Chapter 246: Li Yi’s Invitation
After driving along the main street of the county town for a short while, the car turned onto a side road!
It then drove north for two or three kilometers before finally coming to a stop in front of a small courtyard.
“Where is this?”
“Li Yeqiao’s house!” Li Gang replied.
“You mean he’s planning to treat me to a meal at his home?”
“Yeah, he actually wanted to take you to a state-run restaurant, but the case isn’t closed yet, and he’s been ordered to stay home—he can’t go anywhere!” Li Gang said.
“Huh, if he can’t leave the house, how did he know I was back?”
Li Gang immediately laughed it off and said, “Well, after I came back from your place yesterday, I had to go back to Old Li’s house because of the case. I happened to mention you, so he insisted on treating you to a meal and even specifically asked me to come pick you up!”
“You might as well just admit you sold me out. Why all the excuses?” Li Yi said, speechless.
Liang Yukui, standing nearby, chuckled and said, “Brother Li Yi, you saved Old Li’s life, so it’s only natural he’d treat you to a meal!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Alright, I was just joking. Since we’re here, let’s go inside!”
“Alright!”
Meanwhile, Li Yeqiao, who was inside the house, spotted the Jeep at the entrance and realized it was Li Yi. He immediately ran out in his slippers to greet him.
Spotting Li Yi from a distance, Li Yeqiao said with a look of deep gratitude, “Brother Li Yi, you’ve finally arrived. Words can’t express my gratitude. If it weren’t for your guidance, I, Li Yeqiao, would have been truly finished!”
“You’re overdoing it. It was you who pulled back from the brink and held your ground—I didn’t deserve all the credit!” Li Yi said with a smile.
Li Yi wasn’t being modest; he was simply telling the truth.
The main reason Li Yeqiao had been sentenced to death in his previous life was ultimately his own fault.
Upon discovering irregularities in the Hongqi Station’s accounts, Li Yeqiao did not immediately report the matter to the relevant authorities, nor did he report Du Caie.
Instead, he used his position to help her cover up her crimes and went to great lengths to falsify the accounts, attempting to plug the tens of thousands of yuan hole.
But in the end, he had underestimated Du Caie’s greed. With him cleaning up her mess behind the scenes, she became even more brazen.
Moreover, once she had money, she became even more extravagant, and was eventually reported!
Most surprisingly, the person who reported Du Caie was none other than Liu, one of her other lovers.
Suspecting financial irregularities due to Du Caie’s habitual extravagance, Liu, fearing he might be implicated, filed an anonymous report with the county authorities.
Subsequently, county authorities conducted a surprise audit of the Hongqi Credit Union and discovered that over ten thousand yuan had mysteriously vanished from the cash balance. That very night, Du Caie was taken to the Public Security Bureau for questioning. This investigation uncovered a major scandal that shocked the entire nation.
Several months later, the Qingshan County Court sentenced Du Caie to death, to be carried out immediately.
Li Yeqiao, as an accomplice, was also sentenced to death.
In this life, he clearly wasn’t as foolish as he had been in his previous one; instead, he chose to pull back from the brink and cut his losses.
Although retaining his position as director of the credit union was out of the question, at least he wouldn’t have to live on peanuts.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group entered Li Yeqiao’s home.
Li Yeqiao’s home was quite nice—three large tiled-roof rooms, well-decorated, befitting his status as a high-ranking director.
The dining table on the heated brick bed was already laden with dishes—all cold appetizers, to be sure—along with two bottles of Maotai!
As soon as they entered, Li Yeqiao immediately called out toward the kitchen: “Wife, the guests are here—serve the food!”
“Oh, right away!” a woman’s voice called from the kitchen.
Soon, a woman in her forties, wearing an apron, emerged from the kitchen, carrying a metal tray with a steaming, large carp on it.
The woman first placed the fish on the table, then looked at Li Yi and said, “So you’re our cousin, aren’t you? Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you…”
Li Yi quickly interjected, “Sis, please don’t say that. I just mentioned it offhand—it was Brother Li who actually took my words to heart!”
“Thank goodness you reminded him. Otherwise, with him being such a fool, completely bewitched by that slutty vixen dxmbang, he might’ve ended up in jail any day now!”
Clearly, the woman was still bitter about the affair between Li Yeqiao and Du Caie. She didn’t spare him a shred of respect as she spoke, her words dripping with resentment.
