formal, Western-style introduction completely baffled Tang Xue and Li Lan.

“Mrs. Li? Who in China these days would dare to call themselves ‘Mrs.’? They must be tired of living!”

For a moment, Tang Xue didn’t know how to respond.

Just then, Wang Anguo stepped in to smooth things over: “Sis, do you remember me?”

“Oh, Captain Wang! I remember you!” Tang Xue said hurriedly.

“Don’t be nervous. This is Mr. Huang Lixing, and this is his wife, Ms. Chen Chuhong. They are distinguished guests from Hong Kong.”

Wang Anguo continued, “Since Brother Li Yi has done a favor for Mr. Huang and his wife, they’re taking advantage of this inspection trip to stop by and say hello!”

After learning the truth of the matter, Tang Xue and Li Lan were both stunned; they hadn’t heard Li Yi mention any of this.

But considering they were guests who had traveled a long way, Tang Xue said, “He’s gone to the county seat to deliver a shipment and won’t be back until this afternoon. Why don’t you come over to my place for a while?”

Huang Lixing was quite willing, but Chen Chuhong, standing nearby, glanced at the large group of government officials behind her and whispered a few words in Huang Lixing’s ear.

“Mrs. Li, let’s put the visit on hold for now. We’re planning to build a school here. Do you have any suggestions?”

Although Huang Lixing’s accent was peculiar, the gist of what he said was quite clear.

Tang Xue thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know much about this, so I don’t have any specific suggestions. But he’s always said that education is the foundation and the hope, so I think building a school in the village would definitely be a good thing!”

“Very well, very well. It’s settled then. We’ll build the school right here. I’ll allocate 100,000 yuan in initial funding for the construction!” Huang Lixing said readily.

Hearing this, all the accompanying officials were once again stunned by Huang Lixing’s generosity.

100,000 yuan is no small sum; at current prices, that amount could build several large buildings.

It was clear that Mr. Huang was genuinely committed to helping them build the school!

Wang Anmin and several other officials immediately stepped forward to express their gratitude, but Huang Lixing insisted repeatedly that if anyone deserved thanks, it was Li Yi—it was his suggestion that had led to this decision.

Afterward, the group gathered in front of the village’s dilapidated school to discuss the specific plans and timeline for the project.

Meanwhile, Huang Lixing’s wife, Chen Chuhong, stepped forward to strike up a conversation with Tang Xue and Li Lan.

Although her Mandarin was equally broken, it didn’t hinder their conversation.

Upon learning that Tang Xue was also pregnant, they seemed to find common ground, and the conversation quickly shifted to their unborn children, putting an end to the awkward small talk from earlier.

Seeing that the men showed no signs of wrapping up their discussion, Tang Xue immediately extended an invitation to Chen Chuhong, asking her to visit her home.

Chen Chuhong was already five or six months pregnant; after spending most of the day on the bus and walking around with them, she was quite exhausted.

She quickly said a word to Huang Lixing, then followed Tang Xue back to the Li family home.

While Li Yi was busy handling the loan in the county seat, Nianzi Mountain Village was in an uproar.

The commune had already notified the village yesterday that a high-ranking official from above was coming for an inspection, asking everyone to cooperate.

So early that morning, the villagers and educated youth had all gathered at the village committee office.

Then, under the direction of Feng Kai and Zhang Tongfu, they began cleaning up the village to avoid leaving a bad impression on the officials.

At the same time, the commune had also mentioned that the focus of the officials’ inspection would be the village’s elementary school.

So Feng Kai personally led a group of women to thoroughly clean the school, inside and out.

Since many of the school’s windows were broken and hadn’t been replaced yet, the women even had to find some burlap to patch up the windows on the spot.

They worked until 11:30 a.m. Then, accompanied by the roar of car engines, a convoy of over a dozen sedans and Jeeps finally appeared at the village entrance.

What no one had expected, however, was that as soon as these high-ranking officials got out of their cars, without even taking a step back, they immediately demanded to see Li Yi!

This left Feng Kai and the others completely dumbfounded. Why did these officials from the city want to see Li Yi? Did they actually know him?

In fact, Feng Kai wasn’t the only one baffled. From the provincial to the prefectural committee, down to Qing Shan County and Hongqi Commune, there were no fewer than forty or fifty officials accompanying the delegation, and they all wore the same puzzled expressions.

