Chapter 398: You’re Not Actually Planning to Turn This Pretend Situation into Reality, Are You?

February 4th, New Year’s Eve!

Li Yi and Li Yeqiao got up early in the morning and headed to the cotton mill.

After meeting up with Jiang Longcheng, they headed straight to a bank in the city center.

They had only one purpose for this trip: to withdraw money!

They needed to pay the wages of the cotton mill’s employees and sales team, as well as settle the mill’s outstanding fabric debts, so they had to withdraw over 300,000 yuan in a single transaction.

Such a large sum was absolutely a fortune by today’s standards.

To be on the safe side, Jiang Longcheng not only brought out all three of the factory’s jeeps,

He also called in six or seven burly security guards from the security department—some of whom were even armed.

That’s right—back then, security department staff were permitted to carry firearms.

Moreover, at large factories like the cotton mill, the authorities not only permitted their relevant departments to carry firearms but even allowed them to maintain their own armories—a policy that wasn’t adjusted until the late 1990s.

Upon arriving at the bank, the group immediately presented their identification and deposit slips, then successfully withdrew 350,000 yuan in cash.

Since the largest denomination in circulation at the time was the 10-yuan “Great Unity” note, 350,000 yuan amounted to a full 350 bundles. It filled two large canvas duffel bags—a sight that left both the bank staff and the ordinary citizens there conducting business utterly stunned.

After withdrawing the money, the group immediately drove back to the cotton mill.

By then, a large number of factory workers were already waiting.

Not only the garment workshop staff, but employees from other departments had also gathered, all waiting for the factory to distribute their wages.

Li Yi first had Li Yeqiao settle accounts with the factory’s finance director, clearing the 255,000 yuan Li Yi owed the factory for fabric.

Only then did he distribute wages to the employees of the garment workshop, the sales team, and the finance department.

It wasn’t until 10:00 a.m. that he finally finished handling matters at the cotton mill.

After finishing up there, Li Yi returned to the hot pot restaurant to distribute wages and bonuses to Long Zhanjun and the others.

When his third older sister, Li Na, arrived from the Jiang family’s old residence, Li Yi gave her 11,000 yuan.

He instructed her to keep 1,000 yuan for herself and give the remaining 5,000 to Second Sister—this was payment for Second Brother-in-Law’s help harvesting mushrooms all summer.

The remaining 5,000 yuan was for their parents, so they could buy some New Year’s provisions and not have to scrimp on food or clothing.

Next, Li Yi escorted An Hong, Dongzi, Liu San’er, and his third sister to the pre-booked car, and they set off directly for their hometown of Qingshan County.

Finally, after locking up the shop, Li Yi drove Long Zhanjun and Feng Qian to the train station, and the matter was finally settled.

……..

After handling these matters, Li Yi did not return to the Jiang family’s ancestral home.

Instead, he went with Jiang Longcheng to the new courtyard near the Imperial City; he wanted to see how the renovation of his family’s courtyard was coming along.

He had a feeling this courtyard would soon come in handy.

When the two arrived at the compound, they found Master Zhao leading three or four middle-aged men busy in the courtyard as soon as they stepped through the gate. It appeared they were repairing the courtyard’s flooring.

Upon seeing Li Yi approach, Master Zhao immediately came over to greet him.

“Master Zhao, how’s it coming along?”

“The interior was finished last week. We’ve been tidying up the yard these past few days. We just need to give it a quick sweep this afternoon, and it’ll be ready to move in!” Master Zhao replied.

“Come on, let’s go take a look inside!”

“Sure thing!”

Led by Master Zhao, the two walked into the house.

Before they even reached the main house, Li Yi was drawn to the side room and immediately pushed open the door to go inside.

The changes in the side room were quite significant. The dilapidated doors and windows had been removed and replaced with new ones and new glass.

Compared to the original small windows and panes, the renovation had replaced them with large windows and panes, significantly improving the natural light.

In addition, the walls of the side room had been repainted with whitewash, the ceiling had been re-framed with new joists, and new wallpaper had been hung.

Although it didn’t look particularly upscale, it was certainly much more pleasing to the eye than before.

Most importantly, Master Zhao and his team, following Li Yi’s instructions, added new wooden beds, cabinets, tables, and chairs to each side room, and installed stoves in all of them.

