Chapter 400: False Alarm!

Hearing Jiang Xue’s voice, everyone outside was startled and immediately rushed toward the bedroom.

Li Yi took the lead, pushing past the crowd to be the first to reach the bedroom.

When he burst through the bedroom door, he found his wife holding onto the edge of the bed with one hand and clutching her stomach with the other, her face contorted with pain.

Li Yi didn’t waste a moment; he immediately went over to support her and asked, “What’s wrong? Did you fall?”

Jiang Shiying and Ye Lingyun followed closely behind and rushed over as well.

At that moment, everyone’s gaze focused on Jiang Xue, their faces filled with concern.

“No, it’s just that my stomach suddenly started hurting badly. I don’t know if I’m going into labor!” Jiang Xue said, enduring the sharp pains in her abdomen.

Just moments ago, after returning to the bedroom, she had been about to try on the maternity clothes Li Yi had mentioned. But before she could even take off her old clothes, the baby inside her had stirred.

Immediately afterward, a piercing, cramping pain set in, growing increasingly intense.

Hearing that her daughter was in pain, Ye Lingyun’s nerves immediately went on edge.

Perhaps recalling her own ordeal twenty years ago, her body began to feel unsteady.

Seeing this, Jiang Shiying hurriedly helped her lie down on the single bed beside them and did her best to comfort her.

Li Yi also helped Jiang Xue onto the bed and let her rest for a moment.

At the same time, he instructed Jiang Longcheng and Zhang Xinyao to pack their things immediately and get ready to go to the hospital.

Fortunately, Li Yi had been prepared for this situation; he had already purchased everything Jiang Xue would need for childbirth, including postpartum clothing, baby blankets, diapers, bottles, formula, and toilet paper.

Now all they had to do was load these items into the car, and they would be ready to head to the hospital at any moment.

However, after Jiang Xue had rested for a while, the cramping pain in her abdomen actually subsided.

Although it turned out to be a false alarm, neither Jiang Shiying nor Li Yi dared to take it lightly.

Jiang Shiying then called in Dr. Jiang, the specialist assigned to the old man by the hospital, and asked him to take a look.

Dr. Jiang arrived shortly thereafter.

After conducting an examination, he informed Li Yi, Jiang Shiying, and the others that Jiang Xue’s water had not broken and she had not gone into labor.

The earlier episode was a normal contraction; while it didn’t mean she would give birth immediately, it was a sign that labor was approaching.

He then offered his assessment: Jiang Xue would give birth within the next day or two, and the family should be prepared.

Hearing this, Li Yi, Jiang Shiying, and the others were a mix of surprise, joy, and worry.

Li Yi had originally intended to take Jiang Xue to the hospital right away to await delivery; after all, she was carrying twins, and since this was her first pregnancy, there were certain risks involved.

However, Jiang Xue wanted to wait until tomorrow. The reason was that today happened to be New Year’s Eve, and the old man had gathered everyone at home early to have a New Year’s Eve dinner at the ancestral home. Jiang Xue didn’t want to miss the festivities.

Jiang Shiying also felt that the family home wasn’t very far from Peking Union Medical College Hospital—it was only about a ten-minute drive—so she thought it wouldn’t be too late for her daughter to go after the New Year’s Eve dinner.

However, for Jiang Xue’s safety, neither Li Yi nor Jiang Shiying dared let her try on those new outfits again…

Seeing that Jiang Xue was fine, Jiang Longcheng took Zhang Xinyao and left the old family home. He planned to take Zhang Xinyao to his own place for a while and come back later that evening.

Li Yi and Jiang Xue naturally had no objections to this. After all, they were adults; whether their feelings were genuine, insincere, or merely a fleeting fling, they should take responsibility for their own decisions without needing others to remind them.

Before leaving, Li Yi gave Zhang Xinyao 300 yuan—her wages and a bonus.

Compared to Feng Qian, Zhang Xinyao received a bit more—mainly because Li Yi wanted to thank her for looking after Jiang Xue and his mother-in-law during this time.

After seeing the two off, Jiang Shiying and Li Yi settled the mother and daughter back into the house.

Afterward, at Jiang Shiying’s invitation, the son-in-law and daughter-in-law went to the study.

……..

West Wing. Study!

