The old man’s birthday banquet was a grand affair, starting at noon and continuing in full swing until 2:30 in the afternoon.
The liveliness was secondary; what mattered most were the guests attending the banquet.
Apart from the Jiang family’s direct and collateral relatives, as well as in-laws, the majority were military and government officials affiliated with the Jiang faction.
Most of these people were either the Old Master’s former subordinates or individuals he had personally promoted.
Although no one openly formed factions, that’s just how the political world works: whoever promotes you is considered your faction.
Jiang Shirong, Jiang Shiming, and even Li Yi’s father-in-law, Jiang Shiying, insisted on throwing the Old Master an 80th birthday celebration. On the one hand, this was certainly out of filial piety.
But on the other hand, it was certainly also an opportunity to consolidate the cohesion of the Jiang faction and let the brothers in their camp know that the Old Master was in robust health and could hold on for a few more years!
It may sound a bit absurd, but that’s the reality.
Although the old man has retired, his status and standing remain undisputed. As long as he is alive, he is the stabilizing force of the entire Jiang family and the greatest source of support for the officials in this faction.
Also in attendance at the birthday banquet were some of the Old Man’s old friends.
Each of these individuals is a renowned and influential figure, including several top-tier leaders who frequently appear on the News Broadcast.
Their presence also serves as a showcase of strength for the second generation of the Jiang family!
It was a way of telling everyone: the Jiang family isn’t just represented by the Old Master—we also have his brothers-in-arms!
Of course, none of this had much to do with Li Yi.
In the presence of these figures, even Jiang Longyin—who had already risen to the rank of department-level official—could only sit in the courtyard, lacking even the privilege of entering the main hall.
As for Li Yi, Jiang Longcheng, Ye Jianhua, and the others, they were completely insignificant—like mere shrimp, utterly unremarkable.
Fortunately, everyone was already used to this.
After they’d eaten and drunk their fill, Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua slipped away with their wives, neither of them foolish enough to try to make a show of themselves at a time like this.
The stage is too high and too big; acting recklessly won’t necessarily earn you praise!
Li Yi wanted to leave too, but Jiang Xue wouldn’t agree.
There was nothing to be done—her father had been away from home for over two months and hadn’t returned yet, and she wanted to wait for him.
Since his wife wanted to stay, Li Yi—being a good husband who listens to his wife and follows the Party’s lead—naturally had no objection.
And so, Li Yi stayed as well!
By 3:30 p.m., most of the guests at the Jiang family’s old mansion had left.
Even the old man had gone to rest after having a few drinks!
Just then, the front gate creaked open, and Li Yi saw his father-in-law return, looking thoroughly worn out from his journey.
Seeing that Jiang Shiying was carrying quite a few bags and seemed to be struggling a bit, Li Yi immediately went out to help.
“Dad, you’re back!”
“Hmm, is the old man’s birthday banquet over?”
“It ended nearly an hour ago. Why are you just getting back now?” Li Yi asked, puzzled.
The old man’s birthday banquet wasn’t exactly a massive event, but it was still no small matter—how could his father-in-law have been late?
“My flight was about to take off when I got a notice that the provincial leader was suddenly coming to Beijing too. They had to delay the departure, so I had to wait at the airport—and that wait ended up being three hours!”
Jiang Shiying didn’t say what came next, but Li Yi had already guessed the outcome.
Weren’t those three hours of waiting exactly the same three hours the old man’s birthday banquet had been going on?
Jiang Shiying first walked into the west wing, looked around, and didn’t see the person he was looking for.
He then set his briefcase on the coffee table and headed straight for the main hall where Jiang Xue was.
As soon as she entered, she saw her wife chatting with their daughter, but the two little ones were nowhere to be seen.
“Where are Yunrui and Yunjin?”
Hearing this, Ye Lingyun replied with a hint of displeasure, “Why are you only thinking about your two grandsons? Don’t we two living, breathing people even register on your radar?”
Jiang Shiying smiled and said, “That’s different!”
With that, he headed toward the inner room!
