Chapter 28: I Want to Build a House (Please Subscribe!)

Li Yi knew that his father’s mindset was somewhat conservative, and it was understandable that he struggled to accept what appeared to be such risky behavior, so Li Yi did not say much more. He trusted that with the passage of time, his father’s thoughts and attitude would eventually change.

After saying a few words to his father, Li Yi headed straight for the mountain behind the village. By the time he arrived, over a dozen baskets had already been placed on the reservoir embankment, and a group of children were busy performing preliminary processing on the wild produce they had gathered. Seeing Li Yi approach, the children swarmed around him.

Li Yi took a quick look and noticed that the number of children gathering mountain goods had grown significantly over the past few days, reaching as many as thirty.

"Dongzi, what’s going on with them?" Li Yi asked, pointing toward a few children who were only seven or eight years old.

Dongzi immediately replied, "Brother Yi, it’s just that everyone in the village knows we’ve been making money following you to pick mushrooms. Their parents came to me, wanting them to join in as well!"

"They are too young!" Li Yi said, frowning.

At that moment, a grubby little boy spoke up loudly, "We aren't too young! We can pick mushrooms too!"

Li Yi recognized the little guy; he was the third child of "Limp Dong" from the west end of the village. His father suffered from polio and had limited mobility, his mother was mute, and with five children in the house, life was quite hard for them.

Dongzi added, "Brother Yi, they’re all mountain kids. Picking mushrooms shouldn't be a problem for them!"

Li Yi sighed and said, "The mountains are not safe, after all. Not to mention wolves, leopards, and wild boars, the work of gathering mountain goods itself isn't simple—climbing high and low—I'm worried something might happen to them!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the children chimed in, "We aren't afraid!"

"Yeah, we aren't afraid!"

"We run around in these mountains every day; we really aren't afraid..."

Li Yi gestured for them to quiet down, then said, "If you want to earn money with me, that’s fine, but go back and have your parents come to my house to see me. We need to get things clearly laid out before I can take you on. Otherwise, it’s not going to happen."

It wasn't that Li Yi was being overly cautious; it was that he had to think ahead. The business of gathering mountain goods was genuinely dangerous. Although the government had organized militias over the past few years to drive away large predators like wolves and leopards—or pushed them deep into the wilderness—creatures like wild boars, goral, and roe deer were still common.

Wild boars, in particular, were still quite numerous in the mountains, and it would be truly dangerous if the children ran into one. If any child were injured or lost because they were out gathering goods for him, their parents would surely tear his house down. He could not take that risk.

Upon hearing that Li Yi wasn't truly rejecting them, but rather required their parents' consent, the children said nothing more. Under Li Yi's guidance, the large group of children carried the dozen baskets of cleaned mushrooms and wood ear fungus back to the village. Once they reached home, Li Yi distributed the previous day’s earnings to them.

After the production team finished work in the evening, villagers began arriving at Li Yi’s house one after another. They all had the same goal: they wanted their children to work with Li Yi to earn a little pocket money to help support their families.

Li Yi’s stance was very clear: they could join, but they had to sign an agreement. The terms were simple: the children were participating in a work-study program during their spare time, and he was not employing child labor. Furthermore, the children must obey the older kids' instructions while in the mountains and could not act on their own, and he would not be held responsible for any safety incidents.

The adults understood Li Yi’s difficult position and signed the agreement one by one. Some even asked if Li Yi would take the mountain goods gathered by the adults, but he refused. It wasn't that he lacked buyers; it was that the agricultural cooperatives had not yet been dissolved. If he encouraged the adults to go into the mountains, it would inevitably affect the production team's progress, which was absolutely out of the question.

Moreover, the reason he was leading Dongzi and the others in this business was not only because he needed money, but also because he wanted to help these younger brothers earn a living. If all the adults in the village started gathering mushrooms and wood ear, there would be nothing left for the children. Therefore, even though he was tempted by the adults' proposal, he ultimately held back.

By the time everyone left Li Yi’s house, it was already past ten o'clock at night. The family tidied up and prepared to sleep. Just then, Li Yi turned to his parents and said, "Dad, Mom, there is something I want to discuss with you."

Li Shankui tapped his dry tobacco pipe against the edge of the kang and asked, "What is it?"

"Dad, I want to build a house," Li Yi said earnestly.

Li Yi had been considering this for several days. He knew his parents' plan was to clear out the room he currently occupied to serve as the marital bedroom when he married Tang Xue. However, Li Yi felt that was too shabby. For one thing, that room was originally used for storage; it was small and not well-insulated.

It was fine in the summer, but in the winter, the wind whistled through every crack, making it unsuitable for a bridal chamber. Furthermore, if all went well, Tang Xue was likely already carrying their child. For the sake of the baby, he had to consider the housing situation.

Li Shankui remained silent for a long moment before asking, "What made you think of building a house?"

His mother, Zhang Yuehong, also asked, "The west room is small, but it's livable, isn't it? If it really comes to it, after Xiao Xue marries into the family, your father and I will take the west room, and you two can have the east room!"

Li Yi replied immediately, "I’ve actually had the idea of building a house for a long time. On one hand, I want a home of our own after I marry Xiao Xue; on the other, our current house is just too small."

"Because it's so small and can't accommodate many people, my older sisters haven't visited much over the years, and even when they do, they never stay the night."

Hearing this, Li Shankui and Zhang Yuehong went silent. They knew what their son said was the truth. But building a house wasn't simple—between the labor and the materials, it wasn't cheap!

After a long while, Li Shankui finally said, "Building a house takes money, and you're getting married soon, which also takes money. Why not hold off for a while?"

"I have about 500 yuan on hand right now. I'm not sure if that's enough," Li Yi replied.

Li Shankui and Zhang Yuehong exchanged startled glances. They hadn't expected that after paying the bride price and buying a bicycle, their son would still have 500 yuan left.

"It might not be enough for a brick-and-tile house, but it's plenty for an adobe one!"

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, "Dad, I want to build a brick-and-tile house. I'll build three rooms this year, and next year I'll renovate the old house and turn it into brick-and-tile as well!"

Li Shankui took a puff of his pipe and said, "We'll talk about the old house later. Focus on yourselves first!"

"If you agree, I'll go see Uncle Feng tomorrow and have him approve a plot of land for me!" Li Yi said.

"Fine. Remember to bring two bottles of wine for old Feng when you go," Li Shankui instructed.

Since his son had the money, he certainly wouldn't stop him. Besides, he was worried that his son might fall back into his old, unreliable habits and squander the money; using it to build a house was a better alternative.

"Understood!"