Chapter 127: Tang Xue’s Confession

Nianzishan Village. The Li Family!

When Tang Xue saw Li Yi turn his gaze toward her, she immediately felt a bit nervous and blurted out, “I don’t want any money!”

“Ha!”

As soon as she said that, everyone in the house couldn’t help but burst out laughing!

Li Yi said, “You’re my wife. The money I earn is yours—how could you possibly refuse it?”

Then Li Yi took out a passbook and handed it directly to Tang Xue: “There’s two thousand yuan in this passbook. Take it!”

“I… I haven’t moved in yet. I don’t want it!” Tang Xue said stubbornly.

“It’s only a matter of time before you move in. Besides, don’t forget our agreement!” Li Yi said.

Before Tang Xue could say anything, Third Sister asked curiously, “What agreement?”

Tang Xue also looked at Li Yi with curiosity; she really had no idea what kind of agreement they had made.

Li Yi smiled and said, “We agreed that from now on, I’ll make the big decisions for the family, and Xuexue will handle the small ones!”

“Isn’t managing the money a big deal?” Tang Xue asked innocently.

“Heh, making money is a minor matter to me, so from now on, you’ll be in charge of these little things!” Li Yi said with a smug look on his face.

Li Na immediately shot him a withering look and said, “You’ve made a little money and now you think you’re God’s gift to the world!”

Without waiting to see what Tang Xue thought, she snatched the passbook right out of Li Yi’s hand and handed it to Tang Xue.

“Xiao Xue, since he gave it to you, just take it. I know his personality—if you leave the money with him, it might just vanish one day!”

“Sis Na, I…”

“Stop with the ‘I’ and ‘you’—just take it!” Li Na said bossily.

Li Shankui also said in a stern voice, “Just take it. We’re family now, and besides, he’s got several thousand yuan left anyway!”

Seeing that everyone was urging her to take it, Tang Xue hesitated briefly before tucking the passbook away.

Li Yi then put the remaining money back into the tin can. This money would serve as his capital for buying wild produce in the future—and as the foundation for building his own business empire!

Next, the family made detailed plans for Li Yi and Tang Xue’s wedding.

Li Yi placed great importance on this wedding; almost everything had to be done to the highest standard.

When they finally crunched the numbers, if they followed Li Yi’s plan, marrying this bride would cost at least three thousand yuan.

And that was a conservative estimate—after all, he’d already spent over 1,200 yuan on the house, and the wedding supplies plus the dowry would run him another 700 to 800 yuan.

Add in the cost of the wedding banquet, and three thousand yuan wouldn’t even cover it.

Keep in mind that these days, for an ordinary family to marry off a daughter, it costs at most three or five hundred yuan; some manage to bring a bride home for just a hundred or two.

Take the Yang family, for example, when they married off their eldest daughter, Li Mei: aside from a 100-yuan dowry, they only hosted a few tables of banquet food, which came to no more than 150 yuan in total.

It was much the same when the Zhang family married off their second daughter—it didn’t cost more than two hundred yuan.

But Li Yi was spending three thousand yuan to marry a wife—it just seemed extravagant no matter how you looked at it, so much so that even Tang Xue couldn’t stand it and wanted Li Yi to cut back a bit.

But on this matter, Li Yi was as stubborn as a mule—he was set on it.

No one could change his mind!

What everyone didn’t know was that marrying Tang Xue was essentially Li Yi’s lifelong obsession from his previous life.

Unfortunately, in his past life, Tang Xue had passed away, leaving Li Yi with a lifetime of guilt.

This time around, he absolutely couldn’t let her slip away, and he was determined to make the wedding a grand affair!

Seeing Li Yi so determined, Tang Xue felt both moved and a little guilty.

After all, what happened that night wasn’t entirely Li Yi’s fault, yet now he was going to such great lengths over it—she suddenly felt a deep sense of unease.

After much hesitation, she finally decided to come clean with Li Yi about that incident!

Although the incident was difficult for her to bring up, she couldn’t deceive his feelings—it made Tang Xue feel like a thief.

After discussing the wedding arrangements, Li Yi prepared to take Third Sister and Tang Xue back to the educated youth commune before returning to the bridal chamber to rest.

However, when the three of them reached the entrance of the sent-down youth commune, Tang Xue suddenly turned to Li Na and said, “Sister Na, you go on in first. I need to have a word with him!”

Li Na smiled and said, “We’ve been talking for so long already—aren’t you done yet?”

Li Yi immediately replied, “Sis, you’ve been on your feet all day. You should go inside!”

“Alright, alright, I won’t disturb you two while you’re getting cozy!”

With that, Li Na hummed a tune as she walked into the sent-down youth camp!

Under the faint moonlight, Tang Xue and Li Yi stood face to face, the atmosphere between them a bit suggestive!

Li Yi looked at Tang Xue, who looked nervous, and asked with a smile, “What’s wrong? Is something on your mind?”

“Um, I…”

Seeing Tang Xue was a bit nervous, Li Yi stroked her hair and said softly, “Don’t worry, take your time.”

Hearing Li Yi’s gentle voice, Tang Xue felt a little more at ease, then said, “Li Yi, I’ve been lying to you about something. Can you forgive me?”

“Lied to me? What is it?”

“It’s… it’s about what happened that day!”

“That day?”

Tang Xue’s face flushed as she said, “It was on the kang at your place… you know, that day!”

Li Yi immediately understood and frowned, saying, “What do you mean? I don’t get it!”

“Everyone says you took advantage of me while I wasn’t aware and did that thing to me… but that’s not actually how it happened…”

Before Tang Xue could finish, Li Yi hurriedly asked, “So you’re saying nothing happened between us?”

“No, it did happen. We definitely…”

“If it happened, then why are you saying you deceived me?” Li Yi was also completely baffled by Tang Xue’s words.

Besides, in his previous life, Tang Xue had indeed been pregnant when she committed suicide, and based on the timeline, it should have been his child. He didn’t understand what exactly she meant by “deceived.”

Tang Xue bit her lip, then finally mustered the courage to say, “That day, you didn’t force me down—it was… I was the one who took the initiative!”

“Vol… voluntarily? Is that the kind of ‘voluntary’ I’m thinking of?” Li Yi asked, looking utterly shocked.

“Um… I seduced you. I’m sorry, I…”

At this point, Tang Xue’s voice trembled slightly; she didn’t know what she was about to face.

Maybe Li Yi would look down on her because of this, or even call off the engagement.

She had braced herself for the storm to come…

However, Li Yi’s reaction next took Tang Xue completely by surprise.

He ran his fingers through his hair and said, somewhat excitedly, “I didn’t realize I was that charming—that I could actually make you take the initiative to… you know…”

“No, I’d had a few drinks that day, and I was feeling a bit down, so that’s why…”

Li Yi looked at Tang Xue, who was clearly anxious, and asked, “Why are you bringing this up now? Didn’t you think about how I might react once you told me?”

“I did. I thought you’d look down on me—or even leave me!” Tang Xue said.

“Then why did you say it?”

Tang Xue suddenly looked up at Li Yi and said earnestly, “I know you married me because of that incident, but I don’t want to deceive you! Even if I’m going to marry you, I want to do it with integrity—not like a thief!”

Hearing this, Li Yi suddenly laughed, then pulled Tang Xue into his arms…

Night fell, and the city lights began to twinkle!

The Li household was bustling with activity tonight. Not only were all four of their children present, but their future daughter-in-law, Tang Xue, was there as well, along with their eldest nephew—a rare family reunion indeed!

In high spirits, Li Yi took to the kitchen himself, stewing a small pot of meat and stir-frying a few dishes, with fragrant white rice as the main staple.

Knowing that his second sister’s husband liked to drink, Li Yi opened a bottle of Moutai just for him.

It was a gift from Old Man Wang. Since he didn’t drink much himself, he figured his brother-in-law might as well enjoy it.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Li Yi saw that everyone had put down their chopsticks, then suddenly said, “Dad, Mom, there’s something I want to talk to you about!”

“What is it?”

Li Shankui asked as he packed tobacco into his pipe.

“Our new house is finished, and the renovations are almost done. Don’t you think it’s time we started discussing the wedding?” Li Yi said.

Hearing Li Yi’s words, Tang Xue’s face flushed instantly.

Li Shankui lit his pipe and said, “It’s time to tie the knot!”

Their mother, Zhang Yuehong, glanced at Tang Xue and said, “Xiao Xue, tell your aunt—what do you think?”

Tang Xue lowered her head and said, “I… I have no objections!”

Li Na burst out laughing, “No objections means you agree!”

“Since Xiao Xue has no objections, let’s go see ‘Xishen’ and have him pick a good date for us!” her mother said.

Li Yi knew that the “God of Happiness” his mother was referring to was the village’s master of divination. He was the one who chose the dates for all the village’s weddings and funerals to avoid offending the gods.

A few years ago, when times were tough, most people didn’t dare to openly seek his services, but now that things had eased up, his family had resumed their old trade.

Although Li Yi didn’t place much importance on this, he knew the villagers still took it seriously—including his own parents.

So he immediately replied, “Then let’s go see him and pick a date soon!”

His mother nodded and said, “Then I’ll go set the date tomorrow!”

“Mm-hmm!”

Li Yi continued, “I went into town today to ask around. There’s a place that specializes in catering banquets. It’s 18 yuan per table, and they provide all the pots, pans, bowls, and utensils, plus tables and chairs—just 50 cents a day per table. I think that’s a pretty good deal!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Li Shankui frowned and said, “Eighteen yuan per table? That’s too expensive!”

His mother added, “Xiao Yi, you’re a big shot in the village now. When you get married, nearly every household in the village will want to come to the banquet—three or four hundred people. That’s going to take a lot of tables!”

Li Yi immediately replied, “I’ve already done the math on my way back. If we go with 10 people per table, that’s about thirty or forty tables. At 18.50 yuan per table, that comes to over 700 yuan!”

Li Shankui looked at his son and said, “You know the village’s standard for wedding gifts. Most families give just one or two yuan, and even close relatives like siblings, parents, and uncles rarely give more than five yuan!”

“If you spend 700 yuan all at once on food and drinks, you’re definitely going to lose money!”

His older sister, Li Mei, added, “Xiao Yi, Mom and Dad are right—18 yuan per table is simply too expensive!”

“Plus, we usually celebrate weddings over two days. Even if the first day is simpler, with so many people coming to eat, it’ll still cost a lot. If you keep this up, a thousand yuan might not even be enough!”

