Chapter 139: The Wedding Is Underway

After leaving the educated youth commune, the wedding car did not take the same route back. Instead, it circled the village and returned to the Li family’s new home via a different road.

It wasn’t that Li Yi was trying to show off; it was simply a local custom—never retrace your steps!

No matter what mode of transportation was used to fetch the bride, one could only move forward; retracing one’s steps was forbidden.

Although Li Yi didn’t really care about this, customs are customs, and it’s best to follow them when possible.

The car came to a stop at the courtyard gate!

At that moment, the courtyard gate was tightly shut, and the entrance, the courtyard, and even the walls were packed with people.

This was also a custom, similar to the female educated youth blocking the door—it was meant to tell the bride that her in-laws’ home was not an easy place to enter, and that once inside, she must live a good life.

My brother-in-law got out of the car first, then walked over to the side and began setting off firecrackers.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!!!”

Loud double-barreled firecrackers exploded one after another in the air, followed by the crackling sound of string firecrackers.

Once the fireworks had died down, Li Yi finally opened the car door and stepped out, then spread his arms wide to lift Tang Xue out of the car.

According to local custom, the groom must carry the bride into the house; carrying her on his back is also acceptable.

In short, the bride’s feet must not touch the ground—she must not get her feet dirty!

Arriving at the courtyard gate, Li Yi held Tang Xue in one arm and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Father, Mother, I’ve brought my bride home!”

From inside the courtyard, Li Shankui and Zhang Yuehong responded loudly, “Great! Come on in!”

Of course, just because his parents said to come in didn’t mean it was over—he still had to get past the relatives, friends, and villagers.

Li Yi was straightforward and immediately said, “Uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters, today I, Li Yi, have brought my bride home. Please be kind enough to let us enter as soon as possible. I’ve prepared cigarettes and candies for everyone—please help yourselves!”

Right then, Yang Wenguang took the cigarettes and candies from his pocket and handed them out to the crowd blocking the entrance.

Everyone was just there for the excitement, and once they received their treats, they naturally stopped blocking the way and immediately cleared a path.

Li Yi immediately picked up Tang Xue and walked right in!

The new house had already been decorated. A bright red wedding quilt covered the bed in the main room. As soon as Li Yi entered, he laid Tang Xue down on the bed and helped her take off her shoes.

After Tang Xue sat down, Second Sister Li Lan, holding her eldest nephew Zhang Ning, brought over a half-filled basin of water. A bright red towel was draped over the rim of the basin, and the water was sprinkled with numerous coins—all one-fen, two-fen, and five-fen pieces.

According to local custom, it is the younger generation’s duty to bring the washing water and assist the elders in washing their faces.

The Li family had no younger relatives, and Zhang Ning was the youngest, so this task fell to him.

Li Yi had already told Tang Xue about this, so Tang Xue simply wiped her face and handed Zhang Ning a one-yuan bill she had prepared in advance.

Although the little one wasn’t even two years old and didn’t understand the concept of money, he happily took it when he saw someone giving him something, grinning from ear to ear.

This immediately set off a burst of laughter from everyone in the room…

Actually, at this point, the wedding ceremony was essentially over; what followed was the exchange of gifts and the banquet!

According to local custom, the banquet usually begins at exactly twelve o’clock!

Before the banquet began, the Li family placed a plate of sunflower seeds, a plate of candies, a plate of fruit, and two packs of cigarettes on each table.

This generosity immediately stunned everyone!

Sunflower seeds aren’t expensive; people usually have them at home, so they’re nothing special.

But the candy, fruit, and cigarettes are all quite expensive; these items alone are worth at least two yuan.

With over forty tables in the courtyard, that came to 80 yuan—enough to cover the dowry for an average family’s wedding!

At noon, as Feng Kai—who was serving as the temporary master of ceremonies—delivered his speech, the wedding banquet officially began.

Immediately afterward, the kitchen helpers brought by Chef Liu quickly began serving the dishes to the guests!

Four cold dishes: cold bean sprouts, sliced cucumber, cold glass noodles, and cold pork jowl!

Eight hot dishes: braised pork strips, braised lamb in red sauce, braised carp, braised meatballs, braised chicken, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, braised tofu, and stir-fried soybean sprouts!

Plus one soup: tomato and egg soup!

Staples: Fried rice cakes and dumplings!

This feast once again left the villagers speechless. These days, no one is well-off, and even for major events like weddings, people try to keep costs as low as possible.

Usually, when other families in the village celebrated weddings, they would simply prepare a few vegetarian dishes, along with a fish and a meat dish—that was usually enough.

Some families, worried that guests might not have enough to eat, would occasionally prepare a large pot of stewed vegetables in a big cast-iron pot.

A table as lavishly set with fine dishes as the Li family’s was truly one of a kind.

In addition to the fine dishes, the Li family also served their guests fine liquor.

Though it wasn’t Moutai, it was still a fine local liquor, costing one yuan a bottle.

Li Yi had set aside 120 yuan just for the liquor, which truly made Li Shankui and his wife wince for days.

With fine wine, delicious food, and a lively atmosphere, as the wedding banquet reached its peak, Li Yi took Tang Xue’s hand and stepped out of the bridal chamber, then began toasting the guests.

Unlike the later generations with all their cumbersome rituals—speeches by the couple, recounting their love story, or the “changing of titles” tea ceremony—none of that existed here.

The only thing on the agenda was the bride and groom toasting everyone!

Tang Xue held a tray in her hands, bearing two wine cups and a bottle of liquor.

At each table, Li Yi would pour the wine first, and then the guests would either take a cup of wine or a cup of tea to accept the toast from the newlyweds.

By the time they had finished toasting all forty-plus tables, it was nearly one o’clock.

At this point, some guests had plans for the afternoon and immediately took their leave, including their friends from the county seat.

Li Yi and Tang Xue were busy once again…

Only after seeing off their parents, who were cleaning up the mess, and settling the final payment with Master Liu did the wedding finally come to a complete end.

Li Yi glanced at his watch and realized it was already 4:30 p.m.!

Good grief, from the moment they woke up until now, neither he nor Tang Xue had had a single hot meal.

Fortunately, his mother had been thoughtful enough to set aside plenty of delicious food for them in the pot earlier.

Once everyone had left, Li Yi immediately set a table on the heated bed and brought out the food his mother had set aside from the pot.

Seeing that there were braised pork strips, braised lamb, braised carp, and meatballs, along with a small bowl of soup and a large plate of dumplings, Li Yi was deeply touched.

After setting the food on the table, Li Yi handed Tang Xue a bowl and chopsticks and said with a smile, “You must be starving. Go ahead and eat!”

But Tang Xue just smiled and said, “Go get a bottle of wine. Let’s have a drink!”

Li Yi paused for a moment, then asked, “Just the two of us?”

“Yeah, wine brought us together, so of course we have to have a drink now that we’re married!” Tang Xue said.

Li Yi was a little worried about the baby in her belly. She didn’t know about it, but he did!

He immediately replied, “Let’s skip it. I’ve already had more than enough to drink earlier!”

Tang Xue smiled and said, “Don’t act like I don’t know—when you were toasting everyone, the bottle was filled with water!”

“How did you know?”

Li Yi hadn’t let her drink just now; when they were toasting, he’d downed Tang Xue’s share as well.

“Hehe, I had Sister Na switch it out for me!” Tang Xue said.

Li Yi felt a little touched and immediately said, “We can have a drink, but not too much—just one small glass each!”

Tang Xue thought he was worried about having things to do later that night, so she nodded right away and said, “Okay!”

Then, Li Yi brought out the bottle and glasses, and the couple sat facing each other to drink.

The Educated Youth Settlement. Girls’ Dormitory!

Feng Qian looked at the elegantly dressed Tang Xue and exclaimed in admiration, “Xiao Xue, you’re so beautiful—you’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen!”

Tang Xue blushed slightly and replied, “I’m not nearly as good as you say!”

Sun Lu, standing nearby, immediately chimed in, “Qian’s right—Xue, you really are the most beautiful bride we’ve ever seen!”

Zhong Na added, “It’s not just that you’re beautiful—your dress and shoes are gorgeous too. Honestly, Li Yi really treats you well!”

“Xiao Xue, I heard that the Li family not only paid a hundred yuan as a dowry to marry you, but also bought all the necessary household items—is that true?” Zhang Xinyao asked.

Tang Xue nodded and said, “Yes, it’s true. They got everything ready a few days ago!”

“That must have cost a fortune. I’m so jealous of you!” Feng Qian said, her eyes sparkling.

“Xiao Xue, I heard the Li family hired a famous chef from the county seat to prepare the banquet. A single table of dishes costs 18 yuan—is that true?” Sun Lu asked as well.

“Yeah, he went to the city himself to arrange it!”

The “he” Tang Xue was referring to was, of course, Li Yi.

“Wow, with cigarettes and alcohol included, wouldn’t that cost over twenty yuan per table?” Zhong Na exclaimed in surprise.

“A table seats at most ten people. Even if everyone chips in two yuan as a gift, they might not even break even!”

“Yeah, that’s way too extravagant. Xue, why didn’t you try to stop him?”

“Right, Xue, you should’ve stopped him. It’s basically spending your own money…”

Tang Xue smiled and said, “I did try to stop him, but he said he wanted to give me a perfect wedding, so it was no use!”

“Li Yi really treats you so well—he spoils you rotten. I’d be satisfied if my future partner were even half as good as your husband!” Sun Lu said.

Tang Xue felt a sweet warmth in her heart and immediately replied, “You’ll definitely be happy too!”

“Xiao Xue, how do you think Li Yi is going to pick you up for the wedding? Is he riding a bicycle or driving a big red mule?” Feng Qian, the liveliest of the group, asked again.

“I don’t know—he hasn’t told me!” Tang Xue replied honestly.

“I bet it’s a bicycle!” Sun Lu said.

“I bet it’ll be a big red mule cart—a red mule is so festive!” Zhong Na said.

“I bet it’s a black horse-drawn carriage…”

Just as they were talking, a piercing firecracker suddenly went off outside the door, followed immediately by a burst of crackling firecrackers.

Hearing the noise, the female educated youth knew the Li family had come to fetch the bride. They immediately went to the door to watch the commotion—and to “block the door” as part of the tradition!

Blocking the door wasn’t meant to actually stop them; it was just a local custom, done for the sake of the festivities.

But as soon as the young women stepped outside, they saw an army-green jeep speeding through the main gate of the knowledge youth settlement.

Not only was the vehicle adorned with festive “Double Happiness” characters, but a massive red silk flower—also made of silk—hung from the hood.

