By the time Li Yi and Jiang Xue arrived at the Jiang family’s old residence, his mother-in-law and the old man had already made preparations.
They had called the old residence beforehand, and of course, they hadn’t forgotten to notify the Ye family as well.
However, Li Yi hadn’t mentioned anything about the dividend distribution; he’d simply said he wanted to bring his mother-in-law and the two elders over to take some family photos with them.
Seeing Li Yi and Jiang Xue walk in, the old man immediately chuckled, “It’s just a photo—why do you have to drag an old man like me along?”
Jiang Xue smiled and said, “Grandpa, we’re taking a family portrait this time, so naturally we had to include you. Plus, I invited Grandpa and the others. And most importantly, there’s a surprise!”
“What kind of surprise?”
“Hehe, you’ll find out in a moment. Let’s get going first—we still need to pick up Grandpa!” Jiang Xue said.
“Alright, let’s go then!”
With that, the group left the Jiang family’s old mansion and headed straight for the Ye family’s old mansion.
After picking up Old Master Ye, a convoy of five cars headed straight for the bank An Hong had mentioned…
Downtown, at an Agricultural Bank branch!
An Hong was in the VIP lounge handling the dividend distribution procedures. After all, with over 500 million yuan involved, she naturally wouldn’t be processing it in the main lobby like an ordinary customer.
Beside An Hong, Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua watched the busy staff with eager expressions.
They were just waiting for An Hong to finish the paperwork so they could receive their massive dividend of 130 million yuan.
That was 130 million yuan! They had been so excited about this dividend that they hadn’t slept a wink the night before.
The two watched eagerly as An Hong signed her name on the documents, their hearts swelling with anticipation—this meant the bank’s procedures were now complete.
Now they just had to wait for their brother-in-law to arrive, and the bank would transfer the money to them.
Of course, with hundreds of millions of yuan involved, the bank certainly couldn’t hand each of them 13 million in cash.
Setting aside whether the bank could even produce that much cash on the spot, even if it could, it wouldn’t be done that way—it would be far too conspicuous.
Although the year of issue on the back of the fourth series of banknotes is listed as 1980, this series was actually not issued until April 27, 1987. The primary currency in circulation at the time was still the third series, with the 10-yuan note being the highest denomination.
Under these circumstances, 130 million yuan in cash would require a truck to transport it.
Unless there is a special requirement, such a large sum of money would not be settled in cash.
Typically, for such large transactions, banks handle the process internally by first transferring the funds to the customer’s account—either a passbook or a certificate of deposit.
The customer can then use the passbook or certificate to withdraw the funds at the bank.
Of course, the bank charges a service fee for this process.
After signing the documents, the bank president immediately said, “Comrade An, we’ve already coordinated everything here. Once your team is fully assembled, you can proceed with the next steps, but be sure to double-check the payee’s information!”
“Rest assured, President Xu, there will definitely be no mistakes!” An Hong said with a smile.
“So when will we proceed with the next steps?”
“Just a moment—we’re still waiting for one more person to arrive…”
Before she could finish, a loud voice rang out from outside: “No need to wait—we’re here!”
Hearing Li Yi’s familiar voice, An Hong, Jiang Longcheng, and Ye Jianhua all lit up with joy.
Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua, in particular, jumped up from their chairs in excitement and headed toward the door to greet their brother-in-law.
However, the moment they opened the VIP room door, the smiles on their faces froze.
“Grandfather…”
Seeing the two family patriarchs standing right there with Li Yi at the doorway, Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua felt as if they’d been struck by a thunderbolt—or like eating an ice pop in the dead of winter, leaving them with a chill that ran straight through their bones.
Li Yi looked at the expressions on their faces—a mix of shock and a hint of resentment—and almost burst out laughing.
If he hadn’t been mindful of their feelings, Li Yi would have loved to ask: “Surprised? Unexpected?”
Old Man Jiang smiled warmly at Jiang Longcheng and said, “Longcheng, I heard you’ve struck it rich again. How do you plan to spend it?”
“Grandpa… well, I haven’t actually received it yet!” Jiang Longcheng said with a grimace.
He knew this money was probably as good as gone, and the look he shot Li Yi was full of resentment.
