Zhang Xinyao gave birth. Although the process was difficult and dangerous, the outcome was ultimately very good.
However, it kept Jiang Xue on her toes. She received the call at 9:00 PM and didn’t leave the hospital until 5:00 AM the next morning—essentially working through the night.
There was nothing she could do about it—after all, the woman giving birth was both her best friend and her sister-in-law. If she didn’t step up, who else would?
Besides, right now, there simply wasn’t anyone else available from her uncle’s side of the family to stay at the hospital, so she had to bear the burden alone.
After all, her eldest uncle and Jiang Longyin were both working out of town, and Jiang Longcheng was away on a business trip.
As for her eldest sister-in-law, Xu Manqiu, and her second sister-in-law, Yang Rong, they had children at home, so they only stayed for a short visit before rushing back.
Her aunt was already stretched thin, caring for both Zhang Xinyao and the newborn baby on her own, so Jiang Xue had no choice but to stay.
Since Jiang Xue stayed, Li Yi naturally couldn’t go home alone, so he stayed at the hospital as well.
Fortunately, Jiang Longcheng rushed back around 4:00 a.m. and finally relieved Li Yi and Jiang Xue of their duties.
Exhausted, the couple fell asleep the moment they returned to the Jiang family’s old residence, and when they woke up, it was already past noon.
By then, his mother-in-law had already prepared lunch and was waiting for them to eat.
After a quick wash, Li Yi and Jiang Xue went to the dining room in the main hall.
As soon as they walked in, they saw the old man playing with Yunrui and Yunjin.
Little Yun Jin, in particular, was being held in the old man’s arms, her tiny hands clutching his beard tightly.
Although his face was contorted from the tugging, the old man showed no sign of letting go.
Seeing this, Li Yi immediately moved to take the little girl away, but the old man laughed and said, “It’s fine, I’ll just hold her. You two haven’t eaten breakfast yet—go grab a bite to eat first!”
“Grandpa, please don’t let her pull on your beard—it really hurts!” Jiang Xue said.
“Haha, she’s so little—how much strength could she possibly have?”
Although the old man said this, the occasional twitch in his facial expression made it clear that he wasn’t finding it easy at all.
The little girl was now over a year old, and with her good nutrition, her little hands were surprisingly strong!
Just then, Ye Lingyun walked in from the kitchen carrying a plate of scrambled eggs. Hearing the old man’s words, she smiled at Jiang Xue and said, “Your grandfather just loves little girls. With so many young ones in the family, I’ve never seen him hold any of them—except for Yunjin!”
“Grandpa, you’re definitely favoring girls over boys!” Jiang Xue said with a laugh.
The old man immediately burst into hearty laughter. “How could I not favor girls? Going back three generations and looking three generations ahead in the Jiang family, there are only you and Yunjin—two girls. That’s what they call ‘rarity makes things precious’!”
“Hahaha!”
Hearing this, everyone burst into laughter!
Li Yi looked around the inner and outer rooms but didn’t see his father-in-law anywhere. He immediately asked his mother-in-law, “Mom, where’s Dad? Why don’t I see him?”
“Your father went back to Guangzhou. He left at ten o’clock this morning!”
Then Ye Lingyun added, “The food’s all ready. Let’s dig in!”
After sitting down, Li Yi served himself some rice and asked, “Mom, when Xiao Xue and I came over yesterday, we actually wanted to ask when you planned to leave for Yong County, but we got sidetracked by the matter with Third Sister-in-Law!”
“Just think it over and set a date—Xiaoxue and I will go with you!”
Ye Lingyun replied immediately, “Any time before school starts is fine with me. It depends on your schedule!”
“How many days do you plan to stay there? Or is there something specific you need to do while you’re there?” Li Yi asked.
“Actually, there’s nothing particularly important. It’s just that place feels like a thorn stuck in my heart. Every time I think about it, it fills me with fear and unease, and that’s been hindering my recovery.”
Ye Lingyun continued, “A while back, when Dr. Jiang gave me a follow-up checkup, he said that although I’m recovering quite well now, there’s still something weighing on my heart that I haven’t let go of. If this continues, my illness might relapse one day!”
