The next morning!
Still half-asleep, Li Yi suddenly heard a series of “coos and gurgles” by his ear, followed by a warm sensation on his face.
Li Yi jolted awake instantly. A certain thought crossed his mind, and he opened his eyes immediately.
The moment his eyes opened, he was met with a rosy, delicate little face… and a half-foot-long trail of drool.
It turned out his little daughter had woken up at some point, crawled over to Li Yi’s pillow, and was now stroking his head while drooling.
Thankfully, it was his daughter’s drool—Li Yi breathed a huge sigh of relief!
His biggest fear was opening his eyes to see his son’s little “water gun”—just imagining that scene was enough to send a shiver down his spine.
He sat up, cradled the little girl in his arms, and then glanced to the side.
His son, Yunrui, had also woken up and was playing with the cloth tiger his big sister had made for him in the corner.
As for Jiang Xue, she was nowhere to be seen—no idea where she’d gone!
He glanced at the wall clock—it was barely 6:30. It shouldn’t be time for school yet.
Li Yi called out, “Xiao Xue!”
Jiang Xue’s voice quickly came from the kitchen in the back room: “Just a minute, I’ll make some formula for Yunrui and Yunjin first!”
“Okay!”
Li Yi immediately tucked his arms under his precious daughter’s armpits, lifting her up to eye level, then said with a smile, “Mommy’s gone to make formula for you. You’ll get to drink Grandma’s milk soon—aren’t you happy?”
Whether she understood what Li Yi said or it was simply the bond between father and daughter, the little girl immediately burst into giggles upon hearing his words.
Attracted by her sister’s laughter, Yunrui immediately dropped the cloth tiger and crawled over toward Li Yi.
Believe it or not, though she was tiny, the little one crawled surprisingly fast.
Before long, another soft, chubby little bundle crawled onto Li Yi, and her drool-covered little hands kept groping all over him!
Luckily, it was his own flesh and blood; if it had been someone else’s child, Li Yi couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t have made a hasty retreat…
When Jiang Xue returned to the bedroom with two bottles, she saw Li Yi holding one baby in each arm, his head tilted back.
The two babies thought their dad was playing with them, holding up their four little hands high, trying to touch his face.
Seeing this scene, Jiang Xue found it both amusing and heartwarming.
This was her man and her children—it felt so good to have them here!
“Honey, you finally made it. Hurry up and give them the bottles, or I’m going to be drowned in their drool…”
“You’re complaining about your own kids?”
Jiang Xue said as she lifted her son off Li Yi’s lap.
“Hahaha, I’m not complaining—I’m just worried the kids will go hungry!” Li Yi said with a laugh.
Jiang Xue ignored him. After handing the bottle to her son, she quickly took her daughter from Li Yi’s arms and gave her a bottle as well.
With their bottles in hand, the two children forgot all about their dad and immediately started gulping away!
Li Yi took this opportunity to quickly get dressed and out of bed, then prepared to head out to buy breakfast.
But just as he opened the door, he saw his older sister pushing the door open from the outside, carrying quite a few things in her hands.
“Big Sis, did you go buy breakfast again?”
“Yeah, is Xiao Xue awake yet?” his older sister asked with a smile.
“She’s up!”
“If she’s up, tell Comrade Zhang and Comrade Zhou to come eat breakfast!”
“Okay…”
……….
After watching Jiang Xue and his mother-in-law walk into the school, Li Yi glanced at his watch and realized it was almost eight o’clock.
He then turned to Zhang Ziqiang, who was driving beside him, and said, “Head to the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill!”
“Yes, sir!”
The car pulled away and headed straight for the cotton mill.
By the time they arrived at the cotton mill, it was already nine o’clock.
Upon arriving at the factory administration office, Li Yi first greeted Jiang Longcheng, then made his way to An Hong’s office.
When Li Yi pushed the door open, he saw An Hong bent over her desk, writing something.
Hearing the door open, she immediately looked up.
When she saw it was Li Yi, she immediately said with a look of delight, “Brother Li Yi, you’re here! Come on in and sit down!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Xiao Xue told me you came by our place looking for me yesterday afternoon, so I came over first thing this morning!”
“Hmm, I actually wanted to talk to you about something, but I didn’t expect you to be so drunk!”
