Seeing Li Yi’s furrowed brow, Wang Anguo immediately had a bad feeling and asked, “Brother Li Yi, is something wrong…?”
Before Wang Anguo could finish, Li Yi shook his head and said, “No, I’m just a bit confused!”
“My sister-in-law is, after all, a manager at the textile factory. Why would she suddenly want to quit her job to go into business? Doesn’t she know that business involves risks?”
Wang Anguo gave Li Yi a complicated look and said, “It’s all your fault, you rascal!”
“What does that have to do with me? You’re just stirring up trouble in my family!” Li Yi said with a laugh.
Wang Anguo replied with a mix of amusement and exasperation, “What are you thinking? It’s my wife who’s jealous—she sees you raking in a fortune just by selling cold noodles and mushrooms!”
Hearing this, Li Na, who was standing nearby, couldn’t help but interject, “Doesn’t your wife want to set up a street stall too?”
“No, she mentioned before that she wanted to open a general store, but I’m not exactly sure of the details!” Wang Anguo said.
Tang Xue remarked sincerely, “My sister-in-law is quite bold. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to give up my secure job at the factory!”
“I wouldn’t want to give it up either!” Li Na chimed in.
Wang Anguo sighed and said, “I’m actually not very supportive of her. Setting aside the risks, given the nature of my current job, our whole family relies entirely on her.”
“If she quits her job too and starts a business, what about the kids? Who’s going to take care of them?”
Li Yi looked at Wang Anguo, his feelings somewhat mixed.
The Wang Anguo standing before him had no idea just how capable his wife was. What impressed Li Yi most about An Hong wasn’t merely her exceptional business acumen—Li Yi himself wasn’t lacking in that department, so there was nothing to envy there.
What he admired and envied most was that, in addition to building her own business empire, she had quietly and seamlessly groomed an exceptionally capable successor.
In stark contrast to the dire situation of Li Yi’s vast empire, which lacked a successor, An Hong’s An Group had a truly outstanding heir: the son of An Hong and Wang Anguo.
That young man had remained out of the public eye until he was 30, but when An Hong was left comatose after a car accident and the entire An Group was leaderless and teetering on the brink of collapse, he stepped in to take the helm.
Not only did he stabilize the situation in a very short time, but he also took the opportunity to crush the frenzied attacks of his competitor—Li Yi—and even dealt him a crushing defeat.
So, even across a different time and space, Li Yi still had a vivid impression of An Hong and her ambitious son.
After a brief pause, Li Yi said in a solemn tone, “Actually, your sister-in-law’s desire to go into business is a good idea. I think you should support her!”
It had been over half a year since his rebirth, and during that time, Li Yi had been observing this world.
Through his observations, he realized that although he knew many of the events that were about to unfold in the future, not everything could be changed.
To be honest, although he was a “glitch” in this world, he could only change minor details; the overall course of events was fundamentally unshakable!
As for An Hong, Li Yi had actually harbored hostility toward her from the very beginning.
After all, their struggle in his previous life had been so intense that it had almost come down to a fight to the death.
When he first learned that An Hong was actually Wang Anguo’s wife, Li Yi’s initial thought was one of relief—he might be able to indirectly eliminate this potential rival by altering Wang Anguo’s fate.
But now it seems that wasn’t the case.
Since some things are bound to happen, it’s better to just let nature take its course.
After all, with Wang Anguo as a buffer, he and An Hong probably wouldn’t end up fighting to the death like they did in his previous life.
Wang Anguo hadn’t expected Li Yi to take this attitude; his furrowed brow relaxed slightly, but he asked with some concern, “Is that really possible?”
“Hmm, I can’t go into specifics, but in my opinion, your sister-in-law is the one who’ll have the brightest future in your family!” Li Yi said.
Wang Anguo was somewhat taken aback, then nodded and said, “Brother Li Yi, with you saying that, I’m put at ease!”
“With matters like this, don’t force things—just let nature take its course!” Li Yi said.
“Alright!”
Wang Anguo then added, “By the way, my sister-in-law has some questions she’d like to ask you. If you have time, why not come over to our place?”
