Chapter 559: Bad News!

The night passed without incident!

Early the next morning, Li Yi took Zhang Ziqiang to the Yanjing Television Factory.

Yesterday, he had intimidated the factory’s workers and managers with his thunderous tactics, but the problem remained unresolved.

Li Yi knew that the current calm was merely the lull before the storm; everything was only temporary.

If he couldn’t deliver on his promise to the workers and completely resolve the factory’s problems, both the workers and the management would continue to act just as they had the day before—those who wanted to cause trouble would cause trouble, and those who wanted to shift the blame would shift the blame.

And that is reality—that is human nature!

The abyss has a bottom, but the human heart is unfathomable!

When it comes to self-interest, human nature cannot withstand the test.

Therefore, Li Yi must put his plan into action as soon as possible and turn this failing factory around.

That way, he’ll not only be able to give the factory’s workers and managers a satisfactory explanation, but also provide an account to his second older brother, Jiang Longyin.

Upon arriving at the factory, Li Yi briefly reviewed the plan he had finalized the previous night, then had Sun Feng summoned.

For this plan to succeed, it would depend on two key factors: marketing strategy and the establishment of sales channels.

Li Yi would personally oversee the marketing strategy, so that wouldn’t be a problem, but he had to entrust the task of establishing sales channels to Sun Feng.

By this point, Sun Feng had also gained a general understanding of the sales channels for the Yanjing Television Factory.

Currently, there were still some sales channels in place, but their coverage was limited to Beijing, Tianjin, and parts of eastern Hebei; in other regions, the market had been eroded, and sales channels had long since disappeared.

To be honest, given the current situation, the outlook for the Yanjing Television Factory is far from optimistic.

If they didn’t make a breakthrough soon, it wouldn’t be long before they were completely phased out. By then, their only options would be to be acquired by another factory or go bankrupt.

The only silver lining is that, although the factory’s sales channels are lackluster, the sales department actually employs over 160 people—twice as many as the sales department at the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill before its restructuring.

Yet with so many employees, they can only sell two or three thousand televisions a month—which shows just how incompetent these people are.

After assessing the situation, Li Yi immediately presented the plan he had drafted the previous night to rebuild the sales channels.

According to his instructions, Sun Feng and his team were required to expand the sales network within two weeks to cover Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, as well as the four provinces of Shanxi, Hebei, and Shandong. Additionally, they had to extend the network to the three northeastern provinces plus the province of Saibei—a total of 11 provinces and regions.

Of course, it was impossible for the staff at the TV factory to accomplish this on their own.

Given their capabilities, they’d be lucky to get a handle on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in such a short time—let alone expand their channels to so many places.

However, Li Yi had already devised a solution. While the staff at the Yanjing TV Factory couldn’t manage it alone, with the help of the Second National Cotton Mill, the problem would be easily resolved.

After more than half a year of development, and with the rapid expansion of Feixue Apparel stores, State Cotton Mill No. 2 has now established sales channels in the vast majority of provinces nationwide.

Especially in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the four provinces of Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan—due to their proximity to the factory—development has been the most rapid, with stores and warehouses in nearly every provincial capital and major prefecture-level city.

If they could leverage their resources, the Yanjing TV Factory would undoubtedly be able to distribute its products to these areas in the shortest possible time.

This is precisely why Li Yi insisted on transferring Sun Feng over!

After all, the sales channels of State Cotton Mill No. 2 were built by him and An Hong together; now that he was being asked to lend these channels, who could possibly refuse?

After Li Yi explained his plan, Sun Feng was immediately blown away and pledged his full commitment.

Sun Feng then set to work on the matter!

……..

“Knock knock knock!!!”

No sooner had Sun Feng left than there was another knock on the door of Li Yi’s office.

“Come in!”

Soon, Li Yi saw Wang Ruomei, the head of the finance department, walk in with a beaming smile.

“Consultant Li, I’m back from the district office!”

“Did they approve the funds?”

“It’s been approved! Secretary Jiang approved 120,000 yuan for us!” Wang Ruomei said happily.

“Alright, head over to the broadcast room right now and tell the factory workers to come pick up their paychecks immediately!”

Li Yi knew the factory workers hadn’t been paid for three months. At this point, making empty promises wouldn’t do; he had to show genuine sincerity.

Only by genuinely addressing the workers’ basic needs could he earn their trust, allowing them to return to work and focus on production with peace of mind.

“Consultant Li, we only have 120,000 yuan in total. How much should we pay out?”

“Let’s pay the employees one month’s wages first; I’ll figure out the rest later!” Li Yi said.

“Alright!”

“Go ahead. Don’t forget about the bank loan—both production and sales are counting on that money to keep things running!” Li Yi said.

“Okay, I’ll go this afternoon!”

“Hmm…”

Shortly after Wang Ruomei left, the factory’s loudspeakers blared: “Attention all factory employees and managers! All workshop teams are to suspend operations immediately. Everyone is to gather by workshop and proceed to the Finance Department to collect their wages…”

Upon hearing the announcement over the loudspeaker, a deafening cheer erupted throughout the factory.

Ever since Li Yi had promised everyone yesterday that he would secure a portion of their wages first, the factory workers had been waiting for news all day.

Although most believed that even if Li Yi really had the ability to secure the funds, it couldn’t possibly happen this quickly.

But they never expected that before 10 o’clock, the Finance Department would already be notifying everyone to collect their wages.

In an instant, the workers’ opinion of Li Yi improved significantly; even those who had once hated him with a passion now felt he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.

More importantly, the workers’ mindset had shifted; some were beginning to believe what Li Yi had said the day before.

It could be said that although the amount wasn’t large, it had restored the employees’ confidence in the television factory!

Just as the workers were collecting their pay, Deputy Plant Manager Gao, who had gone to the electronics factory, returned.

He brought back good news: the Beijing Electronics Factory had relented and agreed to supply the Yanjing TV Factory.

However, they made it clear that the 500,000 yuan must be in their account within two weeks; otherwise, they would immediately cut off supplies and never cooperate with the TV factory again.

Although their words were firm, their actions were conciliatory. As far as Li Yi was concerned, as long as they agreed to continue supplying the TV factory, that was all that mattered.

In fact, Li Yi had anticipated this outcome when Deputy Plant Manager Gao went to the electronics factory to negotiate.

It wasn’t that he was some kind of fortune-teller, but rather because they had already identified the electronics factory’s Achilles’ heel.

The logic was simple: the debtor holds the upper hand.

If you owe the bank one yuan, that’s your problem; but if you owe the bank 100 million yuan, that becomes the bank’s problem.

The factory owed the Beijing Electronics Factory a full 3 million yuan. That might not sound like much, but if you adjust for purchasing power, it’s equivalent to 700 million yuan thirty years from now.

With such a massive debt, it was clearly the electronics factory that was more worried.

If Yanjing TV Factory were to go bankrupt, that money would truly be down the drain.

And with such a massive bad debt suddenly appearing on their books, the leaders at the electronics factory would likely wake up crying in their sleep.

So, no matter what, when it comes to external debt, it’s better not to owe it at all—but if you must, the more the better!

After resolving the component supply issue, Li Yi instructed Deputy Plant Manager Gao—his right-hand man—not to stop there. He was to continue visiting the accessory factory, the packaging plant, and other facilities, persistently persuading them to supply goods to their factory.

Only by sorting all these matters out could he proceed with the next steps!

However, what Li Yi didn’t know was that just as he was running himself ragged over the Yanjing TV Factory matter, bad news arrived from Hong Kong—Old Huang had been seriously injured and was fighting for his life!

Yanjing TV Factory. Conference Room!

At that moment, the vast conference room was packed with people.

Everyone was present—from the workshop supervisors to the heads of various departments, and even several deputy plant managers—with the sole exceptions of Plant Manager Jiang Chengping and Chief Reform Advisor Li Yi.

Despite the large crowd, the entire conference room was deathly quiet.

Even those who spoke kept their voices low, and the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

Just then, the sound of heavy footsteps suddenly echoed from the hallway outside.

The rhythmic footsteps sounded like drumbeats, each step striking a chord in everyone’s hearts.

Hearing the sound, everyone in the room immediately fell silent, and the conference room instantly became as quiet as a graveyard, a deathly stillness settling over the room.

“Creak!”

As the conference room door swung open, Chief Advisor Li Yi walked in, accompanied by a tall, middle-aged man.

What was even more surprising was that, unlike on previous occasions, Li Yi did not take his usual seat at the side of the room. Instead, he walked straight to the head seat—a position normally reserved for the plant manager.

The middle-aged man who had accompanied him sat down right next to him, and neither of them seemed to notice that their seating arrangement was somewhat inappropriate.

Li Yi was, of course, fully aware that he had taken the head seat—and he had done so deliberately.

Because starting today, he would be taking full control of the television factory and turning this rundown plant around in the shortest possible time.

Once seated, Li Yi surveyed the room and then turned to Deputy Plant Manager Gao beside him, asking, “Is everyone here?”

Under his intense gaze, Deputy Plant Manager Gao felt the pressure mounting, but he steeled himself and replied, “They’re… they’re all here!”

“Since everyone is here, let’s get started!”

Li Yi continued, “Before we get down to business, let me introduce someone to you all!”

Hearing this, everyone knew Li Yi was referring to the man beside him, and soon all eyes turned to Sun Feng.

“The man beside me is Sun Feng, Head of the Sales Department at State Cotton Mill No. 2. Comrade Sun Feng has played a pivotal role in the sales miracle that State Cotton Mill No. 2 has achieved today.”

Li Yi continued, “Additionally, I’d like to announce a personnel appointment: effective immediately, Comrade Sun Feng is being transferred to serve as Deputy Director of the Yanjing Television Factory, where he will oversee the factory’s sales operations! The district will handle the necessary paperwork with our factory’s HR department shortly. Please give him a warm round of applause!”

“Clap, clap, clap…”

After a round of rather lukewarm applause, everyone in the conference room began whispering and discussing the matter among themselves.

Everyone was somewhat taken aback by Li Yi’s move. None of the senior and junior leaders at Yanjing Television Factory had expected him to transfer the sales section chief from State Cotton Mill No. 2 over in such a short time.

Regardless of his intentions, the fact that he managed to pull this off alone showed he had significant influence behind him.

More importantly, the factory’s senior positions were strictly limited—with the addition of Deputy Director Sun, someone else would inevitably have to step down. But who would it be?

Also, since Deputy Plant Manager Sun is primarily in charge of sales, what about Section Chief Li from the Sales Department?

Just as everyone was buzzing with speculation, Li Yi’s voice rang out once more: “Everyone, the district leadership is very dissatisfied with what happened today. For the foreseeable future, I will personally take charge of the operations at the Yanjing Television Factory. I hope you will all cooperate!”

“Of course, it’s fine if you don’t cooperate. I’m the sort of person who prefers to win people over with kindness. But when each of you here receives your dismissal notice from the factory, don’t blame me for not giving you a heads-up!”

“A buzz went through the room!”

Li Yi’s words were like dropping a depth charge into a calm lake. The way everyone looked at him changed instantly. He’d even gone so far as to mention dismissal—and he called that “winning people over with virtue”?

What kind of virtue are you using?

At the same time, they realized that the man standing before them meant business.

After all, this was a state-owned enterprise. Unless someone had committed an unforgivable grave error, the factory could not dismiss even a single worker, let alone a manager.

