Chapter 258: Jiang Longcheng’s Shock
Ye Jianhua was momentarily dumbfounded by the sudden appearance of these uninvited guests.
He glanced at Jiang Longcheng and asked instinctively, “Old Jiang, who are they?”
Jiang Longcheng glanced at Li Yi and said, “I was just telling you that someone said Old Jiang here is a short-lived ghost—it’s this kid right here!”
Ye Jianhua looked at Li Yi with curiosity, then said teasingly, “Bro, that’s impressive. You’re even daring enough to mess with Old Jiang—even I have to admire your courage!”
Then he turned to Jiang Longcheng and said, “You’re a big, fat guy—I don’t see anything about you being short-lived. Are you going to die in a woman’s arms?”
“Get lost, get lost, get lost! I’m not into that sort of thing. You, on the other hand, look like a stud—you’ll end up dying in a woman’s bed sooner or later!” Jiang Longcheng retorted.
“Fuck me? No way!” Ye Jianhua said confidently.
The Jiang family’s status is formidable, but the Ye family isn’t far behind. As long as he didn’t go too far, he’d be absolutely fine.
However, Li Yi shot him a glance and said indifferently, “True, you won’t die in a woman’s womb, but you will end up spending some time inside because of a woman!”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. You’re headed for prison!” Li Yi said coolly.
Li Yi knew Ye Jianhua. In fact, it wasn’t just Li Yi—most people who lived through that era had heard his name, even if they’d never met him.
This man was considered a prominent scion of the official class in the capital, a descendant of meritorious service, yet because he couldn’t control his own desires, he was ultimately sentenced to prison three years later.
Although he was only sentenced to seven years, the case caused a sensation throughout the capital.
“Nonsense. Don’t think just because Old Jiang is easygoing, I won’t hold this against you…”
Before he could finish, Li Yi glanced at Jiang Longcheng and said calmly, “Is he easy to deal with?”
“Uh…”
Li Yi smiled and said, “He’s probably already plotting how to slander me in his head—he might even be planning to teach me a lesson!”
“Shouldn’t he?” Jiang Longcheng asked.
“First off, do you even have the strength to take me on? Let’s not even get into other things—just take the idea that I might want to harm you. Forget about you alone; even if you brought all those scumbags from yesterday along, you still wouldn’t be a match for me!”
Li Yi continued, “Second, don’t think you’re some big shot factory director. Everyone around you is just trying to get something out of you—I, Li Yi, have no interest in that!”
“And another thing—inviting me to dinner just to feed me your leftovers? That’s a bit of a stretch!”
Hearing this, Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua were both stunned!
“Losers? Not interested?”
What on earth had they just heard? After all, the people who’d followed Jiang Longcheng yesterday were all from the same compound—their families were well-off, and even the least successful among them were department heads at state-owned enterprises.
Yet in this kid’s mouth, they’d been reduced to “scum” he looked down on. Was he just arrogant, or was he downright audacious?
Jiang Longcheng was so furious he burst out laughing. He slammed his fist on the table and said, “Hmph! A real man keeps his word. I can still afford to treat you to a meal!”
Then, pointing at Li Yi, he said, “You order the food, and I’ll pick up the tab!”
“Although the way you said ‘I’ makes me want to slap you, I’ll let it slide since you’re picking up the tab!”
After saying that, Li Yi immediately called over a staff member and ordered five or six dishes in a row—all meat dishes.
Once the staff had left, Jiang Longcheng said with a stern face, “You really don’t hold back, do you?”
“Haha, being polite would be a disservice to your ‘old man’ remark!” Li Yi retorted.
He knew Jiang Longcheng’s temperament—the guy had the temper of a stubborn mule: you couldn’t drag him forward, and if you hit him, he’d back away. He wouldn’t budge no matter how you tried.
If you wanted to get along with him, you had to win him over.
Whether by beating him into submission or tricking him into submission, as long as he was truly convinced in his heart, he would become much easier to get along with.
