Chapter 379: Making a Killing!

The two followed Wang Liang down the alley for over a hundred meters, then turned left into an even narrower alley.

After walking another few dozen meters, they arrived at a large gate.

The gate was wide open, and several three-wheeled carts were parked at the entrance, loaded with all sorts of furniture and belongings.

People were constantly carrying items out of the courtyard and loading them onto the carts—clearly, they were in the middle of a move.

Seeing this, Li Yi asked in surprise, “Brother Wang, are these people moving?”

Wang Liang replied immediately, “Yes, they’re moving!”

“But the houses haven’t even been sold yet. Where are they moving to?” Li Yi asked again.

“These courtyards nearby were originally allocated by the municipal government for our factory’s employees to live in. This year, our factory built quite a few residential buildings near the workplace, so we’ve assigned apartments to these veteran employees. According to the regulations, once they’ve been assigned apartments, they have to vacate these old houses!” Wang Liang replied.

Hearing this, Li Yi’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, “So who owns these houses now—your factory or the city government?”

“Our factory. We paid the city government a sum of money for these houses back then, so naturally, the ownership belongs to our factory,” Wang Liang said.

“So is your factory planning to sell these compounds?”

Wang Li sighed and said, “We have no choice but to sell them!”

“Why?”

“Originally, the factory planned to reclaim these compounds and reallocate them to younger employees. But since most people find the houses here old and dilapidated—and because they’re quite far from our workplace—no one is willing to move here.”

Wang Li continued, “So, with no other options, the factory leadership discussed it and ultimately decided to sell all these old houses in the city center and use the funds to build several new dormitory buildings near the factory grounds.”

“So how many compounds is your factory planning to sell, and how many are left now?” Li Yi asked again.

Wang Li replied immediately, “A total of 32 compounds are up for sale, comprising 276 units. So far, 175 units have already been sold!”

Hearing this, Li Yi immediately furrowed his brow and asked, “Brother Wang, are you selling those compounds one unit at a time?”

“Yes! A single compound has anywhere from seven or eight units to as many as forty or fifty. Most people can’t afford to buy an entire compound, and they wouldn’t need that many units anyway, so we have no choice but to sell them one unit at a time!”

Wang Liang continued, “But don’t worry, Brother Li Yi. Old Jiang told me about your requirements, so I’ve set aside two complete courtyards just for you. Take a look and choose whichever one you like.”

“And as for the price, I’ll do my best to give you the lowest possible rate within what I can manage!”

Li Yi replied immediately, “Thank you so much, Brother Wang. Let’s go take a look at the properties first!”

“Alright!”

The three of them immediately walked around the few three-wheeled carts and entered the courtyard.

This courtyard was the kind of small siheyuan commonly found in the capital, consisting of only a single courtyard. At a glance, it covered an area of about three or four hundred square meters.

The courtyard faced south, with the main gate in the southeast. There were two side rooms for storing miscellaneous items, three main rooms facing south on the north side, and three side rooms on each of the east and west sides.

The small inner courtyard wasn’t very large and was currently cluttered with all sorts of random junk.

And just as Jiang Longcheng had said, the courtyard was in a particularly dilapidated state.

Whether it was the walls or the roof tiles, everything was in a state of disrepair. Several rooms were covered with oilcloth, clearly a makeshift solution to the leaks.

Furthermore, the windows—which had originally been uniform wooden frames—had been haphazardly modified by the residents, some now made of wood and others of iron.

Combined with the people bustling back and forth in the courtyard, it looked every bit like a communal housing compound.

The residents in the courtyard were all steel mill workers, so naturally they knew Wang Liang and greeted him one after another when they saw him.

After walking around the courtyard, Li Yi immediately asked, “Brother Wang, how much does the factory plan to sell a courtyard like this for?”

Wang Li replied immediately, “Normally, we sell the main rooms for 1,500 yuan each, the side rooms for 1,000 yuan each, and the small rooms for 600 yuan each. This courtyard has 3 main rooms, 6 side rooms, and 2 small rooms, for a total of 11,700 yuan.”

“Of course, if you really like this courtyard, I can make an exception and sell it to you for 10,000 yuan!”

A discount of 1,700 yuan—equivalent to a 15% discount—left Li Yi quite satisfied with the price.

After a moment’s thought, Li Yi said, “Brother Wang, let me take a look at the other courtyard before I make a decision!”

“Sure!”

Then, led by Wang Liang, the three of them went to see two more courtyards.

Compared to the courtyard they had just seen, this one was much larger—a rare three-courtyard compound covering over 1,000 square meters, giving the entire property a very spacious feel.

The main hall of this courtyard consisted of three rooms, with two side rooms on either side. Although the east and west wings also had three rooms each, they were connected by a covered walkway.

In addition to the front and inner courtyards, this compound also featured a rear courtyard.

Each courtyard served a distinct purpose; compared to the outer courtyard, the inner and rear courtyards offered greater privacy.

After touring the compound, Li Yi instantly fell in love with the place.

“Brother Wang, how much is this compound?”

Wang Liang replied immediately, “A courtyard of this size is a bit pricier. The entire property can’t go for less than twenty-five thousand yuan—that’s the absolute lowest price I can offer!”

Li Yi nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll take both of these compounds. How do I pay?”

“You… you want both?”

Hearing Li Yi’s words, Wang Liang and Jiang Longcheng, who was standing nearby, were both stunned.

“Brother-in-law, those two courtyards together come to thirty-five thousand yuan! With that much money, you could buy a spacious apartment in the city!” Jiang Longcheng said.

Wang Liang chimed in, “Exactly! Besides, are two courtyards this big even something you could live in, bro?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “I plan to have my parents move into the smaller one, and Xiao Xue and I will live in the bigger one.”

“Think it through carefully. Once you pay, there’s no turning back!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“I’ve made up my mind. Let’s go through the paperwork!” Li Yi said decisively.

Wang Liang didn’t say anything; instead, he glanced at Jiang Longcheng beside him.

Jiang Longcheng sighed and said, “Since this kid is as stubborn as a mule, Liangzi, you might as well go along with him.”

Wang Liang nodded and said, “Alright then! It’s a total of thirty-five thousand yuan. You’ll need to pay it directly to our factory’s finance department!”

“Brother Wang, both of these compounds can be registered for property ownership, right?” Li Yi asked again.

“Yes, once the payment is made, I’ll take you there to handle it. It’ll be done in no time!”

The money wasn’t an issue, of course. Just yesterday, he’d received over 80,000 yuan in payment from Fat Jin, and he hadn’t had time to deposit it yet—it was perfect for paying the property fees.

With that in mind, Li Yi immediately said, “Alright, let’s go right now!”

The three of them then rode back to Beiguan Village in Jiang Longcheng’s car, picked up the money, and headed straight for the Beijing Steel Plant.

Led by Wang Liang, they smoothly signed the contract and made the payment.

Afterward, the group went together to the Beijing office responsible for property registration.

After submitting the relevant documents, the property ownership certificates for the two compounds were issued shortly thereafter.

As they stepped out of the property registration office, Li Yi let out a sigh of relief.

The housing issue was finally resolved, and he and Tang Xue now had a place to call home in Beijing.

Most importantly, buying two courtyard houses in the heart of the capital for 35,000 yuan was something only possible now.

In a few years’ time, even if the price were to increase tenfold, they might not be able to afford them.

If you wait until after the turn of the millennium, even that small courtyard would be out of reach without a substantial savings goal!

If only he had a bit more cash on hand right now, Li Yi would have loved to buy a few more to hold onto.

But even so, today’s deal was an absolute steal!

Beiguan Village, Beijing!

Li Yi was unaware of what had happened in Yong County; at that moment, he was busy with matters at the cotton mill.

Although he had orchestrated the events in Yong County, the distance was simply too great, so he had no choice but to entrust the task to Xiao Zhanwu.

Of course, aside from being out of reach, the more important reason was that he was simply too busy right now.

Tens of thousands of yards of fabric at the cotton mill were waiting for him to handle. If he failed, not only would he lose his entire fortune, but he would also end up owing the mill hundreds of thousands of yuan.

So, Li Yi had devoted all his energy to the cotton mill during this period!

Fortunately, with the full support of Jiang Longcheng—the factory director and his brother-in-law—progress was going smoothly on all fronts.

Just as An Hong and Director Tan were working flat out to ramp up production, Jiang Longcheng had also resolved the issue of securing a location for the specialty store.

It must be said that having connections makes things go much more smoothly.

What had left Li Yi stumped for days, Jiang Longcheng managed to resolve in just two days.

More importantly, the location he picked for the store was absolutely top-notch—it was right in the main lobby on the first floor of the Wangfujing Department Store.

Wow, when Jiang Longcheng brought Li Yi here to take over the space, Li Yi was completely stunned.

Just a few days earlier, when he’d visited the site, it had been a row of counters stocked with all kinds of yarn.

Now, all the counters had been cleared away, leaving behind an open space of over 200 square meters.

This is the Wangfujing Department Store, after all—let alone securing such a large area, even a small counter of just a few square meters would be hard to come by.

But when he thought about the Jiang family’s influence in Beijing, Li Yi felt reassured.

Moreover, in addition to the Wangfujing Department Store, Jiang Longcheng had also secured a sizeable prime storefront for him inside the Dong’an Market.

With these two high-traffic locations serving as flagship stores, Li Yi felt even more confident in his plan.

He immediately called in a renovation team and had them fit out the space according to his plans.

The garment workshop was now working overtime to ramp up production, and the matter of the specialty stores had been settled!

Meanwhile, Sun Feng’s sales team was traveling around with samples to promote the brand. Although the results weren’t spectacular, they had managed to raise awareness of the Xueyi Apparel brand among quite a few people.

In short, with production, sales, and other aspects proceeding smoothly according to the original plan, Li Yi’s venture to snap up the cotton mill’s surplus fabric had finally gotten fully on track.

All that remains now is for the boutique to finish its renovation, and they’ll be ready to officially open for business.

Not only was the garment factory business going smoothly, but Li Yi’s dry goods business was also progressing very well.

On December 28, his brother-in-law delivered the family’s final batch of dried goods to the capital and successfully handed them over to Fat Jin!

This batch was slightly smaller than the last, weighing just over 40,000 jin!

Even so, Li Yi once again pocketed over 85,000 yuan.

With that, Li Yi’s dried goods business—which he had been planning for over half a year—was finally wrapped up.

He had invested nearly 100,000 yuan in the venture and ultimately recouped 230,000 yuan, resulting in a net profit of about 130,000 yuan.

Although that might not sound like much, in 1980—just as China’s reform and opening-up had begun—it was absolutely a fortune.

With the extra money in hand, Li Yi immediately put buying a house on his agenda.

He had no choice—his mother-in-law, Ye Lingyun, had already told him that they planned to be discharged from the hospital by the end of the month and then take Tang Xue to attend her nephew Jianhua’s wedding on New Year’s Day.

At the same time, his father-in-law, Jiang Shiying, had told him that he would also be returning for Ye Jianhua’s wedding, at which time he intended to have Tang Xue formally recognize her ancestral lineage.

Under these circumstances, the matter of buying a house had become somewhat urgent.

To that end, Li Yi brought up the matter with Jiang Longcheng once again.

In fact, Jiang Longcheng had been having people keep an eye out for this all along, and just the day before Ye Lingyun was due to be discharged, there was finally news regarding the house.

………

On the main road leading from Beiguan Village to the city center, an olive-green Jeep was speeding along.