Yet no one present believed Li Yi was joking. After all, his ability to transfer a cadre from another factory to theirs in such a short time was proof enough of his influence.

For a moment, the entire conference room fell silent, and the atmosphere grew even more oppressive.

“Everyone, as you all heard in the auditorium just now, I promised the employees that I would resolve the factory’s debt crisis within a month and turn the factory around. Now, I need a detailed understanding of the factory’s current situation!”

Then, Li Yi continued, “Deputy Plant Manager Gao, as the head of production, I’d like to ask: how many televisions do we have in stock?”

“Over 70,000 units…”

“I need an exact figure!” Li Yi said sternly.

“I… I’ll definitely report the exact figure to you tomorrow!” Deputy Plant Manager Gao said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“Good!”

Li Yi then asked again, “Deputy Plant Manager Gao, what is our factory’s maximum production capacity?”

“If the workers run three shifts, we can produce a maximum of over 16,000 units per month, but…”

“But what?”

“The thing is, we already owe the electronics factory over 3 million yuan. They’re no longer willing to supply us, so even if we run at full capacity, we won’t be able to reach maximum production…”

Before he had even finished speaking, Li Yi immediately said, “Deputy Plant Manager Gao, go to the electronics factory tomorrow and talk to their management. Get them to keep supplying us!”

“I’ve already tried, but they’re adamant—they absolutely refuse to supply us until we’ve paid off the debt!” Deputy Plant Manager Gao said with a wry smile.

“Then you’re going about it the wrong way!”

Li Yi continued, “Tell their plant manager that if they stop supplying us, the several million yuan they’re owed by our factory will go down the drain.”

“If they’re willing to keep supplying us, we’ll pay them back 500,000 in two weeks, and then 500,000 every month until the entire debt is settled!”

“But… will that really work?”

“Deputy Plant Manager Gao, I’m not asking for your opinion—I’m assigning you a task. You’re only responsible for carrying it out; don’t worry about the outcome!” Li Yi said firmly.

“Yes, I’ll go to the electronics factory tomorrow!”

Li Yi shifted his gaze to a middle-aged woman and said, “Comrade Wang Ruomei, as the head of the finance department, I’d like to get an overview of the factory’s financial situation!”

Wang Ruomei hurriedly stood up and said, “Consultant Li, we only have 800 yuan left in the factory’s accounts. Additionally, we currently owe over 77,000 yuan in unpaid wages to our employees, and we owe 4.2 million yuan to various units, including the electronics factory, the parts factory, and the packaging factory…”

Li Yi nodded and said, “Alright, I understand. Tomorrow, go to the district government and see Secretary Jiang. He’ll approve a sum of money for you. As soon as the funds are transferred, distribute them to the workers immediately.”

“Alright!”

“Also, he’ll put in a good word with the bank. You should take some people there afterward to arrange a loan.”

“How much should we borrow?”

“At least one million—no upper limit!”

“Yes!”

Then, Li Yi’s gaze fell once more on Li Yongjiang, the head of the Sales Department.

“Section Chief Li, I am very dissatisfied with the work of your Sales Section. From now on, Deputy Plant Manager Sun will take over the Sales Section, and you will simply assist him. Do you have any objections?”

“No… no objections!” Li Yongjiang hurriedly replied.

He had heard it clearly just now—the man standing before him had actually instructed the Finance Department to go directly to the district’s top official to request funds, and it seemed the arrangements had already been made. Such influence was terrifying; how could he possibly object?

Even if he did have any, he’d have to keep them to himself!

“Comrade Sun Feng, the Sales Department is now in your hands. Same as always—you must establish our sales channels in the shortest possible time!”

“Yes!”

After issuing the order, Li Yi spoke again: “Everyone, I was able to turn around State Cotton Mill No. 2 in two months and save the Candy Factory in three months. I can certainly get the TV Factory back on its feet within a month as well. But I can’t do this alone—I need your full cooperation. Can you do that?”

“We can!”

The crowd shouted in unison, their voices loud and clear, carrying far and wide…

………

District Government Office!

Jiang Longyin sat in his chair, his face full of worry. Although his eyes were fixed on the documents in front of him, his mind was constantly preoccupied with the TV factory.

To be honest, this situation had truly caught him off guard.

It wasn’t that he had much confidence in Li Yi, but compared to the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill and the Candy Factory, the Yanjing TV Factory was in much better shape.

Although its profitability was a bit lacking, at least it didn’t have any massive debts, workers’ wages were paid on time, and there was even a small surplus in its accounts.

So all the district government leaders, including Jiang Longyin, were actually more worried about the Candy Factory and hadn’t anticipated any problems at the TV Factory.

Yet the reality turned out to be the exact opposite: the Candy Factory managed to turn things around against all odds, while the TV Factory ended up causing a major mess—which truly caught him off guard!

Now that the problem had surfaced, resolving it had become the top priority.

Based on the information they currently have, the situation at the TV factory is extremely dire.

In addition to owing three months’ wages to nearly 2,000 employees across the factory, they also owed nearly two million yuan in payments to upstream parts suppliers. To fully resolve this matter, at least 2.5 million yuan would be required.

However, the economic situation in the district… no, across the entire country, is not looking good. From the central government down to local authorities, fiscal deficits at all levels are severe. Where on earth could they find such a large sum of money on such short notice?

“Ring-ring-ring…”

Just as Jiang Longyin was deep in thought, the phone on his desk suddenly rang!

Jiang Longyin forced his chaotic thoughts to settle, then picked up the receiver: “This is Jiang Longyin. Who’s calling?”

“Second Brother, it’s me!”

Upon hearing Li Yi’s voice on the line, Jiang Longyin immediately sat up straight and asked urgently, “Brother-in-law, how’s the situation at the factory?”

“The situation is under control!”

Jiang Longyin instantly felt a wave of relief wash over him, but thinking of the situation there, he couldn’t help but ask again, “What about the workers’ moods…”

“They’ve been calmed down. They shouldn’t cause any trouble for the time being!” Li Yi said.

“That’s good. How did you manage that?” Jiang Longyin asked curiously.

“Actually, the workers’ demands weren’t that high. They just wanted their wages, so I promised to help resolve the wage issue as soon as possible!” Li Yi said.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Longyin fell silent.

“How much will it cost?”

“80,000 yuan!”

“8… 80,000 yuan? That’ll solve the problem?” Jiang Longyin asked in surprise.

“It certainly won’t solve it completely, but 80,000 yuan will buy us some time!” Li Yi said.

“How long will that buy us?”

“Long enough for me to completely turn the TV factory around!”

“Can you really turn it around?”

“Second Brother, to be honest, I saw this coming a long time ago. I just didn’t expect it to blow up this quickly—I didn’t have time to brief the factory leadership here beforehand!”

Li Yi continued, “I’ll devote all my energy to handling this over the next month. I guarantee I’ll have it resolved within a month at the latest!”

“Is there anything we need to do on our end?”

Jiang Longyin didn’t ask Li Yi for specifics—first, because he trusted Li Yi!

Secondly, he didn’t really understand how businesses operated; even if Li Yi explained it to him, he might not have understood.

“Three things. First, the district government needs to allocate 80,000 to 100,000 yuan to the factory to placate the workers.”

Li Yi continued, “At the same time, the district government needs to step in and help arrange a loan from the bank for the TV factory. I need about 500,000 to 1 million yuan for marketing and promotion!”

“Third, the district government needs to step in and help me transfer a few people over here!”

“Transfer staff?”

“Right. I need Sun Feng, the sales manager from State Cotton Mill No. 2, transferred here, plus 20 salespeople!”

“No problem. I can call Old Three right now and have him send them over!”

“Great!”

At that moment, Jiang Longyin asked again, “I heard the TV factory was attacked. Is the situation serious?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I heard the injuries weren’t too serious!”

“That’s good. How do you plan to handle the people who attacked them? Do you want me to have the district police go over there?”

“No need. Morale at the factory is already unstable, and with the wage issue still unresolved, it’s like a powder keg—it could explode at any moment.”

Li Yi continued, “Sending the police over now won’t solve anything—it’ll just make the workers resent the district government. So let’s put this off for now.”

“Hmm, that works too!”

After that, the two chatted for a little while longer before hanging up.

……..

After hanging up, Li Yi once again reviewed his entire plan for restructuring the TV factory.

After some thought, Li Yi concluded that the biggest weakness in the current plan was the team—not just the sales team, but also the leadership, which was the most critical component.

Originally, according to Li Yi’s plan, the initiative was not scheduled to officially launch until after October.

In the months leading up to that, the factory’s primary task was to focus on production and stockpile goods, so that when the plan was implemented, they could make a killing in one fell swoop.

Precisely for this reason, he hadn’t made any major adjustments to the factory’s personnel or other operations, so as not to disrupt production.

But he never could have imagined that the new Plant Manager Jiang he’d brought in would turn out to be such a liability. Thanks to his botched handling of the situation, he nearly caused a major mess, forcing Li Yi to implement his plan ahead of schedule.

Clearly, the leadership at Yanjing TV Factory was indeed rather incompetent; to botch something so simple was simply beyond belief.

On top of that, the sales team at Yanjing TV Factory also needed to step up their game.

Li Yi had met the factory’s sales section chief, Li Yongjiang. While he was quite the drinker, his professional competence left much to be desired.

For a factory with such massive production capacity, the output isn’t particularly impressive—they manage to sell only two or three thousand televisions a month.

You can’t just call that poor—it’s downright terrible.

With that in mind, Li Yi picked up the phone and dialed a number!

“Ring ring…”

The call was answered quickly, and Jiang Longcheng’s slightly gruff voice came through the receiver: “Jiang Longcheng from State Cotton Mill No. 2. Who’s this?”

“Third Brother, it’s me, Li Yi!”

“Brother-in-law, I heard you’re back. I was just planning to come over tonight to grab a drink with you…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi cut him off: “Third Brother, forget about drinking. I’ve got something serious to discuss with you today!”

“What’s the matter? Spit it out!”

Hearing this, Jiang Longcheng grew serious.

He knew Li Yi very well and understood that the man wouldn’t call him unless it was something important. Since he’d called it “business,” it certainly wasn’t a trivial matter.

“Third Brother, have Sun Feng pick out twenty of your top salespeople and send them to the Yanjing TV Factory to meet me. If he can bring a few more, that’d be even better!” Li Yi said.

“Sun Feng? What do you need him for?”

“I have a plan that requires his cooperation!”

“Alright, I’ll have him head over right away!”

“Mm, just send the people over first. Second Brother will issue the transfer orders later!” Li Yi said.

“What transfer order? Brother-in-law, you aren’t planning to send Sun Feng to the TV Factory and never have him come back, are you? He’s one of the Five Tiger Generals of our Second State-Owned Cotton Mill!”

“Third Brother, your National Cotton Mill No. 2’s sales network has already expanded nationwide, and with An Hong holding the fort over there, just let Sun Feng go!”

“Brother-in-law, just have him come back once the job’s done. Why keep him over there?”

“Because I want him to come over here and be the factory director!”

“Factory director?”

“Yeah, the current factory leadership here is really lacking in capability. I think Sun Feng is actually quite capable!” Li Yi said.

“Well… all right then. That old fox Sun Feng really has hit the jackpot this time!”

“Third Brother, time is of the essence here. Hurry up and get him over here—I’m waiting for him!”

“Got it!”

With that, Jiang Longcheng hung up the phone and went downstairs to the sales department to personally relay Li Yi’s orders to Sun Feng…

…….

