Chapter 891: Trouble!

Ever since leaving his third sister’s place, Li Yi had kept his brows tightly furrowed, and his mood had been somewhat affected.

Ever since he learned that Long Zhanjun had opened four branches in Pengcheng all at once—and that it was all at Jiang Longyin’s instigation—Li Yi knew trouble was coming.

Third Sister and Long Zhanjun only saw the profit in opening a restaurant, but failed to recognize the risks involved.

Li Yi knew full well that running a restaurant these days was indeed profitable… no, it was actually a way to make a fortune.

Although ordinary people’s incomes aren’t particularly high these days, there are countless businesses of all sizes, not to mention government agencies at every level—and no shortage of officials of every rank and file.

And these people who hold power in government and business certainly have significant spending power.

With their organizations footing the bill, they’ll splurge without restraint.

It’s fair to say that the problem today isn’t a lack of consumers, but a lack of a sufficiently large consumer market.

Under these circumstances, even selling tea eggs in the city would earn you far more than the average government official.

The saying that “selling tea eggs is better than making mushroom bombs” isn’t just empty talk—it’s a reality.

But high returns often come with high risks. Reform and opening-up have now entered their fourth year, and the first hurdle in the process of “crossing the river by feeling the stones” has already emerged.

On one side are the rapidly sprouting buds of the private economy; on the other, an overheated national economy and intractable ideological disputes.

In the newly established Pengcheng Special Economic Zone, the slogan “Time is money, efficiency is life” hung prominently at Shekou Port; in places like Daqiu Village in Tianjin and Huaxi Village in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, a group of local officials—including Yu Min and Wu Bao—emerged, quietly encouraging villagers to set up factories and generate income.

In Anhui Province, individual entrepreneur Nian Guangjiu registered the “Shazi Sunflower Seeds” trademark and, ignoring his wife’s pleas, upgraded his operation by setting up a factory.

In fact, this business tycoon had earned his first million as early as 1976.

In contrast, state-owned enterprise reforms were moving forward with great difficulty, “speculators” were running rampant, smuggling and trafficking were rampant, and speculation and fraud were becoming the norm. Coupled with the fact that some of the early “get-rich-first” individuals were indeed too flashy, the booming private economy suddenly became the scapegoat…

Consequently, from 1982 to 1983, policies regarding individual businesses fluctuated.

Under these circumstances, many unlucky individuals were dealt a severe blow: not only were their earnings confiscated, but they were also arrested and sentenced to prison.

The most typical example of this was Wenzhou, where the private economy first took root. Just this year, Wenzhou’s infamous “Eight Kings” suffered a severe blow: some were arrested, some fled, and some were sentenced—not a single one met a good end.

Precisely because he was aware of this, Li Yi understood very clearly that now was not the time to let loose and go all out.

At present, “speculation and profiteering”—a peculiar relic of the planned economy era—still exists, and the definition of this crime is extremely vague; one misstep could land him in trouble.

This is why Li Yi would rather travel all the way to Hong Kong, or even London and New York, to invest than return to China to set up a factory as an individual.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be a hero who revived the nation’s industries; rather, he didn’t want to be labeled a capitalist.

More importantly, 1983 was just around the corner, which meant that momentous campaign was about to begin.

Sticking your neck out at this time—no matter your motives or how powerful your connections—meant you could be sent to a labor camp with a single word.

Therefore, even if these two Li Yis were to invest, they would do so under the name of Starry Sky Investment Company.

Moreover, he personally took almost no part in the branch’s operations, precisely to give no one any grounds to attack him.

This time, he didn’t want to meet with the higher-ups—he simply didn’t want to be the one to stick his neck out.

To be honest, if Jiang Xue and the kids weren’t in Beijing, Li Yi would have wanted to live in Hong Kong—or even New York—for the past two years.

In short, the situation in the mainland has been too dangerous these past two years; one misstep could lead to serious repercussions.

But what he never could have imagined was that Long Zhanjun had actually opened four branches in Pengcheng all at once. Combined with the ones in Beijing, that made a total of eight stores.

To Li Yi, this was like a ticking time bomb.

After all, if you apply certain people’s rigid standards, the number of people he employs has far exceeded eight—making him a bona fide member of the exploiting class, a capitalist.

