Chapter 447: The Sky Won’t Fall!

Li Yi knew exactly where the cold storage facility was located—in the northeast corner of Beiguan Village, no more than three kilometers away from the shop as the crow flies.

Of course, since Beiguan Village itself was in the suburbs, and the cold storage facility was on the outskirts of the village, this was definitely considered a remote suburban area.

But who could have imagined that in less than a decade, this area would develop into the inner city of Beijing?

Returning to the cold storage facility in Beiguan Village, he hadn’t actually been there in this lifetime, but in his previous life, he’d been a regular there.

Following the route from his memory, Li Yi soon arrived at the cold storage facility.

Gazing at the striking words “Beijing’s Ninth Cold Storage” on the massive iron gate, Li Yi’s thoughts seemed to be pulled back to his past life once again.

Back then, after being fired from the cotton mill, he had nowhere to go for a while. Out of desperation, he was referred to the cold storage facility to work as a loader.

Forty-five yuan a month was considered a high salary back then.

But working as a loader in the cold storage facility was no easy task. Due to the year-round exposure to sub-zero temperatures, many workers couldn’t last more than a few years before developing various ailments, such as rheumatism.

Precisely for this reason, locals generally only took management positions, while ordinary loading and unloading jobs were reserved for outsiders.

After working in the cold storage facility for a few months, Li Yi realized this wasn’t a long-term solution. Just then, he came across an ad from Mr. Guo, a dried goods merchant, who was hiring, so he quit his job and joined him in the mountain produce business.

Although Li Yi hadn’t been at the cold storage facility for very long, he was still fairly familiar with the layout.

Since there was constant traffic coming and going at the cold storage facility, the security guards at the entrance didn’t check vehicles, so Li Yi simply drove his car right inside.

He then drove straight to the northwest corner of the cold storage complex, as that was the only area with a few storage units available for rent; the rest were all reserved for several large organizations in the city.

If all went as expected, Long Zhanjun and his group should be there. dxmbang

Sure enough, when Li Yi reached the northwest corner, he spotted the sugar factory’s large truck from a distance.

Over at the cold storage facility, Yang Wenguang, Long Zhanjun, and the others were busy slaughtering sheep!

With limited manpower and over five hundred rams to slaughter, they still had quite a few left even after working half the night yesterday and all day today.

Just as the group was hard at work, a jeep pulled up right in front of them.

When they saw Li Yi get out of the car, Yang Wenguang and Long Zhanjun immediately came over to greet him.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Li Yi asked, “How’s the slaughter going, brothers-in-law? How many are left?”

“Brothers-in-law?”

Yang Wenguang was unaware of Long Zhanjun’s engagement to Li Na, and upon hearing this, his face immediately betrayed his shock.

“Brother Long, you and the third son?”

“Yeah, we’re engaged!” Long Zhanjun said, looking a bit embarrassed.

“Why didn’t you say anything? I hadn’t even considered that possibility—turns out we’re brothers-in-law after all!”

“Actually, Big Brother-in-Law, I wanted to tell you when you first arrived, but I didn’t know how to bring it up. One thing led to another, and it just got put off!” Long Zhanjun said.

“You deserve a penalty for this, you rascal!”

“Alright, let’s have a drink tonight. I’ll accept the punishment!”

After a bit of banter, Long Zhanjun added, “There aren’t many sheep left, but with all these offal parts to process today, it’s really a bit of a hassle!”

“Take your time—no rush!”

Then Li Yi turned to Yang Wenguang again and said, “Brother-in-law, it’s too late to head out now. Come stay at my place tonight—let’s have a good drink!”

“Alright, but with your drinking capacity, are you sure you can keep up?”

“Hahaha, if I can’t keep up, there’s always Third Brother-in-Law—he’s got a pretty good tolerance!”

“Hahaha… you sure found yourself a good drinking buddy!”

After a bit of banter, the group got back to work.