PS: I’ve made a slight adjustment regarding the TV factory. I originally intended to use “Beijing TV Factory”—the one that produces the Peony brand.

However, after some research, I discovered that the factory still exists. To avoid unnecessary trouble, I’ve changed it to Yanjing TV Factory, though this does not affect the overall plot.

Yanjing Television Factory!

After leaving the auditorium, Li Yi led Zhang Ziqiang over to the factory administration building and returned to his office.

This office had been specially cleared out for him by Director Jiang when he first took over the Yanjing Television Factory.

However, Li Yi had only been there twice in total, so it was somewhat of a waste!

Back in his office, Li Yi had intended to first call Jiang Longyin to update him on the situation here and reassure him not to worry too much.

But after picking up the phone and placing his finger on the dial pad, Li Yi paused.

After more than half a minute, he set the phone down again and fell deep in thought.

He needed to carefully review the situation, figure out exactly how to handle it, and then make the call—there was no rush.

When he’d told those workers earlier that he’d resolve this within a month and lead them to witness a miracle, it wasn’t just empty talk or a stalling tactic—it was his truest, most sincere belief.

To be honest, the debt crisis at the Yanjing Television Factory had indeed been within Li Yi’s expectations.

In fact, the seeds of trouble had been sown long before he issued that production target of 80,000 units to the factory; it was only a matter of time before it erupted.

And the reason Li Yi insisted on keeping the factory running day and night under such circumstances was that he had his own calculations.

Li Yi had already conducted an in-depth investigation into the state of the Yanjing Television Factory.

To describe the factory’s previous state, one word fits perfectly: barely hanging on.

Originally a medium-sized television factory with an annual design capacity of 120,000 units, before he took over, it could produce at most two or three thousand units a month.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t increase production—in fact, boosting output would have been a simple matter for the factory—but the problem was that they couldn’t sell the units.

With a production volume of two or three thousand units, the factory could sell everything it produced, and the profits were just enough to pay the employees’ wages; on a good month, there might even be a small surplus.

However, if production capacity were expanded on a large scale, the inevitable result would be massive product backlogs and the company becoming heavily indebted.

There were two main reasons for this situation.

On the one hand, Yanjing TV Factory lacked the necessary capabilities, and its brand was uncompetitive.

On the other hand, Yanjing TV Factory’s competitors were simply too powerful; facing such rivals, they stood no chance!

Yanjing TV Factory had been in operation for only five years. At the time, its investment exceeded 8 million yuan, and it employed around 2,000 workers, making it a fairly large state-owned factory by domestic standards.

In its early years, the Yanjing Television Factory had enjoyed a period of glory. At its peak, the “Yanjing” brand televisions produced by the factory were bestsellers in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the four provinces of Shandong, Hebei, Henan, and Anhui, and even held a significant market share across the entire Northeast region. It once achieved the remarkable feat of paying 30 million yuan in taxes and profits in a single year.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Within just a few years, provinces and cities across the country began launching their own television industries, each competing more fiercely than the last.

In Beijing itself, the Yanjing TV Factory faced a three-pronged assault from the Beijing TV Factory’s “Mudan” brand, the Tianjin Radio Factory’s “Bei Jing” brand, and the Tianjin TV Factory No. 2’s “Great Wall” brand.

It was bad enough that the local market was tough to navigate, but the situation outside the capital was just as cutthroat, with fierce competition everywhere.

Outside Beijing, the largest market share was dominated by the Jinxing and Feiyue brands from the Shanghai TV Factory, while the remainder was completely carved up by multiple brands, including the Yellow River TV from Qin Province, the Swan brand from Saibei Province, and the Huanyu and Jinling Panda brands from Jibei Province.

Consequently, Yanjing TV Factory’s market share has been steadily eroded, shrinking year by year, and its profits have plummeted repeatedly.

More importantly, the leaders of other domestic factories were looking to the future and were all devising ways to produce color televisions.

In contrast, due to the stubborn and short-sighted leadership at Yanjing TV Factory, the company had become complacent at this critical juncture, clinging to outdated products from years past just to scrape by. It was only a matter of time before it was left behind.

According to Li Yi’s analysis, the only way forward for Yanshan TV Factory is to upgrade and modernize its products, strengthening itself while competing with other brands for market share.

But a television factory is not quite the same as a cotton mill or a candy factory; it’s not as if product upgrades can be achieved simply by coming up with a few novel ideas.

For a factory like this, product upgrades require not only new equipment but, more importantly, the development of new products.

The capital required isn’t a mere hundred thousand or so, but tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions.

For example, last year, the Shanghai TV Factory imported a color TV production line from the Jiaopenzhi factory, which had been doing quite well, at a cost of a full 90 million… US dollars.

The Yanjing TV Factory clearly lacks the financial strength for this. They can’t even come up with 900,000 dollars, let alone 90 million.

On one hand, they needed massive funds for product upgrades; on the other, they were barely able to pay their employees’ wages. Left with no other choice, Li Yi had to find a different approach.

Li Yi’s plan was to leverage his exceptional marketing skills to first generate some quick cash for Yanjiing TV Factory, and then use those funds to upgrade the entire factory’s product line.

Therefore, after thoroughly understanding the situation at the Yanjing TV Factory, Li Yi decided to launch a groundbreaking marketing campaign for the company.

However, Li Yi was also well aware that Yanjing TV Factory’s brand power was limited. Even if his marketing campaign was a resounding success, it would only generate a temporary surge in traffic—not a sustainable one.

So, the only thing Li Yi could do was to capitalize on this surge in attention, make a substantial profit, and lay the groundwork for the factory’s upcoming comprehensive reforms.

This is precisely why Li Yi demanded that all factory employees and managers focus solely on production and nothing else.

After all, when the surge of attention arrived, if there weren’t enough products to meet the demand, the end result might be that competitors would reap the benefits—and that was not a scenario Li Yi was willing to accept.

However, while his intentions were good, he was let down by a group of incompetent colleagues.

They actually embezzled the wages that should have gone to the workers, completely disrupting his plans and putting Li Yi on the defensive.

Li Yi was well aware that the Yanjing Television Factory was short on both funds and raw materials; they typically purchased raw materials on credit, settling their debts with suppliers only after the products were sold.

This wasn’t really a big deal—suppliers’ money could be owed for a while. In the business world of later times, wasn’t everyone in debt to those above them and dragging their feet with those below? Li Yi was used to it.

What Li Yi hadn’t anticipated, however, was that the factory’s leadership would be foolish enough to embezzle the employees’ wages, ultimately triggering this whole mess.

Of course, one couldn’t entirely blame the factory leaders for this; it was simply that their perspective differed from Li Yi’s.

In Li Yi’s view, the people a company must never alienate are its employees, because they are the ones who directly create value for the factory; without them, the factory would grind to a halt.

Next came the downstream customers—they were the ones who directly paid the factory and were the source of its livelihood, so they couldn’t be alienated.

And the ones you least need to worry about offending are the upstream suppliers—after all, they depend on you for their livelihood.

But those factory executives clearly got it backwards, thinking the workers were their own people and easy to manipulate.

So they took the wages that should have gone to the workers and gave them to the upstream companies—it was utterly idiotic, and they truly deserved the beating they got.

It’s like holding a pair of chopsticks without knowing which end goes up and which goes down.

Originally, according to Li Yi’s plan, he intended to wait until the Yanjing TV Factory’s inventory exceeded 80,000 units before launching his grand marketing campaign.

But as they say, life is full of surprises, and plans rarely go as expected.

Now that this mess has erupted, he has no choice but to grit his teeth and take action ahead of schedule.

With that in mind, he decisively picked up the phone and dialed the district government…

………

PS: After attending the event yesterday, I had a few drinks with the leaders. Lao Cang’s drinking tolerance is on par with Li Yi and Zhou Yang—he’s the type who goes down after just one glass.

Although the leaders were very considerate of Lao Cang and insisted it was just a token gesture, he ended up drinking half a glass, and then… that was it…

Wherever the Volga sedan passed, all the workers instinctively stepped aside.

Although everyone wanted to drag Li Yi—the “culprit”—out of the car and beat him senseless, the sight of the young man with a gun by his side made them quietly abandon those thoughts.

Once Li Yi’s car entered the factory grounds, the organizers stood there, unsure of what to do.

After a long while, one of them couldn’t help but speak up: “What should we do now? Should we keep heading into the city, or go back to the factory and talk to that bastard?”

“What’s there to talk about? If that bastard had any real ability, he wouldn’t have ruined our factory into this mess!”

“But the problem is, if we don’t talk to him, taking this to the city authorities might not solve anything either!”

“That’s true. My brother-in-law works at the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Plant—they haven’t been paid in six months. The workers there go to the city to complain every other day, but it doesn’t help. I’m afraid we’re in the same boat…”

“So what the hell are we supposed to do? We can’t just stand here like idiots…”

Just then, a man in his forties spoke up loudly: “Our main goal is to get paid so we can eat. Since this Mr. Li says he’s here to resolve our wage issues, we might as well hear what he has to say!”

“If he tries to pull the wool over our eyes, we can always go to the city later. Don’t you agree?”

“Old Hong’s right. Let’s just hear what he has to say!”

“It’s already been dragging on for so long—waiting another day or two won’t hurt!”

“Right, let’s talk to this Mr. Li and see what he’s got to say…”

Most ordinary people tend to follow the crowd. Hearing everyone else say this, the others naturally had nothing more to add.

Soon after, the large group immediately turned around and headed back to the factory.

As for Li Yi, once he entered the factory grounds, he headed straight for the administrative office building.

When he arrived at the office building, he saw the entrance in shambles: the building’s massive wooden doors had collapsed, shattered glass littered the floor, and some shards were still stained with blood.

Although there wasn’t much, it was clear that a struggle had definitely taken place here.

Upon entering the building, he saw no one—not even the security personnel who should have been stationed on the first floor.

It wasn’t until he reached the second floor that Li Yi spotted several factory executives standing nervously at the stairwell entrance; clearly, they had seen him coming.

Li Yi looked at these factory executives, who were as skittish as startled birds, and was momentarily at a loss for words.

“Where’s Director Jiang?”

Deputy Director Zhou Xueping hurriedly replied, “Director Jiang was injured by those workers and has already been taken to the hospital!”

“Is he seriously injured?”

“Not very serious!”

Li Yi took a deep breath and said, “Deputy Director Zhou, barring any surprises, the workers will be back shortly. Take them to the auditorium and tell them I’ll be there in a moment!”

Upon hearing Li Yi’s order, Zhou Xueping’s throat involuntarily tightened.

Thinking of how the factory director had been beaten up, he was genuinely afraid that the workers might take their anger out on him too.

“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go!”

“O-okay…”

After Deputy Plant Manager Zhou turned and left, Li Yi immediately addressed the remaining seven or eight plant executives: “The rest of you, follow me to the small conference room. We’ll have a quick meeting!”

“Yes…”

………

Yanjing Television Factory. Grand Auditorium!

As the venue for the factory’s group events, whenever the employees gathered here, it meant something big was happening.

Today was no exception!

When the factory workers returned to the plant, they were stopped at the entrance by Deputy Plant Manager Zhou, who told them that a certain Mr. Li, sent from higher-ups, had asked them to go to the Grand Auditorium.

So, hundreds of employees rushed over here all at once.

But after waiting here for nearly half an hour without seeing Li Yi, they began to grow restless.