Inside the vehicle, Li Yi looked at Jiang Longcheng, who was holding a cigarette in one hand and steering the wheel with the other, and couldn’t help but say, “Be careful and drive safely—this is the city center, after all!”

“Don’t worry. I’ve been driving for over ten years—nothing will happen!” Jiang Longcheng said confidently.

Seeing that he wasn’t willing to listen, Li Yi didn’t say much more, but asked again, “How much do you know about the house?”

“A friend of mine helped me track it down. It’s right near the Imperial City walls, not too far from the old family home, but it seems a bit run-down,” Jiang Longcheng said.

“I’m not worried about it being run-down; I’m concerned the ownership might not be clear!” Li Yi said.

“I’m not entirely sure about the specifics, but I’ve already asked my friend to wait for us there. We’ll find out once we get there!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“Alright, let’s go check it out first and see what it’s like!”

“Right. If it’s suitable, we’ll buy it; if not, we won’t!”

Then Jiang Longcheng added, “Actually, I think since it’s just the two of you—you and your girlfriend—living in one of those newly built apartment buildings would be great. Not only are they spacious, but they’re convenient too. How can an old house compare?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Xiao Xue and I are used to living in a single-story house—we really don’t like high-rises!”

“Forget it. Do whatever you want. I’m not going to tell you what to do!”

With that, Jiang Longcheng slammed his foot on the gas pedal and sped toward the city center!

After driving through the city for nearly half an hour, they finally arrived at the agreed-upon location.

When the car pulled up in a relatively wide alley, Li Yi was somewhat taken aback.

He was no stranger to this place; it was no exaggeration to call it “right under the emperor’s feet” or “at the foot of the imperial city”—it was just a street away from the world-famous Forbidden City.

In his previous life, a friend of his had owned a courtyard house nearby; he’d visited it several times. Rumor had it that his friend had shelled out five hundred million for that property!

Li Yi hadn’t expected that the property Jiang Longcheng had found for him would be right here. On the spot, Li Yi made a silent decision: as long as the property rights were in order, he would buy it no matter how run-down it was.

The reason he kept emphasizing the title was mainly because the property rights for these courtyards were rarely clear-cut.

During a specific historical period, the vast majority of Beijing’s courtyard houses were allocated to ordinary workers. It was common for three or four families—or even as many as a dozen—to live in a single courtyard.

While this approach maximized the use of Beijing’s limited housing stock to meet the housing needs of more people, it also resulted in unclear property rights for these homes.

For example, if three or four families live in a single courtyard, to whom exactly should the property rights belong?

It would be impractical to establish separate property rights for each individual house within a single courtyard.

Therefore, buying a property like this is bound to lead to a whole host of complications down the road.

With plenty of other options available, Li Yi naturally wouldn’t buy these trouble-prone properties.

When the car came to a stop, a man in his thirties approached them.

After a brief introduction, Li Yi learned that the man’s name was Wang Liang, a junior manager at the Beijing Steel Plant.

The property he was about to show Li Yi and his group wasn’t just any courtyard—it was the steel mill’s employee housing.

Although he was a bit puzzled—why would the steel mill’s employee housing be located here, and why were they selling it now?

But because of his fondness for siheyuan courtyards, Li Yi, along with Jiang Longcheng, followed Wang Liang into the alley!

A Compound in Guangdong Province!

In the study, after hanging up the phone, Jiang Shiying felt his face burning.

To be honest, he truly hadn’t expected the truth to be like this—it was completely beyond his expectations.

I had assumed that my daughter, being new to the area, had been sent to work in a remote mountain village and was being bullied by Li Yi, that street urchin.

Jiang Shiying had lived in the countryside before and had seen this kind of thing happen.

She knew that in such situations, once a girl had been wronged, she would rarely fight back; more often than not, she would end up marrying the man who had bullied her to preserve her reputation.

The thought of his own daughter swallowing her pride and tears—being mistreated yet afraid to speak out—made his blood boil.

So, upon receiving the investigation results from the northern frontier, he immediately called Li Yi in a rage to demand an explanation.

But what he never could have imagined was that his own daughter was a tough one—she was the one doing the bullying!

Li Yi, who seemed so arrogant, turned out to be a little white rabbit being bullied—what a mess!

Thinking back on how he’d stormed in demanding answers, Jiang Shiying felt as if he’d been struck by lightning—he was utterly mortified.

Still, he couldn’t just take Li Yi’s word for it—after all, this wasn’t just about his daughter’s reputation!

More importantly, this also determined how the Jiang family would view Li Yi as a person.

If he had truly mistreated his daughter, he would never let him off the hook, let alone accept him as a son-in-law of the Jiang family.

With that in mind, Jiang Shiying picked up the phone again. He decided to call the hospital and ask his daughter directly.

But once he had the phone in his hand, he hesitated.

The whole thing was simply too shocking. Even though she was his own daughter, he really didn’t know how to bring it up.

If Li Yi was lying, and his daughter was the one who had been mistreated, then this incident might be a deep, painful scar in her heart—something she’d be most reluctant to bring up.

To ask her about it himself would be like tearing open her wound all over again!

But if Li Yi was telling the truth, then this might be his daughter’s most shameful secret—and he certainly couldn’t ask about that either.

For a moment, Jiang Shiying—a man known for his ruthlessness and decisiveness—actually hesitated!

However, she thought of the fact that Jianhua, from her third brother-in-law’s family, was getting married in a few days. As his uncle-in-law, she absolutely had to attend the wedding—she’d find an opportunity to ask about it then!

Just as Jiang Shiying was deep in thought, the phone on the table suddenly rang!

Jiang Shiying immediately picked up the receiver and said, “Hello?”

“Old Jiang, it’s Old Hu!”

Hearing it was his childhood friend, Jiang Shiying immediately laughed and said, “You’re finally not busy anymore?”

“Heh, you know how it is—in our line of work, it’s rare to have a moment to spare…”

“I know you’re busy. Go ahead, what’s the matter with this call today?” Jiang Shiying asked.

“There’s news about the matter you asked me to look into!”

Hearing this, Jiang Shiying sat up straight and asked immediately, “Tell me the details!”

“Our investigation revealed that Tang Jizhong, Tang Lei, and Li Hongmei repeatedly stole property from the factory while on the job. Additionally, when they were disposing of the stillborn infant, they secretly kept the jade pendant that the sister-in-law had left for the child. As a result, the relevant authorities in Yong County have reopened the case!”

“And what’s the outcome?”

“The results aren’t out yet, but it’s certain that the sentences for these already incarcerated criminals will be increased!”

Jiang Shiying asked again, “What about the rest of the Tang family?”

“Tang Jizhong’s brothers were fully aware of the matter but deliberately concealed it, thus committing the crime of harboring a criminal. However, since they were not deeply involved and the circumstances were minor—not meeting the standards for prosecution—the matter has been referred to their respective employers for handling!”

Then, the voice on the phone spoke again: “We just received word this afternoon that all of Tang Jizhong’s brothers have been fired from their respective workplaces, and their children’s employment has also been affected!”

“Hmm, I recall the Tang family had a youngest daughter who used to bully Xiao Xue. What’s become of her now?” Jiang Shiying asked again.

“She’s already been arrested. Besides Tang Bing, that kid from the Tan family and Liu Ermaozi have all been arrested too!”

“So fast? Did we leave any loose ends?” Jiang Shiying asked in a low voice.

“No, their arrests have nothing to do with me—it was all arranged by your son-in-law!”

“Li Yi?”

“Right. I had already sent a task force to Yong County to handle this, but I didn’t expect that before my people could take action, the authorities in Yong County had already arrested that Tan family kid, along with Tang Bing, Liu Ermaozi, and the others!”

The voice on the other end continued, “The Yong County Bureau cited the following reasons: Tan Cheng for profiteering and engaging in illicit sexual relationships; Tang Bing for the same; and as for Tang Bing’s husband, Liu Ermaozi, he’s charged with disfiguring Tang Bing’s face and breaking Tan Cheng’s leg—a clear case of intentional assault!”

“How do you know that kid was behind it?” Jiang Shiying asked.

Old Hu’s voice came through the phone immediately: “Everyone knows this whole thing is tied to that kid. Didn’t I tell you last time? Your son-in-law set it up so Liu Ermao found out about Tan Cheng and Tang Bing’s affair. Liu Ermao caught them in the act, disfigured Tang Bing’s face, and broke Tan Cheng’s leg!”

“It’s only been a few days, and the people involved have already been arrested one after another because of this. It’s clearly something that kid deliberately orchestrated!”

“Furthermore, the officer in charge of this case is a deputy captain at the Yong County Police Bureau named Xiao Zhanwu. He’s very close to your son-in-law, and he was promoted from a regular officer to deputy captain specifically for solving the arson cases involving Tang Jizhong and Tang Lei. If you tell anyone this has nothing to do with your son-in-law, who’s going to believe you?”

Jiang Shiying replied calmly, “Hmm, that kid’s got some skills. Not bad!”

“His skills are good, but sometimes, no matter how skilled you are, you can’t beat an opponent who plays dirty!”

“What do you mean?”

“We just got word that Liu Ermao has been released on bail!”

“What’s going on?”

“Someone took the fall for all his crimes. It was his brother-in-law, the factory director, who pulled the strings. The other party has deep roots in Yong County, and that young cop surnamed Xiao has been transferred from his post!”

“Hmph, they’re taking advantage of the fact that my son-in-law has no backing!”

Jiang Shiying immediately replied, “Old Hu, the rest is up to you. I don’t care what kind of lousy factory director he is—since he dared to meddle in this, let him go to prison and reflect on his actions!”

“Got it. My men are already in Yong County. I’ll give you an update soon!”

“Hmm, and as for that Captain Xiao—no matter what, I do owe him a favor. You should keep an eye on things for him too!” Jiang Shiying said.

“Got it!”

After exchanging a few more words, the two finally hung up.

After hanging up, Jiang Shiying fell into deep thought.

He believed he already knew Li Yi quite well.

But now it seemed he had seriously underestimated the young man.

Not only was he skilled at reading people’s faces and had considerable business acumen, but he also seemed to be quite adept at scheming and plotting.

In an ordinary family, a son-in-law who was too calculating might not be a good thing.

But in a prominent family like the Jiangs, one simply couldn’t get by without a few tricks up one’s sleeve.

After all, a family like this has to deal with so many people and matters; if his daughter were to marry a simpleton, that would be a real headache.

With that in mind, Jiang Shiying decided that once she returned home, she would have a serious talk with Li Yi!

PS: Chapter 1 is here. I’ll do my best to get Chapter 2 out before midnight!

Beijing. The Ye Family!

While Li Yi was busy with his clothing business, the Ye family’s old mansion presented a very different scene.

In the living room of the old mansion, nearly all the direct descendants of the second and third generations of the Ye family had gathered.

As soon as Ye Jianhua’s father, Ye Huaihai, pushed open the door and entered, the elderly patriarch seated at the head of the table immediately asked, “Second Son, what did the Du family say?”

“I made a point of calling Old Number Two Du today. His exact words were that yesterday’s incident wasn’t the Du family’s intention—it was just that his little brat acted without thinking; it was a misunderstanding!” Ye Taibei said in a low voice.

“Damn it! They showed up at our doorstep with a mob and tarnished the reputation of our Ye family’s daughter-in-law—and you call that a misunderstanding?” Ye Huaihai roared.

“Third Brother, calm down!”

Then Old Master Ye spoke again: “I do believe this wasn’t Old Ghost Du’s intention. That old codger isn’t stupid enough to pick a fight with all three of our families at once. But judging by Du Er’s attitude, the Du family’s ambitions are no small matter!”

