Chapter Sixty-Three: Doing Something Meaningful

Li Yi felt that today's workers were unusually enthusiastic, and they were also much more generous with their spending than before.

Normally, many people would just eat a single portion of cold skin noodles paired with a flatbread to fill their stomachs, or at best, drink a cup of plain boiled water and call it a meal.

Today, however, many people ordered two portions of cold skin noodles with one flatbread, or alternatively, one portion of noodles with two flatbreads—they were acting quite bold and lavish!

Moreover, he had heard the broadcast from the factory earlier. Although he was surprised that the factory's broadcast would actually talk to the workers about this matter, he could still detect the goodwill of the factory leadership through the broadcast.

One good turn deserves another, so when Li Yi was dishing out the side dishes today, he was exceptionally generous, giving everyone a massive, overflowing portion!

Just as Li Yi was busy working here, someone shouted, "The factory director is here," and then he saw the workers voluntarily making way for a path.

Immediately following that, Li Yi saw seven or eight middle-aged men wearing Zhongshan suits walking toward him!

Li Yi immediately stopped what he was doing. After all, he was operating on someone else's turf, and he couldn't afford to appear impolite.

Just as Li Yi was hesitating whether to step forward and greet them, he heard the leading middle-aged man speak to him in a very amiable tone: "You've worked hard, little comrade! With you here, the food in our factory has clearly improved. Thank you!"

Hearing this, Li Yi's first reaction was: Has the sun risen from the west?

In this day and age, upon seeing someone setting up a stall on their own territory, the first reaction of those leaders would usually be to chase the person away quickly, because no one wanted to get implicated!

Therefore, the reaction of these sugar factory leaders was not right—very not right indeed!

However, what kind of person was Li Yi? Although he sensed something unusual in his heart, his face did not show it at all.

With an expression of flattered surprise, he said, "It's no hardship at all, no hardship. I should also thank the leaders for your great magnanimity in allowing a humble commoner like me to make a living here. At the same time, I must thank my worker brothers for their support. Thank you all!"

At this moment, Director Qiu stepped forward, pointed at the middle-aged man who had spoken earlier, and said, "Little comrade, let me introduce you. This is Director Liang of our sugar factory!"

"So you are Director Liang! I really was lacking in manners just now," Li Yi said hastily.

"I'm just an ordinary citizen too, don't mind these formalities!"

Then Director Liang turned to Director Qiu and said, "Liangyong, didn't you say you were treating us a few to some cold skin noodles? Well, hurry up then!"

Director Qiu immediately said, "Little comrade, there are eight of us. Give us eight portions of cold skin noodles, and twelve white flatbreads. Put plenty of chili oil in them!"

"Coming right up, please wait a moment, everyone!"

Very soon, the cold skin noodles were mixed, and Li Yi handed them to the leaders one by one, but he refused to accept their money.

However, Director Qiu clearly did not want to take advantage of him, and in the end, he still gave the money and food coupons to Li Na.

Meanwhile, Tang Xue sat to one side, watching several top leaders of the sugar factory squatting there just like ordinary workers, eating the cold skin noodles and flatbreads made by Li Yi. She always felt this scene was somewhat surreal!

Actually, Tang Xue was definitely not the only person who felt this way; most of the workers also found it somewhat unbelievable.

Despite the fact that the administrative rank of these factory directors and deputy directors was ordinary, within this factory, they were local emperors with immense power.

Normally, it was difficult enough for ordinary industrial workers like them to even catch a glimpse of these leaders, let alone squat together with them to eat a meal like this.

Furthermore, they knew very well that the factory had a dedicated cafeteria that cooked meals specifically for the leaders. Under normal circumstances, specialized master chefs prepared their lunch and dinner, so there was no way they would come here to eat cold skin noodles.

Naturally, however, they would never guess that the leaders did this simply to make a familiar face in front of the young comrade who sold cold skin noodles.

Instead, they assumed that Li Yi's cold skin noodles were made so exceptionally well that even the leaders couldn't resist coming over to taste them, which also served as a disguised live advertisement for Li Yi's business.

More importantly, with these leaders setting an example, it directly told the other employees in the factory that buying cold skin noodles here was completely legitimate.

Consequently, even more workers came over to taste the cold skin noodles made by Li Yi!

The over 300 portions of cold skin noodles were completely sold out by a little past one o'clock in the afternoon, and as for the more than two hundred white flatbreads, they had sold out even earlier.

Afterward, Li Yi, along with Li Na and Tang Xue, cleaned up the ground before driving the mule cart toward the county public security bureau.

On the way, Tang Xue asked with some surprise, "Is your business always this good every day?"

"Pretty much, but today seems even better than usual. In the past, those 300 portions of cold skin noodles wouldn't sell out until around two o'clock," Li Yi replied.

"That's still very fast!"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Then would you be interested in setting up a stall with me in the future?"

"Me... can I?"

"Of course you can, but I think spending your time setting up a stall would be a bit of a waste. You should do something more meaningful!" Li Yi said with a smile.

"What's something more meaningful?"

"Studying!"

"Studying?" Tang Xue said with an incredulous look.

"Yes, I remember you finished high school, right?"

"I did, but I was sent down to the countryside before I graduated!" Tang Xue replied.

"You also know that the country has already restored the college entrance examination. Over the past two years, quite a few people have changed their destiny through the exams, so I also hope you can settle down and study hard, and maybe our Li family will have a college student in the future!" Li Yi said.

Tang Xue's eyes lit up instantly, but then they dimmed again.

"The college entrance examination only allows unmarried people to participate. We are about to..."

In previous years, there indeed hadn't been this requirement, but starting this year, a directive had been issued from above, setting two requirements for the college entrance examination: under the age of 25, and unmarried!

Tang Xue was only 19 years old this year, so age wasn't an issue, but since she was about to get married very soon, she obviously wouldn't meet the regulations.

However, Li Yi smiled and said, "What's the big deal? We can hold the wedding banquet first, and as for the marriage certificate, we can hold off on getting it for now."

"This... not getting the marriage certificate means we're still unmarried?" Tang Xue asked in surprise.

"That's right. As long as you don't get the marriage certificate, legally you are still unmarried!"

Li Yi then added, "I certainly won't put off getting the marriage certificate with you forever, so if you want to take the college entrance exam, you must seize the time to study. Once you pass the exam, we'll go get the certificate!"

"Mm, thank you!" Tang Xue said with a serious expression.

To be honest, she never imagined that Li Yi would actually be willing to let her study and take the college entrance examination.

One had to know that in this day and age, let alone married women, even among unmarried girls, very few families were willing to support their education.

In the traditional mindset of the overwhelming majority of people, what was the use of women reading so many books?

Even though women held up half the sky, girls would eventually get married anyway, and they would end up supporting someone else's sky, while the money spent on studying right now came from their own family's pockets.

Consequently, most parents were reluctant to let girls study.

Let alone a woman who was already married; after all, once married, they became the core physical laborers of the household, still needed to earn work points and bear children for the family.

Yet Li Yi believed that for her, making money was a waste of time, and only studying was the most meaningful thing to do.

These words directly pierced into the softest part of Tang Xue's heart, making her instantly feel that marrying Li Yi was perhaps the most correct choice of her life, without a single exception!