Chapter 451: Li Yi, the Prodigal Son

News that Li Yi had spent 200,000 yuan to snap up nearly 10,000 paintings from the National Museum quickly spread throughout the art world!

It started when Jiang Xue mentioned it to her mother-in-law, but somehow, before long, his eldest uncle, second uncle, grandfather, as well as Jiang Longcheng, Jiang Longyin, and others all found out.

Later still, members of the Ye and Lin families also got wind of it.

Even more outrageous was that within a few days, the newspapers had picked up the story.

Overnight, the whole of Beijing was abuzz with the story.

And most people labeled Li Yi’s behavior as “squandering the family fortune.”

What does 200,000 yuan even mean?

Reform and Opening-Up had just begun; even the trendy term “ten-thousand-yuan household” hadn’t emerged yet, and a family with a few hundred yuan in savings was considered well-off.

Put it this way: with 200,000 yuan, you could buy over thirty top-quality homes right now.

If used to buy grain, it could purchase 1.25 million catties of top-quality Fuqiang flour. To be generous, assuming a family of five eats 2 catties of flour per day, that would be enough to feed them for over 300 years.

Yet now, such a vast fortune has been spent on thousands of useless objects that can neither be eaten nor drunk—what else could this be but squandering one’s wealth?

Overnight, the person who bought this batch of paintings from the National Museum became the subject of nationwide discussion, labeled a “prodigal son” and a “sucker.”

Fortunately, the media, perhaps to protect privacy—or perhaps because the National Museum was completely unaware of Li Yi’s true identity—did not explicitly name him as the buyer of the paintings in their reports.

Nevertheless, everyone in the art world knew that the “sucker” everyone was talking about was none other than Li Yi.

Everyone found his “prodigal” behavior hard to fathom, saying that even if he made money easily, he shouldn’t be so reckless with it.

So, over the next few days, everyone flocked to Li Yi’s store to get the scoop.

They all had one question: “What were you thinking?”

Naturally, Li Yi wasn’t going to tell them what he was thinking—he couldn’t possibly say!

Could he possibly tell these people that he, Li Yi, had been reborn from decades in the future, and that he knew the value of this batch of paintings would skyrocket, reaching tens of billions in value decades from now?

Could he say that?

Even if he did, would they believe him?

Left with no choice, Li Yi could only pin it on a mysterious hobby.

That’s right, I don’t really have any hobbies—I just happen to like this…

Fine, you’ve got the money… you’re the boss… you call the shots!

Although this explanation was a bit far-fetched, fortunately, both the Jiang and Ye families knew Li Yi well.

They knew that although his background wasn’t the best, he possessed extraordinary insight and courage, and he also had some mysterious, unpredictable ways about him.

Therefore, they didn’t interfere with his decision, though they did occasionally discuss the matter behind closed doors!

……..

Before they knew it, it was already mid-April!

Temperatures in the capital were rising rapidly, and the day of the Old Master’s eightieth birthday had arrived.

On the day of the banquet, Li Yi got up early in the morning and first drove over to check on the shop.

He worked until past ten o’clock before returning home to pick up Jiang Xue and the two children, then headed straight for the Jiang family’s ancestral home.

In the car, Jiang Xue held Yunrui, while Juanzi held Yunjin.

As Li Yi drove, he turned to Juanzi in the back seat and asked, “Juanzi, have you been adjusting well to life in Beijing lately?”

“It’s been okay,” Juanzi replied softly.

“Are you keeping up with your studies?” Li Yi asked again.

“My foreign language isn’t great. I had a test a few days ago, and I only scored 63 points!” Juanzi said, blushing.

Jiang Xue, sitting beside her, hurried to comfort her: “63 is still a passing grade. Take it slow!”

“Sis, I… I came in last in foreign language!”

“Uh…”

Jiang Xue was instantly at a loss, not knowing how to comfort the boy.

“What was your total score? Where did you rank in the class?” Li Yi asked with a smile.

Hearing this, Juanzi immediately lifted her head and said with a hint of confidence, “I scored 689 in total and ranked 11th in the class!”

“Not bad. Keep up the good work, and you’ll definitely get into a great university!”

Li Yi wasn’t just trying to comfort Juanzi; he knew that in middle school today, besides Chinese, math, and English, there were also subjects like politics, history, and geography.

With a total exam score of around 900 points, 689 wasn’t particularly high, but it wasn’t bad either.

Considering that Juanzi had only scored 63 on the foreign language exam, it meant she had done quite well in the other subjects.

Never mind improvement or progress—if she could just maintain her current level and score 400 on the college entrance exam, she’d be able to get into a decent undergraduate program.

And these days, getting into a decent university means a respectable job and civil servant status.

After all, college graduates these days… get guaranteed job placements!

“Really? Can I really get into college?” Juanzi asked, a bit excitedly.

“Of course it’s true. And if you study hard enough, you might even get into college early!”

Li Yi continued, “Besides, my wife is about to take her college entrance exams. Just see how well she does this year, and you’ll have a good idea of what to expect!”

Hearing this, Jiang Xue blushed and said, “But what if I fail?”

“So what if you fail? We’ve always got next year. Besides, I’ll always be there to support you!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“I don’t want to wait until next year—I’m definitely going to get in this year!”

“Well, good luck then…”

As they chatted and laughed, the car arrived near the Jiang family’s old residence.

But just as the car entered the alley, it was stopped by a guard. Fortunately, the guard recognized Li Yi and knew he was the Jiang family’s son-in-law.

The guard told him that the alley inside was already full of cars and there was no space left, so he should park the car outside the alley.

Li Yi immediately had Jiang Xue and Juanzi get out here first to wait for him at the old family home; he’d join them after parking the car.

Just as he had finished parking and was about to get out of the car with the birthday gift he’d prepared for the old man,

Suddenly, he heard a series of urgent beeps from behind. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he saw to his surprise that it was Jiang Longcheng’s car.

Clearly, this guy’s direct grandson had been summoned here as well.

After getting out, Li Yi saw that Jiang Longcheng and Zhang Xinyao had also stepped out of their car. Zhang Xinyao was carrying a box in her hand—presumably a gift for the old man.

When he saw Li Yi approaching with a slender box in hand, Jiang Longcheng said with a hint of teasing, “Brother-in-law, you aren’t planning to give Grandpa a calligraphy or painting, are you?”

Li Yi shot him a look and said, “You know the answer already!”

“Hahaha, I knew it. You’re something else—with 200,000 yuan, you could do anything, but you had to go and buy that junk…”

Just as Jiang Longcheng was enjoying himself, Zhang Xinyao gave him a hard pinch on the arm.

In an instant, Jiang Longcheng’s smug voice turned into a cry of pain.

“Honey, there are guests here. Give me some face!” Jiang Longcheng said with a shameless grin.

Zhang Xinyao’s face flushed bright red instantly. She stamped her foot and said, “I’m not bothering with you two anymore!”

Then, leaving Li Yi and Jiang Longcheng behind, she walked toward the Jiang family’s old mansion.

“Aren’t you going to go soothe her?”

Watching Zhang Xinyao’s retreating figure, Li Yi couldn’t help but ask.

“No need. She’ll be waiting for me up ahead!”

“Huh, she’s pretty confident, isn’t she?”

“You bet. Don’t you know whose daughter-in-law she is?” Jiang Longcheng said smugly.

Seeing this, Li Yi couldn’t help but chuckle.

They say a married couple is like brine and tofu—one thing always counteracts the other.

Although these two weren’t married yet, they already seemed to have a great rapport.

Li Yi suddenly remembered the matter he’d asked Jiang Longcheng to handle a while back, and immediately asked, “How’s that going?”

“You mean the thing about spreading the word?”

“Right!”

“It’s already been released, but there hasn’t been much of a reaction from the higher-ups!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “No rush. It’s not quite ready yet. Once I stoke the fire a bit, those guys at the State-owned Assets Department will react!”

“Alright, I’ll wait for your good news!”

“Alright!”

Then, the two walked and talked as they made their way toward the Jiang family’s ancestral home!

National Museum. Foreign Visitors Service Desk!

“Comrade, you… what did you just say?” the woman asked, her face filled with shock.

“I said I’ll take all these paintings. Name your price!” Li Yi said calmly.

“Um… you’re not joking, are you? What on earth would you do with so many paintings?”

“That’s none of your concern. I imagine a deal this big is beyond your authority as an ordinary staff member. Go get your supervisor—let him talk to me!”

“Well…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the commission goes to you!”

Li Yi immediately saw why the woman was hesitating and cut straight to the point.

“Alright, please wait a moment. I’ll go get our director right away!”

With that, the woman hurried out of the exhibition hall, running as if a wolf were chasing her.

Once the woman had left, Jiang Xue finally snapped out of her shock and looked at Li Yi, asking, “Are you really going to buy every single painting in here?”

“That’s the plan!”

“What on earth are you going to do with so many paintings? They’re neither edible nor drinkable!”

It was true. Although Jiang Xue had returned to the Jiang family, deep down she was still that small-minded woman with a peasant’s mentality.

“They can’t be eaten or drunk, that’s true, but they’ll appreciate in value!”

“Appreciate in value? You mean these paintings and calligraphy will go up in price?” Jiang Xue whispered.

“Exactly. While we have some spare cash, we can buy a few things for our son and daughter. Don’t you think so?”

Li Yi knew that his son and daughter were definitely Jiang Xue’s biggest weakness. No matter what the issue was, as long as it involved them, even the biggest problem would surely become no problem at all.

“Well… do as you see fit, but try not to spend too much!”

“Alright, I know my limits…”

Just then, a potbellied middle-aged man “burst” in, accompanied by five or six men and women.

Upon seeing Li Yi, the middle-aged man exclaimed excitedly, “Comrade, are you the one looking to buy paintings from our organization?”

“Yes. How many paintings do you have here in total?”

“Less than ten thousand!”

“That’s too vague. A thousand is less than ten thousand, but nine thousand nine hundred is still ten thousand. Be more specific!” Li Yi said.

The middle-aged man replied, somewhat awkwardly, “Then please wait a moment. I’ll have someone check the records to see exactly how many are left!”

Just then, the woman who had greeted Li Yi earlier suddenly whispered, “Director, we have 9,768 paintings left here, including 13 with minor damage and 2 with severe damage!”

Li Yi couldn’t help but glance at the woman again, then said, “I’ll take all of these paintings. Name your price!”

“Com…rade, y…you really want them all?”

“I’m not lying! If the price is right, we can close the deal anytime!” Li Yi said.

“Nearly ten thousand paintings, including masterpieces by renowned artists like Master Qi and Master Zhang…”

“Don’t go on about that. Just tell me the price, and I’ll see if I can accept it!”

“4… 400,000. What do you think?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Li Yi didn’t hesitate—he grabbed Jiang Xue’s hand and turned to leave.

Seeing this, the portly director hurried forward and said, “Comrade, in business, it’s all about haggling—you name your price, and we’ll negotiate. If you think our price isn’t right, you can always make an offer!”

Li Yi stopped immediately and replied, “Business is all about sincerity. Do you have any idea what 400,000 means? You could buy several cars with that!”

“Besides, you’re selling me less than 10,000 paintings for 400,000 yuan. That averages out to just over 40 yuan per piece. Do you know what kind of masterpieces you can buy for 40 yuan on the market? With a bit of luck, you could even snag works by masters like Old Qi or Old Zhang. Do all the paintings here meet that standard?”

The portly director was rendered speechless by Li Yi’s retort. After a long pause, he finally said, “Comrade, how about this: you name a price you’re willing to accept, and we’ll see if we can work it out.”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “I don’t want to take advantage of you. My final offer is 200,000 yuan—that’s just over 20 yuan per painting. Go discuss it among yourselves!”