Some knew who Li Yi was, but the vast majority had never even heard the name.

Where on earth did this guy come from?

How come even this billionaire from Hong Kong specifically requested to meet him? And the tone he used just now was extremely polite—that doesn’t seem like his usual style at all.

Especially the provincial officials—they’d been accompanying Huang Lixing on his inspection tour for seven or eight days and had some understanding of his personality.

Mr. Huang’s temper perfectly matched his status as a billionaire; he didn’t hold back when he got angry—not just with ordinary people, but even with his own wife.

Yet now he was being so polite to a villager—everyone was utterly stunned.

Though stunned, since Mr. Huang had made the request, they had no choice but to comply.

Immediately, a commune official contacted Feng Kai, urging him to find the man at once.

Feng Kai didn’t dare delay. He stuck out his neck and shouted to the crowd: “Shan Kui… where’s Brother Shan Kui?”

Someone in the crowd immediately replied, “Secretary Feng, that yellow mule in the livestock shed just broke free from its reins and ran off. Uncle Shan Kui and Uncle Gen Wang went to catch it!”

“What about Xiao Yi? Do you know if he went into town today?”

“He went into town. I saw him walking with Nana this morning when I was heading out to the fields!” another person answered.

Feng Kai could only explain the situation to these officials with a sigh of resignation!

Upon hearing that Li Yi wasn’t home, Huang Lixing felt a pang of disappointment and instinctively shifted his gaze to Wang Anguo.

At the moment, Wang Anguo was the only one who knew the truth—he was certain Li Yi had gone to the county seat to deliver mushrooms.

All of this was exactly as he had anticipated, so he immediately suggested, “Mr. Huang, why don’t we go check out the village school first? We can take care of the important business there before heading over to Brother Li Yi’s house?”

Noticing Wang Anguo’s subtle nod, Huang Lixing immediately replied, “Sounds good. Let’s go check out the school first!”

Then, led by Feng Kai and the others, the group headed straight for the village’s elementary school.

Nianzi Mountain Village is a natural village, meaning it developed organically.

Typically, a natural village is part of an administrative village, and administrative villages usually have a central school.

Nianzi Mountain Village is not an administrative village, and its population is small—less than four hundred people in total—so the village has only a small primary school.

This elementary school has only three rooms: one serves as a classroom, one is the teachers’ office, and the other is a storage room.

It is mainly used to store cleaning supplies, and in winter, it is also used to store firewood, branches, and coal brought in by the students.

When the group arrived at the school, there were no students in class; after all, it was the middle of summer vacation, and the children wouldn’t be returning to school for another twenty-odd days.

Even so, when Huang Lixing and the others saw the conditions there, they were still shocked.

The school before them redefined Huang Lixing and his companions’ understanding of poverty: a dilapidated mud-brick building with a pitch-black, exposed roof covered in spider webs—a sight that rivaled the haunted houses seen in Hong Kong films.

It was particularly jarring when the staff member accompanying the inspection explained that there were over forty students here, divided into four grades, all crammed into a single classroom.

Moreover, the teacher here was a literate villager selected by the community—and there was only one.

In other words, a single teacher was responsible for teaching all four grades, and this teacher received no salary—only a few work points for each day of teaching.

To be honest, Huang Lixing and the others had mentally prepared themselves for this before arriving, but they never imagined that the educational conditions here would be so harsh.

It’s truly hard to imagine how the children here manage to learn.

No wonder Mr. Li had asked him to donate funds to build a school in North Sai Province—it was indeed a necessity.

At that moment, Huang Lixing turned directly to Wang Anmin, who was also part of the accompanying delegation, and said, “I’d like to build a school here in Dxmbang, and I hope the local leaders will cooperate!”

Wang Anmin was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately replied, “Excellent, excellent! Qing Shan County will certainly provide our full support. Whether it’s rebuilding on the original site or allocating new land, we have a duty to do so!”

However, Huang Lixing shook his head and said, “Secretary Wang, you’ve misunderstood. The cooperation I’m referring to goes beyond that!”

“Mr. Huang, could you elaborate on what kind of cooperation you have in mind?”

At that moment, Huang Lixing suddenly pointed to the small school in front of them and said, “This school is simply too small. I plan to build an excellent school here that can accommodate several thousand students at once.”

