Chapter 330: Poor Jiang Longcheng
Beiguan Village. Hot Pot and Grill Restaurant!
Li Yi’s meeting hadn’t even finished when customers started arriving at the restaurant, forcing the meeting to be cut short.
Since there were quite a few reservations today, the restaurant was nearly full in no time.
Under these circumstances, Li Yi, Zhang Xinyao, and An Hong, among others, didn’t sit idly by—they all pitched in to help!
They worked nonstop for three hours, and it wasn’t until 2:30 PM, after seeing off the last table of customers, that everyone could finally take a short break.
By then, everyone—Li Yi and the rest—was starving.
Right then, Li Yi had Dongzi bring out two copper pots and slice up some beef and lamb, and everyone sat down to enjoy a hot pot meal right in the restaurant!
Just as they were eating, the sound of a car engine suddenly roared outside. Moments later, Jiang Longcheng, looking rather flashy, walked in with a briefcase under his arm.
“Have you eaten yet? If not, help yourself to some chopsticks and a bowl!” Li Yi called out immediately.
“I’ve already eaten. You guys keep eating—we’ll chat after you’re done!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“Alright!”
Li Yi took a few more bites, then set down his bowl and chopsticks!
“Where should we go to talk?”
“Let’s go to my place,” Jiang Longcheng said.
“Wait a moment!”
Then Li Yi turned to Long Zhanjun and said, “Big Long, I’ve also rented the side room to the right of Uncle Wen’s. That’s where my sister and the others will be staying.”
“In a moment, take them to the nearby supply and marketing cooperative to buy some daily necessities. I’m going out for a bit first!”
“Alright, leave that to me!”
“Alright!”
After saying that, Li Yi gave his third sister a few more instructions, then followed Jiang Longcheng out.
Soon, the car arrived at the cotton mill!
Back at the factory office, Jiang Longcheng instructed the rather alluring Secretary Wang not to disturb him unless it was urgent.
He then led Li Yi back to his office and locked the door from the inside.
Watching this series of actions, Li Yi couldn’t help but say with a mix of amusement and exasperation, “What are you doing? Is this really necessary?” dxmbang
“Of course it’s necessary. Damn it, I don’t trust a single one of those guys out there!” Jiang Longcheng said through gritted teeth.
“What’s going on?”
“The investigation into Gao Shubin’s case is complete!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“What’s the verdict?”
“You were right—that guy really is a fucking scumbag…”
“Watch your language—no swearing!” Li Yi said.
“Uh… okay!”
Then, with a touch of excitement, a touch of hatred, a touch of anger, and seven parts of elation, Jiang Longcheng recounted in detail the investigation into Gao Shubin and his associates.
“You have no idea how much clout I have at the factory right now. Whether it’s those parachute appointees or those fence-sitters, they all look at me with fear in their eyes now!” Jiang Longcheng said with a touch of smugness.
“That matter’s been settled, but have you resolved the issues with your factory’s cash crunch and declining profits?” Li Yi asked again.
“Not yet!”
Jiang Longcheng continued, “This time, over four million yuan was seized from Gao Shubin and the others’ homes. The district plans to return all of that money to our factory, but it won’t be available right away, so our situation remains dire!”
“So how do you plan to handle this?”
“I haven’t figured it out yet!”
At this point, Jiang Longcheng couldn’t help but sigh.
He continued, “I was actually puzzled. Although our factory isn’t as big as Cotton Spinning Plant No. 1, our performance has been decent. So why did things suddenly go downhill?”
“Now we finally understand why those units we used to cooperate with so well suddenly stopped taking our products. It’s entirely because there’s a problem with our products—it’s not their fault!”
It was only through the Gao Shubin case that the leaders of the cotton mill realized that, due to issues with the raw materials, the products they manufactured also had serious quality problems.
For example, their factory’s flagship product, cotton cloth, frequently had loose threads that wouldn’t hold.
With cotton fabric, if the threads don’t hold together, it creates a small hole.