At that moment, Tang Xue added, “We should keep it simple. Spending a thousand yuan on a wedding is just too extravagant!”

However, Li Yi just smiled and said, “I don’t plan on having it for two days. Xiao Xue doesn’t have any relatives here, so I’m planning on just one day.”

“Even if it’s just one day, I still want to make it a grand affair. I want everyone in the village to envy Xiao Xue!”

Hearing Li Yi’s words, Li Shankui and his wife fell silent.

Suddenly, Third Sister Li Na spoke up: “I support Xiao Yi’s idea!”

Instantly, everyone’s gaze turned to her.

“Don’t look at me like that. Don’t forget why Xiao Xue is marrying this good-for-nothing. Our family has already shortchanged her in this matter. The wedding must be a grand affair—that’s the only way the villagers won’t look down on Xiao Xue!” Li Na declared.

Although Second Sister Li Lan didn’t know exactly what had happened between her brother and Tang Xue, she understood her brother’s temperament and knew he was a man of his word.

Once a decision was made, it wasn’t easily changed.

She immediately turned to Li Yi and said, “Yi, tell your older sister—do you have enough money to cover this wedding?”

Li Yi didn’t say a word; instead, he pulled a thick stack of 100-yuan bills straight out of his inner pocket.

Instantly, everyone present was stunned.

Such a thick stack—at least a thousand yuan, if not more.

Immediately afterward, Li Yi turned and walked into his room, emerging with a tin can of malted milk powder.

He opened the can and began pulling out bundles of cash one by one!

When he had laid all the money out on the kang, everyone—from Li Shankui and his wife to his sisters and their husbands, and even Tang Xue—was stunned.

That much money—it must be at least several thousand yuan!

At that moment, Li Na also pulled a large wad of cash out of her bag and placed it on the kang.

Although her amount was a bit smaller, it still totaled several hundred yuan—all money she had earned over the past few days.

“Mom and Dad, this is the money I’ve earned from my business this past month. After deducting the over a thousand yuan spent on building the house and wedding supplies, there’s still nearly six thousand yuan left.”

Li Yi continued, “I can earn money, and I’ll make even more in the future, but a wedding only happens once in a lifetime—I don’t want to have any regrets!”

Li Shankui and his wife were still stunned by the large pile of money before them, but upon hearing their son’s words, they composed themselves.

“Since you’re capable of this, let’s do it your way!” Li Shankui said.

“Thank you, Dad!”

“Put the money away. From now on, whatever money you two have, just keep it to yourselves—don’t tell us about it!” Li Shankui said.

However, Li Yi took out a bundle of cash tied with a hair ribbon and handed it to his mother, saying, “Mom, this thousand yuan is a token of my filial piety to you both!”

Zhang Yuehong, somewhat flustered, said, “We’re still able-bodied—what do we need your filial gift for?”

“Take it! I’ve been a reckless son all these years and caused the family nothing but trouble. Just take this money—it’ll come in handy for whatever you need in the future!”

Seeing that his mother was about to say something else, Li Shankui suddenly interjected, “If your son tells you to take it, just take it. It’ll all be his eventually anyway!”

Zhang Yuehong thought about it and realized he was right, so she immediately put the money away!

Then Li Yi counted out another five hundred yuan and handed it to his second sister, saying, “I’ve arranged two jobs for my eldest sister as her dowry. This is your dowry, Second Sister!”

“I don’t want it. My husband and I have money!” Li Lan said.

Zhang Xuefeng added, “We’ve saved a few hundred yuan over the past few years—we’re not short on money!”

“What you have is yours. But since you’ve had to clean up after me—neither my eldest nor second sister was picky about their husbands when they got married—I feel terribly guilty. So you must accept this dowry!”

Li Yi then turned his gaze to his third sister!

When Li Na saw her brother looking at her, she immediately waved her hand and said, “I’m not married yet—I don’t need a dowry!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “What are you thinking? From now on, you’ll work with me in the business. I’ll cover the costs, and you’ll get half the profits. Save up your own dowry!”

“Sounds good!” Li Na said happily.

Finally, Li Yi fixed his gaze on Tang Xue!

Seeing An Hong actually walking toward him, Li Yi felt a strange sensation well up inside him!

As for An Hong, Li Yi considered himself fairly familiar with her.

Of course, what he knew wasn’t the woman standing before him now, but the woman she would become forty years later.

By then, An Hong had become the CEO of Tian’an Group, a “Iron Lady” of the business world, and the richest woman in the country!

Compared to the An Hong of decades later, the woman before him was not only inexperienced but also very calm and composed.

“You must be Comrade Li Yi. An Guo mentions you often!”

“Hello, Sister-in-law. I’m Li Yi!”

Li Yi never imagined that one day he would be chatting so amicably with An Hong—and might even become friends with her.

In his previous life, he and An Hong were practically at odds—he’d have loved nothing more than to pin her to the ground and stomp on her a few times.

“Since you’ve called me ‘sister-in-law,’ I’ll take the liberty of calling you ‘Brother Li Yi.’ I don’t drink alcohol, so I’ll offer you a cup of tea instead to thank you for saving my father’s and An Guo’s lives!”

With that, An Hong downed the cup of herbal tea in one gulp!

Li Yi didn’t drink either; he wasn’t much of a drinker. Not only did he feel miserable when drunk, but it also made him prone to messing things up.

So he poured himself a cup of tea and drank it in one gulp.

“Sister-in-law, what happened between me, the old man, and Captain Wang was simply a matter of fate—please don’t let it weigh on your mind!”

Seeing Li Yi speak in such a calm tone, with an air of quiet depth about him, she couldn’t help but feel a growing fondness for him.

Thinking of her own unmarried younger sister, An Hong suddenly asked, “Brother Li Yi, are you married yet?”

“Not yet!”

“Oh, I see. I have a younger sister who’s 19 this year. She’s a student at our provincial Agricultural and Animal Husbandry College…”

Hearing that An Hong actually wanted to set him up—and that the person she was introducing was her own sister—Li Yi was instantly taken aback.

Never mind that he was about to get married himself—even setting that aside, he wouldn’t dare accept An Hong’s sister!

Li Yi knew that An Hong’s younger sister was named An Ran and would eventually become the Senior Vice President of Tian’an Group.

An Ran was very beautiful, but more than her looks, it was her feisty personality that had made her famous in the business world.

Unlike An Hong, who had built her empire from scratch, An Ran had also worked her way up from the bottom of the company.

The most talked-about story was how she shot to fame by collecting overdue payments. At the time, An Ran was just an ordinary sales representative at Tian’an Group. In the beginning, she had no sales experience or connections, so distributors had accumulated a massive amount of unpaid invoices.

So, at the end of the year, the company assigned her the task of recovering these outstanding payments.

At first, An Ran appealed to reason and emotion, explaining the situation and her position, but the other party used various excuses to evade responsibility and refused to pay the full amount.

Faced with such “deadbeat behavior,” An Ran had no choice but to adopt an even more “stubborn” approach: she pursued the distributor relentlessly, following them wherever they went.

Thus, the two sides engaged in a battle of wits and wills that lasted nearly a month. Eventually, the other party was completely defeated; not only did they settle the entire debt, but they also paid a portion of the interest.

Thanks to this incident, An Ran shot to fame and quickly rose through the ranks within Tian’an Group, becoming the second-in-command under An Hong.

Now that An Hong wanted to introduce him to her, Li Yi really didn’t have the guts to do it!

“Sis, to be honest, I’m not married yet, but I do have a fiancée, and we’re getting married in a few days!”

“Oh, really? That’s such a shame!” An Hong said.

Standing nearby, Wang Anguo looked surprised and asked, “Brother Li Yi, you’re getting married? When is it?”

“We’re making preparations. Barring any surprises, it should be in just three or five days!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“You’ve got to let us know in advance so we can come celebrate with you!” Wang Anguo said.

“No problem. I’ll definitely let you know once the date is set. Who knows, I might even need your help with the wedding procession!”

“Hahaha, that sounds great!”

……..

The birthday banquet began at 12:00 noon sharp and lasted for over two hours!

It wasn’t until after 2:00 p.m. that the guests began to leave one by one.

Li Yi left at 2:30 p.m., mainly because the old man kept holding him back, refusing to let him go.

But Li Yi had other things to do and naturally couldn’t stay long, so he eventually left.

As he was leaving, Old Man Wang gave him a large supply of cigarettes, alcohol, and fruit, saying he should take them home for his parents to enjoy.

Seeing that he couldn’t refuse, Li Yi had no choice but to accept them!

After leaving the Wang residence, Li Yi headed straight to the textile factory to pick up his second and third sisters and take them home.

However, when he arrived, he found the place deserted.

The area in front of the textile factory was deserted; clearly, his two sisters had already packed up and gone home.

So Li Yi had no choice but to return to the village alone!

By the time he returned to Nianzishan Village, it was already past five in the afternoon!

As soon as he entered the courtyard, Li Yi saw his third sister feeding hay to the big red mule.

Seeing Li Yi return, she immediately came over to greet him: “Why did you take so long to get back? We thought you’d be home much earlier!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “They were so hospitable, they wouldn’t let me leave. If I hadn’t insisted on coming back, they wouldn’t have let me go home today!”

“Captain Wang’s family is really hospitable!” Li Na remarked with a touch of admiration.

“Sis, do you know who Captain Wang’s father is?”

“How would I know? I’ve never even met his dad!”

“Haha, you have met him!”

“Have I seen him?”

“Yeah, you definitely have!”

Li Na thought hard but still couldn’t figure out who it was. She said immediately, “All right, stop beating around the bush. Just tell me—who is it?”

“It’s the old man we rescued on the road that day!” Li Yi said.

“You mean that old man is Captain Wang’s father?”

“Yep! You wouldn’t have guessed, would you?”

“I really didn’t. Wait a minute—doesn’t that mean Captain Wang’s older brother is the Party Secretary of our county?”

“That’s right!”

“Well, you’ve certainly managed to latch onto some serious clout!” Li Na said with a laugh.

Just then, Second Sister Li Lan came out of the house.

Upon seeing Li Yi, her eyes lit up instantly as she said, “Xiao Yi, I want to set up a stall too!”

Li Lan had truly been taken aback by her younger brother and sister’s business today. She had originally thought they were just dabbling in a little side hustle—how much money could they possibly make selling just a few snacks?

But when the textile factory let out at noon, she was stunned by the flood of workers pouring out.

