Chapter 163: The Fierce Li Yi

Silence—deadly silence!

The sudden turn of events left everyone speechless!

Neither the onlookers nor the thugs Scarface had brought with him had expected Li Yi to be this fierce.

Facing so many thugs armed with clubs, he showed not a shred of fear—instead, he dared to strike first.

Being bold isn’t the issue; it’s the combination of boldness and raw power that makes him truly terrifying.

Scarface wasn’t just some nobody; he had a reputation for being a tough guy in Qing Shan County.

But even a tough guy like him was beaten to a pulp by Li Yi in a single exchange—it was brutal.

After his henchmen helped Scar-Face back to his feet, he was seething with rage.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and snarled at Li Yi, “Kid, you’re finished. I’m going to kill you…”

As he spoke, he was about to order his gang of thugs to attack and surround Li Yi.

Yet Li Yi remained utterly unfazed, not giving the dozen or so thugs in front of him the time of day.

Li Yi had been a tough guy since childhood; he was either in a fight or on his way to one. What he feared least was someone acting cocky in front of him.

Because he would always be even more arrogant than they were.

Don’t let the fierce appearance of these dozen or so thugs fool you—upon closer inspection, they were actually a bunch of wimps.

Not to mention that in his previous life, Li Yi had specifically trained in martial arts; even relying solely on his extensive experience in street fighting, he could easily defeat them.

At that moment, a cold, faint smile appeared on Li Yi’s lips. He loosened up his limbs slightly, then prepared to face them head-on with everything he had.

Standing nearby, Liu San’er held a kitchen knife, ready to step in and help at any moment.

He’d finally found someone willing to take him in; he couldn’t let this bunch of good-for-nothings ruin it.

But just as tensions reached a boiling point and a brawl was about to erupt, the wail of a police siren suddenly rang out in the distance.

Immediately afterward, a jeep came into view.

Scarface and his crew froze for a moment upon hearing the siren, then immediately attempted a “strategic retreat.”

However, there were simply too many onlookers, forming a massive human barrier. By the time Scarface and his crew realized the police were there, it was already too late.

As the jeep pulled up outside the area, four or five uniformed police officers immediately got out.

Scarface immediately ordered his men to flee. Their actions constituted a mass brawl, a form of hooliganism.

Although they likely wouldn’t face a prison sentence, they might still be detained for a few days.

But before they could make a move, they saw the lead security guard suddenly pull out a gun.

Then he fired a shot into the air!

“Bang!”

The sudden gunshot terrified everyone present; both Scarface and the onlookers were stunned into silence.

Are these cops out of their minds? What’s the big deal? Is firing a gun really necessary?

Scarface and his crew were completely petrified, not daring to move a muscle, terrified that the police might turn their guns on them.

After intimidating the gang of thugs, the lead officer strode over to Scarface and said sternly, “Is it you who’s causing a disturbance here?”

Scarface recognized the man before him immediately as Captain Wang of the county criminal investigation team. He stammered, “Cap… Captain Wang, it’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!”

“Hmph. Just look at you lot—looking like a bunch of thugs, armed with knives, guns, and clubs. And you dare say you’re not here to cause trouble?” Wang Anguo said coldly.

“No… no, we just heard there was some profiteering going on here, so we came to check it out…”

Before he could finish, Wang Anguo’s deep voice cut in: “Is it really necessary for you to play the part of a dog chasing a mouse?”

The man with the scar on his face tried to say something, but Wang Anguo barked coldly, “Tell your men to put their hands on their heads and get down on the ground!”

“Captain Wang, it’s a misunderstanding…”

“I won’t repeat myself!”

Scarface didn’t dare say another word; he immediately ordered his henchmen to put their hands on their heads and crouch on the ground.

After dealing with these thugs, Wang Anguo holstered his gun and strode toward Li Yi.

Just as everyone was holding their breath for Li Yi, the small-time stall owner, Wang Anguo’s next move left everyone speechless.

Upon reaching Li Yi, not only did he say nothing about his “speculation and profiteering,” but he actually smiled and said, “I was wondering who was so bold—turns out it’s just this bunch of nobodies!”

Li Yi smiled back and said, “These guys might not be much to look at, but they sure are a pain in the neck!”

“Hmm, lock them up for a while first. If they dare to mess with you again in the future, we’ll deal with them properly later!”

“Got it!”

After that, Wang Anguo exchanged a few more words with Li Yi, then left the textile factory with Scarface and his gang.

At that moment, everyone at the scene was stunned.

They had expected the police to take a balanced approach—the thugs who were causing trouble would certainly be dealt with, but the street vendor’s unauthorized setup would surely be punished as well.

But no one expected that the police actually knew the vendor and seemed to be on good terms with him.

After the thug was arrested, the police didn’t even bring up the vendor’s unauthorized setup.

In an instant, the looks the onlookers gave Li Yi changed.

Li Yi didn’t care what these people thought; he immediately motioned for Third Sister and Liu San to resume business.

After the chaos that had just unfolded, everyone present realized that the stall owner’s background was likely quite formidable. Since they could buy food here without worrying about being chased by the red-armbanded security guards, they all rushed back to the stall.

Hundreds of servings of liangpi and white-skinned pancakes were snapped up by the enthusiastic workers in no time—the speed left Liu San, who was on his first day of work, speechless.

By 1:30 p.m., everything they’d brought had sold out, so the Li siblings packed up their stall.

As they were leaving, Li Yi gave Liu San a yuan, calling it today’s profit share—which was actually Liu San’s pay for the day.

Originally, Li Yi had set Liu San’s monthly wage at 25 yuan, averaging about 80 cents a day.

Compared to the times, this wasn’t a huge salary, but it wasn’t small either—it was about average.

It wasn’t that Li Yi was stingy or unwilling to pay him more.

To be honest, given Li Yi’s earning power, he wouldn’t have minded paying his employees an extra ten or eight yuan a month.

In his previous life, every one of the senior executives who worked under him earned annual salaries ranging from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions, plus year-end bonuses and dividends—they were truly the “emperors of the corporate world.”

However, any compensation is proportional to one’s contributions and isn’t achieved overnight.

As a competent and experienced entrepreneur, Li Yi understood very well how a boss should interact with employees.

Many people think that getting along with employees means paying them more and treating them well, but in reality, that’s not the case at all.

Little do they realize that bosses who are too lenient with their employees often end up bankrupt.

Because being overly generous with employees amounts to placing personal emotions above company policies. This approach fails to motivate employees and inadvertently lowers standards.

The correct way to interact with employees is to provide them with a platform to demonstrate their self-worth and ensure a smooth career advancement path—not to endlessly emphasize how good you are to them.

25 yuan a month is a normal wage in this day and age.

Liu San is satisfied with it, and Li Yi has left him plenty of room for growth. As long as he’s willing to work hard and steadily, Li Yi won’t hesitate to give him a raise.

Moreover, every routine pay raise or benefit adjustment is an opportunity to strengthen the bond between the boss and the employees.

After a few such instances, the employee’s loyalty to the boss and the company naturally grows. Simply giving a full salary increase all at once is the most foolish approach.

However, Liu San’s performance just now in dealing with Scarface and the others had truly impressed Li Yi, so he decided on the spot to raise Liu San’s monthly salary from 25 yuan to 30 yuan.

In short, rewards should be given for merit, and punishments for mistakes.

Li Na felt a twinge of regret about this.

One yuan may not seem like much, but little by little, over time, it adds up to a significant expense.

But thinking back to what had just happened, she couldn’t help but feel a chill run down her spine.

On second thought, her brother’s foresight was indeed very necessary.

If her brother Li Yi hadn’t been there on both occasions, she really wouldn’t have been able to handle those thugs on her own.