It wasn’t until the sun was setting that the last few dozen sheep on the truck were finally slaughtered.

After placing all the dressed sheep in the cold storage, the heads, hooves, and offal were loaded onto a large truck and transported to the shop, where the staff would process them once they had a moment.

Afterward, Li Yi and the others drove back to the shop.

………

They had barely returned to the restaurant when customers started pouring in!

Since it was the weekend, there were quite a few people coming in to eat; most of the dozens of tables in the dining hall were occupied.

Perhaps due to a shortage of staff, there was no one at the counter.

Just as Li Yi was about to head to the kitchen to check, he saw a heavyset figure emerge from the kitchen carrying a large tray, then skillfully serving dishes to the customers.

To Li Yi’s surprise, the portly figure was none other than Jiang Longcheng.

Seeing this burly factory director helping out in the restaurant like a waiter struck Li Yi as somewhat comical.

After all, the restaurant’s clientele consisted mainly of employees from several large state-owned factories in the area, including the cotton mill.

In other words, the restaurant’s patrons included plenty of employees and managers from the Cotton Spinning Mill—so having the plant director serve them food was practically a joke, wasn’t it?

Upon seeing this, Li Yi immediately called out, “Third Brother!”

Hearing Li Yi’s voice, Jiang Longcheng immediately looked toward the entrance.

Realizing it was Li Yi, he immediately walked over, carrying an empty tray.

“Brother-in-law, you’re finally back! I was so worried!”

“Hold on a second—why are you working as a waiter in my restaurant?” Li Yi asked curiously.

“My wife works here. She’s swamped, so I had to lend a hand!” Jiang Longcheng said matter-of-factly.

Hearing this, Li Yi realized he’d been reading too much into it. He’d assumed Jiang Longcheng had come to help out because the shop was short-staffed, but it turned out the guy was actually there for Zhang Xinyao.

Still, this showed that Jiang Longcheng really cared about Zhang Xinyao. Even though their story had a bit of a soap-opera twist, it looked like they’d probably end up together.

“I heard you’ve been calling the shop three times a day. What’s the big rush?” Li Yi asked, feigning ignorance.

Jiang Longcheng might be a bit of a roughneck, but he knew there were some things best not said in public. He immediately grabbed Li Yi’s arm and said, “Come on, let’s find a quiet place to talk!”

Li Yi knew this guy must have been living in fear and agony these past few days.

He immediately asked Long Zhanjun to take over entertaining his sister’s husband and the other drivers from the sugar factory, while he followed Jiang Longcheng into an empty private room inside the restaurant.

As soon as they entered, Jiang Longcheng said anxiously, “Brother-in-law, those bastards up there want to cut you off at the knees. They’re planning to take action against you. What are we going to do?”

However, Li Yi remained calm and said, “Third Brother, don’t panic. The sky isn’t falling!”

“Brother-in-law, the information came straight from inside the State-owned Assets Department—it’s definitely reliable. Don’t take this lightly!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“Haha, if they really intended to take someone down, they wouldn’t have tipped you off. The police would’ve already come knocking. With all the fuss being made now, it’s probably not a big deal after all!” Li Yi said.

“That’s true. Should you mention this to Uncle San?” Jiang Longcheng asked again.

“No need. I can handle this myself!” Li Yi said.

“Then what can I do?”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Just focus on running the cotton mill. Aim to set new records for revenue and profits in April and May. The better you do over there, the safer we’ll be!”

“Got it!”

“Also, spread the word that I’m planning to revoke the agreement we signed earlier and reclaim operational control of Feixue Apparel!” Li Yi said.

“Brother-in-law, are you planning to put pressure on the higher-ups?”

“No, I’m just making a show of it. Barring any surprises, the folks at the State-owned Assets Department will try to keep me on!” Li Yi said.

“Got it! I’ll make the arrangements as soon as I get back!”

“Mm-hmm!”

………

PS: Speechless—I’ve tested positive again!