“Cotton Mill, this is Jiang Longcheng!”
“Brother Long, this is Jianhua…”
After Jiang Longcheng hung up, he immediately turned to Li Yi and said, “Looks like we won’t be making it to the hospital today!”
“What’s up?”
“That kid Jianhua says he’s organized a gathering and wants us to join him!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“What kind of gathering?”
“He didn’t say, but I’m guessing he’s getting married soon and wants to get everyone together before the wedding!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“Nonsense! Shouldn’t he be busy planning the wedding right now? Does he really have time for this?” Li Yi said indifferently.
Actually, it didn’t take much to figure out that a get-together like this was nothing more than a chance to have a good time before the wedding—much like the pre-wedding bachelor parties they have overseas.
“Fine, whether it’s nonsense or not, he called us. We should at least show up.”
Jiang Longcheng added, “If it turns out to be a bore, we can always slip out early!”
“Sounds good! Where’s this party, and when does it start?”
“At a workers’ club in the east part of town. He said we should head out right now!”
“Let’s go, then!”
“Alright!”
After a quick pack, the two left Jiang Longcheng’s office.
They went downstairs, got into his little 212 jeep, and sped off toward their destination.
After driving through the city for nearly half an hour, they finally arrived at a large compound.
The moment the car pulled through the gate, Li Yi saw the wooden sign hanging at the entrance clearly bearing the words “East City Workers’ Club”!
Jiang Longcheng was clearly very familiar with the place; he quickly pulled over and motioned for Li Yi to get out.
By then, it was completely dark, and the entire city was just beginning to light up.
Though there were no flashing neon lights, the area was aglow with a dazzling array of colors, a truly breathtaking sight.
As the two approached the club’s entrance, they spotted two uniformed security guards from a distance, checking the IDs of people entering the club.
“What kind of IDs are they checking? Do we have any?” Li Yi asked immediately.
“Work IDs or union membership cards will do!” Jiang Longcheng replied.
These days, not just anyone could enter a workers’ club; you had to be a worker or an official from one of Beijing’s various organizations, and you needed either a work ID or a union membership card.
“I don’t have one!”
“No problem!”
Seeing Jiang Longcheng’s confident demeanor, Li Yi said no more; he figured that for someone like him—the head of a major factory—this sort of thing shouldn’t be too difficult.
Since there weren’t many people, it was their turn in no time.
When the security guard checking IDs recognized Jiang Longcheng, he immediately stepped forward to greet him warmly.
Upon hearing that Li Yi was with him, the guard didn’t even bother checking his ID and simply let Jiang Longcheng lead him inside.
Seeing this, Li Yi wasn’t surprised—privileges were everywhere!
Once the two entered the club, a massive indoor dance hall immediately came into view, filled with young people dancing gracefully.
If it weren’t for the rather basic lighting and the relatively mellow dance music, Li Yi might have thought he’d stepped into a nightclub from decades in the future.
Jiang Longcheng led Li Yi through the dance hall with ease, heading toward the inner area.
The inner area was filled with small square tables and long benches—clearly intended for workers to relax and unwind.
At that moment, quite a few young people were gathered in small groups of three or five, joking and playing around, chatting animatedly, with hearty laughter ringing out from time to time.
“Have you ever been to a place like this before?” Jiang Longcheng asked as they walked.
“Actually, no!”
“Then you’ll have to come here often from now on. This is arguably the liveliest spot in all of Beijing!”
Perhaps fearing Li Yi might get the wrong idea, Jiang Longcheng quickly added, “Don’t get any funny ideas. This is just a place to eat, drink, and maybe dance a bit. There’s also a staff movie theater and a library inside—nothing else out of the ordinary!”
“Really?” Li Yi gave him a half-smile.
It was better if Jiang Longcheng hadn’t explained it; now that he had, Li Yi actually found it hard to believe.
Besides, he had lived in the capital before; though he’d never been to this place, he knew that the city’s earliest dance halls and bars had evolved from various workers’ clubs.
Li Yi believed that most of the people here were decent—after all, it wasn’t yet an era of nationwide revelry and hedonism.
But as for this place being nothing more than an ordinary leisure spot for workers, Li Yi didn’t buy it.
After all, if this place truly had nothing to offer, why would it attract so many children of the powerful and wealthy? Was it just so they could catch a whiff of the working class’s feet?