Zhang Xinyao, Feng Qian, and the others were stunned—they’d never seen anything like this before!

These days, weddings were usually quite simple: those with better means would pick up the bride on a bicycle; those with less would borrow a mule-drawn cart; or they might simply have the bride carried on horseback back home.

And for someone like Tang Xue, who was marrying into a village, most people didn’t need anything at all—they’d simply have their husband lead her home.

But the Li family? They actually used a car—it was truly a sight to behold!

Just then, Li Yi got out of the car. Before the female educated youths could make a move to block the door, he pulled a few packs of Big White Rabbit milk candies from his small cloth bag and handed them over.

This was a local custom: when the bride’s family blocked the door, the wedding party had to offer a small gift to secure passage.

On one hand, this was done to liven up the occasion; on the other, it was meant to let the in-laws know that the bride wasn’t easy to marry and should be treated well.

Faced with Li Yi’s “sugar-coated bullets,” the young women immediately chose to surrender.

And just like that, Li Yi entered the dormitory without the slightest effort!

At that moment, Tang Xue was sitting on the kang wearing her wedding gown. Her hair was pulled up high into a mature woman’s bun, signifying that from now on, she was a married woman.

Tang Xue looked exceptionally beautiful today. Although she still wore no makeup, she was utterly captivating.

Li Yi walked up to the bride, handed her the bouquet of flowers he was holding, knelt down on one knee, and declared loudly, “In a past life, I made a vow before the Buddha, hoping to become a small tree standing by the path you walk every day. I will hang my love and longing from every branch, hoping that one day you will fall in love with me!”

“In this life, I make my one thousand and first wish: that one day, you will don a festive wedding gown, hold a beautiful bouquet, and become my happy bride. Beautiful Ms. Tang Xue, will you help me fulfill this wonderful wish?”

Such a romantic proposal stunned everyone present—including Tang Xue!

Chinese people are reserved; though they understand love, they aren’t accustomed to expressing it verbally.

Plus, with society not yet as open as it is today, no one would dare to do something like this.

But Li Yi did it—he was determined to declare his love for Tang Xue right in front of everyone.

Tang Xue was initially taken aback, but she was soon moved to tears.

With a slightly trembling voice, she said, “You… you get up! I do, I do!”

Li Yi immediately stood up, placed the bouquet in Tang Xue’s hands, and then took out a bright red veil to place on her head.

This was the modern equivalent of the traditional bridal veil, though nowadays it had been replaced with a red veil.

Next, Li Yi brought over the newly purchased little leather shoes and personally helped Tang Xue put them on.

Then, he picked up his bride and walked toward the door.

Tang Xue had already heard the roar of a car engine and guessed that Li Yi might have arranged for a car to come and pick her up.

But when she saw the freshly decorated Jeep, she was still taken aback.

At the same time, she was deeply moved.

She hadn’t had high expectations about marrying Li Yi from the start, but in just one month, Li Yi had won her over.

From the moment he agreed to marry her, he had been preparing for this wedding.

Now it was clear that every detail of the wedding reflected his immense dedication.

In comparison, she felt like she was getting something for nothing; aside from being the bride, she didn’t seem to have contributed much.

So Tang Xue silently vowed to love this man before her with all her heart for the rest of her life; he was the one who truly held her dearest in his heart.

As Li Yi helped Tang Xue into the car, Wang Anguo, who was driving, and her brother-in-law Yang Wenguang, with the help of several female educated youth, loaded all of Tang Xue’s packed luggage into the vehicle.

The two men then returned to the car and started the engine.

Meanwhile, Feng Qian and the others quickly locked the door and headed toward the Li family’s new home.

…….

Hongqi Commune, Nianzishan Village!

July 10th, the 23rd day of the fifth lunar month—an auspicious day for weddings and blessings!

Early in the morning, firecrackers were going off nonstop at Old Li’s house at the east end of the village, and the festive sound of suona horns echoed throughout the village.

Today was Li Yi and Tang Xue’s wedding day. Men, women, and children from all over the village had arrived early at the Li household to feast and lend a hand!

These days, getting married is no simple matter; it often requires the help of many people.

This is when a family’s status and prestige in the village truly become apparent. For families with prestige, helpers stream in without the head of the household even having to ask.

For families with little prestige, they had to notify the villagers days in advance—and even then, there was no guarantee anyone would be willing to help.

The Li family clearly had no worries about finding help. There were plenty of people in the village who owed Li Yi a favor or hoped to profit by following him. Without Li Shankui even having to ask, a large group of young and able-bodied men had arrived early in the morning to help carry water, chop wood, and tend the fire.

Regarding this wedding, the Li family had already informed the villagers long ago that they would hold the celebration for only one day.

According to the customs of North Sai Province, weddings typically last three days.

That is, the first day is for setting up the venue, the second day is the main ceremony, and the third day is the bride’s return visit to her parents’ home.

The banquet on the second day at the groom’s house is the most lavish, considered the main feast.

Although meals are served to guests on the other two days, the food is relatively simple.

For the bride’s family, the return visit day is considered the main event, while the first two days feature simpler meals.

However, since Tang Xue’s family was not from this area, there was no need for a post-wedding visit. Therefore, the Li family decided to cancel both the pre-wedding banquet and the post-wedding visit.

Although the celebration lasted only one day, no one accused the Li family of being stingy or tight-fisted, because everyone knew that to entertain their guests, the Li family had hired professional chefs from the city. It was said that each banquet table cost a full 18 yuan, featuring all kinds of delicacies that the villagers had never tasted before.

Moreover, the chefs had arrived at the Li family’s new home yesterday afternoon and had already begun their preparations. The enticing aroma wafted throughout the village, making countless little children drool with envy.

At seven o’clock in the morning, as soon as the firecrackers went off, the Li family invited the villagers over to their new house to eat crispy cakes!

This is a custom here in the northern frontier: fried cakes served with rice porridge and cold dishes for breakfast!

Although it wasn’t a formal banquet, in no time the courtyard of the new house was filled with villagers and cooperative members waiting to eat.

Once most of the guests had arrived, Master Liu signaled his kitchen helpers to serve the food!

Plates of golden, crispy fried cakes and cold dishes were brought to the table one after another, while the rice noodle soup was served in enamel bowls—half a bowl per table, with more available upon request. It was truly lavish.

What surprised the villagers even more was that the Li family had placed a dish of white sugar on every table for dipping the fried cakes—it was truly extravagant.

People from the south may not be familiar with fried cakes, but they are actually a delicacy made from millet flour.

The unfried version is called “vegetarian cake,” while the fried version is known as “fried cake.” It is a unique delicacy in this northern region, typically served only during weddings and funerals.

There was no way around it—this dish simply consumed far too much oil.

In an era when the average person had only two taels of oil per month, treating oneself to a meal of fried cakes was truly a luxury.

White sugar was an even greater luxury; even wealthy families usually couldn’t afford it.

These two items alone were enough to show just how much the Old Li family valued this joyous occasion, and everyone could feel the sincerity with which they were hosting their guests.

While the Li family was treating their guests to crispy cakes, the educated youth commune was also brimming with festive cheer.

Since Tang Xue’s maternal relatives weren’t present, the female educated youth stepped in to play the role of her family.

Starting yesterday, these female educated youth had plastered the entire dormitory with bright red “Double Happiness” characters and hung red cloth over the door.

And early this morning, they got up extra early.

They were busy packing Tang Xue’s luggage and helping her put on her wedding gown, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

………

Just after nine in the morning, a jeep drove into the village and pulled up in front of the Li family’s new house.

Upon seeing this, Li Yi knew that Wang Anguo and his group had arrived, so he immediately went out to greet them.

Sure enough, as soon as he stepped out of the courtyard gate, he saw Wang Anguo and Li Gang get out of the car first.

They then opened the back door, and Old Master Wang stepped out, supported by a middle-aged woman.

Li Yi took a closer look—wasn’t that Wang Anguo’s sister-in-law, the wife of Wang Anmin, the county’s top official?

Clearly, Wang Anmin was unable to attend today’s wedding banquet, so he had sent his wife in his place.

“Old Man, you’re here! Please come inside!” Li Yi stepped forward and said.

“Hahaha, how could I not come to my grandson’s wedding!” Old Master Wang said with a laugh.

“Please come inside!”

No sooner had he ushered them inside than he saw another car pull up in front of Li Yi’s house.

Li Yi immediately excused himself to Old Man Wang and went out to greet them.

This time, it was Plant Manager Liang Yukuai, accompanied by several officials from the sugar factory, including Director Ge and Team Leader Zhou.

Just as he had welcomed them inside, Liu Jingshan arrived with a few acquaintances from the state-run restaurant.

These people dealt with Li Yi on a daily basis and had become quite familiar with him. Knowing he was getting married, they had all come together.

Seeing the two cars parked outside and all those bicycles, the villagers were dumbfounded.

They knew all the relatives of the Li family—none of them could possibly afford a car.

Clearly, these guests were all Li Yi’s friends.

Everyone knew Li Yi had made it big lately and had some powerful connections in the city, but they never imagined his friends were so well-off—that they actually drove cars.

At 10 o’clock in the morning, seeing that the time was right, Li Yi immediately asked his third sister to fetch the bright red “Double Happiness” characters and the fresh flowers picked that morning.

He then went over to Wang Anguo’s Jeep and started tinkering with it.

Before long, a unique wedding car was ready!

Seeing the county police car transformed into this by Li Yi, Wang Anguo was at a loss for words and said with a mix of laughter and exasperation, “No wonder you insisted I wash the car before coming—you had this in mind all along!”

Li Yi just smiled and said, “I actually wanted to use Director Liang’s car, but I figured you’re the guardian angel of the common folk, so it’s better for you to drive and help me pick up the bride!”

“I’d have to be a fool to believe that. I bet you just thought Director Liang’s car was too old!” Wang Anguo said with a laugh.

Li Yi chuckled and said, “If you’ve figured it out, just keep it to yourself—you didn’t have to say it out loud!”

“Hahaha, my bad, my bad!”

Just then, his brother-in-law, Yang Wenguang, walked over and said, “Xiao Yi, it’s about time to go pick up the bride!”

“Alright!”

Li Yi then smoothed out his suit jacket and loaded a red wedding quilt into the Jeep.

Then, in front of all the guests and relatives, Li Yi called out loudly to his parents standing at the front door, “Dad, Mom, your son is off to marry his bride!”

Li Shankui and Zhang Yuehong replied in unison, “Go on!”

After bidding his parents farewell, his brother-in-law, carrying a bag filled with cigarettes, candies, and firecrackers of various sizes, accompanied Li Yi out the door.