No one was paying attention to this now, so it wasn’t a major issue, but if someone were to use this against him, even with the Jiang and Ye families stepping in, they might not be able to protect him.

What puzzled him even more was that Jiang Longyin was actually meddling in this—did he have nothing better to do?

……….

Back home, the children were already awake. Jiang Xue was sitting on the kang, teaching the two little ones to identify animals.

Seeing Li Yi push the door open, looking rather glum, Jiang Xue immediately asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Li Yi sighed and said, “I need to make a call first. I’ll talk to you in a bit!”

With that, Li Yi hurried off to the study, leaving Jiang Xue feeling inexplicably worried.

Once in the study, Li Yi hesitated briefly before dialing his second older brother, Jiang Longyin.

“Ring ring…”

After a few rings, the call was answered, and Jiang Longyin’s familiar voice came through: “Who is this?”

“Second Brother, it’s me, Li Yi!”

Jiang Longyin immediately chuckled and said, “What a rare visitor! What brings you to call me?”

“Second Brother, I wanted to ask about my third sister’s husband’s business in Pengcheng. Do you know anything about it?”

Perhaps sensing the seriousness in Li Yi’s tone, Jiang Longyin replied, “As far as I know, your third brother-in-law has opened four stores here—one near City Hall and one near the train station, with the other two on Zhongying Street. Business at all of them is booming, and I’ve actually been thinking about encouraging them to open two more branches!”

Li Yi’s mouth twitched as he said, “Second Brother, you’re really putting me on the spot here!”

“Why do you say that?” Jiang Longyin asked.

Li Yi didn’t answer his question right away, but asked in return, “Second Brother, have you heard about the ‘Eight Kings of Wen City’ incident?”

Jiang Longyin had naturally heard of such a high-profile incident, and he immediately caught on.

“Brother-in-law, are you worried you might become the next ‘Eight Kings’?”

Li Yi replied with certainty, “If things keep going this way, it won’t be a matter of ‘might’—I’ll definitely become a target!”

“Impossible. You’re different from them. Given your current standing, who would dare touch you?” Jiang Longyin said with a smile.

He knew just how much influence his brother-in-law wielded.

Someone capable of influencing the promotions of provincial and ministerial-level officials—how could he possibly be criticized for running a few small restaurants? That’s ridiculous.

Besides, the Jiang and Ye families weren’t just for show. If anyone dared to use this against Li Yi, the Jiang and Ye families wouldn’t just stand by and watch.

“Second Brother, nothing is set in stone. The situation is constantly shifting, especially in the last year or two—policies have been fluctuating frequently. We don’t need to give others ammunition over such trivial matters; it’s not worth it!” Li Yi said.

Jiang Longyin fell silent on the other end of the line. He understood what Li Yi meant, and he also understood how Li Yi was feeling right now.

After all, he was already a billionaire; there really was no need to take risks over such a small sum.

But thinking of the situation in Pengcheng, he could only sigh and say, “Brother-in-law, to be honest, it was our municipal government’s request that Comrade Long Zhanjun open so many branches in quick succession!”

“A request?”

“That’s right. A large number of businesspeople from Hong Kong are coming to Pengcheng to invest, and with the country’s strong push to develop Pengcheng, over 200,000 people have flocked here this year alone.”

Jiang Longyin continued, “Pengcheng used to be just a small fishing village. There wasn’t a single decent restaurant in the entire city. The municipal government had no choice but to entertain out-of-town businesspeople at the government canteen, which was extremely inconvenient.”

“Ever since your barbecue and hot pot restaurant opened a branch here in Pengcheng, the problem of having nowhere to eat has improved significantly. To enhance Pengcheng’s service quality, we had no choice but to let Comrade Long Zhanjun open branch after branch!”

Hearing this, Li Yi fell silent.

After a moment, he finally said, “Second Brother, since there’s a reason behind this, the municipal government needs to take a clear stance. You can’t just ask for help when it’s convenient and then pretend you don’t know anything when problems arise!”

“Alright, I’ll discuss this with the other comrades in the city right away to see how we should handle this matter!” Jiang Longyin replied.

“Alright…”

Just as they were speaking, the study door creaked open. Jiang Xue poked her head in and said, “Dad’s here. He’s waiting for you in the living room!”

Upon hearing this, Li Yi quickly excused himself to Jiang Longyin and hung up the phone…

………