Liu San might seem like a slacker, but when push comes to shove, he’s actually willing to step up.

Compared to that, a little money didn’t seem like much at all!

After leaving the county bureau, Li Yi drove the black horse-drawn cart straight to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

As for whether Wang Anguo would take up a position at the municipal bureau, Li Yi didn’t get too involved.

Just as he had said, everything happens as fate would have it!

If Wang ultimately chose to take the position in the city, it would be a good thing for Li Yi as well—it would mean he had a backer there, which would benefit the expansion of his future business ventures.

Of course, to ensure he’d have a powerful ally to lean on in the future, Li Yi would certainly do everything in his power to help Wang Anguo.

If Wang Anguo ultimately chose to stay in Qing Shan County, that was fine too; after all, Li Yi had no plans to leave the area anytime soon.

In short, whatever decision Wang Anguo ultimately makes is entirely up to him; Li Yi won’t interfere!

But as long as Wang Anguo needed help, Li Yi wouldn’t stand idly by.

After the big black horse-drawn cart arrived at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Li Yi didn’t go inside right away. Instead, he went into the alley next door to find Liu San.

Liu San looked quite sharp today—nothing like his usual slovenly self.

Upon seeing Li Yi, Liu San immediately greeted him respectfully: “Brother Li!”

“Hmm, not bad. You look like a young man who gets things done!”

“My mom dressed me up. She said Brother Li runs a legitimate business, and I can’t go around looking like a slacker and bringing shame to him like I used to!” Liu San explained.

“Alright. I went home yesterday and thought it over. Current policies don’t allow hiring employees, so I plan to bring you on as my business partner.”

“A business partner?”

“Well, your pay will still be as we agreed before—25 yuan a month—but instead of being paid as a salary, you’ll receive it as a share of the profits!”

Seeing that Liu San still didn’t quite understand, Li Yi immediately added, “In short, from now on, we won’t be in an employer-employee relationship—we’ll be partners!”

“Brother Li, whatever you say goes. I, Liu San, will stick with you from now on!”

“Alright! Let’s go. I’ll go buy some supplies first, then I’ll take you to meet my older sister!”

With that, Li Yi led him straight to the nearby supply and marketing cooperative.

After buying several hundred pounds of flour at the supply and marketing cooperative, the two of them set off in a horse-drawn cart toward the textile factory.

By the time they arrived at the textile factory, it was already 11:30 a.m., and Li Na had already set up her stall!

Seeing Li Yi driving up in a black horse-drawn cart with an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old young man sitting inside, Li Na was instantly taken aback.

Li Na had seen this young man a few times before; she knew he was a small-time crook from the city who dealt in scalped tickets. She had no idea why her brother had brought him along!

After tying up the carriage, Li Yi walked over with Liu San.

He then reiterated his request for Liu San to come by every day to help out at the dxmbang.

Li Na had originally intended to refuse, but with Liu San standing right there, she ultimately said nothing.

However, she secretly resolved that once she got home, she would have a serious talk with her dim-witted younger brother—she didn’t need anyone’s help.

For one thing, it would cost money; for another, the liangpi business was their family’s exclusive trade—what if someone else picked up the trick?

Although Li Yi could tell his third sister wasn’t too keen on the idea, he had already made up his mind. Compared to her safety, what was a little money?

What Li Yi and the others didn’t know, however, was that while they were busy waiting for the female workers to finish their shifts, someone not far away had already set their sights on them.

At 11:45, accompanied by the rapid ringing of the factory bell, the female workers from the textile mill began streaming out of the factory one after another.

They made their way to Li Na’s little stall as if on autopilot, then gathered around.

Everyone knew that this little stall didn’t prepare much food each day.

Usually, there were only two or three hundred servings of liangpi and another two or three hundred white pancakes—nothing more.

Not to mention the over a thousand employees at the textile mill, there were also nearby starch and brewing factories. Although the staff at these factories wasn’t large, their combined workforce still numbered in the thousands.

Based on past experience, this small supply would be snapped up in less than an hour; if you arrived late, you’d miss out.

So, anyone wanting to eat liangpi basically comes over as soon as they get off work.

Li Na was already familiar with the routine: even before the female workers had finished their shifts, she’d start slicing the liangpi and placing it in bamboo tubes, ready to be mixed as soon as customers arrived.

However, just as their small stall opened for business, a commotion erupted from the surrounding area.

Immediately, Li Yi saw a dozen or so young men, their faces grim and menacing, wielding sticks and closing in on their stall.

Li Yi recognized a few familiar faces among them at a glance—they were clearly the same petty thugs he’d beaten up yesterday.

Seeing this, Li Yi immediately told the customers to step back, then stepped forward to confront them.

Seeing this, Liu San didn’t hesitate either; he grabbed the kitchen knife nearby and followed suit.

Soon, the two sides were facing off against each other.

Just then, a guy with two knife scars across his face stepped up to Li Yi. He looked at him with contempt and said, “So you’re the one who beat up my brother yesterday?”

Just as Li Yi was about to respond, Liu San, holding the kitchen knife, glared fiercely at the scarred man and said, “Scarface, I don’t care what grudge you had with Brother Li before, but from now on, let’s call it even, okay?”

“Liu San, this isn’t your business, or else I’ll take you down too!” the scarred man roared.

“Go ahead and try!”

“Liu San, don’t forget you’re all alone right now. I’ve got over a dozen men with me!” Scarface said menacingly.

But Liu San showed no fear. He shouted, “Hmph, Scarface, you may outnumber me today, but I might not be your match!”

But then, changing his tone, he shouted, “Unless you kill me today, if you don’t, I’ll settle the score with you slowly but surely!”

Hearing Liu San’s murderous words, Scarface’s heart skipped a beat.

Don’t let his young age fool you—this kid is the kind who’ll pull no punches.

Not long ago, he’d beaten a street thug from another neighborhood half to death over a few pounds of grain coupons—a true desperado.

To be honest, he really didn’t want to mess with this kid.

But now that the arrow was on the string, he had no choice but to shoot; otherwise, he could forget about ever making it in the county town again.

“Since you’re asking for it, I’ll grant your wish. Get ready…”

As Scarface roared, Liu San looked at Li Yi with a serious expression and said, “Brother Li, when the fight breaks out, you better get Sister Na out of here fast. I’ll hold them off!”

However, Li Yi walked right past Liu San and stood directly in front of Scarface, asking coldly, “Are you their boss?”

“That’s right. You were the one who laid a hand on her yesterday, weren’t you?”

“Yes!”

“Damn it, didn’t you even bother to find out? You actually dared to hit one of Scar-Face’s men…”

But before Scarface could finish his sentence, Li Yi suddenly moved.

He lunged forward in a single stride and slapped Scarface’s ugly mug, sending him stumbling backward several steps.

Li Yi, not one to let his opponent off the hook, followed up with a straight kick to Scarface’s chest.

“Boom!”

Scarface’s body flew backward like a kicked soccer ball, landing seven or eight meters away before crashing face-first onto the ground.

County Town. State-Owned Hotel!

By the time Li Yi arrived at the State-Owned Restaurant, it was already 10:00 a.m.—a full hour later than usual.

There was nothing he could do about it—he’d been up all night.

By the time he finally fell asleep, it was nearly midnight, and when he woke up, it was already 7:00 a.m.—a full two hours later than usual.

Third Sister had actually gotten up early. She’d originally planned to drag Li Yi out of bed to make liangpi, but Tang Xue stopped her.

Tang Xue knew Li Yi had gone to bed late the night before. To let her husband rest a little longer, she didn’t let Li Na disturb him, but got up herself to help Li Na with the chores.

Although the two of them had watched Li Yi make liangpi before, and Tang Xue was from Qin Province, they had assumed they could manage without his help.