Once outside the courtyard, Li Yi and Wang Anguo got into the car, one taking the driver’s seat and the other the back seat.

Yang Wenguang, the older sister’s husband who was accompanying them for the matchmaking, first set off a firecracker at the main gate before climbing into the passenger seat of the jeep.

Then, the engine roared to life, and the car sped off toward the nearby educated youth commune.

By the time they left the department store, the two of them were already carrying quite a few bags, big and small!

In addition to that white maxi dress, Li Yi had also bought a suit for each of them.

To go with the suits, each of them also bought a pair of leather shoes.

Of course, they also bought shirts and other essentials.

All these clothes cost nearly a hundred yuan, which really made Tang Xue wince. After they left, she kept complaining to Li Yi about how he was wasting money.

Li Yi didn’t say a word—what’s a hundred or so yuan? Besides, they were spending it on two people.

Just look at the wealthy families of the future—a single wedding dress can easily cost hundreds of thousands, or even millions.

For example, at a grand wedding held at the Ritz-Carlton to celebrate their union, the diamond wedding dress—co-designed by master designers Martin Katz and Renee Strauss—had a total value of 80 million yuan.

By comparison, they weren’t even upstart millionaires!

After buying the clothes, Tang Xue looked at Li Yi and asked, “What should we do now? Should we head back?”

Li Yi glanced at his watch and said, “I checked—the bus doesn’t leave until 3:00 p.m. That’s still more than three hours from now!”

“Should we go wait at the station then?”

“No, I’ll take you to a great spot!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“What kind of place?”

“You’ll find out when we get there!”

“You’re such a tease!” Tang Xue said with a laugh.

“Hahaha!”

Before long, led by Li Yi, the two arrived in front of a shop.

Looking at the sign above the door, Tang Xue said in surprise, “You want to take a picture?”

“Not me—us!”

That’s right—Li Yi had brought Tang Xue to a photo studio.

Li Yi had spotted this photo studio by chance on their way to the shopping mall earlier, and the idea of taking a photo had occurred to him right then.

After all, youth doesn’t last forever, and he wanted to capture Tang Xue at her most beautiful moment to cherish forever.

The photographer was a middle-aged man in his forties. Upon seeing Li Yi and Tang Xue, he asked, “Comrade, are you here for wedding photos or ID photos?”

Li Yi replied immediately, “Wedding photos!”

“Wedding photos are 50 cents each, and we’ll give you the negatives, but they’ll take three days to develop!” the photographer said.

“That long?”

“Yeah, that’s how it goes!”

“It’s like this, sir. We’re from a county down the line, and we can’t wait that long…”

Before he could finish, the photographer said with a hint of regret, “Then there’s nothing we can do!”

“No, we can take the photos first, leave you our address and postage money, and once they’re developed, you can just mail them back to us. Is that okay?” Li Yi said.

Although the photographer had never done this before, he realized there wasn’t much risk involved, so he immediately replied, “That works too!”

After they agreed, the photographer began fiddling with his camera…

After leaving the photo studio, Tang Xue asked in puzzlement, “Why did you take so many photos? That’s such a waste of money!”

Tang Xue had originally thought Li Yi just wanted to take a single wedding photo to use when they applied for their marriage certificate later.

But she never expected Li Yi to drag her along and take over a dozen shots.

If Tang Xue hadn’t finally refused, he might have kept going!

Li Yi smiled and didn’t deny wasting money; instead, he asked, “Do you know what photos are for?”

“Well… to look at them every now and then?”

To be honest, Tang Xue really didn’t know what the point of photos was.

Even if you took them, they’d usually just end up tucked inside a book, only to be pulled out for a look when you happened to remember them.

“No, photos have many meanings. On a grand scale, they can record history, freezing history in a single moment and making that moment eternal. On a smaller scale, they can capture scenery, current events, loved ones, and life itself!”

Li Yi continued, “For me, photography isn’t just about capturing people—it’s about capturing beautiful things, preserving happiness and joy. We may not be able to hold onto time, but photos can capture the passage of the years, making memories eternal.”

“Just imagine: thirty years from now, when our children have grown up, we can pull out the photos we took today and tell them what we looked like on our wedding day. Or fifty years from now, when we’re in our twilight years, we can flip through the photos we’ve taken each year and reminisce about these happy moments—what a wonderful thing that would be!”

Listening to Li Yi’s heartfelt words, Tang Xue couldn’t help but be moved.

She could sense the deep love in Li Yi’s heart, as well as his hope to grow old together with her.

In that moment, she was completely moved by him.

She looked at Li Yi, her eyes brimming with tenderness, and said, “Okay, then let’s take a photo together every year from now on!”

“Sure!”

Just then, Li Yi suddenly heard a “gurgling” sound.

His gaze immediately fixed on Tang Xue’s stomach!

“Hungry?”

Tang Xue hesitated to admit it, but after a moment’s thought, she gave a soft “Mm-hmm.”

There was no need to be shy in front of her man.

“Come on, let’s grab a bite to eat!”

Saying this, Li Yi grabbed her clothes and shoes in one hand and took Tang Xue’s hand with the other, heading straight for the state-run restaurant nearby.

Having her hand pulled by Li Yi like this in broad daylight, Tang Xue’s face flushed instantly. She struggled to pull her hand away a few times but couldn’t, so she could only let it be.

Fortunately, the Reform and Opening-Up had already begun, and the social atmosphere was no longer as rigid and closed-off as it had been in previous years.

Although people still weren’t entirely comfortable with holding hands in public, no one would step forward to criticize you, and certainly no one would use it as a pretext to label you.

There were quite a few state-run restaurants in Ning City, unlike in Qingshan County, where there was only one in the entire county.

Moreover, Ning City’s state-run restaurants were distinctive in their decor, cuisine, and management style.

This is because these state-run restaurants are not only funded by the state or commercial departments at the provincial, municipal, or county levels, but many of them also originated from the public-private partnerships formed with time-honored establishments.

So here, you can indeed find dishes you won’t find anywhere else!

Since it was mealtime, the two found the restaurant quite crowded when they arrived.

However, most were eating noodles or steamed buns, while only a few were having stir-fried dishes.

Li Yi didn’t hesitate; he led Tang Xue to an unoccupied small square table and sat down, then immediately walked over to the ordering window to take a look.

In those days, unlike in later times, there were no menus; all the dishes were written on wooden signs hung on the wall at the front.

Customers had to look for what they wanted, then go up front to pay and hand over their grain coupons before they could eat.

Li Yi ordered braised lamb in red sauce and a bowl of crucian carp soup, and for the main course, he asked for two bowls of rice.

Although it cost four yuan—which was certainly not cheap—Li Yi had absolutely no qualms about the price!

Tang Xue, however, seemed to have grown accustomed to Li Yi’s lavish spending. She didn’t say a word this time, but instead began discussing marriage plans with him.

After bouncing along the bumpy gravel road for two hours, the car finally arrived in the city just before ten o’clock.

Ning City used to be the largest prefecture-level city in terms of area within the entire Sai Bei Province, but over the past twenty years, seven or eight counties had been successively annexed by neighboring prefectures and cities. As a result, it now consistently ranked among the bottom three out of the 12 prefectures and cities in Sai Bei Province, both in terms of territory and regional economy.

Even so, Ning City was still far more bustling than Qingshan County.

As soon as they got off the bus, Tang Xue asked nervously, “Are you familiar with this place?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Not really!”

“Then… where are we going now?”

“To the mall!”

“Where’s the mall?”

“Let’s go out and ask!”

Although Li Yi didn’t know where the shopping malls in Ning City were, he did know the name of the city’s largest one—the Joint Venture Mall!

It was a state-owned enterprise, famous throughout Ning City, but it eventually went out of business in the early 21st century due to poor management and the rise of several other major shopping malls.

The two left the bus station with just the essentials. Li Yi asked a few passersby and finally figured out where the United Department Store was.

Immediately, the two set off down the street, heading straight for this legendary “den of vice.”

Outside the Joint Venture Department Store, the two stared in astonishment at the building before them!

Tang Xue was astonished by how vast and bustling the place was. Inside the massive three-story building, every kind of merchandise was on display—from everyday staples like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar to larger items like televisions, sewing machines, and bicycles.

And there were plenty of shoppers inside—men, women, and people of all ages—crowding every corner.

In comparison, the Qingshan County Supply and Marketing Cooperative was truly subpar—it was practically a rural corner store!

As for Li Yi, he was shocked by just how small and run-down this place actually was!

Li Yi had long admired the renowned Joint Venture Department Store. After all, in the minds of residents in Ning City and the surrounding counties, it was an absolute shopping paradise, with a reputation every bit as great as that of the Wangfujing Department Store in Beijing.

But once he actually arrived, Li Yi realized this was a completely different story from the shopping center he’d imagined.

Wasn’t this just a giant supply and marketing cooperative?

It really is true that the reality doesn’t live up to the hype!

With a hint of disappointment, Li Yi led Tang Xue toward the clothing section!

Although the decor and sales methods were similar to those of the supply and marketing cooperatives in the counties below, the selection of goods was indeed more extensive than at a typical cooperative.

Take the clothing section, for instance: as far as the eye could see, there were stalls stretching at least several dozen meters, all selling clothes. The selection included men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, children’s clothing, underwear, and various fabrics.

The styles were a bit old-fashioned, but at least there was plenty of variety.

However, as soon as Li Yi arrived, he didn’t linger; instead, he pulled Tang Xue along as they quickly browsed through the area.

“What are you looking for?”

After walking for a while, Tang Xue couldn’t help but ask.

“A wedding dress!”

“A wedding dress?”

Hearing this answer, Tang Xue was a bit taken aback.

She knew what a wedding dress was—she’d seen them in books.

But people in their part of the world didn’t wear that sort of thing when they got married.

“Why are you looking for a wedding dress?”

“For you to wear. I want you to marry me in a pure white wedding dress!” Li Yi said.

Hearing this, Tang Xue felt a little touched. She immediately grabbed Li Yi’s hand and said, “There’s no need to waste money on that. After all, you’re marrying me—the person—so what I wear doesn’t matter!”

“That may be true, but I want our wedding to be as perfect as possible!”

“Alright then!”

After that, the two began searching for a wedding dress in the shopping mall.

The result was somewhat disappointing—the huge shopping mall didn’t actually sell wedding dresses.

But then again, wearing a wedding dress is a Western tradition. On the wedding day, a wedding dress symbolizes the bride’s purity and innocence, as well as a bright and smooth future ahead.