The father-in-law and son-in-law sat down across from each other at a small round table!

While pouring tea, Jiang Shiying said to Li Yi, “You’ve caused quite a stir in Longcheng. I’ve even seen news about you all the way here in Guangdong Province!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “It’s going pretty well!”

“It’s more than just ‘not bad.’ Tell me, how much did you make off this deal, kid?” Jiang Shiying pressed.

Without hesitation, Li Yi held up three fingers toward his father-in-law.

Seeing Li Yi’s gesture, Jiang Shiying exclaimed in surprise, “300,000 in a month—that’s 10,000 a day. That’s truly astonishing!”

“Dad, it’s 3 million!”

“How… how much?” Jiang Shiying asked, wide-eyed.

“3 million. To be precise, it’s 3,066,579 yuan!” Li Yi said.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shiying was stunned for over a minute before finally coming to his senses.

Then, with a slightly grave expression, he asked, “Did you really earn 3.06 million in just over a month?”

“It wasn’t us—I made 3.06 million on my own!”

Li Yi continued, “Aside from the 455,000 yuan we received from the cotton mill for the fabric, I also paid over 80,000 yuan in wages to the factory workers. As for my third older brother, he didn’t take a single penny!”

“Xiao Yi, over three million yuan—just like that? Have you thought about the consequences?” Jiang Shiying said in a grave tone.

“Dad, are you worried the higher-ups will come after me?” Li Yi retorted.

“Yes. It’s already astonishing for others to earn a hundred or two hundred yuan a month, but for you to make over three million a month—that’s far beyond anyone’s expectations and exceeds the limits of what the higher-ups can tolerate!”

After all, Jiang Shiying was a politician; he understood exactly what the bigwigs at the top were thinking.

Lifting restrictions on private businesses was merely a stopgap measure; otherwise, there simply wouldn’t be anywhere to house the returning educated youth. We couldn’t very well let them just hang around the city as unemployed drifters, could we?

It’s manageable in the short term, but if this drags on, trouble is bound to ensue!

But the problem was that the higher-ups were still debating the extent of the liberalization.

There were already those opposed to opening up private industry and commerce, and now his own son-in-law was making such a big splash at this very moment—wasn’t that just asking for trouble?

However, Li Yi just smiled and said, “Dad, three million isn’t a small sum, but how does it compare to 100 million, or even a billion?”

“What do you mean?”

“Father, you know I made over three million in just over a month, but do you know how big the market for this business is?”

“I don’t know!”

“Currently, the ready-to-wear market is worth at least 10 billion, and it’s expanding at a visible pace.”

Li Yi continued, “Right now, Feixue Apparel, under my name, has seized the market opportunity and has already broken into the markets in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei Province. If we keep expanding at this pace, we’ll make at least 100 million in profit by the end of the year!”

“Well… I’m still a bit confused…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi said, “Father, I’ve already spoken with Third Brother. Once the remaining raw materials at the factory are cleared out, I’ll hand over all of Feixue Apparel’s records to the cotton mill!” dxmbang

“In addition, I’ll draw up a detailed development plan for the Cotton Spinning Mill. If we follow my plan, within three years at most, the mill will grow into a mega-enterprise with an annual profit of 1 billion yuan.”

“Do you think those bigwigs up there would care about my measly three million compared to a mega-enterprise with an annual profit of 1 billion?”

Hearing Li Yi’s words, Jiang Shiying fell deep into thought.

After a long pause, he sighed and said, “What a brilliant move to step down at the height of your success. Never mind 1 billion—if you can truly transform the cotton mill from its current half-dead state into a large enterprise with an annual profit of 100 million, those in power won’t touch you!”

“Heh, rest assured on that front. After the New Year, the cotton mill’s printed fabrics and woolen fabrics will be incorporated into the specialty stores’ operations. By then, the factory’s financial situation will improve rapidly, and the results will be fully evident!” Li Yi said.

“That’s good to hear. If all else fails, we can have the old man put in a good word with the higher-ups…”

“Dad, there’s no need. The Old Man’s merits and honors shouldn’t be spent on this. Besides, I have a backup plan—you can rest assured!” Li Yi said.

“As long as you’re confident, that’s fine. But if things don’t go as you expect, don’t try to force it!” Jiang Shiying said.

“Understood!”

………