Chapter 291: Dealing with a Troublemaker
Hearing the engine fade into the distance, Jiang Longcheng let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing his reaction, Li Yi couldn’t help but chuckle. “He’s your third uncle, yet you look like a mouse facing a cat. What’s going on?”
Jiang Longcheng replied immediately, “You’re absolutely right. In our family, my third uncle is definitely the one whose word carries the most weight!”
“Especially for us younger generations—even my grandfather can’t hold a candle to him!”
“Why is that?” Li Yi asked curiously.
“Because my third uncle is a tough guy—he’s not afraid to crack down hard!”
“What does his toughness and willingness to crack down have to do with you guys? Does he dare beat up you younger ones?”
“You’re thinking too small. My third uncle beating us younger generations is an everyday occurrence—it happens all the time!”
“No way, I wouldn’t have guessed that!” Li Yi said, somewhat surprised.
“My third uncle is only seven years older than my older brother, and as my grandmother’s youngest son—her pride and joy—she dotes on him terribly.”
Then Jiang Longcheng added, “So, while in other families uncles give way to their nephews, in our family it’s the exact opposite—all the nephews have to give way to their uncles.”
“Haha, your family is really something else!”
Jiang Longcheng sighed and said, “Ah, it’s a bittersweet story. Ever since we were kids, my older brother would constantly get into fights with my third uncle, and every time he’d end up with a black eye and a swollen face.”
“If any of us dared to talk back, we’d get the same brutal beating from my third uncle. After a while, we all came to fear him!”
“I thought so—you’ve got a real psychological trauma from all that beating!” Li Yi said with a laugh.
“That’s exactly it. Anyway, in our family, I’m not afraid of anyone except my third uncle!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“Come on, if you’ve been beaten into having a psychological trauma, what’s there to brag about?”
Li Yi then glanced at his watch and realized it was almost four o’clock.
He figured Dongzi and the others would be arriving soon, so he definitely wouldn’t be able to get any sleep.
Li Yi said, “Do you need anything else? If not, I’ve got to get back to the kitchen.”
“Wait… um, can we chat for a bit?” Jiang Longcheng said immediately.
“Talk about what?”
“You said this morning that I was going to have bad luck again. I’ve been on edge all day, couldn’t even eat, and I’ve lost weight…”
“Cut it out… cut it out. With a body as sturdy as an ox, you probably wouldn’t lose weight even if you didn’t eat for ten days. Hearing you say that makes me feel embarrassed, not just disgusted!” Li Yi said.
“Then just tell me exactly how I’m going to get into trouble at DXMBang. They say good people don’t say a word, but you’re not like that at all—you’re leaving me hanging!”
“You want to know?”
“I do!”
“Then tomorrow, bring all the mid-to-senior level managers from your factory to my restaurant for a meal. After we eat, I’ll tell you!” Li Yi said.
“Don’t be like that. If you need money, just say so. I’m not the kind of guy who’d turn you down for a few bucks…”
Before he could finish, Li Yi shot him a withering look and retorted, “Do I look like the kind of person who needs a few bucks from you?”
“Then what’s this about?”
“You’ve been cursed by a malevolent spirit. I’ll help you root out that spirit!” Li Yi said, his words startling.
“Afflicted… by a malevolent spirit?”
“Yep. I won’t get into the technical details, but you’re definitely dealing with a malevolent influence!”
Li Yi continued, “And I’d wager the troublemaker is right here in your factory. The most likely culprit is one of your managers. Just bring them over—I’ll take one look and know exactly who it is!”
Jiang Longcheng naturally trusted Li Yi’s words. Besides, he’d gotten a sense of how Li Yi’s shop operated over the past few days—there was really no reason for him to rip him off.
“Alright, I’ll bring them in tonight!”
Jiang Longcheng added, “Damn it, I’d love to see who’s been screwing me over behind my back!”
“Alright, if you’re done, get the hell out of here. I don’t have time to entertain you right now!”
