The night passed without incident, and early the next morning, Li Yi was shaken awake by his third sister, Li Na. Understanding her urgency, Li Yi didn't say much. After hastily eating a bit, he immediately began his preparations.
Yesterday, he made over 150 portions of cold noodles, but it still wasn't enough to meet the demand. So today, he decided to make even more.
Fortunately, making cold noodles wasn't particularly difficult; it just took some time. After more than three hours, he finished processing over forty pounds of flour, yielding more than 210 sheets of noodles.
Once he sliced up the garnishes and loaded everything onto the mule cart, he and his sister headed straight for the county town.
Following yesterday's routine, they first went to the state-owned restaurant to sell the mushrooms.
As expected, Liu Jingshan personally handled the transaction again today. After removing the stems, the three large baskets of mushrooms weighed in at 137 pounds, totaling 95.9 yuan. Liu Jingshan, showing the same generosity as before, rounded it up to 96 yuan for Li Yi.
The entire mushroom sale took less than fifteen minutes. Li Na didn't even have a chance to help before Li Yi pocketed the 96 yuan.
To be honest, Li Na was stunned!
She had heard from Li Yi that a pound of mushrooms could sell for 70 cents, but hearing about it and witnessing it firsthand were two different things. The thick stack of money had a visual impact beyond words.
Even after the mule cart had traveled a good distance, Li Na was still in a daze.
"Hey, snap out of it!"
Hearing Li Yi's voice, Li Na shot him a glare and said, "Hey? Call me 'Sis!' You've got no manners!"
"What's up? Feeling a bit shaken?"
"Not really...just a bit startled. You made nearly a hundred yuan in just a short while; it's terrifying!" Li Na replied, still visibly shaken.
Li Yi chuckled. "What's a hundred yuan? In a few years, making ten thousand yuan a day won't even be unusual!"
"A-a thousand yuan a day? My goodness, a ten-thousand-yuan household? How is that even possible?!"
"Sis, times are changing. The country has already allowed private enterprises. Soon, the market will fully open up, and people are bound to get rich..."
Seeing his sister's puzzled expression, Li Yi didn't go further into economic theory. Instead, he simply said, "Sis, all you need to know is that our family is going to live well soon."
"Mhm, but let me warn you now. Don't get carried away just because you've made a bit of money. You'd better treat Little Xue well; she's already been dragged into this mess because of you!"
Li Na still felt a bit sorry for Tang Xue and couldn't help but take her side.
"Sis, you don't need to remind me. I'll treat her well. I promise!" Li Yi said earnestly.
"Hmph, your promises don't mean much to me. Save that for Little Xue."
"Are you really my sister?" Li Yi muttered, exasperated.
"Heh, what do you think?"
Chatting and laughing along the way, the two of them soon arrived at the entrance of the sugar factory.
As before, the area was crowded with workers waiting to buy cold noodles.
Upon seeing Li Yi's distinctive bright red mule cart, a group quickly gathered around.
Li Yi swiftly unloaded the cart and set up his stall, cutting the noodles and preparing the sauce, while Li Na assisted by collecting money and grain tickets.
Today, due to bringing more noodles, they worked until just past one o'clock to sell the last portion.
After cleaning up the mess, the siblings left the sugar factory.
Since they were going to propose at the youth point today, they needed to prepare some items. Additionally, their stock at home was running low, so they headed to the supply and marketing cooperative in town.
This wasn't Li Yi's first visit to the cooperative. He had established a reputation for buying in bulk, and the sales staff recognized him.
As soon as he entered, a young female sales clerk approached him with a bright smile. "Comrade, you're back again!"
"Yep, here to bother you once more!" Li Yi replied with a grin.
"What do you need today?"
"First, I need fifty pounds of flour."
"Got it. Anything else?"
"Yes! I'll also take two yards of cotton fabric, two yards of floral fabric, two enamel basins with designs, two thermoses, two towels, two bars of soap, two tubes of toothpaste, two bottles of Snow Flower Cream, two pounds of brown sugar, and two packs of White Rabbit milk candies!"
The sales clerk looked surprised. "Comrade, with all these items, are you getting married?"
"Pretty much! I'm going to propose today!"
"Congratulations! Your fiancée is lucky to get so many things for a proposal!" The clerk looked envious.
"Haha, my wife is a city-educated youth, beautiful and cultured. She deserves the best!" Li Yi replied, beaming.
"No wonder you're spending so much! Wishing you both a long and happy life together, and may you have children soon!"
"Thank you! When I get married, I'll treat you all to some candy!" Li Yi said cheerfully.
"Make sure to do it soon, haha!"
...
After easily purchasing all the materials for their stall and the items for the proposal, Li Yi and Li Na began their journey back to the village.
However, as they approached within five kilometers of Tiezishan Village, they suddenly spotted a person lying on the dirt road ahead, next to an overturned bicycle.
Without hesitation, Li Yi stopped the mule cart and went to check on the individual.
The person lying on the ground was an elderly man with graying hair, likely in his fifties. His eyes were closed, and his face was pale.
"He... he's not dead, is he?" Li Na asked, her voice trembling.
Li Yi placed his hand on the man's neck to feel for a pulse, then leaned down to listen to his chest. "He's still alive, but his breathing is weak. He's in a dangerous situation!"
"What... what should we do?"
Li Yi checked the old man's body. Aside from some abrasions on his arm, there were no other visible injuries, indicating that he hadn't fainted from injury but was likely suffering from a medical condition.
But Li Yi wasn't a professional doctor and clearly couldn't determine what illness the old man had.
"Sis, grab the tablecloth from the cart and cover his head to protect him from the sun so he doesn't get dehydrated!"
"Got it!"
As Li Na approached with the tablecloth, she saw Li Yi rummaging through the old man's pockets.
"Little Yi, what are you doing? Even if he's unconscious, we can't do anything unethical!"
Li Yi shot her an exasperated look. "What are you thinking? Am I that kind of person?"
Li Na glanced at him seriously and replied, "Yes, you are!"
Li Yi was left speechless.
Considering his past actions, it was understandable that his sister didn't trust him.
He quickly explained, "He looks like he's sick. If it's a common elderly ailment, he should have brought some medicine. I'm just checking."
Just then, Li Yi discovered some hard objects in the old man's outer pocket and pulled them out.
To his disappointment, they weren't medicines but rather a few pieces of candy.
Aside from the candy, the old man had only a few coins, some grain tickets, and a work ID.
From the ID, Li Yi learned the old man's name was Wang Guoguang, the deputy director of the county glass bottle factory.
Seeing that Li Yi hadn't found any medicine, Li Na grew anxious. "Little Yi, what if there's no medicine? What if he dies here and they blame us?"
Li Yi furrowed his brow and remained silent, his gaze lingering on the candy before carefully examining the old man's complexion.
"Hey, sis, go find a clean bamboo tube in the cart and mix up a batch of brown sugar water!"
Although Li Na didn't understand what he was planning, she followed his instructions.
Once the brown sugar water was ready, Li Yi had the old man lie on his legs and used a small wooden spoon, typically used for seasoning, to slowly feed him the sugar water.
Since the old man was unconscious, Li Yi worried about him choking, so he took his time, feeding him bit by bit.
After more than ten minutes, he managed to get half a bamboo tube of brown sugar water into him.
Li Yi then listened closely to the old man's heartbeat and noticed it had slowed significantly compared to before, and the cold sweat on his forehead had lessened.
Realizing the sugar water was having an effect, he said, "Sis, the old man's condition has stabilized for now, but just to be safe, we should get him to a hospital!"
"Okay, let's hurry! We don't want to delay your proposal!"
"Right!"
...