Male and female workers immediately surrounded her younger sister’s stall, leaving no room to move, and then kept urging her to serve them liangpi and white-skinned pancakes.

Three or four hundred servings of liangpi and over four hundred white-skinned pancakes were snapped up in less than two hours.

Her little bag for holding money and grain coupons was nearly bursting at the seams—it was absolutely astonishing.

Plus, when she got back, her third sister told her that, by a conservative estimate, they’d made 70 yuan today.

Hearing this, Li Lan was completely dumbfounded.

The two of them worked themselves to the bone all year round and still made less than 200 yuan—which was already considered a high income in the entire village of Yaogou.

But she never imagined that her younger brother and sister could earn in three days what they made in an entire year.

To be honest, Li Lan was tempted!

Seeing the eager look on her second sister’s face, Li Yi smiled and said, “Alright!”

In fact, the reason he’d brought his second sister along today was precisely so she could join him in his work.

Compared to their third sister, Second Sister Li Lan was clearly more capable. With her helping him, things would be a lot easier for him in the future!

County Town. The Wang Family Ancestral Home!

As today’s birthday celebrant, Wang Guoguang was actually losing his temper with his eldest son—because the son had forgotten a very important task he’d been assigned!

“You call yourself a Party Secretary, yet you can’t even handle such a small matter?”

“It was just a matter of inviting someone—how could I have forgotten? My memory must have been eaten by a dog…”

Faced with his father’s scolding, Wang Anmin could only offer a wry smile and apologize.

A couple of days ago, his father had asked him to invite Li Yi, the man who had saved his life, to the birthday banquet.

He had agreed at the time, but with so many county affairs piling up these past few days—and then yesterday, when city leaders came for an inspection and he had to accompany them on a tour of the county all day—he didn’t get home until the early hours of the morning.

One thing led to another, and he’d completely forgotten about the task his father had entrusted to him!

It wasn’t until the old man brought it up just now that he realized he’d forgotten to tell Li Yi.

With no other choice, he had to come clean.

Upon learning that he had actually forgotten such an important matter, the old man immediately flew into a rage.

Wang Guoguang was genuinely angry at that moment. Although he knew there were over a hundred guests seated outside, he realized it wasn’t appropriate to scold his son right then.

But he still couldn’t contain his anger…

“Father, please don’t be angry. Anmin has been so busy these past few days—I haven’t even seen him in days!” Wang Anmin’s wife spoke up in her husband’s defense.

“Father, Big Brother didn’t mean to do it on purpose. Please don’t be angry!”

This time, it was Wang Anguo’s wife, An Hong, who spoke up. She knew her father-in-law’s temperament—he responded better to kindness than to harshness.

Wang Guoguang shot his second daughter-in-law a glance, then snorted coldly and fell silent.

Just then, An Hong suddenly said, “Father, look—An Guo is back!”

Wang Guoguang’s gaze instinctively turned toward the window. Through the glass, he indeed saw his youngest son returning!

However, what he saw next was a familiar figure following right behind his second son—wasn’t that the very lifesaver he’d been hoping to invite?

Overcome with excitement, Wang Guoguang immediately stood up and hurried toward the door.

His sudden movement startled the family members inside, and they all followed him out…

Seeing his father rush out, Wang Anguo immediately said, “Father, I’m back…”

But before he could finish, his father swept him aside with a broad gesture and walked straight past him.

Wang Anguo was dumbfounded!

Wang Anmin was stunned!

An Hong and all the guests were baffled; none of them had any idea what the old man was up to.

Just then, the old man suddenly burst out laughing, “It really is you, you rascal! I thought I was seeing things!”

Li Yi was also a bit surprised; he hadn’t expected to run into the old man here. He immediately said, “Old man, what are you doing here? What a coincidence!”

“How could it not be a coincidence? This is my home!” Wang Anguo said with a smile.

“Your place?”

Li Yi then pointed to Wang Anguo standing nearby and asked, “Is Captain Wang your son?”

“Yes, my younger son. You’ve met my older son!”

By then, Wang Anguo had caught on as well. He looked at his father and asked, “Dad, do you know Brother Li Yi?”

“Hahaha, we’re more than just acquaintances. It was this young man who saved my life last time. If it weren’t for him, I’d have already passed my seventh-day memorial service!” Wang Guoguang explained.

Wang Anguo exclaimed in surprise, “Dad, are you saying that Brother Li Yi was the one who took you to the hospital last time?”

He knew that his father had suddenly fallen ill while visiting the countryside a while back and had been saved by a young man—he never expected that person to be Li Yi.

Stunned, Wang Anguo immediately turned to Li Yi and said, “Brother Li Yi, the Wang family owes you a huge favor. How can we ever repay you?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “It was just a small favor. Don’t worry about it!”

Then Li Yi turned to Old Master Wang and said, “Team Leader Wang and I are also good friends. A few days ago, he invited me to his father’s birthday banquet, so I came. I never expected the birthday celebrant to be you, sir. What a coincidence!”

“It is fate—and a rather deep one at that!” Wang Guoguang said with a smile.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I just bought a few bottles of liquor. I hope you’ll enjoy them!” Li Yi said again.

“Maotai! That’s the stuff!” Wang Guoguang said happily.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Old Man Wang led Li Yi to the table at the head of the banquet hall and seated him with his closest relatives.

No sooner had he sat down than Wang Anmin said with a smile, “Brother Li Yi, I’d like to apologize to you first!”

Hearing this, Li Yi felt a bit overwhelmed by the unexpected honor.

This was the county Party secretary apologizing to him—was he kidding?

“Secretary Wang, why on earth are you apologizing to me? I couldn’t possibly accept that!” Li Yi replied immediately.

“My old man asked me a few days ago to invite you to his birthday banquet, and I agreed, but I’ve been so busy lately that I completely forgot!”

Wang Anmin continued, “Before you two arrived, my old man gave me a real dressing-down. Thank goodness my second son managed to invite Brother Li Yi—otherwise, I’d be in for a rough time today!”

Old Man Wang snorted coldly and said, “You can’t even handle something this simple, and you still have the nerve to speak!”

Wang Anmin immediately shook his head with a wry smile, then wisely kept quiet.

Li Yi immediately offered a few words of comfort to Old Master Wang. After all, Wang Anmin was in charge of an entire county; forgetting to invite someone as insignificant as him was perfectly understandable.

Only after the old man’s mood had cleared did Li Yi have a chance to take a good look at the Wang family!

Li Yi had met Wang Anmin, Wang Anguo’s older brother, before at the Hongqi Commune, and he had a fairly vivid impression of him.

The middle-aged woman sitting next to Wang Anmin was likely his wife, and beside her was a girl of about fifteen or sixteen who was chatting affectionately with Wang Anmin from time to time—she must be his daughter.

Wang Anguo was also accompanied by two people. Li Yi recognized the woman—she was his greatest rival from his previous life: An Hong!

Li Yi had also seen the child in the photographs displayed in Wang Anguo’s office; he must be his son.

Other than that, Li Yi was the only outsider left at this table!

As Li Yi surveyed the Wang family, the Wang family members—and even the other guests attending the birthday banquet—were all sizing him up.

No one could have imagined that Old Master Wang would seat such a young man at the same table as his family; everyone was speculating about the relationship between Li Yi and Old Master Wang.

In fact, quite a few people had already guessed their relationship from Li Yi’s earlier conversation with Wang Guoguang, but many others were still in the dark.

For a moment, the guests throughout the courtyard were all whispering to one another, and the focus of their discussion was Li Yi!

Compared to the others, An Hong was even more curious about Li Yi!

She had heard her husband mention this man’s name more than once, and every time he spoke of him, his face betrayed a look of astonishment and admiration.

Moreover, she knew that it was this young man who had saved her husband not long ago, so her first impression of Li Yi was quite favorable.

So, after a moment’s hesitation, she picked up a cup of tea and walked over to Li Yi!

The carriage weaved through the narrow alleys of the county town. After a full twenty minutes, it finally came to a stop in front of a cluster of mud-brick houses near the outskirts of town.

“Bro, this is my second uncle’s house. He should be home at this hour!”

With that, Liu San pushed open the door!

However, Li Yi didn’t go inside; instead, he told Liu San’er to go in and bring the man out.

He had no choice—there were quite a few things in his carriage, and he couldn’t leave them unattended.

Don’t even mention public safety—no matter the era, you should never test human nature and the human heart with money or valuables.

Soon, Liu San’er emerged with a middle-aged man in his forties.

Upon seeing Li Yi, the man looked him up and down and said, “Comrade, is your family having a wedding?”

“Yeah, I’m getting married!”

“Then why aren’t your parents here? Are you really the one making the decisions?”

These days, newlyweds usually live with their parents, so the parents are the ones who make all the decisions, big and small.

Li Yi immediately replied, “Don’t worry, I’m in charge in our household!”

“Alright then, since you’re in charge, what do you want to do? Do you want to buy the ingredients yourself and have us cook, or should we handle everything—ingredients and labor?”

Li Yi thought for a moment and asked, “If you handle everything—materials and labor—how much would it cost per table?”

“Normally, a table includes four cold dishes, seven hot dishes, and one soup—12 dishes in total—plus a plate of steamed buns and a plate of fried cakes. That comes to about 18 yuan!”

Hearing this quote, Li Yi immediately frowned.

18 yuan for 12 dishes—that averages out to about 1.5 yuan per dish.

In an era when a pound of meat cost no more than 80 cents, that was indeed not cheap.

“Do you have a menu for these 12 dishes? What percentage of them are meat dishes?” Li Yi asked again.

“Apart from two cold dishes and one stir-fried green vegetable, the rest are all meat dishes, including mainstays like braised pork belly, preserved vegetable-stuffed pork belly, and Four Joy Meatballs. In short, the spread will definitely look impressive!”

“So if we provide the ingredients and you do the cooking, how would you charge us?”

“One yuan per table—you pay for however many tables we prepare. Plus, two meals a day are included!”

One yuan per table for labor—that really isn’t expensive.

However, compared to having them handle both labor and ingredients, this approach does save some money.

But relatively speaking, it’s a lot more trouble!

After all, there’ll definitely be plenty of guests, and having to prepare the exact right amount of ingredients is such a hassle!

Perhaps sensing Li Yi’s hesitation, Liu San’er, standing nearby, immediately said, “Second Uncle, this is my friend. Could you give him a discount?”

