The night passed without incident!
Early the next morning, Li Yi got up early!
After changing the two little ones’ soaked diapers, he headed to the kitchen to cook.
To his surprise, by the time he got there, Third Sister had already finished cooking the porridge.
Seeing Li Yi come in, she said to him, “Look at this fire—I’ll go out to the street and buy some steamed buns or fried pancakes!”
“I’ll go!”
With that, Li Yi turned and headed straight out the door.
The temperature in Beijing had already risen considerably in March. Although it was still a bit chilly early in the morning, it no longer had that bone-chilling cold of January and February.
There were quite a few street vendors out. Knowing his mother had never tried jianbing guozi before, Li Yi immediately bought two sets of jianbing and five or six large meat buns before heading back home.
By the time he returned, Jiang Xue and the child had already woken up.
Whether it was because they were hungry or something else, as soon as he walked in, he heard the child crying inside.
He placed the breakfast he’d bought on the dining table, then took off his padded coat to let the chill in his clothes dissipate a bit, so it wouldn’t transfer to the child.
After doing all that, he finally walked into the inner room.
Inside, Jiang Xue was breastfeeding their son, while Yun Jin, in her grandmother’s arms, was crying loudly.
“Mom, let me handle this!”
“You’re a grown man—how could you possibly comfort a baby…”
Before she could finish, Jiang Xue interjected, “Mother, just give Yunjin to him. This little girl is especially close to him!”
Hearing her daughter-in-law’s words, Zhang Yuehong handed her little granddaughter to Li Yi with some hesitation.
Strangely enough, as soon as the little girl was in Li Yi’s arms, she sniffled once, then quickly stopped crying.
She even looked up at Li Yi and gave him a gentle smile, leaving Zhang Yuehong, who was standing nearby, marveling at the sight.
Witnessing such a heartwarming scene, she finally realized that her own “little troublemaker” had truly changed.
Even though her son had made a fortune in the past and amassed a substantial family fortune in a very short time, Zhang Yuehong still harbored some concerns.
After all, in her eyes, the things her son did were just like a gambler placing a bet: if he won, he’d be a millionaire; if he lost, he could lose everything—it was completely unpredictable.
But seeing her son gaze tenderly at his little granddaughter, without a trace of impatience on his face—it didn’t seem like him at all.
That expression was almost exactly the same as the one her husband had worn when he held her son all those years ago.
Her son had finally grown up. He would surely become a responsible father just like his own father!
Li Yi had no idea that in just that brief moment, so many thoughts had flashed through his mother’s mind.
After helping Jiang Xue finish feeding the baby, they placed the two little ones on the kang, and the group hurried to eat breakfast.
It was Mother’s first time trying pancakes, served with warm, stomach-soothing millet porridge—the combination was simply divine, and she couldn’t stop raving about it.
After breakfast, his mother and Jiang Xue stayed home to look after the children, while Li Yi took his third older sister and left the house, heading straight for Beiguan Village.
……..
Since Jiang Longcheng had driven him home the previous night and then taken the jeep with him, the two had no choice but to take the bus to the shop.
After over an hour of traveling, they finally arrived at the shop at 9:15.
At that moment, Long Zhanjun was leading Dongzi and the others in preparing ingredients, while Father and Juanzi were also lending a hand.
The full-moon banquet was over, and the restaurant was set to reopen today.
Seeing Li Yi and Li Na walk through the door, Long Zhanjun immediately came over and said, “Brother Yi, Director Jiang just stopped by. He asked you to give him a call as soon as you arrived—he has something he wants to discuss with you!”
Hearing Long Zhanjun call him “Brother Yi,” Li Yi immediately felt a sense of unease.
Although Long Zhanjun was older than him, Li Yi had lived for several decades in his previous life, so he didn’t mind Long Zhanjun calling him “brother.”
But now that he was dating his third older sister—and would soon be her husband—he felt a bit of a burden calling him “Yi.”
“Alright, I’ll give him a call right now!”
Li Yi then went to the front desk and immediately dialed the number for Jiang Longcheng’s office.
After a few rings, Jiang Longcheng’s booming voice came through the receiver: “This is Jiang Longcheng. Who’s this?”
“Third Brother, it’s me!”
“Brother-in-law, hahaha, you’re finally awake!”
“Third Brother, I heard you came to the store first thing this morning. What’s up?” Li Yi asked right away.
“Well, the factory released its February revenue figures a few days ago, and I wanted to discuss them with you…”
Before he could finish, Li Yi cut him off: “My father-in-law already told me about that!”
“I know, man. You wouldn’t believe those jerks at the factory—when they found out we made 1.19 million in just 20 days, they were all stunned. Seeing their faces was pure satisfaction, hahaha!” Jiang Longcheng said smugly.
“Come on, is all this fuss really worth it over such a small amount of revenue and profit? Let me tell you, a measly million-plus a month doesn’t even meet the passing grade—what’s there to be happy about?”
Li Yi knew this guy’s personality—he was the type to get a big head at the slightest success. If he didn’t knock some of the wind out of his sails, who knows how big he’d blow his own horn.
“Uh… Brother-in-law, that’s 1.19 million. How is that not even passing?” Jiang Longcheng said, looking dejected.
“Let me ask you this: what annual profit target is specified in the agreement I signed with the factory?”
“20 million!”
“Then let me ask you this: what’s 20 million in profit averaged out per month?”
“Well…”
“It’s 1.666 million yuan. In other words, the cotton mill has to make at least that much profit every month for me to get my dividend. Do you think this month’s 1.19 million is enough?”
“No… no!” Jiang Longcheng said, sounding a bit dejected.
“So, you guys still have to work hard from here on out. Otherwise, I’ll have worked for nothing this whole year!” Li Yi said.
“Alright, alright. We can’t let all your hard work go to waste, can we?”
Then Jiang Longcheng added, “By the way, I called you here today to discuss expanding production!”
“Oh, what do you have in mind?”
“It’s not about what I want to do. Comrade An Hong came to see me yesterday and said he wants to open flagship stores in Shanghai and Guangzhou in a few days—and he plans to open four stores in each city!”
Jiang Longcheng continued, “Don’t you think opening that many stores in one place all at once might be a bit much?”
Li Yi didn’t answer his question but asked in return, “Third Brother, do you know how many permanent residents there are in Shanghai and Guangzhou?”
“I… I don’t know!”
“Shanghai has at least ten million, and Guangzhou has three or four million. Is opening four specialty stores in cities that big really too many?” Li Yi asked.
“Then that’s certainly not too many!” Jiang Longcheng said.
Li Yi immediately continued, “It’s not just Shanghai and Guangzhou—we need to set up specialty stores in major cities like Chuncheng, Rongcheng, and Jinling as soon as possible, and make sure the staff is properly trained. We have to seize the market before the other cotton mills have a chance to react!”
“Hahaha, hearing you say that puts my mind at ease!”
“Right! We might as well take bigger steps—we won’t fall flat on our faces!” Li Yi said.
“Alright, got it. I’ll have to go now—I’ve got a meeting with those bastards!”
“Alright, dxmbang!”
But just as Li Yi was about to hang up, Jiang Longcheng’s voice came through the receiver again: “Oh, right, there’s something I forgot to tell you. Jianhua asked me to let you know that he’ll be coming over to hang out with the two of us after work tonight!”
“Alright, got it!”
After saying that, Li Yi hung up the phone this time.
However, just as Li Yi was about to go talk to his father, the phone he’d just hung up suddenly rang again…
………