But when they actually tried their hand at it, they discovered that these little liangpi were really hard to make—they demanded both quick hands and precise heat control.

After ruining several batches of dough, the two of them barely managed to make a few servings of liangpi.

But the appearance was, well, hard to describe—they had no choice but to give up!

Fortunately, they didn’t just sit around idly. While waiting, Tang Xue and Li Na grilled the white flatbreads and chopped all the toppings for the liangpi.

By the time Li Yi woke up and they got back to making the cold noodles, it was already quite late.

Li Yi had just tied up his black horse when he saw Liu Jingshan emerge from the shop with a delighted expression.

“Hahaha, they say ‘the land of temptation is the hero’s grave’—you can’t escape that old saying either, kid!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “No, I just couldn’t sleep last night, so I got up late!”

“I see, I see…”

Knowing the old man had surely jumped to the wrong conclusion, Li Yi didn’t bother explaining. Instead, he immediately unloaded the mountain produce and mushrooms from the truck one by one and began weighing them.

At the same time, he carried the prepared liangpi into the back kitchen!

After weighing everything, Liu Jingshan settled the bill with Li Yi while remarking, “You’ve been bringing in quite a lot these past few days, kid. I’m almost at my limit here!”

“Heh, I’ve picked a bit more than usual these past few days. Brother Liu, you’ll just have to put up with it!”

“Hmm, a thousand catties a day—no more than that!” Liu Jingshan said.

“Alright, but Brother Liu, if you trust me, stock up now and dry them into preserved goods!” Li Yi said.

“Dried goods?”

“Yeah, barring any surprises, the price of dried goods is going to go up this year. If you don’t get some now, you might end up spending more later!” Li Yi said.

“Alright, I’ll think it over!”

“Hmm!”

Seeing that Li Yi was about to leave after settling the bill, Liu Jingshan hurriedly said, “Wait a minute, Brother Li Yi—there’s something I forgot to tell you!”

“What is it?”

“Captain Wang from the Dxmbang unit stopped by this morning. He waited for you for a while but didn’t see you, so he asked me to pass along a message: please swing by the county bureau when you have a chance!” Liu Jingshan said.

“Got it!”

Li Yi then hitched up his black horse and drove straight to the county police headquarters.

In fact, Li Yi didn’t even need to think to know that the gold theft case had been solved, and Wang Guo’an probably wanted to thank him.

Knowing him as well as he did, Li Yi figured that if he didn’t go, the guy might just show up at his doorstep.

Better to go see him than risk that.

Besides, Li Yi had something he needed to discuss with him anyway!

When Li Yi arrived at the county police station, it had returned to the quiet and leisurely atmosphere of recent days.

In fact, public order in Qingshan County had always been excellent, with very few major criminal cases occurring over the years.

Whether it was the Criminal Investigation Division or the other units, their workload was light; theft cases like the one at Factory 812 and the recent child abduction case were the biggest incidents to occur in recent years.

And precisely because of this, the county police’s investigative skills were, frankly, not very impressive.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

“Come in!”

Upon pushing the door open, Li Yi discovered there was actually someone else in Wang Anguo’s office—an elderly police officer in his sixties.

Upon seeing Li Yi, Wang Anguo hurriedly stood up and said, “Brother Li Yi, you’re here! Come on in!”

Li Yi didn’t stand on ceremony and immediately walked in with a smile.

Before Wang Anguo could speak, the older police officer beside him said with a look of surprise, “Comrade Anguo, is this Comrade Li Yi you’ve been talking about so often?”

“That’s right. He’s the Li Yi who helped our county bureau crack three major cases in a row!”

Then, Wang Anguo pointed to the older police officer beside him and said, “Brother Li Yi, let me introduce you. This is Deputy Director Qian from our county bureau, who also oversees our Criminal Investigation Division.”

Li Yi immediately replied, “Hello, Deputy Director Qian. I’m Li Yi!”

“Hahaha, Comrade Li Yi, are you 20 this year?” Deputy Director Qian asked with a friendly smile.

“Deputy Director Qian, I’m 21 this year!”

“Twenty-one? You’re so young! It truly is a case of the new generation pushing the old—each wave is stronger than the last!”

Standing nearby, Wang Anguo chuckled and said, “Without the support of you ‘older waves’ like Deputy Director Qian, we ‘younger waves’ wouldn’t be able to make any headway!”

“Hahaha, you’re quite the smooth talker!”

After saying that, Director Qian added, “All right, give the matter I mentioned earlier some careful thought. The bureau is waiting for your response. I won’t keep you any longer!”

After exchanging a few more words with Li Yi, Director Qian turned and left Wang Anguo’s office.

Once Director Qian had left, Wang Anguo immediately closed the office door.

He then poured Li Yi a glass of water and said with a smile, “I went to the State-Owned Hotel early this morning to wait for you. I waited until past nine and still didn’t see you show up. I thought you weren’t coming today!”

Li Yi smiled and replied, “No, I just got up a little late today and ran into some delays.”

“Hmm, the gold theft case has been solved. The suspect has been apprehended!”

Wang Anguo changed the subject and began discussing the case with Li Yi.

“Did they confess?”

“Yes. When we summoned them for questioning, we also searched their residence and found the stolen gold there.”

Wang Anguo continued, “Faced with the hard evidence, Hao Guanchang and his wife have fully confessed to stealing the gold from the factory!”

“That’s good. This matter has finally been resolved satisfactorily!”

“Yes, you played an indispensable role in resolving this case smoothly. If we’d continued investigating along our previous lines of inquiry, there’s a good chance these two cunning individuals would have evaded detection. On behalf of the County Bureau and the comrades in the Criminal Investigation Team, I thank you, Brother Li Yi.”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Come on, you know I don’t care about that sort of thing!”

“Yeah, I get it!”

Wang Anguo then added, “The gold theft case is now in its final stages, and we’re not as busy as we were before. That’s why I called you in—to ask how you plan to handle the educated youth poisoning case!”

Li Yi replied immediately, “My approach is simple: aside from the ringleader, Xu Hong, the rest just need a lesson!”

Wang Anguo nodded and said, “If it’s just a matter of teaching them a lesson, that’s simple. Leave it to me!”

“Alright!”

Then Li Yi added, “Oh, and there’s one more thing I need your help with, Captain Wang!”

“What is it?”

“My third older sister was harassed by some thugs while she was running her street stall yesterday. If you have time, could you take some of your team members over there to patrol the area and intimidate those thugs a bit?”

“Thugs? Who are they working for?”

“Not sure. I beat them up yesterday, so I don’t know if they’ll try to get even!” Li Yi said.

“Leave this to me. I’d love to see who in Qing Shan County dares to mess with you!” Wang Anguo replied immediately.

“Alright!”

Just as Li Yi thought the conversation was over, he heard Wang Anguo suddenly say, “Brother Li Yi, actually, there’s something I’d like to ask you today. I don’t know if it’s convenient for you.”

“Uh… why are you being so polite all of a sudden? Just ask whatever you want. If I can tell you, I will; if I can’t, you can ask all you want, but I still won’t say a word!” Li Yi replied.

“Well, here’s the thing. Director Qian just came by and told me that the Municipal Bureau is planning to transfer me to serve as the Criminal Investigation Division Chief. Do you think I should take the position?”

Li Yi furrowed his brow and said, “Going from being the head of the county bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division to the head of the municipal bureau’s—that’s a great opportunity. What are you worried about?”

“That may be true, but I know the situation at the Municipal Bureau isn’t looking too good right now!” Wang Anguo said, frowning.

“What’s so bad about it?”

“From what I’ve heard, there’s a backlog of major and high-profile cases in the city right now. Two deputy chiefs and two criminal investigation team captains have already been removed for failing to solve cases. Who knows how long I’d even last if I went there!”

