Chapter 722: The Jiang Family Has Nothing to Worry About!

The conversation in the Jiang family study continued. The old patriarch said with a look of satisfaction, “Xiao Yi, Grandfather had thought the Jiang family would just slowly decline from here on out. I never expected that heaven has its eyes—not only have we found Xue’er, but we’ve also gained such an outstanding son-in-law in you!”

“Thanks to your arrival, the Jiang family will enjoy at least another fifty years of prosperity. The entire Jiang family’s fate will be transformed because of you!”

Li Yi truly admired the old patriarch’s foresight. As things stood, the Jiang family was indeed about to reach a turning point in its destiny because of his arrival.

It was truly remarkable that the old man could see this clearly, rather than simply attributing the family’s strength to the Jiang clan itself.

However, even though he understood this, he couldn’t simply accept such praise. He immediately replied, “Grandfather, your words leave me feeling a bit overwhelmed. I won’t deny that the matters I brought up with the higher-ups might have been a contributing factor to Uncle First and Uncle Second’s promotions, but it certainly wasn’t the main reason…”

Before he could finish, the old man cut him off: “No, their promotions are directly related to you—or rather, they’re riding on your coattails. I know this better than anyone!”

“Well… you’re overestimating me. Someone like me—how could I possibly influence the promotions of provincial and ministerial-level leaders?” Li Yi said.

The old man said solemnly, “You may not realize it, but that sum of money was a tremendous help to the country. At that time, our foreign exchange reserves had hit rock bottom; we had even drawn down a significant portion of our gold reserves, yet it was still far from enough, with a large number of projects awaiting foreign exchange settlement.”

“If you hadn’t managed to bring back those more than a billion dollars in precious foreign exchange in time, the commercial credibility the country had worked so hard to establish would have been severely damaged due to a lack of sufficient foreign exchange!”

“But that shouldn’t have affected the promotions of those two provincial-level officials!” Li Yi said.

The old man chuckled and said, “It’s not just two of them!”

“Are you implying we should add Second Brother to the list?”

“Not just him!”

“Who else? Could it be Brother Longze too…”

“No, it’s the Ye family!” the old man said.

Li Yi said in surprise, “The Ye family gets a share too?”

“Of course. After all, Xue’er is Old Ye’s granddaughter, so as her son-in-law, you naturally have to share the rewards with the Ye family!” the old man said.

“So who in the Ye family got promoted?”

“The eldest and fourth sons of the Ye family have both been promoted. Plus, Old Ye’s children are far more capable than your eldest and second uncles. The Ye family is truly set to soar to new heights!” the old man said with a hint of envy.

“Grandpa, about this… I can’t help but feel a little uneasy. I just managed to secure some funds from the higher-ups—it shouldn’t have caused such a huge stir, should it?” Li Yi said in a subdued tone.

The old man smiled and said, “Don’t worry. There are some matters restricted by confidentiality that I can’t discuss with you, but you’ve truly been of great help to the country—your contributions are undeniable!”

“Originally, such a great achievement should have been credited to you personally. But since you don’t hold public office and have no interest in a political career—and since no one in our family has ever been in politics—the higher-ups, after much deliberation, ultimately decided to attribute the credit to the Jiang and Ye families!”

Li Yi took a deep breath, then nodded and said, “Since there’s no issue, let’s accept it with grace!”

“Xiao Yi, the old commander asked me to pass on a message for him!” the old man suddenly said, his words coming as a surprise.

Li Yi’s expression flickered slightly, and he hurriedly asked, “What did you say?”

“The old commander is asking if, once you’ve made enough money, you’d be interested in taking a position at the Ministry of State-Owned Assets or the Ministry of Commerce!”

Upon hearing this, Li Yi fell deep in thought.

In fact, more than one person had suggested this to him—from the Wang Anmin and Wang Anguo brothers in Qingshan County to his own father-in-law—but no matter who made the offer, Li Yi had never been tempted and had always refused decisively.