“Of course, I’ll only be responsible for the construction. The staffing and student enrollment will need to be handled by your local government, Secretary Wang. I wonder if you’re up to the task?”

Hearing this, the leading officials from the provincial, municipal, county, and commune levels were all taken aback. A school capable of accommodating thousands of students at once wasn’t just a matter of a few simple buildings—it would likely require constructing multi-story buildings.

At that moment, Deputy Director Zhang from the Regional Committee, standing nearby, asked in surprise, “Mr. Huang, isn’t it a bit of a waste to build such a large school in such a small village?”

However, Huang Lixing shook his head and said, “It’s not a waste. Although I don’t know much about education, I do know that resources can only achieve maximum effectiveness when concentrated—and I imagine education is no different!”

“My plan is to build the school right here. Then, your local government will consolidate all the students and teachers from nearby schools here, bring in a group of outstanding teachers, and turn this place into a top-notch school with excellent educational standards!”

“Mr. Huang, why are you so insistent on building the school here? Compared to this location, the Red Flag Commune offers far superior conditions in every respect and would be much more suitable for a large school…”

But before the official could finish, Huang Lixing cut him off. He said calmly, “Because this is Mr. Li Yi’s hometown, so this school can only be built here!”

Upon hearing this, everyone present was once again taken aback.

It suddenly dawned on them: so this Mr. Huang wanted to build the school here because of Li Yi.

Early the next morning, Li Yi woke up to the clinking sounds coming from the kitchen.

He got dressed and got out of bed, only to find that Third Sister had indeed already started her morning chores.

Although she was now capable of making liangpi on her own, Li Yi would still come over to help whenever he had the time.

What could he do? She was his own sister—he couldn’t just hide in his room sleeping while leaving her to do it all alone!

The siblings worked from five in the morning until half past eight, then had a quick bite to eat before hopping onto the mule-drawn cart and heading for the county seat.

Li Yi had two main tasks to take care of in town today: first, to deliver some supporting documents to Li Yeqiao, and second, to buy some rice, flour, and cooking oil.

Although Liang Yukuai was acting as a guarantor for the loan, which made things a lot easier, there were still plenty of formalities to go through.

Therefore, Li Yi needed to first go to the commune to get the necessary certificates issued before heading to the county.

Since the county seat and the commune were in opposite directions, after leaving the village, Li Yi had his third sister head to the county seat first, while he drove the mule-drawn cart toward Hongqi Commune.

At 9:30 a.m., Li Yi finally arrived at Hongqi Commune and quickly obtained all the necessary certificates.

Only then did he set off from the commune for the county seat!

Because obtaining the certificates had taken quite a bit of time, by the time he arrived at the county-run restaurant, it was already 11:00 a.m.—a full hour and a half later than usual.

Xiao Wang and Xiao Wu at the State-Owned Restaurant were both delighted to see Li Yi delivering mushrooms again.

In Li Yi’s absence over the past few days, Li Shankui had been delivering the mushrooms. The old man was a rather taciturn sort; he would arrive, immediately weigh the mushrooms, and settle the bill, barely speaking to them at all.

After delivering the goods, Li Yi specifically asked if Liu Jingshan had returned yet.

The answer he received was, “He’s coming back today!”

Hearing this, Li Yi felt a bit conflicted.

It wasn’t because of Liu Jingshan, but because of Huang Lixing.

As the head of catering responsible for hosting VIPs, Liu Jingshan’s most important task at the state-run hotel was to serve Huang Lixing. Now that he was returning, it meant the mission was over.

Had he not intervened, Huang Lixing would have met his end last night—perhaps even crossed the Bridge of Forgetfulness by now.

But because he had appeared and intervened, Huang Lixing and his wife were safe and sound, while the murderous couple had been thrown into jail, awaiting their legal judgment.

This outcome can’t really be called good, nor can it be called bad.

Li Yi could only say he’d made a choice in accordance with his conscience; as for the outcome, that was beyond his control.

With mixed feelings, Li Yi walked out of the state-run hotel and headed straight for the nearby credit union.

Since he had been there the day before, Li Yi easily found his way to the door of Li Yeqiao’s office and knocked.

“Come in!”

When Li Yi pushed the door open, he discovered there was actually someone in Li Yeqiao’s office—and it was a woman.

Since she had her back to him, he couldn’t make out her features, but he sensed she was quite young.

