The car soon arrived at Beiguan Village. As soon as they reached the fork in the road at the village entrance, Jiang Longcheng asked, “The shop or the place where you live?”
“The shop!” Li Yi replied.
“Alright!”
Then Jiang Longcheng added, “I can’t help but feel that ever since you came out of the old house, your mood hasn’t been quite right. What’s going on?”
“You noticed?”
“Come on, I’m not blind!” Jiang Longcheng said.
Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “It’s nothing much. I just discovered some issues, and now I’m not sure if I should tell Uncle and Auntie.”
“Squeak…”
Hearing this, Jiang Longcheng suddenly slammed on the brakes right where they were, giving Li Yi quite a scare.
Fortunately, it was late at night, and they were in the suburbs where there wasn’t much traffic.
Otherwise, pulling a stunt like that in a busy downtown area would definitely have caused a traffic accident.
“What were you doing…”
Before he could finish, Jiang Longcheng immediately asked, “Brother Li Yi, what’s going on? Is Auntie No. 3 not doing well, or is it Uncle No. 3…”
“Stop… stop!”
Once Jiang Longcheng had quieted down, Li Yi finally spoke: “It’s neither of those. For them, it should be great news. It’s just that…”
“But what? Just spit it out!” Jiang Longcheng said, sounding anxious.
“It’s just that Auntie Li’s health is too fragile, and her condition has only just stabilized. I’m afraid if I tell her this, her body won’t be able to handle the shock and she’ll collapse!” Li Yi said.
“I see. Then let’s keep it from Auntie for now. We’ll tell her once she’s fully recovered!”
Jiang Longcheng then added, “But you can tell Uncle San first. He’ll be fine—he can handle anything, no matter how big the news is!”
“You’re right!”
“Um… what could be so serious? Can you tell me first?” Jiang Longcheng asked.
“I can’t tell you yet. In a couple of days,” Li Yi said.
“A good person doesn’t leave things half-said. You’ve told me half of it and then stopped—that’s just stringing me along!” Jiang Longcheng said with a wry smile.
“Stop messing around. Hurry up and drive—I need to go home and have a drink!” Li Yi said with a laugh.
“Aren’t you a teetotaler? Why do you suddenly want to drink?”
“I won’t be able to sleep tonight without a drink…”
“That just makes me even more curious. What’s going on that even you can’t handle it?”
“Don’t ask. Even if you did, I wouldn’t tell you!”
“You’re not being a good brother here…”
“Get lost. Just drive already!”
Seeing that Li Yi really wasn’t going to budge, Jiang Longcheng could only shift gears and step on the gas, heading back to the hot pot restaurant with a look of confusion and a touch of reluctance on his face.
When they got back to the restaurant, the staff had just finished cleaning up and hadn’t closed up yet.
Li Yi’s mind was a bit unsettled today, so he didn’t invite Jiang Longcheng inside.
After getting out of the car, he told Jiang Longcheng to head home immediately, while he strode into the restaurant.
Seeing Li Yi push open the door, Long Zhanjun and Li Yeqiao, who were busy tallying the accounts, immediately stood up to greet him.
Li Yi nodded and told them to continue.
He then took a bottle of Moutai from the front counter and, as Long Zhanjun and the others stared in astonishment, found a seat by the window. Everyone in the shop looked completely baffled.
In their eyes, Li Yi was definitely the kind of person who remained unflappable and composed in the face of any situation.
Even in adversity, even when facing difficulties, he always seemed to have everything under control.
What on earth had happened today that he needed to drown his sorrows in alcohol?
In fact, Li Yi wasn’t drowning his sorrows at all—he was drinking to help him sleep!
Tang Xue’s background had indeed come as a huge surprise to him—it was simply too shocking. Without a drink tonight, he feared he’d be up all night.
He had thought he’d have to start from scratch again in this life, but in the blink of an eye, his wife had landed him such a powerful connection.
Granted, given his current circumstances, he could still make a name for himself even without the Jiang family’s backing.
But having such a powerful father-in-law and such a formidable family backing him up would certainly help him avoid many pitfalls.
At the same time, it would deter all sorts of petty schemers.
These days, there are just too many bizarre things happening. If you don’t make a name for yourself, no one will take notice.
