Chapter 454: Knowing the Outcome in Advance Is Called Investment!
? The Jiang Family Ancestral Home. Main Hall!
Jiang Shiying stood there reading everything Li Yi had written, then asked in shock, “You wrote all of this?”
“Yes, these are my assessments and views on the current economic situation, as well as some reflections on the problems and shortcomings of state-owned enterprises in our country!” Li Yi replied.
“Hahaha, I knew it! I was wondering why you were so confident—turns out you’d already figured out a plan of action!”
After that, Jiang Shiying glanced at the manuscript in his hand and asked, “How do you plan to use this manuscript?”
“Dad, I’ve written a total of eight editorials like this. My original plan was to hand them over to my second older brother so he could publish them in the state media under his own name—I just don’t know if he has the guts to do it,” Li Yi said.
“Eight?”
“Mm-hmm!”
Jiang Shiying thought for a moment and said, “Long Yin’s position is still too low for his words to carry much weight. I’ll handle this myself!”
“You?”
“Yes. Since our region serves as a showcase for reform and opening-up, and the economic landscape is changing rapidly, it would be more appropriate for me to speak on these matters,” Jiang Shiying said.
“Alright then! I’ll hand over the rest of the materials to you tomorrow!”
“Alright. I didn’t expect you to have such a deep understanding of economic matters. It’s truly a waste of your talent that you aren’t serving at the Economic and Trade Commission!” Jiang Shiying said.
As soon as Li Yi heard this, he knew his father-in-law hadn’t given up yet and was trying to talk him into pursuing a political career again.
He hurriedly replied, “Dad, it would be a huge waste if I went. Please don’t try to get me into government again—that’s really not my calling!”
“I’m not asking you to be an official—as if the country is so desperate for you!” Jiang Shiying glared at Li Yi.
At that moment, Ye Lingyun, who was standing nearby, asked, “What about Brother Rong’s situation from the other day?”
“Heh, I’ll treat him to a drink tonight and share these humble thoughts of mine with him!”
As he spoke, Jiang Shiying waved the manuscripts in his hand, a look of pride on his face.
“What on earth is in these manuscripts of Yi’s? Look how precious they are to you!” Yang said curiously.
“It’s the real deal. With this, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission won’t just be unable to take action against Little Yi—they’ll have to give him their full support!” Jiang Shiying said.
“Is it really that powerful?”
“Mm-hmm!”
Just then, Jiang Shiying suddenly remembered something and fixed his gaze on Li Yi. “By the way, I heard you spent 200,000 on a bunch of worthless calligraphy and paintings. Is that true?”
“It’s true!”
“Not ancient paintings?”
“No, they’re all works by modern artists!” Li Yi replied honestly.
“What were you thinking, wasting 200,000 yuan like that?” Jiang Shiying frowned.
Li Yi smiled and said, “It’s not a waste—I just wanted to leave something nice for Yun Rui and Yun Jin!”
“Those calligraphy and paintings? You call them good stuff?”
“Father, you’ve surely heard the saying: ‘Antiques in times of prosperity, gold in times of turmoil.’ If this were a few decades ago, I certainly wouldn’t have bought these calligraphy and paintings even if I had the money, but now I don’t think I’ve lost out by buying them!”
“Are you saying we’re already in a golden age, and these calligraphy and paintings will appreciate in value?” Jiang Shiying frowned.
“No, we’re still far from a golden age, but there are already signs of one on the horizon!”
“That’s true, but isn’t betting 200,000 on this a bit too risky?” Jiang Shiying said.
Li Yi shook his head and said, “There’s no need to bet on this!”
“Oh, so this isn’t a bet?”
“Not knowing the outcome is gambling; knowing the outcome is an investment!”
Li Yi continued, “Although those calligraphy and paintings aren’t ancient works and aren’t as valuable as ancient paintings, they were created by renowned modern and contemporary masters—artists like Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, and Li Keran! Right now, their works may only be moderately well-known and not worth much, but at an average price of twenty per piece, it’s not a loss.”