Upon seeing Li Yi, Li Yeqiao immediately stood up and gestured to a chair beside him, inviting him to take a seat.

The woman also sensed that Li Yeqiao had other business to attend to. She whispered a few words to him, then stood up to leave.

However, the moment she turned around, Li Yi’s brows shot up in surprise!

It was actually this woman!

Just yesterday, he’d had Liang Yuke warn Li Yeqiao to stay away from women, yet here he was today, seeing the guy hanging out with this jinx.

And judging by the way they’d been chatting and laughing just now, their relationship was far from ordinary.

As for the woman before him, she might be unknown now, but within a month, her name would echo throughout Yunshan County—and perhaps even the entire province of Saibei.

After all, she was a classic example of a petty official with massive corruption, and the number of people she’d dragged down with her was as high as several dozen.

As she walked past Li Yi, she deliberately glanced at him—whether because she found him handsome or admired his muscular, robust build, he couldn’t say.

In any case, she gave him a few extra glances and even flashed him a flirtatious smile.

However, Li Yi merely frowned and shot her a look of disgust.

She was just a slut. He wasn’t in the habit of riding the bus—it was too filthy!

The woman didn’t seem to mind; she just smiled and pushed the door open to walk out!

By then, Li Yuanqing had finished his work and immediately came over to greet Li Yi: “Brother Li, did you come to drop off the certification documents?”

“Yeah, I just went to the commune and got the certificate sorted out!”

Saying this, Li Yi handed over the stamped documents.

Li Yeqiao took the documents and examined them carefully. Finding nothing amiss, he said, “No problem. Barring any surprises, the money should be available tomorrow. Come by then to pick it up, Brother Li!”

“Alright!”

Li Yi then added, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back now!”

“Alright, see you tomorrow then!”

“Alright!”

Li Yi then stood up and walked toward the door.

Just as he was about to open the door, Li Yi slammed it shut again!

Then, with a grave expression, he said to Li Yeqiao, “Director Li, for the sake of our family ties, let me give you a word of warning: ‘Lust is a double-edged sword.’ Stay away from that woman from earlier, or you’ll regret it!”

With that, Li Yi didn’t hesitate a moment longer. He simply opened the door and left, leaving Li Yeqiao standing there, completely dumbfounded.

After leaving the credit union, Li Yi drove the horse-drawn cart straight back to the credit union.

As for Li Yeqiao’s situation, that was all he could do.

After all, the Buddha saves those with karmic ties, and medicine doesn’t cure the dead—the child who was meant to die already had blue lips.

He wasn’t the Goddess of Mercy; he couldn’t save everyone.

If Li Yeqiao listened, then the matter would be manageable; if he didn’t, there really was nothing to be done.

As for Li Yeqiao, hearing Li Yi speak like that left him feeling somewhat displeased.

What does he mean by that?

Is he implying that he has some kind of improper relationship with Du Caie?

Du Caie’s private life might not be exactly spotless, but what does that have to do with him, Li Yeqiao? He wasn’t her lover or a man under her spell.

Feeling increasingly uneasy the more he thought about it, Li Yeqiao immediately looked up the sugar factory’s number and dialed it.

When Li Yeqiao called, Liang Yukui was just about to leave work; he had even locked the door.

Hearing the phone ring, he worried it might be something important, so he unlocked the door and answered the call.

“This is Liang Yukui speaking!”

“Old Liang, it’s Li Yeqiao!”

“Oh, it’s Old Li. What brings you to call me?”

At that moment, Li Yeqiao’s irritated voice came through the phone: “Old Liang, what exactly was the deal with that guy Li Yi you brought yesterday?”

“What’s the matter?”

“He just came by to drop off some loan documents…”

Li Yeqiao then recounted what had just happened, adding that Li Yi’s words had made him feel very uncomfortable.

However, instead of the expected conciliatory words, Li Yueqiao heard Liang Yukuai say in a low voice, “Old Li, actually, Brother Li Yi asked me yesterday to remind you about this. I was planning to talk to you about it after work today. Since he’s reminded you personally today, that saves me from having to track you down separately!”

“Old Liang, what do you mean by that?”

“I can’t go into detail about Brother Li Yi’s capabilities, but since he’s already warned you, you’d better take it seriously. Otherwise, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself!”

