Chapter 264: A Turtle Falls from the Sky

After a full day of activity, the family returned to the west side of the village after having dinner at Li Qing's house. Li Xian hadn't been home for a long time, so everyone gathered on the big kang in the main room and chatted about family matters.

Li Pi, who used to be closest to his second brother, had spent a lot of time with him despite being in different schools—one in technical school and the other in high school. Now that his second brother had graduated and gone out, and his third sister was studying in the capital, Li Pi was left alone at home, apart from the somewhat withdrawn Li Qing.

The school vacations in the forest area were quite interesting. Besides the regular winter and summer breaks, there were extra long holidays for October 1st and May 1st, as well as an additional busy farming holiday.

Children in junior and senior high school in the forest area were considered laborers, so to accommodate students and teachers with farmland, an extra week off was given during the spring sowing and autumn harvest seasons.

Feeling bored at home and not wanting to help Li Qing with farm work, Li Pi had been planning to visit Li Xian in Bangye County. However, it turned out that his second brother came back first.

Sitting beside Li Xian on the kang, Li Pi wore a silly grin and remained silent.

Seeing Li Pi's silly behavior, Li Xian couldn't help but give him a light knock on the head, then patted him affectionately.

"Second brother, don't touch my head or my waist!"

Li Pi didn't like it, as his hair had been messed up.

"Cut it out. When you get married, then you can say that to me!" Li Xian, seeing the kid trying to act mature, found it amusing and frustrating.

Mentioning marriage, Li Xian suddenly thought of Zhu Jing. His eyes lit up, and he pulled Li Pi over, saying, "How about I introduce you to someone?"

Li Pi's hair stood on end!

He sat up straight on the kang, and his small eyes whirled around rapidly, probably making a couple of hundred rotations in a second. After thinking for a while, he declared with the demeanor of a young socialist successor, "Brother, right now all I think about is studying. I have no interest in anything else. Early romance is simply too childish! A real man should cultivate himself, manage his family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world. I'm still studying, and I've never thought about such things! Really! Let's talk about it later!"

Seeing Li Pi's nervous look, Li Xian furrowed his brows.

While observing the overly reactive Li Pi, he patted Li You's arm, "Dad, Fourth Brother is acting strange. This kid must be involved in early romance!"

"What!?"

Li You, crushing his cigarette under his shoe and glancing at Li Pi, who had a "How did you guess that?" expression, immediately got off the kang and grabbed a broomstick.

With Li Pi's screams and his promises to behave returning to normal, Li Xian sighed in relief. He glanced towards Bangye and sighed.

"Ms. Zhu Jing, I've helped you once."

On the kang, seeing Li You handling his son, Li Daoyun, who was holding a smoking pipe, chuckled endlessly, "Alright, alright, making the kid cry and howl late at night. How will the neighbors sleep? When I was seventeen, I don't know how many girls I slept with on the mountain. If this big kid doesn't know about girls, that's when you should beat him senseless."

Li You had no intention of stopping, "Dad! What era are we in now? This little rascal, I'm spending money to send him to school, and he's acting up in school. Let's see how I handle him today!"

Seeing his grandson getting a thorough beating, Li Daoyun smiled and didn't intervene further. He started chatting with Li Xian.

He first asked about Li Jie's situation, and upon learning that the third child was doing well in the capital, Li Daoyun mentioned the previous matter of Li Xian looking for his uncle, Yan Shuhua.

Although Li Xian had been busy lately, he hadn't forgotten this matter. Since the beginning of the year, he had placed an advertisement in a page of the People's Daily, looking for Yan Shuhua or any clues.

The advertisement had been running for over six months. He had also asked Xiaoqi to inquire with the police bureau in Keshan, but there had been no progress.

Seeing no hope in this matter, Li Daoyun sighed.

"Ah, I don't know if we'll ever find him."

Li Xian clicked his tongue, "Grandpa, how about you try to predict my marriage fate? See if I'll get married soon. I could use some guidance!"

Trying to divert his grandfather's attention from being too fixated on this issue, Li Xian didn't expect Li Daoyun to wave his hand.

