Guangzhou. Provincial Government Compound!
It was exactly 10:00 a.m. when they arrived.
As usual, the National Security Bureau had sent people to pick them up at the pier, but Li Yi didn’t see Zhou Rui.
Li Yi knew that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Zhou Rui should still be in Pengcheng at this hour.
Last night, just before he decided to return to Yangcheng, he had instructed his brother-in-law, Yan Guangming, and others to transport the principal and interest totaling 1.15 billion US dollars—the portion allocated to the state—to Shekou Port via a cargo ship under Huang Lixing’s command.
With such a massive sum of money, Zhou Rui certainly wouldn’t feel comfortable entrusting it to others, so he had gone to Pengcheng himself.
Upon returning to the small villa, everyone seemed to relax instantly.
As soon as they walked in, Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, Yang Zhiwen, and the others began carrying their luggage into the house, while Zhang Feng, Yang Miao, and Zhou Rui’s older sister watched over the children as they played in the small courtyard.
Li Yi and Jiang Xue discussed their upcoming itinerary, primarily deciding how many days to stay in Guangzhou.
It wasn’t that Guangzhou had any particularly interesting attractions; rather, they wanted to let his mother-in-law and father-in-law stay a few extra days.
After all, for the entire holiday, his mother-in-law had spent most of her time on Hong Kong Island, helping them look after the children.
Although they were only separated from his father-in-law by the Pearl River, they hadn’t had a chance to meet—it felt a bit like the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
As a son-in-law, Li Yi naturally couldn’t ignore his in-laws’ feelings!
Most importantly, school is set to start in a few days, and my mother-in-law will be busy again, so he wants to take advantage of the fact that they still have some free time and let them stay a few more days.
But he’d still need to discuss the details with his mother-in-law.
At noon, just as everyone was discussing where to go for lunch, his father-in-law, Jiang Shiying, returned from work.
After a brief chat, Jiang Shiying personally led Li Yi and the others to a state-run restaurant near the Discipline Inspection Commission compound.
There, he ordered a lavish spread of food, saying it was to welcome his daughter and son-in-law home.
However, Li Yi suspected his father-in-law probably hadn’t come back just to see him and Jiang Xue. Ever since returning from work, he’d been taking turns holding Yunrui and Yunjin, and even during the meal, he couldn’t bear to put them down, fully embodying the affection between grandparents and grandchildren.
After the meal, Jiang Shiying didn’t head straight to the office; instead, he returned to the small villa with Li Yi and the others.
Once back at the villa, Jiang Shiying asked his wife and daughter to go upstairs to put the children down for their afternoon nap, while he called Li Yi into his study.
Knowing his father-in-law must have something to discuss with him, Li Yi naturally didn’t refuse.
As soon as they entered, Jiang Shiying looked at Li Yi and said, “I read the newspapers from Hong Kong. They say your company made several billion dollars this time. Is that true?”
“It’s true!”
“So how much will you get?” Jiang Shiying asked again.
“I haven’t calculated it yet; the dividend payout to shareholders won’t be finalized until the end of the year!”
Then Li Yi changed the subject and added, “But aside from the company’s dividends, I personally made over ten billion US dollars on this trip and acquired a few companies—I definitely didn’t come up short!”
Jiang Shiying was shaken once more. Wow, just one trip netted him tens of billions of dollars—and if you add the company’s dividends, it would likely exceed a hundred billion dollars!
He’d always known his son-in-law was a genius at making money, but such terrifying earning power still left him stunned.
No wonder the young man looked down on the career path his father-in-law had arranged for him. If he had such abilities himself, he wouldn’t bother with the constant backstabbing and scheming either.
With that in mind, Jiang Shiying asked curiously, “So, how much foreign exchange did you bring back for the higher-ups this time?”
“1.15 billion dollars!”
“Does that include the previous 200 million?”
“No, I didn’t!”
“So, in the past six months, you’ve managed to bring back a total of 1.35 billion US dollars for the higher-ups?” Jiang Shiying said, staring intently at Li Yi.
“Two hundred million was the principal; the rest is profit!” Li Yi replied honestly.
Although the plan was classified, there was no need to hide anything from his father-in-law.
First, his father-in-law was already aware of the plan, and there were still many areas where he could use his help.
Second, his father-in-law was a bona fide provincial-level official; given his rank, he was fully entitled to know about this matter, so there was no need to worry about being dragged into a de-classification process.