“Could you add a little more?”

The portly director said with some hesitation. 200,000 yuan for so many paintings really wasn’t a high price; selling them off like this would mean taking a bit of a loss.

But given their unit’s current financial situation, which was indeed quite dire, if they could use this batch of paintings to secure 200,000 yuan to tide them over, it wasn’t entirely unacceptable.

“I won’t pay a single penny more, and I have one additional condition!”

“What condition?”

“It was this young lady who welcomed my wife and me just now, and she was the one who convinced us to buy the paintings. So you must pay her every penny of the commission she’s owed—otherwise, the deal is off!” Li Yi said.

“Well… all right, I’ll check with my superiors!”

“Hmm, go ahead!”

While the portly director was consulting his superiors, Li Yi asked the young woman to help him retrieve the original files for these paintings.

When Li Yi opened the thick file, he immediately felt a pang of regret. Inside, there were over a hundred works by Old Qi listed.

Now, fewer than thirty remained; the rest were marked “sold.”

In addition, there were several dozen works by the late Zhang Daqian, but fewer than twenty remained here; the rest had all been sold.

In fact, one had even been sold just this morning; if he had arrived a few hours earlier, that painting would have been his.

In addition to the paintings by Qi Baishi and Zhang Daqian, the records listed quite a few other masters.

Although these artists are currently only moderately well-known, they will all become the backbone of the Chinese painting world in the future—true masters—and each of their works is worth a fortune.

In short, if he could secure this collection, he would absolutely make a fortune!

Just as Li Yi was carefully examining the original files for these paintings, the portly director returned, drenched in sweat.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he said, “Comrade, our leadership has approved the sale. They’ve agreed to sell you this collection for 200,000 yuan. When would be a convenient time for you to finalize the transaction?”

Li Yi glanced at his watch and replied, “In an hour. I’ll go to the bank to withdraw the money now. In the meantime, please pack these paintings. Remember to pack the works by Master Qi and Master Zhang separately.”

“Alright, no problem!”

“Also, we’ll need to sign a formal contract, and you’ll have to provide me with a certificate confirming that this batch of paintings was sold to me by your museum!” Li Yi said.

“Of course!”

With that, Li Yi opened the briefcase he carried with him, took out a stack of unopened 100-yuan bills, and said, “This is the deposit!”

“All right, all right… I’ll write you a receipt right away!” the portly director said hurriedly.

After receiving the receipt for the deposit, Li Yi left the National Museum with Jiang Xue.

What Li Yi did next was even more shocking. He rushed to the bank, withdrew 200,000 yuan, and then hurried back to the National Museum without a moment’s delay.

Then, under the stunned gazes of everyone present, he signed the 200,000-yuan contract with the National Museum’s leadership, completing this unprecedented deal.

After signing the contract, the National Art Museum was very accommodating. They knew Li Yi had only driven a Jeep and couldn’t possibly transport so many paintings.

They immediately dispatched a stretch limousine—the kind used to transport foreign dignitaries—to help Li Yi transport the collection back to his courtyard house!

With that, the transaction was finally and completely concluded, and both parties breathed a sigh of relief!

?

Beijing City Center!

On the asphalt road, Li Yi was speeding along in the cotton mill’s Jeep.

In the passenger seat beside him, Jiang Xue looked a little worried.

“Slow down a bit—you’re going too fast!”

Hearing Jiang Xue’s voice, Li Yi finally realized he was going a bit too fast.

It wasn’t really Li Yi’s fault, though. The main issue was that they were in the city, where anything over 50 mph felt exceptionally fast—and he’d only been going about 60 mph.

Seeing that Li Yi had slowed down, Jiang Xue asked curiously, “What’s got you so worked up?”

“Is it that obvious?” Li Yi asked with a smile.

“Of course it’s obvious! If there hadn’t been a car blocking the way ahead, you would’ve made this car fly!”

Clearly, Jiang Xue was still quite upset about Li Yi driving so fast just a moment ago.

“Heh, I just thought of something—I didn’t do it on purpose!” Li Yi said.

“What’s got you so excited?”

“I’d heard before that the National Museum sells calligraphy and paintings by famous artists, but I completely forgot about it. Luckily, that old man reminded me!” Li Yi said.

“Is that all? You don’t even like calligraphy and paintings—what’s there to get so excited about?”

“Who says I don’t like them? I just hadn’t come across any masterpieces by the great masters before!”

Li Yi continued, “Besides, we used to live in the countryside and didn’t have access to these kinds of things. Even if I did like them, I wouldn’t have anywhere to display or store them!”

“So you’re planning to buy a few more?”

“Exactly!”

As he spoke, a mysterious smile spread across Li Yi’s face!

He did indeed plan to buy several more paintings, but what Jiang Xue could never have imagined was that this time, he intended to snap up all the famous calligraphy and paintings from the National Museum that were up for sale in one go—he was going to buy the entire lot!

But don’t get the wrong idea—Zhou Yang wasn’t planning to buy up the antique artifacts currently on display, but rather the calligraphy and paintings by modern artists, which is also part of the National Museum’s business operations.

That’s right—the National Museum does indeed sell calligraphy and paintings to the public. And, somewhat embarrassingly, despite being such an authoritative institution, the pieces it sells actually go unsold.

This story dates back three years, when the National Museum established a Department of Foreign Guest Services—as the name suggests, this department was specifically dedicated to serving foreign guests.

But an awkward situation arose: due to limited government funding, the budget for hosting foreign guests was capped at 3 yuan per person.

The problem is that the National Museum is the face of our country, and offering foreign guests a mere 3-yuan allowance is simply a bit of a “disgrace.”

After all, three yuan is practically nothing in Beijing these days; even the shabbiest guesthouse charges one yuan per night, and that doesn’t even cover food and drink.

Under these circumstances, some leader came up with a “brilliant idea”—selling paintings.

And so, these high-ranking officials—whose positions dictated their thinking—snapped their fingers and decided to select a few paintings by modern masters to sell, using the proceeds to supplement the budget.

They were quite the geniuses, after all—they knew these artists were ranked in tiers. Li Keran’s paintings went for 8 yuan each, while Wu Zuoren’s were sold for 5 yuan apiece. As for Liu Bingsen, renowned for his “Liu-style clerical script,” his paintings fared even worse: the better ones sold for 80 cents each, and the lesser ones for 60 cents.

Keep in mind that every single one of these artists would go on to become a household name a decade or two later—their works would be worthy of auction houses—yet here they were being sold for a song.

The most embarrassing part was that the Foreign Visitors Service Department had been selling them for a full two years, yet hardly any of the paintings had found buyers.

It makes sense, really. These days, everyone is scrambling just to make ends meet—who has the spare cash to buy paintings that are “all show and no substance”? It’s not like they’re antiques.

After all, no one knew whether these paintings would appreciate in value after being taken home, and even if they did, by how much?

And so, in 1981, the National Museum’s “Foreign Visitors Service Department” finally went out of business. With barely any of the 9,000 paintings in stock sold, and no use for them, they had no choice but to dispose of them.

The problem was that these were works by masters like Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Guan Liang, and Li Keran—they couldn’t possibly be sold as junk. The 9,000 paintings would fetch at least several hundred thousand yuan, but who could come up with that much money all at once?

Ultimately, the National Museum approached Mr. Xu, a collector of masterpieces, offering him the entire collection of 9,000 paintings for just 200,000 yuan.

And so, the most jaw-dropping deal in the history of the National Museum was completed: 200,000 yuan for 9,000 paintings and calligraphy works by renowned artists.

Wow, that averages out to 22.22222 yuan per piece—a figure that seems to speak volumes.

Li Yi didn’t want to delve into the helplessness or other business logic behind this deal; he simply had his eye on this batch of paintings and wanted to snatch them up.

………

The National Museum is located southeast of the Imperial City, not far from Li Yi’s home.

Knowing his way around, Li Yi arrived at the place without any trouble.

After parking the car, Li Yi led Jiang Xue into the museum.

The museum before him looked quite different from the one in Li Yi’s memory—even the name had changed.

In his previous life, when Li Yi had visited, it was called the “National Museum,” but now it was the “Museum of Revolutionary History.”

However, Li Yi didn’t pay much attention to these details. Upon entering, he didn’t take Jiang Xue to tour the various exhibits; instead, he cut straight to the chase and told the staff that he wanted to buy a painting!

These days, organizations running side businesses didn’t have to do so on the sly. Upon hearing Li Yi’s request to buy a painting, the staff member immediately told him to walk straight down the corridor and follow the signs to the Foreign Visitors Service Department.

Following the staff member’s directions, Li Yi quickly found the so-called Foreign Visitors Service Department.

It must be said that, compared to the areas serving local visitors, this place exuded an air of high-end sophistication from top to bottom.

However, in Li Yi’s eyes, none of this decor had anything to do with sophistication—it could be summed up in one word: tacky!

As he pushed open the door, a woman in her twenties immediately came up to him and asked warmly, “May I ask if you’re from South Korea or Japan?”

“A Chinese national!”

“Hello, sir. May I ask if you’re here to…”

Before she could finish, Li Yi cut her off: “I heard you sell famous calligraphy and paintings here. We’re here to buy some!”

Hearing that Li Yi had come to buy calligraphy and paintings, the woman’s eyes lit up instantly, and she hurriedly asked, “Which famous artist’s works are you interested in? We have Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Guan Liang, Li Keran…”

“I’d like to see them all!”

“Alright, please follow me!”

Led by this female staff member, Li Yi and Jiang Xue made their way to a hall at the very back of the Foreign Visitors Service Department.

The hall was essentially an exhibition space for calligraphy and paintings. The hundreds of square meters were filled with all kinds of works—even the ancient painting galleries in the museum outside didn’t have as many as this place.

Of course, the value of the two cannot be compared.

Compared to those ancient paintings that had been passed down for hundreds or even thousands of years, most of the works in this hall were created by modern artists, and the vast majority of the artists were still alive.

There is an unspoken tradition in the art world: an artist’s works are generally not worth much while they are still alive.

Hmm… perhaps that’s why the price tags on these pieces are generally quite low!

“Do you have any works by Qi Baishi?”

“Yes, over here!”

Following the woman to the center of the exhibition hall, she pointed to a row of over a dozen paintings and said, “These are all works by Old Master Qi!”

Li Yi and Jiang Xue immediately began examining them closely, and soon both were captivated by a painting celebrating longevity.

The painting depicted three peaches of longevity, each accented with magenta, making them the undisputed “stars” of the composition. The entire piece was imbued with brushwork and texture, possessing both structure and depth, with variations in weight and shading. Even Li Yi, who knew little about art, fell in love with the painting at first glance.

More importantly, in Chinese culture, various natural elements—such as pine, cypress, cranes, rocks, peaches, and lingzhi mushrooms—are all regarded as symbols of longevity. Their inclusion in paintings has made them timeless themes in birthday celebration art.

Giving this painting to the old man as a birthday gift would certainly be anything but cliché.

With that in mind, Li Yi turned to the woman who had been accompanying him and asked, “How much is this painting?”

“Master Qi’s paintings are a bit pricey—100 yuan, non-negotiable. But if you’re buying in bulk, I can see if I can get you a better price!”

Li Yi scanned the gallery with his eyes, then made a startling remark: “Well, if I were to buy every single painting in here, how much would that cost?”

The moment those words left his mouth, both the female staff member and Jiang Xue, standing nearby, were stunned!

The next day, when Li Yi woke up from his hangover, it was already past ten o’clock!

Last night, Li Yi had brought his two brothers-in-law, Yang Wenguang and Long Zhanjun, back to the courtyard house. He whipped up a few small dishes, grabbed a few bottles of Moutai, and the three of them got down to drinking.