Liang Yukui continued, “Also, don’t take this the wrong way. You’ll come to understand the weight of these words in time. You should know that Brother Li Yi doesn’t usually share things like this with just anyone!”

“That’s all I have to say. You’d better watch your step!”

With that, Liang Yukui hung up the phone!

On the other end of the line, Li Yeqiao listened to the busy signal and fell deep in thought…

…….

Just past 5:00 p.m., villagers began trickling in to sell their mushrooms!

Tang Xue was in charge of tallying the accounts, while Second Sister weighed the mushrooms for everyone.

Li Yi, meanwhile, helped inspect the quality and moved the mushrooms to the drying shed to air-dry.

They worked straight through until 7:00 p.m. After seeing off the last villager, Li Yi and the others finally returned to the old house.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Li Yi saw his third sister feeding hay to the big red mule and the black horse, while his mother was busy preparing dinner by the stove.

His father was sitting under the eaves, teasing Zhang Ning with a few wild berries.

Seeing this, Tang Xue immediately said to Li Yi, “I’ll push the cart. You go help Sister Na!”

“Got it!”

After handing the bicycle to Tang Xue, Li Yi went into the yard, picked up a bundle of fresh grass, and walked over to the big poplar tree.

The big black horse let out a joyful whinny as soon as it saw Li Yi approaching, then rubbed its long, large head against him.

Li Yi placed the bundle of fresh grass in front of it, then couldn’t resist patting the big black horse on the head before returning to the eaves.

Second Sister had already drawn water and called out to Tang Xue and Li Yi to wash their hands.

After washing his hands, Li Yi immediately asked his father, “Dad, why is the village holding a meeting this afternoon?”

Li Shankui replied without looking up, “Your Uncle Feng said the commune sent a notice this afternoon saying some high-ranking official is coming to our village tomorrow, and the villagers need to get ready to welcome him!”

“What kind of big official? Such a big deal?” Li Yi asked curiously.

“I don’t know. Who cares what kind of official it is? We just need to cooperate—think of it as supporting Uncle Feng’s work!”

“Mm-hmm!”

Li Yi didn’t think much of it. Nianzi Mountain Village wasn’t the seat of the township commune, nor was it a large administrative village; its permanent population was only three or four hundred people.

No matter who the official was, it would likely be nothing more than a token visit—they wouldn’t be staying long.

Besides, he had to head into town early tomorrow morning to deliver goods, and by the time he got back, the visitors would be long gone—so this whole affair had nothing to do with him.

What he didn’t know, however, was that tomorrow’s main guest was actually coming specifically for him.

After dinner, it was already past eight o’clock.

The family gathered around the kang to chat about what had happened over the past few days, focusing mainly on Li Yi’s loan. They chatted until ten o’clock, then each went to their own room to rest.

The west wing!

Li Yi held Tang Xue close as they whispered to each other.

He’d missed her quite a bit these past few days.

Although Tang Xue was pregnant and they couldn’t be intimate right now, simply holding his wife close was a joy in itself.

“When are we heading to Qin Province?” Tang Xue asked, clutching Li Yi’s arm.

Hearing this, Li Yi felt a surge of joy, for he had noticed the words Tang Xue had just used.

She referred to returning to her parents’ home as “going to Qin Province”—what a huge difference between “going” and “returning”!

In other words, she now considered this place her true home, while Qin Province was merely her hometown.

Li Yi’s hand roamed over Tang Xue’s body as he said, “Let’s wait until the loan comes through!”

Tang Xue gently patted Li Yi’s arm and said in a coy voice, “Don’t move around—you’re tickling me!”

As she spoke, Tang Xue grabbed Li Yi’s other hand as well.

She had no choice but to grab it—this rascal’s hands were all over the place, groping here and there, making her whole body tingle.

“So, should we buy the tickets in advance?”

“No need. I’ll give Captain Wang a call in a couple of days and have him pull some sleeper tickets for us!”

Li Yi knew full well that sleeper train tickets were hard to come by these days—even money wouldn’t guarantee them.

In recent years, to prevent surplus rural labor from flowing into cities, the government had introduced a series of policies restricting farmers’ migration to urban areas, limiting rural population mobility by tightening the household registration system and halting recruitment.

Even for travel between cities, people needed a letter of introduction from their employer or a work ID; otherwise, they couldn’t go on trips, buy train tickets, or book accommodations.