But today, he hesitated.

It wasn’t that he had forgotten his original aspirations or altered his life plans, but rather that he could hear in the old man’s tone just how humble the former commander had made himself in offering this, and he could see how high the old man’s expectations of him were.

How could he possibly say no to an elder like that!

The old man also sensed Li Yi’s dilemma and immediately said, “The old commander told me not to put any pressure on you. Just say what’s on your mind—none of us would ever force a distinguished veteran like you to do anything!”

Li Yi thought for a moment, then said earnestly, “Grandfather, the old commander wants me to work at these two units with strong economic focus because he values my ability to manage economic operations!”

“That’s right!”

“But I don’t think the old commander actually needs someone like me—or rather, my skills aren’t really a good fit for those two departments!” Li Yi said.

“What do you mean?”

“Grandpa, my skills actually fall under the realm of investment—they lean more toward capital operations and are micro-level in nature. But whether it’s the State-owned Assets Department or the Commerce Department, they actually place greater emphasis on formulating and adjusting economic policies, which is macro-level. The difference between the two is quite significant!”

Li Yi continued, “I’m not afraid to put my life on the line—though I wouldn’t go so far as to say I have the courage to die for my country—but I’m not afraid to do my part for the nation. However, I believe I can make a far greater impact in the investment sector than I could in those government agencies!”

“I see what you mean. I’ll bring this up with the old commander later!” the old man said.

“Yes, just tell the old commander that the country doesn’t need another official named Li Yi, but it does need an expert in foreign investment!” Li Yi said.

“Alright!”

Then the old man added, “By the way, I heard your assets overseas have already reached several tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars. Is that true?”

“It’s true. All my assets combined come to about 30 billion,” Li Yi replied.

“So how do you plan to spend all that money? Have you thought about investing back home?” the old man asked.

“Yes!”

Li Yi continued, “Over the next year or two, there probably won’t be opportunities abroad to make as much money as we did this year, so I’ve decided to shift my investment focus to the mainland.”

“It’s not just me—Chinese businesspeople from Hong Kong will also be coming in groups to invest here in the mainland. You can rest assured about that, Grandpa.”

“Very well, very well. With you saying that, Grandpa can rest easy!”

The old man continued, “You’re already on their radar now. Every move you make is being watched. If things go as expected, the people in power know exactly how much money you have—probably better than you do yourself. If you don’t make a gesture, it’s inevitable that some people will start getting ideas!”

Li Yi nodded and said, “I understand what you mean, Grandfather. The higher-ups want me to set an example, and I know exactly how to handle this!”

The old man sighed and said, “Ah, I’m putting you in a difficult position!”

“Heh, it’s no trouble. For me, this isn’t a bad thing at all!” Li Yi replied.

“Oh, do you really think so?”

“Yes!”

Then Li Yi added, “Grandpa, do you know the story of the wooden pole at the city gate?”

“I do!”

“Actually, our situation is quite similar to that of the Qin Dynasty back then. We’re both seeking reform—whether it’s our Reform and Opening-Up or Shang Yang’s reforms in the Qin Dynasty—we all hope to make our country stronger through these changes.”

Li Yi continued, “The current efforts to attract investment are just like Shang Yang placing that log at the city gate back then. The man who carried the log for Shang Yang was rewarded and received gold.”

“And now the country wants me to be that man who carries the log. If I do it, the outcome certainly won’t be too bad.”

Hearing this, the old man fell into deep thought.

To be honest, there were some things he hadn’t thought through very deeply.

After a long while, the old man suddenly burst into hearty laughter, saying, “Hahaha, it’s true that ambition knows no age limit. Good lad, you really are a good lad…”

The old man had already held his grandson-in-law in high regard, but through today’s conversation, he realized he had previously underestimated the young man’s capabilities.

His vision, his competence, and his political acumen were on par with even those seasoned veterans who’d been in politics for years.

With him around, the Jiang family truly has nothing to worry about!