Li Yi wasn’t much of a drinker, so he sensibly sipped his drink and didn’t go on a bender with his two brothers-in-law.

But even so, Li Yi still blacked out.

Shaking his dizzy, throbbing head, Li Yi crawled out of bed, got dressed, and made his way to the living room.

Jiang Xue was sitting on the sofa reading a book. When she saw Li Yi come out, she immediately set the book aside and said, “There’s porridge in the pot. I’ll serve you some!”

“Sure. Where are my older brother-in-law and Dalong?”

“They’re gone!”

“When did they leave? Why didn’t they say goodbye?” Li Yi asked.

“They said they had something to do today, so they left at seven. They actually wanted to say goodbye to you, but you were snoring so loudly…”

Jiang Xue didn’t finish her sentence, but Li Yi knew exactly what she meant.

With a touch of embarrassment, he said, “Well… I got a little tipsy yesterday!”

“With your drinking tolerance, you shouldn’t be raising a glass so easily in the future—especially when you’re out!” Jiang Xue admonished him.

She knew all too well how Li Yi handled his liquor, and she was a bit worried.

It wouldn’t be a big deal if someone was there to keep him in check, but if no one was around, his ability to hold his liquor—which was practically nonexistent—could easily get him into serious trouble.

“Got it!”

Soon, Jiang Xue returned from the kitchen, carrying not only a large bowl of congee but also a brown sugar bun.

Li Yi was genuinely hungry; he took the bowl and began to wolf it down.

After he’d finished eating, Li Yi suddenly remembered something and asked, “By the way, honey, why haven’t any teachers come by today?”

“Mom said I should balance work and rest, so she told me to take the day off!”

“That makes sense. How’s your studying going? Do you think you can get into a good school?” Li Yi asked again.

Although Li Yi knew that with Jiang Shiying’s powerful and influential father, Jiang Xue could get into a top university even if she scored only 200 points.

But Li Yi knew his wife well—she had a strong will, and it would be best if she could get into a good university on her own merits.

“It’s going okay. Mom has arranged for quite a few tutors to come to our house these past few days. I feel like my grades are improving quickly—I’m scoring over 500 on the practice exams!”

Li Yi was slightly surprised. Scoring over 500 out of a total of 710 points—while not exactly making her a top student—was still quite impressive.

After all, last year’s admission cutoff for Capital University was only 380 points. As long as Jiang Xue could score 400 points, she’d be more than qualified for a prestigious university like Capital University.

“That’s great. Keep up the momentum and don’t slack off. There are still three months left until the college entrance exam. Just hang in there for these three months, and you’ll be fine!” Li Yi said.

“Yeah, my teachers all say I still have room to improve. I’ll do my best to get a good score on the exam!”

“I believe you can do it!”

“Yeah!”

Suddenly, Jiang Xue changed the subject and asked, “By the way, are you free today?”

“I don’t have anything important planned. What’s up?”

“Next Monday is Grandpa’s 80th birthday. My eldest and second uncles want to throw him a proper celebration. I was thinking of buying him a birthday gift, but I don’t really know much about this sort of thing, so…”

“Sure, I’ll go with you!”

“Then let’s drop Yunrui and Yunjin off at the old house first so Mom can watch them, and then we’ll head out!” Jiang Xue said.

“Alright!”

Soon, the two were all set and drove straight to the Jiang family’s old mansion!

After leaving the two children with his mother-in-law, Li Yi took Jiang Xue straight to Wangfujing Street!

………..

Wangfujing Department Store!

Jiang Xue looked at the bustling department store before her, her face full of wonder.

Even though she had been in Beijing for over four months, she had only been shopping a handful of times.

It wasn’t that she didn’t have the money; it was because of those two little rascals.

It was inconvenient before they were born, and even more so after they were born.

So now that she was here, everything seemed magical to her.

“What do you think we should get Grandpa for his birthday?” Jiang Xue asked as they walked.

“There’s plenty to choose from, but just remember there are four things you absolutely can’t buy!” Li Yi said.

“What are the four things we shouldn’t buy?”

“First, no clocks; second, no medicine; third, no combs; fourth, nothing black and white!”

“Uh… what does that mean?”

Li Yi smiled and explained, “There are many taboos when giving birthday gifts to the elderly. The first is not to give clocks or watches, because ‘giving a clock’ sounds like ‘sending someone to their final resting place’—it’s considered unlucky.”

“Second, don’t give black or white clothes—they don’t look festive, and the elderly are most superstitious about that. If the elderly person is bald, you definitely shouldn’t give a comb.”

“Also, if the elderly person isn’t in good health, you must never give them medicine—including ginseng, seahorse, or deer antler—because they’re very superstitious about these tonics!”

Jiang Xue said with a look of surprise, “I had no idea there were so many taboos when it comes to birthday gifts. I was originally planning to go to the pharmacy and buy some ginseng for Grandpa to boost his energy and blood circulation. Thank goodness I brought you along—otherwise, I would have definitely made a fool of myself!”

“Hehe, it’s the thought that counts. It’s fine to give him some tonics from time to time, but try to avoid them on his birthday!”

“Hmm, so what should we get him instead?”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “You’ve really stumped me. Since it’s a birthday gift for the old man, he has to like it first. I honestly don’t know what his hobbies are.”

“Grandpa loves to drink…”

Before she could finish, Li Yi shook his head and said, “Haha, that won’t do. The whole family is keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn’t drink. If we send him alcohol, wouldn’t that be going against the grain?”

“You’re right!”

Jiang Xue frowned as she thought for a moment, then said, “I’ve noticed Grandpa really enjoys studying calligraphy and paintings. Why don’t we get him a piece of calligraphy or a painting?”

“Calligraphy or paintings?”

He really hadn’t expected that the old man, a general who had fought on the battlefield, would have such a hobby.

“Yeah, there are quite a few calligraphy and paintings in Grandpa’s study. Whenever he has some free time, he takes them out to look at them. He’s very serious about it—you can tell he really loves them!” Jiang Xue said.

“If that’s the case, then we should definitely buy a piece of calligraphy or a painting to give to Grandpa!” Li Yi said.

“Do you know where we can buy calligraphy or paintings?”

“I don’t know, but we can just ask a local and find out!”

Li Yi looked around and finally settled on an elderly man wearing a Zhongshan suit to ask for directions.

Li Yi quickly led Jiang Xue over to the old man and asked, “Sir, may I ask you a question?”

The old man was quite friendly and replied with a smile, “Young man, what would you like to know?”

“I’d like to ask you where I can find a place that sells calligraphy and paintings!” Li Yi said.

“You want to buy calligraphy and paintings? These days, not many young people are into that anymore,” the old man asked, somewhat surprised.

“It’s an elder in our family’s birthday coming up, and we’re planning to buy a calligraphy or painting as a birthday gift!” Li Yi explained.

“I see. It’s rare to find such filial devotion these days. If you’re really planning to buy a calligraphy or painting, I recommend you go to the National Museum. They have a Foreign Visitors Service Department there, and all the calligraphy and paintings are authentic works by famous artists—and the prices aren’t too high!” the old man said.

The National Museum!

The Foreign Visitors’ Service Department!

Upon hearing the old man mention these two places, Li Yi’s mind went “boom”—he suddenly remembered something!

Immediately, after thanking the old man, he grabbed Jiang Xue’s hand and hurried off to the National Museum!

Li Yi knew exactly where the cold storage facility was located—in the northeast corner of Beiguan Village, no more than three kilometers away from the shop as the crow flies.

Of course, since Beiguan Village itself was in the suburbs, and the cold storage facility was on the outskirts of the village, this was definitely considered a remote suburban area.

But who could have imagined that in less than a decade, this area would develop into the inner city of Beijing?

Returning to the cold storage facility in Beiguan Village, he hadn’t actually been there in this lifetime, but in his previous life, he’d been a regular there.

Following the route from his memory, Li Yi soon arrived at the cold storage facility.

Gazing at the striking words “Beijing’s Ninth Cold Storage” on the massive iron gate, Li Yi’s thoughts seemed to be pulled back to his past life once again.

Back then, after being fired from the cotton mill, he had nowhere to go for a while. Out of desperation, he was referred to the cold storage facility to work as a loader.

Forty-five yuan a month was considered a high salary back then.

But working as a loader in the cold storage facility was no easy task. Due to the year-round exposure to sub-zero temperatures, many workers couldn’t last more than a few years before developing various ailments, such as rheumatism.

Precisely for this reason, locals generally only took management positions, while ordinary loading and unloading jobs were reserved for outsiders.

After working in the cold storage facility for a few months, Li Yi realized this wasn’t a long-term solution. Just then, he came across an ad from Mr. Guo, a dried goods merchant, who was hiring, so he quit his job and joined him in the mountain produce business.

Although Li Yi hadn’t been at the cold storage facility for very long, he was still fairly familiar with the layout.

Since there was constant traffic coming and going at the cold storage facility, the security guards at the entrance didn’t check vehicles, so Li Yi simply drove his car right inside.

He then drove straight to the northwest corner of the cold storage complex, as that was the only area with a few storage units available for rent; the rest were all reserved for several large organizations in the city.

If all went as expected, Long Zhanjun and his group should be there. dxmbang

Sure enough, when Li Yi reached the northwest corner, he spotted the sugar factory’s large truck from a distance.

Over at the cold storage facility, Yang Wenguang, Long Zhanjun, and the others were busy slaughtering sheep!

With limited manpower and over five hundred rams to slaughter, they still had quite a few left even after working half the night yesterday and all day today.

Just as the group was hard at work, a jeep pulled up right in front of them.

When they saw Li Yi get out of the car, Yang Wenguang and Long Zhanjun immediately came over to greet him.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Li Yi asked, “How’s the slaughter going, brothers-in-law? How many are left?”

“Brothers-in-law?”

Yang Wenguang was unaware of Long Zhanjun’s engagement to Li Na, and upon hearing this, his face immediately betrayed his shock.

“Brother Long, you and the third son?”

“Yeah, we’re engaged!” Long Zhanjun said, looking a bit embarrassed.

“Why didn’t you say anything? I hadn’t even considered that possibility—turns out we’re brothers-in-law after all!”

“Actually, Big Brother-in-Law, I wanted to tell you when you first arrived, but I didn’t know how to bring it up. One thing led to another, and it just got put off!” Long Zhanjun said.

“You deserve a penalty for this, you rascal!”

“Alright, let’s have a drink tonight. I’ll accept the punishment!”

After a bit of banter, Long Zhanjun added, “There aren’t many sheep left, but with all these offal parts to process today, it’s really a bit of a hassle!”

“Take your time—no rush!”

Then Li Yi turned to Yang Wenguang again and said, “Brother-in-law, it’s too late to head out now. Come stay at my place tonight—let’s have a good drink!”

“Alright, but with your drinking capacity, are you sure you can keep up?”

“Hahaha, if I can’t keep up, there’s always Third Brother-in-Law—he’s got a pretty good tolerance!”

“Hahaha… you sure found yourself a good drinking buddy!”

After a bit of banter, the group got back to work.

It wasn’t until the sun was setting that the last few dozen sheep on the truck were finally slaughtered.

After placing all the dressed sheep in the cold storage, the heads, hooves, and offal were loaded onto a large truck and transported to the shop, where the staff would process them once they had a moment.

Afterward, Li Yi and the others drove back to the shop.

………

They had barely returned to the restaurant when customers started pouring in!

Since it was the weekend, there were quite a few people coming in to eat; most of the dozens of tables in the dining hall were occupied.

Perhaps due to a shortage of staff, there was no one at the counter.