But the Chinese don’t have this tradition; ordinary people prefer to wear red wedding robes when they marry, symbolizing joy and celebration.

The Li family had already had a red wedding gown made for Tang Xue, but Li Yi simply wanted to see his wife wear a pure white wedding dress for him just once.

But what a pity—they didn’t have any here!

Seeing that Li Yi seemed a bit disappointed, Tang Xue immediately comforted him: “If we can’t find one, we can’t find one—it doesn’t matter what we wear!”

Li Yi nodded and said, “If we can’t find a wedding dress, let’s just look at some other clothes. After all, you only get married once—you’ve got to have a few decent new outfits, right?”

“Right!”

But after browsing for quite a while, the results were still disappointing. In such a huge department store, not a single piece of clothing met Li Yi’s standards.

To be honest, even though it had been two years since the reform and opening-up began, people’s mindsets hadn’t changed much from previous years.

Especially when it came to clothing and grooming, they still adhered to the old aesthetic standards.

Women’s fashion in the 1970s was still dominated by military-style casual wear. The young women of that era devoted their passion and youth to the land, seemingly with little time to spare for fashion.

Consequently, women’s fashion during that period was essentially stagnant, with the entire country a sea of blue, green, gray, and black.

Although people’s material lives continued to improve and mindsets gradually opened up, many young women still sought beauty amidst the sea of workwear and military uniforms.

People began shedding their Lenin suits, military uniforms, and workwear, yet blue, green, gray, and black remained the dominant colors in the nation’s wardrobe.

Consequently, Li Yi and Tang Xue wandered around the ready-to-wear section of the United Department Store for quite a while, yet not a single garment caught his eye.

Tang Xue did find a few decent pieces, but Li Yi just shook his head after looking at them.

After all, they were shopping for wedding attire—what on earth was a green military-style casual outfit doing there?

Suddenly, a white dress caught Li Yi’s eye. It was pure white from top to bottom, simple and unadorned, with no special patterns or embellishments.

But compared to those drab, homespun work clothes, it looked ethereal and simply much more beautiful.

“Comrade, could you bring that dress over for me to take a look?” Li Yi asked.

The sales clerks in the city were all trained professionals, clearly more skilled than those at the Qing Shan County Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

Although they saw that Li Yi and Tang Xue were dressed plainly, they still took the white dress hanging on the rack behind them and handed it to Tang Xue.

After receiving the dress, Tang Xue held it up to her body a couple of times, and a satisfied smile immediately lit up her eyes.

The dress was simply stunning—the most beautiful garment she had ever seen.

Plus, with a long skirt like this that only shows a little of her calves, no one in the village would have anything to say about it.

“What do you think? Does it look good?”

Tang Xue held the white dress up against her body and asked Li Yi.

Li Yi nodded and said, “It looks great!”

Then, Li Yi turned to the sales clerk and said, “My wife is 5’5” and on the slender side. Could you please help me find one in the right size?”

“Sure thing!”

Seeing that the couple was serious about buying, the sales clerk responded enthusiastically.

Tang Xue quickly interjected, “Wait a minute, comrade. How much is this dress?”

“Eight yuan each, no fabric coupons required!” the sales clerk replied immediately.

Tang Xue couldn’t help but gasp. Eight yuan for a single piece of clothing was simply too expensive.

“We don’t…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Li Yi cut in: “Comrade, we’ll take this shirt. Hurry up and find one in the right size for my wife!”

“Got it!”

Tang Xue: %￥#@#…

…….

July 8th—only two days left until the wedding!

Li Yi got up at two in the morning and immediately got busy with various tasks.

At six o’clock, after preparing the cold noodles to be delivered to the state-run restaurant that day and those needed for his third sister’s street stall, he hopped on his bicycle and headed straight to the educated youth commune.

At the sent-down youth camp, Tang Xue had already woken up and was waiting for him in the dormitory.

Li Yi arrived at the sent-down youth camp and rang the bell on his bicycle outside the women’s dormitory. Tang Xue, as if responding to a signal, stepped out of the dormitory.

Seeing Li Yi, Tang Xue asked curiously, “You had me get up early this morning just to wait for you—what’s it all about?”

“We’re going into town!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“We go into town every day—do we really need to get up this early? Besides, aren’t we going to wait for Sister Na?” Tang Xue asked, puzzled.

“Heh, we’ve got a lot to buy today, so there’s no need to wait for her!”

With that, Li Yi motioned for Tang Xue to hop on the bike!

Although Tang Xue had no idea what Li Yi was up to, she obediently climbed onto the back of the bicycle, and the two headed straight for the county seat.

The bicycle was simply faster than the mule cart; a journey that normally took two hours was covered in less than an hour.

By the time they reached the county seat, it was already broad daylight, and the streets were bustling with people.

Just as Tang Xue was wondering where Li Yi was taking her so early in the morning, she saw that he had actually brought her to the state-run restaurant.

Liu Jingshan was surprised to see Li Yi walk in with Tang Xue, but he didn’t spot the familiar bright red mule cart or black horse-drawn cart.

“Brother Li Yi, how did you get here on a bicycle?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Hehe, the mule cart is right behind us—my sister’s driving it!”

“Oh!”

Then Li Yi added, “Brother Liu, first get us two bowls of heluo noodles, and later, could you keep my bike for me for a few hours?”

“No problem!”

For a small favor like this, Liu Jingshan naturally agreed without hesitation.

Before long, two steaming bowls of noodles were on the table. Li Yi had ordered plain noodles for Tang Xue and specifically asked for a fried egg to be added to hers.

This was Li Yi’s own creation; such a practice wasn’t common in this era.

After all, in this era of scarcity, eggs were a rare delicacy—more valuable than meat—and adding an egg to noodles was a truly extravagant treat.

Li Yi, on the other hand, ordered a bowl of local buckwheat noodles without an egg.

Seeing that there was no egg in Li Yi’s noodles, Tang Xue immediately picked up half an egg from her bowl and placed it in his.

Li Yi was immediately at a loss for words—he hadn’t ordered the egg not because he was worried about the cost, but because he genuinely couldn’t stomach it.

But seeing the stubborn look on his wife’s face, he didn’t say anything; he could only obediently eat the half-fried egg.

After a simple breakfast, Li Yi handed his bicycle to Liu Jingshan and left the state-run restaurant with Tang Xue.

“Where are we going? The Supply and Marketing Cooperative isn’t open yet, is it?” Tang Xue asked again.

“Hehe, you’ll find out in a minute!”

With that, Li Yi continued leading her west along the county town’s main street.

When they reached the area near the west gate of the county town, Tang Xue began to catch on and immediately said, “You aren’t taking me to the bus station, are you?”

“Hehe, you figured it out?”

“Hmm, where are we going by bus?” Tang Xue asked curiously.

“To the city!”

“The… the city? What are we going to the city for?”

Seeing Tang Xue looking a bit nervous, Li Yi smiled and said, “Didn’t I tell you before? We need to buy wedding clothes and stuff!”

Actually, Li Yi was going to the city to see if he could find a wedding dress. In their hometown, brides usually wore traditional red attire, and his family had already had one made for her.

But Li Yi still wanted to see what his bride would look like in a wedding dress. Since there were no shops selling wedding dresses in Qingshan County, he could only take Tang Xue to the city to try their luck.

But Tang Xue hesitated. The city wasn’t like the county—things there were so expensive.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go!”

Li Yi knew she was worried about the cost, so he immediately replied, “Come on, it won’t cost much. Besides, I only plan to get married once in my life, so I have to make sure I have no regrets. Don’t you agree?”

Tang Xue didn’t know what came over her, but that simple remark seemed to move her deeply.

“All right then, but we really can’t spend too much!”

“Hehe, okay, whatever you say!”

Although Tang Xue knew Li Yi was probably just stringing her along, she nodded anyway.

Soon, the two arrived at the bus station outside the West Gate!

The bus station in Yunsan County was rather shabby. The ticket booths consisted of just two small, dilapidated brick buildings, painted bright white on the outside. However, because the windows and glass were so small, the interior looked pitch-black, making it feel somewhat eerie for anyone sitting inside.

There was no waiting room either, just a few makeshift shelters to keep out the rain, where a few people were currently standing, waiting for the bus.

Li Yi told Tang Xue to wait by the shelters while he went to the ticket office with his letter of introduction to buy tickets.

Although it had been more than two years since the reform and opening-up began, household registration controls remained extremely strict.

No matter where one went, a letter of introduction was required—for lodging away from home, for collecting money orders, and even for buying train tickets.

If you lost your letter of introduction, you’d be stuck—it was extremely inconvenient.

What’s more, in those days, not only did you have to have a letter of introduction, but you also had to carry it with you at all times and keep it safe; otherwise, you might not only be arrested as a vagrant, but in more serious cases, you could even lose your life.

This is by no means an exaggeration; just a few years ago, some people were even labeled as class enemies for not having an introduction letter.

Although Qing Shan County wasn’t far from the city—just 70 kilometers away—Li Yi had prepared his letter of introduction in advance just to be on the safe side.

Thanks to the letter of introduction, he was able to purchase his ticket quickly.

Looking at the old-style ticket in his hand, Li Yi felt a bit nostalgic.

To be honest, his memories of this kind of old-style ticket were already quite vague.

As far as he could recall, he had only used a local ticket once—when he left Qing Shan County.

By the time he returned to this place—a full decade later in the 1990s—they no longer used these old-style tickets here.

Tang Xue watched as Li Yi kept staring at the ticket in his hand and asked curiously, “What are you looking at? Haven’t you ever seen a train ticket before?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “It really is the first time I’ve seen one!”

“Really? It’s your first time seeing one?” Tang Xue asked, somewhat surprised.

“Yeah, this is the first time I’ve ever left Qing Shan County for a long trip, so of course it’s my first time seeing a ticket like this!” Li Yi said.

“But you seem pretty familiar with it—you even had the letter of introduction ready in advance!”

“Haha, haven’t you ever seen a pig run, even if you’ve never eaten pork?”

“You’re such a strange person. I feel like I don’t know you at all!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “We’ve got plenty of time. A lifetime is more than enough for you to get to know me!”

Tang Xue’s face flushed, and she suddenly didn’t know how to respond. Just then, the engine of the dilapidated car parked nearby suddenly started up…

……

Over the next few days, Li Yi—and indeed the entire Li family—was busy preparing for the wedding!

After all, for the Li family, marrying off a son was a monumental event—it not only concerned the continuation of the Li family line but also signified that Li Yi, that troublesome little rascal, was finally settling down and starting a family!

So, the entire Li family took this matter very seriously.