Ye Taibei remarked calmly, “Isn’t it only natural for the Du family to have ambitions? Now that they’re in power, they’re no longer content with their current position. It’s not just those third-generation brats—the second generation of the Du family has been getting a bit too cocky lately.”

Ye Huaihai chimed in, “Our Ye family and the Du family have always kept to our own business. What’s the point of them picking a fight with us?”

“Simple. It’s because our Ye family is standing in the Du family’s way!” Ye Taibei said.

“Second Brother, are you saying the Du family’s eldest son wants to climb even higher?”

“Exactly. For the Du family’s leader to advance further, he must first get past our eldest brother.”

Ye Taibei continued, “Otherwise, the second son of the Du family wouldn’t be acting this way. He’s using this incident to test how tough the Ye family really is!”

“That bastard! Does he really think the Ye family is afraid of them?” Ye Huaihai roared.

Ye Taibei immediately replied, “We’re not afraid, but given the current situation, we really can’t do anything about them!”

“Are we just going to sit here and do nothing? I can’t just let this slide!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Ye Jianhua, standing nearby, suddenly interjected, “Father, please don’t get so worked up. My brother-in-law has already said that bastard is in for trouble. Why don’t we wait a few days and see what happens?”

Hearing this, the entire Ye family fell silent.

They had all witnessed Li Yi’s methods firsthand and knew he wasn’t one to make empty threats.

Just then, the old man suddenly asked, “Jianhua, how’s your investigation coming along?”

Ye Jianhua replied immediately, “I’ve been asking around privately, and I’ve indeed uncovered some issues…”

“What kind of issues? Be more specific,” the old man said in a deep voice.

“According to my findings, those bastards have been taking advantage of their close relationship with me to pull all sorts of dirty tricks under my name. Since everyone knows they’re just tagging along with me, many people are too afraid to speak up, even though they’re furious!” Ye Jianhua said.

“What kind of shady business? Is it serious?” Ye Huaihai couldn’t help but interject.

“Just your typical thievery and prostitution—all sorts of filthy, despicable business. If we were to pursue it legally, it wouldn’t be particularly serious, but the impact is terrible!” Ye Jianhua said.

“In that case, let Long Yin handle it!”

Then, Old Master Ye added, “You’re no spring chicken anymore. From now on, you must keep your eyes open when judging people. Otherwise, you’re bound to suffer major losses in the future!”

“Yes, Grandfather, I’ll remember that!”

“How are the wedding preparations coming along?” the old man asked again.

“They’re almost all set!”

“Hmm. Old Man Lin and I spoke on the phone about your wedding with Ying. A small, intimate gathering among family will suffice—there’s no need for a lavish celebration. Things are a bit chaotic right now; it’s best not to draw too much attention!” Old Master Ye said again.

“Alright, I’ll explain this to Ying’er!”

“Good!”

…….

Beiguan Village. Hot Pot Restaurant!

After returning from the city, Li Yi was just about to take a short break before writing up the press release.

After all, it required slipping in some personal agenda—not something just anyone could handle; he had to handle it himself.

But before he’d even settled into his seat, Long Zhanjun reported that his father-in-law had called an hour earlier, asking him to return the call once he got back.

Then, Long Zhanjun gave him a phone number.

Although he didn’t know why Jiang Shiying was calling him, Li Yi dialed the number anyway!

After a few rings, the call was answered, and Jiang Shiying’s cool, detached voice came through the receiver: “Hello?”

“Dad, it’s Li Yi!”

“Hmm, you’re back?”

“I’m back. Why did you decide to call me?” Li Yi asked.

“There’s something I want to ask you. How did you treat Xue’er, you little rascal!” Jiang Shiying asked in a stern voice.

“Bullied Xue’er? No way. Why would I bully Xue’er?” Li Yi retorted immediately.

“Hmph. I heard that Xue’er was about to return to the city, but after you bullied her, she had no choice but to marry you. Is that true?”

Jiang Shiying had had his men investigate these details over the past few days. When he first heard about it, he was so furious he felt like his lungs were about to burst.

He hadn’t expected that his own daughter had only married him out of desperation after being mistreated by Li Yi.

But upon further reflection, it didn’t quite add up. Although he hadn’t spent much time with his daughter, he could tell that the look in her eyes when she looked at Li Yi was genuine and radiant—not at all like someone who had been bullied.

Moreover, Li Yi had always stood up for his daughter, keeping her in his thoughts in everything he did, his affection for her plain for all to see.

By all accounts, the two were clearly in love—how could they possibly be in that kind of relationship? So he decided to ask Li Yi directly to see if there was some misunderstanding at play!

Li Yi, meanwhile, was a bit taken aback; clearly, his father-in-law had specifically looked into the matter.

However, the truth behind the matter was far too complicated; he could likely only scratch the surface and had no chance of uncovering the real truth.

But that was exactly what made it so dangerous—after all, the rumors circulating weren’t exactly in his favor!

With that in mind, Li Yi immediately said, “Well… there is some truth to it, but… but there’s more to the story!”

“What’s the real story?” Jiang Shiying asked again.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Of course I do! If I didn’t want to know, why would I be calling you out of the blue?” Jiang Shiying retorted.

“No regrets?”

“Cut the crap. What’s really going on?”

Li Yi paused briefly, then said, “It’s true that Xiao Xue and I had that kind of relationship before we got married, but it wasn’t me taking advantage of her—it was… it was Xiao Xue who took advantage of me!”

As he spoke, Li Yi silently apologized to his wife in his heart; he really couldn’t keep this from her any longer.

Otherwise, given his father-in-law’s ruthless temperament, who knows what he might do!

So, while he could take the blame for Tang Xue in front of his parents and sisters, he certainly couldn’t do it in front of his father-in-law—that could be a matter of life and death.

On the other end of the line, Jiang Shiying was completely stunned by what she heard!

When he first heard about this, he’d suspected there was more to the story—after all, the way they’d been acting didn’t look like one was forcing the other—but he never imagined the truth would be this!

“You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”

“No, if you don’t believe me, you can ask Xue quietly…”

Before he could finish, there was a sharp “click”—the person on the other end had actually hung up!

Listening to the dial tone coming through the receiver, Li Yi couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear!

He could totally picture Jiang Shiying’s expression on the other end of the line. Let’s see if he dares to glare at him like that again!

Li Yi spent the entire day busy at the cotton mill.

In the morning, he discussed the establishment of sales channels with Sun Feng, the head of the sales department at the cotton mill.

For a garment factory, production is certainly important, but sales channels are equally crucial for the factory to grow and thrive.

This is especially true for a company like the cotton mill, which controls its own raw materials and possesses extensive equipment and a large workforce—it must have its own sales channels to ensure sufficient output.

Fortunately, the cotton mill had long recognized this, which is why they established the Sales Department early on.

According to Sun Feng, the sales department currently has over eighty sales representatives, primarily responsible for liaising with fabric-using entities in the capital and nearby counties.

Before the factory’s fabrics began experiencing quality issues, the sales department’s work proceeded smoothly, and there was rarely any surplus of the fabric produced each year.

However, ever since quality issues arose three years ago, meeting their sales targets has become extremely difficult. Eventually, they were forced to resort to deep discounts, effectively turning the sales staff into sales promoters.

After learning about the situation in the Sales Department, Li Yi immediately shared his ideas with him.

According to Li Yi’s plan, the factory’s clothing was primarily aimed at people with considerable purchasing power in large and medium-sized cities.

There were three main sales channels: the first was promoting the products to various department stores in the city; the second was operating branded chain stores; and the third was trade shows.

Subsequently, Li Yi instructed Sun Feng and his team to immediately take the produced samples to promote them at major department stores and clothing wholesale markets in Beijing and the surrounding counties and districts, or to participate in various clothing trade shows.

As for the chain stores, Li Yi planned to have Jiang Longcheng make the local contacts, with Li Yi personally overseeing the process in the end!

Although Sun Feng and his team lacked confidence in this endeavor, the sales department currently had no other work. According to factory regulations, if they remained idle, they would only receive half their original salary.

So, regardless of whether they could actually sell these clothes, having something to do was a relief, and they readily accepted the task of promoting the garments.

Of course, relying solely on these people for promotion wouldn’t be enough. To make these clothes “take off,” he’d need to come up with other strategies!

Fortunately, he already had an idea!

After arranging for the establishment of sales channels, Li Yi rolled up his sleeves and personally designed several styles of wool coats for both men and women.

He then handed the designs to Director Tan, instructing them to begin prototyping immediately!

The coats Li Yi designed were all classic styles common in later times—two styles each for men and women, one long and one short.

Director Tan did not disappoint Li Yi; within three hours of receiving his “designs,” the samples were ready.

After seeing how the wool coats looked when worn, Li Yi was extremely satisfied.

When the beautiful factory beauty surnamed Xu put on the batwing-sleeve top and flared pants, then slipped the wool coat over them, her entire demeanor was completely transformed.

It must be said that these pieces are truly timeless classics.

Even decades from now, they would still be in style!

Immediately, Li Yi instructed Director Tan to organize the factory workers to work overtime to speed up production; if there weren’t enough hands, he could have Jiang Longcheng transfer staff from other workshops.

Since he had plans to meet with Jiang Longcheng’s friend who worked at the newspaper that evening, Li Yi didn’t return to the store.

As the workday drew to a close, he met up with Jiang Longcheng, and they left the cotton mill together!

…….

On the way, Li Yi briefly asked Jiang Longcheng about his friend.

According to Jiang Longcheng, his friend’s surname was Yang; he was an editor at the Workers’ Daily and held a minor leadership position at the newspaper.

They had agreed to meet at a state-run restaurant in the city center, and by the time they arrived, it was already 6:30 p.m.

By the time they entered the restaurant, the other party was already there.

As soon as they met, Jiang Longcheng couldn’t help but tease him: “Hey, Old Yang, you’re still as lazy as ever—you even have to pick a spot near your office just to meet up!”

The portly Editor Yang laughed and said, “That’s not laziness. Do you think everyone has a car like you do?”

He then glanced at Li Yi and asked, “Who’s this guy?”

Jiang Longcheng immediately replied, “Let me introduce you. This is my brother-in-law, Li Yi…”

“Wait a minute, brother-in-law? Where’d you find a sister?”

“Cousin!”

“That doesn’t make sense either. I know your family situation—where did this cousin come from?”

“She’s my third uncle’s daughter. I’ll explain the details later. He’s my brother-in-law—I’m not joking!”

Editor Yang took a good look at Li Yi, then extended his hand and said, “Yang Ling. This guy and I grew up together in the same neighborhood!”

Li Yi immediately replied, “Hello, Brother Yang. I’m Li Yi!”

Jiang Longcheng smiled and said, “You two take a seat first. I’ll go order the food!”

Once they were seated, Yang Ling looked at Li Yi and said, “Brother Li Yi, Old Jiang called me yesterday saying he needed to talk to me. I assume it’s you who’s looking for me?”

“Yeah, I wanted to ask Brother Yang about advertising,” Li Yi said.

“Huh, you want to run an ad?”

“I’ve been thinking about it. I’m wondering how much an ad would cost?” Li Yi asked right away.

Actually, placing ads in newspapers wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

Since the Opium War, Chinese newspapers and periodicals had begun to proliferate, and advertising was naturally the primary source of revenue for newspapers.

However, due to policy restrictions, newspaper advertising had been banned for many years, so at first glance, the idea seemed quite novel.

However, as far as Li Yi knew, restrictions in this area had already been lifted domestically, and the first commercial advertisement had been published in Shanghai’s Wen Hui Bao on March 15, 1979.