“You…”
“Stop with the ‘you’ and ‘I.’ Let me introduce myself first: Li Yi—‘Li’ as in ‘Muzi,’ ‘Yi’ as in ‘resolute.’ I’m from Qingshan County and just arrived in the capital yesterday!” Li Yi said.
“Where is Qing Shan County?” Jiang Longcheng asked, furrowing his brow.
Ye Jianhua thought for a moment and said, “I think it’s in North Sai Province!”
Jiang Longcheng looked at Li Yi and said, “So you’re just some hot-headed country bumpkin from the mountains, huh? No wonder you’re so cocky!”
“You’re the one who’s cocky—your whole family is!”
After firing back, before Jiang Longcheng could lose his temper, Li Yi spoke again: “It’s true I’m from a small town, but my eye for judging people isn’t half bad!”
“So you’ve seen that I’m destined for bloodshed and an early death?”
Li Yi stared at Jiang Longcheng and said, “I don’t know your name, but I can tell you come from a good family—probably a family of officials. Your ancestors’ glory still shines on you; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth.”
“Furthermore, your family has an excess of yang energy and a deficiency of yin. In your nephew’s generation, there should be more boys than girls—perhaps even no girls at all.”
Hearing Li Yi’s words, Jiang Longcheng couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
If Li Yi really was from out of town, then he must have some real skills—after all, everything he’d just said was true, not a single word was wrong.
But then again, he was a prominent figure in Beiguan Village, and many people knew his family background. All this information could be easily verified with a little inquiry; it wasn’t exactly a secret within their circle.
So, based on this alone, he couldn’t conclude that the young man standing before him was truly capable.
“What else?”
“Judging by your facial features—your eyebrows arch upward, indicating you have two older brothers; your nose is pointed, with a broken line on the bridge; and your earlobes are prominent—you are the third of three brothers!”
Li Yi continued, “Additionally, there’s a red mark about a finger’s width above your eyebrow. This indicates a blood-related disaster at the time of your eldest brother’s death. Such marks usually fade after three years. But since yours is still so distinct, it means your eldest brother must have passed away within the last three years!”
At these words, both Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua looked utterly shocked.
Jiang Longcheng was genuinely startled; he had only recently learned of his eldest brother’s passing.
His older brother was a soldier serving in a field unit. Last year, he went south with his unit to fight the “monkeys,” and ultimately died on the front lines this past April.
But to spare their mother’s feelings, their father had kept the news completely hidden from all of them until last month, when he could no longer conceal it and finally revealed the truth.
Yet, to this day, only their immediate family knew of this; outsiders were completely in the dark. Even his own childhood friends knew nothing about it—so how did this young man find out?
As for Ye Jianhua, he was stunned by Li Yi’s audacity. The eldest son of the Jiang family was a legend in their neighborhood—the undisputed leader of the kids in his youth, and later, after joining the army, a true elite soldier.
And here was this kid, standing right in front of Jiang Longcheng, claiming his older brother was dead. Given the kid’s hot temper, he’d probably flip the table any second now.
Ye Jianhua was already braced for a fight. After all, the other side had five men, while they had only two—it could very well turn into another brutal battle today.
However, to Ye Jianhua’s surprise, Jiang Longcheng didn’t make a move.
He stared intently at Li Yi, scrutinizing him closely, before finally clenching his teeth and saying, “Who exactly are you? How do you know all this?”
The moment those words left his mouth, Ye Jianhua was completely dumbfounded.
His voice trembling, he stammered, “Old Jiang, what are you saying? Brother Longhua… he… he…”
Jiang Longcheng nodded with difficulty and said, “He’s gone!”
“When did this happen? How come we didn’t hear a thing about it?”
“He passed away back in April. My dad kept it under wraps; I only found out last month!”
Ye Jianhua glanced at Li Yi, then asked in a low voice, “I didn’t even know about this—how did you find out?”
Li Yi shot him a look, then said, “There’s plenty you don’t know. Want to know?”
“I do!”
“If you do, call me ‘big brother’!”
“Get lost!”
Just then, a restaurant staff member walked over carrying a large platter of braised beef!
Seeing the food arrive, Li Yi didn’t bother arguing with him anymore and immediately called out to his friends to dig in!