An Hong knew how Li Yi handled his liquor, so she added, “With your drinking habits, you really shouldn’t touch alcohol anymore—it’s bound to cause trouble!”
“Hahaha, you’re right, Sister-in-law. I’ll try to cut back from now on!”
That said, Li Yi knew himself well—he was the type who couldn’t hold his liquor but loved to have a good time.
Even though he clearly couldn’t hold his liquor, whenever something good happened, he just had to take a couple of sips. The result was always the same: he’d start off on a high note, only to end up in a total mess!
Li Yi didn’t want to dwell on his drinking habits, so he immediately asked, “Sis, what did you want to talk to me about yesterday?”
An Hong poured Li Yi a glass of water as she said, “I think the sales channels for Feixue Apparel are pretty much set up now. Do you think I can step back?”
“Step back?”
“Yes. Right now, Feixue Apparel has direct-operated stores in most provinces across the country, with a total of stores. And according to our plan for the final quarter of this year, we’re aiming to reach stores by the end of the year.”
An Hong continued, “By then, Feixue Apparel’s sales channels will be largely established. From there, we’ll just need to expand from these provincial capitals and prefecture-level cities down to the counties and districts. My work here will be pretty much done!”
Hearing this, Li Yi frowned briefly before asking, “Sis, is someone at the factory giving you a hard time?”
An Hong paused briefly before replying, “It’s true that some people are gossiping behind my back. After all, I’m not originally from State Cotton Mill No. 2, yet I’m now in charge of its most profitable business. It’s only natural that some people feel uncomfortable about that.”
“But my decision to step back isn’t just because of them. What they say doesn’t really affect me. I just feel that opportunities are everywhere right now, and there’s no need to waste my time here!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “So, what are your plans after you step down? Do you have any ideas?”
“I’m just checking to see if you have any other projects on your end. If you need me to take them on, I’ll keep working. But if you don’t have anything, then I’ll…”
Before An Hong could finish, Li Yi cut in, “We do. Actually, there’s a pretty good project right now that needs someone to take the lead!”
“What kind of project?”
“Organizing a trade show!”
Li Yi then explained his plan to organize the trade show to An Hong.
He’d been worried about finding someone to take the lead on the trade show—after all, Li Yi was far too busy himself to handle it personally; he could only offer advice, and it was clearly unrealistic for him to organize it all on his own.
As for Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua, although they had connections and resources, they were both busy with their own affairs and simply couldn’t spare the time.
Besides, given their capabilities, Li Yi didn’t have much confidence in them!
If An Hong really wanted to step back from Feixue Apparel, having her handle the practical arrangements for this trade show would be the perfect solution.
With her capabilities, organizing a small exhibition like this would be a piece of cake.
If she handled it smoothly, he could eventually hand the entire operation over to her. When the time was right, he could even set up a company and have An Hong run it.
Upon hearing Li Yi’s proposal, An Hong’s eyes lit up immediately. With her sharp business acumen, she quickly grasped the exhibition’s profit model and potential.
If done right, this would be a highly profitable venture—a surefire way to make a fortune.
“Sis, I’ve already discussed this with Factory Director Jiang and one of Xiao Xue’s cousins. We plan to run this as a three-person team!”
Li Yi continued, “If you’re willing to join us, I can give you a 20% share of the profits!”
An Hong didn’t hesitate. “Alright, when do we start?”
“I’ll try to finalize the event plan within a week. In the meantime, you should use this time to hand over your responsibilities at Feixue Apparel to the factory. Once my plan is ready and you’ve wrapped things up here, we’ll get started!” Li Yi said.
“Alright, I’ll follow your lead, but I’m worried the factory won’t let me go!” An Hong said.
“Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Third Brother about it. Plus, when you leave the factory, I’ll make sure they give you a severance package. And once I get my share of the dividends from State Cotton Mill No. 2, you’ll get a cut of that too!” Li Yi said.
“Actually, there’s no need…”
“Don’t be so polite, Sister-in-law. You deserve it!”
For Li Yi, recruiting a powerhouse like An Hong to his side was worth every penny.
Seeing that Li Yi was resolute, An Hong didn’t press the matter further. She nodded and said, “All right, then.”
“Alright then. You go ahead and get back to work, Sister-in-law. I’ll go talk this over with Third Brother!”
“Alright…”
……….
: I went back to my hometown today and am really exhausted, so just one chapter!