The night passed without incident, and by the time Li Yi and his group woke up the next day, it was already past ten o’clock!
No wonder—they hadn’t found a place to stay until 2:30 a.m. last night, and by the time they’d stoked the stove and the room had warmed up, it was already past 3:00 a.m.
On top of that, the young men were all so excited that they didn’t actually fall asleep until well into the night.
Waking up at ten o’clock was actually pretty good!
After getting up, Li Yi immediately had the guys pack their bags, check out of the room, and then they left the small underground guesthouse.
Once they reached the main street, Li Yi first took them out for a quick bite to eat, then headed straight for the bus stop!
Last night, Li Yi had already mapped out his plans for the day: first, secure a place to stay, then tackle a major task, and finally, repay a favor.
As for opening a shop, Li Yi had put that on the back burner!
When it came to finding a place to stay, Li Yi’s first thought was the Beiguan Village area.
He chose this location partly because of its promising future prospects!
After all, in just a few years, the government would designate this area as a high-tech park. The renowned Beiguan Village Technology Park of the future would be centered here and gradually expand outward.
If he could get a head start here and secure a plot of land, he wouldn’t need to do much in the future—simply contributing the land as equity would be enough to make a fortune.
More importantly, the area is currently home to a large concentration of state-owned factories—major enterprises like the taffy factory, cotton spinning mill, boiler plant, and transformer factory are all located there.
In addition, there was a school and several government offices in the area. Opening a restaurant here—regardless of its size—would guarantee steady business.
However, none of these were the most important reasons. Another reason Li Yi chose to develop his business here was that he was very familiar with the Beiguan Village area!
In his previous life, after leaving home, he first stayed in Ning City for a while. When he saw no prospects there, he hitched a ride on a freight train to the capital.
Upon arriving in the capital, he was penniless and had no relatives or friends to turn to, so he had no choice but to wander the city while looking for work.
Since he didn’t have a letter of introduction to the capital, he didn’t dare venture into the central districts and could only wander around the Beiguan Village area, where he endured immense hardship.
Eventually, with the help of a benefactor, he managed to settle down in Beiguan Village and gradually built his life from there.
Now, returning to this familiar place, he has decided to start his new venture in the Beiguan Village area once again.
He vaguely recalled that there were only two bus routes from North Station to Beiguan Village: Route 12 and Route 21. The entire journey was 9 kilometers, and the fare was just 20 cents!
Sure enough, when he stopped at the bus stop and took a closer look, it was exactly as he remembered.
Then, Li Yi led Dongzi, Qiangzi, and the others onto the bus bound for Beiguan Village.
It was the first time these young lads had ever ridden a bus, and once on board, they seemed both nervous and curious.
Seeing them like this, Li Yi thought of himself in his past life.
Compared to them, back then, aside from being bold, he had practically nothing and was practically nobody.
If it hadn’t been for Director Jiang, he would probably have frozen to death on a cold night in Beijing.
Thinking of Old Jiang’s fate, Li Yi couldn’t help but sigh.
Such a good man—how could he have been killed by a bunch of petty thugs? Life really is unpredictable!
This time, no matter what, he had to help him escape this crisis—as a way of repaying the kindness he’d shown by taking him in all those years ago.
The bus drove along the wide streets of the capital for over half an hour before finally arriving at the Beiguancun stop. Li Yi immediately led his young companions off the bus.
Once off the bus, Dongzi and the others were taken aback!
The place looked run-down and dilapidated, with nothing but rows of small, low-rise houses as far as the eye could see. Compared to the bustling city center, this place resembled a rundown village.
“Brother Yi, why are we here? This place is way too run-down,” Qiangzi couldn’t help but ask.
“Is this really Beijing? To me, it doesn’t even look as good as our commune.”
“Nonsense! Is our commune even as big as this place?”
“Who’s talking nonsense…”
Li Yi cleared his throat and said, “Stop bickering. This place might not be very bustling, but it’s still part of Beijing. As long as we can get a foothold here, one day we’ll make it to the city center!”