“Hahaha, another major achievement! Have you thought about what you want in return?” Jiang Shiying said with a laugh.
“What?”
“With merit comes reward. Barring any surprises, someone will definitely want to talk to you once you get back. You’d better be mentally prepared for that!” Jiang Shiying said.
“What kind of talk? Haven’t the State Security people always been the ones contacting me?” Li Yi asked, puzzled.
Jiang Shiying smiled and said, “That was because the higher-ups underestimated your capabilities, so it was the State Security people who were in contact with you.”
“But things are different now. Setting aside the fact that you’ve brought in so much foreign exchange for the country and helped solve major problems for the higher-ups, just look at how, under your influence, Chinese and British businesspeople from across the strait have been flocking here to invest and set up factories.”
“In just the first half of the year, their investment here on the mainland reached twenty billion US dollars. This has created a massive influence, both economically and politically. The higher-ups can’t possibly overlook this, so when you go back this time, they’re bound to show their appreciation!”
Li Yi said thoughtfully, “Dad, are you saying the bigwigs at the top are going to reward me?”
“Exactly. As long as your request isn’t too outrageous, they certainly won’t refuse!” Jiang Shiying replied.
Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Dad, is it possible not to make any requests?”
“What do you mean?”
“If possible, I’d actually prefer it if the leaders didn’t even call me in for a talk!” Li Yi said, making a startling remark.
“You…”
Before Jiang Shiying could finish, Li Yi cut in, “Dad, I have all the money I need right now. I’ve got luxury cars and mansions out there, plus a massive company. And with the two elders and you looking out for me, I honestly don’t know what to ask for!”
“I know that with great power comes great responsibility, but from last year until now, I’ve spent most of my time traveling. Not only is it incredibly exhausting, but I’ve also missed a significant part of Yunrui and Yunjin’s upbringing. So I’d like to take a break and spend some quality time at home with Xiaoxue and the kids!”
He wasn’t being sentimental, nor was he saying this just to impress Jiang Shiying; it was genuinely what he felt deep down.
For Li Yi, having witnessed the pinnacle of the financial world, making money was nowhere near as important to him as his family.
Not to mention, his current net worth, converted to US dollars, was at least 30 billion.
Excluding those secretive European conglomerates, he was undoubtedly the world’s richest man.
Not only could he never spend it all himself, but even Yun Rui, Yun Jin, and their children couldn’t possibly spend it all—so why bother running around chasing money?
But to Jiang Shiying, his words carried a very different meaning.
Hearing her son-in-law place such importance on family, Jiang Shiying felt deeply gratified.
After a moment’s thought, he said, “I’ll speak to the old man. I’m sure that as long as he steps in, this shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Thank you, Father!”
“We’re family—no need to be so formal!”
Just then, Jiang Shiying added, “By the way, Long Yin stopped by a couple of days ago. He told me about how you helped him secure investment. Thanks to your assistance, they’ve started to make headway!”
“That’s great!” Li Yi said.
“Xiao Yi, you’ve done a great job with this. I want to thank you!”
“You just said we’re family and there’s no need to be formal, so why are you being so sentimental now?” Li Yi said with a laugh.
Jiang Shiying shook his head and said, “You don’t know what it means for the Jiang family that Long Yin has gained a foothold in Pengcheng.”
“Actually, you might not be fully aware of this, but the old Jiang family has been on a downward spiral these past years. The family had always pinned its hopes on me, but what happened with Xiaoxue had a profound impact on me. So, Grandfather shifted his hopes to your eldest brother, but he was killed in action—and once again, Grandfather’s life’s work went down the drain!”
“The old man once said that unless a special opportunity arose, the Jiang family would inevitably be driven out of the capital within three generations after his passing. But ever since you’ve helped us, not only has the second generation made progress, but the third generation—Longyin and Longze—have also performed exceptionally well…”
Li Yi understood what his father-in-law meant. He immediately smiled and said, “So it turns out I’m the one who revived the Jiang family after all. In that case, you’d better reward me properly!”
“Hahaha, you young rascal wouldn’t even look at a national award—what could I possibly offer you?” Jiang Shiying said with a laugh.
“I don’t care about material things, but it seems I’ve gotten myself into trouble. Could you help me clean this up?” Li Yi said.
Hearing this, Jiang Shiying froze for a moment, then immediately asked for details…
………