Chapter Fifteen: Saving a Life (New Book—Please Take a Look!)
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There was no conversation throughout the night. Early the next morning, Li Yi was rudely awakened by his third sister, Li Na. Understanding her urgency, Li Yi said nothing, quickly ate a bite, and then set to work. Yesterday, the 150-plus portions they made were still not enough to sell, so Li Yi decided to make even more today.
Fortunately, making cold noodles wasn’t particularly difficult, just time-consuming. After more than three hours, they had finished processing over forty pounds of flour, producing more than two hundred sheets of noodle skin in total. After cutting the accompanying vegetables and loading everything onto the mule cart, the siblings headed straight to the county town.
Following the same routine as yesterday, they first went to the state-run restaurant to sell the mushrooms. Once again, Liu Jingshan personally received Li Yi. After cleaning, the three large baskets of mushrooms weighed a total of 137 pounds, amounting to 95.9 yuan. Liu Jingshan generously rounded it up to 96 yuan, just like the day before.
The entire mushroom-selling process took less than fifteen minutes. Li Na didn’t even get a chance to help; she only saw Li Yi pocket the 96 yuan. Honestly, Li Na was genuinely shocked. Even though she had heard Li Yi say before that mushrooms could sell for 0.7 yuan a pound, hearing about it and seeing it firsthand were two different things. The visual impact of such a thick stack of money was indescribable.
Even after the mule cart had traveled quite a distance, Li Na still hadn’t fully processed what had happened. “Hey, snap out of it!” Li Yi called out.
Hearing his voice, Li Na rolled her eyes and said, “Hey, don’t just say ‘hey.’ Call me sister – show some manners!”
“What’s the matter? Shocked?”
“Not exactly, just a bit scared. You made almost a hundred yuan in such a short time – that’s terrifying!” Li Na said, still visibly unsettled.
“Heh, a hundred yuan is nothing. In a few years, making ten thousand yuan a day won’t be anything unusual!” Li Yi said calmly.
“Ten thousand yuan a day? Oh my god! That’s impossible!”
“Sis, times are changing. The country now allows private enterprise. The market’s vitality will soon explode, and some people will inevitably get rich...” Seeing his sister looking confused, Li Yi didn’t continue with the theory but said instead, “Sis, just know that our family is going to be doing well soon!”
“Hmm, but I have to warn you—don’t get cocky just because you make some money. Poor Xiaoxue’s been through a lot because of you. You better treat her well!”
Li Na still felt somewhat guilty about what her brother had done to Tang Xue, and her words clearly sided with Tang Xue.
“Sis, I’ll treat her well even if you don’t remind me. I promise!” Li Yi said.
“Hmph, your promises mean nothing to me. You better say that to Xiaoxue!”
“Are you really my sister or not?” Li Yi sighed.
“Heh, you tell me!”
Amid their laughter, the siblings arrived at the sugar factory gate.
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Just like yesterday, the place was already surrounded by workers waiting to buy cold noodles. Seeing Li Yi’s unmistakable bright red mule cart, the crowd immediately gathered around.
Li Yi quickly unloaded the cart and set up the stall, then began cutting the noodle skins and preparing the sauce, while Li Na helped collect money and ration coupons on the side. Because they brought extra noodles today, they stayed busy until after one o’clock before selling the last portion.
After cleaning up the trash on the ground, the siblings left the sugar factory. Since Li Yi planned to propose marriage at the educated youth settlement today, they had to prepare some things. Plus, they were running low on flour at home, so they needed to shop as well.
They hurried to the supply and marketing cooperative in town with the mule cart. This wasn’t Li Yi’s first time there; every time he came, he bought so boldly that the sales clerks all recognized him.
When Li Yi walked in, a young female clerk immediately greeted him with a bright smile. “Comrade, you’re back again!”
“Yes, sorry to bother you once more!” Li Yi smiled.
“What do you need today?”