“And as the national economy develops and people’s living standards continue to rise, these famous artists’ calligraphy and paintings are bound to increase in value significantly. Trading a sure thing for unlimited potential—what do you think?”
Jiang Shiying shook his head and said, “I don’t really understand this business you’re talking about, but you’ve always been a steady and reliable young man, so I won’t say much more!”
“Thanks, Dad!”
“By the way, I heard from Long Yin that you’re looking to acquire a plot of land near Beiguan Village?”
“Yeah, since I have some spare cash on hand, I’d like to build up some assets here in the capital!” Li Yi said.
“Can you really make money with a cold storage facility?” Jiang Shiying frowned.
“It can!”
Li Yi wasn’t sure if building a cold storage facility would be profitable, but securing that piece of land would definitely make him a fortune!
“Hmm, in that case, go talk to Long Yin!”
“Alright!”
………
By the time they left the Jiang family’s old mansion, it was already past eight o’clock in the evening.
The two little ones had woken up earlier but were now fast asleep again, lying quietly in Jiang Xue and Juanzi’s arms.
Watching Li Yi skillfully maneuver the car, Jiang Xue couldn’t help but ask, “You’ve had this car for so long now—why haven’t you thought about returning it to Third Brother?”
“If I give it back to them, what are we supposed to drive?” Li Yi asked with a smile.
“We managed just fine without a car before. Why do we need one now? Besides, you’re not the type to be into showing off, are you?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Before we had the kids, it was easy enough to get around. But now that we have these two, it’s really inconvenient to go out without a car!”
“But we can’t keep borrowing other people’s cars. If that’s the case, let’s just buy one ourselves!” Jiang Xue said.
Li Yi smiled and said, “Buying a car isn’t as simple as you think. Even if we had the money, we couldn’t buy one—unless we were foreigners!”
Li Yi had already looked into this; current policies simply didn’t allow private citizens to buy cars.
The main issue was that people’s incomes were generally quite low at the time. Never mind buying a car—even buying a bicycle required several months’ wages. Saving up for a car was practically out of the question.
In fact, it wasn’t until 1984 that the government issued the “Provisions on Individual Farmers or Joint Households Purchasing Motor Vehicles, Boats, and Tractors for Transportation Operations,” which explicitly legalized private car ownership.
That was precisely why Li Yi had been holding onto the cotton mill’s vehicle and refusing to return it.
As for whether people would gossip about it, Li Yi didn’t care and felt no guilt whatsoever.
After all, it belonged to the cotton mill. He had handed over Feixue Apparel and the vast majority of the profits to the mill; a single month’s net profit alone could buy dozens of these beat-up little cars.
Did Li Yi really need to feel guilty about borrowing the factory’s car for a while?
“But… since it’s not our own, I just don’t feel at ease!” Jiang Xue said.
“What’s there to feel uneasy about? Fine, I’ll just return the car tomorrow!”
Anyway, aside from running to the store, the car really wasn’t doing much good right now. If they had to return it, so be it!
“If you don’t want to return it…”
“It’s not a matter of wanting to or not. I don’t plan on going out for the next little while anyway, so keeping the car is pointless!”
“Why aren’t you going out? Is it because…”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. It’s already mid-April, and there are less than three months left until the college entrance exams. For the next little while, I’ll try to stay home to take care of the kids and cook, so you can focus on studying!” Li Yi said.
“Really?” Jiang Xue asked, her face lighting up with delight.
In fact, ever since they returned from Qin Province last October—and especially after Li Yi moved to Beijing for work—Jiang Xue had felt that he simply didn’t spend enough time with her.
Although she understood that Li Yi was genuinely busy, deep down she longed for her husband to spend as much time as possible with her and their child!
“Of course it’s true. From now on, I’ll cook for you every day and stay home to look after the baby. Don’t go calling me a loser!”
“I wouldn’t dream of it—I’d be over the moon!”
What Jiang Xue hadn’t anticipated, however, was that she would regret it the very next day…