The ad featured a Swiss Rado watch; due to printing limitations at the time, it was not a photograph but a hand-drawn illustration of the watch.

Yang Ling paused briefly, then said, “Currently, the Workers’ Daily has not yet launched advertising services. Among central media publications, only the Liberation Daily can run ads at the moment, but the rates are extremely high—no less than 1,800 yuan per ad—and I hear the ad space has already been booked through next year!”

Upon hearing this, Li Yi immediately furrowed his brow and said, “Since other newspapers are already doing this, why doesn’t your *Workers’ Daily* give it a try?”

As far as Li Yi knew, the Workers’ Daily was a newspaper under the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and its current circulation was still quite high, second only to major papers like the People’s Daily.

“It’s a long story, to be honest. We’ve been arguing about this at our office for nearly a year, but the higher-ups still haven’t made a final decision!” Yang Ling said with a hint of resignation.

“I see. Well then, Brother Yang, could you help us publish a news report?” Li Yi asked again.

“What kind of report?”

“In a few days, the cotton mill’s clothing line will hit the market in large quantities, and all the specialty stores in the city will open. This is part of the cotton mill’s industrial transformation—after all, it’s a major achievement for Old Jiang. I think it’s worth promoting properly!”

“In that case, it does deserve some publicity. Why don’t I send a reporter over when the time comes?” Yang Ling suggested.

“No need for a reporter. My idea is that we’ll provide the press release, and your Workers’ Daily can find a good spot to publish it. How about that?” Li Yi said.

Naturally, he wasn’t just looking to help Jiang Longcheng promote his achievements; more importantly, he wanted to run a soft advertisement.

Since traditional advertising wasn’t an option, he could slip a soft ad into a standard press release. By leveraging the coverage of the cotton mill’s industrial transformation to promote their clothing line, he figured it wouldn’t be a problem.

After all, whether it’s a soft ad or a hard ad, as long as it achieves the promotional effect, that’s all that matters!

“That’s within my authority, so it’s no problem—as long as it’s not an ad!” Yang Ling said.

“It definitely isn’t an advertisement!”

“Then it’s fine!”

……

Cotton Mill. Warehouse Area!

Looking at the inventory log in his hand, Li Yi was at a loss for words.

He had always been aware of the common problems plaguing state-owned enterprises—overstaffing and a complacent, “get by” attitude—but he never imagined these people would be so careless in their work.

After just a single glance at these inventory records, Li Yi felt it was highly unlikely that over three thousand yards of fabric had been stolen; it was more likely a simple accounting error.

The reason was simple: the data recorded in these inventory logs was definitely flawed—and seriously so.

Take June 2, for example. The inventory log read: “Three truckloads of printed cloth received in the morning; two truckloads of cotton cloth received in the afternoon!”

And that was it—there were no further details, including which workshop had delivered these five cartloads of cloth, how many bales or pieces there were in total, or who had received them.

To be honest, inventory records like this are the epitome of sloppiness, and if something goes wrong, you wouldn’t even know who to hold accountable!

If Li Yi’s own employees dared to act this way, they’d likely be kicked out within a week—but only a state-owned enterprise could tolerate such behavior.

More importantly, while the earlier records were a complete mess, the end-of-month summary data suddenly listed a total of 3,240 yards received.

Based on the formula on the form, Li Yi could roughly deduce how this figure of 3,240 pieces was arrived at: in June, the production workshop sent a total of 90 truckloads of finished fabric to the warehouse, with each truckload containing 6 bales and each bale containing 6 pieces.

At first glance, this seems fine, but upon closer inspection, it doesn’t add up.

They hadn’t counted the number of bolts earlier, and at the end of the month, they simply multiplied the number of trucks delivered from the production workshop to arrive at the figure—is this a joke?

After all, the types of fabric being received vary, and so do the quantities per type!

Moreover, Li Yi went through the inventory records and found no entry for woolen fabric.

This led Li Yi to form a theory about the situation.

Since woolen fabric is thicker, one bolt takes up much more space than printed or cotton fabric, so each bundle contains only four bolts.

If we calculate by cart, a cart of cotton cloth contains six large bundles, with six bolts per bundle, totaling 36 bolts!

A truckload of woolen fabric also consists of six large bundles, but with four bolts per bundle, the total comes to only 24 bolts.

If the warehouse staff, due to negligence, had counted all the woolen fabric as ordinary cotton or printed cloth, the number of bolts recorded in the ledgers would undoubtedly be much higher than the actual amount.

Having roughly figured out the truth of the matter, Li Yi began to consider how to resolve the immediate problem.

Regardless of how the factory ended up in this situation, the fact remained that there was currently a shortage of plain and patterned cotton fabrics, which would inevitably have a significant impact on his previous plans.

However, this impact might not necessarily be a bad thing!

The reason is simple!

After all, it was winter, and no matter how stylish the batwing shirts made from printed fabric might be, they weren’t seasonal clothing. That’s why Li Yi had originally intended to sell the printed fabric at a discount.

Compared to printed fabrics, wool is a warm, thick fabric—and an exceptionally high-quality one at that.

When made into clothing, it’s perfect for winter or early spring.

Put simply, in this season, 5,000 bolts of woolen fabric are far easier to sell than 5,000 bolts of floral fabric, and they’re also more valuable.

However, selling that much woolen fabric isn’t easy.

First, woolen fabric is difficult to work with for clothing, and there are few styles available!

Second, it’s quite expensive, and ordinary people can’t afford it.

Fortunately, Li Yi could recall quite a few designs for men’s and women’s woolen jackets and coats; if these garments were produced, they should sell like hotcakes.

Besides, this is the capital after all, and there are plenty of wealthy people here.

He only had five thousand yards of woolen fabric on hand, and the capital should be able to absorb that!

Right then, Li Yi decided to immediately “design” the woolen garments and hand them over to Director Tan and his team for production.

After leaving the warehouse, Li Yi sent An Hong back to the production workshop, while he headed to the factory office building to have a chat with Jiang Longcheng.

……..

In the factory director’s office, Jiang Longcheng was feeling annoyed by a sudden, troublesome issue.

He already felt he’d let his brother-in-law down in this matter; if it weren’t to help him, Li Yi wouldn’t have had to get involved in this mess in the first place.

Now, not only had he staked his entire fortune to help them through this crisis, but his own factory had ended up letting him down as well. All of this left Jiang Longcheng at a loss as to how he could explain himself to Li Yi.

Just as Jiang Longcheng was frowning, a sudden “knock, knock” sounded at the door!

“Come in!”

When he saw Li Yi push the door open, Jiang Longcheng immediately asked, “Brother-in-law, how’s it going over at the warehouse? Is there really a shortage?”

“Hmm, the numbers on the books don’t quite add up…”

Before Li Yi could finish, Jiang Longcheng cut him off: “Don’t worry about it, brother-in-law. I’ll make sure you’re fully compensated. There’s no way I’m letting you take a loss!”

“No need…”

Before he could finish, Jiang Longcheng spoke again: “We just had a meeting. The factory says there’s a shortage of over 3,700 bolts of fabric, and they plan to deduct one-tenth of the payment. What do you think?”

“I have no objections. Even if they don’t deduct the payment, I’m fine with it!”

Li Yi then added, “Although we’re short quite a bit of plain and patterned cotton, we’ve actually gained over 5,000 yards of woolen fabric. The overall value of that batch hasn’t decreased—in fact, it’s actually increased slightly compared to before!”

Jiang Longcheng replied immediately, “As long as you have no objections, that’s fine. I won’t go into the rest—I certainly can’t let you come out at a loss, can I?”

“I haven’t lost out, but your factory’s management is a bit chaotic. You, as the factory director, really need to get things in order!” Li Yi said.

“Huh? Where’s the chaos? Did you uncover something new?” Jiang Longcheng asked.

“Well, there are major issues with the accounting records in your warehouse!”

Li Yi then proceeded to recount what he had just discovered.

After listening to Li Yi, Jiang Longcheng frowned and said, “So it’s not that someone stole inventory from the warehouse, but that their records are wrong?”

“That’s likely the case, but have you considered why there’s so much woolen fabric in the warehouse when there’s no record of it in the inventory logs?” Li Yi asked.

“Could this… be due to negligence on the part of the warehouse staff?”

“That’s a possibility, but it could also be intentional on the part of the production department.”

“Why?” Jiang Longcheng asked, puzzled.

“To meet production quotas, of course!”

Li Yi continued, “After all, producing a bale of woolen fabric is much easier than producing a bale of cotton or printed fabric. Then using the woolen fabric to fulfill the quotas for cotton or printed fabric is simply too profitable.”

Hearing this, Jiang Longcheng was completely baffled.

Although he was the factory director, he had absolutely no idea about these inner workings of the factory and had no clue such practices existed.

“Damn it, if that’s the case, we can’t just let this slide!” Jiang Longcheng said angrily.

“Although this is an internal matter for your factory, and as an outsider I shouldn’t meddle too much, since you’re the factory director, I feel I must say a few words!”

Li Yi continued, “For a business to thrive, it must have a sound set of work procedures. Your factory’s systems are far too lax. If you want to grow, you must put an end to this culture of inefficiency!”

Jiang Longcheng immediately replied, “You’re right. Compared to the staff at your store, I feel like our factory is practically running wild—it’s just terrible!”

“Good to hear you realize that!”

Li Yi then asked again, “By the way, how are things going with setting up the marketing channels? What do the various managers at your factory think about it?”

“What objections could they possibly have? They’ve all agreed. As long as you don’t pursue the matter of the missing goods, they’ll be counting themselves lucky!” Jiang Longcheng said indifferently.

“All right, then. Have the head of your sales department come over in a moment. I want to have a good talk with him!” Li Yi said.

“Alright! I’ll have him come right over!”

“Alright!”

…….

PS: I went back to work before I’d fully recovered, and ended up with an eye infection. Yesterday it hurt so much I couldn’t even open my eyes, but today it’s a little better!

Nothing happened that night!

Early the next morning, Li Yi arrived at the cotton mill well before dawn. After all, he had invested his entire fortune in this place, so he couldn’t afford to be careless.

As soon as he stepped through the factory gates, Li Yi heard a series of beeps coming from behind him.

Turning around, he saw to his surprise that Jiang Longcheng had arrived in his car.

Pulling up beside Li Yi, Jiang Longcheng rolled down his window and asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet. I was just about to…”

“Forget about it—get in the car!”

Li Yi immediately walked around to the passenger side and got in.

Jiang Longcheng stepped on the gas and drove straight to the entrance of the cotton mill’s staff canteen.

After a quick breakfast, the two returned to Jiang Longcheng’s office to convene the mill’s leadership and discuss establishing a sales channel.

However, as soon as they arrived at the factory administration building, they saw An Hong and Director Tan hurrying toward them.

Spotting Li Yi and Jiang Longcheng, who had just gotten out of the car, the two immediately quickened their pace.

Seeing the two of them approaching together with such anxious expressions, Li Yi and Jiang Longcheng’s first thought was that something had gone wrong.

“Director Tan, Sister-in-law, what brings you here?” Li Yi asked urgently.

An Hong replied immediately, “There are some matters we need to report to you and Director Jiang!”

“What’s the matter?” Li Yi asked immediately.

“Yesterday, while taking inventory of the raw materials in the warehouse, we discovered quite a few problems!”

An Hong continued, “First, the quantity of fabric in the warehouse doesn’t match. According to the inventory records, there should be at least 36,000 yards of fabric in the warehouse—a figure we initially confirmed with the warehouse manager.”