The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said, “Since he’s my eldest nephew’s friend, I can give you a discount. It just depends on whether you plan to provide your own ingredients or…”

Before the middle-aged man could finish his sentence, Li Yi cut in, “Just have you guys handle everything—labor and ingredients included!”

“Oh, I see. In that case, I’ll knock another yuan off the price per table. Does that work for you?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “I don’t need the discount, but please make sure the dishes are top-notch. First, they have to taste good; second, the portions have to be generous; and third, they have to be impressive!”

“Alright. As for what dishes to serve the day before and on the big day, we can figure that out together. We’ll only start preparing the ingredients once the host is satisfied!”

“Alright, then. It’s settled. I’ll come back tomorrow to confirm the time and the menu. How does that sound?” Li Yi said.

“No problem!”

“Oh, and we don’t have enough pots, pans, bowls, or tables and chairs. San said we could rent them from you—how does that work?”

“We rent by the table. That includes tables, chairs, and all the plates and bowls—the whole set costs 50 cents a day!”

Li Yi thought about it. Fifty cents a day for two uses—that wasn’t too expensive!

“Alright, please help me make the arrangements, but I’ll need to go home and figure out exactly how many we’ll need!”

“Sure!”

After that, the two chatted a bit more about the details of the wedding, and then Li Yi drove his horse-drawn cart away.

……

County Bureau, Criminal Investigation Division!

Wang Anguo glanced at his watch with some anxiety. It was already past eleven, and Li Yi still hadn’t shown up. He was starting to worry that the kid might have forgotten about it.

He considered going to the textile factory to look for him, but felt that might not be appropriate.

Just then, a horse-drawn carriage suddenly pulled into the courtyard, and to his surprise, the driver was none other than Li Yi.

Wang Anguo quickly gathered his things and headed outside.

Li Yi was looking for a place to tie up his big black horse when he saw Wang Anguo striding out from inside. He stopped immediately.

“You finally showed up, you rascal. I thought you’d forgotten all about this!” Wang Anguo said with a laugh.

“How could I forget something this important!”

“Huh, why are you here alone? Where’s your wife?”

Li Yi replied immediately, “She’s a bit shy. We’re not married yet, so she felt awkward coming!”

“Haha, what’s the big deal? Everyone’s all for free love these days!”

“Alright, enough about her. When are we heading over?” Li Yi asked.

“I’ll go get Li Gang. Let’s head over right now!”

“Alright!”

Soon, Wang Anguo called Li Gang out, and the three of them left the county bureau, one in front and two behind.

Since the horse-drawn cart moved slowly, Wang Anguo and Li Gang didn’t ride their bikes either.

The two of them walked ahead, pushing their bicycles, while Li Yi drove the horse-drawn cart behind them.

Before long, the three arrived at a large compound in the southeast corner of the county town.

Although Li Yi didn’t know what organization this compound belonged to, judging by the architectural style, it was the kind of residential compound originally built for employees of government agencies.

This alone suggested that Wang Anguo’s father must be someone of considerable standing.

After entering the compound, the trio soon arrived at the gate of a detached house with its own private courtyard.

The entrance to the courtyard was already filled with all kinds of vehicles—bicycles, sidecar motorcycles, and even two small Jeeps.

Compared to these, Li Yi’s black horse-drawn carriage stood out like a sore thumb.

However, Li Yi didn’t pay it any mind; he was there to celebrate someone’s birthday, not to compete with others.

Besides, in his previous life, he’d seen every kind of vehicle imaginable—even private jets—so a few motorcycles and small Jeeps were nothing to him!

After unloading the cart and tying the horse to a large poplar tree nearby, Li Yi picked up a bundle of fresh grass from the cart and placed it in front of the big black horse.

Only after finishing these tasks did he pick up the bottle of Maotai and follow Wang Anguo and Li Gang into the courtyard!

Upon entering the courtyard, Li Yi was immediately taken aback. The vast space was completely filled with tables, chairs, and benches.

Although he hadn’t counted them, Li Yi’s keen eye could tell there were at least ten tables in the courtyard.

Assuming ten people per table, that meant there were no fewer than a hundred guests today!

Clearly, most of these guests knew Wang Anguo; as he entered, they all greeted him one after another.

While Wang Anguo returned their greetings, he led Li Yi toward the inner room!

Just then, an elderly man in the inner room spotted them and, overcome with excitement, jumped to his feet!

Before they knew it, it was already Tuesday.

Today was Wang Anguo’s father’s 60th birthday, and as an invited guest, Li Yi had to pay a visit to the Wang family at noon.

So early in the morning, Li Yi set off with his two older sisters, heading straight for the county seat.

Li Yi drove the black horse-drawn cart in front, while his second and third sisters followed behind in a bright red mule-drawn cart.

Originally, Li Yi had planned to bring Tang Xue along for such an important occasion.

However, Tang Xue wasn’t feeling well, and since she wasn’t married yet, she didn’t want to attend such an event with Li Yi, so she didn’t come.

Li Yi didn’t press the matter; after all, the Reform and Opening-Up had only just begun, and social norms were still quite conservative.

It was indeed easy for people to gossip about a young woman traveling around with a man before she was married.

Although Li Yi himself didn’t care, he had to consider Tang Xue’s feelings.

Since she didn’t want to go, Li Yi decided to go alone.

As for Second Sister, she simply wanted to see how Third Sister was running her stall; she wasn’t going with Li Yi to attend the birthday banquet.

Upon arriving in the county seat, Li Yi followed his usual routine: first, he delivered the mountain produce to the state-run restaurant, and then he accompanied his third sister to the sugar factory.

Li Yi had two things to take care of at the sugar factory: first, to deliver the rice noodles and flatbreads, and second, to settle the payments for the goods from the past few days.

The other was to speak with Factory Director Liang about getting his eldest sister and brother-in-law hired. After all, his brother-in-law had already agreed to split from his parents, so Li Yi felt he should help secure jobs for them as soon as possible.

However, once he arrived at the sugar factory, Li Yi realized that the second matter didn’t really warrant a separate trip.

After all, Factory Director Liang was Wang Anguo’s senior classmate, and the two families were on very good terms.

Today was Old Man Wang’s birthday—as his apprentice, he simply had to be there!

So, it wouldn’t hurt to wait until they met at lunchtime to discuss this; there was no need to make a separate trip to see Director Liang!

So, after delivering the 800 portions of liangpi and over 1,600 white-skinned pancakes to the sugar factory’s kitchen, Li Yi grabbed the receipt signed by the head of the logistics department and headed straight for the factory’s finance office.

The contract for this order was only for seven days, and now that it had ended, it was time to settle the payment.

Since Director Liang had already given the finance department a heads-up about this payment, they were very quick to pay up—they handed over the money immediately upon seeing the receipt.

After successfully receiving the 1,960 yuan payment, Li Yi left the sugar factory with his two older sisters.

His second and third sisters headed over to the textile factory to set up their stall, while Li Yi went to the supply and marketing cooperative.

After all, Old Man Wang was celebrating his birthday—he couldn’t very well show up empty-handed!

Even if he and Wang Anguo were just casual acquaintances, and he’d invited him, he probably wouldn’t have cared much about the gift itself.

But at an occasion like this, with so many of the Wang family’s relatives and friends attending the birthday banquet, he certainly couldn’t risk embarrassing himself.

Once he arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, Li Yi suddenly found himself at a loss. He’d never attended a birthday banquet like this before and really didn’t know what to buy.

After much deliberation, Li Yi had the sales clerk pack up a case of Moutai!

Giving alcohol as a birthday gift was actually a pretty good choice. After all, in this day and age, even if he wanted to get the old man some jade or calligraphy, he wouldn’t know where to buy them.

Besides, Wang Anguo was, after all, the captain of the criminal investigation squad. If he gave his father something too expensive, it might easily lead to misunderstandings.

This Moutai was just right—a whole case cost only a few dozen yuan. It would convey his heartfelt wishes without being excessive!

After buying the gift, Li Yi didn’t go to the county police bureau to find Wang Anguo.

For one thing, it was too early—there were still more than two hours until noon, and going over that early would leave him with nothing to do!

Second, he was about to get married, and there were simply too many things to take care of.

His parents and his second brother-in-law were already helping to get the wedding home ready, so his immediate priority was to secure a chef as soon as possible.

Although there were chefs in the village who prepared banquets, Li Yi felt their skills were mediocre—just enough to fool the villagers.

He’d never even seen some of the high-quality ingredients himself—how could he possibly prepare them properly?

So, for his wedding banquet, Li Yi decided to hire a chef from the city!

Since Li Yi had never handled this himself, he planned to ask around.

And for something like this, there was no one better to turn to than Liu San’er.

When Li Yi pulled up in his black horse-drawn cart in front of Liu San’er, the young man was chatting with a middle-aged man.

Seeing Li Yi approach, Liu San immediately brushed the middle-aged man aside and came over to greet him.

“Bro, you’re here!”

“Yeah, if you’re busy, go ahead and take care of it. I’m in no rush,” Li Yi said.

“Nothing much. This guy just wants to ask about the price of gold; he’s not actually looking to buy or sell anything!” Liu San’er said.

Hearing this, Li Yi instinctively glanced at the middle-aged man.

These days, everyone was dirt poor; a family with a few hundred yuan was considered wealthy—how could anyone possibly have gold?

So, generally speaking, only two types of people had gold at home:

One type consists of landlords whose ancestors had hidden fortunes—they secretly stashed their treasures during the collective farming era. Now that the situation has stabilized, or perhaps their families have suffered misfortune, they want to cash in on these hidden assets.

The other were those who had struck it rich by chance—either by raiding an ancient tomb or by getting their hands on hidden wealth stashed by other local tycoons.

However, the man was quite alert; upon seeing Li Yi, he didn’t linger but immediately turned and walked into a nearby alley.

Li Yi didn’t think much of it; people these days were still traumatized by the turmoil of the past few years. Even buying something on the black market felt as risky as running an underground intelligence operation.

Let alone trying to peddle gold—one had to be extra careful.

“Listen,” Li Yi said to Liu San, “I’ve got a question for you. Do you know anyone in town who can cater banquets?”

Liu San replied immediately, “Bro, you’ve come to the right guy. My second uncle does exactly that—his cooking is famous all over the county!”

“Oh, so do you know how much he charges?” Li Yi asked again.

“The client provides the ingredients, and my second uncle’s team just handles the cooking. Twelve dishes per table, and the charge is one yuan!”

