After the move, seeing his parents settled comfortably in their new home, Li Yi finally felt at ease!
Early the next morning, Li Yi drove back to Beijing!
As he was leaving, his parents insisted on stuffing the backseat of the car to the brim with all sorts of things—chicken, lamb, millet, potato starch…
Although these items were readily available in the capital, and the notion that rural produce is naturally organic while urban food is laden with chemicals and harsh processing methods was outdated, he couldn’t refuse his parents’ kindness.
He had no choice but to give in!
After a long drive of over six hours, he finally arrived back in Beijing at 1:30 p.m.
Once in the city, he didn’t head to the shop but drove straight to his family’s courtyard house.
It couldn’t be helped—it was already April, and temperatures in Beijing had started to rise.
With all that rice, flour, cooking oil, and various meats in the car, he had to deal with them as soon as possible; otherwise, they would spoil easily.
Upon returning home, Li Yi found that Jiang Xue and the child were both there, and even his mother-in-law was present.
In addition, there was a woman in her forties with a distinctly scholarly air.
Seeing Li Yi return, Jiang Xue was overjoyed and hurriedly put down the book she was holding to greet him.
“Why are you back so soon? I thought you were going to stay in the village for ten days or so?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “I’d have liked to stay a few more days, but there are still a lot of things I need to take care of in Beijing. I had no choice!”
Just then, his mother-in-law came over and asked, “Xiao Yi, have you eaten yet?”
“Mom, not yet!”
Zhou Yang then noticed the woman who had come out with his mother-in-law and asked, “Who is this?”
Jiang Xue hurriedly explained, “This is Aunt Xu. Mom invited her to tutor me in math!”
“Hello, Aunt Xu. I’m Jiang Xue’s husband, Li Yi. Thank you so much for coming to tutor Xue!” Li Yi said with confidence.
“Comrade Li Yi truly has remarkable poise. No wonder Professor Ye speaks so highly of you!” Xu Lan said with a smile.
“Aunt Xu, you’re too kind. That’s just my mother’s way of showing affection by extension!” Li Yi replied.
“Xiao Yi, have a seat for a moment. I’ll go make you some noodles!” Ye Lingyun said.
“Mom, don’t bother. I need to unload the car first, and then I have to head to the store—there are some things I need to take care of there!” Li Yi said.
“You’re such a kid—no matter how busy you are, you still have to eat!”
“Mom, I’ll just grab something to eat at the shop later!”
Li Yi was worried about the shipment of Khet sheep and the cold storage, so he wanted to get there as soon as possible!
“All right!”
After putting the items he’d brought inside in the kitchen, Li Yi went back outside to unload the rice, flour, and cooking oil from the car.
Jiang Xue wanted to come help, but Li Yi stopped her—this kind of physical labor wasn’t something he’d let a girl do.
After bringing everything from the car into the house, Li Yi went into the inner room to check on his sleeping son and daughter. He kissed each of the little ones on the cheek, then got ready to head to the shop.
Just then, Jiang Xue suddenly said, “Oh, by the way, Second Brother came by last night. He said he needed to talk to you, but you weren’t home!”
“Did she say what it was about?”
“He didn’t tell me, but he seemed pretty anxious. If you have time, you should go see him—or at least give him a call!” Jiang Xue said.
“Alright!”
With that, Li Yi left the house!
After leaving home, Li Yi headed straight for the nearby district government office.
Although Li Yi didn’t know why Jiang Longyin wanted to see him, he knew his brother-in-law fairly well. Compared to that dimwit Jiang Longcheng, Jiang Longyin was a standard, competent politician.
He possessed the arrogance of an official, the domineering air of someone in a high position, and the aloofness of a scion from a distinguished family.
This was evident from the very first time they met, based on the attitude he displayed.
Unless it was truly important, he wouldn’t have deigned to come to Li Yi’s home in person.
Since it happened to be on his way, Li Yi decided to pay Jiang Longyin a visit first.
………
District Government Administrative Building!
In the office with the most prestigious location and the most expansive view, Jiang Longyin was intently studying the documents in his hands.
But his furrowed brow and the fact that he hadn’t moved for quite some time betrayed his current state of mind.
After quite a while, Jiang Longyin, who had been sitting as still as a statue, suddenly sighed and tossed the documents aside.
He then rose from his seat and walked restlessly to the window.
Whenever he faced an unsolvable problem, he liked to come to the window and gaze out at the traffic and streets below.
If he watched quietly for a while, perhaps a solution would come to mind.
The reason he was in such a terrible mood today was because he had received a call from a friend yesterday.
The caller was the head of a state-owned enterprise within his jurisdiction—and, as the son of a high-ranking official, he happened to be aware of the connection between Li Yi and the Jiang family.
Consequently, he had relayed the details of yesterday afternoon’s internal meeting at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to Jiang Longyin, urging him to prepare in advance—after all, the connection between Li Yi and the Jiang family was well-known.
If the higher-ups really decided to take action against Li Yi, it would inevitably implicate the Jiang family.
After receiving that call from his friend, Jiang Longyin was deeply shaken.
He truly hadn’t expected that the small, run-down factory run by his third younger brother, Jiang Longcheng, could cause such a stir—let alone attract the attention of the State-owned Assets Department.
At the same time, he hadn’t anticipated that the Ministry of State-Owned Assets was actually debating the legality of the agreement his brother-in-law, Li Yi, had signed with the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill.
He knew the true nature of those in power all too well. If the discussion concluded that the agreement was legal, then everything would be fine.
But if it were deemed illegal, that would be a real problem.
This wouldn’t simply mean the agreement would be nullified; it would likely lead to action being taken against Li Yi.
To be honest, if it were merely a matter of Li Yi’s life or death, Jiang Longyin might not have cared.
He was merely a cousin-in-law; it wasn’t enough to keep him up at night or weigh heavily on his mind.
But the problem was that his brother-in-law, Li Yi, and his third younger brother, Jiang Longcheng, were already deeply entangled. If Li Yi were to fall on hard times, his third younger brother would certainly not fare well either.
And if his third younger brother were to suffer, the Jiang family—including himself—could forget about walking away unscathed.
So, after receiving the call yesterday, he immediately phoned his third uncle, who was far away in Guangdong Province.
To his surprise, after hearing all this, his third uncle didn’t react at all; he simply told him to go to DXMBang and look for Li Yi.
With no other choice, Jiang Longyin went to his cousin’s house, only to learn that his brother-in-law had gone back to his hometown and hadn’t returned yet.
Discussions at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission were still ongoing, but Li Yi wasn’t in Beijing. This made him both a little worried and a little annoyed.
Just as Jiang Longyin was feeling uneasy, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.
He composed himself slightly, quickly returned to his desk, and sat down before saying, “Come in!”
“Creak!”
As the office door swung open, a disheveled figure walked in from outside. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Li Yi!