Chapter 585: Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder!
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. After being apart for over twenty days, Li Yi and Tang Xue both had so much to say to each other.
So much so that during dinner, they kept exchanging glances, making no attempt to hide how much they’d missed each other.
Ye Lingyun and Li Mei had been their age once too, so they understood how young people think. As a result, they were more than happy to give them some private time together.
After dinner, they retreated to the adjoining room, taking the two children with them.
Just past ten o’clock that evening, Juanzi came to the main room to tell Li Yi and Tang Xue that Yunrui and Yunjin had already fallen asleep in the side room.
To prevent the children from catching a chill, they wouldn’t be brought over for the night.
Hearing this, the sharp-witted Li Yi immediately caught on to what was going on and silently gave his mother-in-law a mental thumbs-up.
To live up to his mother-in-law and older sister’s kindness, Li Yi immediately transformed into a wolf and pounced on Jiang Xue…
One hour later!
On the large bed in the main room, Li Yi, having just finished his exertions, held his wife close, savoring the tranquility that followed their passion.
Jiang Xue, her face flushed, nestled tightly against Li Yi’s chest, looking utterly content.
After a moment, Jiang Xue traced circles on Li Yi’s chest as she asked, “How long will you be able to stay at home this time?”
“I should be able to stay until the end of October, but then I’ll have to make a trip to Hong Kong!”
By the end of October, the international gold price would peak at $599 per ounce, and Li Yi would need to be there to oversee operations.
At the same time, he’d have to make arrangements for upcoming investments.
After all, once the gold was sold off, they would recoup a large sum of capital—they certainly couldn’t just leave all that money sitting in the bank earning interest!
Jiang Xue did a quick calculation: there were still nearly forty days left until the end of October.
Thinking that Li Yi would be able to spend all that time with her and the child, Jiang Xue felt incredibly happy.
“I almost forgot to ask you—how’s college life?” Li Yi asked gently.
“It’s great. Even though my classmates come from all over the country, they’re all very friendly. It’s just that sometimes I feel like they’re working way too hard—compared to them, I feel like I’m just wasting my time!” Jiang Xue said.
“Hardworking?”
“Yes. Many of them are out on the sports field memorizing vocabulary early in the morning, and they spend every spare moment in the library!”
Jiang Xue continued, “I asked quite a few classmates, and it turns out many of them study until eleven or twelve at night before heading back to the dorm to rest!”
“Unlike me—I usually get there pretty late, and as soon as school lets out, I hop on the bus home to take care of my two little ones. I end up wasting so much time!”
After hearing Jiang Xue’s words, a single word couldn’t help but pop into Li Yi’s mind—“cutthroat competition”!
But thinking about it, it made sense. These days, even though material resources aren’t exactly abundant, college students are far from lacking in drive.
The main reason is that the number of college students is small these days. The extremely low admission rate means that every young person who manages to get into college is a standout among their peers, so they’re unwilling to waste such a great opportunity to study just to seek pleasure.
“Taking care of your family and raising a child isn’t a waste of time. Besides, you’re not going to college to compete with others—I think doing your best is all that matters!” Li Yi said.
“But… but I feel like I haven’t really been doing my best!” Jiang Xue said, looking a little embarrassed.
“That’s okay. As long as you’re happy!” Li Yi said affectionately.
“You’re so kind!”
“Right? So how do you plan to thank me?”
They were an old married couple, after all. Jiang Xue knew exactly what her husband meant, so she immediately rolled over and pinned Li Yi beneath her.
……..
The next morning!
Feeling refreshed, Li Yi got up and immediately went out to buy breakfast for the family.
After a quick meal, he and Zhang Ziqiang drove to drop off Jiang Xue and his mother-in-law, Ye Lingyun, at school.
Afterward, Li Yi drove to the district government office to meet with Jiang Longyin.
He came to see Jiang Longyin partly to brief him on the situation, and partly to ask for his help in contacting some newspapers and media outlets.
A prize-based sales campaign alone would not be enough to completely turn around the Yanjing Television Factory’s predicament.
In Li Yi’s overall plan, building the reputation of Yanjing TVs was the most crucial step—that was the foundation.
Put simply, Li Yi needed traffic right now, so he could monetize the tens of thousands of black-and-white TVs sitting in the Yanjing TV Factory’s inventory.
And where does the public attention lie in this era?
The answer was newspapers and television!
Therefore, if Li Yi wants to drive traffic, he cannot do so without the cooperation of these newspapers and television media.
The problem, however, is that at present, most newspapers, magazines, television, and radio are controlled by the government.
Even if an ordinary person were to throw money around, they wouldn’t be able to mobilize these resources.
Fortunately, Li Yi was now working for the district government, so matters like contacting the media naturally required them to step in.
And Jiang Longyin did not disappoint Li Yi; upon learning the purpose of his visit, he immediately offered his full cooperation.
Jiang Longyin then took matters into his own hands and helped Li Yi contact several newspapers based in Beijing.
In addition, he called the director of Beijing Television and asked for his assistance in supporting Li Yi’s upcoming plan.
After leaving the district government office, Li Yi rushed straight to the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill.
When he arrived, Jiang Longcheng was holding a meeting with the factory’s leadership, instructing the sales department to immediately launch a prize-based sales campaign.
Although some were highly skeptical of the plan Jiang Longcheng had proposed—after all, prize-based sales were something everyone had never heard of or seen before, and no one knew if it would work—
Consequently, several factory leaders raised objections to the plan.
But Jiang Longcheng remained resolute, showing no sign of backing down.
Moreover, after everything he had been through, Jiang Longcheng’s authority at the Second National Cotton Mill was now unshakable.
Seeing his firm resolve and the comprehensive plan he had presented, the other factory leaders, after some discussion, ultimately agreed to his proposal.
Just as this decision was reached, Li Yi arrived.
He then personally guided the cotton mill on how to implement this incentive sales program.
Soon, the cotton mill sprang into action.
Just as State Cotton Mill No. 2 was vigorously promoting the prize-based sales campaign, Li Yi, accompanied by Jiang Longcheng, went to the Workers’ Daily to meet with Yang Ling.
Upon learning the purpose of Li Yi’s visit, Yang Ling immediately offered his assistance, adding that Li Yi could choose any page except the front-page headline.
Yang Ling’s willingness to agree so readily was certainly influenced by Jiang Longcheng, but more importantly, he wanted to repay Li Yi for a favor.
The last time Li Yi had used the *Workers’ Daily* to run a soft advertisement for the garment factory, it had been a tremendous help to him.
Because the soft-sell ad had been so effective, the newspaper received daily calls during that period from people inquiring about the garments produced by State Cotton Mill No. 2.
This forced the newspaper’s leadership to seriously consider whether to resume the paper’s advertising business.
After some deliberation, the leadership ultimately decided to start by allocating some inconspicuous page space to test the waters for expanding their advertising business.
This trial proved to be a game-changer, directly boosting *Workers’ Daily*’s revenue by 1 million yuan in less than six months.
That’s real, hard-earned money—who wouldn’t be pleased to see that?
As a result, Yang Ling received commendation from his superiors and was recently promoted to deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper.
Yang Ling had always felt he owed Li Yi a favor for the boost he’d received.
However, when he saw the news稿 Li Yi had brought out, he was completely dumbfounded. The稿 was simply too outrageous; he really didn’t dare to publish it…
………