Just as the workers were about to lose their patience, a thudding sound of footsteps echoed from outside the auditorium.

Everyone immediately looked toward the entrance and saw Li Yi leading the way, accompanied by several factory executives who hadn’t been beaten, striding in.

Seeing that they had actually entered through the main entrance, everyone was somewhat surprised.

After all, these executives usually entered through the back door to attend meetings, as that entrance led directly to the front of the podium.

Although the main entrance was large, it was intended for ordinary workers.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Li Yi did not walk up to the podium to take his seat. Instead, he and all the factory executives stood below the stage, facing the more than 900 employees of the entire factory.

Seeing the factory leaders lined up in a row below the stage was a novel sight for the workers. The noise in the auditorium gradually subsided until it fell completely silent.

Li Yi took a step forward and said loudly, “I just held a brief meeting with the factory leadership and have gained a preliminary understanding of our factory’s situation. I deeply apologize for the factory’s failure to pay your wages…”

Before he could finish, someone shouted, “What good is an apology? We want our wages—we need to eat!”

“That’s right, we want our wages! We need to eat!”

“We want our wages…”

Li Yi shouted, “Quiet, everyone! If you keep making all this noise, we won’t be able to have a discussion!”

His words had the desired effect, and the room quickly fell silent again.

“I told you I came here to resolve your issues. Now let me outline the solution: I’ll contact the district government as soon as possible to help settle part of your wage arrears. We should be able to issue one month’s wages to everyone as an emergency measure!”

Li Yi continued, “At the same time, I promise to settle the remaining two months’ wages by the end of October.”

“What if you can’t deliver?” someone shouted.

“If I fail to deliver, the authorities will deal with me—that’s not your concern!”

Li Yi then shifted his tone and added, “I will take care of the wage issue—that is my responsibility. As employees of the TV factory, you must also fulfill your own responsibilities.”

“Starting now, everyone is to return to their workstations immediately. Workshop supervisors must ensure production in their respective workshops. If any workshop fails to meet its quota, the supervisor and all team leaders will be fired.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than another voice piped up: “We already have tens of thousands of unsold TVs piling up at our factory. Why do we need to keep producing more?”

Li Yi replied in a stern voice, “I won’t explain this to you now, but you can go and ask around about the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill and the Third Municipal Candy Factory.”

“It took me two months to turn State Cotton Mill No. 2 from a loss into a profit, and three months to revive the Municipal Third Candy Factory. The Yanjing TV Factory is the third factory I’ve taken over. Next, I’ll spend one month leading you to witness a miracle. Dismissed!”

After speaking, Li Yi led Comrade “Bandit” straight out of the auditorium, once again leaving the nine hundred-plus employees staring at one another in disbelief.

However, the scene at the entrance this time was completely different.

Within just a few minutes, the workers in the auditorium erupted into a frenzy of commotion.

“Did I hear that right? Did that guy just mention the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill and the Third Candy Factory?”

“That Li guy said he saved the Second State Cotton Mill and the Candy Factory. Is that even possible?”

“If that’s true, our factory is going to hit the jackpot. My second cousin’s sister-in-law… works at the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill. I heard that on top of their regular wages, they earn an extra 20 yuan just in overtime pay every month…”

“Is that for real…”

If you had to name the most talked-about enterprises in the capital over the past year and a half, it would have to be the Second National Cotton Mill, followed by the rising star, the Third Candy Factory.

Just last year, both of these factories were barely hanging on.

But suddenly, they’ve come back to life as if injected with adrenaline, charging ahead at full speed and leaving countless people speechless.

This is especially true of State Cotton Mill No. 2. Not long ago, it looked like the factory was on the verge of collapse, but now it has been the district’s most profitable enterprise for several months in a row—bar none.

If Li Yi really is the one guiding these two factories from behind the scenes, then perhaps their Yanjing TV Factory could pull off a miracle as well.

For a moment, the factory workers’ spirits soared like a roller coaster, climbing all the way from rock bottom…

……..

In the Jiang family’s backyard, Li Yi saw how frantic Jiang Xue looked and immediately stood up from the stone bench.

“Xiao Yi, go check it out right away and see what’s going on!”

Clearly, the old man had also sensed something was wrong.

Li Yi didn’t dare delay and immediately jogged over to meet her.

When he reached Jiang Xue, Li Yi hurriedly asked, “What’s the rush? Has something happened?”

“Second Brother is here. He says he needs to talk to you, and he looks really anxious!” Jiang Xue said, slightly out of breath.

“I know. You go help Grandpa, and I’ll go see Second Brother!”

With that, Li Yi strode toward the front courtyard, while Jiang Xue headed toward the pavilion to tend to the old man.

When Li Yi returned to the front courtyard, he indeed saw Jiang Longyin sitting in the living room of the main hall, his brow furrowed with worry.

Seeing Li Yi enter from outside, Jiang Longyin immediately stood up.

“Second Brother, I heard from Xiao Xue that you were looking for me?”

“Yes, there’s been a bit of trouble at the Yanjing TV Factory. I wanted to talk to you about it!” Jiang Longyin said straight to the point.

“The TV factory? What’s going on there?”

“We received word this morning that the workers have staged a collective disturbance. Not only did they assault the factory leadership, but they’re also shouting that they’re coming to the municipal government to file a complaint!” Jiang Longyin said in a grave tone.

“Why would the workers cause a disturbance for no reason?”

“Sigh, it’s all because the factory hasn’t paid everyone’s wages and keeps pushing them to ramp up production, which has caused a lot of discontent among the workers.”

As he spoke, Jiang Longyin couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment.

He had originally placed high hopes on the candy factory and the television factory. After all, he had entrusted full authority over both factories to Li Yi, hoping he could continue to work miracles and bring them back from the brink of collapse.

The candy factory certainly didn’t let him down. Under Li Yi’s leadership, in less than three months, it managed to make a spectacular turnaround from a factory on the brink of bankruptcy.

Not only had it turned a loss into a profit, but last month’s profit had actually reached 1.1 million yuan, making it a dark horse among all the enterprises in the district.

However, the situation at the Yanjing Television Factory—which was in far better condition than the candy factory—caught him completely off guard.

After taking over the factory, Li Yi merely replaced a few executives, issued a bizarre order to the staff, and then left it to its own devices.

It was precisely this order that plunged the factory—which had already been struggling—into a full-blown crisis.

By this point, Li Yi had figured out exactly what had happened.

The problem likely stemmed from the order he had issued to the factory: the target of producing 80,000 televisions by October.

But he wasn’t yet sure exactly where the problem lay.

Without hesitation, he said, “Second Brother, don’t worry. I’ll head over to the North Suburbs right now to see what’s going on!”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No need. You go back to work first. I’ll call you if anything comes up!”

“Alright!”

After that, Li Yi said goodbye to Jiang Xue, then took Zhang Ziqiang with him and drove to the Yanjing Television Factory in the northern suburbs.

……..

The car sped along the road, and by the time they reached the northern suburbs, it was already 2:30 p.m.

As soon as they arrived at the factory gate, they saw hundreds of workers pouring out of the premises, carrying banners.

Seeing the slogans “Pay Our Wages” and “Down with Li Yi” on the banners, coupled with the workers’ impassioned demeanor, Li Yi realized they were genuinely preparing to file a complaint with the municipal government!

Moreover, with the situation having escalated to this point and no factory leadership stepping in to stop them, it was clear that the Yanjing Television Factory’s leadership had effectively collapsed.

Li Yi immediately ordered Zhang Ziqiang to park the car across the middle of the main road, blocking the crowd’s path.

Then, he opened the door and got out!

Seeing this, Zhang Ziqiang immediately followed suit.

At first, the employees of the Yanjing TV Factory were puzzled. Where had this car come from? Why was it suddenly blocking the middle of the road? Wasn’t this just being a bully?

But when they saw that it was Li Yi getting out of the car, they were instantly enraged.

They were all familiar with Li Yi. Although he had appeared at the TV factory fewer than five times, he had managed to throw the place into chaos every single time.

The first time he came, he had the old plant director, Li Linyou, removed and installed the meek deputy director, Jiang Chengping, as the new director.

The second time he came, disregarding the opposition of the vast majority of the factory’s management, he directly issued a production quota of 80,000 units in four months.

It was precisely this absurd target that led to a massive backlog of televisions—which were already struggling to sell—unable to pay suppliers for raw materials, and unable to pay workers’ wages. The factory was now on the brink of bankruptcy.

Consequently, the factory’s workers and management hated Li Yi with a passion.

Now, upon seeing him, they all charged at him with a fury as if they had encountered their father’s murderer.

This scene startled Zhang Ziqiang. His mission was to ensure Li Yi’s safety at all costs, but with so many people charging at him, he had no confidence he could prevent Li Yi from being harmed—let alone guarantee his life.

In that moment, he reacted instantly. When the workers were still more than twenty meters away from Li Yi, he suddenly drew the pistol from his waistband.

Then, as everyone stared in stunned silence, he fired several shots into the air!

“Bang, bang, bang…”

Three gunshots rang out in quick succession, and the scene fell instantly silent.

Everyone stared at Zhang Ziqiang in terror—including Li Yi.

Amidst the shock, Li Yi suddenly realized that this “brazen bandit” was actually reliable—when push came to shove, he really meant business!

In fact, Li Yi had anticipated this situation before getting out of the car and had already come up with a plan.

His original plan was to jump onto the roof of the car when the workers charged over, and then have a proper talk with them.

After all, they were just after their wages, not their lives.

So Li Yi really hadn’t expected this guy to suddenly open fire. True to his name, “Zhang Ziqiang”—regardless of whether it sounds good or not—he was damn “hardcore,” with a real gangster vibe!

But the effect was undeniable!

Seeing that everyone had been stunned into silence, Li Yi seized the moment and strode to the front of the crowd.

He looked out at the hundreds of people and shouted, “What on earth are you all doing here, making all this noise?”

The workers hadn’t yet recovered from the shock. Faced with Li Yi’s question, the hundreds of people fell silent, and the scene was suddenly deathly quiet.

“I hear you beat up Factory Director Jiang and are planning to file a complaint with the municipal government?” Li Yi asked again.

At that moment, someone in the crowd finally spoke up: “That’s right, we’re going to file a complaint. So what?”

“That’s right, we want our wages, and we’re going to sue you for ruining our factory!”

“You’ve ruined our once-thriving factory until it went bankrupt—the city authorities have to give us an explanation!”

“That’s right, they have to do us justice…”

…….

Seeing the workers in front of him getting worked up again, Zhang Ziqiang, worried that Li Yi might be in danger, stepped in front of him once more.

However, Li Yi pulled him behind him and faced the workers head-on.

“Quiet!”

Li Yi’s voice wasn’t particularly loud, but it carried great authority and an inherent sense of pressure, causing the hundreds of people present to fall silent involuntarily.

“Do you really think that causing a commotion at City Hall will get you your wages and solve the problem?”

Li Yi continued, “Go ask around—how many workers are showing up at the district and city governments every day to demand their wages? And how many factories have actually resolved the issue?”

Hearing this, the workers fell silent.

Ever since policy adjustments three years ago, many factories have struggled. Now, more than three years later, some have reached the end of the road and are on the verge of bankruptcy.

Most workers naturally didn’t want their factories to go under, so it was common for groups of workers from a particular factory to go to the government to apply pressure—either to demand their wages or to get the factory back up and running.

However, in terms of results, the approach hasn’t been very effective.

