It was late at night, and all was quiet!
On the large heated bed in the main hall of the Li family residence, the two lay tightly embraced, panting heavily after their passionate encounter.
Li Yi, now in “sage mode,” suddenly remembered something. As he gently caressed his wife’s chest, he asked, “By the way, Xiao Xue, did anyone come to the house last night?”
“Yesterday… no, not at all!”
Li Yi was taken aback for a moment, then said, “Then how did Old Chen and the others get my photos?”
If it were any other photos, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
But Li Yi clearly remembered that the photo on his work ID had been taken in Qingshan County; the negative was still back home, and the only copy in Beijing was the one at the courtyard house.
If Old Chen hadn’t taken this photo from his home, where else could he have gotten it?
“You mean that photo? Grandpa asked me for it!” Jiang Xue said.
“When did that happen? How come I didn’t know about it?” Li Yi asked, sounding slightly surprised.
“It’s been a while. What’s the matter?”
Li Yi sighed, then shook his head with a wry smile.
The old man really went to great lengths to get me into the system. I suspect this work ID was prepared long ago, just waiting for the right moment to be handed to me.
Last night’s dinner party was clearly arranged specifically for him. Sigh!
Seeing the look on her husband’s face, Jiang Xue couldn’t help but feel a pang of anxiety. She immediately asked, “What on earth happened?”
Li Yi replied immediately, “Don’t jump to conclusions. I was just outmaneuvered by Grandpa and Old Chen!”
“Tr… tricked?”
“Yeah, those two old men found me a job!”
Li Yi then went into detail about how the two old men had set the trap and arranged for him to be assigned to the National Development and Reform Commission.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Xue frowned and said, “How could they do this? That’s asking too much of anyone. I… I’ll go back to the old family home tomorrow to talk to Grandpa…”
Li Yi shook his head and said, “Forget it. It’s not like I have to be in the office anyway. Let’s just leave it at that!”
“That’s not right. You’ve already done so much for the country—how can they force you to work for them like this…”
Before she could finish, Li Yi interjected, “It can’t be helped. It’s not just Old Chen keeping an eye on me now. Minister Wang from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Director Zhou from State Security, and Old Xu from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange—they’re all watching me just as closely. Compared to that, this part-time advisory role is actually pretty easy!”
“How can they treat you like this? You’re not their tool!” Jiang Xue frowned.
“Heh, well, what can you do? Your man’s got talent!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“You’re full of yourself… With everything that’s happened, you still have the nerve to laugh…”
“What else can I do? Should I just break down and cry at the top of my lungs for a while?”
Then Li Yi added, “With great power comes great responsibility. Since some things are inevitable, let’s just gear up and move forward!”
“But that’ll wear you out!”
“For a man, a little hardship and fatigue are nothing!”
Seeing that Jiang Xue was about to say something else, he quickly changed the subject: “By the way, there’s something serious I need to talk to you about!”
“What’s so serious that we need to talk about it?” Jiang Xue asked curiously.
“Here’s the thing. Today I had General Manager Lan from our branch office consult the relevant departments about setting up a charitable foundation. If all goes as expected, we’ll have news in the next few days. I plan to have you step up and serve as the head of this foundation!” Li Yi said.
“That soon? But I… I’m not mentally prepared for this yet. Besides, I’m only a sophomore in college—I don’t have that much time to handle the foundation’s affairs!” Jiang Xue said.
Li Yi smiled and said, “What’s the big deal? As the head of the charity foundation, you just need to set the overall direction. Leave the rest to the professionals!”
“But… is that really going to work?” Jiang Xue asked, sounding a bit unsure.
“Why wouldn’t it work? You’ve been interning at the company for over half a year now. Look at Lan Xinyi, the general manager—when does she ever have to get her hands dirty with the actual operations herself?”
“That’s true, but I don’t know the first thing about how a charity foundation operates. What if I mess things up?” Jiang Xue said again.
“You won’t. Our charity foundation’s main focus is building schools and supporting underprivileged students. As long as the money is put to good use, nothing else matters!” Li Yi said.
“I see. By the way, how much are you planning to contribute to this charity foundation?”
“One hundred million!”
“Hong Kong dollars?”
“No, RMB!”
“Whoa… that much?” Jiang Xue said, looking astonished.
“That’s just the seed money. From now on, our family will set aside one-tenth of our annual profits and contribute it to this charity foundation,” Li Yi said, making a startling announcement.
Jiang Xue gasped in astonishment once again. She knew full well her husband’s earning power—without even going back too far, he had made at least tens of billions just in the first half of this year.
If they really set aside one-tenth for charity, that would amount to at least a few billion—and that’s in US dollars.
Seeing the dazed expression on his wife’s face, Li Yi couldn’t resist pinching her cheek.
Instantly, Jiang Xue’s body trembled as a tingling current coursed through her, and a shy, soft moan escaped her lips!
Stimulated by her reaction, Li Yi’s “sage mode” instantly went into cooldown, and his body was instantly revitalized…
Hong Kong!
Just as Li Yi and Jiang Xue were making love at home, the Hong Kong Police Department was struggling with a case.
It wasn’t that the case was particularly complex, but the parties involved were somewhat special, which made things difficult for the police chief.
That afternoon, the police station suddenly received a report from Star Investment Company, claiming that their CEO, Li Yi, had recently been defamed by multiple parties, causing severe damage to his reputation and adversely affecting the company’s business. They requested that the police investigate the case to clear the company and Li Yi of any wrongdoing.
Along with the report, Star Investment submitted a portion of the evidence to the police station, including dozens of unscrupulous tabloids and magazines, as well as some clearly incriminating remarks made by Cheng Qingsong, the chairman of Jianing Group.
Upon receiving the report, the police station did not take it seriously.
After all, incidents like this occur countless times every day on Hong Kong Island. Given the island’s limited size, there simply aren’t enough fresh stories to report on.
Consequently, many unscrupulous tabloids reported on nothing but wild speculation. Often, a story might start with a celebrity sustaining an injury while filming, but after these media outlets’ “artistic embellishment,” the resulting report might claim that the celebrity had been beaten to death.
Moreover, the more outlandish the story, the more people bought it. Compared to these unscrupulous tabloids, the so-called “UC Sensational Style” that emerged later in mainland China was nothing but a mere amateur.
Even some major newspapers engage in this practice, openly or covertly—they just aren’t as brazen as those tabloids and small publications.
Because such incidents were so commonplace, the police didn’t take them very seriously. When they received reports of this nature, they would usually drag their feet as long as possible; if that wasn’t an option, they’d conduct a perfunctory investigation just to tick the box.
Even when the complaint came from the renowned Star Investment Company, the police department didn’t take it seriously. After all, even if such cases were thoroughly investigated, the outcome would amount to nothing more than an apology from the infringing party and a token compensation for damages.
However, what the police didn’t anticipate was that, seeing no action on their part, Star Investment actually mobilized a large group of Chinese business leaders to put pressure on the police.
At the same time, Li Futiao had his brother, a member of the Legislative Council, step in and approach the Governor directly.
With various factions fanning the flames and applying pressure, the situation suddenly began to spiral out of control.
Faced with this situation, the police department immediately felt unprecedented pressure and promptly announced their intervention in the case.
This investigation proved to be a game-changer, as a shocking major scandal soon came to light…