So, in this day and age, traveling by train was no easy feat.

In addition to the cumbersome procedures, tickets could only be purchased at the train station, and they were usually for hard-seat tickets on green-painted trains.

To purchase a hard sleeper, one had to be of a certain age or have one’s employer pull strings to secure a ticket.

As for soft-sleeper berths, only those of a certain rank were permitted to purchase them—and, of course, foreigners visiting China were also eligible.

If Li Yi were traveling alone, a hard-seat ticket wouldn’t be out of the question.

But since he was traveling with Tang Xue, who was pregnant, hard-seat tickets were definitely out of the question.

For one thing, hard seats offer no place to rest. The trip to Qin Province takes a day and a night—spending dozens of hours crammed into a tiny seat is unbearable for most people, let alone a pregnant woman.

Second, standard-class carriages are not only crowded but also have poor conditions—the smell of sweat and feet mixed with various food odors is enough to make one’s stomach turn just thinking about it!

So from the very beginning, Li Yi had made up his mind: on the way there, he absolutely had to ask Wang Anguo to get him two sleeper tickets—soft or hard, either would do.

When Tang Xue heard that Li Yi actually intended to buy them sleeper tickets, she immediately said with a hint of concern, “Sleeper tickets cost quite a bit of money!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “It’s not that much. I’ve already checked—it’s only 12 yuan per ticket. We can definitely afford it!”

“But hard-seat tickets are only three yuan each. We could save 18 yuan for the two of us on this trip!”

“Haha, we can’t skimp on that. Don’t forget you’re pregnant now!” Li Yi said.

“So what if I’m pregnant? Look at Sister Yunxiang—she was still working the day before her baby was born. And look at Erdan’s mom—she even gave birth to Erdan right in the fields. I can do it too…”

Before she could finish, she felt Li Yi give her a hard pinch in a certain sensitive spot, as he said, “You can do whatever you want, but they had no other choice. Don’t you dare follow their example!”

“Our family isn’t short on a few pennies. You just read a book or two every day, do some accounting—you don’t have to work in the fields!”

“Also, we’ll go to the county hospital once a month for a checkup. We can’t let pregnancy cause you any health problems!”

Hearing Li Yi so concerned for her, a flicker of sweetness touched Tang Xue’s heart.

They say men fear choosing the wrong career, and women fear marrying the wrong man.

By some twist of fate, she had found the best man in the world. Tang Xue felt as though she had used up all her luck from the past twenty years just to find him.

“That’s unnecessary. Going to the county hospital every month—people who don’t know us might think I have some serious health issue!”

“People will talk no matter what. Just ignore them—we’ll live our own lives!” Li Yi said.

“It really isn’t necessary…”

“Listen to me. I’ll go along with you on everything else, but on this one thing, you have to listen to me!”

It wasn’t that Li Yi was being overly sensitive; he simply knew that this era was far from friendly to women, especially pregnant women.

Not only did they have no special right to time off for pregnancy, but women in that era also lacked the means to get prenatal checkups, and very few even went to a hospital to give birth.

Partly because the conditions weren’t right, but most importantly, it was because they were poor.

Whether it was getting checkups or giving birth in a hospital, everything cost money.

With such dire financial circumstances, these were all burdens.

Poverty in those days was ingrained in people’s very bones. Never mind expenses like hospital checkups or childbirth, which could easily run into tens or even hundreds of yuan—some families couldn’t even afford the few yuan in tuition fees for a single semester.

So, whether in the countryside or the city, most women gave birth at home.

The quality of those assisting with the delivery varies widely; if you happen to have a careful one, things go a bit better.

If you happened to get a careless one, they’d just grab a pair of rusty scissors and snip the umbilical cord with a quick “snip.”

This has led to many women developing health issues after childbirth, and in even more severe cases, it is not uncommon for both the mother and the baby—or even just the mother—to lose their lives due to difficult labor.

That is precisely why Li Yi was so concerned about Tang Xue’s pregnancy; he certainly didn’t want any mishaps to occur due to his own carelessness.

Seeing that she couldn’t change Li Yi’s mind, Tang Xue could only nod in agreement!

Satisfied that he had persuaded his wife, Li Yi felt quite content. He then wrapped his arms around Tang Xue and closed his eyes in contentment…