Just as Li Yi was about to head to the kitchen to check, he saw a heavyset figure emerge from the kitchen carrying a large tray, then skillfully serving dishes to the customers.

To Li Yi’s surprise, the portly figure was none other than Jiang Longcheng.

Seeing this burly factory director helping out in the restaurant like a waiter struck Li Yi as somewhat comical.

After all, the restaurant’s clientele consisted mainly of employees from several large state-owned factories in the area, including the cotton mill.

In other words, the restaurant’s patrons included plenty of employees and managers from the Cotton Spinning Mill—so having the plant director serve them food was practically a joke, wasn’t it?

Upon seeing this, Li Yi immediately called out, “Third Brother!”

Hearing Li Yi’s voice, Jiang Longcheng immediately looked toward the entrance.

Realizing it was Li Yi, he immediately walked over, carrying an empty tray.

“Brother-in-law, you’re finally back! I was so worried!”

“Hold on a second—why are you working as a waiter in my restaurant?” Li Yi asked curiously.

“My wife works here. She’s swamped, so I had to lend a hand!” Jiang Longcheng said matter-of-factly.

Hearing this, Li Yi realized he’d been reading too much into it. He’d assumed Jiang Longcheng had come to help out because the shop was short-staffed, but it turned out the guy was actually there for Zhang Xinyao.

Still, this showed that Jiang Longcheng really cared about Zhang Xinyao. Even though their story had a bit of a soap-opera twist, it looked like they’d probably end up together.

“I heard you’ve been calling the shop three times a day. What’s the big rush?” Li Yi asked, feigning ignorance.

Jiang Longcheng might be a bit of a roughneck, but he knew there were some things best not said in public. He immediately grabbed Li Yi’s arm and said, “Come on, let’s find a quiet place to talk!”

Li Yi knew this guy must have been living in fear and agony these past few days.

He immediately asked Long Zhanjun to take over entertaining his sister’s husband and the other drivers from the sugar factory, while he followed Jiang Longcheng into an empty private room inside the restaurant.

As soon as they entered, Jiang Longcheng said anxiously, “Brother-in-law, those bastards up there want to cut you off at the knees. They’re planning to take action against you. What are we going to do?”

However, Li Yi remained calm and said, “Third Brother, don’t panic. The sky isn’t falling!”

“Brother-in-law, the information came straight from inside the State-owned Assets Department—it’s definitely reliable. Don’t take this lightly!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“Haha, if they really intended to take someone down, they wouldn’t have tipped you off. The police would’ve already come knocking. With all the fuss being made now, it’s probably not a big deal after all!” Li Yi said.

“That’s true. Should you mention this to Uncle San?” Jiang Longcheng asked again.

“No need. I can handle this myself!” Li Yi said.

“Then what can I do?”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Just focus on running the cotton mill. Aim to set new records for revenue and profits in April and May. The better you do over there, the safer we’ll be!”

“Got it!”

“Also, spread the word that I’m planning to revoke the agreement we signed earlier and reclaim operational control of Feixue Apparel!” Li Yi said.

“Brother-in-law, are you planning to put pressure on the higher-ups?”

“No, I’m just making a show of it. Barring any surprises, the folks at the State-owned Assets Department will try to keep me on!” Li Yi said.

“Got it! I’ll make the arrangements as soon as I get back!”

“Mm-hmm!”

………

PS: Speechless—I’ve tested positive again!

Upon seeing that it was Li Yi, Jiang Longyin actually felt a faint surge of excitement.

“You finally made it back, you rascal. If you hadn’t come back, I was going to go to your hometown to drag you back myself!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Second Brother, what’s going on? What’s got you so worked up?”

The smile on Jiang Longyin’s face vanished instantly, and he said immediately, “Brother-in-law, it seems the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission is about to take action against you!”

“The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission? After me?”

Hearing this news, Li Yi was a bit taken aback.

“That’s right!”

“Is it because of the cotton mill?” Li Yi asked again.

“Yes!”

Jiang Longyin then went on to explain in detail to Li Yi the internal meeting held by the State-owned Assets Department to discuss the agreement signed between him and the cotton mill.

After listening to Jiang Longyin, Li Yi couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

What was the State-owned Assets Department trying to do? Cut the bridge after crossing the river? Or kill the donkey after it’s done its work?

He clearly remembered his father-in-law telling him earlier that someone had guaranteed they wouldn’t take action against him. Were they going back on their word now?

“Brother-in-law, what do you think we should do about this? Why don’t you take the initiative and propose nullifying that agreement? Then Uncle San and I can pull some strings—there might still be room for negotiation!” Jiang Longyin said in a grave tone.

Li Yi frowned, then said, “Second Brother, didn’t you just say that the higher-ups haven’t reached a decision yet? Let’s wait and see!”

“What’s there to wait for? If we wait for the results to come out, it’ll be too late!” Jiang Longyin said, frowning.

Having spent so many years navigating the bureaucratic system, he’d seen this kind of thing happen far too often.

He’d seen them build their towers, host their banquets, and then watch their towers crumble…

His brother-in-law had been acting far too flashy lately; if he didn’t rein it in, he might truly invite disaster upon himself.

But what he didn’t know was that Li Yi had his own calculations. He simply didn’t believe the higher-ups would dare to take action against him.

Not for any other reason, but mainly because the cost would be too high.

It’s not that he’s so formidable that the higher-ups would fear him, but rather that this whole affair goes against their policies.

If this had happened a few years ago, Li Yi wouldn’t have had a single doubt that the higher-ups would come after him.

But times have changed. Reform and Opening-Up were now in full swing, and the era had shifted.

What is “Reform and Opening-up”? It refers to domestic reform and opening up to the outside world, shifting the focus of work to the modernization of the nation.

However, since Reform and Opening-up is still in its early stages, people across the country—especially the business community—remain skeptical about whether the higher-ups have the resolve to see this policy through to the end.

Although his own case was not a major one, its impact was significant. If the authorities really did take action against him, it would send a very negative signal to the burgeoning industrial and commercial sectors and would inevitably deal a severe blow to market confidence.

This was also the fundamental reason why, when the authorities were discussing Nian Guangjiu and the “Shamgu” sunflower seeds, they deliberated at length and ultimately decided not to take action against him.

Since the higher-ups didn’t take action against Nian Guangjiu back then, they certainly wouldn’t take action against me now. After all, no one knows better than Li Yi just how resolute the higher-ups are about reform and opening-up.

Seeing that Li Yi remained unmoved, Jiang Longyin frowned and said, “Brother-in-law, you’d better think this through carefully. If you make a wrong move, there’ll be no turning back!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Second Brother, rest assured. Don’t forget that I’ve always been spot-on when it comes to judging people and situations!”

Hearing this, Jiang Longyin froze in place.

He’d almost forgotten that his brother-in-law possessed those mysterious, otherworldly abilities. The events that had befallen his third brother, Jiang Longcheng, Ye Jianhua, and that young man from the Du family had left Jiang Longyin with no choice but to believe that Li Yi truly possessed some extraordinary abilities.

Since he could even predict the fate of others, he certainly wouldn’t gamble with his own future and life.

“Brother-in-law, are you really okay?”

“Don’t worry!”

“All right then. If something really does go wrong, it’s not too late to pull some strings now!” Jiang Longyin said.

“We’ll still need to make some arrangements, but not by pulling strings through connections!”

“Then what’s the point?”

“Second Brother, I’ll write something later. You find someone to help me get it published in some influential media outlets.”

Li Yi continued, “If you think what I write makes sense, publish it under your name. If you don’t think it’s quite right, use someone else’s name!”

Jiang Longyin sensed immediately that his brother-in-law was up to something and hurriedly said, “The situation isn’t clear yet. Don’t go blabbing about this, you rascal!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “It’s just unclear to you guys—but not to me!”

With that, Li Yi stood up from his seat and added, “Alright, Second Brother, I’ve got things to do. I’ll be heading out now, but I’ll come see you again in a day or two!”

Before Jiang Longyin could say a word, Li Yi turned and walked straight out of his office.

Listening to the footsteps fading away down the hallway outside his office, Jiang Longyin fell deep into thought!

……….

After leaving the district government office, Li Yi drove straight to Beiguan Village!

By the time Li Yi arrived at the shop, it was nearly three o’clock. The shop had already closed for the day, and the door was locked from the inside.

Li Yi stood at the door and knocked for quite a while before he saw Third Sister emerge from inside, yawning.

Upon seeing it was Li Yi, Third Sister immediately opened the door and asked cheerfully, “Xiao Yi, when did you get back?”

“I just got back a little while ago!”

“Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet!”

“Then wait a minute. We had mutton offal noodles for lunch, and there’s plenty of meat and mutton offal soup left. I’ll heat some up for you!”

“Sure!”

Since everything was already prepared, it didn’t take long before Li Na emerged from the kitchen carrying two large bowls.

One bowl of offal soup, one bowl of steaming hot hand-cut noodles.

She poured the offal into the noodle bowl, added two spoonfuls of chili oil, and gave it a good stir—the aroma hit him instantly.

Li Yi was indeed hungry by then, so he immediately began eating heartily.

After polishing off the big bowl of mutton offal noodles, he felt absolutely satisfied.

After letting out a satisfied belch, Li Yi asked Third Sister, “Where’s Dalong? Isn’t he at the shop?”

“What Dalong? Call him Brother-in-law!”

Li Yi immediately groaned, “Now that the two of you have locked eyes like that, my status as the boss has instantly been demoted to that of a brother-in-law. Who am I supposed to complain to about this?”

“Hmph, you’re my brother, so of course you have to call my husband ‘brother-in-law’!”

“Alright, alright, I can’t argue with you. But where’s my brother-in-law? I don’t see him anywhere.”

“There are still some sheep left to slaughter. He and Dongzi went over to the cold storage!”

“Huh, both of them are gone? Can just the few of you here handle everything?” Li Yi asked in surprise.

“We’re managing. Xinyao’s been helping out at the shop these past few days, and Old Li’s back too. With everyone pitching in, it’s a bit tiring, but we can handle it!”

“That’s good to hear!”

Just then, Third Sister suddenly remembered something and said, “Oh, right. That Plant Manager Jiang calls at least three times a day, and every time he just asks if you’re back. If you have time, you should go see him!”

Li Yi knew that Jiang Longcheng was probably looking for him regarding the matter with the State-owned Assets Department, so he nodded immediately and said, “Alright, I’ll go see him as soon as I’m done with this!”

“So what are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to check on the situation at the cold storage facility,” Li Yi replied.

“Do you know where it is?”

“I have a general idea!”

“Then I won’t go with you. I’ve been on my feet all morning—I’m going to lie down for a bit!”

“Alright!”

With that, Li Yi left the store and drove straight over to the cold storage facility!

After the move, seeing his parents settled comfortably in their new home, Li Yi finally felt at ease!

Early the next morning, Li Yi drove back to Beijing!

As he was leaving, his parents insisted on stuffing the backseat of the car to the brim with all sorts of things—chicken, lamb, millet, potato starch…

Although these items were readily available in the capital, and the notion that rural produce is naturally organic while urban food is laden with chemicals and harsh processing methods was outdated, he couldn’t refuse his parents’ kindness.

He had no choice but to give in!

After a long drive of over six hours, he finally arrived back in Beijing at 1:30 p.m.

Once in the city, he didn’t head to the shop but drove straight to his family’s courtyard house.

It couldn’t be helped—it was already April, and temperatures in Beijing had started to rise.

With all that rice, flour, cooking oil, and various meats in the car, he had to deal with them as soon as possible; otherwise, they would spoil easily.

Upon returning home, Li Yi found that Jiang Xue and the child were both there, and even his mother-in-law was present.