Furthermore, the quality of the cotton yarn and thread they produced was also very poor—anyone who used them would shake their head in disappointment!
Li Yi nodded and said, “Your reputation has completely collapsed—no one trusts you anymore!”
“That’s right. We’re at a loss right now; we don’t know how to fix this!” Jiang Longcheng said with a bitter expression.
“Actually, this is easy to fix!” Li Yi said.
“How?” Jiang Longcheng asked urgently.
“First, sell off your inventory at a discount to stay afloat. Clear out that batch of substandard goods stuck in your warehouse at a low price to quickly recoup funds. Pay the workers’ wages first to keep them on board!”
Li Yi continued, “Second, we need to rebuild the brand and win back the public’s trust. This requires you to strictly control quality—ideally, by developing some new products!”
“That’s a good idea, but the products in our warehouse all have some quality issues to varying degrees. Who are we going to sell them to?” Jiang Longcheng asked.
Li Yi thought for a moment and asked, “How much inventory is currently sitting in the warehouse?”
“No less than a million yuan’s worth—cotton cloth, cotton yarn, cotton thread, and so on!”
“A million is indeed a bit much!”
Jiang Longcheng nodded and said, “Alright, we’ll figure that out later. Let’s get down to business first!”
“Isn’t this the main business?”
“How can factory matters be called the main business?” Jiang Longcheng said with a laugh.
“Then tell me what your real business is!” Li Yi said.
“My third uncle and aunt want to treat you to a meal. My third uncle—that workaholic—even went out of his way to reschedule his plans just for this!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“Alright, just let me know the time and place!” Li Yi said.
He was also curious—was Uncle Jiang, who had such a fearsome reputation, simply trying to thank him, or did he have something else in mind?
“Also, I’d like to ask you for a favor!” Jiang Longcheng said again.
“What kind of favor? Can’t you just say it all at once?” Li Yi said with a hint of exasperation.
“Cast another divination for me…”
Before he could finish, Li Yi cut him off decisively: “No way. I won’t do it, and I don’t know how!”
“Don’t be so quick to refuse—I’m not asking you to actually do a divination!”
“Then what do you mean by this?” Li Yi asked.
“You have no idea how miserable I’ve been lately. My parents are constantly pushing me to go on blind dates. It’s bad enough that they’re all ugly as sin, but they have a million ridiculous demands too. It’s driving me crazy!”
Then Jiang Longcheng added, “Just tell my parents that I’m destined to be a ‘Lone Star of Misfortune,’ that I’m doomed to never get married and will be a bachelor for life. Let’s see if they still pressure me after that!”
“No way. You’re asking me to lie for you!” Li Yi said.
“Bro, I really don’t want to go on any more blind dates. Every time I go, I feel like a monkey in a zoo, with everyone gawking at me. It’s just not right!” Jiang Longcheng said with a grimace.
Li Yi chuckled. “Fortune-telling isn’t exactly reliable. If I actually went along with what you’re saying, what would you do if you met a girl you liked in the future? Don’t even think about your parents stopping you—I’d have to stop you too, or else it’d be a total embarrassment!”
“So, I really can’t help you with this. But I do have a suggestion—do you want to hear it?”
“What kind of suggestion?”
“If you really don’t want to get married but just want to please your family, you could find a woman to put on a show with you—just to placate your parents, right?”
“How would we do that?”
“Just bring her home to your parents and tell them you’ve found a daughter-in-law for them!”
“That’s not going to work. They’ll just pressure me to get married right away!” Jiang Longcheng shook his head vigorously.
“You’re such a dummy! Just tell them the girl doesn’t know you well yet and wants to get to know you better. That’ll put it off!” Li Yi said.
Jiang Longcheng thought about it for a moment, then burst out laughing. “Great idea! Let’s do it!”
Watching him like that, Li Yi couldn’t help but shake his head. Whoever ends up marrying this guy is bound to be driven to her grave sooner or later.