Chapter 381: A Conversation Between Father-in-Law and Son-in-Law!
The Jiang Family Mansion. Study in the Main Hall!
Li Yi looked at Jiang Shiying across the sofa, feeling a bit anxious.
Just moments ago, after the family recognition ceremony concluded, the two families had shared a meal together at the Jiang family’s ancestral home.
After the meal, the Ye family members had to prepare for Ye Jianhua’s wedding the next day, so they all left the Jiang residence.
Meanwhile, the members of the Jiang family’s first and second branches also had their own affairs to attend to and departed the ancestral home one after another.
After all the commotion, Ye Lingyun and Tang Xue were both exhausted. After seeing the others off, the mother and daughter returned to the west wing to rest.
Only poor Li Yi was kept behind by his father-in-law and summoned to the study!
“Dad, if you have something to say, just say it. Don’t stare at me like that—it’s creepy!” Li Yi said.
“Hmph, you think you can scare me?” Jiang Shiying glared at Li Yi.
“You’re Xue’s father. Since ancient times, fathers-in-law have never looked favorably upon their sons-in-law—how could I not be afraid!”
“If anyone else said that, I might believe it. But as for you, I don’t believe a single word you say!”
Jiang Shiying continued, “I heard you were quite the sight when you first visited the Tang family. You walked in, and within five minutes, you’d beaten up your brother-in-law and father-in-law, and even trashed their restaurant. You remember that, don’t you?”
Li Yi replied, looking a bit embarrassed, “How could he be anything like you?”
“What’s the difference? Logically speaking, you didn’t know Xue’er’s background back then, and by all accounts, Tang Jizhong was your father-in-law. Yet you didn’t hold back at all!” Jiang Shiying retorted.
“Actually, I’d already started to suspect something about Xue’er’s background before we went to the Tang family’s place. Plus, it was a bit of a coincidence—we happened to overhear those shameless bastards discussing how to sell Xue’er for a good price. Under those circumstances, I certainly wasn’t going to give them a friendly reception,” Li Yi said.
“Hmm, in that case, it’s quite understandable!”
Then, Jiang Shiying asked again, “So, tell me about what happened between you and Xiaoxue!”
“What exactly do you want to know?”
“Hmph, don’t beat around the bush—just spit it out!” Jiang Shiying said sternly.
“Why don’t you ask Xiaoxue yourself? I can’t bring myself to say it!”
Jiang Shiying shot him a withering look and retorted, “Just because you can’t bring yourself to say it, do you think I’m going to ask?”
Li Yi grinned and said, “Actually, it’s no big deal. That night, Xiao Xue and I both had a few drinks, and then, before we knew it, we ended up doing that. I guess you could just call it a case of mistaken identity…”
Before he could finish, Jiang Shiying frowned and said, “If it was a case of mistaken identity, how can you say that Xue’er took advantage of you, rather than you taking advantage of her?”
“Um… actually, I always thought I was the one who took advantage of Xue’er. My dad even gave me a severe whipping for it. But later, Xue’er told me that I was the one who was taken advantage of that night…”
“Xue’er told you that herself?”
“Yes. Tell me, wasn’t that whipping I took completely unfair?”
Jiang Shiying looked at Li Yi and asked, “Your dad beat you?”
“He did!”
“With a whip?”
“Yeah, he really went at it hard. I was covered in welts all over my body!” Li Yi said.
“Good, that puts my mind at ease!”
Li Yi: …%￥#￥%…
After a long silence, Jiang Shiying spoke again: “No matter who bullied whom between the two of you, it was fate. There’s no point in talking about it anymore.”
“Now that you have a child, let’s not bring this up again. As long as the two of you live a good life together, your mother and I will have peace of mind!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “We weren’t even bringing it up—you’re the one who insisted on grilling us about it…”
Jiang Shiying glared at Li Yi, then said, “Hmph, I’m just worried that Xue’er might get bullied. You’ll understand how I feel once you have a daughter of your own!”
“I understand… I understand!”
Jiang Shiying didn’t care whether Li Yi truly understood or was just paying lip service; she continued, “I heard from Longcheng that you spent 500,000 yuan to buy up all the defective fabric from their factory, planning to turn it into clothes for sale. How confident are you that this will work?”