In addition, there was a woman in her forties with a distinctly scholarly air.

Seeing Li Yi return, Jiang Xue was overjoyed and hurriedly put down the book she was holding to greet him.

“Why are you back so soon? I thought you were going to stay in the village for ten days or so?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “I’d have liked to stay a few more days, but there are still a lot of things I need to take care of in Beijing. I had no choice!”

Just then, his mother-in-law came over and asked, “Xiao Yi, have you eaten yet?”

“Mom, not yet!”

Zhou Yang then noticed the woman who had come out with his mother-in-law and asked, “Who is this?”

Jiang Xue hurriedly explained, “This is Aunt Xu. Mom invited her to tutor me in math!”

“Hello, Aunt Xu. I’m Jiang Xue’s husband, Li Yi. Thank you so much for coming to tutor Xue!” Li Yi said with confidence.

“Comrade Li Yi truly has remarkable poise. No wonder Professor Ye speaks so highly of you!” Xu Lan said with a smile.

“Aunt Xu, you’re too kind. That’s just my mother’s way of showing affection by extension!” Li Yi replied.

“Xiao Yi, have a seat for a moment. I’ll go make you some noodles!” Ye Lingyun said.

“Mom, don’t bother. I need to unload the car first, and then I have to head to the store—there are some things I need to take care of there!” Li Yi said.

“You’re such a kid—no matter how busy you are, you still have to eat!”

“Mom, I’ll just grab something to eat at the shop later!”

Li Yi was worried about the shipment of Khet sheep and the cold storage, so he wanted to get there as soon as possible!

“All right!”

After putting the items he’d brought inside in the kitchen, Li Yi went back outside to unload the rice, flour, and cooking oil from the car.

Jiang Xue wanted to come help, but Li Yi stopped her—this kind of physical labor wasn’t something he’d let a girl do.

After bringing everything from the car into the house, Li Yi went into the inner room to check on his sleeping son and daughter. He kissed each of the little ones on the cheek, then got ready to head to the shop.

Just then, Jiang Xue suddenly said, “Oh, by the way, Second Brother came by last night. He said he needed to talk to you, but you weren’t home!”

“Did she say what it was about?”

“He didn’t tell me, but he seemed pretty anxious. If you have time, you should go see him—or at least give him a call!” Jiang Xue said.

“Alright!”

With that, Li Yi left the house!

After leaving home, Li Yi headed straight for the nearby district government office.

Although Li Yi didn’t know why Jiang Longyin wanted to see him, he knew his brother-in-law fairly well. Compared to that dimwit Jiang Longcheng, Jiang Longyin was a standard, competent politician.

He possessed the arrogance of an official, the domineering air of someone in a high position, and the aloofness of a scion from a distinguished family.

This was evident from the very first time they met, based on the attitude he displayed.

Unless it was truly important, he wouldn’t have deigned to come to Li Yi’s home in person.

Since it happened to be on his way, Li Yi decided to pay Jiang Longyin a visit first.

………

District Government Administrative Building!

In the office with the most prestigious location and the most expansive view, Jiang Longyin was intently studying the documents in his hands.

But his furrowed brow and the fact that he hadn’t moved for quite some time betrayed his current state of mind.

After quite a while, Jiang Longyin, who had been sitting as still as a statue, suddenly sighed and tossed the documents aside.

He then rose from his seat and walked restlessly to the window.

Whenever he faced an unsolvable problem, he liked to come to the window and gaze out at the traffic and streets below.

If he watched quietly for a while, perhaps a solution would come to mind.

The reason he was in such a terrible mood today was because he had received a call from a friend yesterday.

The caller was the head of a state-owned enterprise within his jurisdiction—and, as the son of a high-ranking official, he happened to be aware of the connection between Li Yi and the Jiang family.

Consequently, he had relayed the details of yesterday afternoon’s internal meeting at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to Jiang Longyin, urging him to prepare in advance—after all, the connection between Li Yi and the Jiang family was well-known.

If the higher-ups really decided to take action against Li Yi, it would inevitably implicate the Jiang family.

After receiving that call from his friend, Jiang Longyin was deeply shaken.

He truly hadn’t expected that the small, run-down factory run by his third younger brother, Jiang Longcheng, could cause such a stir—let alone attract the attention of the State-owned Assets Department.

At the same time, he hadn’t anticipated that the Ministry of State-Owned Assets was actually debating the legality of the agreement his brother-in-law, Li Yi, had signed with the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill.

He knew the true nature of those in power all too well. If the discussion concluded that the agreement was legal, then everything would be fine.

But if it were deemed illegal, that would be a real problem.

This wouldn’t simply mean the agreement would be nullified; it would likely lead to action being taken against Li Yi.

To be honest, if it were merely a matter of Li Yi’s life or death, Jiang Longyin might not have cared.

He was merely a cousin-in-law; it wasn’t enough to keep him up at night or weigh heavily on his mind.

But the problem was that his brother-in-law, Li Yi, and his third younger brother, Jiang Longcheng, were already deeply entangled. If Li Yi were to fall on hard times, his third younger brother would certainly not fare well either.

And if his third younger brother were to suffer, the Jiang family—including himself—could forget about walking away unscathed.

So, after receiving the call yesterday, he immediately phoned his third uncle, who was far away in Guangdong Province.

To his surprise, after hearing all this, his third uncle didn’t react at all; he simply told him to go to DXMBang and look for Li Yi.

With no other choice, Jiang Longyin went to his cousin’s house, only to learn that his brother-in-law had gone back to his hometown and hadn’t returned yet.

Discussions at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission were still ongoing, but Li Yi wasn’t in Beijing. This made him both a little worried and a little annoyed.

Just as Jiang Longyin was feeling uneasy, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

He composed himself slightly, quickly returned to his desk, and sat down before saying, “Come in!”

“Creak!”

As the office door swung open, a disheveled figure walked in from outside. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Li Yi!

Nianzi Mountain Village. The Li Family Ancestral Home!

Just as Li Yi and Li Gang were fretting over the pile of “antiques” before them, the sound of footsteps came from outside the front gate.

The two looked out and discovered that the visitor was a young lad—none other than Xiaogouwawa.

Li Yi had been looking for him earlier at the village office but hadn’t seen him.

He had planned to stop by the boy’s house after finishing the move this afternoon, but he hadn’t expected the kid to show up himself.

Li Yi immediately put down what he was doing and strode over to Xiaogouwa.

“Where’d you go, kid? Why didn’t I see you over at the sheep pen this morning?”

Xiaogouwa said with his head down, “I was planning to go, but Erya had an upset stomach, so I took her to Uncle Chen San’s place first!”

Li Yi knew Uncle Chen was the village’s only village doctor. Though his medical skills were nothing to write home about, he was perfectly capable of treating the occasional headache or fever.

“How’s Erya? Is she okay? Should we take her to the hospital?”

“She’s fine. She probably caught a chill while sleeping last night. Uncle Chen gave her some medicine, and she’s feeling much better now!” Xiaogouwa said.

“Okay, if anything comes up, just tell me. Don’t keep it from me!” Li Yi said.

“Got it!”

With that, Xiaogouwa pulled a stack of bills from his pocket and held it out to Li Yi: “Brother Yi, this is for you!”

“What’s this for?”

“Brother Yi, we just got the money the village distributed to our family. I’ll pay you back two hundred now, and I’ll pay you the remaining hundred in the fall!” Xiaogouwa said.

“Does your family have any money left?”

“Yes, we got 260 yuan today. I set aside 60 yuan for emergencies!”

Li Yi knew this kid’s temperament—though his family was poor, he was the type who wouldn’t easily let others go into his debt.

With that in mind, Li Yi took the stack of bills and pulled out five 100-yuan notes, slipping them into Xiaogouwa’s hand.

“Take your time paying me back—there’s no rush. Keep some money at home for emergencies!”

Xiaogouwa didn’t refuse; he immediately stuffed the money into his pocket.

Then, he noticed the mountain of belongings piled up at the front door and asked right away, “Brother Yi, what’s this all about?”

“We’re moving. I plan to have Mom and Dad move into the new house over on Dongpo!” Li Yishun replied.

“I’ll help you move!”

“Xiaogouwa, go borrow another horse-drawn cart from the commune. Two carts will make the move faster!” Li Yi said.

“Sure!”

With that, Xiaogouwa turned and left the Li family’s old house, dashing off toward the village committee office.

Just over ten minutes later, just as Li Yi and Li Gang had loaded another cart and were preparing to head to the new house, a commotion erupted outside the gate once more.

Immediately, Li Yi saw that more than twenty mule-drawn carts had arrived, accompanied by over a hundred young and able-bodied men—Xiaogouwa was among them.

Upon arriving at the Li family’s old residence, they exchanged brief greetings with Li Yi and immediately sprang into action to help him.

At that moment, Xiaogouwa approached Li Yi and explained, “When I went to the commune to borrow a cart, Uncle Lei asked me what I needed it for, so I told him the truth. I didn’t expect everyone to show up…”

“Yeah, I get it!”

Seeing so many fellow villagers come together to help, Li Yi felt both happy and deeply moved.

The feelings of ordinary people are the most sincere; they return kindness to those who show it to them.

He hadn’t actually done much for them, but they had all kept it in their hearts.

With so many villagers pitching in, the move naturally went much faster.

By noon, all of the Li family’s belongings had been moved to the new house, not a single piece of firewood left behind.

After the move went smoothly and his parents were settled in, Li Yi prepared to return to the capital.

What he didn’t know, however, was that certain departments in the capital were in an uproar over him!

………

Beijing. Ministry of State-Owned Assets Administrative Building!

The not-very-large conference room was packed to capacity as a high-level internal meeting was underway.

In attendance were the heads of various departments within the Ministry of State-Owned Assets, as well as the leaders of several major state-owned enterprises in the capital—each a figure of considerable stature.

What many of the attending leaders hadn’t anticipated, however, was that the Ministry’s leadership had summoned them all for the sake of a little-known, run-down factory and a single individual.

At the head of the table, a middle-aged official in his forties was speaking: “Ladies and gentlemen, the revenue and profit figures for Beijing’s state-owned enterprises in March have been compiled. Compared to the same period last year, the performance of the vast majority of these entities has been poor, with more than half of them operating at a loss…”

Just as the attending officials braced themselves for another “storm” from the newly appointed Deputy Minister, they were surprised to find that he did not fly into a rage as he had in the past.

Instead, Vice Minister Wang shifted his tone and continued, “However, there is one unit that has actively forged ahead despite adversity. With revenue of 4.78 million and a net profit of 3.62 million, it has successfully claimed the double crown for both revenue and profit among Beijing’s state-owned enterprises for the month of March.”

Upon hearing this, the SOE leaders present were all taken aback.

A monthly revenue of 4.78 million yuan isn’t particularly high, especially considering that many of them were large state-owned enterprises; some of their units could even generate monthly revenues of over 100 million yuan.

The reason this month took the top spot in revenue with 4.78 million is mainly because most units purchase raw materials and begin production in the first half of the year, only to officially begin external sales in the second half, or to fulfill delivery obligations to other units according to schedule.

This is precisely why revenue for state-owned enterprises across the country was generally low in the first half of the year.

This month’s results can only be described as a major upset!

But what’s truly staggering is that net profit of 3.62 million!

Wow, with revenue of only 4.78 million, yet a net profit as high as 3.62 million—does that mean their total costs were only 1.16 million?

What kind of company could possibly have such a terrifying profit margin?

“Bang!”

Vice Minister Wang, seated at the head of the table, slammed his fist on the table and said, “Quiet! Stop speculating. You could rack your brains all day and still never guess which organization is this month’s double champion!”