It wasn’t just Li Shankui and his wife; even distant relatives from the Li family’s collateral branches came to lend a hand.

On top of that, the entire village of Nianzishan was now on tenterhooks over Li Yi’s wedding.

They say a reformed rogue is worth his weight in gold, and Li Yi is exactly that kind of rogue!

Over the past few years, he’s certainly committed his fair share of misdeeds—the kind that make people cringe and dogs run for cover. While he hasn’t committed any major crimes, he’s certainly been a real nuisance!

Now that he’s finally turned over a new leaf and is striving to improve himself, this is definitely a good thing.

Not to mention, the entire village is now counting on him to help them make money!

Everyone remembers that Li Yi promised to take them all out to gather mountain produce and make a fortune after the wedding—and everyone is eagerly waiting for him to do just that!

As a result, a steady stream of people has been coming to the Li household every day to lend a hand!

With so many people pitching in, the preparations for Li Yi’s wedding were moving along very quickly.

Soon, the bridal chamber was ready.

Not only had the tall brick-and-tile house been fitted with glass windows and doors, but the side rooms, storage shed, drying shed, and outhouse had all been built as well. Even the high courtyard wall had been erected. With such grandeur, it was undoubtedly the finest in all of Nianzi Mountain Village.

Although the black rocky soil made some feel it was a bit of a waste, it still left many people green with envy.

The courtyard was swept spotless, and bright red couplets were pasted all over the place, creating a festive atmosphere.

This was a tradition in the northern frontier: new couple, new home, new couplets.

The windows inside and out were polished to a mirror-like shine and adorned with bright red “Double Happiness” characters, adding even more festive cheer.

The entire house featured a uniform cement floor—hard and smooth—which gave the villagers a whole new perspective on floor finishes.

A new bedspread covered the kang, and four new quilts and mattresses were neatly folded at the foot of the bed.

Two bright red cabinets stood against the north wall; on the wall above them hung two symmetrical glass paintings in wooden frames and two mirrors.

In addition, the house contained a sewing machine and a radio, while a 26-inch bicycle was parked in the main room.

With the watch on Tang Xue’s wrist, all the essentials for a wedding in that era—the “three spinning items and one ringing item”—were now complete.

Beyond that, the household was fully equipped with pots, pans, bowls, a water jar, a laundry basin, a washboard, and the like.

To make bathing more convenient, the family had even built a dedicated bathroom.

This was truly rare in the countryside!

It could be said that the wedding home Li Yi had prepared for him and Tang Xue would certainly be considered luxurious by today’s standards.

Seeing all the things the Li family had prepared to marry Tang Xue, everyone in the village was nothing but shocked and envious!

These days, with so many weddings and marriages happening in the village every year, there wasn’t a single family that could match such a lavish display.

Some villagers did a quick calculation and realized that the Li family alone had already spent at least 1,700 or 1,800 yuan.

That’s an absolute fortune!

In an era when the average annual household income didn’t exceed 200 yuan, spending seven or eight years’ worth of total income to marry a wife was absolutely unheard of.

Not to mention, that doesn’t even include the wedding banquet and other expenses!

It’s safe to say the Li family has really gone all out!

Many people’s attitudes toward Tang Xue had completely changed!

A month ago, when the two of them were caught half-dressed on the kang, everyone felt sorry for her.

They all said it was like a beautiful flower planted in cow dung—and this pile of cow dung wasn’t even nutritious.

But now, everyone’s saying Tang Xue’s lucky to have married into a good family like the Lis and to have landed a capable man like Li Yi.

In just a single month, the same incident had sparked completely different reactions from everyone.

……..

While things in the village proceeded smoothly, Li Yi had made his way to the county seat.

He rode his bicycle there alone, mainly to finalize the banquet arrangements and notify his close friends.

The banquet is the highlight of the wedding, and the villagers take it very seriously.

Whenever a family hosts a wedding, everyone compares the spread—how many meat dishes there are, and what brands of cigarettes and alcohol are served.

If one couldn’t afford it, that was one thing, but now that everyone knew Li Yi had made money, they were all eager to see how he planned to entertain his guests.

Li Yi wasn’t stingy about it; he had already discussed the matter with his family long ago. They decided to hold the banquet at Liu San’er’s second uncle’s place.

Although 18 yuan per table was indeed a bit extravagant—in an era when wedding gifts typically amounted to only one or two yuan—this standard was absolutely beyond the imagination of the vast majority of people.

But Li Yi didn’t think twice about it. If someone treats me with sincerity, I must show them the utmost respect!

So when he returned to Master Liu’s home, Li Yi told him straight out to organize the banquet at the highest standard of 18 yuan per table, with 40 tables in total.

Hearing Li Yi’s words, Master Liu was truly stunned. He’d heard from his nephew that Li Yi was a wealthy man, but he never imagined he’d be this extravagant.

Ordering 40 tables off the bat—not counting the cost of renting tables, chairs, and tableware—the total cost of the food alone exceeded 700 yuan. This was the largest order he had ever received in all his years in business.

He was a straightforward man himself, so he agreed on the spot and even waived the 20-yuan change for Li Yi.

To put Master Liu at ease, Li Yi paid him half the amount in advance so he could buy the ingredients.

After all, with Liu San around, Li Yi wasn’t worried he’d run off!

After taking care of these matters, Li Yi went to Old Man Wang Guoguang’s home.

He explained the reason for his visit and sincerely invited the old man to attend his wedding.

Old Man Wang was delighted. He genuinely liked this young man, Li Yi. On one hand, Li Yi had saved his life and that of his youngest son—a debt of gratitude as heavy as a mountain for the Wang family.

More importantly, this young man didn’t take credit for his deeds; unlike others, he didn’t constantly try to get close to him or his eldest son through various means.

This was exactly to Old Master Wang’s liking!

Upon learning that Li Yi was getting married, Old Master Wang immediately assured him he would definitely attend, adding that he intended to prepare a generous gift for Li Yi!

After informing Old Master Wang, Li Yi paid another visit to the county bureau to share the news of his wedding with Wang Anguo and Li Gang, and invited them to attend.

At the same time, Li Yi mentioned that he wasn’t sure whether he should invite Secretary Wang Anmin, so he asked Wang Anguo to pass along the message on his behalf.

In addition to the aforementioned individuals, Li Yi also made a point of inviting Liu Jingshan from the state-run restaurant and Liang Yukuai from the sugar factory. After all, they all got along quite well, and if he didn’t invite them to his wedding, they would surely hold it against him.

The last person Li Yi invited was Liu San’er. Although this young man was just a small-time hustler dealing in tickets, he was a decent person.

Moreover, he had actually been a great help to him lately. Whether out of courtesy or for other reasons, Li Yi felt he should extend an invitation.

While Li Yi was busy notifying these friends in the county seat, Li Shankui began reaching out to other relatives and villagers.

In short, everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

“Why are you out here too?”

Tang Xue smiled but didn’t speak; instead, she flipped her palm and placed two chicken cakes in front of Li Yi.

“What’s this?”

“I know you haven’t eaten much. Go ahead and eat these!” Tang Xue said with a smile.

She had seen clearly just now that Li Yi had been forced to drink so much he hadn’t eaten a single bite of food.

So when she came out earlier, she had quietly taken two chicken cakes from the main room and brought them out for him.

Li Yi was touched. Without hesitation, he took the chicken cakes and took a bite.

These old-fashioned chicken cakes had a crispy exterior and a soft, dense interior—a taste that was definitely a childhood favorite of Li Yi’s.

With every bite, the aroma lingered on his lips and teeth.

After swallowing the cake, the burning sensation in his chest had all but vanished.

Li Yi held out another piece of sponge cake to Tang Xue and said with a smile, “Here, this one’s for you!”

Tang Xue shook her head and said, “I’ve already eaten plenty. I can’t eat any more. You go ahead and eat it!”

“Okay!”

Li Yi devoured the sponge cake in two bites, then turned to Tang Xue and said, “Shall we go for a walk?”

“Sure!”

It was just getting dark. Although most of the villagers were at home eating dinner, you could still spot a few stragglers here and there.

Everyone who saw Li Yi and Tang Xue greeted them with warm smiles.

Although it had only been a month since his rebirth, Li Yi had completely transformed his image in the villagers’ eyes through his shrewd tactics, earning the approval of most of them.

Of course, there were still those who didn’t approve of him, but they had all been sent to the police station by now.

A couple of days ago, during Old Man Wang’s birthday celebration, Wang Anguo had specifically spoken to him about Xu Hong and the others.

The case had been thoroughly investigated: Xu Hong had harbored malicious intent and incited the male educated youths to deliberately poison people.

Moreover, he had deceived not only Li Yi but also the male educated youths.

He told the male educated youths that the mushrooms given to Li Yi contained only ordinary poisonous mushrooms, and that even if someone accidentally ate them, the worst that would happen was an upset stomach—it wouldn’t be fatal.

However, in reality, he had mixed highly toxic mushrooms into Li Yi’s basket.

In other words, the other male educated youths were unaware that he had laced the mushrooms with a deadly poison.

Nevertheless, the male educated youth could not escape severe punishment for their involvement; after all, they had indeed participated in the scheme and would all be held accountable.

However, when the procuratorate brought charges against them, Xu Hong would be treated as the principal offender, while the others would be classified as accomplices.

It is possible that the court might reduce their sentences somewhat during sentencing, but such a criminal case cannot be dismissed.

For those male educated youth, the situation felt somewhat unfair.

But Li Yi didn’t feel the slightest bit of pity for them. Thankfully, those poisonous mushrooms were detected immediately; otherwise, just thinking about the potential consequences sent a chill down Li Yi’s spine.

People with such malicious intent deserve to be taken out and shot.

Li Yi just felt a bit of regret that it was only 1980; if it had been 1983, every single one of those six would have been shot.

After walking around the village for a while, Li Yi suddenly asked, “Honey, shall I take you into town tomorrow?”

“Why go into town? If there’s anything you need to buy, just buy it yourself. Why drag me along?”

To be honest, Tang Xue was actually a little afraid of going into town with Li Yi to shop.

He was such a spendthrift, especially when it came to her. If she so much as glanced at something, he’d buy it without a second thought.

Now she had to check the price of everything she saw first; if it was too expensive, she’d steer clear of it.

“We’re getting married soon. We’ve got to buy a few nice outfits. I don’t know your size, so of course you have to come with me!” Li Yi said.

“Haven’t we bought plenty of fabric already? Why not just have my older sister and Mom make you a set? Why waste the money?” Tang Xue said.

“That fabric is for Mom and Dad. We should buy ready-made clothes—they have nicer designs and look better when you wear them out!”