Sure enough, on the kang in the inner room, the two little ones were fast asleep, while Juanzi sat beside them reading a book.
Jiang Shiying hurried over to the bed and looked closely at the two little ones.
After watching them for a while, he couldn’t help but say, “It’s been two months since I last saw them, and they’ve grown so much—so plump and rosy-cheeked, it’s truly a joy to see!”
He hadn’t been back since attending Yunrui and Yunjin’s full-moon banquet last time.
With no video calls available these days, and being a grandfather for the first time, he naturally missed the two little ones terribly.
“Dad, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? Should I go to the kitchen and make you something?” Jiang Xue asked.
“No need. I had a light meal on the plane, so I’m not really hungry!”
He then took the cloth bags from Li Yi’s hands and pulled out a large pile of children’s clothes.
“These are all the latest styles from Hong Kong. Put them on the kids later!”
“Dad, please don’t waste your money on this in the future!”
“What do you mean, ‘wasted money’? What’s wrong with spending a little money on the kids?” Jiang Shiying said.
“Dad, kids grow fast. These clothes will be too small to wear in just a few months at most. Spending so much money on clothes that won’t last long—isn’t that a waste of money?”
“Heh, if they can look good for a few days, it’s worth it!”
Hearing this, Li Yi couldn’t help but shake his head. Seeing his father-in-law’s demeanor, he was reminded of how his own mother had doted on him back in the day.
And it wasn’t just his father-in-law; his mother-in-law was the same—she couldn’t bear to see Yun Rui or Yun Jin cry.
The moment the children cried, her heart would ache terribly.
He’d have to keep a close eye on these two little ones from now on—make sure his in-laws didn’t spoil them too much and turn them into good-for-nothing rich kids.
After chatting with his wife and daughter for a while, Jiang Shiying finally remembered Li Yi, her son-in-law, and asked him, “Did you run into Wang Tianrong?”
“I did, and we chatted for a bit!”
“So, did that guy give you a hard time?” Jiang Shiying asked.
“He tried, but he didn’t succeed!”
“Hahaha, that’s good. Don’t hold back with that old guy…”
Before he could finish, his mother-in-law, Ye Lingyun, glared at him and said, “Don’t talk nonsense. Yi, don’t listen to him—Brother Tianrong doesn’t have any bad intentions!”
“Haha, ‘no bad intentions’? Sure, he doesn’t intend to kill Xiao Yi, but who’s to say that old guy doesn’t have any ulterior motives!” Jiang Shiying said.
“What do you mean? Are you saying Brother Tianrong really plans to go after Xiao Yi?” Ye Lingyun frowned.
“He wants to use Xiao Yi to establish his authority!”
Jiang Shiying continued, “A while back, he promised he wouldn’t touch Xiao Yi, but then he suddenly told me that Xiao Yi had gone too far and wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine!”
“It’s just that what Xiao Yi did at the cotton mill gave hope to some factories that were on the brink of collapse. Some people are secretly trying to pull off similar stunts, which has the State-owned Assets Department feeling a bit uncertain. So they want to use Xiao Yi as a warning to the rest—to intimidate those who are secretly stirring up trouble!”
“Too bad they miscalculated. My son-in-law, Jiang Shiying, isn’t someone they can easily manipulate. If I hadn’t seen that they were just talking big and not actually taking any real action, I would’ve already taught the State-owned Assets Department a lesson myself!”
Ye Lingyun hurriedly interjected, “Please don’t! After all, Brother Tianrong has done us a favor. Even if something does come up, don’t get personally involved!”
Li Yi also understood what was going on and immediately said with a smile, “Father, please don’t get angry. I can handle this. They can’t touch me!”
“But what if—just in case?”
Li Yi smiled, then took a stack of letters from the shoulder bag he carried with him and handed it to Jiang Shiying!
“What is this?”
With a hint of confusion, Jiang Shiying took the documents Li Yi handed him.
“Hehe, you’d better take a look yourself!” Li Yi said.
Jiang Shiying unfolded the papers and began to read the contents intently.
However, after just a few glances, he jumped up from the sofa, his expression changing completely…
………