Li Yi glanced at Tang Xue’s prominent baby bump and asked, “Will you and my sister-in-law be home tomorrow?”
“Yes, I don’t have to go to work for the next few days!” Wang Anguo replied.
“Here’s what we’ll do: when you head back later, save a car for us. I’ll take my wife to the hospital for a checkup tomorrow morning, and then we’ll come find you and your sister-in-law!” Li Yi said.
“You can drive?” Wang Anguo asked in surprise.
“It’s just driving—no big deal. I just don’t know if they’ll let me borrow this police car!” Li Yi said.
“According to the rules, we’re not supposed to lend it out, but if it’s you, Brother Li Yi, then it’s no problem. You’re one of us anyway!”
At that moment, Li Gang, who was standing nearby, picked up the thread of the conversation and said with a smile, “Come to think of it, I’d almost forgotten—Brother Li Yi is actually an informant for our county bureau!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “I’ve done plenty of work for you guys as an informant, but I haven’t seen a paycheck yet!”
“No salary, but we’ve given you certificates of merit and bonuses!” Li Gang said.
“Really?” Li Yi asked, sounding a bit surprised.
“Yep. You’ve really helped the bureau out a lot this year. So while we’ve been preparing for the commendation ceremony these past few days, the bureau put your name forward, and the county has already approved it!”
“Come on, I was just joking!” Li Yi said with a wry smile.
“Too late. You’ll probably have to show up at the awards ceremony in a couple of days!” Li Gang said with a smile.
“Can’t I just not go?”
No sooner had he spoken than Li Na chimed in from the side, “It’s a good thing—why wouldn’t you go?”
Tang Xue chimed in, “Sis Na, let’s go with what Li Yi says on this one!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “As you all know, I’m not one for drawing attention to myself. Let’s keep a low profile!”
“In that case, I’ll just let the bureau know that he won’t be attending,” Li Gang said.
“Then I’ll leave it to you!”
“No problem!”
Li Yi then checked the time and said, “You two haven’t eaten yet, have you? Why don’t you stay for lunch? We happen to have some dumplings ready!”
Wang Anguo smiled and said, “I won’t be staying for lunch. I promised your sister-in-law I’d visit her parents’ house today, so I need to hurry back!”
With that, he left his car keys with Li Yi and, accompanied by Li Gang, departed from the Li residence.
After Li Yi saw Wang Anguo and Li Gang off and returned to the house, he saw Tang Xue and Li Na curiously examining the three large packages on the floor, whispering to each other.
When Li Na saw Li Yi come in, she couldn’t help but ask, “Those two police captains were really kind to you. It’s one thing to just drop by, but bringing so many things? That’s a bit too much!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “These things weren’t given by them!”
“Huh? If they didn’t send them, then who did?”
“It’s Old Huang!”
“Old Huang?”
“That’s Mr. Huang, the guy who wants to build a school in our village!” Li Yi explained.
“Oh, it was them? No wonder!”
The Li family had a particularly vivid memory of Huang Lixing and his wife—after all, the couple had once given Li Yi over 50,000 yuan as a token of gratitude.
In those days, even 500 yuan was an unimaginably huge sum, let alone 50,000 yuan.
Tang Xue asked in surprise, “If I do the math, Sister Hong should have given birth by now. I wonder how she’s doing?”
“She’s given birth—it’s a girl. Both mother and daughter are doing well!”
Li Yi continued, “These items are the thank-you gifts Old Huang and his wife gave us!”
“That’s truly wonderful!” Tang Xue said happily.
She had met Huang Lixing and his wife twice. Each time, Chen Chuhong had been especially kind to Tang Xue. Thanks to Mrs. Huang’s deliberate efforts to befriend her, the two had quickly developed a very good friendship.
Li Yi smiled and said, “Even though it’s a girl, Old Huang has finally gotten his wish!”
Third Sister, standing nearby, wasn’t interested in that at all. She cut straight to the point: “All I want to know right now is what’s inside such a big bag?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Since you’re curious, why don’t we just open it up and see?”
Hearing this, all three of them perked up, their eyes immediately fixating on the large packages!