Late at night, all the other rooms in the Li family courtyard were quiet, but the light in the study was still on.
Dressed in his pajamas, Li Yi sat upright at his desk, deep in thought, his pen occasionally scratching out a few lines on the manuscript paper.
He was recalling the trends of China’s economic development in the 1980s during his previous life, as well as the setbacks he had experienced, while simultaneously drafting a plan.
Li Yi took the task his father-in-law had entrusted to him very seriously.
Since returning, he had come to realize that what his father-in-law wanted was most likely not intended for Jiang Longyin. Setting aside Jiang Longyin’s personality—if he truly needed it, he certainly wouldn’t go through his father-in-law; he would have asked for it himself.
Furthermore, given Jiang Longyin’s current rank, even if he were to ask, it wouldn’t be about such a broad issue, but rather—as was the case last time—seeking specific solutions to problems.
Put simply, such macro-level matters weren’t something Jiang Longyin needed to concern himself with.
So Li Yi came to the conclusion that Jiang Longyin was just a front—this item wasn’t meant for him at all.
But even having seen through this, Li Yi didn’t refuse. Regardless of who his father-in-law ultimately intended to give the item to, since he had already offered, Li Yi couldn’t turn him down.
Soon, the draft was ready.
Li Yi then picked up the cold tea on his desk, gulped it down in a few quick sips, and immediately began writing furiously…
He didn’t know how much time had passed when the grandfather clock in the room chimed a few times.
Hearing the sound, Li Yi put down his pen and looked up.
He glanced at his watch—it was already past three in the morning.
He yawned, stood up, and stretched. After putting away the finished manuscript, he turned off the light with a satisfied smile and returned to his bedroom…
………..
The next morning!
In his sleep, Li Yi felt someone calling his name.
Opening his eyes, he saw it was his wife.
Still half-asleep, he reached out and pulled Jiang Xue, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, into his arms, giving her a quick kiss on her pretty face.
Caught off guard by the sudden kiss, a blush instantly spread across Jiang Xue’s face. When she felt her husband’s large hand slip beneath her clothes, she knew that if she didn’t stop him, the “high ground” would soon fall.
“Stop fooling around! Wake up quickly—Third Brother and Sister-in-law An Hong are here!”
As she spoke, Jiang Xue’s hand firmly restrained Li Yi’s large hand, preventing him from moving.
Li Yi, who had been half-asleep, snapped awake the moment he heard Jiang Xue’s words.
Opening his eyes again, he glanced at the large clock hanging on the wall. Good grief, it was almost ten o’clock.
“It’s ten o’clock? Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?”
Li Yi said as he crawled out from under the covers to get dressed.
“You stayed up most of the night yesterday, so I wanted you to sleep in a little longer!”
Jiang Xue replied as she helped him make the bed.
Working together, Li Yi was soon dressed and had finished his morning routine.
When he stepped out of the room, Li Yi saw that An Hong, Jiang Longcheng, and Ye Jianhua were all there.
As soon as they saw Li Yi, they immediately gathered around him, each with a look of excitement on their face.
Seeing their expressions, Li Yi knew that there was progress on the bonus matter.
Sure enough, An Hong cut straight to the point: “General Manager Lan has signed off on it—she’s approved our commission!”
“Hmm, so does that mean we’re getting paid today?” Li Yi asked with a smile.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible!”
An Hong then explained, “I just went to the bank, and they said they don’t have that much cash on hand. They asked us to give them three days to transfer the funds!”
Li Yi paused for a moment and said, “Why do they need to raise funds? We don’t necessarily need cash—can’t the bank just open a passbook for us?”
Hearing this, An Hong’s face flushed red, and she said sheepishly, “I was so focused on withdrawing the money to distribute it that I forgot we could just deposit it directly into a passbook!”
Li Yi couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth, imagining the chaos that would ensue if they actually withdrew several hundred million yuan in cash.
Although the fourth series of banknotes had already been issued and was in circulation—with the highest denomination being the 100-yuan note—it was still a rare sight. The third series remained the dominant currency in circulation.
Just imagine the sight of hundreds of millions of “Great Unity” notes piled up together—it would be a truly staggering spectacle. If anyone saw that, there’d be no way to keep a low profile!
“Bro-in-law, what should we do now?” Jiang Longcheng asked.
“No problem. You guys go with Sister-in-law An Hong to the bank right now. Have them deposit the dividend money into your passbooks, and you can withdraw it whenever you need it!” Li Yi said.
“Alright, let’s go right now!” Jiang Longcheng said excitedly.
At that moment, Li Yi turned to look at An Hong and said, “Sis, I’ve looked into Brother Wang’s situation. Transferring him over shouldn’t be a problem, but there are a few things you need to think carefully about.”
Li Yi then recounted everything Jiang Shiying had told him the previous day to An Hong.
After Li Yi finished speaking, he expected An Hong to go back and discuss it with Wang Anguo, but to his surprise, she said directly, “Xiao Yi, we’ve already thought this through. If he’s willing to make sacrifices for our family, just have him transferred over!”
“Alright, since you’ve already decided, I’ll start making the arrangements!” Li Yi said.
“Great!”
Li Yi nodded, then glanced at Jiang Xue beside him and said, “Xiao Xue, you go with my sister-in-law and the others too. Bring your passbook and ID!”
Jiang Xue was taken aback for a moment, then asked, “Are you asking my sister-in-law to give the money directly to me?”
“Yeah, just keep the savings book with you for now. I’ll come to you when I need it!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“Well then…”
Jiang Xue was about to say something else, but seeing Li Yi’s determined expression, she nodded immediately.
“Brother-in-law, aren’t you coming with us?” Jiang Longcheng asked.
“No, thanks. I still need to swing by the old house in a bit. We’ll catch up later!” Li Yi said.
“Alright…”
After seeing An Hong, Jiang Xue, and the others off, Li Yi said goodbye to his eldest sister, asking her and Yang Miao to look after the three children, then headed out with Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, and the others.
When Li Yi and the others arrived at the Jiang family’s old house, Jiang Shiying was squatting in the courtyard washing clothes, while the old man sat by the flower bed, basking in the sun and listening to the mumbling opera tunes coming from the radio.
Li Yi wasn’t particularly interested in opera himself, so he couldn’t tell whether the old man was listening to Peking Opera or Shanxi Opera.
Seeing Li Yi enter, Jiang Shiying immediately asked with a smile, “Why are you here alone? Where are Xiaoxue and the kids? Why didn’t they come?”
“Xiao Xue had something to do this morning, so she went out with Third Brother and the others. My eldest sister is looking after the kids!”
Then Li Yi added, “I’ve already written what you asked for, so I brought it over while I had some free time!”
Hearing this, Jiang Shiying knew the young man must have figured something out.
However, seeing that Li Yi had no intention of asking further questions, he didn’t explain. Instead, he wiped his hands and took the stack of manuscripts Li Yi handed him.
Standing right there in the courtyard, Jiang Shiying carefully read through the documents.
The more he read, the more surprised he became. Although he was now a discipline inspection official and no longer in charge of local economic development, he had previously served as a county magistrate and director of the prefectural Party committee and administrative office, so he was by no means ignorant of local affairs.
Based on his experience, his son-in-law’s analysis of the nation’s future economic development in the article was spot-on, and his summary of current economic trends was particularly insightful and accurate.
But what alarmed him most were his predictions regarding future economic trends and his bold analysis of potential setbacks. If things truly unfolded as his son-in-law described, the value of this document would be extraordinary.
With that in mind, Jiang Shiying abandoned his laundry and led Li Yi straight to the old man sitting nearby with his eyes closed, listening to the opera…
………