In truth, Li Yi wanted to take Tang Xue to buy a wedding dress. After all, who gets married without a wedding dress, unless they can’t afford one?

Although Li Yi didn’t know how much a wedding dress cost these days—or even if they were sold at all—he figured his financial means should be enough to afford one.

“If we can’t afford it, we’ll just make it ourselves. Ready-made ones are so expensive!” Tang Xue said.

She knew Li Yi could make money—in a single day, he might earn more than the average person makes in a year, or even several years.

But no matter how rich he was, he couldn’t just waste money like that!

Besides, Li Yi had mentioned that his mountain produce business was seasonal—it might stop at any moment.

So Tang Xue still hoped Li Yi would save up some money, just in case they couldn’t make any in the future.

However, she had underestimated Li Yi’s determination. He took Tang Xue’s hand and said with a smile, “After all, marriage is a lifelong commitment. I want you to look your absolute best when you marry me.”

“Don’t worry about the money—providing for our family is my responsibility. All you have to do is look as beautiful as a flower!”

Tang Xue felt warm inside at his words. Knowing she couldn’t win an argument with him, she could only nod and say, “Just this once—no exceptions!”

“Okay, from now on, you’ll be in charge of the household finances. Spend it however you like!” Li Yi said.

“I’m not taking care of it—managing money is such a hassle! As long as you don’t waste it, that’s all that matters!”

“I won’t splurge—I’ll just give it all to my wife!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“You’re such a smart aleck!”

Just then, Li Yi suddenly remembered something and said, “By the way, you haven’t been back home for a while. Are your parents…”

Before he could finish, Tang Xue immediately replied, “I wrote them a letter saying I still have some paperwork to take care of here. That should buy us some time.”

“Fudging it isn’t a solution. Sooner or later, we’ll have to face this!” Li Yi said.

“By then, the die will be cast. Even if they find out, what can they do?” Tang Xue said calmly.

Yet a hint of worry still flashed across her eyes; after all, a marriage without her family’s blessing was hardly a cause for joy.

Besides, no one knew her family better than she did. Once they found out she’d gone and married without their consent, they were bound to make a scene.

But just then, Li Yi spoke up: “Let’s get married first. After we’re married, I’ll take you back to your parents’ house!”

“No… we can’t go back!”

“Why?”

“They won’t accept you. I… I don’t want you to suffer any humiliation!” Tang Xue said.

She knew her family well—with their snobbish, money-grubbing nature, they’d certainly never be happy about her marrying a country bumpkin.

Besides, if they found out how much money Li Yi made, they might turn into leeches, constantly draining the hard-earned money he’d worked so hard for.

Neither of those outcomes was what she wanted to see!

So, rather than risk that, it would be better not to go back at all.

Li Yi clearly sensed her concerns and immediately said, “Don’t worry, I can handle this.”

“Well…”

“It’s settled then. No matter what they think or say, you’re the legally wedded wife of the Li family.”

Li Yi continued, “If they accept me as their son-in-law, we’ll visit them more often; if they don’t, we’ll visit less. But we can’t go back on the sly—it’s not like we’re doing anything shameful!”

Seeing how serious Li Yi was, Tang Xue could only nod in agreement.

On the way back, Yang Wenguang looked at Li Yi with a stunned expression, still reeling from what he had just witnessed.

Just a few minutes earlier, Li Yi had led him to the reservoir at the back of the mountain.

There, dozens of children and female volunteers were waiting for him.

The moment the children and female educated youth saw the bright red mule cart, they let out a deafening cheer.

Immediately afterward, Yang Wenguang saw people on the dam come down carrying a large wicker basket between two or three of them, and then they loaded basket after basket of mushrooms and mountain produce onto the cart.

Before long, the massive flatbed cart was packed to the brim; they had to pile the goods right up against the sides just to get it all loaded.

That was one thing, but what his brother-in-law did next left him even more stunned.

He gathered everyone together and began handing out money.

Yes, he was handing out money—and in big wads!

The older children and the few female educated youth each received three to five yuan!

The younger children received one or two yuan each, with no one getting less than one yuan.

In less than five minutes, he was like a money-dispensing deity, handing out a hundred and forty or fifty yuan.

To earn that much money, he would have had to work at the forestry camp for at least seven or eight months—and that’s assuming he didn’t eat or drink a single thing.

More importantly, every single one of those kids, big or small, got a yuan—some even got five.

Think about himself—he only made 18 yuan a month, which worked out to six mao a day.

This made Yang Wenguang feel rather pathetic—he wasn’t even as well-off as a child.

More importantly, he felt he couldn’t figure out this younger brother-in-law he hadn’t seen in years.

In his eyes, Li Yi had always been nothing more than a child who hadn’t grown up yet—clueless about everything and always getting into trouble.

To be honest, Yang Wenguang had really found him a bit of a headache in the past.

He knew his wife, Li Mei, had a gentle disposition and doted on this younger brother—she had even sacrificed her own happiness for him—so Yang Wenguang had always looked down on this brother-in-law.

Li Mei hadn’t returned to her parents’ home in all these years, and it wasn’t entirely because of Yang Zhong and Yang Liushi’s objections; in fact, Yang Wenguang himself didn’t want Li Mei to come back.

But he never expected that in just a few short years, his brother-in-law would undergo such a dramatic change.

Noticing Yang Wenguang watching him, Li Yi immediately smiled and said, “Big Brother-in-law, is there something you want to say?”

“Hmm, did you buy all these mountain products from those kids?”

“That’s right!”

“That’s a lot of money—you’re getting shortchanged for such a small haul!”

Yang Wenguang had been working at the forestry station all these years and knew that this kind of mushroom was abundant in the woods—more than anyone could imagine.

Especially after it rains—the forest floor is covered with them.

If you wanted to pick them, you could fill a whole basket in no time.

“Brother-in-law, do you know how much I could sell these mushrooms for in the county seat?” Li Yi asked with a smile.

“Does anyone in the county even buy this stuff?”

People have thought about selling mushrooms before and have even tried it, but the results have always been rather disappointing.

You might find a few people who actually like them and are willing to buy a few for pocket money, but they usually don’t pay more than 20 cents per pound.

After all, a pound of Fuqiang flour costs just 16 cents these days—how much could mushrooms possibly be worth?

As for ordinary folks, they wouldn’t spend money on mushrooms to eat.

If they want to eat them, wouldn’t it be better to just go pick some in the woods themselves?

“Haha, that’s for other people. If I haul this whole truckload of mushrooms into town, I could probably sell them for six or seven hundred yuan!” Li Yi said.

Hearing this, Yang Wenguang was instantly dumbfounded.

“Are these things really worth that much?”

“Other people’s aren’t worth much, but mine can fetch that price!”

What others sell are just mushrooms, but what Li Yi and Liu Jingshan are doing now is far more than just a business in wild mountain produce.

On the one hand, Li Yi frequently taught the chefs at the state-run restaurant how to prepare unique dishes, which greatly boosted the restaurant’s reputation—especially since they’d received praise from county leaders on multiple occasions.

On the other hand, Li Yi had processed his mushrooms further.

Although it was just simple sorting and cleaning, it significantly increased the value—a concept that was light-years ahead of its time.

More importantly, with Li Yi’s help, Liu Jingshan managed to market the mushrooms and other wild produce in the city.

Marketed as all-natural and pesticide-free, these mountain products fetched higher prices in the city, and the state-run restaurant profited handsomely as a result.

Furthermore, Liu Jingshan was well aware of his connections with Wang Anguo, Li Gang, Liang Yukuai, and others. By cultivating a good relationship with him, one could gain access to these influential figures—which is why his mushrooms were the only ones in the entire county that could command such a high price.

After all, he wasn’t just selling mushrooms—he was selling connections and political savvy!

Yang Wenguang didn’t ask why. He was a smart man who knew which questions to ask and which to avoid.

At that moment, he finally understood why Li Yi had brought him here!

With such a lucrative business, his brother-in-law certainly didn’t need those two factory job openings anymore.

He did this just to put his mind at ease.

Thinking of this, Yang Wenguang felt a quiet sense of gratitude.

…….

When he got home, his mother and sisters had already prepared dinner!

Today was a day of reunion for all the close relatives of the Li family. Since Li Mei and Li Lan got married, the Li family had never been this complete.

Now, not only were both sons-in-law present, but there was also a new nephew, and Li Mei was expecting another child.

More importantly, his future daughter-in-law, Tang Xue, was there as well.

If it weren’t for the fact that Li Na hadn’t found a partner yet, the second generation of the Li family would be completely assembled.

So, Li Shankui and Zhang Yuehong were overjoyed, and the dinner they prepared was incredibly lavish.

There were not only vegetables and meat, but also scrambled eggs and steamed rice.

Li Shankui even went so far as to open two bottles of liquor—specifically the Maotai that Li Yi had brought back, which cost eight yuan a bottle.

You see, he usually treasured this liquor so much that he wouldn’t even treat himself to a drink, yet today he made an exception and opened two bottles.

Although it stung a bit, it was a rare occasion to be this happy.

Although Li Yi didn’t usually drink much, he made an exception today and had two small glasses.

After all, with his dad and two brothers-in-law in high spirits, he couldn’t possibly dampen their enthusiasm.

But Li Yi knew his limits; two glasses were his absolute maximum. Any more and he’d get drunk.

So, after downing those two glasses, he immediately made a quick exit under the pretext of needing to use the restroom!

He knew his two brothers-in-law well—his eldest sister’s husband was still manageable, but his second sister’s husband was a different story once he’d had a drink.

Before he drank, he was just a man from the North; after he drank, the whole North was his.

If he stayed at home, he’d definitely be forced to drink more; fleeing the scene was the wisest choice.

Li Yi had just stepped out of the house and was standing at the front gate, enjoying the cool breeze.

He looked up suddenly and saw Tang Xue coming out as well, walking straight toward him!

It wasn’t until that evening that Li Yi learned about his eldest sister’s husband, Yang Wenguang, splitting from the family, and he also learned the truth about Yang Wenguang’s background from his eldest sister.

Upon learning that Yang Wenguang was not biologically related to Yang Liushi, and that he and Yang Wenxi and Yang Wenjuan were merely half-siblings, many of the doubts in Li Yi’s mind were instantly resolved.

He had originally thought that it was simply his parents’ favoritism that had led to the tragedy of his eldest sister and Yang Wenguang in their past lives.

But now it seemed that wasn’t the case at all.

Thinking of this, Li Yi felt a new sense of sympathy for his brother-in-law!

Since he had chosen to split from the family—which effectively meant choosing his sister—it was only natural to let bygones be bygones regarding past matters.