This was primarily done so that guests could be accommodated in the side rooms in the future.

As a result, the decor of these side rooms in Li Yi’s house resembled that of an old-fashioned inn.

After touring the east and west wings, the group made their way to the main hall.

Compared to the side rooms, the main hall had undergone even more significant changes.

Upon opening the door, they entered the living room, where everything—from the floor to the walls, ceiling, and doors and windows—had been replaced.

The floor had been replaced with terrazzo, and the doors and windows had been replaced with brand-new wooden ones. The room was furnished with newly upholstered sofas and coffee tables, as well as a few small round stools.

Although simple, the space felt very comfortable to the eye.

The room to the left of the living room had been converted into a bedroom, featuring a large traditional heated bed (kang) and several built-in wardrobes.

Most importantly, to ensure the bed stays warm in winter, Master Zhao partitioned off one-third of the bedroom space to create a kitchen, with the kitchen flue directly connected to the earthen bed.

When cooking takes place in the kitchen, the earthen bed in the room is also heated—killing two birds with one stone.

The room to the right of the living room was transformed by Master Zhao into a study and small bedroom. He not only installed a single bed but also built a desk and a row of bookshelves.

Li Yi was generally quite satisfied with the renovation work done by Master Zhao and his team, though he did find the smell of paint in the house a bit strong.

Originally, Li Yi hadn’t planned to have Master Zhao paint the new furniture, since paint contains high levels of formaldehyde that take a long time to dissipate.

Plus, his wife was about to give birth, so they simply couldn’t wait for the smell to dissipate.

However, he had been so busy recently that he forgot to give Master Zhao and his team specific instructions. By the time he remembered and came back, they had already finished painting.

The house is nicely decorated now, but because of the formaldehyde, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to move in anytime soon.

It looks like we’ll have to stay at my father-in-law’s place over the New Year.

But in any case, the house is finally almost finished; now they just have to wait for the paint fumes to dissipate before they can move in.

Afterward, Li Yi paid Master Zhao the remaining 1,000 yuan in wages, then returned to the Jiang family’s old residence with Jiang Longcheng.

At the Jiang family’s old residence, Jiang Shiying had just returned from Guangdong Province and was chatting with his wife in the living room.

Meanwhile, in the inner room by the desk, Jiang Xue was whispering with Zhang Xinyao.

“Sister Xinyao, are you really not going home for the New Year? I think it’s been three years since you last went back, hasn’t it?”

Zhang Xinyao nodded and said, “No, I won’t. I’ll find time to go back in the summer!”

“Why not?” Jiang Xue asked, puzzled.

“For one thing, it takes four or five days round trip from Beijing to our home province of Qin. If I went now, I’d spend the entire holiday on the road…”

“I can ask Li Yi to give you a few extra days off. Didn’t you hear Sister Na say that Xiaoqian and Brother Long both got a two-week break? That way, you could spend over ten days with your aunt and the others when you go back!”

Zhang Xinyao smiled and said, “Never mind. I’m mainly trying to save some money. Once the weather warms up, I’ll see if I can bring my mom to the capital for a medical checkup. Who knows, maybe there’ll be a chance!”

“I see.”

Then, Zhang Xinyao’s face flushed slightly as she added, “Oh, and your third brother wants me to stay at his place for a few days over the New Year…”

Jiang Xue, as if she’d caught on to something, asked in a low voice, “Sister Xinyao, you and my third brother aren’t planning to turn this pretend relationship into a real one, are you?”

Zhang Xinyao froze for a moment, then gave a wry smile and said, “I’d love to, but do you really think someone like me is good enough for your brother?”

“You never know. The way my third brother’s been looking at you these past few days doesn’t seem right!”

“No way. Your brother is the factory director, after all. And considering your family’s circumstances, we’re worlds apart—I wouldn’t even dare to think about it!”

“So what if he’s the factory director? Even if he were the emperor, he’s still just a man. When it comes to men and women, anything is possible…”

Just then, Jiang Longcheng’s voice suddenly rang out from outside the door: “Uncle, Auntie, where’s Xinyao?”

Hearing this from the inner room, Zhang Xinyao couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Xue, a hint of inexplicable anticipation flickering in her eyes…

……..