Just as the crowd fell silent, Li Yi’s voice rang out again: “I’m here today specifically to resolve your wage issues. If you’re willing, let’s go back to the factory and have a proper discussion. If not, you’re free to head back to the city!”

With that, Li Yi turned and got back into his car, driving toward the factory grounds, leaving a group of workers standing there dumbfounded, staring at one another…

……..

PS: There’s one more chapter coming up. Sorry for the late update!

It was just past midnight when they returned to the Jiang family’s old mansion!

The two went to the west wing but didn’t see anyone there. Not only were the two children gone, but Ye Lingyun, the mother-in-law, was also missing.

Thinking they might all have gone to the main hall to eat with the old man, the two of them headed straight for the main hall.

Sure enough, even before they stepped inside, they heard the little girl’s cheerful laughter.

Jiang Xue and Li Yi exchanged a glance; they didn’t even have to guess—the Old Master was surely teasing Little Yunjin again.

Although the old man already had several grandsons and great-grandsons, Jiang Xue was his only granddaughter, and Little Yunjin was the only girl of the younger generation. Therefore, he was particularly fond of Little Yunjin.

Every time they visited, the old man would hold the little girl and play with her for a while.

Once the two of them entered the room, sure enough, they saw the old man and Juanzi sitting in chairs, each holding a child.

And sure enough, the one in the old man’s arms was Yunjin.

Seeing Li Yi and Jiang Xue return, the old man immediately smiled and said, “You’re back! Dinner’s ready—we’ve been waiting just for the two of you to eat!”

“Grandpa, it’s mealtime—you and Mom should go ahead and eat. We’re so embarrassed to have kept you waiting for us two young ones!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“It’s fine. If I get hungry waiting, I’ll just eat without you!”

Just then, his mother-in-law, Ye Lingyun, heard the voices and came out from the inner room.

“Did you finish registering?”

“We’re all set. Now we just have to wait for the orientation meeting tomorrow night!” Jiang Xue replied.

“Did you apply to be a day student?”

“We did!”

“Alright then, hurry inside and eat. We’ve been waiting for you for nearly an hour!”

Li Yi immediately stepped forward and said to the old man, “Grandpa, I’ll pick up Yunjin. Let’s go eat!”

“Alright!”

Then, with Li Yi carrying Yunjin, Jiang Xue holding Yunrui, and Juanzi supporting the old man, they all walked together into the dining room.

Lunch was simple: stir-fried celery, stir-fried mung bean sprouts, tofu with scallions, braised carp, and a bowl of egg drop soup.

Since the two children were already eight months old and ready for solid foods, Li Yi and Jiang Xue had been feeding the little ones first during meals lately, waiting until they were full before the adults ate.

When it came to feeding the children, Li Yi found it rather tricky to get the hang of.

Their daughter didn’t particularly like being fed by others; if Li Yi tried to feed her, she would usually swat his hand away.

In contrast, the little girl preferred to eat on her own.

So every mealtime, she’d dig into Li Yi’s bowl, and by the end, she’d have herself covered in food—making Li Yi feel like feeding her was a battle.

In contrast, Yunrui, in Jiang Xue’s arms, was very well-behaved and ate whatever she was given.

Seeing Li Yi’s clumsy attempts, Ye Lingyun smiled and said, “That’s not how you feed a child. Let me do it!”

“Mom, you eat first. Finish your meal before you help me…”

Before he could finish, the old man spoke up: “Give it to your mother. You eat quickly, and after you’re done, come sit with this old man for a while!”

Hearing this, Li Yi knew the old man must have something to discuss with him.

So much had happened recently. Although he was responsible for most of it, as a son-in-law of the Jiang family, these events had inevitably affected the family, so it made perfect sense for the old man to want to talk to him.

Without hesitation, Li Yi handed the brocade to his mother-in-law and turned his full attention to the rice in his bowl!

Li Yi ate very quickly; it was a habit he’d cultivated over many years.

In his previous life, many health and wellness masters had told him that to live a long life, one must learn to slow down—eat slowly, walk slowly, and ultimately slow down the pace of life.

Although Li Yi found these masters’ words quite reasonable and had tried to slow down his pace and reduce his busyness,

But he could never quite manage it. It wasn’t until a certain health guru passed away at the age of 50 that Li Yi had an epiphany—he would never again fall for the nonsense spouted by those so-called masters.

Seeing that Li Yi had put down his chopsticks and bowl, the old man immediately stood up from his seat and walked toward the courtyard.

Li Yi immediately quickened his pace and took hold of his arm!

Before long, the two arrived at the pavilion in the back yard!

After the old man sat down on the stone bench, Li Yi sat down beside him.

Once seated, the old man cleared his throat and said, “I heard from Third Brother that you really made a splash over there this time—you nearly turned that stock market upside down and made a pretty penny, didn’t you?”

“Haha, it wasn’t as dramatic as my dad made it out to be. The total market capitalization of Hong Kong’s stock market is in the hundreds of billions, and I only made less than 4 billion!”

“Hahaha, looks like those 4 billion haven’t satisfied your appetite yet, young man!”

“That’s not it—it’s just that, on the global stage, that amount really isn’t that much!” Li Yi replied honestly.

Hearing Li Yi’s words, the old man fell silent.

He felt he really couldn’t quite figure out this grandson-in-law. Ever since he first heard about this young man, he’d sensed there was something extraordinary about him.

But he never imagined this young man would be so formidable—to have built such a massive empire in such a short time.

This wasn’t a matter of tens or hundreds of millions—it was a full several billion.

Such a massive sum would shock even an old general like him, who had held high office for many years.

“Xiao Yi, I’ve never been one to meddle in the affairs of the younger generation. Whether you succeed or fail, I don’t think it’s a big deal. Young people should take risks—even if they suffer a few setbacks, it doesn’t matter.”

Then the old man changed the subject and continued, “But when it comes to you, Grandpa has some questions I’d like to ask you. I hope you…”

Before the old man could finish, Li Yi spoke up: “Grandpa, just ask whatever you want. I won’t hide anything I can tell you!”

“Good. Grandpa’s first question is: how do you plan to spend such a large sum of money?”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “I haven’t really thought about how to spend it. Right now, our family has no worries about food or shelter, and we have a car to get around. We don’t actually need that much money to cover our expenses.”

“So, for the time being, I’ll be putting most of my money into investments—to make my money work for me!”

The old man nodded and said, “So you’re saying your money will stay overseas for a long time and won’t be brought back to China, right?”

“Not necessarily. Once the business environment in China improves, I’ll most likely invest back home!” Li Yi replied.

The old man furrowed his brow and asked, “Aren’t you afraid that a single order from the authorities could have all your money confiscated?”

“Grandpa, that’s not very likely. Besides, even if I do come back to invest, I certainly won’t do it in my own name—I’ll do it through the Hong Kong Investment Company. At that point, it’ll be considered Hong Kong capital.”

Li Yi continued, “As long as the situation over there isn’t resolved and Hong Kong hasn’t been returned, the authorities won’t touch Hong Kong capital!”

Rabbit’s reputation on Blue Star is impeccable. Not only will they not touch Hong Kong capital now, but they won’t even after 1997.

Looking at the bigger picture, never mind Hong Kong capital—the Rabbit is extremely friendly toward almost all foreign investment.

Even when the “Eagles” suppressed our companies, the “Rabbits” didn’t retaliate with tit-for-tat measures like they did.

So the Old Man’s worries are completely unnecessary!

“If the higher-ups put him in charge of running the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, would you take over?” the old man asked again.

Hearing this, Li Yi was secretly startled and immediately replied, “Grandpa, have the higher-ups contacted you?”

The old man hesitated slightly, then nodded and said, “Mm-hmm!”

“Is it hard to refuse?”

“Not really. It’s mainly because you’ve earned over 30 million in foreign exchange for the country in just a few short days, which has truly astonished some people in the higher-ups. But don’t worry about that—just tell me what you really think!” the old man said.

“My true thoughts?”

“Exactly! They say you can’t force a melon to be sweet, and certainly, no one from the Jiang family takes orders under duress!” the old man said.

“Then I’ll be completely honest. To tell you the truth, I won’t take over that Foreign Exchange Bureau!”

Li Yi continued, “Setting aside whether the higher-ups would even entrust a nation’s foreign exchange reserves to me, even if they did have that intention, I wouldn’t accept it. Not only is the responsibility too great, but it would also have numerous negative consequences for me personally!”

Hearing this, the old man didn’t get angry at all; instead, he said happily, “Hahaha, no wonder Third Brother (Jiang Shiying) said you’re a clear-headed guy who doesn’t go for small gains—it turns out he was right!”

“Grandpa, you’re not angry?”

“Why would I be angry? I was worried you’d be too gullible and fall into a trap the moment someone tried to pull the wool over your eyes. Now I can rest easy!”

“No way!”

The old man then added, “That said, since the higher-ups are asking for your help, do as much as you can!”

“Got it…”

Just as they were speaking, Li Yi saw Jiang Xue rushing over from the front yard, calling out his name as she ran…

………

PS: I haven’t been feeling well these past few days, and I’ve had to travel for work every day, so I’m not in the best shape. Please bear with me!

When Li Yi and Jiang Xue arrived at the registration desk, they discovered it was actually the registration point for freshmen in the Physics Department.

After asking around, they learned that his wife needed to register at the freshman desk for the Management Department.

After confirming the location of the Management Department, Li Yi led Jiang Xue there.

The campus of Capital University is huge… no, it’s enormous!

Although someone had already given the couple directions, by the time they found the Management Department registration desk, it was already past 10:00 a.m.

There were more students registering at the Management Department than at the Physics Department, and the gender ratio was more balanced—unlike the Physics Department, which was almost entirely male.

Li Yi and Jiang Xue waited in line for over twenty minutes before it was finally their turn at 11:00 a.m.

There were three staff members at the registration desk: one man and two women, all middle-aged.

From what they had observed, the man in the middle seemed to be in charge, overseeing document verification, while the two women handled registration—their roles were clearly defined.

When he saw Li Yi and Jiang Xue approaching together, the male teacher in the middle immediately asked, “Are you both here to register?”

“This is my wife; I’m here to help her register!” Li Yi spoke up first.

Hearing this, both the teachers receiving the students and the students waiting in line behind them were slightly taken aback.

The young woman in front of them didn’t look very old—she might not even be 20 yet—so it was unexpected that she was already married.

If this had been two years ago, it wouldn’t have been unusual to see someone come to college after getting married—or even with a baby in tow.

But now, five years had passed since the college entrance exams were reinstated, and the government had implemented a policy stipulating that once a person got married, they automatically lost their eligibility to register for the exams.

As a result, it had become rare in the past two years to see married people taking the college entrance exams.

I never expected to encounter one this year!

The middle-aged male teacher looked at Jiang Xue and said, “Student, please present your admission letter, exam admission ticket, household registration booklet, and other relevant documents!”

Jiang Xue didn’t move; instead, she turned her gaze toward Li Yi.

Li Yi immediately took the admission letter and other documents out of the shoulder bag he was carrying and placed them in front of the male teacher.

After carefully inspecting Jiang Xue’s documents, the teacher turned to the female teacher beside him and said, “The admission letter and documents are all in order!”

He then returned all the documents to Jiang Xue and added, “Student, please go over to Teacher Jiang to register!”

Following the male teacher’s instructions, Jiang Xue walked over to the female teacher standing nearby.

After receiving a form, she leaned over the desk in front of her and began filling it out.