Liu San continued, “If the client doesn’t provide anything, then we charge per dish. The exact price depends on what dishes the client wants to serve!”

Li Yi nodded and said, “I’ll take care of the food myself, but what about tables and chairs?”

“You can rent them. My second uncle and his crew have connections for that—it won’t cost much!”

“Alright then, take me to meet your second uncle. I’m getting married in a couple of days and plan to hire him to cater the banquet!” Li Yi said.

“Sure, I’ll take you right now!”

“Let’s go!”

……..

Nianzi Mountain Village. The Li Family!

After seeing off his eldest sister’s husband, Yang Wenguang, and the others, Li Yi asked Tang Xue to keep his eldest sister company and help his second sister look after her eldest son.

Meanwhile, he took his second sister and her husband to the new house!

With the villagers’ help, construction on the new house was progressing faster than anyone could have imagined.

In just half a month, not only had three main rooms risen from the ground, but the side rooms, drying shed, storage shed, and tall courtyard walls were all completed as well.

The new house was now not only the most beautiful and well-proportioned residence in the entire village of Nianzishan, but also one of the few brick-and-tile structures in the village—a sight that made countless families envious!

Seeing this tall, beautiful house before them, Li Lan and Zhang Xuefeng were both stunned.

They knew their family’s financial situation all too well. Although their parents were hardworking, they could save at most a hundred or two hundred yuan a year.

And that was only if their younger brother didn’t get into trouble—otherwise, they’d be lucky not to have to dip into their own pockets!

A brick-and-tile house like this couldn’t possibly be built for less than a thousand or two yuan—where on earth did their family get the money?

When they thought back to all the nice things their younger brother had brought them that afternoon, and the fact that they’d just heard him arrange jobs in the city for their eldest sister and brother-in-law, they were even more stunned.

At that moment, Li Lan looked at her younger brother and asked, “Xiao Yi, tell your older sister the truth—has our family struck it rich?”

“I wouldn’t call it striking it rich, but I have made some money!” Li Yi replied.

A mere few thousand yuan might be a windfall to others, but to him, it was practically nothing.

“Who earned it?”

“Me, of course!” Li Yi replied.

Li Lan frowned and said, “You rascal, whatever way you made that money, you better not have done anything shady!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “What do you mean by ‘shady ways’? Do you really think I’m that unreliable in your eyes, Second Sister?”

“Yes!” Li Lan said with a serious expression.

Li Yi: “%￥#@#￥%……&”

This answer wasn’t exactly a surprise. Considering his past behavior, it made perfect sense that his second older sister would think that way.

Li Yi then briefly recounted the events of recent days to his second older sister and her husband.

Of course, he only mentioned what he could and should say; there were certain things he couldn’t reveal, so naturally, he kept them to himself!

Even so, after hearing Li Yi’s account, Li Lan and her husband were still utterly stunned.

They never imagined that in just a single month, their younger brother’s life could undergo such a dramatic transformation.

After a long silence, Li Lan said in surprise, “Xiao Yi, are you saying that just by selling mushrooms and running a street stall, you managed to build this brick-and-tile house and save several thousand yuan in just a month?”

“Yeah. If you count the money I’ve spent during this time, I’ve made nearly five thousand yuan in less than a month!”

“All this money came from my business. As for the kickbacks from Li Gang and Liang Yukui, those naturally don’t count toward this total.”

“F… five thousand yuan?”

Li Lan and her husband were completely dumbfounded!

There was a brick and tile factory in Yaogou Village. Besides earning work points in the fields, the couple relied on Li Lan’s husband to help out at the factory whenever he had free time.

But even so, at the end of the year, aside from their per-capita grain ration, the cash they actually received never exceeded 200 yuan.

Yet their younger brother had earned in less than a month what they had earned in 25 years combined—a fact that made the whole thing feel almost unreal to them.

Li Yi smiled and said, “Don’t be jealous. You guys couldn’t do this anyway. The state-run restaurant only buys mushrooms from me now—I’ve got an exclusive deal, so of course I’m making money!”

Li Lan suddenly fixed her gaze on Li Yi and said, “You’ve arranged jobs for Big Sister and her husband, and you’ve even taken Nana with you to set up a stall and make money. What’s the deal? Have you forgotten about me and your second brother-in-law?”

As soon as Zhang Xuefeng heard this, he hurriedly tugged at her sleeve and said, “Xiao Yi, don’t listen to your sister’s nonsense. We…”

Before he could finish, Li Lan snapped, “Zhang Xuefeng, get lost! This has nothing to do with you!”

Li Yi knew his second sister’s temperament, so he smiled and said, “Come on, Second Sister, how could I forget about you and your husband? There are plenty of opportunities to make money—I’ve already set everything up for you!”

“Really? Is it a job at the factory?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “If you want to work at a factory, that’s no problem. Just pick whichever one you like from the factories in our county.”

However, before Li Lan could speak, Li Yi changed the subject and added, “But I don’t actually recommend you work at a factory!”

“Why not? Working at a factory is such a prestigious job,” Li Lan said, frowning.

“Second Sister, do you know how much a factory worker makes a month these days?”

“About 36 yuan, I think. It hasn’t gone up in years!” Li Lan replied.

“Right. That means if you and my brother-in-law go to work at a factory, you’ll make a little over 860 yuan a year at most…”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Second Sister’s husband, Zhang Xuefeng, exclaimed in shock, “Good heavens! Over 800 yuan a year? That’s way too much!”

For them, this was equivalent to a fourfold increase in income—an incredibly tempting prospect.

However, Li Yi replied calmly, “That’s just the theoretical income. In reality, once you start working at the factory, you’ll have to buy your own food, plus other expenses—saving 600 yuan a year is already the absolute limit.”

“Six hundred yuan? That’s still a lot!” my second sister’s husband said.

Second Sister glanced at Zhang Xuefeng and said, “Look at you—Xiao Yi thinks a few thousand a month is pocket change, and you’re satisfied with 600 a year? What a loser!”

“Don’t be like that. How many people are as capable as Xiao Yi?” Second Sister’s husband retorted.

Li Yi immediately chimed in, “Second Sister, if you want to make big money, just follow my lead. I’ll guide you in business, and I guarantee you’ll earn far more than you ever would working in a factory!”

In his previous life, his second sister and her husband had been Li Yi’s most capable business partners. Though his second sister hadn’t had much formal education, she was bold yet meticulous, and possessed great drive.

With her holding down the fort for Li Yi, he could charge ahead with confidence.

In his previous life, Second Sister played an indispensable role in expanding Li Yi’s business empire to such a vast scale.

So, in this life, Li Yi still wanted his second older sister and her husband to help him.

Li Lan was clearly persuaded by her younger brother and immediately asked, “Xiao Yi, do you think this will work?”

“It’ll definitely work. I don’t have anyone I can trust right now, so I need you and my brother-in-law to come help me!” Li Yi said.

“Alright, the autumn harvest is coming up soon. Once it’s over, I’ll have your brother-in-law come find you!” Li Lan said.

“Alright!”

Then Li Yi pointed to the messy courtyard and the house under renovation and said, “But before we make any money, you two need to help me clean this place up first!”

Li Lan and her husband: “%￥#@#…”

…….

Yang Wenguang’s sudden kneeling left everyone present completely stunned!

They say a man’s knees are worth their weight in gold—one kneels to heaven, to earth, and to one’s parents, but how could one kneel before another?

And Yang Wenguang was a soldier—he had his own principles. If he didn’t truly feel guilty toward his wife, he would never have knelt under any circumstances!

Li Mei was also startled—she knew her man well!

Even though one of his arms was paralyzed and he was disabled, he remained a man of unyielding character.

Even when surrounded by enemies outnumbering him ten to one on the battlefield, he never bent the knee to surrender—his spirit was as unyielding as steel!

Yet she never imagined he would one day kneel before her. This broke her heart, yet also moved her deeply.

In that moment, ignoring her father’s attempts to stop her, she rushed straight toward her husband!

“What are you doing? Get up right now!”

“I’m sorry, Meizi. I’ve put you through so much. It’s my fault!” Yang Wenguang said with a look of deep regret.

“Get up first, then we’ll talk. It breaks my heart to see you like this!”

Yang Wenguang nodded, then stood up from the ground and said again, “Meizi, tell me—while I was away, how did he… how did they treat you?”

Li Mei hesitated; she didn’t know if she should tell her husband about all those awful things.

Knowing her husband as she did, she was certain he would fly into a rage once he heard about it.

He already didn’t get along very well with his parents and siblings—there was even a rift between them. If things came to this, their relationship would inevitably become even more strained. How could they possibly live under the same roof from now on?

Li Yi knew his older sister had a gentle disposition, so he immediately said, “Sis, if you still want to stay with him, don’t keep anything from him!”

“But…”

“There’s no ‘but’ about it. A husband and wife should be honest with each other. Otherwise, you might think you’re doing him a favor, but in reality, you could end up hurting both of you!” Li Yi said.

From what he knew of their past lives, Yang Wenguang truly loved his older sister; otherwise, he wouldn’t have committed suicide with her later.

If his older sister had faced this issue head-on in her previous life and told him about the Yang family’s evil deeds, given his character, he likely wouldn’t have let her suffer the hardships that followed—or even lose her life.

So while the scum of the Yang family were undoubtedly the main culprits behind the tragedy of his past life, his eldest sister wasn’t entirely without fault either.

Yang Wenguang also said to his wife, “Meizi, I neglected you before, but there are some things I have a right to know!”

Seeing that both her husband and younger brother were saying this, Li Mei thought for a moment, then nodded!

Seeing that his older sister was about to speak, Li Yi quickly said, “Big Sister, why don’t you two go take a walk outside? Come back in a little while!”

Yang Wenguang shot Li Yi a grateful look; after all, family matters shouldn’t be aired in public.

If his wife were to air the family’s dirty laundry in front of so many people, regardless of whether his parents were at fault, he would feel humiliated.

Now that his brother-in-law was clearly sparing his dignity by letting them discuss these matters in private, he felt a little better.

Without further hesitation, he took his wife’s hand and walked toward the front gate.

After the two had left, Li Yi asked Li Shankui to bring the clan uncle Yang Wenguang had brought over to sit in the shade, while he himself went to help his second sister’s husband unload the cart.

Zhang Xuefeng had just walked in and had no idea what had happened.

When Li Yi approached, he asked curiously, “What’s going on? What happened to my eldest sister and her husband?”