“If we’re just talking about selling the goods to recoup my investment, I’m 100% confident!”
Li Yi continued, “As for making a small profit, that shouldn’t be a problem. But if we’re talking about making a big profit, the success rate is only eighty percent!”
“Really, eighty percent?”
“Mm-hmm!”
“But that batch of fabric has defects. If you turn it into clothes, they’ll have defects too. Have you thought about how to handle that?” Jiang Shiying asked.
“I’ve got it covered. I’ve specifically arranged for professional quality inspectors to conduct rigorous product inspections on all garments before they come off the production line. This will definitely filter out the vast majority of defective items.”
Li Yi continued, “As for any strays that slip through the cracks, we’ll offer full refunds and exchanges—we’ll handle after-sales service properly!”
Jiang Shiying nodded and said, “That puts my mind at ease! Just remember, you can make money, but you must never make money by compromising your conscience!”
“Understood!”
“As for the cotton mill, handle it according to your plan. If sales really don’t pick up, don’t just hang on for the sake of it—try to sell some of the clothes. Our Jiang family has the resources to do that!” Jiang Shiying said.
“Father, I understand. But I already have a detailed plan for this; I don’t need your help for now!” Li Yi replied.
“Alright!”
Then, Jiang Shiying suddenly asked, “The arrests of Tan Cheng, Tang Bing, and Liu Ermao—you sent people to do that, didn’t you?”
Li Yi didn’t deny it. Instead, he looked at Jiang Shiying and asked, “You know about it?”
“Mm-hmm!”
Then, Jiang Shiying added, “It was a clever move, but not ruthless enough!”
Li Yi understood what his father-in-law meant and immediately replied, “I’d like to be more ruthless myself, but after all, this is a society governed by the rule of law…”
Before he could finish, Jiang Shiying cut in, “Being ruthless doesn’t mean breaking the law. Sometimes, you can make someone’s life a living hell without breaking a single law!”
He continued, “Take that bastard Liu, for example. You knew full well that his brother-in-law is the director of the steel mill. You shouldn’t have acted rashly before taking down the power behind him!”
“Are you worried that the people backing Liu Ermao will step in to protect him?” Li Yi asked calmly.
“It’s not worry—it’s that he’s already intervened in this matter and bailed that bastard out. Plus, your friend surnamed Xiao has been transferred to a township police station!” Jiang Shiying said in a low voice.
Li Yi’s lips curled slightly upward as he replied, “Just as I expected.”
“What do you mean?”
“Actually, all of this was exactly as I expected. Liu Ermao dares to commit such brazen crimes only because his brother-in-law is backing him up. That’s why I never intended to let him off the hook from the very beginning!”
Li Yi continued, “Long before I took on Liu Ermaozi, I’d already investigated that guy and gathered plenty of evidence of his crimes!”
“If that’s the case, then why didn’t you take action against him? Why did you let him bail Liu Ermao out?” Jiang Shiying couldn’t help but ask.
“For one thing, the evidence I had wasn’t enough to deal him a fatal blow. For another, I wasn’t sure if that bastard had even bigger backers behind him! So, Liu Ermao was just a test ball I threw out to feel the waters.”
Jiang Shiying’s eyes lit up, and he said, “You wanted to see how many people were backing that scumbag at the steel mill?”
“Exactly. If you don’t uproot the weed, it’ll sprout again when the spring breeze blows. Either don’t act at all, or once you do, you must strike to kill!” Li Yi said, his eyes flashing with murderous intent.
Thinking of Tang Xue’s tragic death in his past life—and the fact that her two children had never even been born—Li Yi felt a sharp pang of grief.
Therefore, in his heart, whether they were directly involved in the matter or indirectly responsible for Tang Xue’s suicide, they all deserved to die!
Upon hearing Li Yi’s words, Jiang Shiying immediately replied with relief, “Hahaha, that puts my mind at ease. They’re just a bunch of scum—no need to waste your energy on them. You don’t have to worry about this anymore!”
“Alright!”
……..
PS: I’m traveling far today to visit my father-in-law’s family on the China-Mongolia border, so I can only post one chapter. Sorry!