The registration form was quite lengthy; it took Jiang Xue a full three minutes to complete it before handing it to Teacher Jiang.

After reviewing Jiang Xue’s form, Teacher Jiang said, “Student, your registration is complete. Now you need to go to the Department of Management office on the second floor of this building and find Teacher Guo, the homeroom teacher for your accounting class. She will assign you a dormitory and inform you of the upcoming arrangements!”

“Teacher, do we have to pay tuition?” Li Yi suddenly asked.

Although he had long heard that college tuition was free these days, he was still somewhat surprised to see that his wife hadn’t actually paid anything when she registered.

“What tuition?”

“Tuition!”

The female teacher smiled upon hearing this and said, “Our school doesn’t charge tuition. In fact, you’ll receive a monthly living allowance of 19.5 yuan, and you can also apply for a monthly hardship subsidy of 2 yuan!”

“They actually give out money!”

After thanking the teacher, Li Yi took Jiang Xue by the hand and headed toward the three-story building in the back.

Once upstairs, Li Yi headed straight for the crowd and easily found the so-called Management Department office. Surrounded by a group of students, he spotted Teacher Guo.

Since the place was so crowded, the two had to wait in line for a while, but finally, at 11:30, it was their turn.

The homeroom teacher for the accounting class was a middle-aged woman in her forties. After reviewing Jiang Xue’s registration documents, she said with a hint of surprise, “Jiang Xue, are you already married?”

“Yes, teacher!”

“Do you have children?”

“Yes!”

“How old are they?”

“Over eight months old!”

“I see your home is also in Beijing. So are you applying for a commuter program?” Teacher Guo asked again.

“Yes, I have to go back home every night!”

“Alright, then I won’t assign you a dorm room. But remember to come to Room 301 on the third floor of this building at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow for the class meeting. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the class then!”

“Okay, teacher. I’ll be there on time!”

“Okay…”

………

As soon as they stepped out of the classroom building and saw that there weren’t many people around, Jiang Xue gave Li Yi a light punch.

Then, with a pout, she said, “You did that on purpose just now, didn’t you?”

“What do you mean, ‘on purpose’?” Li Yi asked, looking completely confused.

“Keep pretending. Go ahead and keep pretending. You dare say you didn’t just tell those people on purpose that I’m your wife?” Jiang Xue said.

“You mean that?”

“Hmm…”

“I… I did it on purpose. You guessed right!”

Jiang Xue hadn’t expected this shameless guy to admit it so bluntly. She froze for a moment, then said, “Why? Now all the teachers and students know I’m married and have a kid. How embarrassing is that?”

“Is getting married and having a kid something to be ashamed of?”

“Not exactly!”

“There you go. I just wanted all those teachers and classmates to know that you, Jiang Xue, are already taken. That way, they’ll stop having designs on you—and stop hanging around you all the time!” Li Yi said with an air of authority.

“I never would’ve guessed it, but you’re really bossy!”

“I am a bit bossy, but it’s absolutely necessary!” Li Yi said.

“What’s the point? Do you think I’d run off with someone else?” Jiang Xue said with a laugh.

“I’m not worried about you running off with someone. I’m just concerned about preventing problems before they happen. Haven’t there been plenty of men and women over the years who’ve abandoned their wives, children, husbands, and daughters since going to college?”

Li Yi continued, “Remember that substitute teacher from our village elementary school, Li Yunqing? That jerk only got into a run-of-the-mill junior college, and in the end, he still ended up divorcing his wife.”

“And then there’s Wang Man, the wife of Zhong Sanwa from the neighboring village. She nearly starved to death when she came here to work on the commune back in the day. In the end, she married Zhong Sanwa just because his father was the village party secretary. But what happened? After she got into college, she divorced him and abandoned both her son and daughter!”

Actually, there have been far too many cases like this over the years—we hear similar stories almost every year.

And it’s not just about getting into college; some people are so desperate for a spot to return to the city that they’ve completely lost all sense of decency.

Especially in the last couple of years, ever since the authorities issued a notice prohibiting married young men and women from taking the college entrance exam, the divorce rate in rural areas has skyrocketed.

If even one person in the family isn’t content with the status quo, divorce is inevitable.

Jiang Xue listened intently. After Li Yi finished speaking, she said with a hint of confusion, “Why do you think that is? It’s just about going to college—why would they have to leave their spouse and children behind?”

“Can’t figure it out?”

“Yeah, I don’t get it!” Jiang Xue said.

“Actually, it’s easy to understand. It’s just that the environment has changed, and their perspectives have shifted. Before, everyone was surrounded by a bunch of old farmers with muddy boots; the people you married were the best in your eyes.”

Li Yi continued, “But now that they’re in college, they’re surrounded by exceptionally talented people. Compared to them, the men who once seemed honest and down-to-earth, or the wives who were gentle and virtuous, suddenly don’t seem quite the same.”

“More importantly, as you know, humans are social creatures. The more outstanding people are together, the more they attract one another. Over time, those who aren’t deeply attached to their original partners inevitably find it hard to resist temptation, and eventually end up with someone else…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi felt a tight grip on his arm.

Then he saw Jiang Xue, completely disregarding the stares of passing teachers and students, throw her arm around Li Yi’s.

“I would never do something like that. My man is the best there is—I’m sticking with you for the rest of my life!” Jiang Xue said earnestly.

“Hahaha, I love hearing that!”

“Typical…”

……….

Before they knew it, a week had passed!

On August 30th, just two days before Jiang Xue’s first day of college, Li Yi finally returned to Beijing with his wife and child.

Three days earlier, his older sister’s husband, Yang Wenguang, had left Yunshan County the very next day after resigning from the sugar factory, heading to neighboring Pingcheng to find his old platoon sergeant.

Rumor had it that this old platoon sergeant was not only highly capable but also commanded considerable respect during his time in the military.

In his brother-in-law’s words, as long as he could convince the old squad leader to come out of retirement, everything would be settled.

He couldn’t say for sure about the rest, but at the very least, he could bring the other members of their platoon over with him—a prospect Li Yi was quite looking forward to.

They came back as a group, and they’d leave as a group—not one more, not one less.

Li Yi had originally planned to bring his older sister and his young nephew, Yang Rui, back to Beijing with him, but his older sister refused.

First, she wanted to wait for her husband to return so they could go to Beijing together.

Second, the autumn harvest was just around the corner in the village, and her parents would certainly be extremely busy then.

In previous years, his parents had basically survived on dry rations during this time, so she wanted to take this opportunity to cook for them.

Li Yi didn’t press the matter.

After leaving 150,000 yuan for the village, he set off from Nianzishan Village with Jiang Xue and the children.

The reason it was 150,000 yuan rather than 100,000 was mainly because, after running the numbers, Li Yi felt that 100,000 yuan would be a bit tight for setting up a livestock farm.

For one thing, Li Yi planned to build not only a sheep farm but also a cattle farm; the site construction alone would require a significant sum. If they were to build brick-and-tile structures, it would cost at least 30,000 yuan.

Furthermore, a farm of this size required extensive supporting infrastructure—not only would they need to dig a well, but they also had to build storage facilities for fodder.

Most importantly, a farm of this scale could no longer rely on the extensive, haphazard feeding methods of the past; it required intensive management. At the very least, the forage would have to be chopped before being fed to the livestock.

Otherwise, not only will the cattle and sheep have difficulty digesting the feed and grow slowly, but it will also result in a waste of forage.

This requires building a large forage warehouse and purchasing a forage chopper.

These days, industrial machinery is exorbitantly expensive; even the most basic forage chopper costs at least 2,000 yuan, and given the scale of the farm Li Yi is setting up, he’ll need about five of them.

Based on these calculations, the cost of the site and supporting facilities alone would be between 50,000 and 80,000 yuan.

In addition, Li Yi feels that the village’s herd of cattle and sheep is still somewhat small, especially the sheep, of which there are a mere 500.

For the current hot pot and barbecue restaurant, even if all of them were transported to Beijing, it wouldn’t be enough to cover the restaurant’s consumption for two months.

And once he returns to Beijing, he plans to open a branch, at which point the consumption of beef and mutton will inevitably surge.

Therefore, Li Yi specifically set aside an additional 100,000 yuan, instructing the village to use this money to purchase cattle and sheep in the pastures (grazing areas).

Unlike last time, when they had only bought calves and lambs that wouldn’t survive the winter, this time he instructed Feng Kai, Xiaogouwa, and the others to purchase adult cattle and sheep as well.

As long as there was enough forage, they were to buy as many as possible!

In short, Li Yi was determined to run this livestock farm with all his might.

After all, the Household Contract Responsibility System had already begun to be implemented province-wide, and in the future, the authorities would gradually relax controls on most things, allowing him to confidently lead his fellow villagers out of poverty and toward prosperity.

………

Beijing. The Jiang Family Ancestral Home!

The day after returning to the Capital from Nianzishan Village, Li Yi brought Jiang Xue and the children to the old family home to visit his mother-in-law.

The main reason was that registration for Beijing University had begun today; Li Yi planned to take Jiang Xue to register in the morning and then take her shopping for clothes and other items in the afternoon.

However, he felt somewhat uneasy about leaving Juanzi alone at home to watch the two children, so he wanted his mother-in-law to help look after them.

Of course, the main reason Li Yi felt confident leaving the children here was that Ye Lingyun’s condition had stabilized.

After taking medication for the past six months, combined with the treatment provided by a nationally renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctor arranged by the old man, Ye Lingyun’s health had largely recovered.

Although she still needed to take medication, she hadn’t had an episode in a long time.

Moreover, since her weight had returned to nearly 100 pounds and her bodily functions had largely returned to normal, she was even planning to go back to work at the school this semester.

When Li Yi’s family arrived, Ye Lingyun was in her study organizing her lesson plans. After all, she hadn’t worked for several years, so she was rusty in many areas and needed to prepare in advance.

Just then, a noise suddenly came from the west wing, and Ye Lingyun immediately went out to investigate.

Seeing that her daughter, son-in-law, and their family had arrived, she was overjoyed and asked right away, “When did you all get back?”

As she spoke, she reached out and took Yunrui from Jiang Xue’s arms.

Li Yi and Jiang Xue were about to answer when they heard Ye Lingyun say with a hint of surprise, “Oh my, I haven’t seen him in a few days—how come this child has gotten so tanned?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “The sun is strong back home, and the child’s skin is a bit delicate—even a little sun exposure makes a noticeable difference!”

In the countryside, there’s no shade to speak of, and the sun’s UV rays are much stronger than in the city. Not to mention children—even adults who spend time in the village will find their skin darkening by a shade.

“You two are just as bad. The kids are so young, and you don’t even know to keep them covered up when you go out. You’ve turned my fair-skinned, delicate grandson into a little charcoal briquette!”

Jiang Xue smiled and said, “Mom, I don’t think it’s a big deal. He should be back to his usual fair complexion in a few days!”

“By the way, Xue’er, school starts tomorrow. Have you got everything ready?” Ye Lingyun asked.

“Mom, isn’t it just a matter of registering? What else do I need to prepare?” Jiang Xue asked, puzzled.

“It’s not as simple as you think. First, you need to take your admission letter, exam admission ticket, and household registration book to the school to register. After that, you’ll have to go see your homeroom teacher to fill out a commuting student form…”

At this point, Ye Lingyun glanced at Yunrui in her arms, then continued, “Xue’er, if you go to school, have you thought about what to do with the baby?”