Li Yi replied calmly, “The Yang family was mistreating my eldest sister. When I found out, I brought her back home, and then I called my brother-in-law back to handle the divorce proceedings!”

“Div… divorce papers?” Zhang Xuefeng stared at Li Yi in shock.

He’d always known his brother-in-law was bold and ruthless, but he never expected him to be this domineering.

Just because the Yang family had bullied his older sister a little, this guy had forced her to divorce Yang Wenguang—he was truly a ruthless character!

He thought of his own old mother-in-law, who was always picking on his wife for no reason. Although his wife was feisty enough to never let her parents get the upper hand,

But every time his parents had a row, his wife would be upset for days afterward.

If my brother-in-law found out about this, would he also try to egg my wife on to divorce me?

At that moment, Zhang Xuefeng looked at Li Yi with suspicion and said, “I’ve been so good to your second sister—don’t you dare meddle in our business!”

Li Yi glanced at him, smiled, and said, “Do I really need to meddle in your family’s affairs?”

Although the two elders in the Zhang household weren’t exactly pushovers, to be fair, with their pitiful fighting skills, they really weren’t a match for my second sister.

The moment Second Sister picked up a kitchen knife right in front of her in-laws, the entire Zhang family—young and old alike—was completely cowed!

To be honest, if the eldest sister had even half of Second Sister’s assertiveness, Li Yi wouldn’t have to worry about her being bullied.

But unfortunately, having been treated by her parents as nothing more than a babysitting tool since childhood, the eldest sister had long since grown accustomed to silently sacrificing herself. Her temperament was set in stone—there was no changing it!

“That’s good!”

Then, Zhang Xuefeng asked again, “Do you really want Eldest Sister and her husband to get a divorce?”

“Haha, whether they get divorced or not depends entirely on my eldest sister’s husband’s choice!”

Seeing that his second sister’s husband seemed to want to ask more, Li Yi immediately said, “Alright, let’s not talk about them anymore. Come with me to the new house in a minute!”

Zhang Xuefeng immediately replied, “But your new place was just finished a few days ago. What are we going there for?”

“To get it ready. We’re staying there tonight!”

Surprisingly, Zhang Xuefeng wasn’t upset at all; instead, he said excitedly, “Alright, alright, let’s go there in a bit. That way, your sister can watch the kids!”

Li Yi immediately understood—his second brother-in-law had been completely worn down by his eldest nephew.

It seems men really aren’t cut out for childcare—it’ll drive them crazy if they do it for too long!

After moving everything from the car into the house, Li Yi cleaned up the room he usually stayed in; his second sister and her son would be staying there that night.

No sooner had he finished tidying up than he saw his eldest sister and Yang Wenguang walk in.

Seeing their hands clasped tightly together, Li Yi knew there was no way they’d get a divorce!

Sure enough, as soon as they stood before him, Yang Wenguang said, “Xiao Yi, Meizi has told me everything. You did the right thing!”

Li Yi replied in a low voice, “I know whether I’m right or wrong. Just tell me—how do you plan to resolve this?”

“Meizi told me you want us to split the family property. Is that right?”

“Yeah. My sister has a gentle nature, and your parents and siblings have looked down on her from the very beginning. Living under the same roof, she’s been bullied by them. Do you really think we can make it work without splitting the household?”

At this point, Li Yi fixed Yang Wenguang with a piercing gaze and said in a deep voice, “Or are you suggesting you want to divorce my sister?”

“No. Actually, splitting the family is indeed a good way to solve the problem. Let’s do it then!” Yang Wenguang said.

“Fine. As long as you’re willing to split from the old family home, we’ll put this matter behind us. And the promise I made earlier to arrange jobs for the two of you still stands!” Li Yi said.

“Arrange what kind of jobs?” Yang Wenguang asked, looking utterly surprised and full of confusion.

Li Yi glanced at his eldest sister. Hadn’t she mentioned the job arrangements to him?

Li Mei glanced at Li Yi, her face flushing slightly, then said, “I forgot to mention that!”

Li Yi immediately replied, “I secured two positions at the sugar factory and intended to give them to you and my sister. Once you’ve settled your affairs with the old family, go report for duty right away!”

“This…”

Yang Wenguang hadn’t expected such a stroke of luck; for a moment, he was completely dumbfounded!

By the time her second sister’s family had packed up, it was already past three in the afternoon!

Afterward, her second sister and brother-in-law, holding their eldest nephew Zhang Ning, rode back to Nianzishan Village in Li Yi’s black horse-drawn carriage!

As soon as they got home, Li Yi saw that the courtyard was in complete disarray, and he could even faintly hear people arguing.

Upon closer inspection, he realized the Yang family had arrived and appeared to be arguing with his father.

Li Yi handed the carriage over to his second sister’s husband and rushed straight in!

Upon seeing Li Yi, everyone stopped in their tracks!

Li Yi glanced at the Yang family members. Besides his eldest sister’s husband, Yang Wenguang, there was an old man in his sixties or seventies—he had no idea who he was.

“What are you doing here?”

Yang Wenguang hurriedly said, “Xiao Yi, I’m here to take your sister home!”

“What right do you have to take my sister home? And why would you do that—so she can keep working like a slave for your parents and younger siblings?” Li Yi said coldly.

Yang Wenguang looked at Li Yi in surprise, unsure what he meant by that.

That morning, his younger brother, Wenxi, had suddenly rushed over to the forestry camp and told him their father wanted him to come home.

When Yang Wenguang returned home, he found his wife was gone. Upon asking, he learned she’d been taken back by her younger brother-in-law, and it seemed there had been a major falling-out between her younger brother-in-law and his parents.

In particular, his parents and younger sister all had injuries on their faces, but when he asked how they’d gotten them, no one would say.

Yang Wenguang didn’t need to think twice to know that his brother-in-law must have done it.

He wanted to ask what exactly had happened, but his mother avoided the subject, and his father hemmed and hawed.

Although Yang Wenguang knew it couldn’t be anything good—otherwise, his brother-in-law wouldn’t have brought them back to his in-laws’ house out of the blue.

But knowing his family as he did, he realized that no matter how much he pressed them, they were unlikely to tell him the truth.

So he decided not to ask at all. Instead, he summoned the most respected elder of the clan in the village and headed straight to his in-laws’ home.

However, what he hadn’t expected was this:

When he, the son-in-law, arrived at the Li family gate from so far away, his father-in-law was actually standing right there at the entrance holding a shovel, and he couldn’t even get through the gate.

The elder clan uncle couldn’t stand by and watch, so he immediately got into an argument with his father-in-law, Li Shankui.

Just then, his brother-in-law returned.

He had intended to ask his brother-in-law calmly what had happened, but to his surprise, the younger brother-in-law launched into a barbed tirade right off the bat, leaving him in an awkward position.

Yang Wenguang immediately said, “Xiao Yi, what exactly happened? Even if you’re going to kill me or skin me alive, you’ve got to let me know where I went wrong!”

“Hah, you don’t even know where you went wrong—how dare you show your face here to pick someone up?” Li Yi snapped back without holding back.

His older sister, Li Mei, hurriedly interjected, “Xiao Yi, speak to your brother-in-law properly!”

“Sis, go inside. Leave this to me!” Li Yi said.

Yang Wenguang glanced at his heavily pregnant wife and hurriedly asked, “Meizi, what’s really going on? Did my mother bully you?”

At the word “bullied,” Li Mei’s eyes suddenly reddened, and tears began to fall.

Seeing his wife’s reaction, Yang Wenguang knew immediately that the folks back home must be up to their old tricks again. He said, “If my mother has been saying those hurtful things again, I’ll apologize to you on her behalf…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi suddenly rushed in front of Yang Wenguang and kicked him squarely in the stomach.

“Thud!”

Yang Wenguang took the full force of Li Yi’s kick, instantly stumbling backward five or six steps until he finally came to a halt against the courtyard wall.

“Ah!”

Li Mei let out a startled cry and was about to rush over to check on him.

The Yang family elder was taken aback for a moment, then shouted at Li Yi, “You brat from the Li family, how dare you hit someone!”

“Shut up! This is our family’s business. Mind your own business and stop trying to make a scene here!”

Then Li Yi turned to Li Shankui and said, “Dad, hold my sister back!”

Then, Li Yi glared at Yang Wenguang and said, “Do you know why I hit you?”

Yang Wenguang shook his head, then nodded and said, “I didn’t take Mei’s side just now!”

“Wrong. I didn’t hit you because you didn’t take my sister’s side—it’s because you spouted that nonsense without even knowing what was going on!”

Li Yi continued, “At first glance, your words seemed like you were comforting my sister, but in reality, you were morally blackmailing her—making her feel too ashamed to stand up for herself even though she’d clearly been wronged.”

“At the same time, you’re enabling that bunch of scum in your family to keep bullying people, letting them run wild and treat my sister however shabbily they please!”

At that moment, the Li family elder, acting like a know-it-all, chimed in: “I know a thing or two about Wen Guang’s wife’s situation. These days, what mother-in-law doesn’t give her daughter-in-law a hard time? It’s no big deal…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi shouted angrily, “I don’t care about other families, but this won’t fly with my sister!”

Li Yi then turned to Yang Wenguang and said, “Judging by your expression, you don’t seem to know what’s going on?”

“Hmm, I just popped home to check on things before rushing over with Seventh Uncle. I really don’t know what’s going on!” Yang Wenguang replied.

“Well, let me tell you. My sister’s been practically bullied to death at your house. While your parents and siblings were out at a banquet, she was stuck at home doing laundry with a huge belly. She even had to wash your parents’ and siblings’ underwear! On top of that, she has to put up with all kinds of nasty remarks from them!”

Li Yi continued, “What’s even more infuriating is that your mom buys all kinds of treats for your younger siblings every week, but my sister doesn’t even get a whiff of them. They sure do a good job keeping things under wraps.”

“Even if they look down on my sister, they should at least remember she’s carrying the blood of your Yang family in her womb. How could they bring themselves to do this?”

The more Yang Wenguang listened, the paler his face grew. His workplace was over twenty miles from the village, and he couldn’t even make it back once a month.

Whenever he did come back, it was only to hand over his paycheck; he never had time to stay long.

Although his wife had vaguely mentioned these things before, he hadn’t taken them to heart.

After all, in this day and age, it’s rare for a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law not to have some friction.

So, whenever these issues arose, he would try to reassure his wife and tell her not to take it too seriously.

But he never imagined that his mother and younger siblings would be bullying his wife behind her back like this—it was simply too much.