“But after our own inventory, we found the actual count was way off from the records. There are actually only a little over 33,000 bolts in the warehouse—that’s a shortfall of more than 3,700 bolts!”

“With such a large discrepancy, are you certain your count is accurate? Did you miss anything?” Jiang Longcheng asked in a grave tone.

At that moment, Director Tan hurriedly replied, “We counted it three times—there really are over 3,000 pieces missing!”

Li Yi didn’t doubt the results of An Hong and the others’ inventory, but asked in a low voice, “Are there any other issues?”

“Secondly, the types of fabric also differ significantly from what we previously understood. The original inventory list stated 29,000 bolts of cotton cloth and 7,400 bolts of patterned cloth.”

An Hong continued, “But after a thorough verification, we found that there were only 26,000 bolts of cotton cloth and less than 2,000 bolts of patterned cloth. The rest turned out to be woolen fabric—a full 5,000 bolts or more!”

“Any other issues?”

“Yes, there’s more. This shipment hasn’t been stored properly either—some of the fabric has gotten damp, and some has been chewed by rats. In short, there are quite a few problems!” An Hong replied.

Hearing this, Li Yi and Jiang Longcheng both realized the gravity of the situation.

They hadn’t actually conducted a detailed inventory of the fabric in the warehouse before; they had been relying primarily on the warehouse’s receiving records.

They had assumed that even if there were discrepancies, they wouldn’t be significant.

But now there’s a shortfall of over 3,000 bolts—equivalent to a tenth of the inventory vanishing for no apparent reason—and the impact is significant.

Furthermore, the sudden appearance of several thousand bolts of woolen fabric has also disrupted Li Yi’s production plan.

On the one hand, the drastic reduction in cotton fabric will inevitably affect clothing production.

On the other hand, the surplus of woolen fabric means the clothing designs will have to be redesigned; otherwise, these materials will be stuck on our hands.

For Jiang Longcheng, this was no small problem.

The goods were clearly inventoried—how could they suddenly vanish? Was there an error in the inventory records, or was there a thief on the inside?

If it was an accounting error, then the warehouse manager was incompetent.

But if it’s the latter, the situation is far more serious.

To secretly smuggle out several thousand yards of fabric—that’s a major scandal.

Jiang Longcheng immediately went upstairs and had his secretary call a meeting with the factory’s top management.

Meanwhile, Li Yi, accompanied by An Hong, headed straight to the cotton mill’s warehouse area to assess the situation firsthand.

……..

Cotton Mill. Small Conference Room!

Soon, all the factory leaders had arrived!

Jiang Longcheng said with great authority, “Since everyone is here, let’s get started!”

“Deputy Director Chen, you’re in charge of our factory’s main warehouse, correct?”

Hearing this, Deputy Plant Manager Chen Rui felt a jolt of anxiety and hurriedly replied, “Yes, what’s the matter?”

“Then do you know that there’s a discrepancy of nearly four thousand bolts between the fabric in the warehouse and the records? As the person in charge, don’t you owe me an explanation?” Jiang Longcheng said in a stern voice.

“Four thousand bolts… How is that possible?”

Chen Rui then turned to Liu Wang, the warehouse supervisor standing nearby, and asked sternly, “Supervisor Liu, what’s going on here? How could there be such a huge discrepancy?”

Liu Wang hurriedly replied, “I don’t know either. Yesterday, after Ms. An and Director Tan from the garment workshop arrived at the warehouse area, they immediately requested a stock count. We didn’t think much of it and cooperated right away.”

“But we never imagined that the count would reveal a shortage of over 3,700 pieces!”

“You’re the warehouse manager—if you don’t know, who does?” Chen Rui snapped.

“Well…”

Everyone in the conference room realized the gravity of the situation. A sudden shortage of over 3,700 bolts of fabric—if this got out, it wouldn’t just be a matter of embarrassment; the factory’s top leadership would be dragged down with it.

Deputy Plant Manager He Tianming fixed his gaze on Liu Wang and said, “Supervisor Liu, did you and your team secretly smuggle the fabric out of the warehouse?”

Liu Wang hurriedly protested, “Deputy Director He, you can’t just falsely accuse an innocent person like that! I’m a Party member—how could I possibly do something like that!”

“Then how did so much fabric go missing? We’re not talking about one or two bolts here—we’re talking about thousands!” He Tianming shouted.

“I… I don’t know…”

Just then, Director Tan, who was standing nearby, suddenly said, “The disappearance of this batch of fabric is suspicious. If we’re going to investigate, I think we should look further back in time!”

“Why go back in time?” Jiang Longcheng asked, puzzled.

Director Tan immediately explained, “I just analyzed the situation. Most of the missing fabric from the warehouse is printed cloth, so I deduce it wasn’t lost recently. After all, it’s winter now, and printed cloth doesn’t sell very well!”

Hearing this, Liu Wang suddenly said, “That doesn’t make sense. Our factory’s sales of patterned fabric haven’t been great to begin with, so we didn’t produce much of it this year at all. How could we possibly be short by that much?”

Director Tan looked at Jiang Longcheng and said, “Factory Director, I suggest we report this to the police. Three thousand seven hundred yards of patterned fabric—that’s no small sum!”

Jiang Longcheng nodded and said, “Alright, let’s call the police!”

No sooner had he spoken than Chen Rui hurriedly interjected, “We can’t call the police!”

“Deputy Director Chen, why can’t we call the police? Are you involved in this?” Jiang Longcheng asked immediately.

“No… no, that’s not it. What I mean is, once we report it to the police, even if they catch the thieves, our factory won’t be able to escape blame for poor management!”

Chen Rui continued, “If higher-ups hold us accountable, none of us will come out of this unscathed!”

“Then what do you suggest we do?”

“My suggestion is that we conduct an internal investigation first. It’s impossible for so much fabric to just vanish into thin air—we’ll get to the bottom of this!” Chen Rui said.

At that moment, Jiang Longcheng suddenly spoke up: “Deputy Plant Manager Chen, you need to understand that that batch of fabric is now my brother-in-law’s property—it doesn’t belong to our cotton mill anymore.”

“Well…”

At that moment, Deputy Plant Manager He Tianming picked up the thread and said, “Plant Manager, the missing fabric accounts for nearly one-tenth of the total. Why don’t you speak with Comrade Li Yi and suggest we amend the contract to reduce the total payment to 450,000? What do you think?”

Chen Rui immediately agreed, “Right, we can’t let them take a loss, can we?”

Jiang Longcheng nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll ask him about it later!”

He knew these people were afraid of getting dragged down with him. After all, if the police were notified and an investigation were launched from above, everyone would inevitably suffer the consequences.

Anyway, that batch of fabric had already been sold. As long as he could placate Li Yi, the matter would be settled.

“I’m not about to appease my brother-in-law, but this matter absolutely cannot be swept under the rug—it must be thoroughly investigated!”

Jiang Longcheng then turned to Huang Yuanchao, the head of the Security Department, and said, “Chief Huang, I’m handing this investigation over to your Security Department. You must get to the bottom of this!”

“Yes, sir!”

However, what Jiang Longcheng didn’t know was that while they were meeting to discuss how to investigate the matter, Li Yi had already uncovered a lead.

In the hospital corridor, Li Yi looked at Jiang Longcheng with a scrutinizing gaze.

Under that intense gaze, Jiang Longcheng couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy.

“Bro-in-law, just say what you want to say. Don’t look at me like that—it’s kind of scary!”

“What’s the deal between you and Zhang Xinyao?” Li Yi asked in a low voice.

“What do you mean, ‘what’s going on’? I just took a liking to her!”

“Zhang Xinyao’s only been in Beijing for about two weeks, and you’ve met her no more than ten times. How did you two hit it off so fast?”

“That’s called love at first sight!”

“There’s no such thing as love at first sight—it’s just lust at first sight!”

Li Yi continued, “Even if it is love at first sight, what’s Zhang Xinyao’s deal? She’s not the kind of woman to just give in. How could she agree to your advances after only meeting you a few times?”

“She didn’t agree—she just said she’d think about it!” Jiang Longcheng replied.

“You idiot! If she didn’t turn you down on the spot, that basically means she said yes!”

Clearly, Li Yi had a pretty good grasp of women’s psychology—at the very least, he was a cut above this clueless Jiang Longcheng.

“Is that so?” Jiang Longcheng asked, his voice tinged with excitement.

“Don’t get too excited just yet. I just feel like you two shouldn’t have moved so fast!” Li Yi said.

At that, Jiang Longcheng grinned and said, “What do you mean ‘shouldn’t’? It’s just a matter of two people hitting it off—if they’re a good match, that’s all that matters!”

“So are you the turtle or the mung bean?”

Jiang Longcheng suddenly said, “Um… actually, it’s not quite what you’re thinking. Her and I have a rather special situation!”

“Special?”

“Yeah, I just asked her to do me a favor!”

“What kind of favor?” Li Yi asked immediately.

“To marry me and be my wife!” Jiang Longcheng said, shocking everyone.

“What? Is that even a favor? What the hell are you two up to?” Li Yi frowned.

Jiang Longcheng replied, “Isn’t that the idea you gave me?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, didn’t you say last time that I should find someone to marry me in a sham marriage? That way, I could shut my family up!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“So you approached Zhang Xinyao?” Li Yi asked, looking astonished.

“Right. I wasn’t planning on asking her at first, but I chatted with her a few days ago and thought she was pretty interesting, so I brought it up with her!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“Did you make it clear to her that it’s a sham marriage?” Li Yi asked in a low voice.

“It’s a real marriage, but we’ll each live our own lives—we’re just sharing a household!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“Ugly and promiscuous—who’d ever do something like this…”

Just as the two were talking, a series of footsteps suddenly echoed from the end of the hallway.

Immediately afterward, Li Yi saw his third older sister, Li Na, and Zhang Xinyao walking toward them carrying a basin; it looked like they were coming back from the restroom.

Upon seeing the two of them, Third Sister asked in surprise, “What are you two doing standing here?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Just chatting!”

Then, turning to Zhang Xinyao, he said, “Xinyao, hold on a second—I need to ask you something!”

“Sure!”

His third older sister immediately took the lunchbox from Zhang Xinyao’s hands and returned to the nearby hospital room.

Then Li Yi turned to Jiang Longcheng and said, “Go sit with Xiao Xue and the others for a bit. I need to talk to Xinyao alone!”

“Um… Brother-in-law…”

“Get lost!”

Jiang Longcheng glanced at Zhang Xinyao, then turned and left as well.

Once they were alone in the hallway, Li Yi asked straight away, “He just told me about the two of you. Are you really going to marry him and be a couple in name only?”

Zhang Xinyao lowered her head and remained silent for a moment, then nodded and said, “Yes.”

“Can you tell me what you’re thinking?”

“I don’t want to go home. I want to stay in Beijing and make money!”

Perhaps worried that Li Yi might misunderstand, Zhang Xinyao went on to explain, “My family situation is pretty complicated. My dad is disabled, my mom has been sick for years, and I have a few younger brothers who need to get married. We need money for everything at home.”

“Given our family’s situation, even if I went back to the county seat and got a government job, earning a meager salary wouldn’t help my family much. It’s better for me to stay in the capital with you so I can earn more money.”

A perfectly reasonable answer!

Li Yi was aware of Zhang Xinyao’s family situation. In her previous life, she had returned to the county under similar circumstances, which ultimately led to a lifetime of tragedy.

“Even if you want to stay in the capital, there’s no need to marry him just for that!” Li Yi said.

“I’ve already processed my return to the city. Unless I have a compelling reason, I can’t put off going back—and marriage is the most valid reason.”