Li Yeqiao, looking embarrassed, said, “All right, just serve the food already. Don’t keep the guests waiting!”
This time, the woman didn’t argue. Instead, she motioned for Li Yi and the others to take their seats on the kang, while she went back to the kitchen to bring out the dishes.
It was clear that Li Yeqiao and his wife had really gone all out to host Li Yi.
Even though there were only five of them dining, she had prepared a full eight dishes.
Apart from two cold dishes, the rest were all substantial main courses—not only braised chicken, fish, and spare ribs, but even grilled lamb chops. It was hard to believe a housewife could pull this off these days.
To say nothing of the rest, just these ingredients alone would cost at least a few dozen yuan!
Not to mention the two bottles of Maotai on the table—at 12 yuan a bottle these days, those two bottles alone were worth more than half a month’s wages for an average worker.
Once the food and drinks were all set, Li Yeqiao’s wife didn’t join them at the table. Instead, she gave a quick nod and went into the next room, leaving the space to them.
After several rounds of drinks and a variety of dishes!
Li Yeqiao said with some emotion, “To be honest, I never imagined I’d take such a huge fall. Thankfully, Brother Li Yi, my benefactor, was there to guide me; otherwise, I really wouldn’t have had a chance to turn things around!”
With that, Li Yeqiao poured himself a glass of wine and said to Li Yi, “Brother, no need to thank me for such a great favor. I’ll drink this glass first to show my respect!”
Li Yi also raised the teacup in front of him and took a small sip. His tolerance for alcohol was limited, so he’d made it clear to them before sitting down: he’d eat, but he wouldn’t drink!
Since everyone present was on his side, no one said anything about it!
“Old Li, have you thought about what you’re going to do next?” Liang Yukuai suddenly asked.
Given the magnitude of this incident, it was highly unlikely he’d be able to keep his position as director of the credit union, so Liang Yukui wanted to ask Li Yeqiao if he had any ideas or plans.
Li Yeqiao sighed and said, “I haven’t decided yet. Let’s wait until the case is over.”
“If you really have nowhere else to go later, why not come to the sugar factory? We’re short-handed in the finance department!” Liang Yukui suggested.
Li Yeqiao shook his head. “I’d rather not. To be honest, if I really do get fired after this, I’ll probably head south to make a new start!”
“The South?”
“Yeah. A close buddy of mine is running a business in Guangzhou right now. He’s desperate for help and invited me over before, but I turned him down.”
“Is he in legitimate business, or is he just speculating and peddling goods?” asked Liang Yukui.
At that moment, Li Gang chimed in, “Actually, your situation isn’t that serious. At worst, it’s just a matter of conduct and inadequate supervision. While you’ll likely lose your position, you should be able to keep your civil service status. There’s no need to be so pessimistic!”
However, Li Yeqiao just smiled and said, “Even though I’ve taken quite a hard fall, I’m certainly not feeling pessimistic!”
Seeing the skeptical looks on Li Gang and Liang Yuke’s faces, Li Yeqiao continued, “Do you know how much money my buddy makes just by selling sunflower seeds and peanuts?”
“No idea. How much money can you make selling that stuff?” Li Gang said dismissively.
“A few bucks? Haha, in less than a year last year alone, he made 300,000 yuan!” Li Yeqiao said, dropping a bombshell.
“Th… that much?”
This time even Liang Yukui was stunned. Earning 300,000 yuan a year just by selling sunflower seeds and peanuts? He must be joking!
“300,000!”
Li Yeqiao continued, “When I first heard the news, I was just as shocked as you are, but I know my buddy well—he wouldn’t lie to me.”
“He said he’s too busy to handle it all and asked me to go help him. I want to go see what’s really going on!”
At that moment, Li Yi, who had remained silent until then, spoke up: “Old Li, if you don’t want to work within the system, and you don’t want to go south, I suggest you go to Beijing!”
“Beijing?”
“Yeah. Barring any surprises, I’ll be heading to Beijing next month. If you’ve sorted things out, we can go together!” Li Yi said.
“Brother Li Yi, you’re going to Beijing too?” Li Yeqiao asked in surprise.
“Yeah!”
“Alright, then it’s settled!” Li Yeqiao said.
“Alright!”
…….