After learning the truth, Yang Wenguang looked at his wife with a guilty expression and asked, “Meizi, is everything Xiao Yi said true?”

Li Mei bit her lip, then nodded.

Seeing his wife nod, Yang Wenguang’s face grew even paler.

He knew his wife well—she was gentle, kind, and generous, and she would never lie to him about matters of principle.

Since she had nodded, it meant she certainly hadn’t wronged his family—in fact, his parents and siblings had likely gone even further than his brother-in-law had described.

At that thought, Yang Wenguang suddenly dropped to his knees with a thud!

Yaogou. The Zhang Family!

Li Lan had just finished serving dinner to her husband and children and was about to clear the table when she suddenly heard the jingling of a mule’s bells outside the courtyard.

She looked up and saw a horse-drawn cart had pulled up right outside her door!

“Husband, it seems someone’s here. Go see who it is!”

Zhang Xuefeng immediately climbed out of bed, peered through the window, and said with some surprise, “It looks to me like that big black horse from your work team!”

Li Lan took a closer look and said, “It really does look like it. Could it be someone from my parents’ place?”

With that, she set down her bowl and chopsticks, wiped her hands on her apron, and hurried out the front gate!

As soon as she reached the doorway, she recognized her younger brother, Li Yi, driving the cart.

What surprised her even more was that there was a pretty, delicate young woman in the carriage.

Looking closer, wasn’t this the female educated youth who had come to the village a couple of years ago? She remembered her surname was Tang!

Why were these two here together? Something about this just didn’t feel right.

“Yi, what brings you here? What’s going on?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Sis, this is my wife, Tang Xue. I’ll tell you the details later!”

Li Yi then unloaded the items from the cart. He carried the heavy things himself, handed the lighter ones to his second sister to carry, while Tang Xue held only a few bags of formula for her little nephew!

As soon as they walked in, Li Yi saw his second sister’s husband, Zhang Xuefeng, coming out with their one-year-old nephew in his arms.

“You’ve gotten taller again, and you’ve gotten darker!” his second sister’s husband said with a smile as soon as they met.

Li Yi smiled and said, “I stopped growing a while ago—I’ve just gotten a bit more muscular!”

When he saw the bags and packages Li Yi was carrying, his brother-in-law frowned and said, “You came to visit, fine, but why bring so much stuff?”

“Hehe, I just brought you two bottles of wine. The rest is all for my sister and my eldest nephew. Don’t read too much into it!”

My second sister’s husband had a good-natured personality and doted on his wife, so Li Yi always enjoyed teasing him.

“Hey, it’s Moutai! That stuff isn’t cheap!” her second brother-in-law said, somewhat surprised.

“Eight yuan a bottle—it really isn’t cheap!”

When Li Lan heard that the wine she was holding cost eight yuan a bottle, she immediately frowned and said, “We’re just villagers—a little bulk wine is enough. Drinking this is a waste. Take it back and return it later!”

Her second brother-in-law, who loved his drink, hurriedly protested, “Don’t do that! This is still a token of Little Yi’s goodwill. You’re making him feel…”

“Give it a rest. I know exactly what you’re up to. This liquor is too expensive—we can’t afford it. I’ll get you two pounds of shao dao later!”

“Can ‘shao dao’ really compare to Moutai?”

“Why not? It all burns your throat the same way!”

Seeing her husband still trying to argue with her, Li Lan glared at him and shouted, “Zhang Xuefeng, don’t you know who’s in charge of this household?”

Her second brother-in-law gave a wry smile. “You’re the boss. Fine, you’re the boss!”

Li Yi and Tang Xue exchanged a glance, then smiled and said, “Second Brother-in-Law, don’t listen to my second sister. I bought this liquor for you—she has no say in the matter!”

“Hey, Li Yi, are you looking for a beating? How dare you talk to your older sister like that!”

As she spoke, Li Lan moved to grab Li Yi by the ear—back home, whenever Li Yi got too rowdy, this was the move Li Lan used to rein him in!

Li Yi quickly dodged, pointing at Tang Xue beside him and saying, “Sis, my wife’s right here. Give me some face!”

Li Lan shot him a withering look, but her hand stopped in mid-air.

After ushering the two into the house, Li Lan immediately asked, “Xiao Yi, sister-in-law, you two haven’t eaten yet, have you? Let me cook you a bowl of noodles!”

Li Yi didn’t hesitate, smiling as he said, “Sure! I’ll help you out!”

“Give it a rest. You’re the last person who should be helping me—you’d be lucky not to get in the way!” Li Lan said with a look of disgust.

“Don’t underestimate me. Your little brother here is pretty good now, especially at cooking!”

Tang Xue, standing nearby, nodded and added, “Sister Lan, he’s a really good cook now!”

Li Lan gave Li Yi a puzzled look, then glanced at Tang Xue and asked, “Really?”

“Yeah, he’s basically the one doing all the cooking at home now,” Tang Xue said.

“Alright then, I’ll give you a chance to prove yourself!”

With that, Li Lan scooped a bowl of flour into a basin, kneaded the dough herself, and then had Li Yi prepare the broth!

Li Lan had intended to make two bowls of pot-cooked noodles for her brother and sister-in-law, but Li Yi ended up making oil-drizzled noodles instead.

When two large bowls of fragrant, glossy oil-splashed noodles came fresh off the stove, Li Lan was completely stunned.

After a simple meal, Li Yi got straight to the point.

Upon learning that her younger brother was about to get married and that she was needed back home to help with the preparations, Li Lan was both surprised and delighted, and immediately agreed.

Her younger brother’s wedding was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and a major occasion for the Li family—how could she, as his older sister, not go back to lend a hand!

“Honey, what about Xiao Ning while you’re back at your parents’ house?” her second brother-in-law suddenly asked.

“He’ll have to figure it out on his own. If that doesn’t work, let his grandmother watch him for a few days!” her second sister replied.

Her second brother-in-law immediately gave a wry smile. “My mother’s so upset with us right now—do you really think she’d watch the kid? Why don’t I go stay with you at Nianzi Mountain for a few days?”

“Stop joking around. You know exactly what the situation is at my parents’ place. There’s no way they could accommodate so many people if we went there.”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Second Sister’s husband, we don’t have to worry about a place to stay. I’m asking if you can actually get away.”

“I can. The work team isn’t too busy anyway, and they’ll approve a few days’ leave!”

“Alright then, you and my second sister-in-law pack up. We’ll head back together in a bit!” Li Yi said.

Second Sister asked in confusion, “There are only a few rooms in the house. If our whole family goes, where are you going to put everyone?”

“Sis, don’t worry about that. I’ll make sure you and the kids are well taken care of!” Li Yi said.

As he spoke, Li Yi was thinking to himself that his sister and nephew certainly couldn’t be made to suffer.

But as for my second sister’s husband? He’ll just have to make do!

He’d already decided: when the time came, he’d drag his brother-in-law over to the new apartment to sleep.

It might be a bit uncomfortable—or maybe not—but at least it’s a place to keep out the wind and rain, isn’t it?

Seeing that Li Yi was being evasive and unwilling to explain, his second sister didn’t press the matter. She immediately began packing their things, ready to set off.

While organizing the items Li Yi had brought them, Li Lan was surprised to find that her younger brother had actually brought her two bags of sugar.

One was white sugar, the other brown sugar, and each weighed a full four or five pounds—that’s over ten pounds for both!

At current sugar prices, these two bags alone were worth no less than 8 yuan!

More importantly, sugar is a scarce commodity these days—even if you have the money, you can’t buy any without a ration ticket.

Ten pounds of sugar—just the ration tickets for that alone would take their family three or four years to save up!

On top of that, her younger brother brought her quite a bit of malted milk powder and sponge cakes, as well as half a bolt of floral fabric and a full bolt of cotton.

If you did the math, these items were worth at least fifty or sixty yuan.

Li Lan thought she had a pretty good grasp of the family’s financial situation, and with her younger brother about to get married, where on earth would he have gotten the money to buy her all these things?

Instantly, Li Lan’s heart was filled with suspicion!

When she stepped out of the supply and marketing cooperative, Tang Xue felt completely dazed!

It wasn’t just her—in fact, everyone in the supply and marketing cooperative, whether the shopkeepers or the ordinary customers, felt the same way.

Although the reforms had been in place for two years, everyone’s life was still a struggle.

The vast majority were still struggling to make ends meet, resorting to wild vegetable buns to tide them over during lean times—they’d never seen anyone so extravagant.

By a conservative estimate, this young couple had spent at least 500 yuan today—enough to cover two or three years’ income for many families!

Tang Xue hadn’t expected Li Yi to be such a big spender either; in less than two hours, he’d already spent 680 yuan.

Although they were buying essentials for the wedding, this guy bought two watches at once, plus a sewing machine and a radio—all of which cost over 400 yuan.

On top of that, Li Yi bought her all sorts of clothes, shoes, and headpieces—anything and everything she might need for the wedding!

She was deeply moved, but it also truly hurt her wallet!

In the carriage, seeing Tang Xue’s dazed and adoring expression, Li Yi smiled and asked, “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“You spend money way too freely—it’s a little scary!” Tang Xue said honestly.

“Scared of what? Scared that one day I won’t be able to make money anymore, or that our family can’t handle it?”

“Well, a regular worker’s monthly salary is only about 36 yuan. You just spent over an hour’s worth of their annual income—this is…”

Before Tang Xue could finish, Li Yi chuckled, “Isn’t today a special occasion? I want to make our wedding a grand affair!”

“But there’s no need to be this extravagant. Aren’t you worried the villagers will gossip?” Tang Xue said.

“Haha, what gossip?”

Li Yi continued, “Once we’re married, I’ll start collecting wild produce on a large scale. By then, everyone in the village will be making money with me. When everyone’s well-off, who’s going to be jealous of us?”

“Hmm! But I still…”

In truth, Li Yi had figured it out: the girl wasn’t upset because he could afford to spend money, but because she felt the pressure.

He was making money too fast—so fast that it had already put immense psychological pressure on his wife.

In his own eyes, making a few hundred yuan a day was still too little—so little that he wasn’t even in the “ten-thousand-yuan club” yet.

But in Tang Xue’s eyes, he earned in a single day what others made in a year—or even several years.

As for her, back when she was earning work points in the commune, she’d work herself to the bone just to get 8 to 10 points—which, on average, amounted to about three cents.

The gap in their incomes made this girl from the city feel uneasy.

