Chapter 894: Stay Away From Him in the Future!
After wrapping up his work, Li Yi entrusted Yun Rui and Yun Jin to his eldest sister’s care, then set off for the Liang family residence with Jiang Xue, Jiang Longcheng, Ye Jianhua, and the others.
Li Yi had already thoroughly investigated the Liang family’s background.
Old Master Liang was also a veteran general with distinguished military achievements. Back in the day, while working as a child laborer in a coal mine, he had been inspired by Old Master Jiang to join the local Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Guard, thus embarking on the path of revolution.
Later, he served under Old Master Jiang for many years. The two had fought side by side for so long, each having saved the other’s life on multiple occasions, which forged a deep bond of friendship between them.
Consequently, for the engagement of his youngest daughter today—though the celebration was a small, intimate gathering—he had invited quite a few members of the Jiang family.
The Jiang family, in turn, was giving the Liang family great face; not only would Old Master Jiang attend, but representatives from the second and third generations of the Jiang family would also be present, demonstrating the enduring friendship between the two families.
The Liang family lived in Xicheng District, which wasn’t too far from Li Yi’s home, but it wasn’t exactly close either.
The car drove through the city for over twenty minutes before arriving at the destination.
As soon as they reached the entrance to the alley, they saw that quite a few cars were already parked there, with several security guards directing traffic.
After all, the streets and alleys of Beijing are narrow to begin with, and if people parked haphazardly, it would easily cause a traffic jam.
Following the guards’ instructions, Li Yi and his group parked their cars in the courtyard of a government office on the right, then walked to the nearby Old Liang residence.
As soon as they reached the entrance, Li Yi and the others heard the sounds of laughter and merriment coming from inside the courtyard.
Since the main gate was wide open, the group didn’t announce their arrival but simply walked right in.
Upon entering, they saw more than a dozen large round tables set up throughout the courtyard, with people already seated at some of them.
The arrival of this group of young people immediately caught the attention of everyone in the courtyard, and soon a booming voice rang out: “Hahaha, it’s Longcheng’s nephew! Come on in and take a seat!”
Immediately afterward, a tall, burly figure was seen walking toward them.
Upon seeing the man, Jiang Longcheng snapped, “Big Head Liang, if you call me ‘Big Nephew’ one more time, I’ll knock your teeth out!”
Zhang Xinyao, standing nearby, quickly tugged at his sleeve and whispered, “They’re celebrating a happy occasion. Don’t go making a scene like that—it doesn’t look good to others!”
Jiang Longcheng retorted indignantly, “What do you mean, ‘making a scene’? That kid is a year younger than me, yet he’s always taking advantage of me just because he’s a generation older!”
Seeing this, Liang Bin laughed and said, “It’s true I’m his senior, but even if you don’t like it, he’s still my nephew!”
Ye Jianhua, who clearly knew Liang Bin as well, chimed in, “You two are something else—you always have to bicker the moment you see each other, no matter the occasion!”
“Hahaha, it’s just because he’s always butting heads with me!” Liang Bin chuckled.
“Alright, let me introduce you. This is my cousin from my aunt’s side, Jiang Xue, and her husband, Li Yi!” Ye Jianhua said.
Upon hearing Li Yi’s name, Liang Bin quickly dropped his playful demeanor and said earnestly, “I’m Liang Bin, the fifth son of the Liang family. I’ve long heard of your couple’s reputation. We must definitely stay in touch!”
Li Yi immediately replied, “Sure, let’s keep in touch!”
No sooner had he spoken than Jiang Longcheng chimed in with a hint of displeasure, “Big-headed Liang, what the hell is your game? You’re always trying to take advantage of me, but you’re all polite and formal with my sister and her husband?”
“Hahaha, if you had Comrade Li Yi’s skills, I’d be impressed too!”
Listening to the two of them bicker, Li Yi couldn’t help but smile.
He could tell that although these two were fiercely bickering, their relationship was actually quite good.