"Predict marriage fate? No way. I haven't done that in ages."

"What? You're giving up your skills?" Li Xian was surprised. Li Daoyun not predicting was as rare as the national soccer team publicly declaring they would enter the World Cup!

"Giving up? Nonsense," Li Daoyun laughed, holding his smoking pipe, "I used to predict for myself when life was boring and I wanted to know when I'd meet your grandmother. Now, life is good for our family. You, Third Brother, and this kid are all doing well. I'm only seventy-six. If I live a few more years, and you all start families and give me some great-grandchildren, I can enjoy myself for a few years before I pass on and boast to your grandmother. Remind her of what she missed out on. Ah?"

At this point, Li Daoyun suddenly became a bit excited. He knocked his smoking pipe on the edge of the kang, extinguishing it, and took Li Xian's hand, "Grandson, let me predict your marriage fate. Let's see when you'll get married! I need some direction!"

Li Xian smirked, thinking it was best not to. Marriage fate is something random and fun; having it predicted too accurately might ruin the fun.

Ignoring his grandfather, Li Xian pointed at Li You, who was still beating Li Pi on the ground, "Dad, stop hitting him on the head! Hit him on the butt instead; it hurts more but won't cause serious damage."

"Grandpa, hurry up and predict when my second brother will get married! Let him get married quickly and not come back! The house will be less chaotic, and I'll get fewer beatings!"

Li Pi, being punished on the stool, was wailing loudly.

---

The next day.

The topic of the Li family once again topped the gossip charts in the lumber mill.

But unlike before, this time when the Li family was mentioned, there was no longer just envy or jealousy, but also a sense of fear and respect.

The fear came from how the family planning officials, who were usually quite overbearing, had been defeated by the Li family. They had been beaten up and had to swallow their grievances while delivering a birth permit.

The respect was for how the wood chip factory had provided a job and a place to stay for Zhu Laowu's wife.

In those times, being poor was the norm in the lumber mill, and being rich was the exception. Many people had envied the Li family for their success, their big tiled house, and their small car. But now, even the most pitiful person in the mill had been given clear and proper arrangements by the Li family. Such benevolence made it hard for others to be jealous.

Those who are wealthy and act with kindness always earn respect. This was more admirable than having a building or a car. It made people want to give a thumbs-up, whether openly or secretly.

Recently, Gao Dayi and his team were busy preparing for a show. By the time they reached the mill office, it was already afternoon, and news of Zhu Laowu's wife moving into the wood chip factory had spread in the office.

Hearing the high praise for Li You, Gao Dayi felt uncomfortable.

As soon as he sat down in the office, Accountant Liu from the next room came over with a tea mug.

"Manager, have you heard?"

Gao Dayi took the water kettle and glanced at him, "Heard what?"

"About Li You!" Accountant Liu saw there was no water in the kettle, so he placed the tea mug in front of Gao Dayi, looking disgruntled, "That Li Er is indeed no good. As soon as he came back, he advised his father to arrange a job for Zhu Laowu's wife. Now everyone in the mill is praising him. That Zhu Laowu's wife has been living in a broken house in Yinyang Village for months. Why didn't he arrange this earlier? Why now, all of a sudden? Manager, with just over a week before the election, the Li family is buying people's favor! You need to be cautious."

Hearing Accountant Liu's analysis, Gao Dayi's face darkened, and he instinctively touched his face and neck.

They were covered in marks—thanks to Li You's scratching.

In his years of marriage, Gao Dayi had never been scratched this much. Since the beginning of the year, he had been scratched three times!

"Why can't a turtle fall from the sky and smash that son of a bitch Li You?"

Gao Dayi muttered angrily.

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a loud

 "bang" above him—startling him!

"Did a turtle really fall from the sky?"

Before he could get up to look, there was a series of crashing noises from the roof.

"It's bad! Hail! It's hailing!"

Outside, there was a panicked shout.

Hearing this, Gao Dayi and Accountant Liu exchanged glances and quickly went outside to check.

They saw that the sky outside was a grayish-white, with hailstones as big as fists falling from the sky like meteors without flames!