Li Yi hurriedly explained, “Third Brother, Jianhua, this has nothing to do with me. I didn’t invite the two old gentlemen here, and I never mentioned anything about the dividend in front of them…”
Before he could finish, Old Man Ye beside him shouted, “Xiao Yi, why are you explaining anything to these two good-for-nothings? If it weren’t for Xiao Xue inviting us over today to take photos and us just happening to run into this, we really would’ve been fooled by these two little rascals!”
Well, so it turns out my own little sister was behind this!
Immediately, both men shot Jiang Xue a look of resentment.
Jiang Xue hurriedly explained, “Brothers, I just let it slip. You don’t blame me, do you?”
“Xiao Xue, you did the right thing. If they dare blame you, Grandpa will break their damn legs!”
Ye Jianhua quickly interjected, “Grandpa, how could we possibly blame Little Xue? Besides, we never planned to keep this money for ourselves. Once we get our share, we’ll hand it over to the family—and give you and Grandpa Jiang a nice surprise.”
“Do you think I’ll believe that?” Old Man Ye retorted.
Ye Jianhua: !@#￥%
At that moment, Jiang Xue, who was standing beside the old man, smiled and said, “Grandpa, Grandpa, let’s hurry inside and get this done. We still have to go to the photo studio later!”
“Xiao Xue is right—we can’t let this slip!”
With that, the two elders, flanked by Li Yi and the others, entered the bank’s VIP lounge.
An Hong and Bank Manager Xu, who were already inside, immediately stood up and bowed to the two elders.
Then, An Hong cast a sympathetic glance at Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua before addressing the two elders: “How do you two think this money should be divided?”
Old Master Jiang looked at Jiang Longcheng and said, “Longcheng, I heard you’re set to receive 130 million this time?”
“It’s not that much—it’s 129.82 million!” Jiang Longcheng replied, keeping his head bowed.
“How about this: we’ll leave you the change as pocket money. Is that alright?”
“The change… Two hundred and ninety million isn’t bad…”
“What are you thinking? I’m talking about that 820,000!” Old Master Jiang said, his tiger-like eyes wide open.
“Grandpa, that’s a bit harsh. So after working our butts off for half a year, all we end up with is a pittance?” Jiang Longcheng said with a look of resentment.
“Hard work, my foot. Don’t think this old man doesn’t know—you two good-for-nothings didn’t lift a finger. That money was all given to you by Xiaoyi on purpose!” Old Man Jiang retorted.
“Grandpa… even if that’s the case, you can’t just give us a single hair from a whole cow!” Jiang Longcheng said, unwilling to accept it.
Seeing this, Li Yi immediately interjected, “Grandpa, it really doesn’t make sense to leave Third Brother with just a pittance out of all this money. It’ll only dampen his enthusiasm. Why don’t you reconsider?”
“Well, how much do you think we should set aside for him, then?” Old Man Jiang asked, looking at Li Yi.
“How about we set it at 13 million? And let’s make it a rule from now on: no matter how much they get, they keep only 10% for themselves and hand the rest over to the family. What do you think, Grandpa?” Li Yi suggested.
Hearing this, Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua immediately shot Li Yi a grateful look.
Confirmed—he’s one of us!
They knew their old man’s temperament all too well. If their brother-in-law hadn’t spoken up for them, they would’ve likely only walked away with a fraction of the money today.
Although 13 million seemed like a pittance compared to the massive 130 million, it was certainly better than being given just 820,000!
“Since Little Yi says so, let’s go with that!”
The old man then changed the subject and added, “But listen up, you rascal. Once you get your hands on the money, don’t go squandering it recklessly. And don’t spend all day eating and drinking with those good-for-nothing friends of yours—BB Xi and TR. Get some real work done!”
“Fine, fine, fine… I’ll do as you say, okay?”
Once the Jiang family had set the rules, the Ye family naturally followed suit, finalizing the distribution plan for Ye Jianhua’s dividend.
Immediately afterward, under the resentful stares of Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua, the bank swiftly transferred the funds to their respective accounts, successfully completing the dividend distribution.
Once the dividend distribution was over, Li Yi and Jiang Xue finally took the two cheerful old men straight to the state-run photo studio in town…
……….