Before anyone could dwell on it, he continued, “I’ll tell you the truth: the unit that achieved such outstanding results is the State-Owned Beijing No. 2 Cotton Spinning Mill!”

“Whoosh!”

The moment those words were spoken, the entire conference room erupted in an uproar!

“Impossible! What kind of joke of a unit is State-Owned No. 2 Cotton Mill? With only two thousand workers and barely a hundred acres of land, how could they possibly generate nearly five million in revenue in a single month? Unless they sold the factory!”

“Right. I know a bit about State-Owned Cotton Mill No. 2. They were barely hanging on last year—how did they suddenly turn things around this year?”

“Is there a mistake here? State Cotton Mill No. 2… no… looking at all the cotton mills across the country, I doubt any of them have such a high profit margin. Could they be faking the numbers?”

“I think they’re definitely faking it. There’s no way they could have such high profits…”

Just then, another leader on the podium spoke up: “Everyone, please quiet down. We’ve already verified the data from State Cotton Mill No. 2—there’s absolutely no issue.”

“The reason they were able to turn a loss into a profit in such a short time is primarily due to their adjustments to their industrial structure and business model.”

“From what we understand, State Cotton Mill No. 2 has partnered with a businessman named Li Yi to shift its core business from producing and selling cotton fabric to manufacturing ready-to-wear garments. Currently, Feixue Apparel has captured the market in multiple provincial capitals across the country in just a few short months, generating substantial profits. However, according to the agreement between the two parties, the cotton mill must cede 12% of its net profit to that businessman.”

“Since there has never been a precedent for this, we’ve called you all here to discuss whether there are any issues with this arrangement. Please share your views on the matter!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than an older executive stood up and said, “This is utter nonsense! That’s state-owned assets—how can we just hand them over to a private individual?”

“Director Chen, you can’t put it that way. Since we’ve already signed an agreement with the other party, we must strictly enforce it. If we lack even the most basic spirit of contract, who would be willing to do business with us in the future?”

“The spirit of contract is certainly important, but this is clearly the embezzlement of state-owned assets. It’s a crime—and it cannot be forgiven!”

“I think we need to look at this from a balanced perspective. After all, without that Mr. Li—whatever his name is—State Cotton Mill No. 2 probably wouldn’t have managed to turn itself around and make such a sensational comeback…”

In an instant, the State-owned Assets Department’s conference room erupted into a chaotic uproar over Li Yi, this obscure nobody!

………..

Moving is definitely hard physical labor!

They say even a broken ship has three thousand nails. Though the Old Li family wasn’t exactly wealthy, over the decades, they’d accumulated quite a few pots, jars, and other household items.

Originally, Li Yi had suggested leaving all these items at the old house and just moving the rice, flour, cooking oil, and bedding to the new place—after all, the new house was fully stocked with those essentials.

But his mother was firmly against it!

In her words, once the whole family moved to the new house, there would be no one left to look after the old one—what if these things got stolen?

She also said that they had grown accustomed to using many of the old pieces of furniture and couldn’t bear to leave them behind at the old house.

Admittedly, if we were to move everything over as Mom suggested, it would certainly be a massive undertaking.

After all, in addition to the household essentials—rice, flour, cooking oil, and all the jars and pots—the firewood piles outside and the haystacks for feeding the livestock would all have to be moved over as well.

But Li Yi didn’t say much; he could only load everything his mother had specified onto the truck and transport it to the new house.

There was no other way. Filial piety is all about obedience.

To be completely compliant—that is filial piety!

In his previous life, the people he had let down the most were his parents, so in this life, as long as it wasn’t a matter of principle, Li Yi did his best to comply with his parents’ wishes.

Of course, being a dutiful son wasn’t easy—while he complied with his words, his body had to bear the brunt of the labor!

He had thought that three or four trips would be enough to move most of the things from the house, but after Li Yi had worked himself to the bone hauling two full truckloads to the new house, he returned to find that his mother had dug up yet another pile of “old antiques.”

By this point, Li Yi was already panting from exhaustion.

Just as Li Yi was wondering whether to ask someone for help, he heard the roar of a car engine outside.

Immediately afterward, a military-green jeep pulled up at the entrance to his yard, and Li Gang stepped out of the vehicle.

The moment he saw Li Gang, Li Yi’s eyes lit up—it was as if he’d spotted a savior!

Li Gang walked into the yard carrying several cloth bags, and upon seeing the yard filled with items waiting to be loaded, he was instantly taken aback.

“Brother Li Yi, what are you guys up to?”

“Moving, of course!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“Where are you moving to? You’re not planning to leave Qing Shan County to settle in the capital, are you?” Li Gang asked, looking surprised.

“No, no—we’re just moving things from the old house to the new one. My parents will be living there from now on!” Li Yi explained.

“Oh, I see!”

“By the way, aren’t you supposed to be at work today? What are you doing here?”

As he spoke, Li Yi noticed what Li Gang was holding—it turned out to be things like malted milk powder and pastries, and there were even two bottles of Maotai.

“You’re welcome to come, but why bring all this stuff? We’ve got plenty of these things at home.”

Hearing Li Yi’s question, a wry smile flashed across Li Gang’s face. Then, with a mix of gratitude and frustration, he said, “I came here specifically to thank you. I just couldn’t feel right about it without bringing something!”

“What’s up? Did you figure it out?”

“Yeah, damn it. I never would’ve guessed that woman, who looked so delicate and fragile, was such a slut behind the scenes. I almost got fooled by her—I almost treated that slut like a treasure!” Li Gang said angrily.

After receiving Li Yi’s warning yesterday, he immediately went back to investigate the background of his blind date, Zhang Yanru.

Although they didn’t work at the same place, they were both from the same county, and since Li Gang was the captain of the criminal investigation team, it was easy enough to dig up some information.

Before long, Li Gang had uncovered most of the things Zhang Yanru had been trying to hide.

According to Li Gang’s findings, although Zhang Yanru was quite attractive, she was quite promiscuous behind the scenes, flirting with a male colleague from her unit—which was utterly scandalous.

On top of that, she was exchanging flirtatious glances with a young newcomer under her father’s command—she was nothing more than a loose woman with no sense of propriety.

However, this woman understood the importance of her reputation. Although she was promiscuous, she always kept it under wraps, so few people knew her true nature.

On top of that, his mother was in a rush to find him a wife and introduced her to him without thoroughly vetting her background, nearly causing Li Gang to hit a snag right at the start.

Once he got to the bottom of the matter, he couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine.

Although divorce is an option if a marriage turns out to be unsuitable, finding a suitable partner after a divorce these days is no easy task, and it could easily jeopardize his career prospects.

More importantly, being deceived like this left Li Gang extremely annoyed and furious!

Li Yi, standing nearby, smiled and said, “Don’t get so worked up. You haven’t really lost anything, have you? Just think of it as getting a toad hopping on your foot—it was just a bit gross!”

“This isn’t just a little gross—after what this woman did to me, I’m fucking terrified of blind dates now. That’s a huge loss!” Li Gang snapped angrily.

Li Yi smiled but said nothing, thinking to himself, “What’s a little loss like that?” In her past life, this woman had driven her husband to ruin, destroying his family—her destructive power was off the charts.

Of course, her own end was equally tragic—her husband stabbed her to death right in their home with a sharp knife, delivering a full 72 blows… It was absolutely horrifying!

In fact, as soon as Li Yi heard Zhang Yanru’s name yesterday, he’d warned Li Gang—precisely because the case had caused such a sensation that nearly every newspaper in the country was covering it.

Plus, since the crime scene and the people involved were all from his hometown, Li Yi naturally knew a bit more about it—and he never expected that this knowledge would save Li Gang’s life once again.

“So what are you planning to do?”

“Of course I’m going to teach that slut a lesson. She dares to treat me like a fool—I’ll never let her get away with it…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi cut him off, saying, “Stop, stop! That’s a terrible idea!”

“Why is it unacceptable?”

“A dog bit you—are you going to go back and bite it?” Li Yi asked.

“Uh… but she’s not a dog!”

“Right, that woman isn’t a dog, but the principle is the same!”

Li Yi continued, “You’ve been framed and slandered, and your first instinct is to strike back and seek revenge. That’s human nature. Because in the average person’s mind, you can’t let yourself be wronged—it seems like that’s what fairness and justice demand.”

“Is that wrong?”

“Of course not. Let’s go back to the earlier question: when a dog bites you, do you absolutely have to bite back? Are you sure that dog isn’t a rabid mad dog? Are you sure you won’t end up with a mouthful of dog hair if you miss? Are you sure you won’t be the one who gets hurt worse in the process of tearing each other apart?” Li Yi said.

“So… are you saying I can’t fight back even if I’ve been cheated?” Li Gang retorted, stiffening his neck and looking thoroughly aggrieved.

“It’s not that you can’t fight back, but you have to use the right approach—you can’t just go in blindly!”

Li Yi continued, “When a dog bites you, don’t think about biting back. Instead, find a suitable weapon first, then strike hard. Either don’t fight at all, or if you do, make sure it’s a one-hit kill!”

Li Gang said thoughtfully, “Brother Li Yi, what you’re saying is…”

“I don’t mean anything. You figure it out yourself!” Li Yi said indifferently.

“Hahaha, got it!”

“Good to know. Put that down and hurry up and help me carry these things!” Li Yi said with a smile.

Li Gang looked at the huge pile of random stuff in front of him and was instantly dumbfounded…

……

Nianzi Mountain Village. Livestock Shed!

After the convoy drove into the courtyard of the village committee, it came to a smooth stop right in front of Li Yi and the others.

The doors opened, and Big Brother-in-Law Yang Wenguang, along with a group of drivers, stepped straight out of the vehicles.

“Bro-in-law, we’re here!”

“We’re here. There are nine trucks in total. I wonder if we can fit everything?” Yang Wenguang said.

“Let’s try loading them first. If it doesn’t work, we’ll just build a second deck on top of the cargo beds!” Li Yi said.

The sugar mill’s trucks were originally used to transport white and brown sugar. To increase cargo capacity, the mill had modified the truck beds by welding a metal railing over a meter high onto the standard bed.

As a result, the cargo beds of these trucks were much taller than those of standard trucks—at least two meters high, by visual estimate.

“All we need to do is insert some wooden planks to divide the cargo bed into upper and lower levels—perfect for transporting live sheep and pigs.”

“Alright!”

Li Yi immediately turned to Feng Kai and said, “Uncle Feng, have the villagers start loading the trucks. We’ll settle the accounts once we’ve confirmed the exact quantity!”

“Yi, think it over again. You’re really getting the short end of the stick this way!”

“Uncle Feng, please don’t say that. Besides, my brother-in-law is in a bit of a rush!”

No sooner had Li Yi finished speaking than Li Shankui chimed in from the side, “Old Feng, just listen to Little Yi!”

Li Shankui had been to the capital and knew just how extensive his son’s business empire was. That restaurant alone could bring in a hundred yuan a day, and on good days, it was even possible to make a thousand or two.

In short, his son was certainly not short on money!

Seeing that both Li Yigang and his son were speaking up, Feng Kai stopped being so stubborn. After all, he knew the circumstances of every household in the village, and it was clear that Li Yigang’s actions were related to this.

But there were still a few things he needed to say. Clearing his throat, he immediately addressed the villagers around him in a loud voice: “Comrades, you’ve all seen this. Remember Yi’s kindness—load the truck!”

At Feng Kai’s command, all the able-bodied young men and women in the village immediately rushed into the sheep pen and began rounding up the panicked rams inside.

Although the rams scattered in all directions, the pen was only so big—where could they possibly escape to?

One after another, the sheep were caught and hauled onto the large truck parked nearby.