Dongzi immediately asked, “Brother Yi, what should we do now?”
“Let’s rent a place first and get settled,” Li Yi said.
“Bro Yi, do you know where we can find a place to rent?”
Li Yi knew, of course, but he said casually, “Just walk down the street—you might spot some rental listings!”
After saying this, he picked up his suitcase and set off in the direction buried deep in his memory.
As he looked at the streets on either side—familiar yet unfamiliar—Li Yi’s thoughts gradually drifted back to his past life.
It was from this chaotic place right before his eyes that he had gradually built his life. He had witnessed Beiguan Village transform step by step from a desolate, dilapidated area into a renowned high-tech park in the capital, becoming a hub for corporate talent.
At the same time, Beiguan Village had witnessed Li Yi’s own growth—from a migrant worker living under a bridge to a super-rich tycoon with assets worth tens of billions.
Returning to this place once more, Li Yi’s feelings were quite complex.
In his past life, he had come here with the resolve to fight to the death. Back then, he felt guilty over Tang Xue’s death and felt he had let his third older sister down; venturing out into the world was nothing more than a desperate, last-ditch effort born of despair.
But now, his feelings were entirely different.
Tang Xue was still alive; she had become his lawful wife, and was even carrying their two children.
His visit to the capital was no longer a last-ditch effort; he no longer felt the pressure of “succeed or die.”
This time, his goal was to get a head start, secure a foothold in the capital, and lay the groundwork for Tang Xue and the children’s move here next year.
Of course, he’s also bringing along his younger brothers—he can’t very well let them waste their lives holed up in some remote mountain corner like they did in his previous life!
Although that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, if the opportunity arose, he’d rather take them to see the sights from a higher vantage point!
And so, with mixed feelings, the group walked about five hundred meters under Li Yi’s lead before turning into a secluded alley.
After walking several dozen meters down the alley, Li Yi finally stopped in front of a courtyard!
Immediately, under the nervous gazes of the younger men, Li Yi knocked on the door knocker.
“Clang!!!”
After a long while, there was finally a sound from inside the courtyard: “Coming… coming!”
Then, the courtyard gate was opened from the inside, and a middle-aged man in his late forties or early fifties stepped out.
“Huh, who are you guys? What are you doing here?”
Seeing Uncle Wen again, Li Yi felt a faint flutter of excitement, but he forced himself to stay calm.
“Hello, sir. I heard you have a house for rent here. Is that true?”
“I do have a place, but could you tell me what you do? You don’t look very old, but you don’t seem like students either…”
“Well, we’re from North Sai Province. We came to the capital mainly to see if there are any opportunities for us here!”
As he spoke, Li Yi took out his letter of introduction and household registration booklet and handed them to Uncle Wen.
After reviewing Li Yi’s documents and confirming everything was in order, Uncle Wen said, “I currently have a few side rooms available for rent. The rent is 8 yuan a month. I’ll only provide basic items like a bed, a stove, and a water jar—you’ll have to buy everything else yourselves!”
“Also, water is free, but you’ll have to pay for electricity yourselves!”
“Alright, let’s take a look at the place first. If it works out, we’ll rent it!” Li Yi said.
“Alright, come on in!”
Stepping into the courtyard, he found the layout exactly as he remembered it, which made Li Yi feel quite at home.
According to Uncle Wen, the rooms currently available for rent were the ones on the west side; the ones on the east had already been leased.
The main house was occupied by Uncle Wen’s family and was not available for rent.
Li Yi took a quick look around and noticed that only one of the rooms on the west side had been rented out; the remaining three were all still available.
Without hesitation, Li Yi said, “Uncle, we’ll take all three of these rooms!”
“All… all of them?”
“Yeah, but we’re not sure how long we’ll be staying yet, so let’s just rent them for three months for now!”
“Alright, alright!”
“Then it’s settled!”
“Great!”
……