Chapter 464: Li Gang’s Counterattack!

The night passed without incident!

Early the next morning, Li Yi got up and drove straight to the cotton mill!

Back at the guesthouse, Wang Anguo, Li Gang, and the others were already up, packing their things and preparing to return to North Sai Province.

Their main purpose in coming to the capital was to escort Huang Lixing, a special guest.

After all, he had contributed 5 million yuan to the education sector of Saibei Province—an absolutely staggering sum in these times—and deserved such treatment.

More importantly, Huang Lixing had had a very unpleasant experience in North Sai Province.

Although the incident itself had nothing to do with the Saibei Provincial Government—it was Huang Lixing’s own poor choice of staff—it still left the provincial government feeling uneasy, which is why Wang Anguo and his team had been providing round-the-clock protection.

Now that the mission was complete, it was time for them to head back!

But what Wang Anguo and Li Gang hadn’t expected was that when they came downstairs, ready to leave, they found Li Yi already waiting for them by the car!

“Brother Li Yi, did you come all the way here just to see us off? There really was no need…”

Before Wang Anguo could finish, Li Yi smiled and said, “Come on, stop being so formal. Let’s go—I’ll take you guys out for breakfast!”

Then, Li Yi led the group straight to the cotton mill’s staff canteen.

That’s right—the cadre cafeteria.

Like all large state-owned enterprises of that era, the cotton mill’s canteens were divided into staff and executive sections.

Although they were in the same building, the menu was completely different—simply put, the cadres’ cafeteria served more lavish, rich dishes.

The staff at the canteen clearly recognized Li Yi; upon seeing him walk in with a group, they hurried over to greet them.

It was early in the morning, and there weren’t any fancy dishes on the menu, so Li Yi ordered a steamer basket of pork buns for the group and a large bowl of Beijing-style soybean milk for each person.

Li Gang was clearly trying douzhi for the first time. He took a sniff and asked, “Brother Li Yi, what on earth is this? It smells awful—it hasn’t gone bad, has it?”

Li Yi chuckled. Douzhi did indeed smell unpleasant—it had a faintly sour, musty odor—and as for the taste… well, it was even worse.

Even though it didn’t taste great, a visit to the capital wouldn’t be complete without trying a bowl of douzhi.

“This is called douzhi, a specialty of the capital. Once you leave the city walls, you won’t find it anywhere else!” Li Yi explained.

Hearing Li Yi make such a big deal out of it, Li Gang took a spoonful and put it in his mouth, half-believing, half-doubting.

The first sensation was a bit bitter, followed by a faint, strange aftertaste. After swallowing, a smell reminiscent of swill immediately rose up.

Although there was a faint hint of sweetness, it didn’t leave a pleasant aftertaste.

In short, it was disgusting!

After finally swallowing it, Li Gang grimaced and said, “Bro, are you sure this isn’t just spoiled swill? How can it taste this bad?”

“It’s supposed to be disgusting—that’s exactly the flavor we’re going for!”

After saying that, Li Yi turned to Wang Anguo and said, “Brother Wang, I was planning to have you guys stay a few more days, but since you have important business to attend to, I won’t hold you back. However, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you regarding my sister-in-law!”

“What is it? Go ahead!” Wang Anguo replied immediately.

“To be honest, I didn’t plan on asking my sister-in-law to come help me at first, but her business acumen is truly remarkable. Now that she’s leading a team to expand our market overseas, forcing you two to live apart, I really feel bad about it!” Li Yi said.

Wang Anguo shook his head and said, “Brother, there’s nothing to feel bad about. It was your sister-in-law’s own choice, and I support her, too.”

“Besides, even if she hadn’t come to work here, we’d still be apart most of the time since I was transferred to Ning City. We’re already used to it!”

Li Yi nodded and said, “This situation will likely continue for a few years, so you two need to be mentally prepared. Brother Wang, if you feel this isn’t working out, just tell me straight up!”

Wang Anguo chuckled. “Are you worried that we’ll be apart so much, and our relationship will suffer?”

“Yeah!”

“You’re overthinking it. Back when I was in the army a few years ago, I couldn’t even go home once a year, but we still made it work, didn’t we?”

Wang Anguo continued, “After I got out of the army, I was assigned to work at a local commune police station. I could only go home once a week—I’m used to it!”

“I’m just worried it might affect your marriage. If you two end up fighting over this, I’d really feel guilty!” Li Yi said.

“Haha, don’t worry about it!”

Li Gang chimed in from the side, “Brother Wang and his wife have been childhood sweethearts since they were little—their relationship is rock solid!”

“Besides, you know Brother Wang’s temperament. He’s a total wife’s man—he fully supports whatever Sister-in-law wants to do. He’d never dare say no!”

Wang Anguo immediately shot him a withering look and retorted, “You’re such a chatterbox. You’d better focus on how to handle Deputy Director Zhang—you’ve really screwed their whole family over this time!”

Hearing this, Li Yi immediately recalled how Li Gang had been emotionally manipulated by Zhang Yanru earlier—clearly, the guy had decided to strike back.

“What’s the deal? What did you do to that girl?”

Li Gang grinned and said, “Nothing much. Just took some guys to confront that slut once…”

“Did you beat her up?”

“No…”

Before he could finish, Wang Anguo chimed in with a laugh from the side: “The kid didn’t actually hit anyone. Instead, he pretended not to know about that girl from the Zhang family’s dirty little affairs. He kept her hanging on while having people keep an eye on her. Then, when she let her guard down and was sneaking around with her lover, they cornered them in the room and caught them red-handed.”

“That’s one thing, but the next day, the kid went straight to the county dance troupe and caused a scene, spilling all the details of that girl from the Zhang family’s affair. He got the whole county talking about it—that girl’s reputation is completely ruined. He really went all out!”

Li Gang snorted coldly and said, “What reputation does a slut like her have left? If Brother Li Yi hadn’t stopped me, I’d have chopped her to pieces!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Don’t be so full of rage. Do you think it would’ve been better to chop her up, or is it better the way it is now?”

“Of course it’s better this way. You have no idea how miserable that woman is now. Not only does she dare not go to work, she doesn’t even dare step outside—she’s like a rat in the street!” Li Gang said with a laugh.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Wang Anguo chimed in with a laugh, “You’re feeling pretty good about yourself now, but you’ve also completely alienated Deputy Director Zhang. You’d better watch your step!”

“He’s just a deputy director of the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau—same rank as me. I’m not afraid of him. If he dares mess with me, I’ll take him down too!”

Clearly, Li Gang harbored deep resentment toward Deputy Director Zhang, the man who had nearly become his father-in-law.

“Alright, let’s drop this. It’s not worth it over a few scumbags!”

Then Li Yi spoke again: “Before I go, I want to discuss some serious business with the two of you. There will be major adjustments to national policy this year, especially in rural areas. You need to be particularly careful—don’t go causing any trouble.”

Li Yi recalled that it was this year that North Sai Province began rolling out the household responsibility system on a large scale.

Since this involved the distribution of land, livestock, and production tools among the production teams, conflicts had erupted in many areas, and there had even been several serious violent incidents.

Wang Anguo and Li Gang were both smart men. They didn’t ask Li Yi where he’d heard this, but nodded simultaneously to show they understood.

The group ate and chatted as they dined, and only after they had eaten their fill did they leave the cotton mill’s cafeteria.

Afterward, Wang Anguo and the others drove away from the cotton mill, heading north all the way toward the northern suburbs!