“Have you thought about your own future?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead. My plan is to earn as much money as I can, help my mother get better, and find wives for my three younger brothers. We’ll worry about the rest later!” Zhang Xinyao said.

“Aren’t you afraid he’ll take advantage of you?”

“He… he doesn’t look like the kind of bad guy, does he? Besides, he told me he’s only marrying me to appease his family. After we’re married, aside from living under the same roof, we’ll still go about our own lives. How could he mistreat me…”

Li Yi shook his head and said, “You two… Sigh, never mind. Do whatever you think is best!”

“Hmm, actually, I think this works out pretty well. I’m helping him placate his family, and he’s giving me a reason to settle down in Beijing!” Zhang Xinyao said.

Li Yi nodded, saying nothing more.

They were both adults; no matter what choice they made, as long as they could take responsibility for it, that was all that mattered.

Besides, while their situation might seem a bit absurd, it was essentially a case of mutual benefit.

At the very least, it was better than Zhang Xinyao going back to her hometown and marrying that thug.

After all, he was in the capital too, and Zhang Xinyao was right under his nose; he’d just have to keep an eye on her and offer some support when needed.

After finishing the conversation, Li Yi returned to the hospital room.

He chatted with Tang Xue and his mother-in-law for a while longer before leaving the hospital with Jiang Longcheng.

Back in the car, Jiang Longcheng couldn’t wait to ask, “Come on, tell me—what did you two talk about?”

Li Yi looked at him and said, “Have you two really decided to spend the rest of your lives like this?”

“Life is so long—who can say for sure? But I just don’t want to marry a woman from one of those prominent families. If I absolutely have to marry someone, I think Zhang Xinyao is a good choice!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“All right, then. But she’s a friend and benefactor to both me and Xiaoxue—you can’t take advantage of her!”

“Don’t say that. Am I the kind of guy who would mistreat a woman?”

“I hope not. If you do, I’ll really lose respect for you!” Li Yi said.

“Enough with the small talk. Let’s focus on how to sell those clothes!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“Don’t worry about sales. I’ll set up the distribution channels as soon as possible. All you need to do is find a suitable location in town and open a flagship store!”

Li Yi continued, “Also, keep a close eye on production and get the clothes manufactured as quickly as possible!”

“Alright, I’ll start working on the boutique tomorrow. I promise to get it sorted out perfectly!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“Alright!”

“Are you heading back to the store or your place now?”

“The shop.”

“Alright!”

…….

After the meal, Ye Jianhua drove the Lin siblings home, while Jiang Longcheng took Li Yi to Xiehe Hospital!

When the two arrived at the hospital’s inpatient ward, they saw Li Na carrying a basin of dirty clothes, while Zhang Xinyao was holding several takeout containers—apparently preparing to do the laundry.

Seeing this, Jiang Longcheng immediately went over to help!

Li Yi, after exchanging greetings with Third Sister and the others, headed toward the ward!

Just as he reached the door of the ward, he heard Ye Lingyun’s soft, gentle voice coming from inside: “Xue’er, English is, after all, a language. To master it, you mainly need to listen and speak as much as possible. When listening to English, pay attention to the intonation when others speak and try to imitate it…”

It seemed his mother-in-law was teaching Tang Xue how to learn English. Just from those few sentences, it was clear that his mother-in-law was quite proficient.

Li Yi didn’t want to disturb the mother and daughter, but then he realized he couldn’t stay here much longer—he had to head back soon!

So, Li Yi simply pushed open the door and walked in.

The sound of the door opening startled the mother and daughter inside. When Tang Xue saw that it was Li Yi, she immediately stood up, delighted.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just came to check on you!”

Li Yi then turned to his mother-in-law and asked, “Mom, how are you feeling today?”

Ye Lingyun smiled and said, “I feel pretty good. The doctor said I can be discharged in a few more days!”

“I suggest you stay in the hospital a little longer. You’re still quite frail, so getting plenty of rest will do you good!” Li Yi said.

“That’s fine, but I feel bad for Xue’er, making her stay with me while she’s so far along…”

Before she could finish, Tang Xue hurriedly interjected, “Mom, it’s not a burden at all. I’m happy to be here with you!”

Li Yi, standing nearby, added, “Actually, it’s good for Xue’er to stay here. She’s already eight months pregnant, with just over a month left until her due date, but since she’s carrying twins, there’s a risk of premature birth…”

“Premature birth?”

Hearing the words “premature birth,” Ye Lingyun immediately grew anxious.

Thinking back to her own delivery, she couldn’t help but shudder!

“Don’t worry, Mom. Premature birth with twins just means giving birth earlier—it’s not the kind of premature birth you’re thinking of!” Li Yi explained.

“Then… could it be dangerous?”

“The risk isn’t high!”

“So there’s still a risk?”

“Yes, that’s why I’ve asked Xue’er to stay at the hospital as much as possible during this time. If labor does start early, it’ll be more convenient here!”

“Alright, then Xue’er and I will stay here a little longer!” said Ye Lingyun.

“Mm-hmm!”

Just then, Tang Xue suddenly grabbed Li Yi’s hand and said, “Did you know, Mom used to be a college professor? She knows everything—math, English, physics, biology—she’s so amazing!”

Hearing her daughter’s admiring praise, Ye Lingyun felt very happy inside, but she remained modest and said, “It’s just basic knowledge—nothing special!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “That’s wonderful! I was just worrying about where to find a good teacher for you—now I don’t have to worry about it!”

“Mm-hmm. I’m going to have Mom teach me well during this time. I’m definitely going to get into college next year!” Tang Xue said excitedly.

Ye Lingyun glanced at Li Yi and said, “Xiao Yi, thank you!”

“What do you mean?”

“Xue’er told me about what happened between you two. For Xue’er to marry you is her good fortune! I also want to thank you for helping her out of the darkness when she was at her most vulnerable and helpless!”

It was only today that Ye Lingyun learned her daughter hadn’t yet registered her marriage with Li Yi. After asking a few questions, she finally understood the reason behind their decision not to register.

To be honest, when she learned that Li Yi had chosen not to register their marriage so as not to crush her daughter’s dream of going to college, she was truly moved.

Moreover, she could tell from the occasional smile on her daughter’s face that Xue’er was living a very happy life now.

“Xue is my wife—this is simply my duty!” Li Yi said.

At that moment, Tang Xue took her mother’s hand and said, “Mom, why are you being so formal all of a sudden? We’re all family!”

“I was just speaking from the heart!”

Then she turned to Li Yi and asked, “By the way, how’s that business deal with Longcheng going?”

“We’ve already signed the contract, and production has started over there!”

“That fast?”

Then Ye Lingyun spoke up again: “Do you have enough money on your end? If not, we have a little at home. It’s not much, but it should tide you over for a while!”

Li Yi replied immediately, “No need. We’ve already raised the funds for the first shipment, and the remaining goods will be delivered to the capital soon. That’ll bring in another batch of revenue, which should be enough to cover our future marketing efforts!”

“Xue’er already said we’re family—you really shouldn’t be so formal…”

At that moment, Tang Xue smiled and said, “Mom, he hasn’t used any of my money, so he must have enough!”

Li Yi also hurriedly added, “When I really need it, I’ll definitely let you know!”

“Hmm…”

Just as they were speaking, the hospital room door suddenly swung open again, and Jiang Longcheng walked in, his face beaming with excitement.

Standing by the bed, Jiang Longcheng said with a smile, “Auntie, how are you feeling?”

“I’m doing okay—much better!”

“That’s good to hear. Jianhua’s getting married in a few days, and he said he wants you to bring Xue’er along to the wedding banquet!”

Ye Lingyun was taken aback for a moment, then said, “If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would’ve completely forgotten. It’s only a few days away, isn’t it?”

“One more week!”

“Hmm, Jianhua’s getting married—as his aunt, I simply have to be there!” Ye Lingyun said.

Just then, Tang Xue suddenly looked at Jiang Longcheng and asked, “Third Brother, since my cousin Jianhua is getting married soon, when are you going to find me a sister-in-law?”

Hearing this, Ye Lingyun chimed in, “That’s right. You’re not exactly a spring chicken anymore—why aren’t you taking this seriously at all?”

“Auntie, of course I care—I just haven’t found the right one yet!” Jiang Longcheng replied.

“I’ve been hearing that since you were 18—it’s been almost ten years now!” Ye Lingyun said.

“Uh… it’ll happen soon, really!”

Ye Lingyun shot him a disapproving look and said, “I’m not your grandfather, nor are I your older brother or sister-in-law—you don’t need to lie to me!”

Jiang Longcheng smiled and said, “Auntie, this time it really is coming soon. I’m not lying to you!”

“You really aren’t?”

“I really haven’t!”

“Which girl is it?”

“Can’t I keep it a secret?” Jiang Longcheng asked with a pained expression.

“Are you pulling my leg again?”

“No… Fine, I’ll tell you, but you have to keep this a secret!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“Alright!”

Hearing this, Li Yi and Tang Xue, who were standing nearby, also became curious. They both wanted to know which girl Jiang Longcheng had set his sights on.

Or rather, they wanted to know what kind of extraordinary girl could possibly tame a womanizer like him.

“Well… it’s that Miss Zhang!”

“Miss Zhang… you mean the second daughter of the Zhang Shaocheng family? Isn’t she a bit young? I think she’s not even 18 yet…”

Before Ye Lingyun could finish, Jiang Longcheng immediately interjected, “Not from the Zhang family—it’s Zhang Xinyao!”

“What?”

Hearing his words, the three people in the room were stunned!

That Jiang Longcheng had actually set his sights on Zhang Xinyao was completely beyond everyone’s expectations.

“Third Brother, when did you… Does Xinyao know about your ulterior motives?” Tang Xue asked, looking utterly shocked.

“She knows… what ‘sinister schemes’ mean? She’s not married yet, and neither am I—isn’t that just fine?” Jiang Longcheng said.

“She knows? Sister Xinyao actually knows? What did she say?”

“She said she’d think about it!”

Tang Xue touched her forehead, then looked at Li Yi and said, “Looks like I’ll have to call Sister Xinyao ‘sister-in-law’ from now on!”

However, Ye Lingyun frowned and said, “Miss Xinyao is graceful and poised, with a gentle and kind nature—she’s a fine young woman. But her background seems a bit too ordinary. As for my older brother and his wife…”

“Auntie, I’ve agreed to marry her—they should be thanking their lucky stars! What more could they possibly ask for?” Jiang Longcheng said dismissively.

Ye Lingyun thought for a moment and said, “That may be true, but marriage is a major life decision after all. You really need to think this through!”

“I’ve made up my mind—she’s the one!” Jiang Longcheng said firmly.

Li Yi saw that he didn’t look like he was faking it and knew the guy wasn’t joking. He immediately said, “Come on, let’s go outside and talk!”

With that, he grabbed Jiang Longcheng’s arm and walked out of the hospital room!

What had been a lively drinking party was completely ruined by these uninvited guests, and everyone instantly lost their enthusiasm.

With a touch of helplessness, a sense of injustice, and intense anger, Ye Jianhua had no choice but to dismiss everyone.

A perfectly good gathering ended on such a sour note—it was nothing short of a total letdown!

After seeing off the other guests and settling the bill, Ye Jianhua finally led Lin Ying, Lin Yi, Jiang Longcheng, and Li Yi out of the Workers’ Club.

As soon as they reached the lobby, Jiang Longcheng suddenly slapped his forehead and exclaimed, “Oh no!”

He immediately turned around and headed back upstairs.