Li Yi immediately replied, “Mom, my older sister will be coming to the capital in a few days. She’ll help us look after the baby at home!”

“Will that really work? If it doesn’t, I can quit my job and stay home to help you look after the baby!”

“Mom, really, there’s no need. My older sister’s child is still small too and needs someone to look after him. It’s the same whether I’m watching one child or a whole bunch!” Li Yi said.

“That works too. If we really can’t manage, we can send the child to the daycare at our school. The staff there will take good care of him!” Ye Lingyun said.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!”

Then Li Yi added, “Mom, the main reason we came over today is to ask you to watch Yunrui and Yunjin for a bit. I need to take Xiaoxue to school to register her!”

Ye Lingyun replied immediately, “Alright, if you’re going to register, you should head over early. If you go too late, you’ll have to wait in line!”

“Alright!”

With that, Li Yi placed Yunrui and Yunjin on the kang and asked Juanzi to stay behind to help.

Then, he set off for Beijing University with Jiang Xue and Zhang Ziqiang!

The Jiang family’s old residence was quite a distance from Capital University; it actually took a full forty minutes by car to get there.

Since it was the first day of registration, most students from out of town hadn’t arrived yet.

So when Li Yi and Jiang Xue arrived at the school, they found that the registration area wasn’t very crowded. Although they still had to wait in line, the queue wasn’t long.

Li Yi had Zhang Ziqiang park the car in a less crowded area, then got out with Jiang Xue. Holding the admission letter and various documents, they headed straight for the registration desk!

County Bureau. Telecommunications Room!

With a touch of trepidation, Li Yi dialed his father-in-law’s number.

After a few rings, his father-in-law Jiang Shiying’s familiar voice came through the receiver: “Who is this?”

“Dad, it’s me, Li Yi!”

“Finally got ahold of you, you rascal. Any later and I would’ve fallen asleep!”

“Dad, what’s going on? Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?” Li Yi asked immediately.

“It wasn’t me who wanted to reach you—it was that Mr. Huang from Hong Kong who couldn’t get ahold of you, so he came to me!”

“Old Huang?”

“Right. According to Mr. Huang, international gold prices skyrocketed this morning—jumping from over $270 an ounce yesterday to over $330. Now, the people at your company have some differing opinions on whether prices will rise or fall next. Since the amount of capital involved is quite substantial, they wanted to consult you on exactly what price point to close the deal at!”

Upon hearing what it was about, Li Yi immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

“I thought something major had happened. You were in such a rush—you scared the life out of me!”

“Isn’t this a big deal?”

Jiang Shiying continued, “I heard from Mr. Huang that this investment involves tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars!”

Although Li Yi really didn’t think the matter was that big of a deal, he knew he couldn’t say that out loud—otherwise, his father-in-law might think he’d gotten a big head just because he’d made a little money.

Immediately, Li Yi changed the subject: “Dad, could you give Old Huang a call for me? Just tell him that gold prices will likely peak within three months, and have him pass the word to Lan Xinyi that she should cash out as soon as the price hits $590 an ounce!”

“It’s $590, right?”

“That’s right!”

Although the peak gold price this year was $599 per ounce, one shouldn’t be too greedy—you don’t have to wait until the price peaks to sell.

More importantly, Star Company has invested over 7 billion Hong Kong dollars in gold. Based on previous gold prices, that amounts to more than 730 tons of gold in their possession.

Of course, these 730 tons aren’t actual, shiny gold bars; they’re mostly financial products.

These assets are much like stocks; with such a massive volume, selling them off requires buyers to take the other end of the trade, so they had to quietly offload their holdings before the peak.

After all, at that price point, the vast majority of investors still believe that gold prices will continue to rise.

“I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll let him know later!”

Then Jiang Shiying asked again, “Xiao Yi, did you also invest that money in gold?”

“Yes, why?”

“Based on current prices, how much profit has that money generated so far?”

Li Yi lowered his head and did a quick mental calculation before replying, “A conservative estimate of 35 million US dollars—the fluctuation won’t exceed 3 million!”

“That… that much?”

Jiang Shiying on the other end of the line was truly stunned. From the moment the government handed the money over to her son-in-law until now—a span of less than five days—that sum had ballooned from 200 million to over 235 million, and in U.S. dollars at that.

That was incredibly valuable foreign currency!

Although the official exchange rate was 1.8 RMB to the dollar, on the international market, holding 350 million RMB didn’t necessarily mean we could exchange it for 35 million US dollars.

After a long silence, Jiang Shiying asked again, “Xiao Yi, once this investment is over, how much profit will we make?”

“Dad, when you say ‘we,’ are you referring to me or…”

Before he could finish, Jiang Shiying cut him off, saying, “Not you!”

“2 to 2.5 billion US dollars!”

Jiang Shiying was stunned once again. This wasn’t a simple matter of giving me one yuan and getting two back—the units here were in the hundreds of millions, and in US dollars at that.

Although he already had a good understanding of his son-in-law’s ability to make money, most of what he’d heard before had come from others—he hadn’t witnessed it firsthand.

This time, however, was different. As the go-between, he had witnessed nearly the entire process from the initial negotiations to the present moment, making the impact all the more profound and intense.

For a moment, he was completely speechless, at a loss for words!

On the other end of the line, seeing that his father-in-law hadn’t responded, Li Yi immediately asked, “Dad?”

“Dad?”

“Mm-hmm!”

“Do you need anything else?”

“No, you should head home early too. I’m going to give that Mr. Huang a call first!”

“Alright!”

With that, the two ended the call!

……….

On the way back, Zhang Ziqiang drove while occasionally glancing at Li Yi in the rearview mirror.

Li Yi was a very perceptive person and quickly noticed this.

“Why are you always looking at me? Is there something on my face?”

“I heard that!”

Although Zhang Ziqiang’s remark seemed out of the blue, Li Yi understood exactly what he meant.

“So you heard it? Big deal. I wasn’t hiding anything from you anyway!”

What Li Yi really wanted to say was that even if he’d wanted to hide it, it would have been useless—there was no way to keep it a secret.

“Did you really earn 35 million in foreign exchange for the country in just a few days?”

“In theory, yes—unless the people over there were pulling my leg, but that’s highly unlikely!” Li Yi replied.

“Thank you!”

“Why are you thanking me?” Li Yi asked in surprise.

“Thank you for earning so much foreign exchange for the country. From now on, I’ll do everything in my power to protect your safety, even if it costs me my life!” Zhang Ziqiang said earnestly.

Hearing Zhang Ziqiang’s words, Li Yi felt a faint stir in his heart, even a touch of shame.

That simple phrase, “Thank you,” expressed what true “sense of ownership” is, and what true patriotism truly means.

You helped the country, and I thank you—because this is my country. What a pure sentiment that is.

In comparison, Li Yi felt that although he had helped the country earn a little foreign exchange, his motives were too self-serving—he felt ashamed!

“You’re being too formal. This is your country, and it’s mine too!” Li Yi said.

“Hmm, may I report what you just said to the higher-ups?” Zhang Ziqiang asked again.

“Isn’t that your duty? Why ask for my permission? Are you saying you won’t report it if I disagree?” Li Yi asked.

“If you don’t agree, I won’t report it!”

“You really won’t report it?” Now it was Li Yi’s turn to be surprised.

“My orders are to protect your safety at all costs and to immediately report to higher authorities in the event of an emergency!”

Zhang Ziqiang continued, “According to regulations, there are two types of so-called special circumstances. The first is when your life is in danger and I’m unable to resolve the situation on my own—in that case, I can report it and request backup.”

“The second is if you attempt to commit treason or engage in activities detrimental to the nation. Aside from those, I have the discretion to decide whether to report it!”

“So that’s how it is!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Actually, this isn’t exactly a secret. If you want to report it to the higher-ups, go ahead. But I think Comrade Yang Qian has probably already reported something like this!”

“That’s her business; it’s none of my concern. We belong to different systems!”

“I see. I’m just curious—how do you contact your superiors?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Li Yi realized his question was a bit forward—after all, this was her confidential information.

Immediately, he added, “If my question involves your discipline or classified information, you don’t have to answer!”

Zhang Ziqiang paused briefly, then said, “We have a radio!”

“A radio? But don’t you still have to go to the post office?”

But as soon as the words left his mouth, Li Yi realized how silly his question was. If sending a telegram required a trip to the post office, how could he possibly stay in constant contact with his superiors?

“No, the radio is right in your car!”

“That suitcase?”

“Yep!”

“From now on, I won’t stop you from reporting to your superiors, but I hope you’ll let me know before you do—as long as it doesn’t violate regulations!” Li Yi said, choosing his words carefully.

“Sure!”

“Hmm…”

………

PS: I have a meeting this afternoon, so I had to stay up late to write this!

In the conference room, Yang Qian saw everyone’s eyes on her and immediately stood up.

She took a deep breath and shared her assessment: “I believe this surge in international gold prices will last at least three months, and the peak won’t stop at $400—it should reach at least $550, or even higher!”

“Whoosh!”

The moment she spoke, it sparked a flurry of discussion among the other employees in the conference room.

Mainly because Yang Qian’s idea was simply too unbelievable. According to her, that meant the price of gold would double within three months—how could that be possible!

“Tell us your reasoning!” Lan Xinyi said.

Yang Qian replied immediately, “I have two reasons. First, I don’t believe the current surge in international gold prices is entirely due to people’s fears of currency devaluation—that’s just one factor. The other, more significant reason is concern over the international situation…”

“Wait, what exactly do you mean by ‘concerns about the international situation’?” Lan Xinyi asked.

Yang Qian didn’t answer Lan Xinyi’s question; instead, she asked one of her own: “Does anyone here remember what the peak price of gold was last year?”

“$790 per ounce!”

“Do you all remember how that peak was reached?”

Before anyone could answer, Yang Qian continued, “Last year’s gold price peak occurred three months after the Bear Alliance’s massive military exercises. It was precisely because, upon learning of those exercises, everyone in the West became deeply concerned about the international situation—which is why they rushed to invest in gold, causing the price to skyrocket.”

“Now, relations between the US and the Bear Alliance are growing increasingly tense, especially in recent months, with both sides on the brink of conflict. This is another reason for the soaring gold prices.”

Lan Xinyi nodded and said, “Go on!”

“Price fluctuations in commodities caused by the international situation usually subside as the situation stabilizes, so it’s inevitable that gold prices will fall again. However, this process generally takes time—it won’t happen in just ten days or a couple of weeks.”

Yang Qian continued, “As for inflation, although this is a cyclical fluctuation in the Thief Eagle’s domestic economy, they’ve become quite adept at handling such situations—it’s second nature to them.”

“But you must understand that the operation of a national economy isn’t as immediate as household decision-making; it doesn’t yield instant results. It usually involves a process. So, all things considered, this gold price rally will last at least three months!”

As a key staff member of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Yang Qian’s competence was beyond question.

After all, the SAFE monitors the U.S. dollar and gold on a daily basis, so they pay close attention to fluctuations in gold prices and have their own assessments.

After hearing Yang Qian’s analysis, Lan Xinyi was deeply impressed. She was genuinely surprised that this employee, who exuded such a modest demeanor, possessed such insight.

No wonder her brother had told her to pay special attention to this woman, even mentioning that she was someone the boss had personally requested be hired—she certainly had some real talent.

“Do you think the price of gold will reach $550 an ounce?”

“Yes!”

“Why?”