Moreover, judging by his older sister’s recent behavior, she had no intention of divorcing her husband. Now that he had split from the family, the two had reconciled.

For his older sister, divorce is even less of an option.

Given that, Li Yi didn’t want to be the bad guy either.

All he could do was create favorable conditions for them—first, they needed to have the baby.

As for what happens next, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!

At 6:30 p.m., Li Yi called his sister’s husband out, saying they should go for a walk together, but really he wanted to talk to him.

After all, the situation had become a bit tense, and to prevent any lingering hard feelings between them, it was best to get certain things out in the open.

On the gravel path leading to the back mountain, the two of them straddled the bright red mule cart and walked along at a leisurely pace.

“Brother-in-law…”

“Yi…”

They spoke at the same time, then stopped speaking at the same time!

“Xiao Yi, you go first!” Yang Wenguang said.

“Brother-in-law, do you still hold a grudge against me?” Li Yi cut straight to the chase.

Yang Wenguang replied immediately, “The day you first came back, I didn’t know the full story, so I did feel a little bit that way. But once I understood the situation, I stopped blaming you!”

“You really don’t hold it against me?”

“Yeah, I’ve been married to Meizi for over three years now. I know exactly what she’s like.”

Yang Wenguang continued, “If she hadn’t truly been wronged at home, given her personality, she wouldn’t have agreed to come back with you even if you’d asked her to!”

Li Yi nodded and said, “Thank you for trusting my sister so much!”

“Meizi is my wife. She doesn’t look down on me even though I’m a good-for-nothing—so why wouldn’t I trust her?”

Li Yi said solemnly, “It’s not that I’m trying to pick a fight with your Yang family or force you to split up—it’s just that they’ve gone too far.”

“In fact, what you know so far is just the tip of the iceberg. The despicable things they’ve done are far more numerous and far worse than you can imagine!”

Yang Wenguang looked at Li Yi with a puzzled expression and asked, “Xiao Yi, what else do you know?”

“Your stepmother tormented my sister—partly because our family didn’t provide a dowry, but more importantly, because she didn’t want you and my sister to have children…”

Before Li Yi had even finished speaking, Yang Wenguang exclaimed in shock, “You… Little Yi, are you saying my mother deliberately… deliberately…”

“That’s right. She deliberately tried to make my sister miscarry!” Li Yi said in a low, heavy voice.

“W-why? What’s in it for her?” Yang Wenguang asked through gritted teeth.

“Of course there are benefits—plenty of them!”

Li Yi continued, “First, if you two don’t have children, both you and my sister will remain the family’s main laborers. Just think how much more grain and money you could earn for the household each year!”

“Second, as long as you two don’t have children, you won’t think about splitting the household. The money you earn will go into the communal account, which can be spent on Yang Liushi and her two children.”

“More importantly, your younger brother, Yang Wenxi, is good-for-nothing. He still hasn’t married, and Yang Liushi can’t help but worry about him.”

Although Li Yi had no evidence to back up these claims—they were merely his speculations—

However, considering the events of his past life, Li Yi believed his speculations were reasonable.

Yang Wenguang clenched his fists tightly, carefully recalling the actions of his family members over the past few years. A sudden realization dawned on him.

At that moment, Li Yi continued, “It’s no secret in Orange Hollow that my sister has been mistreated in your household—you’re the only one who doesn’t know!”

“Whether I’m right or not, just go back and ask anyone—you’ll find out. To be honest, my sister isn’t even treated as well as a maid in your household!”

“Smack!”

Yang Wenguang slammed his hand down on the cart’s shaft and shouted angrily, “How could they do this? How dare they?”

Li Yi immediately said, “All right, don’t get so worked up. Since things have come to this, you’ll just have to figure out for yourself how to handle your relationship with them from now on!”

“Hmm!”

Li Yi added, “I’m telling you this not to drive a wedge between you and them, but so you don’t harbor any hard feelings toward me. After all, you and my sister are going to spend the rest of your lives together.”

Yang Wenguang nodded and said, “Xiao Yi, I don’t blame you. You were only looking out for Meizi’s best interests, and besides, you’re not the one who did anything wrong!”

“I’m glad you see it that way. It means my big sister’s feelings for you weren’t in vain. Let’s call it even then—no one should bring up the past anymore!!” Li Yi said.

“Mm-hmm!”

“By the way, I told you before that I secured two spots for you and my sister to work in the city. You remember that, right?”

“I remember!”

Li Yi replied immediately, “Good to hear. I’ve already spoken to Factory Director Liang. Once I’m married, I’ll take you both to report for duty!”

Yang Wenguang looked at Li Yi and said, “Xiao Yi, my sister and I are able-bodied; we can earn our own living. You should keep those two spots for yourself!”

His wife, Li Mei, had told him about these two factory positions that afternoon. He knew they were specially given to him by the sugar factory leadership as a token of gratitude toward Li Yi.

Although he was quite tempted himself—after all, the sugar factory’s benefits were renowned throughout the county—

Plus, they’d start as permanent employees right away—something that would make countless people envious.

A spot like this could easily fetch between 800 and 1,000 yuan on the black market; for two spots together, people would absolutely be fighting tooth and nail for 1,500 yuan.

So, even though it was his own brother-in-law, he couldn’t just take them like that.

However, before he could finish speaking, Li Yi cut him off.

Li Yi said calmly, “Xiao Xue and I have our own plans for our jobs. You don’t need to worry about us!”

“But this is an opportunity to work in the city, after all!”

“Haha, as far as I’m concerned, the city is nothing special!”

Then, before Yang Wenguang could say a word, Li Yi pointed to the distant mountain range and said, “Do you know where I’m taking you?”

“I don’t know—I was just about to ask you!” Yang Wenguang said.

“I’ll show you the perks of village life in a minute!”

“What’s so great about the village?”

“Heh, you’ll find out in a minute!”

With that, Li Yi gave the big red mule’s hindquarters a light flick with the reins, and the mule cart suddenly picked up speed.

Before long, the mule cart arrived at the base of the Hou San Reservoir dam.

At that moment, the flat, wide embankment was crowded with children of all ages.

In addition, there were a few older girls—likely Feng Qian, Sun Lu, and the other female educated youth.

Lately, whenever they had free time, they’d go into the mountains with the children so they could look out for one another.

At that moment, they were busy sorting through the various wild mountain produce they had gathered.

Upon seeing the bright red mule cart at the foot of the dam, the children immediately let out cheers!

On July 6th, just as the Li family was bustling with preparations for the wedding, Yang Wenguang arrived!

When he appeared at the Li household carrying a bundle of bedding on his back, everyone was stunned.

Li Mei immediately jogged over to him and asked anxiously, “What’s going on? Why did you bring your bedding?”

Yang Wenguang smiled and said, “I’ve split from the old family home. From now on, we’ll be living on our own!”

Li Mei said, her eyes brimming with tears, “You… I’m sorry… I…”

Li Mei’s heart was filled with guilt over having forced her husband to sever ties with his parents.

As a traditional woman, she had never imagined she would follow her younger brother and parents’ advice and force him to break ties with the family.

Although she had indeed suffered her share of hardships over the years, what daughter-in-law these days doesn’t endure her mother-in-law’s trials? Otherwise, there wouldn’t be the saying: “A thousand-year-old road erodes into a river; a daughter-in-law, after many years, becomes a mother-in-law herself.”

Life as a daughter-in-law could never be as comfortable as life as a daughter in one’s own home, and she had grown accustomed to it over the years.

The reason she returned with her younger brother that day was, on the one hand, that her in-laws and her younger brother and sister-in-law had gone too far, and she was angry.

On the other hand, her younger brother had gone too far that day—he’d beaten both her in-laws and offended everyone in Orange Hollow.

She feared that if she didn’t get her brother back to Nianzi Mountain quickly, the men, women, and children of Orange Hollow would swarm him and beat him to a pulp!

She knew full well just how formidable the villagers of Juziwa were. Two years ago, a ne’er-do-well from the neighboring village had been caught stealing corn cobs in the village; he was cornered by the village men in a dilapidated temple behind the mountain and had his legs broken.

Afterward, when that good-for-nothing’s family came to the village to cause trouble, they were beaten until they were bloodied and bruised.

Her brother might be a good fighter, but two fists can’t beat four hands!

Under those circumstances, she had no choice but to coax her brother back home first.

As for what happened next, it was completely unexpected.

Yang Wenguang saw the guilt in his wife’s eyes and immediately said, “I’m the one who should be saying I’m sorry. I never imagined they’d bully you like that and put you through such a hard time!”

Yang Wenguang continued, “Don’t worry. From now on, you’ll have the final say on every matter in this household, big or small. We won’t have to kowtow to them anymore!”

“But… but they are your parents, after all!”

Yang Wenguang opened his mouth to speak, but then saw his mother-in-law, Zhang Yuehong, coming out. Upon seeing him, she hurriedly said, “What are you doing standing out in the yard? Come inside and talk!”

“Okay!”

Yang Wenguang immediately swallowed the words he’d been about to say and followed Li Mei into the house.

Inside, there were not only the sisters Li Mei and Li Lan, but also several women in their thirties and forties.

They were making quilts on the kang!

The large kang was covered with fluffed cotton and quilt covers, and the women were busily sewing them together with needle and thread.

A young bride sat at a sewing machine by the edge of the kang, furiously pumping the pedal. The whole house was a hive of activity.

Seeing this scene, Yang Wenguang asked in surprise, “Mother, is Xiao Yi getting married?”

“Yes, the date is set for May 23rd!” Zhang Yuehong replied immediately.

Yang Wenguang immediately pulled Li Mei outside, then pulled a stack of banknotes from his inner pocket and pressed them into her hand, saying, “Meizi, take this money. See if you can help Xiao Yi out a bit!”

Li Mei stared at the thick stack of 100-yuan notes in her hand, completely dumbfounded.

There was so much money—at least four or five hundred yuan.

It took her a while before she managed to say in astonishment, “Where did this money come from? You… you…”

“Don’t worry, it’s all mine.”

“Yours?”

“Right. It’s my disability compensation—over five hundred yuan in total. When I came back from the army, my parents said they were worried I’d squander it, so they kept it safe for me!”

“Then what about this…”

“Since we’re dividing the family property, I’m naturally taking this money back!” Yang Wenguang said.

“Will Mom agree to give it to you?”

Li Mei knew her stingy mother-in-law all too well. She was the kind of person who loved money more than life itself—there was no way she’d willingly give that much money back to her own husband.

Not even for her own son—that would be impossible!

