The Jiang Family’s Old Mansion!
Early in the morning, Jiang Shiying was startled awake by the sound of rustling nearby.
Opening his eyes, he saw his wife, Ye Lingyun, getting dressed!
“Why are you up so early today?”
Jiang Shiying knew his wife was a light sleeper and usually woke up early, but it wasn’t often she got up before dawn like this.
Ye Lingyun smoothed her slightly dull and disheveled hair, then said, “I couldn’t sleep. Did I wake you up?”
“It’s fine. Why couldn’t you sleep? Is something on your mind?” Jiang Shiying asked, sounding a bit anxious.
“Not really, I just suddenly feel a little nervous!”
“Nervous?”
“Hmm, I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t seen anyone from outside the family in a while. When I heard you say yesterday that you were going to invite that young man over for dinner, I just got a little nervous!” Ye Lingyun explained.
“Come on, he’s just a young guy. Why would you be nervous?” Jiang Shiying frowned.
“I don’t know. I just feel a little flustered, as if… as if I were about to meet someone important!” Ye Lingyun said.
“Well… maybe I should postpone it. How about another day?”
“No need. It’s not that I’m afraid of meeting strangers; I’m just nervous!”
Then, Ye Lingyun suddenly smiled and said, “Actually, I’m actually looking forward to meeting that young man!”
“Oh, what’s there to look forward to?” Jiang Shiying asked.
“I just want to thank him in person!”
Then, Ye Lingyun looked at her husband and said, “Shiying, you have no idea how desperate I was a while back. I felt like I was done for! But I couldn’t bear to leave you. I still wanted to go to Yong County to add some soil to our child’s grave and burn some joss paper, but I just didn’t have the strength. I was truly afraid I’d just pass away like that.”
“It was that young man who gave me hope and saved my life. Both out of gratitude and common decency, I want to see him—even if it’s just to say a simple ‘thank you’!”
Thinking back on his wife’s condition a while ago, Jiang Shiying felt a chill run down his spine.
“It’s the least I can do!”
Just then, Ye Lingyun suddenly asked, “Shiying, that boy’s name is Li Yi, right?”
“Right!”
“What kind of person is he?”
“How should I put it? That kid gives me a somewhat mixed impression, but there’s no denying he’s a very smart person.”
“Compared to Long Yin and Long Ze?”
“Apart from his background being a bit lacking, in every other aspect—whether it’s Long Yin or Long Ze—he’s far superior. When it comes to dealing with people, among the younger generation, probably only that little brat from the Wang family has that kind of poise!” Jiang Shiying said.
Hearing this, Ye Lingyun was somewhat shocked!
After all, Long Yin from her eldest uncle’s family and Long Ze from her second uncle’s family were both considered the cream of the crop, the hopes of the Jiang family, and deeply favored by the old patriarch.
But she never expected that, in her husband’s eyes, they were both outshone by that mysterious young man.
In fact, the very idea that Shiying would place that young man on the same level as that little brat from the Wang family was truly shocking.
“The more you say that, the more curious I am about him!”
“Don’t be curious—you’ll meet that kid tonight!”
“Okay, then hurry up and get ready, and come with me to the market!” Ye Lingyun said suddenly.
“The market?”
Jiang Shiying was a little surprised. His wife was indeed a good cook, but she had rarely cooked since falling ill.
Especially in recent years, as her condition had worsened, she hadn’t set foot in the kitchen for quite some time.
“I want to pick out some fresh meat and vegetables so I can cook two dishes for him myself tonight!”
“Alright, I’ll go with you right now!”
“Okay…”
…….
At 3:30 p.m., after spending most of the afternoon wandering around downtown, Li Yi and the others finally arrived at their rental apartment.
All three of them were carrying quite a few bags, but most of the items were bought by Li Yi.
There were items for Tang Xue, things for their future child, and the clothes he’d promised to buy for his third older sister, Li Na, among other things. By the end of the day, Li Yi had actually spent over five hundred yuan.
But Li Yi didn’t mind. Since he’d finally found the time to browse the malls, he certainly couldn’t just look without buying anything!
Additionally, thinking about their visit to the Jiang family that evening, Li Yi had also bought gifts for Old Master Jiang and the Jiang Shiying couple.