Ye Jianhua hurriedly grabbed him and asked, “Wait, what’s going on?”

“That bastard Du left his watch behind—the one he had to pay my brother-in-law for!” Jiang Longcheng said.

However, Li Yi said calmly, “Don’t go back up—I left it there on purpose!”

“Why?” Jiang Longcheng asked, puzzled.

The others also looked at Li Yi with puzzled expressions, wondering why he had done that!

Just then, Ye Jianhua suddenly said, “Are you worried that kid might take revenge on you? If so, there’s no need to worry. Although the Du family isn’t weak, our Ye family…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi shook his head and said, “That’s not why!”

“Then why?”

“Bad luck,” Li Yi said flatly.

“Uh…”

At that moment, Li Yi spoke again: “It’s bad luck to keep a dying man’s belongings!”

Hearing these eerie words, the reactions of the people present varied.

Jiang Longcheng and Ye Jianhua exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other’s eyes.

They knew Li Yi’s ability—it was truly uncanny.

If he said the man surnamed Du was going to die, then he was certainly doomed!

The Lin siblings’ reactions were also quite different. Lin Ying had heard a few things about Li Yi, so she was utterly stunned.

Lin Yi, on the other hand, wore an expression of confusion and curiosity. Although he couldn’t quite figure out what Li Yi meant, he could tell that Li Yi seemed like an interesting person.

The watch Du Haicheng had taken off his wrist gleamed with gold; it was likely a famous Swiss timepiece, certainly not cheap.

Given that this was a perfectly legitimate situation, the fact that Li Yi was willing to give up the watch showed that he had a broad perspective.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi actually found himself developing a bit of interest in Li Yi!

“It looks like none of us had a proper meal tonight. Why don’t I treat everyone? Let’s find a place to grab a bite?”

No sooner had Lin Yi finished speaking than Ye Jianhua hurriedly interjected, “I organized this gathering—I can’t let you foot the bill…”

Before he could finish, Jiang Longcheng chimed in: “No need to argue. I know an old-established state-run restaurant nearby—their braised dishes are excellent, and I’m on friendly terms with the owner!”

“Alright, let’s go with your suggestion!” Lin Yi said.

After deciding on the place, the group got in the car and headed to the historic restaurant.

It wasn’t far from where they were; after a few turns, they arrived.

The shop wasn’t very large, but you could tell from the sign out front that it had been around for quite some time.

Although it was already 8:30, when the group stepped inside, they found the place was still quite crowded.

The staff clearly recognized Jiang Longcheng; upon seeing him, they immediately came over to greet him.

“Director Jiang, what brings you here so late at night?”

“Hahaha, I was craving your shop’s braised meat, so I came looking for a quiet spot!” Jiang Longcheng said with a laugh.

“Sure thing! Please follow me!”

Following the staff member’s guidance, the group sat down in a corner of the dining area.

Jiang Longcheng was familiar with the restaurant, so without anyone else having to lift a finger, he went ahead and ordered the dishes himself.

While they waited for the food to arrive, Jiang Longcheng suddenly turned to Li Yi and asked, “Bro-in-law, you shouldn’t have stopped me earlier. Otherwise, I would’ve taught that bastard a lesson!”

Li Yi glanced at him and said, “What do you mean, ‘teach him a lesson’? Beat him up?”

“Exactly. That scumbag doesn’t know his place—he’d dare mess with anyone. If we don’t teach him a lesson, he’ll never know what’s what…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi said calmly, “Stupid!”

“Uh… I’m your brother-in-law, after all. Can’t you spare me a little face?”

No sooner had Jiang Longcheng finished speaking than Ye Jianhua chimed in, “I think Brother Long is right—we can’t just let that kid get off so easily!”

“You’re stupid too!” Li Yi said without mercy.

“Uh… I’m your brother-in-law too…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi cut him off: “You two really botched this today. Didn’t you see that this guy’s whole purpose was to cause trouble? By acting like this, you’re playing right into his hands.”

“I know he came to cause trouble, but in that situation, was I supposed to just hide like a scaredy-cat?” Ye Jianhua retorted.

“What do you mean, ‘play it safe’? Do you have any idea who suffered the biggest loss because of your fight?”

“Who?”

“It’s my sister-in-law!” Li Yi said.

“Ying’er?”

Ye Jianhua looked at Li Yi in surprise, a look of confusion on his face.

Before Li Yi could speak, Lin Yi, standing nearby, interjected, “No wonder Brother Li Yi called you stupid. You still haven’t figured it out? The reason Du Haicheng came to disrupt your plans and said all those things was to make people think there’s something going on between him and Ying’er.”

“If you hadn’t laid a hand on her, it would’ve been one thing. But now that you have, it just confirms the jealousy. You’ll see—this will be all over the industry by tomorrow, and Ying’er’s reputation will take a hit, one way or another!”

Ye Jianhua and Jiang Longcheng were both stunned, and Lin Ying even more so—none of them had ever considered this possibility.

“Damn it, that bastard is really too sneaky!” Ye Jianhua said angrily.

At that moment, Li Yi said in a low, solemn voice, “It’s not just that. That guy probably isn’t targeting your sister-in-law on purpose—his primary goal is to make you lose face!”

“Secondly, he wants to make you misunderstand your sister-in-law, drive a wedge between the two of you, and ideally, stop your wedding!”

“At the very least, he wants to plant a thorn in your heart. Over time, it might drive a wedge between you two, eventually turning you into a bitter couple!”

Hearing this, Ye Jianhua couldn’t help but shudder.

Thinking back to how that guy had been calling her “Ying’er” nonstop just a moment ago, he couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy.

If it weren’t for his brother-in-law’s warning, he might have actually fallen for that bastard’s scheme.

“That bastard—I won’t let him off the hook. That scumbag actually thinks the Ye family is made of clay…”

“Stop… stop!”

Then Li Yi spoke again: “I’ve told you a million times he’s a dying man. Why bother arguing with him? Instead of getting worked up over him, you’d be better off cleaning up the trash around you!”

“Is that guy really going to die?” Ye Jianhua asked in a low voice.

“His brow is dark, and a deathly aura surrounds him. If he doesn’t die, he’ll be seriously injured!” Li Yi said indifferently.

“What did you mean by ‘the trash around me’ just now?” Ye Jianhua asked.

“I saw a few of the people you invited today who aren’t exactly good people. Stay away from them in the future, or else you’ll either end up dead or injured!” Li Yi said.

“Who? Which ones?”

“I forget their names, but Third Brother knows. Something like ‘Pig, Dog, and Sheep’!”

Jiang Longcheng immediately interjected, “It’s Zhu Qiwen, Gou Daocheng, and the rest of them!”

“It’s them?” Ye Jianhua said in surprise.

“Yeah, those guys aren’t exactly friendly toward you. You should look into them later,” Li Yi said.

“Alright, got it…”

Just then, a staff member walked over carrying a large, steaming tray—it turned out their ordered dishes had arrived!

None of them had eaten properly earlier, so as soon as the dishes arrived, they dug in heartily!

The sudden commotion startled everyone in the room, especially Ye Jianhua!

He immediately stood up and shouted, “Who are you? Who let you in?”

“Me!”

As a defiant voice rang out, a young man in his mid-twenties, flanked by several henchmen, stepped forward to face the uninvited guests.

Seeing the group’s menacing demeanor and the leader’s cocky, flashy appearance, anyone unaware of the situation might have thought it was a gang showdown!

As soon as he recognized the young man leading the group, Ye Jianhua snapped angrily, “Du Haicheng, what are you doing here? You’re not welcome!”

Hearing that name, Li Yi froze again.

Du Haicheng?

He’s one of Beijing’s notorious “privileged brats,” isn’t he?

And, of course, one of the most notorious examples of the “dad-busting” crowd.

The craziest thing this guy ever did was to drive recklessly while drunk on the streets of Beijing on New Year’s Eve, which ended with the car wrecked and him dead.

This is the capital, right under the emperor’s nose!

Drunk driving is bad enough, but street racing? That’s just asking for trouble!

But why on earth is he here? I’ve never heard of any connection between him and Ye Jianhua, and he certainly doesn’t look like he means any good!

“Ye Laoliu, if it were just about you, even if you carried me here in a palanquin, I wouldn’t give you the time of day!”

Du Haicheng continued, “I’m here today purely for Ying’er!”

Hearing this, everyone in the room looked as if they’d just heard some earth-shattering gossip, and all eyes turned to Lin Ying.

Lin Ying was completely taken aback. She stood up, looked at Du Haicheng, and said, “Senior, what do you mean by that? I don’t think we have any connection, do we?”

Du Haicheng looked at Lin Ying and said, “Of course we have a connection. Ying’er, don’t you know I’ve liked you for years? I’ve been pursuing you all these years at school, but you’ve never responded to me!”

“Ever since your family, the Lins, hinted that they were going to set you up with someone, I went back home and begged my grandfather and my father to go to the Lin family to ask for your hand in marriage.”

“My grandfather and my father both agreed. We even had someone reach out to your father. The Lin family said they’d think it over, but I never expected the next thing I’d hear would be news of your engagement to that bastard!”

At this point, Du Haicheng’s expression turned agitated. He raised his voice and screamed hysterically, “I just can’t figure it out. Whether it’s looks, education, personal abilities, or family background, in what way am I, Du Haicheng, inferior to that Ye guy? How could you possibly be interested in him? Did your family force you to marry him…?”

Before he could finish, Ye Jianhua snapped angrily from the side, “Who Ying’er falls for is her own business. What right do you have to meddle? Who do you think you are?”

“Besides, I’m the one hosting this gathering today, and I didn’t invite you. Get your people out of here right now, or don’t blame me for getting rough!”

Du Haicheng clearly didn’t take Ye Jianhua’s words seriously. He laughed wildly and said, “Hah! Do you think I was raised to be scared? Others may fear your Ye family, but I sure don’t!”

“Let me tell you straight up, I’m here today just to stir things up. What are you going to do about it?”

Ye Jianhua was instantly provoked and was about to step forward to teach this guy a lesson, while his friends stood by, itching to join in. A massive brawl seemed inevitable.

Just then, Lin Yi suddenly shouted, “Everyone, stop!”

At the sound of his voice, everyone fell silent, and all eyes turned to him.

“Thank you for your interest in Ying’er, but marrying Jianhua is Ying’er’s own choice! Moreover, our Lin family has never had the habit of trading women for family interests. So if I hear such talk again, I’ll go to the Du family myself and ask Uncle Wen about it!”

Lin Yi continued, “Although Jianhua organized this gathering today, there are guests from our Lin family here as well. If you dare to cause trouble here, you’d better consider whether you have the strength to back it up!”

Du Haicheng clearly recognized Lin Yi, and upon hearing this, he hesitated immediately.

If it were just the Ye family, the Du family wouldn’t be afraid at all.

However, if the Lin family were thrown into the mix, the Du family would undoubtedly be the ones to suffer.

Just then, Ye Jianhua bellowed, “Du Haicheng, I’m in a good mood today and don’t want to get into a fight with you. Get your people out of here right now!”

Ye Jianhua’s shout clearly provoked Du Haicheng!

Without a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed a wine bottle from the table and hurled it at Ye Jianhua.

But whether it was Du Haicheng’s poor aim or Jiang Longcheng’s sheer bad luck, the bottle veered off course mid-air and flew straight toward Jiang Longcheng’s head.

Watching the bottle get closer and closer to his head, Jiang Longcheng was completely stunned. Li Yi’s words from earlier echoed in his mind again: “We’re both in for a bloody disaster!”