Hearing this, Li Yi immediately recalled that during this period in his previous life, the city had indeed seen a spate of heinous crimes, several of which weren’t solved until twenty years later.

Clearly, by transferring Wang Anguo to the Municipal Bureau at this time, they were treating him as a firefighter.

If he could put out the fire, there would naturally be no problem.

But if he failed to meet expectations, he might be replaced in no time—so it was only natural that Wang Anguo had reservations.

Li Yi smiled and asked, “What do you think about it?”

“I want to go! But my brother and my father both think it’s too risky!”

Moving from county criminal investigation captain to municipal criminal investigation captain is definitely a great opportunity for Wang Anguo.

Although both positions are “chief,” they are at different levels and ranks, which means the potential for future promotion is also different.

So, from Wang Anguo’s perspective, he didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

But Wang Anmin and Old Man Wang were, after all, seasoned veterans. They understood all too well the risks hidden within this opportunity, which was why they didn’t want Wang Anguo to take the risk.

“Outsiders are, after all, outsiders. Whether it’s your brother’s or your father’s opinion, or even mine, you can take them into consideration, but the final decision is yours alone!” Li Yi said ambiguously.

“What about me?”

“Don’t seek others’ opinions. Follow your heart, and let things take their natural course!”

“Follow my heart and let things take their natural course?”

“Mm-hmm!”

“I understand. Thanks, brother Li Yi!”

“You’re welcome!”

……..

Late at night, Li Yi tossed and turned, unable to sleep!

Having been given a second chance at life, Li Yi was brimming with confidence.

He was determined to make his first fortune before anyone else realized what was happening, then dominate the business world over the next decade or so, becoming a tycoon even more formidable than the “Two Ma’s,” and achieving financial freedom.

Although money was by no means his only pursuit in life, Li Yi had always believed in one truth: money isn’t everything, but without it, you’re nowhere.

To ensure the happiness and well-being of Tang Xue, his parents, and his sister, money was undoubtedly essential.

Moreover, Li Yi had his own dream: he wanted to retire by the age of forty and travel the world with Tang Xue.

Many people have the thought, “The world is so big; I want to go see it!”

But even more people are forced to face the reality that “with such a small wallet, I can’t go anywhere,” and end up burying their dreams deep inside!

Therefore, dreams require strong financial backing; otherwise, they will forever remain just dreams.

Up until today, Li Yi had never worried about anything; he believed that with his own abilities, he would surely make this dream come true.

But he had forgotten the most crucial thing: it was 1980, and reform had only just begun. At that time, the state did not permit the very concept of hiring workers.

And this was a red line set by the state—something absolutely off-limits!

Fortunately, this issue has now caught the attention of the higher-ups. Not long ago, an article titled “A Debate Over Fish Pond Contracting” appeared in the Party media, sparking widespread discussion across the country.

The article told the story of a farmer named Chen Zhixiong, yet it struck a nerve regarding the sensitive issues of hiring labor and exploitation.

Chen Zhixiong is a farmer from Guangdong who began contracting fish ponds in February 1979.

At the time, contracting one mu of fish pond required paying 60 yuan annually to the production team, and no one in the village dared to take it on. As the team’s “capable person,” and driven by the initial goal of providing for his family, Chen Zhixiong contracted the team’s 50 mu of fish ponds.

That year, Chen Zhixiong took his entire family to tend the fish ponds. When it came time to harvest the fish, after deducting all costs and expenses, he found he had actually earned 3,100 yuan.

Naturally, the following year, Chen Zhixiong expanded his operations.

He leased another 50 mu from a neighboring village. Since he also had to cut grass for fish feed, his family alone simply couldn’t handle the workload, so he had no choice but to hire help.

In the end, there were as many as 30 day laborers helping the Chen family cut grass at peak times, each paid 2 yuan a day, and at one point there were also 7 permanent workers, each earning a monthly wage of 50 yuan.

That year, Chen Zhixiong’s 100-mu fish farm generated a net income of 7,250 yuan, whereas at the time, a farmer’s annual gross income from farming rarely exceeded 1,000 yuan.

However, Chen Zhixiong’s approach directly crossed a “red line,” as hiring laborers touched upon the nation’s most core issues; the practice of hiring laborers was associated with sensitive terms such as “capitalists” and “exploitation.”

Chen Zhixiong and his enterprise posed a direct challenge to the prevailing ideology of the time.

Yet this was by no means an isolated case.

In Anhui, a farmer who called himself a “fool” also sparked a “labor issue” through his sunflower seed roasting business.

His name was Nian Guangjiu. By the age of 42, he had built a reputation for roasting sunflower seeds, selling as much as two or three thousand jin a day at his peak.

When he couldn’t keep up with the demand, he gradually hired some unemployed young people to help him, and by the fall of 1979, he had as many as 12 assistants.

But how could a “fool” possibly be part of the exploiting class?

All he could write in his entire life were five characters: “Nian Guangjiu” and “Tong Yi.” He started earning money by picking up cigarette butts on the street at age 7, became a child apprentice in business at 9, and took over his father’s fruit stall in his teens to make a living. Looking at his background, he was clearly a member of the working class at the very bottom of society.

Across the country, there were now a considerable number of private business owners, some employing a dozen or two, or even as many as a hundred workers.

How to handle the issue of hiring employees has also troubled the higher-ups, as this is not only a matter of people’s livelihoods but also a serious political issue.

It wasn’t until 1981 that the authorities reached a preliminary conclusion on the matter, determining that Chen Zhixiong could contract across teams and hire workers, and that hiring workers did not constitute exploitation, because his “income was higher than others’—primarily due to the principle of ‘more work, more pay’—and this was beyond reproach.”

This was considered a conclusion to the debate over the hiring of workers, but this “conclusion” did not completely resolve the controversy surrounding the “worker issue.”

Throughout the 1980s, the issue of hiring laborers rose and fell repeatedly, with no definitive resolution.

It wasn’t until 1987 that a relatively clear resolution was finally reached.

But could Li Yi wait that long?

Clearly not, because starting this December, as Yiwu began its pilot program as a city for individual industrial and commercial operations, individual businesses across the country would experience explosive growth.

It was also from this point onward that the first wave of enterprising individuals began to prosper, gradually expanding into various sectors.

He couldn’t let them leave him in the dust!

After much deliberation, Li Yi decided that for the time being, he couldn’t afford to be too conspicuous.

He had to handle the situation with Liu San properly; he had to keep him on, otherwise Third Sister’s personal safety would be at risk.

However, their employer-employee relationship could not be made public—that would be a tangible leverage point that anyone who got their hands on could use to crush him.

After careful analysis, Li Yi decided he could reframe the employment relationship as a partnership.

Specifically, he would have Liu San set up a street stall with Third Sister, and instead of paying him a salary, he would give him a share of the profits.

This way, their relationship would shift from employer-employee to business partners. If anyone ever tried to make an issue of it, he’d have a solid explanation.

“We’re just business partners, not an employer-employee relationship.”

Aside from Liu San, he also needed to keep a low profile with the mountain produce business in the village.

Now that many villagers know he’s making money—whether it’s building a house or marrying a wife, everything is done with money—they’re all envious.

For now, since everyone needs him, no one has anything to say.

But over time, who knows—some might start to get jealous.

Once people get the green-eyed monster, they’re capable of anything—he had to be on guard.

After much deliberation, Li Yi decided to have his family help him put on a show—pretending to be poor.

That’s right—pretend to be broke!

He had to make the villagers understand that he wasn’t making money off them—on the contrary, he was losing money every single day!

He had to make these villagers and cooperative members feel guilty, rather than letting negative feelings gradually take root.