Yang Wenguang said calmly, “Of course she wouldn’t agree. I went to see my eldest uncle and the clan elders to ask them to settle this for me!”

“Your mother must be furious with you…”

“Let her be furious. I’m not her biological son anyway!” Yang Wenguang said calmly.

“Wh—what? You’re saying you’re not your parents’ biological son?”

Li Mei looked utterly shocked; she had never heard of this before!

Yang Wenguang sighed and said, “My father is my biological father, but my mother is my stepmother!”

At that moment, Yang Wenguang recounted his family history to Li Mei.

It turned out that his biological mother had died of illness when he was just over a year old. Subsequently, at his grandfather’s behest, his father, Yang Zhong, had married a woman from a neighboring village as his second wife—this woman was his current mother, Yang Liushi.

Yang Liushi was a very calculating woman. As soon as she entered the family, she took it upon herself to care for Yang Wenguang, and quickly earned the approval of the Yang family for doing so.

To protect Yang Liushi and prevent others from discriminating against Yang Wenguang, Yang Zhong went door to door speaking with the villagers, asking them not to spread rumors about Yang Liushi being a stepmother—especially not in front of his son.

Consequently, Yang Wenguang always believed she was his biological mother, until his younger brother and sister were born one after another.

After his younger siblings were born, Yang Wenguang sensed that his mother had changed. She reserved all the best food and clothes for them, and often reminded Yang Wenguang that, as the eldest son, he should give way to his younger siblings.

Although Yang Wenguang felt a bit uneasy about this, he didn’t make a big fuss about it.

After all, that was how most families in the village operated—the eldest child was expected to look after his younger siblings.

But when Yang Wenguang was nine years old, his beloved grandmother fell seriously ill. On her deathbed, she revealed a secret to him: Yang Liushi was not his biological mother; his real mother had passed away long ago.

Yang Wenguang didn’t believe her at first, but when he followed the directions she had given him and found his mother’s grave in the small grove behind the mountain, he believed her!

After learning the truth, Yang Wenguang began to secretly observe Yang Liushi’s behavior.

The more he watched, the more his heart grew cold. She might still care for him, but she cared even more for her own biological children.

In front of others, she certainly stood up for Yang Wenguang.

But when it came to his younger brother, Yang Wenxi, and his younger sister, Yang Wenjuan, he was nothing to her.

She was willing to make Yang Wenguang drop out of school so her own son and daughter could attend, and even sent him to the military just to save on a mouth to feed.

After he was discharged due to injury, she didn’t even ask how his injury was, but instead took all his compensation money, claiming she was holding it in trust for him.

After he got married, he had to send 18 yuan to the family every month, yet she allowed her own children to bully his wife, completely disregarding the fact that she was carrying his child.

This was the last straw, so this time he lost his temper.

Not only did he demand a division of assets, but he also reclaimed the majority of his money.

Although this caused a rift with his family, he has no regrets.

It wasn’t that he had wronged them; it was that they had never treated him as family. With parents like that, it made no difference whether he had them or not.

Tang Xue’s confession was an unexpected surprise for Li Yi!

Naturally, he wouldn’t look down on Tang Xue because of this, nor would he ever abandon her. Yet, this revelation dispelled the last shred of doubt in Li Yi’s heart.

In truth, Li Yi shared Tang Xue’s perspective—he believed she was marrying him out of necessity, with no other choice.

To be honest, this kind of marriage was not what Li Yi wanted.

After all, it was like a transaction—it had nothing to do with love!

However, Tang Xue’s words today made him realize that much of what he had understood in his past life might have been wrong.

Whether in his past life or this one, before Tang Xue confessed that matter to him, he had always believed that he was the one who had taken advantage of her.

Little did he know that the one who had actually been taken advantage of was himself!

It wasn’t that he’d lost control after drinking; it was the young lady who’d been seduced by his looks.

Moreover, through this incident, Li Yi had gained a clear understanding of Tang Xue’s true feelings.

She might not have had strong feelings for him before, but now, Li Yi was certain she had fallen for him completely.

Only when you like someone do you care so deeply about your own feelings and how you appear in their eyes.

If it were merely a matter of settling for whatever came along, she wouldn’t have needed to say those things—there would have been no need.

This was the kind of marriage Li Yi wanted—because it was a marriage built on love!

Li Yi was thrilled, while Tang Xue was deeply moved.

She had braced herself for a storm, but Li Yi didn’t blame her; instead, he held her tightly in his arms and comforted her repeatedly.

Reassured by Li Yi, Tang Xue opened up for the first time, recounting in minute detail everything that had happened recently.

Learning that the Tang family had actually intended to marry Tang Xue off to an elderly widower—forcing her to flee her own home—made Li Yi’s blood boil.

Recalling the suspicions he’d harbored recently, Li Yi resolved that after they were married, he would definitely take Tang Xue back to the Tang family estate to settle the score with that bunch of scoundrels.

No matter how much those people may fawn over Tang Xue, if they dare to set their sights on his wife, Li Yi will definitely make sure they don’t get off easy.

Under the moonlight, the two of them huddled close together, whispering to each other in a warm, intimate atmosphere.

Suddenly, Tang Xue glanced at her wristwatch and said, “Oh, it’s almost ten o’clock. You should head home now!”

Li Yi nodded and said, “Okay!”

But just as Tang Xue was about to turn away, Li Yi suddenly pulled her into his arms.

Then, under Tang Xue’s nervous gaze, he kissed her right on the lips!

Although Tang Xue wasn’t exactly a virgin, she had never been in a relationship before, let alone kissed a man.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, she froze completely, her mind going blank!

Losing her composure at a critical moment could have serious consequences.

Soon, Tang Xue was lost in Li Yi’s fierce advances…

Suddenly, Tang Xue felt a pair of large hands slip beneath her clothes, attempting to take the high ground.

She let out a startled cry, hurriedly pushed Li Yi away, and turned to run toward the inside of the educated youth camp!

Seeing this, Li Yi hurriedly called out, “Wait a minute…”

Tang Xue suddenly stopped, turned back, and said, “I’ll give it to you once I’m inside!”

With that, she jogged off again!

Watching Tang Xue’s retreating figure, Li Yi couldn’t help but laugh out loud…

…….

Early the next morning, his mother took a few eggs to the “God of Happiness” family’s home.

Half an hour later, she returned and told Li Yi that the date had been set: July 10, just five days from now.

In her words, the 10th happened to be the 23rd day of the fifth lunar month—an auspicious day for weddings!

With the date set, preparations for the wedding were put into full swing.

But just as the Li family was busy preparing to welcome their new daughter-in-law, the Yang family in Juziwa was in an uproar.

When Yang Wenguang returned home that day, he immediately confronted his parents and siblings, demanding to know why they were bullying his wife.

Yang Liushi, of course, tried to justify her actions while also defending Yang Wenxi and Yang Wenjuan.

Yang Zhong also tried to smooth things over—after all, a harmonious family brings prosperity, and he certainly didn’t want the family to fall apart.

But this time, the usually mild-mannered Yang Wenguang flew into a rage. He got into a huge argument with his family and demanded a division of the household!

Hearing their eldest son demand a division of the family, Yang Zhong and Yang Liushi were instantly stunned and immediately refused.

“Wenguang, tell me the truth—is this the Li family’s idea? Even if we have to give up this daughter-in-law, I won’t let you split the family!” Yang Liushi shouted.

Yang Zhong also tried to reason with him: “Eldest son, we’re family after all. Splitting up the family would just make us a laughingstock!”

However, Yang Wenguang was determined to split the family. He looked at his mother impassively and said, “Mother, you’re only stopping me from splitting the family because of my 18-yuan monthly salary, aren’t you?”

Seeing her secret motive exposed by her eldest son, Yang Liushi flushed, but she still stubbornly retorted, “How dare you speak to me like that! We’re just trying to help you out a little!”

“Help us? Ask your conscience—do you even believe what you’re saying?”

Yang Wenguang continued, “If you really wanted to help me, why do you treat my younger siblings to good food while my wife can’t even get a whiff of it?”

“If you truly wanted to help us, why does my wife have to stay home doing laundry whenever you go out to a banquet?”

“If you really want to help us, why do you keep humiliating Meizi? She’s my wife, and she’s carrying my child. How can you treat her like this…”

Before he could finish, Yang Wenxi, standing nearby, couldn’t take it anymore. Pointing at Yang Wenguang, he said, “Big Brother, how can you speak to Mother like that?”

Yang Wenguang shot his younger brother a cold glance and said, “She’s your mother, not mine!”

Yang Zhong and Yang Liushi were both stunned, staring at Yang Wenguang in horror.

At that moment, Yang Wenguang looked at them and said with a touch of sadness in his voice, “Actually, I’ve always known you aren’t my real mother. My real mother passed away long ago. My grandmother told me this when I was five years old!”

“She had foreseen it long ago—that once my younger siblings were born, life would be hard for me, so she taught me to rely on myself in everything!”

“And things turned out exactly as my grandmother predicted. In middle school, my grades were excellent, but you said our family couldn’t afford to send so many children to school, so I dropped out.”

“When I was eighteen, you said joining the military would be good training—I could get rations from the government and save our family’s food—so I enlisted, and ended up losing the use of one arm!”

“Mom, I know I’m not your biological son, so I’ve always tried to go along with whatever you wanted. Whatever you said went, and I never argued!”

“But I never imagined that you’d be spending the money I earned with my life while abusing my pregnant wife. How could you do such a thing?”

Faced with Yang Wenguang’s accusations, everyone in the Yang household fell silent.

Although she knew she was in the wrong, Yang Liushi thought of her eldest son’s meager monthly salary of just over ten yuan, of her second son who still hadn’t found a wife, and of her daughter whose reputation was now ruined, making it difficult to find her a good match…

So, she stiffened her neck and said, “I know we were wrong about this. I can change my ways, and I can even apologize to that girl… but dividing the family is out of the question!”

Yang Wenguang looked at Yang Liushi with a hint of disappointment, then turned his gaze to Yang Zhong standing nearby and asked, “Father, what do you think of this?”

“Eldest son, think it over again about splitting the family. At worst, I’ll have your mother, Wenxi, and Wenjuan go apologize to your wife!”

Hearing this, Yang Wenguang’s heart sank completely.

He stared at his father for a moment, then said, “My grandmother used to say that once you have a stepmother, you’ll have a stepfather too. She was spot on!”

“Don’t try to talk me out of it. I’ve made up my mind to split the family. Whether you agree or not, I’m going to see my eldest uncle and the other clan uncles right now!”

With that, Yang Wenguang turned and walked out of the house!