He figured that when the bottle smashed into his head, blood would splatter onto Li Yi as well—meaning both of them would end up covered in blood…

However, Li Yi, standing nearby, acted with lightning speed. Just as the bottle was about to strike Jiang Longcheng’s head, he suddenly thrust out his right hand, blocking it right in front of Jiang Longcheng’s face.

“Crack!”

After a loud crash, Li Yi’s arm was violently struck by the momentum of the bottle, which then slammed into Jiang Longcheng’s head.

That was bad enough, but what was even worse was that the glass face of the steel watch Li Yi had bought for his wedding was shattered, and shards of glass mixed with watch parts scattered all over the floor.

This unexpected turn of events shocked everyone!

No one had expected Du Haicheng to suddenly strike—and so viciously, smashing someone with a wine bottle!

Even more unexpected was that Ye Jianhua, who was the intended target, emerged unscathed, while Jiang Longcheng, standing nearby, nearly took the brunt of the blow.

Once the initial shock subsided, Jiang Longcheng was instantly enraged!

He let out a roar and charged straight at Du Haicheng.

Du Haicheng recognized Jiang Longcheng as well. He knew Jiang Longcheng was a fearless, reckless thug, and his heart skipped a beat.

Besides, he hadn’t come here today intending to actually fight; his sole purpose was to disrupt Ye Jianhua’s plans, humiliate him, and vent the pent-up frustration in his heart.

Now that he’d achieved his goal, he hurriedly said, “Young Master Jiang, it’s a misunderstanding… a misunderstanding! I really didn’t mean it, bro. My hand slipped—I just missed the mark!”

“Slipped, my ass. If I beat the shit out of you, would you believe me if I said it was just a slip of the hand too…?”

With that, Jiang Longcheng unleashed a furious barrage of punches at Du Haicheng.

Unfortunately, Du Haicheng was surrounded by a crowd of henchmen who pushed Jiang Longcheng back with all their might, so despite landing a few blows, he never actually connected with Du Haicheng.

Just as Jiang Longcheng was about to lose control and go berserk, Lin Yi roared again, “Everyone, stop!”

Seeing that no one was listening, he suddenly drew a pistol from his waistband and chambered a round with a click.

“Everyone stop, or I’ll shoot!”

At the sound of the gun, everyone present froze.

Seeing that he had the situation under control, Lin Yi immediately stepped forward and slapped Du Haicheng across the face.

“So it seems your Du family is preparing to challenge the Lin, Ye, and Jiang families all at once—is that what you mean?”

Du Haicheng had been seething over the slap, but upon hearing those words, he couldn’t help but shudder.

The reason he’d come to cause trouble today was simply because Lin Ying had chosen Ye Jianhua over him.

To put it bluntly, it was his own doing and had absolutely nothing to do with the Du family.

If this were to make three powerful enemies for the family, no matter how favored he was, he’d still be in for a severe beating from his father and grandfather when he got home.

“No, Brother Yi, you’ve misunderstood. I just can’t stand that Ye guy and am worried Ying’er has been deceived by him. It has nothing to do with the Lin or Jiang families!” Du Haicheng hurriedly said.

“You’ve gone too far this time, but for your brother’s sake, I won’t hold it against you. Apologize to Young Master Jiang immediately, then get out of here with your men!”

“Alright!”

With that, Du Haicheng immediately turned to Jiang Longcheng and said, “I’m sorry!”

Jiang Longcheng wasn’t actually willing to let this guy off so easily, but when he saw Li Yi give him a signal, he said in a deep voice, “I won’t make things difficult for you. You broke my brother-in-law’s watch—just pay for it, and this matter is settled!”

Du Haicheng immediately took off a gleaming gold watch from his wrist and said, “This is an imported Swiss watch. Consider it my compensation!”

He then placed the gold watch on the table.

Then, accompanied by a group of henchmen, he left, leaving the room in complete disarray!

Beijing. Workers’ Club!

With the arrival of the Lin siblings, the guests for this gathering were nearly all present.

As the host, Ye Jianhua immediately had the music paused and then shouted, “Quiet… quiet!”

Everyone graciously stopped talking, and all eyes turned to Ye Jianhua.

“Brothers and friends, thank you all for doing me, Ye Jianhua, the honor of taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this gathering. Before we officially ‘kick things off,’ let me introduce a few new friends to you all!”

Ye Jianhua then pointed to Lin Yi standing beside him and said, “This is Ying’er’s older brother, Lin Yi—he’s also my older brother. His line of work is rather sensitive, so I can’t go into details, but you can all just call him ‘Brother Yi,’ just like I do.”

Lin Yi immediately stood up and said casually, “Since you’re all Jianhua’s friends, we’re all friends from now on!”

Next, Ye Jianhua pointed to Li Yi, standing beside Jiang Longcheng, and said, “This is Li Yi, my brother-in-law. I can’t go into specifics about that just yet, but you’ll all find out in due time!”

“My brother-in-law runs a restaurant in Beiguan Village specializing in grilled and hot-pot meats called Grassland Beef and Lamb. If any of you are looking for a place to dine, please give it your support—I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”

Li Yi also stood up and said, “I’m Li Yi. I look forward to getting to know you all!”

After briefly introducing these two, Ye Jianhua continued, “The main reason I organized this gathering today is twofold. First, I’m getting married, and I’ve promised Ying’er I’ll be a good husband. I’ve also promised my old man I’ll work hard and strive to better myself.”

“Because of that, I’ll have less time to hang out with you guys in the future. I’m letting you know this in advance—don’t think I’m distancing myself from you all. I really mean it!”

Hearing this, everyone present couldn’t help but burst into laughter, and some even chimed in:

“Young Master Ye, you haven’t even gotten married yet and you’re already suffering from bronchitis? That’s no good!”

“Does that mean from now on, we’ll have to ask your wife for permission just to see you?”

“Young Master Ye, this isn’t like you at all. You’re really going to break our hearts…”

As everyone teased and joked, the atmosphere in the room gradually heated up, and everyone’s faces were filled with smiles.

However, Li Yi, standing among the crowd, seemed somewhat distracted and deep in thought.

He neither joined in the banter nor ate anything, and his hand never touched his glass.

Seeing this, Jiang Longcheng immediately asked, “Are you not used to this kind of gathering?”

Li Yi shook his head and said, “No, I’m just thinking about things at the factory!”

“You’re already here—why worry so much? We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!” Jiang Longcheng said, sipping his beer.

“Haha, you sure have a positive outlook. I’ve staked my entire fortune on this, and I still owe your factory 300,000 yuan!” Li Yi said.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already had Second Brother reach out to quite a few channels. If all else fails, we can always sell the clothes we produce to the enterprises and organizations he’s designated!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“It hasn’t come to that yet. Don’t get so worked up…”

Just then, Li Yi suddenly noticed that a few young men by the window were acting suspiciously. He immediately whispered to Jiang Longcheng, “See those guys by the window on the right?”

“I see them. What’s up?”

“Do you know them?”

“I do. Those are all guys Jianhua met at work. The one with the long hair is Zhu Qiwen, the one next to him is Gou Daocheng, and the other one is Yang Xueli. We jokingly call them Jianhua’s ‘Pigs, Dogs, and Sheep’!” Jiang Longcheng said with a laugh.

“So it’s them!”

Hearing those names, Li Yi’s brow furrowed even deeper.

So it was these traitors. It looked like things weren’t going to go smoothly today.

Although Li Yi hadn’t paid much attention to Ye Jianhua’s affairs in his previous life, since he was a direct descendant of the Ye family and had been treated as a model case back then—with national media reporting on it extensively, every edition featuring it as the top headline—

Combined with Jiang Longcheng’s connections, it was hard for Li Yi not to be aware of the situation.

As far as he knew, the Ye Jianhua case in his previous life had far-reaching implications, but he wasn’t the one who received the harshest sentence.

The ones who actually received the harshest sentences were these three—Zhu, Gou, and Yang—all of whom were sent to the guillotine, while Ye Jianhua was sentenced to only seven years.

Precisely because of this, many people were dissatisfied with the verdict, believing that these three had taken the fall for Ye Jianhua and served as scapegoats.

But little did they know, these three were the truly wicked ones.

Many of their actions were carried out under Ye Jianhua’s name, and Ye Jianhua had no idea about them at all.

Moreover, during the investigation, these individuals all, as if by prior arrangement, shifted the blame entirely onto Ye Jianhua.

Otherwise, based solely on Ye Jianhua’s own misconduct, he might not have been sentenced at all.

Li Yi wasn’t particularly surprised to see these men at the gathering organized by Ye Jianhua’s group, but their expressions seemed off.

The reason he noticed them wasn’t because they were particularly handsome or had a unique aura, but because they seemed somewhat out of place among the other guests at tonight’s gathering.

Everyone else’s attention was either on Ye Jianhua or on the fine wine and food.

Only these few looked deeply troubled, and even when they chimed in, it seemed extremely half-hearted.

One of them kept glancing toward the door from time to time, as if waiting for someone.

Seeing Li Yi’s brow furrow even deeper, Jiang Longcheng spoke again: “Brother-in-law, though it might not be proper for me, as your older brother-in-law, to say this, I still want to mention it. We’ve finally managed to get out for a night on the town—we should eat and drink to our hearts’ content. Don’t let anything get to you…”

But before he could finish, Li Yi said flatly, “Something’s off about this gathering today.”

“Uh… What’s wrong with it?” Jiang Longcheng asked curiously.

“I have a feeling we’re in for some bloodshed today!” Li Yi said, making a startling remark.

Jiang Longcheng froze for a moment, then glanced around before looking at Li Yi and saying, “Brother-in-law, don’t scare me like that. Just hearing you say that has my legs shaking!”

To be honest, Jiang Longcheng had developed a psychological trauma from Li Yi’s talk of bloodshed.

The last few times, he’d truly come back from the brink of death every single time.

Hearing those words out of the blue today, he suddenly felt a chill in the air around him.

“It’s not as bad as you think. No one’s going to die…”

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from beside them: “What are you two whispering about with your heads down? Can I join in?”

Li Yi and Jiang Longcheng looked up to find that it was Lin Yi approaching, holding a glass of wine.

Jiang Longcheng immediately said, “Aren’t you the one who doesn’t drink? And you never go to these kinds of gatherings. Why are you breaking your rule today?”

“Don’t say that. It’s just that my job doesn’t allow me to drink, so it’s not convenient for me to attend all these drinking gatherings. But letting loose once in a while isn’t a big deal!” Lin Yi said with a smile.

Then, he looked at Li Yi and said, “Brother Li Yi, right? I’ve heard of you. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

Li Yi glanced at the large wine glass in his hand and immediately said with a laugh, “Brother Lin, put that glass down while we talk. Just looking at that thing makes me a little nervous!”

Lin Yi chuckled, “Looks like Brother Li Yi isn’t much of a drinker either!”

“Yeah, I’m not much of a drinker!”

“Heh, you two seemed pretty engrossed in your conversation just now. I hope I didn’t interrupt you,” Lin Yi said again.

Jiang Longcheng looked at Lin Yi and said, “My brother-in-law says something’s off about this gathering today. I’m afraid trouble might break out!”

“It can’t be that bad. This is the Workers’ Club—what kind of trouble could possibly happen with this kind of backing?” Lin Yi said, puzzled.

Li Yi shook his head and said, “Not necessarily. There are always some people who think they’re made of iron!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud “BANG!” echoed through the room!

Immediately afterward, the door was violently kicked open from the outside, and a dozen or so young men, cigarettes hanging from their lips, strode in with swagger…

……