“First, fifty pounds of white flour.”
“Okay, anything else?”
“Yes, two yards of cotton cloth, two yards of patterned fabric, two enamel basins with floral designs, two thermos flasks, two towels, two bars of soap, two tubes of toothpaste, two bottles of snowflake cream, two pounds of brown sugar, and two packs of White Rabbit milk candy!”
Hearing this, the clerk looked surprised. “Comrade, you’re buying double of everything. Are you getting married?”
“Almost. I’m going to propose today!”
“Well, congratulations! Your fiancée is lucky – proposing with so many gifts!”
“Haha, my wife-to-be is an educated youth from the city, beautiful and cultured. She deserves the best!” Li Yi laughed.
“No wonder you’re splurging. Wishing you both a long and happy marriage and lots of children!”
“Thank you, thank you. When I get married, I’ll invite you to the wedding feast!” Li Yi said happily.
“You better hurry up then! Ha ha!”
...
After easily buying all the materials for tomorrow’s stall and the proposal, Li Yi and Li Na set off for home.
However, less than five kilometers from Nianzi Mountain Village, they suddenly saw a person lying on the dirt road ahead, with a bicycle fallen nearby.
Without hesitation, Li Yi stopped the mule cart and went over to check. The person was an elderly man with graying hair, probably in his fifties. His eyes were tightly shut, and his face was pale.
“Could… could he be dead?” Li Na’s voice trembled.
Li Yi felt the old man’s carotid artery, then leaned down to listen to his chest. “He’s still alive, but breathing weakly. The situation is serious.”
“Then… what should we do?”
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Li Yi examined the man’s body. Aside from scrapes on his arms, there were no obvious injuries, indicating he wasn’t unconscious due to trauma but likely had a sudden illness.
However, Li Yi wasn’t a professional doctor and couldn’t identify the illness.
“Sis, bring over the tablecloth from the cart and cover his head to protect him from the sun and prevent dehydration!”
“All right!”
As Li Na brought the cloth over, she noticed Li Yi rifling through the old man’s pockets.
“Xiao Yi, what are you doing? Even though he’s unconscious, we can’t do anything dishonest!”
Li Yi rolled his eyes. “What are you thinking? Am I that kind of person?”
Li Na looked at him seriously. “You are!”
Li Yi was speechless. But considering his past behavior, it was understandable that his sister doubted him.
He explained, “He clearly had a medical episode. If it’s a common elderly illness, he should carry medicine himself. I’m just checking if he has any.”
While speaking, Li Yi found some hard lumps in the man’s coat pocket and hurriedly pulled them out.
Unfortunately, they weren’t medicine but a few pieces of candy.
Besides the candy, the old man only had a few coins, some ration coupons, and a work ID. The ID showed his name was Wang Guoguang, deputy director of the county glass bottle factory.
Seeing Li Yi found no medicine, Li Na anxiously said, “Xiao Yi, what do we do without medicine? What if he dies here and we get blamed?”
Li Yi frowned but said nothing. His eyes returned to the candy, and he studied the man’s complexion carefully.
“Sis, go to the cart and find a clean bamboo tube, then make a cup of brown sugar water!”
Although Li Na didn’t understand Li Yi’s plan, she obeyed.
When the brown sugar water was ready, Li Yi had the old man lie on his lap and slowly fed him the sugar water with a small wooden spoon used for seasoning.
Since the man was unconscious, Li Yi worried about choking, so he fed him bit by bit.
After more than ten minutes, he had finished half a bamboo tube of the sweet water.
Li Yi then listened carefully to the man’s heartbeat. It was noticeably slower than before, and the cold sweat on his forehead had reduced significantly.
Knowing the brown sugar water had helped, he said, “Sis, the old man’s condition has temporarily stabilized, but to be safe, we should take him to the hospital.”
“Yeah, let’s hurry up so it won’t delay your proposal!”
“Mm-hmm!”
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