After a brief round of banter, Liang Bin led the group to an empty table and said, “Grab some sunflower seeds and have some tea. The engagement banquet won’t start for a while yet!”
“Got it, go get back to work!” Ye Jianhua said with a smile.
Liang Bin smiled, then turned to Jiang Xue and said, “Xiao Xue, Qiu Yue just told me to bring you to see her as soon as I spotted you!”
Jiang Xue’s eyes lit up instantly. She nodded immediately and said, “Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Teaching Assistant Qiuyue!”
As she spoke, Jiang Xue glanced at Li Yi.
Knowing she was seeking his opinion, Li Yi nodded immediately and said, “Go ahead, and take the gift you prepared with you!”
“Okay!”
With that, Jiang Xue took the gift she’d prepared for Liang Qiuyue and followed Liang Bin toward the main hall.
After Jiang Xue left, Jiang Longcheng asked, “Brother-in-law, did you prepare a gift for someone else as well?”
Li Yi nodded and said, “Assistant Professor Liang looked after Xue quite a bit when she was in school. We didn’t know our families were related like this before, but now that we do—and since it’s her engagement—Xue prepared a small gift for her!”
“Why didn’t you say anything? We didn’t prepare anything at all!” Jiang Longcheng said with a hint of exasperation.
“It doesn’t matter whether you prepared something or not. After all, this is just an engagement, not a wedding.”
Li Yi continued, “Besides, this is a personal matter between Xiao Xue and that Miss Qiu Yue—it doesn’t really have much to do with you guys.”
“You’re right…”
Just as they were speaking, several young men walked in through the door, led by a handsome young man.
After entering, they glanced around the courtyard. When they spotted their table, the young man’s eyes lit up, and he immediately strode over.
Soon, Jiang Longcheng noticed the group as well and stood up from his seat.
“Yang Laowu, aren’t you in Tianjin? What brings you here?”
“The Liang family is celebrating a joyous occasion, so naturally the Yang family had to be here. Besides, Tianjin isn’t that far from Beijing, and since I work for the railway bureau, it’s no trouble at all to make the trip!”
He then glanced at Zhang Xinyao beside Jiang Longcheng and continued, “So this must be my sister-in-law. I’m Yang Hua—a brother who grew up with this guy, running around in diapers, peeing and playing in the mud. I was out of town on a business trip when you got married, so I didn’t make it to your wedding…”
Before he could even finish, Jiang Longcheng rolled his eyes and snapped, “Damn it, could you stop being so gross? Peeing and playing in the mud—I can’t believe you actually remember that!”
“Hahaha, doesn’t that just show how tight our bond is?”
“That’s certainly a unique way of putting it!” Jiang Longcheng said helplessly.
Yang Hua smiled and said, “Alright, you guys sit tight. My dad asked me to bring a little something for the Liang family’s daughter. We’ll chat later!”
With that, Yang Hua led the three young men who had come with him into the house.
After Yang Hua and the others had left, Jiang Longcheng noticed that his brother-in-law’s gaze was fixed on Yang Hua’s retreating figure, his brow deeply furrowed.
“Brother-in-law, what’s wrong? Why are you staring at that guy?”
Li Yi glanced at Jiang Longcheng and asked, “Third Brother, are you on good terms with him?”
Seeing that he was surrounded by his own people, Jiang Longcheng replied immediately, “We used to be pretty close, but after his family moved away, we drifted apart!”
“Have you been in close contact with him in recent years?”
“No. After he graduated, he was assigned to Tianjin and doesn’t come back often!”
Jiang Longcheng continued, “He has invited me to Tianjin a few times, but I’ve politely declined. After all, I’ve been really busy these past couple of years—especially since your sister-in-law got pregnant. I’ve had to juggle factory work and taking care of the family. I just haven’t had time to go running around!”
“That’s good to hear!”
Then, Li Yi glanced at Ye Jianhua and Lin Ying standing nearby and said, “You two should keep your distance from him from now on!”
As soon as those words left his mouth, Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua exchanged a glance, and their expressions instantly changed…
……..