Chapter Five: All Is Ready (New Book—Your Attention, Please!)

After finishing lunch, during the break, Li Shankui asked while smoking his dry tobacco pipe, “Xiaoyi, your father wants to ask, what do you plan to do in the future?”

“Do what?”

“You’re about to start your own family soon. You can’t just laze around at home forever; you have to find something to do!”

Before Li Yi could reply, Li Na nearby disdainfully said, “He’s too delicate and soft to be of much use. He can’t bend over to do farm work, and he has no connections to get into a factory!”

Tang Xue instinctively glanced at Li Yi and saw that, as Li Na described, his skin was indeed delicate and fair, almost translucent with a rosy glow. Combined with his square face and broad eyebrows, he was quite handsome.

If not for the tattered clothes he wore, he wouldn’t lose face to any young city man.

But the more she thought about it, the sadder Tang Xue felt.

What good is good looks when it doesn’t put food on the table?

This was the countryside—every child was a strong laborer for the family. Everyone worked the fields until their hands were sore, their skin weathered by sun and wind like baked potatoes, their hands covered in calluses.

In the entire Nianzishan Brigade, other than Li Yi, it was hard to find anyone with such delicate skin.

Thinking that she would have to live her whole life with someone who couldn’t lift a shoulder load or carry a burden made Tang Xue almost want to cry.

If it weren’t for some special reasons that made her unwilling to return to the city, she would really want to just leave...

“Dad, what do you think about me selling liangpi in the county town?” Li Yi suddenly spoke up.

As soon as he finished, Li Shankui’s expression changed sharply, and his voice rose, “Are you crazy? That’s speculation and profiteering! If you get caught, you’ll go to jail!”

Hearing “go to jail,” Zhang Yuehong also got anxious and hurriedly said, “Son, you can’t be foolish. If things don’t work out, just farm at home. With your mother and me helping, we won’t let you and Xiaoxue go hungry!”

Li Yi immediately said, “It’s just setting up a small stall to sell some liangpi. How is that speculation?”

He went on, “Dad, I read the newspaper a few days ago. Because so many educated youth have returned to the city and are unemployed, the government has allowed them to ‘practice street vending’ to support their livelihood.”

“Also, the report said that most speculation cases are handled by the Industry and Commerce Administration. Only severe and major cases are investigated by the police. Even if selling liangpi is considered speculation, at worst they’ll just confiscate illegal gains. There’s no way you’d go to jail!”

Li Shankui hesitated but finally said firmly, “Still no. Look around the city—who dares do this? If caught, it’s a typical case!”

“Dad, like my third sister said, I can’t handle hard farm work, and no factory wants me. You might support me for a while, but can you support me forever?”

Li Yi continued, “Liangpi is definitely a new thing in our Qingshan County. It’s tasty and cheap, with low costs. Even if the city really bans street vending, the loss won’t be much. So I want to give it a try!”

Li Shankui’s expression softened a bit, and after a long silence, he asked, “It really isn’t speculation?”

“Really isn’t!” Li Yi said firmly.

“Then... then try it. If they really don’t let you sell, just stop!” Li Shankui said.

“Alright, I’ll listen to you!”

At this, Li Na frowned and said, “You really plan to sell that stuff? Can it make money?”

“I don’t know if it’ll make money, but at least I won’t lose money!”

Though he said so, Li Yi knew very well that at this time, just setting up a stall meant money was practically guaranteed.

The reason was simple: due to policies, no one dared to openly set up street stalls, so there was no competition.

Also, with economic development, people’s incomes had clearly risen.

With money comes consumption, which means there is a market.

A market with no competitors—if you can’t make money here, there’s truly no justice.

But Li Yi couldn’t tell his family this outright, or they’d think he was boasting. He decided to wait until he made money and then prove it with results.

“Good if you won’t lose money. Need any help?” Li Na asked again.

She didn’t believe their good-for-nothing younger brother could really make money selling liangpi, but since this was the first time he seriously wanted to work, she wanted to help. What if he actually succeeded?

Li Yi shook his head, “No, I can handle it!”

“Alright then!”

At this moment, Tang Xue, who had been silent, suddenly said, “Uncle, auntie, wait, I want to go back to the educated youth dormitory!”

Li Shankui opened his mouth to say something but could only manage a “Hmm.”

He worried about her being mistreated if she returned. Though only half a day had passed, the whole brigade was already buzzing about the matter. They had heard many idle remarks on their way back from the fields.

If possible, he really didn’t want Tang Xue to go back to the youth dormitory and hoped she could just stay at their house.

But that would be even worse—living with a man before marriage, sleeping in his bed, and moving directly into his home would make it hard for her to hold her head high in the village later.

Li Yi had clearly thought about this too, so he didn’t try to stop her. Instead, he said to his third sister Li Na, “Sister, you accompany Xiaoxue back this afternoon. Don’t go to the fields for a few days. If anyone gossips, don’t hold back—just confront them!”

Li Na, also worried about Tang Xue’s state, nodded, “Alright!”

Hearing this, Tang Xue felt slightly moved.

Though this guy was a bit rough, he wasn’t useless; at least he took responsibility, could cook, and cared a lot about her.

If only he had a proper livelihood, life wouldn’t be so hard to get by!

For a moment, she was lost in thought.

...

After eating, Li Shankui and his wife rested for less than half an hour before heading back to work under the scorching sun, but they left the mule cart behind for Li Yi to use.

At 2:30 in the afternoon, Li Yi drove the mule cart to take Tang Xue and Li Na back to the educated youth dormitory at the village committee compound.

Then he hurried off toward the back mountain.

Since he planned to set up a stall selling liangpi, he had to prepare some things.

They already had the ingredients at home; what they lacked were bowls and chopsticks.

Nowadays, liangpi vendors used plastic bags, but he had no way to get those.

Initially, Li Yi planned to use bowls, but looking at the few large bowls at home, all chipped and cracked, he could only shake his head.

He thought about buying new bowls, but his pockets were empty, and new bowls were not cheap. Besides, he needed quite a few, so the idea quickly passed.

After pondering, Li Yi decided to use bamboo tubes as bowls!

Bamboo tubes were excellent containers, and since they were everywhere, with some careful polishing, they could perfectly substitute for bowls.

He spent two hours in the bamboo forest and loaded half a cart of thick bamboo back home.

Next came the process of making the bamboo tubes—sawing them into 12-centimeter-high sections, then filing and sanding until they were smooth inside and out.

But that wasn’t all. Li Yi then took a carving knife and engraved simple patterns on the tubes.

He spent the entire afternoon preparing.

By sunset, he had made 50 bamboo tubes and more than 60 pairs of bamboo chopsticks. He also sifted out over ten jin of flour and fried up nearly half a basin of chili oil.

After all this preparation, Li Yi’s liangpi stall was ready in every way—just waiting for the right moment to begin!