While the loading was underway, others were in charge of counting.

Forty minutes later, all the rams in the pen had been successfully loaded onto the truck.

By then, the total number of rams had been tallied: 538 in all.

After the loading was complete, Li Yi gave his brother-in-law a few final instructions, then watched as he led the convoy out of Nianzishan Village!

After his brother-in-law left, Li Yi and Feng Kai returned to the village committee office.

With the sheep now gone, it was time for the exciting moment of dividing the profits.

Back at the village office, Li Yi didn’t waste time on small talk; he immediately pulled out a pen and paper and began calculating.

After calculating the results, Li Yi said to Feng Kai, who was waiting nearby, “Uncle Feng, counting the one we slaughtered early, there are a total of 539 sheep. At 118 yuan each, that comes to a total of 63,602 yuan!”

“According to our agreement, I’m entitled to half the profits from these sheep, so I only need to pay the village 31,801 yuan!”

Feng Kai glanced at Chen Wanzong, who was fiddling with his abacus nearby, and asked, “Accountant Chen, is Yi’s calculation correct?”

Chen Wanzong hurriedly replied, “The total amount is correct—it’s 63,602 yuan—but I’m still figuring out exactly how much Yiwa needs to pay the village!”

“Then hurry up!”

“Got it!”

While Chen Wanzong was fiddling with the abacus, Feng Kai remarked with a hint of surprise, “I never expected you, Yiwa, to be so good at math. Even Old Chen, who’s been an accountant for decades, can’t hold a candle to you. You really are a hidden gem!”

“Heh, it’s just a matter of practice—the more you do it, the better you get!” Li Yi said with a smile.

Feng Kai shook his head without saying a word. He wasn’t just some ordinary farmer—he wasn’t about to buy that.

If it were really that simple, how come Old Chen, after decades of bookkeeping, still couldn’t calculate as fast as him?

Another two minutes passed before Chen Wanzong spoke up: “Yi, you’re right—it’s exactly 31,801 yuan!”

After Chen Wanzong confirmed the figures were correct, Li Yi immediately pulled out the cloth bag he carried with him. Then, under the tense and eager gazes of everyone present, he began pulling out stack after stack of cash.

Soon, Li Yi pushed the large pile of money he had counted in front of Feng Kai and said, “Uncle Feng, here’s thirty-one thousand eight hundred!”

He then pulled a one-yuan note from his pocket and placed it on top of the stack of “Great Unity” bills, making up the final yuan.

Feng Kai had Chen Wanzong count the money, while he turned to Li Yi and said, “Yi, you’re so quick and good at math. Why don’t you help us all do the calculations? That way, we can split the money faster.”

Li Yi, of course, wouldn’t refuse a simple calculation.

“Uncle Feng, just tell me—how many people are there in our village, and how many participated in the labor? I’ll do the math for you!”

“The total population of our village is 304, and 256 people participated in the labor,” Feng Kai said.

“Does that include me, Qiangzi, Zhang the educated youth, and Feng the educated youth?” Li Yi asked again.

“They’re included—even your two kids are counted. They’re all eligible for a share!” Feng Kai replied.

Li Yi shook his head and said, “Don’t count any of those people!”

Seeing that Feng Kai was about to say something, Li Yi cut him off before he could speak: “First, they’ve all gone to Beijing now and will likely stay there. The village can keep their household registrations, but there’s no need to give them a share of the money!”

“Second, this herd of cattle and sheep was raised through everyone’s hard work. The others didn’t contribute much effort, so it’s only fair not to give them a share!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Liu Darei chimed in, “Xiao Yi is right. Dongzi and the others are making money in the capital—how could they possibly have the nerve to take money from the village? As their father, I’d be too embarrassed to accept it!”

“My son Shitou doesn’t want any either!”

“My son Yongzi doesn’t want any either…”

Seeing that the heads of these households had all spoken up, Feng Kai immediately said, “All right, then. Let’s do it your way!”

“Great!”

Immediately, Li Yi leaned over the rickety wooden table in the brigade office and began calculating rapidly.

Li Yi quickly arrived at the result and turned directly to Feng Kai, saying, “Uncle Feng, each person gets 54 yuan and 8 fen in headcount pay, and members who participated in the labor get an additional 62 yuan, 10 fen, and 1 fen each.”

“Is that right?”

“It’s definitely correct!” Li Yi said confidently.

If he couldn’t even get these simple numbers right, how could he possibly manage such a large conglomerate?

Feng Kai immediately replied, his voice tinged with excitement, “All right, Accountant Chen, let’s distribute the money according to each household’s population right now!”

Hearing this, everyone present erupted in excitement.

They had all heard it just now: those who didn’t participate in the labor could receive over fifty yuan.

As for those who did participate in the labor, the per-capita payment plus the labor bonus would amount to a full 116 yuan.

For the villagers, this was no small sum.

At current grain prices, and assuming they had flour ration tickets, 100 yuan would be enough to buy 600 jin of top-quality Fuqiang flour.

Under normal circumstances, 600 jin of white flour would be enough to comfortably feed one person for two years—more than enough to weather the current food crisis.

However, Chen Wanzong looked at the table covered with “Great Unity” banknotes and said with a wry smile, “They’re all in large denominations—how are we supposed to divide this?”

Hearing this, everyone—including Feng Kai—froze in shock!

Indeed, the table was covered with high-denomination bills, while the families needed to divide both whole and fractional amounts—it was truly impossible to split!

At that moment, Li Yi spoke up again: “Uncle Feng, in my opinion, we should set the per-person allowance at 50 yuan. Those who participate in the labor should get an extra 60 yuan each, and we’ll just leave the remaining change undistributed!”

“Not dividing them?”

“Yeah, the leftover change adds up to just over a thousand yuan. Let’s put that money into the production team’s fund—it can serve as an emergency reserve or be used to buy fertilizer come spring!”

Feng Kai thought for a moment and said, “I think that’s a good idea. Does anyone have any objections?”

“No objections!”

“No objections…”

Seeing that no one had any objections, Feng Kai immediately began distributing the money to the members alongside Chen Wanzong.

Li Yi didn’t linger at the brigade office. While everyone was receiving their share, he took the remaining few thousand yuan and headed home.

Then he hitched up the mule cart and, together with his mother and sisters, began moving!

PS: I’d like to explain the update schedule once more. Lao Cang is currently serializing another book. I start writing every morning, and by the time I finish the final chapter of this book, it’s usually around 11 or 12 at night. I really can’t help it.

The next morning!

Li Yi was woken up early by the village loudspeaker; it was Feng Kai calling on the villagers to assemble at the village committee office.

Knowing he had important business to attend to, Li Yi didn’t linger in bed; he reluctantly climbed out from under the covers.

After getting dressed and quickly washing up, the family gathered around the stove for a simple meal.

Afterward, Li Yi followed his father out the door, heading straight for the village committee office in the center of the village.

By the time the Li family arrived, most of the villagers were already there, gathered in small groups in the courtyard of the village committee office, chatting.

Perhaps due to the shortage of rations, Li Yi noticed that most of the villagers looked gaunt, and some even seemed unsteady on their feet.

Seeing this, Li Yi finally realized that the situation in the village was even more dire than he had imagined.

No wonder Uncle Feng was so anxious and worked up!

When the villagers saw Li Yi arrive, they greeted him one after another, but most of their eyes were fixed on the cloth bag in his hand.

Everyone knew the commune was distributing money today, but where had it come from?

It must have come from Li Yi!

Barring any surprises, the cloth bag in Li Yi’s hands must contain the money to be distributed to everyone.

For a moment, everyone’s eyes lit up with eager anticipation as they stared at that cloth bag!

Walking into the makeshift village office, Li Yi saw Feng Kai, Zhang Tongfu, and Chen Wanzong squatting by the stove, smoking and chatting idly.

As soon as Li Yi walked in, Feng Kai asked, “Xiao Yi, when’s the truck with the sheep coming?”

“It should be here soon!”

He’d agreed with his brother-in-law yesterday to arrive early today. After all, it was over 350 kilometers from the village to Beijing, and a large truck would take at least eight hours.

Not to mention that once they reached Beijing, they’d have to slaughter the sheep that very night, so they had to get an early start.

“That’s good!”

Feng Kai continued, “Xiao Yi, our village has never raised sheep before, let alone sold them. How do you think we should handle the pricing?”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Uncle Feng, top-quality lamb currently sells for 1.9 yuan per jin on the market. I’ll offer the village that price—what do you think?”

“The price is more than fair, but aren’t you planning to transport live sheep to the capital? How can we know the total weight?” Feng Kai asked again.

“That’s easy. Let’s grab a sheep of similar size right now, slaughter it, and weigh it. Whatever the price comes out to for that one, we’ll use that rate for the rest!” Li Yi said.

“Sounds good to me. We’re all family here—a few yuan more or less doesn’t make much difference!” Feng Kai nodded.

Zhang Tongfu chimed in, “I have no objections!”

Chen Wanzong, the accountant standing nearby, chimed in, “Then let’s go over to the sheep pen right now and slaughter one. Once we’ve calculated the price, we can just grab the sheep and load them onto the truck as soon as the truck arrives!”

“Alright!”

Then, under Feng Kai’s direction, more than two hundred able-bodied villagers marched in a grand procession toward the nearby livestock shed.

Over at the sheep pen, the villagers had already separated the rams from the ewes.

This wasn’t done specifically because they were selling the rams, but because rams tend to get agitated and frequently fight when kept together with ewes.

If the rams started fighting, it could easily endanger the pregnant ewes, so they had to be kept in separate pens.

When the group arrived at the ram pen, Feng Kai addressed several young, strong men in the crowd: “Da Lei, you, Liangzi, and Daliansheng go inside and bring out a sheep—just pick one of medium size!”

Feng Kai was quite fair in his dealings. He knew that the price of all the sheep would be calculated based on the price of a single sheep, so the choice of this particular sheep was crucial.

If it was too small, the village would lose out; if it was too large, Li Yi would lose out. Therefore, he simply had Liu Da Lei pick one of medium size.

This way, regardless of whether one side came out ahead or at a disadvantage, the difference wouldn’t be too significant.

“Alright!”

With that, Liu Darei and the few young men Feng Kai had called out immediately stepped forward, jumped into the pen, and prepared to catch a sheep.

But just then, Li Yi suddenly turned to Liu Darei and said, “Brother Darei, I’m craving some meat. Pick out a big, fat one for me—nothing small, okay?”

Liu Darei didn’t respond to Li Yi’s request; instead, he instinctively glanced at Feng Kai.

Feng Kai, of course, knew exactly what Li Yi meant and hurriedly said, “Xiao Yi, that’s not appropriate!”

“Uncle Feng, just listen to me—there’s nothing wrong with it!”

Then he turned to Liu Darei again and said, “Brother Darei, don’t just stand there like an idiot—hurry up and grab one! We’re in a rush!”

Seeing that Li Yi was serious, Liu Darei immediately led his men into the flock to start selecting.

Soon, they found a large, well-proportioned ram with a plump, elegant build.

Liu Darei then pointed at the ram and asked Li Yi, “Xiao Yi, what do you think of this one?”

Li Yi took a look and realized that although this ram was slightly larger than an ordinary one, it wasn’t the fattest—it was only of above-average quality.

“Too small—get a bigger one!”

Without hesitation, Liu Darei and the others began searching through the flock again.

Eventually, they set their sights on a particularly striking, massive ram. This time, without consulting Li Yi, they simply claimed the huge, fat ram.

Once the massive, fat ram had been bound and carried out of the pen, Liang Wanhe, the butcher who had been waiting outside, immediately stepped forward.

