Chapter 531: Orders from Above!

By the time Li Yi returned from downtown to his father-in-law’s little villa, it was already 2:00 PM.

As soon as he arrived, he noticed several cars parked right outside his father-in-law’s house.

However, Li Yi didn’t think much of it; after all, this was the provincial government compound of Guangdong Province, where all the key government officials of the province resided.

That was precisely why there was no shortage of all kinds of vehicles here!

Perhaps a guest had arrived at the home of a nearby official who had nowhere to park, so they’d pulled up in front of his father-in-law’s house.

But when Li Yi went to open the door to enter, he discovered that the gate to the small villa wasn’t locked, and he could faintly hear voices coming from inside.

He immediately realized that his father-in-law must have returned, and that there were guests in the house.

However, when Li Yi pushed the door open, he discovered that the guests inside were actually Zhou Rui, Xu Xinmao, and their group—though there was one additional young man in his late twenties compared to when they’d arrived that morning!

Of course, his father-in-law, Jiang Shiying, was there as well!

Seeing Li Yi walk in, Jiang Shiying immediately said, “You’re back! Come sit down!”

“Dad, why are you home? Do you have nothing to do this afternoon?” Li Yi asked as he walked in.

“How could we have nothing to do? Comrade Zhou Rui and Director Xu called me, saying they had urgent business to discuss with you, but they couldn’t wait for you to return!” Jiang Shiying replied.

“I ran into an old acquaintance earlier, so we had a meal together. I got back a bit late—sorry to keep you all waiting!” Li Yi said, looking at Zhou Rui and the others.

“No problem at all!”

Zhou Rui then continued, “We came here mainly to inform Comrade Li Yi that we’ve already reported your request to Beijing. After careful consideration, the higher-ups have approved it. Director Xu will explain the details to you.”

“Alright!”

Li Yi then turned to Xu Xinmao and asked, “Director Xu, what are the instructions from above?”

“The 200 million USD in foreign exchange has been authorized for you to manage, and your condition has also been approved. However, to ensure the security of the funds, we reserve the right to monitor their movements!”

“What do you mean? Are you saying I have to report to you every time before making an investment?”

Before Xu Xinmao could answer, Li Yi continued, “If that’s the case, I’m afraid I simply can’t do it. After all, our investment plans are strictly confidential, and I’m responsible for tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars belonging to the company’s other investors!”

“We don’t need you to report every time, but we’ll assign one or two colleagues to stay by your side…”

“Monitor me?”

At that moment, Zhou Rui interjected, “No, if we wanted to monitor you, you wouldn’t even notice.”

“Then what’s the point of these people?”

“Our preliminary plan is to send two people to your side. One will be responsible for your personal security, while the other will gain access to your company through special channels!”

Zhou Rui continued, “Although we could use other methods to secretly place people by your side and complete the mission without anyone noticing, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, we’d rather handle this openly. Please give it serious consideration!”

If that’s the case, having these two people around isn’t entirely unacceptable.

Besides, given his current status, he did indeed need a bodyguard for protection—especially in a place like Hong Kong Island, where thugs and criminals were a constant threat. Someone like him was an easy target for kidnapping and extortion.

With that in mind, Li Yi immediately said, “You can send the men over, but they must not interfere with my actions. That’s non-negotiable!”

“Rest assured, our people will absolutely not interfere with any of your actions. Furthermore, as long as your company doesn’t face any major risks, we won’t alert the authorities back home. You can treat them as if they’re invisible!” Zhou Rui said.

Although Li Yi knew this was just empty reassurance—how could two living, breathing people be treated as if they didn’t exist?

However, considering that their presence would definitely bring him more benefits than drawbacks, he chose not to argue.

At that moment, Li Yi glanced at Xu Xinmao beside him and said, “Director Xu, when can you get that two hundred million yuan in funds ready?”

Xu Xinmao replied immediately, “We can make the funds available at any time. The only issue is that the money is currently held at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. How should we get it to Hong Kong?”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “There are two options. First, have Director Zhou’s people handle it. It’s unthinkable that State Security agents couldn’t manage something like this!”

“Second, we could have Huang Lixing’s people handle it. As you likely know, he has his own smuggling fleet in Hong Kong. As long as you deliver the money to the Shekou port and let his people in, it can be transported to Hong Kong smoothly!”

Zhou Rui replied immediately, “It’s best if your people handle it. The higher-ups won’t let us get involved in matters over there, so as not to provoke the British Hong Kong government!”

“Then let Old Huang’s people handle it!” Li Yi said.

Xu Xinmao asked right away, “Is that guy you’re talking about reliable? We’re talking about two hundred million in foreign currency here. If he gets greedy, we’ll be in big trouble!”

“Haha, you can rest assured on that front! The company I run on Hong Kong Island is a joint venture with him. He’s invested 1 billion Hong Kong dollars into the company. If he embezzles those 200 million US dollars, I’ll use his investment in the company to compensate you!”

Li Yi continued, “Besides, I trust Old Huang isn’t the short-sighted type. He wouldn’t give up the chance to make twenty billion just for a measly two hundred million dollars!”

“In that case, we won’t say anything more. If possible, we can send the money to Shekou at any time!” said Xu Xinmao.

“Here’s what we’ll do: you send the money to Shekou first, and I’ll get in touch with Old Huang and have his people make a trip over tonight!” Li Yi said.

“Comrade Li Yi, aren’t you going over there?”

“What for?”

“To oversee the funds, of course. Are you just going to hand the money over to those people and walk away?” Xu Xinmao frowned.

“No need. As soon as the money reaches Hong Kong Island, it’ll be handed over to our people there. They’ll know exactly what to do with it!”

“Well…”

“All right, Director Xu. I’ve already told you—you can’t interfere with how we manage this. If the money is lost, I’ll reimburse you. What else are you worried about?” Li Yi said.

“Alright, then!”

At that moment, Zhou Rui pointed to the young man beside him and said, “Comrade Li Yi, this is Zhang Ziqiang. He’s one of our elite agents from State Security. From now on, he’ll be working under you!”

Zhang Ziqiang!

Upon hearing that name, Li Yi’s first thought was of the most notorious gangster in Hong Kong during the 1990s.

Wow, are you sending me a bodyguard or…

Fortunately, the young man standing before him—whether in demeanor or bearing—was nothing like that notorious criminal of the same name. Otherwise, just because of the name alone, Li Yi wouldn’t have dared to take him on.

“Do you speak Cantonese?”

“Reporting, yes! Besides Cantonese, I’m also fluent in English, Japanese, and Korean!”

Hearing this, Li Yi’s eyes lit up instantly. So he’s a linguistic prodigy as well!

Perfect—that saves me the trouble of hiring a translator.

“Alright, then you’ll be working under me from now on!”

“Yes, sir!”

Zhou Rui added, “We also plan to secretly send Comrade Yang Qian to Hong Kong Island to infiltrate your company. Please let your company’s HR department know, Comrade Li Yi!”

“Alright…”

……….

PSdxmbang: I managed to post this just before midnight—it was a close call!