“After much thought, I realized that the place I’ve struggled to let go of the most in my life is probably Yong County. So I thought I’d go there to visit—to see my old coworkers from back then and take a look at the place where Xue’er used to live, just to put my mind at ease!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “In that case, there’s no time to waste. I’ll just get the company team settled and then head out!”
“How many days will it take?”
“No more than three days!” Li Yi said.
“Alright, that works out well—I’ll use these next couple of days to get ready too!”
“Alright…”
After finishing their meal, Li Yi noticed it was almost 1:00 p.m., and Lan Xinyi’s flight was scheduled to arrive just after 2:00 p.m.
He then said goodbye to Jiang Xue and his mother-in-law, and, accompanied by Zhang Ziqiang, headed to the airport to pick them up!
……….
Beijing Airport!
At the arrivals gate, Li Yi chatted with a group of officials from the municipal government and the Investment Promotion Bureau while waiting for Lan Xinyi and the others to arrive.
As one of the first companies to invest in the mainland this year, and given that Starry Sky Investment is currently the most powerful investment firm in Hong Kong—bar none—it naturally received high-level attention from Beijing’s investment promotion department.
Although Star Investment is Li Yi’s company and their decision to invest on the mainland was his initiative—making it seem as though the government had little to do with it—
But in reality, that wasn’t the case. How Star Investment would invest after arriving, which industries they would target, the scale of their investment, and what incentives and conveniences the city would offer—all of these required negotiations with the municipal government.
That’s right—negotiations!
In the early days of reform and opening-up, we adopted a very humble stance to attract foreign investment.
We had no choice; international capital wasn’t particularly optimistic about us at the time.
Apart from a lack of understanding of us and the long-standing demonization by Western countries, the more critical factor is that although we announced reform and opening-up, the scope of our opening-up was not particularly broad.
Especially in the financial sector, we were resolutely opposed to opening up to foreign capital, which led many to worry that investing here would leave them vulnerable to being fleeced.
Precisely for this reason, when word spread that Starry Sky—such a renowned investment firm—was coming, the higher-ups took it very seriously. From Guangdong Province all the way to Beijing, governments at every level had made extensive preparations to welcome them.
To name just a few, the delegation arriving at the airport today was met by a vice mayor, the director and deputy director of the Investment Promotion Bureau, and more—a total of over twenty officials.
In terms of the reception protocol, this was already quite impressive!
Just as everyone was chatting, the airport PA system announced that the flight had landed safely.
After waiting a short while longer, a group of people dressed in matching uniforms and carrying identical suitcases came walking toward Li Yi and his party.
From a distance, Li Yi immediately spotted Lan Xinyi leading the group, with Li Yunbao by her side.
As the group drew nearer, Li Yi was surprised to discover that Yang Qian—the woman the Foreign Exchange Bureau had forced onto their company—was also in the group!
To be honest, Li Yi was somewhat surprised. Why hadn’t this woman stayed in Hong Kong? Why had she followed the group all the way to Beijing?
But the occasion wasn’t exactly convenient for that—he’d find time to ask her once they were back in the city!
Lan Xinyi and the others also spotted Li Yi and immediately hurried over.
After the two groups met, they naturally exchanged pleasantries.
After the grand welcome ceremony concluded, Lan Xinyi and the others were escorted from the airport back to the city by the municipal government’s motorcade and were immediately accommodated at the Jianguo Hotel.
After settling the entire team in, the municipal government leaders immediately held their first meeting with Lan Xinyi and her group in a conference room at the Jianguo Hotel.
In addition to welcoming the team, they briefly discussed the time, location, and agenda for the negotiations.
The municipal government also announced that a reception dinner would be held that evening at the more prestigious State Guest House, and invited the Starry Sky Company team to attend punctually.
After the meeting concluded, the municipal government officials took their leave.
Subsequently, Li Yi summoned the team members to continue the meeting, providing instructions regarding the upcoming negotiations and subsequent investment matters!