But if you do make a name for yourself, you might just become a fat pig in others’ eyes—ready to be slaughtered and devoured at any moment.
In his previous life, Li Yi had seen far too many instances of this sort!
However, as for whether to formally acknowledge the Jiang family as relatives—and exactly how to go about it—Li Yi felt that decision should be left entirely up to Tang Xue.
If it weren’t already so late, he would have called Tang Xue right away to ask for her opinion.
With that thought, Li Yi immediately poured himself a small glass of wine and downed it in one gulp…
……
The Jiang Family’s Old Mansion. West Wing!
While Li Yi was using alcohol to help him sleep, Jiang Shiying and his wife were also lying awake.
After seeing Li Yi off, Jiang Shiying returned to the room to help his wife settle down for the night.
Ever since his wife had fallen ill, she had been suffering from frequent insomnia, so whenever he was home, he would go to bed early to keep her company.
But after they lay down in bed, Ye Lingyun tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
“Yun’er, what’s wrong? Can’t you sleep?”
“Hmm, I’m thinking about what Comrade Li said!”
“What did he say?”
“He said I’d have a large family with many children and grandchildren. What do you think that means? Did you tell him to say that?” Ye Lingyun asked.
“I did ask him earlier to say a few kind words to cheer you up, but I definitely didn’t tell him to say something like that. I was actually worried it might upset you!” Jiang Shiying explained immediately.
“What about Father-in-law?” Ye Lingyun asked.
“Why would my father say something like that? Besides, they hadn’t even met before this. I was here the whole time before you came in, and I didn’t hear Dad or Li Yi mention a thing about it!”
“I remember Father mentioning before that he wanted us to adopt a child—so we’d have someone to rely on in our old age. I’ve always refused. Do you think he’s trying to use Little Li…”
“No way. Adopting a child is up to the two of us. If we don’t want to, can Father really force us?”
“That’s why he had Little Li say those things…”
Before she could finish, Jiang Shiying spoke up again: “That’s unlikely. Besides, even if Dad did have that idea, that kid wouldn’t necessarily go along with it!”
“Huh?”
Seeing the puzzled look on his wife’s face, Jiang Shiying smiled and said, “That kid has the temper of a stubborn mule—he’s the kind who won’t budge no matter what.”
“Yesterday I went to see him, hoping he’d say something nice to cheer you up, but instead of agreeing outright, he gave me a vague answer.”
“Really?”
“Yep! And just a moment ago, when I went out to see him off, that kid even cast a fortune for me!” Jiang Shiying said with a touch of exasperation.
“He read your fortune too? What did he say?” Ye Lingyun asked curiously.
“He said I’m a fortunate person too. He said my career will go smoothly, that I’ll rise to the highest ranks of the court, and that I have a strong aggressive streak—so I might end up holding the power to decide life and death, punishment, and judgment…”
Before Jiang Shiying could finish, Ye Lingyun laughed and said, “That kid dares to say anything. What does ‘reach the highest ranks of the court’ even mean? Who would even dare to dream of such a position!”
Just then, Jiang Shiying suddenly said, “Yun’er, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you!”
“What is it?”
“The provincial government called me, asking me to return and take over the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection!”
“That’s great news! So when are you leaving?” Ye Lingyun asked immediately.
“You don’t seem to get it—the Commission… it holds the power to decide life and death!”
Hearing this, Ye Lingyun froze for a moment, then said with a hint of surprise, “Are you saying that Little Li… he actually got the job?”
“Yes, it looks that way for now!”
Jiang Shiying then added, “Besides, he also said I’ll have many children and grandchildren!”
“Well…”
“I suspect he was hinting at something, but I just can’t figure out what exactly he meant!” Jiang Shiying said.
At that moment, Ye Lingyun suddenly said, “Shiying, why don’t we… why don’t we adopt a child?”
“Weren’t you always against the idea before? Was it because of what that guy said?” Jiang Shiying asked.
“Not entirely. We’re at this age now. Whether I recover or not, having another child is clearly out of the question. Adopting a child would be nice—it’d save us from growing old without anyone to look after us!” Ye Lingyun said.
“Let’s wait a bit. Once you’re feeling better, we can talk about this, okay?”
“Okay!”
“Let’s get some sleep!”
“Great!”
…….