In fact, Li Yi wasn’t just pretending to be broke; that was actually the case.

Currently, his mushroom business brings in seven or eight hundred yuan a day, and with the rice noodle sheets, he can make about 900 yuan.

But the expenses are also astronomical—the mushroom business in Nianzi Mountain Village alone costs 700 yuan.

On top of that, the operation at his second sister’s husband’s place costs about 500 yuan. In other words, when you do the math, he’s actually losing 200 yuan a day.

Fortunately, he had saved up some money earlier; otherwise, he really wouldn’t be able to sustain such expenses.

So, the cash crunch is very real!

Of course, the difficulties are real, but the future is bright.

As long as he can hold out for these few months and make it to the peak season for selling mountain produce, it will be like the clouds parting to reveal the sun!

On the way back, Li Yi finally learned that these thugs had actually been harassing Third Sister for the past few days.

But since Third Sister saw how busy he was, she hadn’t mentioned it.

Deep down, Li Yi knew there was another reason Third Sister hadn’t told him: she was worried that his hot temper might lead him to cause a major disaster if he weren’t careful.

After all, if he hadn’t acted so impulsively three years ago and seriously injured someone, his eldest sister wouldn’t have been so desperate to get married, nor would she have been looked down upon because of the dowry and bride price.

Now that the family’s situation had just started to improve, she didn’t want a few petty thugs to ruin their peaceful and happy life.

“Sis, you should’ve told me about this!”

“I… I was worried…”

“You’re worried I’ll act too impulsively and hurt someone again, right?”

“Yes! We don’t need to stoop to their level!” Li Na said.

But Li Yi shook his head and said, “Sis, you know what? The worse the scum, the more we can’t let our guard down. These guys have no limits—they’ll do anything for money!”

“If you give in to them today, you’ll never be able to get rid of them—unless we quit this business altogether!”

Li Na was clearly startled by Li Yi’s words and immediately asked anxiously, “Then… what should we do?”

“To deal with people like this, you either have to make them respect you or make them fear you!”

“Yi, don’t do anything reckless. I’d rather we quit this business than let you do something stupid!” Li Na said.

A look of disdain flashed across Li Yi’s face as he replied, “Do something stupid? For a bunch of nobodies like these? Is that really worth it?”

“So what do you suggest?”

“We’ve got ready-made resources right there—it’d be a waste not to use them!”

“What resources?”

“What do street thugs fear most?”

“The police!”

At that point, Li Na suddenly understood and said, “Xiao Yi, are you saying that if they dare to come back, we’ll call the police?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “That’s too much trouble! Tomorrow I’ll have Captain Wang’s men swing by the textile factory—and grab a bowl of liangpi while they’re at it—and the rest will take care of itself!”

“Will that really work?”

“Of course it’ll work. Street thugs are bullies who pick on the weak and fear the strong. If they know we have connections at the county police station, they wouldn’t dare come bother us again even if you gave them ten times the courage!”

“That’s great!”

Li Yi continued, “Sis, I’ll also find you an assistant to keep an eye on things for you.”

“What kind of helper? Does it cost money?”

As a penny-pincher, Li Na was most concerned about money, so she asked immediately.

“Liu San—you’ve met him before. Twenty-five yuan a month!”

“25 yuan? That’s so expensive!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “He’ll earn in a month less than you make in a single day. What’s so expensive about that?”

“In the village, hiring someone costs only a dozen or so yuan a month—how could we possibly spend that much?”

“Haha, can the village really compare to the city? I’ve already made arrangements with them—it’s settled!” Li Yi said.

Originally, he’d had some reservations about taking Liu San on so impulsively.

But after what had just happened, he felt he’d made the right decision—and at exactly the right time.

Compared to Third Sister’s safety, everything else was secondary.

…….

Back home, Li Yi and Li Na tacitly agreed not to mention the matter, so as not to worry their family.

After unloading the supplies from the car into the house, Li Yi headed over to the new house, while Li Na washed the bamboo cups, chopsticks, and other utensils.

She was also waiting to go to the back mountain that evening to pick up the children!

At the new house, Tang Xue was busy with Second Sister, collecting and drying mushrooms.

When customers came to sell mushrooms, they weighed them, kept track of the transactions, and settled the accounts. When no one was around, they went into the drying room to spread the collected mushrooms evenly on the racks, waiting for them to air-dry naturally.

Once they were completely dry, the mushrooms would be repackaged and set aside to await customers.

Tang Xue was overjoyed to see Li Yi arrive.

“Why are you back so late today?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Is it late?”

“Well, at least half an hour later than usual!” Tang Xue replied.

“I ran into some things in town today, so it took a little longer!”

Before Tang Xue could ask, Li Yi recounted the gold theft at Plant 812 and the matter of taking Liu San in.

After hearing Li Yi’s story, Tang Xue was initially taken aback. “That really is quite a coincidence!” she said.

“You bet. No one expected that guy to go after Liu San. He’d barely gotten his hands on the gold—it wasn’t even warm yet—and now he’s been caught!” Li Yi said.

“How pitiful!”

“Haha, what’s there to feel sorry for? You could say that those who are pitiful must also be despicable!” Li Yi said with a smile.

Third Sister chimed in, “You’re absolutely right. He had a good life at the factory, getting a salary and rations, yet he thought he’d steal the country’s gold. People like that should be taken out and shot!”

Li Yi shook his head and said, “They certainly won’t be shot—after all, it’s just a theft case. But the value of what that couple stole is so high that a life sentence should be more than enough!”

“Doesn’t that mean they’ll be locked up in prison for the rest of their lives?”

“Not exactly. Our country’s laws are quite humane. As long as they serve their sentence properly, they’ll be out in no more than a decade or so!”

“You can actually get out after being sentenced to life?”

“Yeah. For a single offense, if you don’t commit any intentional crimes within the first two years, your sentence gets reduced to 15 years. If you keep behaving well, you can still fight for further reductions. With a 15-year sentence, you’ll likely be out after serving about ten years!”

After hearing Li Yi’s explanation, Tang Xue looked at him with starry eyes and said admiringly, “You really know a lot!”

“Hahaha, if you read more books, you’d know all this too!”

“Mm-hmm!”

Just then, Second Sister suddenly remembered something and asked immediately, “Xiao Yi, will you be okay after taking in that Liu San?”

“What could go wrong?”

“Hiring someone!”

Upon hearing this, Li Yi fell silent. What his second older sister had mentioned was indeed a major issue.

Hiring workers—in this era, that was truly a “red line” that simply couldn’t be crossed!

At the time, there was a widespread consensus throughout the country—from the grassroots up—that landlords had amassed their wealth by exploiting farmers, and capitalists by exploiting workers.

Consequently, since the socialist transformation of industry and commerce, “hiring laborers” had all but disappeared in China, and the notion that “hiring labor equals exploitation” had become virtually a social consensus.

Moreover, although society had just emerged from that great catastrophe, people’s mindsets were still stuck in that era.

Last February, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce stated in a report: “Local authorities may, based on local market needs and with the approval of relevant competent departments, permit some unemployed laborers with formal household registration to engage in individual labor such as repairs, services, and handicrafts; however, they are not permitted to hire workers.”

If I were to hire Liu San now, that would clearly constitute hiring a worker—a move that crosses a red line.

If someone were to report him, the consequences could be far more severe than simply setting up a street stall.

With this in mind, Li Yi fell deep into thought.

Tang Xue frowned upon hearing this and said, “What about the villagers and the children? We’ve had them help pick mushrooms—does that count as hiring workers?”

Li Yi shook his head and said, “They don’t count. There’s no dependency relationship between us and the villagers. Their primary role is still as village members; they have their own legitimate jobs and income. Right now, they’re just using their spare time to earn a little extra money.”