With that, Li Yi headed straight for the kitchen!
Jiang Longcheng didn’t get angry; he just smiled and left Li Yi’s shop.
……
Turning back to Ye Jianhua, after returning from Li Yi’s place, he didn’t go home but headed straight to the military housing complex where the Lin family’s second branch lived.
Of course, he didn’t dare say outright that he was there to see Lin Ying.
After all, she was still a recent college graduate, and with such a critical time at hand, asking her out so directly would surely scare her off.
So, he simply said he was there to see Lin Ying’s older brother, Lin Yi.
Lin Yi was his best friend from childhood; back when they lived in the same compound, the two families often visited each other.
But later, after the second son of the Lin family got promoted, they were assigned a house in the military housing complex, so the whole family moved here.
Since the distance was quite far, Ye Jianhua didn’t visit as often, but he’d still come by a few times a year.
But he had never felt as nervous as he did today!
As for the Lin family, all four children of the second son and their spouses were home—after all, the third son’s marriage to a member of the Ye family was a major event for the household.
In truth, the eldest son, Lin Yi, and the eldest daughter, Lin Sha—both already married—weren’t particularly in favor of this match, while the youngest, Lin Li, who was still quite young, didn’t really care either way.
Lin Yi and Lin Sha had grown up playing with Ye Jianhua; they knew exactly what kind of person he was.
Although Ye Jianhua hadn’t committed any major misdeeds and wasn’t exactly a spoiled rich kid, he certainly wasn’t a model of virtue—he was definitely a womanizer.
Their youngest sister had such an innocent nature—if she married him, she’d surely be taken advantage of!
So, when they heard about this, they assumed their parents were trying to arrange a marriage alliance with the Ye family, and figured their little sister wouldn’t agree to it.
Consequently, as soon as they learned of the situation, they immediately asked their younger sister, Lin Ying, what she thought of it.
But to Lin Yi and Lin Sha’s surprise, their little sister didn’t show the slightest resistance to the idea—in fact, she was… quite looking forward to it.
Both of them were seasoned adults; how could they possibly miss the way their little sister was acting like a lovesick teenager?
Plus, since their parents were also very supportive of the idea, they knew there was no turning back.
Lin Yi decided to have a serious talk with Ye Jianhua; some things needed to be made clear in advance to avoid trouble later on!
The moment that thought crossed his mind, the home phone rang.
After hearing the guard’s announcement at the door, Lin Yi was completely stunned.
Was this guy reading his mind? He’d just been thinking about having a chat with him, and now here he was.
He quickly said goodbye to his family and headed out the door!
Arriving at the main gate of the residential compound, Lin Yi sure enough saw Ye Jianhua standing right outside.
“I was just thinking about looking for you, and here you are—what a coincidence!” Lin Yi said.
Ye Jianhua replied somewhat awkwardly, “Well… it’s been a while since we’ve hung out, so I thought I’d drop by and catch up with you, Lin.”
“I know exactly what you’re up to. You never think of me unless you need something. Spit it out—what’s this all about?” Lin Yi said.
“Well… I wanted to see Xiao Ying,” Ye Jianhua stated his purpose.
Lin Yi frowned and asked immediately, “What are you up to, you rascal?”
Ye Jianhua had nothing to lose, so he replied immediately, “I just want to ask Xiao Ying what she thinks.”
“Is that all?”
“You know my situation, Lin. I’m really afraid of hurting Ying. If that happens, how could our two families ever get along again?”
Ye Jianhua continued, “So I plan to talk to Xiao Ying first to see if this match is a good fit. I don’t want our families to end up unhappy because of what’s going on between Ying and me!”
Seeing how sincere Ye Jianhua was, and considering his family’s stance, Lin Yi felt it was only right to let the two of them talk.
He immediately borrowed the phone from the security office, dialed his home number, and called his younger sister, Lin Ying, downstairs.
And so, Ye Jianhua finally met his fiancée!