Realizing this, Li Yi suddenly shifted toward Tang Xue and grabbed her hand.

Tang Xue was startled by Li Yi’s bold move—they were right out on the street!

Holding hands so openly was just too embarrassing!

“You… let go! Don’t you care what people think?” Tang Xue said, her face flushing.

“Let them laugh if they want—it won’t cost me a thing! Besides, I’m holding my wife’s hand—who dares to laugh at me?”

“You…”

“Hahaha, all right. From now on, I’ll let you manage all my money. You tell me how much to spend, and I won’t waste a single penny!” Li Yi said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I swear to God!”

“Don’t. You’re such a scatterbrain—you come up with something new every day. You’d better not swear!”

Although Tang Xue was touched, she also knew Li Yi’s personality—he was quite unpredictable.

Who knows—he might swear today and be splurging again tomorrow. It’s better not to make any promises at all!

After all, the heavens are watching, and one shouldn’t make promises lightly!

Besides, she could tell he truly cared about her and wouldn’t change just because he’d made some money.

“Honey, after we drop these things off, let’s swing by Second Sister’s place!” Li Yi suddenly said.

“Should I go with you?” Tang Xue asked.

“Yeah, Second Sister is different from First Sister. They’ve already split from my in-laws, so it’s no big deal for you to go over there!” Li Yi replied.

“All right, then!”

“Mm-hmm!”

……..

Back home, Li Yi asked Tang Xue to go inside and keep his older sister company for a while, while he carried all the groceries into the house.

After taking a few sips of cool well water, Li Yi returned to the living room.

Seeing his older sister talking with Tang Xue, Li Yi smiled and said, “Sis, we’re going to visit our second sister’s place in a bit. Do you want to come with us?”

“I think I’ll pass. With this big belly, it’s just not convenient to go anywhere!”

Although Li Mei was tempted, she ultimately dismissed the idea after considering her condition.

“Alright then. If everything goes as planned, I’ll be able to bring Second Sister home today, so you’ll get to meet her then!” Li Yi said.

“Huh? Isn’t your wedding still a few days away? Why bring her back so early?”

“Sis, we bought so much cotton and duvet covers. Just making the new bedding alone will take several days, and we also need to make new clothes and other things—we’ll need help with all that!”

Actually, Mother had already found someone to make the bedding, but Li Yi wanted the siblings to be reunited sooner, so he decided to bring Second Sister home early.

Besides, Li Yi knew his second sister was feisty and decisive—leaving the wedding arrangements to her was far more reassuring than relying on their mother or eldest sister!

“All right, then. Drive safely on your way!”

“Okay!”

With that, Li Yi and Tang Xue headed out the door, riding the black horse straight to his second sister’s home!

Li Yi’s second sister had married into a place called Yaogou, a true mountain village!

Although it was a mountain village, the economic conditions here were considerably better than those in Nianzi Mountain, thanks to the village’s own enterprise—a brick and tile factory.

Yaogou was rich in yellow clay, and the village officials had capitalized on this resource by establishing a collective brick and tile factory early on.

Although it was just a simple horse-hoof kiln, and the bricks and tiles were still shaped and fired by hand, the operation was quite profitable.

Plus, since they could produce bricks and tiles right in the village, most villagers built brick-and-tile houses, making it a prosperous village known far and wide.

The twenty-mile journey took a full hour and a half—not because Black Horse was slow, but because the mountain roads were so treacherous.

Since the vehicles traveling to and from Yaogou were often heavily loaded with bricks and tiles, they were all heavy-duty trucks.

And since the roads up and down the mountain were all ordinary gravel paths, potholes were easily created, and if washed out by rain, they became even more difficult to traverse.

To be honest, Li Yi was starting to regret bringing Tang Xue along.

The bumpy, potholed road was simply too rough, and he was genuinely worried it might cause her harm—after all, she was now expecting!

Fortunately, Tang Xue seemed to have gotten used to the rough terrain and didn’t seem to be bothered by it.

And so, a little after 1:00 PM, the two of them finally arrived at the village where Second Sister lived!

It was Saturday, and the supply and marketing cooperative was packed!

And since it was the busiest time of the day, Li Yi and Tang Xue found the place packed with people the moment they walked in—there wasn’t even room to stand.

Seeing so many people, Tang Xue’s face paled slightly. She looked at Li Yi and said, “Should we wait a bit?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “It’s fine. Let’s head to the section for large items first—there are fewer people there!”

With that, Li Yi took Tang Xue’s hand and weaved through the crowd toward the section where bicycles and sewing machines were displayed.

Sure enough, there were far fewer people here.

After all, not many people could afford such big-ticket items these days!

When the sales clerk saw Li Yi and Tang Xue, he didn’t greet them but instead kept fiddling with the abacus in front of him, seemingly lost in his calculations.

Li Yi was long used to the sales clerk’s attitude.

That was just how things were in the era of the planned economy. Whether it was a supply and marketing cooperative or a state-run store, they were all part of the state-owned commercial sector. Even the sales clerks working here had iron rice bowls—they were no different from civil servants in later years.

As a result, these clerks were all quite arrogant—figures ordinary people simply couldn’t afford to cross.

Precisely because of this, sales clerks often paid little attention to customers and would frequently get into arguments with them.

Meanwhile, ordinary people had to grovel before these clerks just to get a small discount.

Can you believe it? Some stores even posted signs explicitly stating, “Do not hit or scold customers.” If that were to happen in later times, they’d be drowned in a flood of criticism.

“Comrade, do you have any watches?” Li Yi asked, taking the initiative.

He was here today to shop for wedding supplies; there was no need to get into an argument with these clueless people.

Besides, this sales clerk was clearly new on the job; otherwise, she wouldn’t have failed to recognize him.

If it had been any other clerk, they would have greeted him warmly long ago.

“We have them!”

“Where are they all from?”

“Just buy it already—why are you asking so many questions?” the clerk said impatiently.

Hearing this, Li Yi immediately got upset and snapped, “What kind of attitude is that? Is that how you’re supposed to serve the people?”

“What’s wrong with my attitude? If you can’t afford it, just say so—why are you making such a fuss?” the sales clerk said with a sneer.

“Whether I can afford it or not is my business, but as long as you’re standing here, you’re supposed to serve me. That’s the most basic duty of a worker. If you don’t even understand that, what are you even here for?” Li Yi said angrily.

“Who do you think you are? Is this any of your business?”

The saleswoman was getting flustered by Li Yi’s confrontation and shouted back impatiently.

The sudden commotion immediately drew the attention of others, and several veteran sales clerks immediately turned to look this way.

When they saw Li Yi, their hearts skipped a beat.

“What’s going on with that new girl, Xiao Li? How did she manage to provoke him again?”

Someone immediately rushed to the back to report the situation to the new director, hoping to prevent any further trouble.

The new director had been transferred from the supply and marketing cooperative in the local commune. Before arriving, he’d specifically inquired about the situation: the bald-headed director at the county supply and marketing cooperative had been fired for offending a young man.

So he’d been telling himself to keep a low profile and play it safe, so he wouldn’t get the same fate.

But before he’d even had a chance to settle into his new seat, someone from the front desk came to report that the new employee, Xiao Li, had gotten into an argument with a customer—and the person she was arguing with was none other than the very individual who had brought down his predecessor.

Instantly, the new Director Zhou panicked and rushed out of his office to the front desk!

As soon as he arrived, he heard Xiao Li yelling at a young couple. His heart sank, and he immediately shouted, “Shut up!”

Xiao Li was in the middle of a tirade when she was suddenly shouted at, startling her.

She turned to see the newly arrived Director Zhou and hurriedly said, “Director, you have to take my side! They’re bullying me!”

Li Yi saw that this woman had the nerve to turn the tables on him, but he said nothing. He wanted to see how this so-called leader would handle the situation.

If he sided with this foolish woman just like that bald guy had before, Li Yi wouldn’t mind causing another scene right there.

However, to his surprise, Director Zhou not only failed to take his subordinate’s side but instead barked angrily, “Shut up!”

“Um… Director…”

“Comrade Xiaoli, you’re a sales clerk serving the people, not some feudal landlady or official from the old society. How dare you get into a huge argument with a customer?”

“Director, I didn’t. I was just…”

“You’re still trying to wriggle out of it? I saw it all—how could it be anything but the truth?”

Director Zhou continued, “All right. Given your misconduct, your bonus for this month is gone. I hope you’ll take this as a lesson!”

Xiao Li was stunned. Their monthly bonus was a full two yuan—and just like that, it was gone?

But she didn’t dare argue with the director—otherwise, it wouldn’t just be a month’s bonus being withheld!

After disciplining Xiao Li, Director Zhou turned to Li Yi and said, “Comrade, I’m truly sorry. It was our poor service. On behalf of our Supply and Marketing Cooperative, I apologize to you!”

Li Yi nodded and said, “No need for apologies, but I hope this doesn’t happen again!”

“Yes, yes, yes… Are you planning to buy a watch?”

“Yeah, I’m getting married. I want to buy a watch for my wife!” Li Yi said.

“We have Shanghai All-Steel watches here, as well as Hongqi watches made in Liaoning and Suzhou watches from the Suzhou Watch Factory!”

Apart from the Shanghai watches, Li Yi hadn’t heard of any of the other brands, so he asked right away, “Which one would be suitable for my wife to wear?”

“Suzhou watches are more suitable for women!”

With that, Director Zhou immediately took several exquisitely packaged watches from behind the counter and placed them in front of Li Yi and Tang Xue.

Li Yi immediately spotted a small, round watch and asked, “How much is this one?”

“The retail price is 138 yuan, but as a gesture of apology, I’ll give you an 8-yuan discount—130 yuan!”

Hearing that the watch cost 130 yuan, Tang Xue couldn’t help but cover her mouth.

That’s way too expensive—it’s equivalent to three and a half months’ salary for most people.

“Never mind… I’m not really into watches…”

Before she could finish, Li Yi cut in, “Fine, 130 it is. We’ll take the watch. Now show me the sewing machines and radios!”

Director Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly replied, “Alright, we have ‘Flying Man’ brand sewing machines—165 yuan each!”

“Sold!”

“We have Nanjing Panda radios here; they’re 110 yuan each!”

“Sold!”

With a thousand yuan in his pocket, Li Yi felt confident!

He was also very satisfied with Director Zhou’s service, so Li Yi immediately began stocking up at the supply and marketing cooperative according to the shopping list he’d planned out the night before…