“Besides, once the weather turns cooler and the mushrooms are gone, our partnership will end—it doesn’t qualify as an employment relationship!”

“But what about Liu San? If you take him on, that’s definitely hiring someone—the consequences could be serious!” Second Sister said.

Just then, Uncle Zhou from the village walked in carrying two baskets on a pole, saying he was there to sell mushrooms.

Li Yi immediately turned to Tang Xue and Third Sister and said, “We’ve got work to do. I’ll think it over and we’ll discuss it later!”

“Hmm!”

…….

When he left the county police station again, Li Yi felt much more at ease.

He had originally thought that Wang Anguo and his team would need a few more days to investigate the case before reaching a conclusion, but thanks to Liu San’s divine assist, it looked like there would be good news tomorrow.

Although whether Hao Guanchang and his wife would be arrested had absolutely nothing to do with Li Yi, their very presence had hindered Wang Anguo’s efforts to help him—so they had it coming.

Besides, Li Yi had effectively helped the couple as well.

According to reports, Hao Guanchang and his wife had originally planned to live a life of luxury using the stolen gold.

The reality turned out to be quite the opposite; figuring out what to do with the two gold bars had been a constant headache for the Hao couple.

At first, they did indeed try to sell the gold through local black market channels, but they found that the police were conducting strict checks in this area. Fearing that outsiders might discover the gold’s whereabouts, they remained in hiding and dared not make a move.

Later, they simply moved into a detached house with its own courtyard, as such a setting offered greater privacy, which finally put their minds at ease.

For the next 10 years, the couple kept the secret of the gold hidden, living in constant fear.

The gold did not improve their lives; on the contrary, this hidden burden made them both paranoid and short-tempered, leading to frequent arguments at home.

Eventually, unable to bear the inner torment any longer, they confessed the truth to the father.

The old man had lived an honest, upright life all his days, yet his son and daughter-in-law had dared to steal gold.

Unwilling to turn against his own family, he was filled with guilt. Worn down by excessive worry, he passed away within a few years.

They didn’t even dare to throw a lavish wedding for their son; the modest ceremony gradually drove a wedge between him and his parents.

In the end, the couple hid the gold in the basement of their home and lived in constant fear for ten years.

Ten years after the incident, upon hearing that the price of gold had risen, Hao Guanchang’s dormant heart finally stirred.

He decided to test the waters first, so he had his wife take a piece of gold to the bank to exchange it for cash.

However, a seasoned teller immediately sensed something was amiss with the gold. Ultimately, the couple was arrested by the police, and the gold buried in their home was also recovered.

The decade-long gold theft case was finally solved, and upon hearing the news, the employees of Plant 812 were all overjoyed.

Having been treated as suspects all these years, they had been suffering in silence; the resolution of the case cleared their names.

Now that Li Yi had identified the suspects early on, he not only helped clear the factory workers’ names but also spared Hao Guanchang and his wife over a decade of mental anguish—a truly good outcome!

Of course, whether Hao Guanchang and his wife are grateful or not is beyond Li Yi’s concern.

Since Liu San had to assist Wang Anguo and the others with the investigation, Li Yi was on his own when he left the county bureau.

He drove the black horse-drawn cart back to the supply and marketing cooperative, quickly purchased the necessary supplies, bought a few pounds of pork, some pork ribs, and a few large bones, and then headed to the textile factory to meet up with Third Sister Li Na.

However, when he arrived at the textile factory, he saw a group of seven or eight loitering young men gathered around his older sister’s stall, and she appeared to be in the middle of an argument with them.

Although quite a few workers were gathered around the small stall, no one stepped forward to help.

Seeing the situation, Li Yi knew exactly what was going on!

Without hesitation, he drove his black horse-drawn cart right over!

“Move aside!”

Hearing Li Yi’s voice, one of the young men immediately shouted at him, “Fuck your mother…”

Before he could finish, a massive slap came flying at him!

“Smack!”

The young man was sent flying backward. When he managed to get back on his feet, fresh blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth and his nose.

Everyone was stunned by Li Yi’s fierce demeanor!

These days, there are plenty of people who act tough, but it’s rare to see someone who’s willing to throw down like this at the drop of a hat—especially when outnumbered.

A guy like that is either a real badass or a total idiot!

Seeing his own underling knocked down with a single slap, the bald leader felt his pride crushed. He immediately drew a dagger from his waist, pointed it at Li Yi, and roared, “Fuck you! You dare hit my man? Do you think I won’t kill you?”

Li Yi gave a contemptuous smirk—tough talk was child’s play to him!

Never mind that his body had been enhanced; even relying on his former strength alone, taking care of these punks would be a piece of cake.

However, the thug leader’s blustering yet cowardly expression terrified Li Na. She hurriedly said, “Xiao Yi, don’t be impulsive. They just want some money. Just give it to them and it’ll be over…”

But before Li Na could finish her sentence, Li Yi moved.

He suddenly reached out, grabbed the bald leader’s hand—which was holding the dagger—and slammed it down hard onto his own knee.

“Clang!”

The dagger fell straight to the ground with a sharp clang.

At the same time, Li Yi executed a shoulder throw, slamming the man directly onto the ground.

His burly body made intimate contact with the hard ground, and in an instant, a scream like a pig being slaughtered echoed through the room.

But Li Yi wasn’t done yet. He knew that when dealing with these petty thugs, you either didn’t lay a finger on them—or, once you did, you had to beat them into submission!

Li Yi casually picked up the dagger from the ground, then planted his size 11 foot squarely on the bald man’s chest, the sharp blade pointing directly at his face.

The bald man instantly sensed a massive killing intent emanating from Li Yi. He immediately cowered, whimpering, “Bro… big bro… we were wrong…”

“Tell me, who sent you here?”

“No… no one. We just saw that this young lady was doing such brisk business, so we thought we’d try to make a little money off her, so…”

Seeing that the guy spoke fairly fluently and didn’t look away, Li Yi tentatively believed him.

But he didn’t move the dagger in his hand away from the bald man’s face. Instead, he said coldly, “I don’t care if this was a spur-of-the-moment idea or a premeditated plan. If you dare lay a finger on my sister again, I’ll make you wish you were dead—and your families too!”

Feeling Li Yi’s intense murderous intent, the bald man felt his sphincter start to give way.

“No… I won’t dare, I’ll never dare again… Waaah!”

“Get lost!”

The bald-headed boss felt as if he’d been granted a pardon; he immediately scrambled to his feet and ran toward the city center, leaving his henchmen behind without a second thought.

But whether from fear or some other reason, the guy stumbled and fell after just a few steps, scraping the skin off his hands.

Yet he seemed oblivious to the pain, scrambling back to his feet and running forward as if something terrifying were chasing him.

Seeing their boss flee, the thugs didn’t dare stay put—they scattered in a panic!

…….

County Police Bureau. Criminal Investigation Division!

Wang Anguo and his team were analyzing the case. They were about to follow the lead provided by Li Yi and re-investigate all the senior officials at Plant 812.

Just then, Li Yi returned with Liu San!

Seeing Li Yi again, Wang Anguo was somewhat surprised.

“Brother Li Yi, why are you back? And who is this?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “His name is Liu San’er. He’s a younger brother of mine!”

Li Yi then pointed at Wang Anguo and said to Liu San’er, “I don’t need to introduce him to you, do I? This is Wang Anguo, Captain of the Criminal Investigation Division at the County Bureau!”

Liu San’er usually trembled at the sight of even a neighborhood volunteer with a red armband; he’d never met someone as high-ranking as a Criminal Investigation Division captain, so he immediately grew nervous.

Wang Anguo was the first to greet him: “Hello, I’m Wang Anguo!”

