On September 6, after spending nine leisurely days in his hometown, Li Yi finally set off on his journey back to Beijing at his father-in-law’s urging.
Over the past few days, after learning that Jiang Longze might be transferred to serve in Qing Shan County, Li Yi had accompanied his father-in-law on a tour of every town, township, and commune in the county.
Compared to Jiang Longyin and Jiang Longcheng from his eldest uncle’s family, Li Yi wasn’t particularly close to the children from his second uncle’s family, but since they were all members of the Jiang family, they were still better than complete outsiders.
Moreover, Jiang Longze was a capable man; having him govern Qing Shan County would be a blessing for the county’s residents.
First, given the Jiang family’s reputation, there was no concern that Jiang Longze would engage in corruption or abuse of power.
Second, the Jiang family’s influence was at its peak; once Jiang Longze took office, he wouldn’t have to worry about others hindering his efforts.
Finally, while Jiang Longze’s appointment here is certainly meant to polish his resume, he genuinely intends to achieve something substantial.
With the Jiang family’s backing, Jiang Longze’s personal abilities, and a little guidance from me, a better life for the people of Qing Shan County is just around the corner…
Therefore, while taking Jiang Shiying to familiarize herself with the basic situation in Qingshan County, Li Yi had a sudden idea: he took her to the Prefectural Party Committee and Administrative Office to meet with Wang Anmin, the deputy director of the Prefectural Party Committee.
On the one hand, since Wang Anmin had previously served as Director of the Qingshan County Revolutionary Committee and was now Deputy Director of the administrative body overseeing Qingshan County, he knew the county’s situation better than anyone.
On the other hand, Li Yi also wanted to lend Wang Anmin a hand.
He had previously spoken with both Wang Anmin and Wang Anguo and knew that neither of the brothers had any powerful backers; in the political arena, they were considered “self-made” officials.
Officials like this rely entirely on tangible achievements and luck to climb the ranks; many may spend their entire careers stuck at the grassroots level.
Therefore, Li Yi wanted to give Wang Anmin an opportunity; if he could align himself with the Jiang faction, it would be of great benefit to Wang Anmin’s future career.
Moreover, with him, the deputy director, here to look after and support him, it would be easier for Jiang Longze to exert his influence once he arrived.
However, Li Yi’s move genuinely took the completely unprepared Wang Anmin by surprise. Although he had long known from his younger brother, Wang Anguo, and his sister-in-law, An Hong, that Li Yi’s father-in-law was no ordinary figure,
But when he actually met Jiang Shiying, he was completely taken aback.
Over the past two years, as Wang Anmin had risen through the ranks, he had met quite a few provincial and ministerial-level bigwigs, gained some understanding of the political landscape in Beijing, and learned about some of the city’s prominent families.
According to his understanding, there were currently more than a dozen influential political families in Beijing, among which the Jiang and Ye families were rising the fastest.
The core of the Jiang family, aside from the elderly patriarch who had already stepped back from the limelight, consisted of three second-generation members holding provincial and ministerial-level positions. Among them, Jiang Shiying—the current head of the Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection—showed the greatest potential.
He never would have imagined that a core member of the Jiang family would one day pay a visit to his home.
What shocked Wang Anmin even more was that before leaving, Jiang Shiying introduced him to someone—Yang Shengan, the governor of Saibei Province.
If he has time, he should go report on his work to Yang Shengan.
Although he didn’t specify what kind of work report, Wang Anmin—having navigated the bureaucratic world for so many years—couldn’t help but understand that Li Yi’s father-in-law was simply looking for a powerful backer.
If he actually went to see Governor Yang, it would effectively mean he was aligning himself with the governor—and barring any surprises, the Jiang family stood behind Yang Shengan…
Li Yi didn’t know whether Wang Anmin had gone to report to Yang Shengan; he had merely created an opportunity for him.
As for whether Wang Anmin would seize that opportunity, Li Yi didn’t care…
………..
Beijing. The Jiang Family!
By the time the car returned to the city, it was already past two in the afternoon.
Since the Li household hadn’t cooked in quite some time and they’d have to buy groceries and prepare a meal upon returning, Jiang Shiying simply brought Li Yi’s family—along with Li Mei, Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, Zhang Feng, Yang Miao, and the others—back to the Jiang residence.