“Um… really, there’s nothing to it. It’s just a bit more laid-back here…”
The two chatted as they walked, quickly passing the lounge area and heading up the stairs to the second floor.
The second floor resembled a hotel, with rooms bearing various signs.
Jiang Longcheng led Li Yi down the hallway for a few steps before pushing open the door to a room.
The moment the door swung open, Li Yi was startled by the scene inside.
The room was enormous—at a glance, no less than 150 to 160 square meters.
Its size was one thing, but what was most striking was the unique layout—it was clearly designed for a salon gathering.
The room was lined with sofas, chairs, and small round tables, while the opposite side was stocked with plenty of drinks and snacks—leaving only the center of the room completely empty.
The room was already filled with people; some were dancing gracefully in the center, but most were sitting in small groups around the round tables, chatting.
It could be said that, although they were in the same workers’ club, the downstairs and upstairs were completely different worlds!
The moment Jiang Longcheng walked in, he caught everyone’s attention. As a direct descendant of the Jiang family, he became the center of attention the instant he appeared.
As for Li Yi, no one paid him any mind, assuming he was just a lowly errand boy there to carry Jiang Longcheng’s bags and clothes.
However, what happened next took everyone by surprise!
Ye Jianhua, who had been chatting and laughing with others just moments before, immediately dropped what he was doing and rushed over to greet the two as soon as he saw them.
“Brother Long, Brother-in-law, you two finally made it!”
Hearing Ye Jianhua’s enthusiastic greeting and those “unique” titles, everyone present was taken aback.
Everyone invited today was an acquaintance, and most of them were well aware of Ye Jianhua’s family situation—there hadn’t been a single girl in the Ye family for three generations.
If there weren’t even any sisters, where on earth would a brother-in-law come from?
Jiang Longcheng smiled and said, “Aren’t you supposed to be focusing on your job? Why are you suddenly throwing a party again?”
“I figured that once I’m married, it’ll be harder to get out and hang with everyone. So I figured I’d just get everyone together now, set the record straight, and save you all from thinking I’ve suddenly become a loner!” Ye Jianhua said with a laugh.
“Does Xiao Ying know about this?”
“She knows. Yi will bring her over in a minute!”
“You invited Lin Yi over and asked him to bring Xiao Ying’er too? Aren’t you afraid he’ll beat you up?” Jiang Longcheng said with a laugh.
“What’s there to be afraid of? With Ying’er around, he wouldn’t dare hit me!” Ye Jianhua said smugly.
“Typical!”
Just as they were speaking, the door to the room swung open again.
Immediately, several young people walked in, including Ye Jianhua’s fiancée, Lin Ying.
But when Li Yi saw the young man standing next to Lin Ying, he froze for a moment.
Earlier, when Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua had mentioned Lin Yi, the name had sounded familiar to him, but he hadn’t been able to place it right away.
But the moment he saw the stern-faced young man standing before him, it all clicked—so it was him.
Lin Yi—undoubtedly the most outstanding young man in the Lin family in three generations!
He was also Lin Ying’s older brother.
In his previous life, upon learning of his sister’s suicide while serving in the military, he immediately requested discharge and personally took it upon himself to gather evidence of Ye Jianhua’s crimes.
In the end, using the evidence he had gathered, he forced Ye Jianhua into prison and dealt a crushing blow to the Ye family!
It must be said, he was a truly ruthless man.
More importantly, he lay low in government service for several years afterward, then ventured into business in the late 1980s, founding the Lin Blue Ocean Group. In less than 20 years, he built the company into a conglomerate with assets exceeding 100 billion yuan.
Backed by this immense wealth, the Lin family rose to prominence, gradually surpassing the Jiang and Ye families in influence.
Thinking back to the turmoil that unfolded a few years later, the repercussions were far-reaching.
It wasn’t just the Ye, Lin, and Jiang families; nearly every clan with ties to those two families—and even Ye Jianhua’s friends and brothers—were caught in the crossfire, sparking a series of farces involving courting, betrayal, and retaliation.
Although the incident ultimately ended with Ye Jianhua being sent to prison, the impact on him and the entire Ye family was far from trivial.
Since Ye Jianhua had invited only those he considered close to him today, it remained to be seen whether any of the men who had stood trial with him would be present.
At this thought, Li Yi—who had initially been in a rather low mood—suddenly found himself harboring a faint sense of anticipation for tonight’s “gathering”!