“I… I’m Liu San’er!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Don’t be nervous. Captain Wang is a really nice guy!”

“Uh…”

Then Li Yi turned to Wang Anguo again and said, “Captain Wang, I brought Liu San here because I just got a new lead from him regarding the gold theft case. It might help you solve the case!”

Upon hearing this, the entire office—including Wang Anguo—fell silent, and everyone’s eyes fixed on Li Yi.

Wang Anguo’s face lit up immediately, and he hurriedly asked, “Really? What kind of lead?”

Li Yi turned to Liu San and said, “Captain Wang is asking you a question. Go on!”

“Huh?”

Seeing the bewildered look on the young man’s face, Li Yi shook his head helplessly, thinking to himself that although Liu San was usually pretty sharp, he still lacked real-world experience.

To turn him into a competent partner, he’d need some serious training!

Since the kid was no help, Li Yi had no choice but to speak up himself.

He said, “Captain Wang, this young man of mine usually hangs out on the streets, doing shady deals and other under-the-table stuff!”

Hearing this, Liu San was completely dumbfounded.

Bro, this is the county bureau’s criminal investigation team! Everyone around here is a police officer!

Is it really appropriate to say things like that right in front of them?

Sure enough, the expressions on everyone’s faces changed—they started glaring at him menacingly.

Liu San even had the illusion that these people would charge at him the next moment and slap a pair of heavy, thick silver handcuffs on him.

However, Li Yi acted as if he hadn’t noticed, continuing, “I was just chatting with this kid. According to him, just a few days ago, someone approached him, asking him to help fence a batch of gold for a fee of 500 yuan!”

When they heard the 500-yuan fee, Wang Anguo and the others couldn’t help but perk up.

To be sure, the fact that someone had approached this small-time thug to sell gold wasn’t particularly unusual; these days, quite a few families did indeed have gold stashed away at home.

It was perfectly understandable that someone might want to sell it for cash in case of an emergency.

But a fee of 500 yuan is a different story; the current market price of gold is only about 10 yuan per gram.

If you were to use 500 yuan to buy gold, you could get about 50 grams—roughly one tael.

Most of the gold held in private households today exists in the form of jewelry—such as gold bracelets, rings, necklaces, and hairpins—with only a small amount consisting of gold bars of various sizes minted during the Republic of China era, commonly known as “big yellow fish” and “small yellow fish.”

A “big yellow fish” weighs no more than ten taels, while a “small yellow fish” weighs just one tael.

For someone to offer a reward worth the price of a “small yellow fish,” it can only mean one thing: this person must possess far more than just one liang of gold.

It’s unthinkable for an ordinary household to possess that much gold, yet Factory 812 had three jin of gold stolen in a single incident—such a coincidence is unheard of.

At that moment, Wang Anguo fixed his gaze on Liu San and asked, “Comrade Liu San, could you give us a detailed account of that person’s circumstances?”

Liu San was taken aback again. Was he suddenly being addressed as “Comrade”?

“I… I…”

Li Yi immediately slapped him on the back of the head and said, “Come on, take a deep breath. Don’t get nervous!”

Following Li Yi’s instructions, Liu San took a few deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.

“Now, tell Team Leader Wang and the others exactly how that person found you!”

“Yes!”

Liu San then proceeded to recount in detail to Wang Anguo and the others exactly how that man had tracked him down, as well as the benefits the man had promised him.

After listening to Liu San, Wang Anguo asked, somewhat puzzled, “I don’t quite understand. Why did they approach you? Logically, shouldn’t they have gone after someone with more clout?”

“That… I really don’t know!” Liu San replied.

Just then, Li Yi spoke up: “I might know a thing or two about this!”

“What?”

“Although this kid is just a street thug, he’s actually known in the underworld for being loyal and trustworthy—his character is beyond reproach.”

Li Yi continued, “Plus, he’s in the business of buying and reselling goods. Since he’s a young newcomer, having him handle this allows them to better conceal their own identities.”

“From this perspective, the other party clearly intends to make this a one-time deal.”

Wang Anguo nodded and said, “I see!”

At that moment, Li Yi spoke again: “I asked him, and he said he remembers what that person looks like. Maybe you could bring over photos of the leaders and staff from Plant 812 for him to identify!”

“If it really is someone from the plant, he should recognize them at a glance.”

“That’s a good idea!”

Wang Anguo immediately had someone bring over the personnel files of all the staff and cadres at Plant 812, then had Liu San identify them one by one.

These files had originally been stored at Plant 812, but after this case occurred, the county bureau had taken all the personnel files back to their headquarters, saving them a trip back to Plant 812.

Factory 812 didn’t have many employees; all the files fit into just a few simple manila folders.

After the police officers under Wang Anguo’s command retrieved the files, they had Liu San identify them one by one.

Since they started with the factory’s leading cadres, they had barely identified a few people when Liu San pointed to a photograph and said, “It’s him—that’s the one!”

Wang Anguo and the others were instantly elated and immediately picked up that person’s file to examine it.

When they saw the details clearly, everyone was stunned!

It was actually him?

Although there was currently no evidence proving that Director Hao was the one who stole the gold, the fact that Liu San could identify him at a glance from these files—assuming Liu San wasn’t maliciously framing him—clearly indicated that this man had indeed approached Liu San to discuss selling the gold.

Combined with the sudden disappearance of so much gold from Plant 812, this man was clearly a prime suspect.

Immediately, Wang Anguo and his team placed Hao Guanchang under investigation as a prime suspect.

Identifying the culprit from such a vast crowd is indeed quite difficult.

However, with a clear suspect in hand, determining whether he was guilty and whether he had the opportunity to commit the crime became much easier.

Soon, Wang Anguo and his team discovered major inconsistencies in Hao Guanchang’s interrogation transcript. His so-called alibi had a gap of one or two hours—a timeframe more than sufficient to carry out the entire theft.

Immediately, Wang Anguo and his team headed back to Factory 812…

…….

The carriage arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative as if it were second nature. After tying up the horse, Li Yi was just about to go inside to stock up on goods when he happened to spot Liu San’er not far away.

He looked rather bedraggled at the moment, with a black eye and a cut on the corner of his mouth.

After all, they knew each other, so Li Yi immediately waved him over.

Seeing Li Yi beckoning to him, Liu San immediately jogged over.

“Brother Li! Are you here to restock again?”

Li Yi nodded and asked, “What’s up?”

“Haha, I got into a fight with a couple of little punks over business!” Liu San said nonchalantly.

Li Yi knew that every line of work had its competition, especially in a gray-market business like theirs, so he didn’t make a big deal out of it.

“Does this happen often?”

Liu San grinned and said, “Yeah, in our line of work, we’re always dealing with price undercutting and poaching customers. In the end, it all comes down to who’s tougher, so fights are just part of the job!”

“Who were they?”

“Nothing special—just some street thugs,” Liu San replied.

“Did you come out on the losing end?”

“Nope. They got hurt way worse. They won’t be able to walk around for at least half a month!” Liu San said with a touch of smugness.

“Aren’t you afraid they’ll report you to the police? You might end up in jail!”

“No way. In our line of work, fights are as common as anything. More importantly, what we do isn’t exactly legal. If they go to the police and ask what happened, forget about whether they can catch me—he’ll be the one who ends up behind bars first!” Liu San said.

Li Yi shook his head and said, “Can you really keep living like this? You got the upper hand this time, but what about the future?”

Liu San shook his head with a bitter smile and said, “I can’t do anything else!”

Liu San continued, “Brother Li, you know my family is poor. My dad hurt his back working when he was young, so he can’t do any heavy physical labor—he just works as a security guard.”

“As for my mom, even though she got a job at the vermicelli factory, she’s just a temporary worker. She only makes 18 yuan a month—barely enough to feed the family. She doesn’t have the money to buy me a job either…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi frowned and said, “You’re a grown man—why are you always thinking about relying on your family?”