After all, there were full-time cooks here, and food was plentiful. With just a word to the cooks, a meal would be ready in no time.
While the meal was being prepared in the kitchen, Jiang Shiying took Li Yi over to the main hall to pay their respects to the old man.
When the two entered, the old man was sitting in a traditional armchair, sipping tea contentedly while fanning himself with a palm leaf fan.
Although it was already September, the temperature in the capital was still quite high, and it felt especially sweltering at midday.
Seeing Jiang Shiying and Li Yi walk in, the old master chuckled, “Hehehe, you’ve finally managed to drag this rascal back home!”
Li Yi chuckled and replied, “Don’t make it sound like I was so reluctant to come back. One phone call from you and I’d have come running—there’d be no need for my dad to make the trip himself!”
“I wonder who it was who ran off in the middle of the night the other day without even saying goodbye!”
Then the old man added, “If you’d been a few days late coming back, I might have actually believed that!”
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Li Yi’s face, and he said, “It’s just been a long time since I’ve been back home. I missed my mom and dad a bit, so I left in a bit of a hurry…”
The old man shook his head and said, “All right, no need to explain. I know exactly what’s on your mind, you rascal—you just don’t want to be the one to stick your neck out!”
“You’ve got the Jiang and Ye families backing you, and your relationships with the Lin, Liang, and Yang families are solid too. All those old leaders up top know you—what’s there to be afraid of? What exactly are you worried about?”
Li Yi gave a wry smile and said, “Grandpa, I’m still young. It’s not good to be too high-profile. After all, ‘A tree that stands out in the forest is sure to be blown down by the wind; a mound that rises above the bank is sure to be eroded by the current; a person who stands out from the crowd is sure to be criticized by others.’”
Although Li Yi knew his current background was already quite substantial, and he could easily ignore ordinary criticism.
However, a significant portion of the campaign set to begin in a few months was aimed precisely at these well-connected children of officials, and the more prominent one became, the faster they would fall.
In his previous life, there were no shortage of “third-generation reds” who were dragged into the fray and made to “eat peanuts” because of this campaign; even Ye Jianhua, who had the backing of the Jiang and Ye families, was sentenced to seven years.
With such a cautionary tale right before his eyes, how could he dare to act recklessly?
The old man paused briefly, then said, “But there are some things you can’t avoid just because you want to!”
“Take this current situation, for example. You wanted to avoid Old Chen, but you didn’t expect the British Empire to specifically request a meeting with you by name. In the end, you still had to come back.”
Li Yi muttered, “It’s all because you told my dad to come after me. If I’d gotten the message sooner, I would’ve left ages ago!”
Jiang Shiying glared at him, then said with a touch of resignation, “You really wanted to run away, didn’t you?”
Li Yi sighed. “If I had any other choice, I wouldn’t have wanted to get mixed up in this mess. It’s a shame…”
The old man chuckled. “All right, now that you’re back, there’s no point dwelling on it. What do you plan to do, you rascal?”
“Are you referring to the Iron Lady wanting to see me?”
“Not entirely. There’s also the matter with Old Chen!”
The old man continued, “You don’t know this, but while you were back home, Old Chen was conducting a thorough investigation into the issues you raised, all while calling me constantly to urge you to come back. He’s been driving me absolutely crazy!”
Upon hearing this, Li Yi knew exactly what the old man meant.
After a moment’s thought, he replied, “In that case, I’ll go see Old Chen. But could we avoid a formal setting and keep the crowd small? I don’t want what I say to get out to too many people!”
Li Yi was well aware that some of his views were too avant-garde. At this stage of feeling our way forward, a significant number of correct ideas and perspectives were not accepted.
If there were too many people present, and those views were to leak out, they could easily turn into arrows aimed right at him!
“Alright, I’ll discuss it with Old Chen later and let you know once everything’s arranged!” the old man said.
“Alright. As for that Iron Lady, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it—nothing to be afraid of!”
Li Yi then added, “Maybe they’re just testing the waters—they might not actually meet with me. And even if they do, it might not be her in person!”
“Hmm, knowing you think that way puts my mind at ease…”
Just then, Jiang Xue’s voice suddenly rang out from outside: “Dinner’s ready! Let’s eat!”
Hearing the call to eat, Jiang Shiying and Li Yi immediately said goodbye to the old man and hurried together to the west wing…
………
PS: Another chapter coming around 11:00!