Wielding a gleaming, sharp knife, he skillfully slaughtered the massive ram.

Once the fat ram had stopped moving, Liang Wanhe immediately hung it by a rope from a small tree in the courtyard—one as thick as a bowl—and, with practiced ease, began to “strip” the ram.

His technique was exceptionally skilled; in just a few minutes, he had peeled the entire hide off the sheep.

He then gutted the sheep, removing all the internal organs into a basin, leaving him with a complete carcass (a whole, skinned sheep).

Although the meat still contained a large number of ribs and the spine at this point, when buying a whole sheep, these parts are all counted as part of the total meat yield.

Li Yi immediately had someone bring out a large platform scale to weigh the carcass.

62 jin!

After weighing it, Li Yi turned to Feng Kai and said, “Uncle Feng, 62 jin. At 9 yuan per jin, that comes to 117.8 yuan. Let’s round it up to 118!”

“Xiao Yi, you’re getting ripped off!”

“Haha, Uncle Feng, you’re overthinking it. I’m just making a little less profit—I’m definitely not losing out!”

Li Yi wasn’t just trying to console Feng Kai; he simply wanted to share more of the profits with the villagers and hadn’t actually lost any money.

After all, aside from the initial investment of 40,000 yuan, he hadn’t had to lift a finger—the villagers had handled everything from the pasture and labor to the feed.

Under these circumstances, he still owned half the profits from this herd. In Li Yi’s view, he was absolutely raking it in with this deal!

To put it simply, just this batch of rams alone had a conservative market value of 60,000 to 70,000 yuan, yet he’d paid only half that price—saving him a solid 30,000 yuan.

On top of that, the village has over 500 ewes and 400 head of cattle.

If one were to calculate the total value of these cattle and sheep, this investment could yield him a profit of at least 100,000 yuan.

More importantly, Li Yi’s original intention in leading the villagers into animal husbandry wasn’t to make money for himself.

If he wanted to make money, there were plenty of other ways to do so; there was no need to skimp on his fellow villagers.

That is precisely why, when settling accounts, Li Yi didn’t mention a word about the tens of thousands of yuan he had invested upfront. Instead, he deliberately used the fattest sheep as the standard for valuation, with the sole purpose of ensuring his fellow villagers received a larger share of the profits—nothing more.

His actions filled the villagers with deep gratitude. Though they were poor, they were neither foolish nor unreasonable—they knew who had their best interests at heart!

So, one by one, they spoke up to share their thoughts:

“Xiao Yi, you work hard for your money—you really don’t need to do this!”

“Exactly! We’re already more than satisfied that you’re helping us all make money. We can’t let you lose money on this—that wouldn’t be right!”

“That’s right, Yi, you really mustn’t do that…”

Just as everyone was discussing this, the sound of a large truck rumbling suddenly came from outside the livestock shed.

Immediately afterward, a massive convoy of nine large trucks drove into the courtyard where the livestock shed was located…

……….

PS: Some readers have pointed out that the money distributed doesn’t count as an investment—but rest assured, the author hasn’t forgotten that.

You all remember the background behind Li Yi leading the villagers into the livestock business, right? It was started when the village faced a massive crop failure. His original intention was simply to help the villagers get through the crisis; making money was just a side benefit—he was even willing to accept not making any profit at all.

This is the author’s personal interpretation—if you don’t like it, please go easy on the criticism!

Nianzishan Village. The Feng Family!

After returning from the county seat, Li Yi drove straight to the home of Feng Kai, the village party secretary.

He had already made arrangements with Factory Director Liang: tomorrow morning, his sister’s husband would arrive in the village with a convoy to load the sheep and transport them to Beijing.

At that time, Long Zhanjun would meet them in Beijing, take the sheep directly to the cold storage facility for slaughter, and then store them in the warehouse.

According to Li Yi’s plan, while he was transporting the sheep tomorrow, it would be best if the village also distributed the proceeds from the sale to the villagers at the same time—that way, everything could be handled in one go.

However, this wasn’t entirely up to Li Yi, and he didn’t want to get involved—he’d leave it to Feng Kai, the village Party branch secretary.

As the village’s most respected veteran Party branch secretary, this was exactly the kind of thing he excelled at.

When Li Yi arrived, Feng Kai was tidying up the yard with his wife.

Seeing Li Yi push open the door and step inside, he immediately set down the shovel he was holding and came over to greet him.

As soon as they met, Feng Kai couldn’t wait to ask, “Xiao Yi, how’s it going? Are you all set over there? Can we sell those sheep in our village yet?”

It was no wonder Feng Kai was so anxious; he was truly at his wits’ end.

That morning, several more families from the village had come to him, hoping to borrow some emergency grain from the production team—otherwise, they’d have nothing to eat.

But the problem was that the only grain the production team had left was seed grain. If they lent it out, how would they manage next month’s spring plowing?

Seeds are not like ordinary grain; they’re carefully selected after the autumn harvest, with every single grain required to be plump and full—it’s certainly not something you can just grab any old grain and call it seed.

Once the seeds are consumed, they cannot be replaced—even with money—since no one is willing to sell seeds.

More importantly, it wasn’t just one or two families in the village facing food shortages—it was dozens of households.

Nianzi Mountain Village has fewer than a hundred households in total, and at least half of them are currently short on grain. If we open this floodgate, we’ll be truly finished.

“Uncle Feng, I came here to discuss this very matter with you. My end is all set—a convoy will arrive tomorrow morning to haul the sheep!” Li Yi said.

“Hahaha, that’s wonderful!”

Then, with a touch of emotion, Feng Kai added, “Xiao Yi, the villagers will get through this crisis entirely thanks to you. I’m thanking you on their behalf!”

“Uncle Feng, please don’t say that. I owe everyone this. If the villagers hadn’t been so forgiving, given my reckless behavior in the past, I’m afraid…”

Before Li Yi could finish, Feng Kai cut him off: “You young man, why bring up the past? Everyone has their youthful days!”

Li Yi nodded without speaking. Although the villagers didn’t make a big deal out of it, there were some things Li Yi himself could never forget.

He’d been a troublemaker since childhood. Fighting and brawling were one thing, but he’d also often led Dongzi, Qiangzi, and the others in causing trouble for the villagers.

In the summer, they’d steal fruit; in the fall, they’d dig up the production brigade’s yams and roast them on the mountain.

That was bad enough, but when he was truly broke, he’d even steal chickens from the production brigade.

Such incidents weren’t exactly major crimes, but if they were pursued, they could have landed him in serious trouble.

However, when it came to such matters, the village officials would at most go to his father and ask him to discipline his son more strictly; they never once considered turning him over to the police or anything of the sort.

Li Yi had kept all these memories close to his heart!

That’s why, after his rebirth, Li Yi added a specific item to his wish list: to lead the villagers out of poverty and into prosperity, ensuring everyone could live a good life.

With that in mind, Li Yi said again, “Uncle Feng, I’ve withdrawn the money today. Please let the villagers know to gather at the village office tomorrow morning—we’ll be distributing the money to everyone!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll let them know right away!”

“Hmm, and while you’re at it, please discuss with Uncle Zhang and Uncle Chen exactly how we should distribute this money!” Li Yi said.

“We’ve already discussed this. Half will be distributed equally among the entire village population, and the other half will be divided equally among the members participating in the cattle and sheep breeding program!” Feng Kai replied.

“Good, as long as the villagers have no objections!”

“It’s all been discussed and agreed upon, so there definitely won’t be any objections!”

“Then it’s settled. I’ll head back now,” Li Yi said.

“Alright!”

With that, Li Yi left the Feng household.

No sooner had Li Yi left than Feng Kai hurried over to the village office next door.

As soon as Li Yi returned to his own courtyard and parked his car, he heard the village loudspeaker suddenly blare.

“Attention, comrades of Nianzishan Village! Everyone must assemble at the village committee office tomorrow morning. We’re going to sell the sheep and divide the proceeds…”

……..

Back at home, his mother, eldest sister, and second sister were preparing yam fish on the kang, but his father was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing Li Yi push open the door, his second sister asked while kneading the dough, “Xiao Yi, I just heard the loudspeaker announce that we’re selling the sheep and dividing the proceeds tomorrow. Have you settled things over there?”

“Yeah, it’s all taken care of!”

Saying this, Li Yi casually set the cloth bag he was holding on the edge of the kang, then went to the kitchen to fetch a bowl, intending to pour some water.

Li Lan thought her younger brother had bought something delicious again, so she immediately opened the cloth bag.

When she saw what was inside, she let out a gasp of surprise.

Her reaction startled Zhang Yuehong and Li Mei, who were standing nearby, but when they followed Li Lan’s gaze, they too were left speechless with astonishment.

When Li Yi returned to the main room carrying the bowl, he saw that his mother and two sisters had stopped working and were all gathered around the cloth bag where he’d put the money, staring blankly at the sack full of “Great Unity” banknotes.

“Xiao Yi, is this the money that’s supposed to be distributed to the villagers tomorrow?” Li Lan asked.

“Right. Since we took the village’s sheep, we naturally have to pay them!”

“It’s such a big bag—how much money is that?”

“There’s a total of 40,000 yuan in the bag, but I don’t think we’ll need that much tomorrow—35,000 at most!” Li Yi said.

“That’s still a lot. Our village has fewer than three hundred people. Even if we divide thirty thousand yuan among us, each person would still get a hundred yuan!”

Their eldest sister, Li Mei, chimed in, “That’s quite a lot. A regular third-level worker at our sugar factory only makes 36 yuan a month—100 yuan would cover three months’ wages for us!”

Unlike her two sisters, their mother was more concerned about another matter.

“Xiao Yi, will you and Xiao Xue get a share when the village distributes the money tomorrow? Oh, and Yunrui and Yunjin too…”

Before she could finish, the second sister immediately interjected, “Why wouldn’t they get a share? Xiao Yi’s family is part of our village too. It wouldn’t make any sense not to give them a share!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Mom, Second Sister, even if the village gives me this money, I can’t accept it!”

“Why can’t you take it? What’s the reason for not taking it?” Li Lan frowned.

“Hehe, according to my agreement with the village regarding the money, I’ve already taken half the profit from these sheep. Why bother quibbling over a hundred or eighty yuan…”

Before Li Yi could finish, his father, Li Shankui, suddenly called out from the main hall, “Well said!”

Immediately afterward, his father pushed open the door and walked in, carrying several free-range chickens with their legs tied together.

“Dad, where did you get these chickens?” Li Yi asked curiously.

“The commune gave them to you. They said you should take them to the capital to help your wife regain her strength!” Li Shankui said.

“Dad, I don’t need that over there…”

“I didn’t plan on keeping them either, but Uncle Zhang and Uncle Feng insisted I bring them back. If I hadn’t, they would have delivered them to your doorstep themselves!” Li Shankui said with a hint of exasperation.

“Alright, then.”

Then his father spoke again: “I heard everything you said earlier. You did the right thing. You’ve already taken the lion’s share. If you were to split the rest of the money, people might not say anything to your face, but they’d certainly have complaints in their hearts. It’s not worth it over a hundred or two yuan!”

“Dad, I understand!”

“Hmm, good that you understand!”

Then Li Shankui asked again, “By the way, when do you plan to return to the capital? Are you going back with the convoy tomorrow?”

“I’m not leaving tomorrow. I plan to finish distributing the money to the villagers first, then move the old house over to the new property. I’ll leave after the move is complete!” Li Yi said.

“No need. We’re living just fine here; there’s no need to…”

Before his father could finish, Li Yi cut him off: “Father, that’s final. You’ll do as I say!”

Seeing that his son was determined to help them move, Li Shankui knew there was no changing his mind. He nodded immediately and agreed!