“Gold’s intrinsic value is far higher than its current low price; it should be between five and six hundred dollars. The reason for the decline isn’t market forces, but the result of the ‘Eagle’ using its power to intervene,” Yang Qian replied.

In fact, the surge in gold prices can be traced back to the late 1970s. In 1978, crude oil prices soared to $30 per barrel, and the price of gold rose from $130 to $244; just one year later, it skyrocketed again to $500.

At the same time, inflation in the U.S. had surged past 12%. By the first two trading days of January 1980, the price of gold had skyrocketed to $634 per ounce.

In response, then-Treasury Secretary Miller announced that the Treasury would cease selling gold. Within 30 minutes, the price surged by $30 to $715, and on January 21, it hit a new high of $850.

The sky-high gold price had already impacted the U.S.’s financial security and undermined the dollar’s status.

Left with no choice, President Carter was forced to step in to suppress the gold market, stating that he would do whatever it took to maintain the United States’ global standing.

By the close of trading on the day of his speech, gold prices had fallen by $50, and within just a few days, they had plummeted by $145, marking the end of the first major gold bull market of the modern era.

Lan Xinyi nodded in satisfaction and clapped her hands enthusiastically!

Seeing this, the others immediately joined in.

For a moment, thunderous applause filled the conference room.

As the applause subsided, Lan Xinyi spoke again: “Now that everyone agrees that gold prices will continue to rise in the short term, from this moment on, all newly raised funds will be invested in the gold market. As for when to pull out, we’ll discuss that later. Meeting adjourned!”

After the meeting, Lan Xinyi returned to her office and dialed Huang Lixing’s number…

………

The city lights began to twinkle as night fell!

When Li Yi woke up, it was already 9:00 p.m.

The room was pitch-black and empty, but from next door came the faint sounds of adults chatting and children crying.

Shaking his throbbing, aching head, Li Yi couldn’t help but let out a wry smile; he had known this would happen even before going to the restaurant.

And that was only because Old Liang, Wang Anguo, and Li Gang had gone easy on him—while others drank full cups, they’d let him take just a tiny sip.

But even so, he was the first to pass out—he didn’t even know when he’d gotten home!

He turned on the light, took off his sweat-soaked shirt and undershirt, and was just about to head out when he saw Zhang Ziqiang push the door open and walk in.

“There’s rice in the pot. Want some?”

Li Yi nodded and immediately went to the kitchen, lifting the lid off the pot.

He saw a small pot of hot congee and a few white flour pancakes; there was nothing else.

But for Li Yi, who had just woken up from a hangover, millet porridge was the best thing—it was gentle on the stomach!

He grabbed a large bowl, filled it with porridge, and crouched down by the stove to eat!

Watching Li Yi eat so ungracefully, Zhang Ziqiang couldn’t help but smile.

Who would have believed that the man standing before him was a billionaire worth a fortune? He looked every bit the spirited young man from the countryside!

Before long, Li Yi had polished off nearly half the pot of millet porridge.

But just as he was about to head to the next room to spend some time with his parents and family, a blinding beam of light suddenly shone through the front gate, followed by the roar of a car engine.

In no time, a jeep pulled up right in front of his house.

Seeing this, Li Yi immediately stepped out of the house with Zhang Ziqiang. Just as they reached the center of the courtyard, they saw a figure rushing in.

In the light streaming from the house, Li Yi recognized the figure as Li Gang.

Seeing that Li Yi was already awake, Li Gang breathed a slight sigh of relief. He knew Li Yi’s drinking capacity all too well and had genuinely worried that the guy might still be drunk when he arrived—that would have been a real hassle.

“Hey, why are you running over here in the middle of the night?” Li Yi asked, somewhat surprised.

“Do you think I wanted to come? It’s all because of you!”

Li Gang continued, “Half an hour ago, I suddenly got a call from Director Jiang in Beijing, telling me to come here immediately and tell you to call your father-in-law right away!”

Hearing this, Li Yi froze for a moment, then hurriedly asked, “Did he say what it was about?”

“He didn’t say, but he sounded pretty urgent!”

Li Yi nodded and said, “Alright, hold on a moment. I’ll let my family know, and then we’ll head to the county seat!”

“Okay…”

……….?

The next morning!

Unaware of the global gold price surge or that he had tearfully raked in another $200 million, Li Yi woke up early once again.

After sharing a simple yet heartwarming breakfast with his family, he first drove his second sister and her family back to Yaogou Village.

With the autumn harvest about to begin in the village, his second sister and brother-in-law were still busy with their mushroom business and simply couldn’t stay in Nianshan Village for long.

After all, the siblings would all be pursuing careers in Beijing in the future, and their parents would eventually join them there, so there was no rush for a reunion just yet.

After dropping them off in Yaogou Village, Li Yi drove his eldest sister and her husband back to the sugar factory.

Their most important task on this return trip was to resign from their jobs.

Li Yi was the decisive type; once he’d made up his mind, he acted swiftly.

Besides, Old Huang’s security firm was already up and running, and some of his henchmen had already transferred over to the company; now they urgently needed Li Yi to send people over.

As for his brother-in-law’s comrades-in-arms, they were now scattered across the country. His brother-in-law needed to get moving and track them down immediately. Given the current state of domestic transportation, finding all of them was no small undertaking.

Therefore, it’s best to resign as soon as possible so that my brother-in-law can set out to round everyone up!

When Liang Yukui learned that Big Brother-in-Law and his family had come to resign, he wasn’t all that surprised.

In fact, ever since he’d heard from Li Gang and An Hong just how extensive Li Yi’s business operations in Beijing had become, he’d already braced himself for this.

He’d known Li Yi for quite some time and had a good understanding of his character.

He knew Li Yi was the kind of man who placed great importance on loyalty and family ties. Setting aside the fact that he genuinely needed help, simply because Li Yi was now doing well, he would certainly bring his older sister’s family over to enjoy a comfortable life—that was a certainty!

Precisely for this reason, although Liang Yukui was reluctant to lose a talented employee like Yang Wenguang, he did not try to keep him. He promptly instructed the Human Resources Department to process the resignation paperwork for Yang Wenguang and Li Mei, and settled their salaries for the current month as well.

However, while he let Yang Wenguang leave the sugar factory, he had no intention of letting Li Yi off the hook.

In his own words, “Since you’re already here, you’ve got to stay for a meal before you go. Otherwise, what if people back home say Old Liang isn’t a decent guy?”

So, under the pretext of treating him to a meal, he kept Li Yi there.

Li Yi knew that Old Liang wouldn’t let it rest until he’d seen him off today, but he didn’t make any excuses.

Seeing this, Liang Yukuai immediately called Li Gang at the county bureau and Wang Anguo at the municipal bureau, telling them to come over right away.

The two then sat in Liang Yukui’s office drinking tea for a while. At eleven o’clock, Li Gang called to say that Wang Anguo had returned from the Municipal Bureau and was with him.

Upon hearing the news, Liang Yukui put down his tea and immediately took Li Yi to the State-Owned Hotel!

By the time Li Yi and Liang Yuke arrived at the State-Owned Hotel, Wang Anguo and Li Gang were already there.

As old friends meeting up, a round of pleasantries was, of course, inevitable.

Then, naturally, as the appetizers were served and the drinks flowed, they chatted about everything under the sun and caught up on family matters…

…….

Hong Kong Island. Star Investment Company!

While Li Yi and his old friends were clinking glasses, the scene at Star Investment was quite different; everyone there was swamped with work.

Over in the Investment Management Department, Lan Xinyi, who had just finished meeting with a group of clients seeking business advice, immediately called all the investment advisors in the department together for a meeting.

The cramped conference room was suddenly packed with twenty-three or twenty-four investment advisors, each forced to sit shoulder-to-shoulder on small round stools, making the situation particularly uncomfortable.

“Everyone, quiet down. Let’s begin the meeting!”

Once the room had quieted down, Lan Xinyi turned to her assistant and asked, “What is the current international gold price?”

“As of 11 a.m., it has reached $335 per ounce, and the upward trend is very clear!”

Lan Xinyi nodded and said, “Bingyan, have you identified the cause of this sharp rise in international gold prices?”

Cai Bingyan replied immediately, “Based on the information we have so far, this surge in gold prices may be directly related to the extremely high inflation in Thief Eagle!”

“Inflation?”

“Yes. Just this morning, Thief Eagle released a set of federal government statistics showing that its inflation rate in the first half of this year reached its highest level in nearly thirty years. Consumer prices have risen by 4.6% over the past six months, with the energy index rising for six consecutive months!”

Cai Bingyan continued, “Because high inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar domestically, people in the U.S. are worried that their money will continue to lose value, so they’re flocking to invest in precious metals—which is why international gold prices have skyrocketed!”

After hearing Cai Bingyan’s explanation, Lan Xinyi added, “Everyone, just as the boss predicted, international gold prices have indeed risen. We’ve made the right bet again—this price rebound alone has earned the company over 200 million US dollars!”

“However, will international gold prices continue to rise, or will they fall back in the short term? What are your thoughts?”

No sooner had she finished speaking than a male employee sitting next to Cai Bingyan stood up and said, “Manager Lan, I don’t think this surge in gold prices will last very long. We should sell as soon as the price reaches a certain level!”

“Explain your reasoning!”

“First, the rise in gold prices is due to a fluke, and price hikes caused by such flukes usually don’t last long—ten days to two weeks, or at most a month!”

The male employee continued, “Furthermore, as far as I know, the U.S. government is already formulating strategies to address high inflation. For instance, the Federal Reserve just raised interest rates last week. Based on past patterns, inflation tends to be curbed to some extent after each rate hike.”

“So how long do you think this gold price surge will last?” Lan Xinyi asked again.

“About twenty days, or perhaps when the price reaches $400 per ounce—that should be the peak!”

Lan Xinyi nodded and said, “Does anyone else have any thoughts?”

“Manager, I believe the gold price rally will last at least 15 days, but no more than a month. I have three reasons: first…”

While these investment department elites were engaged in a heated debate over the fluctuations of international gold prices, Yang Qian, sitting in the corner, was struggling with a chubby girl next to her and the thick concrete wall.

Experiencing a company meeting for the first time, Yang Qian felt as if she were riding a green-painted train back home—it was just too crowded.

To be honest, Hong Kong Island is indeed bustling, but it’s also quite small.

Take Star Investment, for example. Despite being a large company with seventy or eighty employees and managing billions in investment funds, the total floor space of all its offices is less than 300 square meters.

Never mind ordinary employees like them—even the department managers each have nothing more than a tiny cubicle of just a few square meters.

This conference room, in particular, is no more than thirty square meters, and with a conference table taking up a third of the space, it’s incredibly cramped.

On top of that, the Investment Management Department has the largest number of employees in the entire company. Having so many people crammed into this tiny conference room for a meeting is truly a nightmare.

What left Yang Qian even more speechless was the heavyset woman sitting to her left, weighing over 180 pounds. The woman’s body kept leaning unconsciously toward her; if it weren’t for the concrete wall on her right, she would likely have been squeezed right into the next room.

To avoid being literally crushed to death during the meeting, Yang Qian had no choice but to nudge the woman from time to time, and her fidgeting naturally caught Lan Xinyi’s attention.

After listening to a female employee’s analysis, Lan Xinyi suddenly turned to Yang Qian and said, “Yang Qian, tell us your take on this sudden surge in gold prices!”

The moment those words were spoken, all eyes in the conference room turned to Yang Qian!