Although he knew they certainly didn’t need these things, one simply couldn’t show up empty-handed when visiting someone’s home.
To be honest, after spending most of the day out, both An Hong and Li Na were deeply impressed.
They had originally thought that the shops lining the streets and the teeming hordes of bicycles were the height of Beijing’s bustling scene.
But when they actually arrived at Wangfujing Street, they were instantly stunned by the scene before them—everything here exceeded their wildest imaginations.
So for most of the day, Li Na and An Hong had been in a state of utter awe!
However, everything was exactly as Li Yi had anticipated. Right now, they were like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden—finding everything they saw astonishing.
No big deal—they’ll get used to it after a few more visits. That’s what broadening one’s horizons is all about!
Back at the rental apartment, Li Yi didn’t join in on the chattering discussion between Third Sister and An Hong; instead, he went straight to his room and fell asleep.
He’d been up since early morning and hadn’t returned until now—even someone with Li Yi’s stamina was feeling a bit worn out.
By the time Li Yi woke up, it was already past five o’clock.
Thinking that Jiang Longcheng would be finishing work soon, Li Yi grabbed the gifts he’d bought for the Jiang family and headed to the shop.
When he arrived at the hot pot restaurant, he noticed Jiang Longcheng’s car was already parked outside.
As he pushed open the door and stepped inside, he spotted the guy from a distance—he was indeed already there, chatting with Zhang Xinyao, who was cleaning up.
Seeing Li Yi push the door open, Jiang Longcheng immediately stopped chatting with Zhang Xinyao and hurried over to him.
As soon as they met, Jiang Longcheng exclaimed loudly, “Brother Li Yi, if you hadn’t shown up, I was about to go look for you at your apartment!”
“Don’t you get off work at six? How come you’re here so early?”
“Hahaha, I’m the factory director—who’s to say when I get off work?” Jiang Longcheng said with a laugh.
“Aren’t you worried the factory workers might follow your example?” Li Yi said with a smile.
“Who would dare?”
Jiang Longcheng then added with a laugh, “Actually, I went to a meeting at the district office this afternoon. I came straight here after the meeting—I didn’t even go back to the factory!”
“You’re always either in a meeting or on your way to one!” Li Yi said.
“Ugh, just hearing the word ‘meeting’ gives me a headache. Every time we have a meeting, our factory gets criticized, while that kid Lin Jianguo gets praised every single time!”
“Lin Jianguo? How did he get praised?” Li Yi asked, somewhat surprised.
“You didn’t know? Ever since that kid made those tables, chairs, and benches for you last time, he suddenly got the hang of it. He converted half the workshop to produce tables, chairs, benches, and all kinds of kitchenware!”
Jiang Longcheng continued, “And you know what? That change actually brought the foundry back from the brink. Profits have been climbing steadily, and it’s almost become a model enterprise in the district!”
“Is that so? I haven’t really been paying attention to the foundry,” Li Yi said, somewhat surprised.
Jiang Longcheng immediately replied, “You bet. That guy really hit the jackpot. I hear he’s made over a hundred thousand yuan just from selling those sheet-metal kitchen appliances lately—enough to pay off the employees’ wages that had been overdue for half a year!”
“Our cotton mill, on the other hand, has been having a rough time. We can’t get paid by our upstream raw material suppliers, we can’t sell our inventory, and we can’t pay our workers’ wages. Every time I go there, I get chewed out like a dog—it’s infuriating!”
“Come on, don’t get so worked up. If you’re not doing a good job, you can’t blame others for pointing it out!” Li Yi said.
“It’s not just my fault the factory’s in this state. Old Zhang and Bald Li before me—they share the blame too!” Jiang Longcheng said, sounding a bit aggrieved.
“What’s the point of bringing that up? You’re the factory director now, so of course people are going to take it out on you first. Do you think they’re going to drag the retired director back just to yell at him?”
“Brother Li Yi, I know you’re capable. Help me figure something out!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“We’ll talk about this later. It’s getting late—let’s head over to your third uncle’s place first,” Li Yi said.
“Alright, we’ll talk about this in detail later. Let’s head home first!”
“Alright!”
The two immediately left Li Yi’s shop, got in the car, and headed straight for the Jiang family’s old mansion!