“Haha, I’d love to make it on my own, but I’ve got no education and no skills. I can’t get a job in a factory, and I don’t even know how to farm,” Liu San said helplessly.

“Well, you can’t just hang around on the streets every day. Sure, that kind of work brings in money fast, but the risks are huge too!”

Li Yi wasn’t just talking nonsense. It was 1980, and the situation was still relatively stable.

But things would be different in a few years. The authorities would soon launch a major crackdown on public order, cracking down on all kinds of criminals.

By then, people like Liu San who spent their days loitering on the streets would be in particularly great danger.

Liu San, however, hadn’t thought that far ahead. He assumed Li Yi was saying his line of work wasn’t safe—after all, scalping tickets was indeed illegal.

So, after a moment’s thought, he said, “Brother Li, if I had a legitimate job, I wouldn’t want to do this either. But I can’t just sit at home and wait to die, can I?”

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “Why don’t you come work for me from now on?”

Liu San’s eyes lit up instantly, and he hurriedly asked, “Sure, Brother Li, what would you have me do?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet. Wait a minute, I’ll take you to meet my third older sister. Starting tomorrow, you’ll help her run her stall selling liangpi. I’ll pay you 25 yuan a month, and we’ll talk about a raise later!” Li Yi said.

“Sure, sure, sure!”

Although 25 yuan a month was only a few yuan more than what he made hanging out on the streets, the main advantage was safety.

Plus, Liu San had great respect for Li Yi’s capabilities. In just a month, Li Yi had exchanged hundreds of pounds of flour coupons and grain and oil coupons with him.

Not to mention bicycle coupons, watch coupons, sewing machine coupons, and radio coupons—he’d been incredibly generous with them.

More importantly, he had attended Li Yi’s wedding a few days earlier.

At the wedding, he saw Li Yi chatting and laughing with the bigwigs from the county bureau. Even the bride’s ride was a county bureau jeep—that kind of clout was something they could only look up to.

Being able to tag along with such bigwigs would definitely offer a brighter future than fighting over territory and business on the streets.

Li Yi had his own reasons for taking Liu San under his wing. On one hand, he thought the kid was sharp and didn’t want him to keep sliding step by step into a dangerous abyss.

On the other hand, Li Yi genuinely needed someone to back him up, especially when dealing with Third Sister.

After all, there were plenty of idlers in society these days—people like Liu San who had no legitimate occupation or job and spent their days loitering on the streets.

Not only do they cause trouble, but they also frequently engage in petty theft, and even robbery and rape.

If Li Yi were running his own street stall in the city, he obviously wouldn’t have to worry about harassment from these types. Even setting aside his connections with Wang Anguo and Li Gang, his own physical prowess alone would be enough to intimidate anyone.

However, Li Yi had now entrusted the crucial task of running the stall in town to his third sister. She was a single young woman, and if those petty thugs set their sights on her, there was no telling when something might go wrong.

Don’t underestimate the audacity of those people. The reason the government suddenly launched a crackdown in 1983 was directly related to these street thugs.

Li Yi certainly didn’t want to gamble his Third Sister’s safety on the audacity of those thugs!

So, finding her a helper was only natural.

“Brother Li, do I start work tomorrow?”

“What’s the matter? Is there a problem?” Li Yi asked immediately.

“Not really. It’s just that a few days ago, someone approached me about a big deal. Could I finish that first before coming to work for you, Brother Li?” Liu San said.

“A big deal?”

“Yeah, Brother Li, do you remember when we met last time and someone asked me about selling gold?”

“I remember!”

“That person came back later and said he had some gold he wanted to sell. He also said he’d give me five hundred yuan if the deal went through…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi asked in a low voice, “When did that person contact you?”

“It’s been about five or six days!”

Li Yi thought for a moment. That was just a few days before the gold was stolen from Plant 812. Could that person be connected to this case?

With that in mind, Li Yi asked immediately, “Liu San’er, do you remember what that man looked like? Would you be able to recognize him if you saw him again?”

“I can!”

“Alright then, come with me. If we handle this right, you’ll be the top dog on the streets of Qing Shan County from now on!”

“What?”

“Don’t ask. You’ll find out soon enough!”

With that, Li Yi abandoned his shopping and led Liu San straight toward the county police headquarters.

…….

After briefly outlining the basic facts of the case, Wang Anguo immediately said, “Brother Li Yi, that’s the gist of it. During these extraordinary times, even if we wanted to help, we simply don’t have the manpower to spare!”

However, to Wang Anguo and Li Gang’s surprise, Li Yi didn’t seem disappointed upon hearing this; he merely smiled.

Just as the two were feeling baffled, he said calmly, “Does that mean once this gold theft case is solved, you’ll have time to handle those educated youth cases?”

“That’s certainly no problem, but…”

Before Wang Anguo could finish, Li Yi cut him off: “That’s all it takes. This gold theft case is a piece of cake!”

“Easy to solve?”

Meanwhile, Li Gang, standing nearby, seemed to have a sudden realization. He asked cautiously, “Brother Li Yi, you… you haven’t figured something out again, have you?”

Hearing this, Wang Anguo was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Li Yi with a face full of hope.

That’s right—the man standing before them was a master in that field, having already pointed him toward clues to solve cases on several occasions.

Maybe it would work this time too!

After all, they currently had absolutely no leads!

Li Yi smiled and said, “Don’t worry about whether I figured it out or just guessed—in any case, this crime was committed by someone from inside that factory!”

Wang Anguo frowned and said, “That was our initial line of inquiry as well. But after screening every employee and manager in the factory, we found that only a few had alibis. And after interrogating those individuals…”

Before he could finish, Li Yi interrupted again, “No need to interrogate them. It has nothing to do with the people you’ve arrested. You haven’t identified the culprit yet!”

“But…”

Li Yi continued, “The crime was committed by an insider. Furthermore, this person is a senior official, not just an ordinary employee!”

“A cadre?”

“But we’ve already screened all the cadres, and everyone has an alibi!” Wang Anguo said.

“Hmph, that’s exactly why the culprit is so cunning—he’s managed to fool you all!”

As he spoke, Li Yi couldn’t help but think that the guy who stole the gold was quite a talent in this regard.

His cunning truly surpassed that of an ordinary thief, to the point that the case had been deadlocked from the very beginning, only coming to light ten years later when he couldn’t resist the urge to sell the gold.

If Wang Anguo and his team had continued with their original line of thinking, they wouldn’t have solved the case even if given another twenty years, let alone ten.

Because from the very beginning, they had ruled out the real culprit as a suspect.

Wang Anguo was a smart man, and upon hearing this, he immediately understood.

“Are you saying the so-called alibi evidence is fake and doesn’t hold up to scrutiny?”

However, Li Yi merely smiled and didn’t elaborate. He patted Wang Anguo on the shoulder and said, “I won’t get involved in solving this case—that’s your job as the police. Just remember, once the case is solved, make sure to handle that case involving the educated youth for me right away!”

With that, Li Yi pushed open the door to Li Gang’s office and strode out.

Li Gang immediately said, “Brother Li Yi, you really should explain yourself clearly…”

But Wang Anguo grabbed him by the arm and said, “It’s fine. I know what’s going on. Don’t bother Brother Li Yi with this!”

“You already know?”

“Mm-hmm!”

“But I’m still completely in the dark.”

“Because you’re too slow on the uptake!”

With that, without waiting for Li Gang to respond, he immediately returned to his office and addressed the others who were busy at work: “Everyone, stop what you’re doing. I have an idea. We should re-evaluate the people at Plant 812, especially the leadership…”

……..

After leaving the county bureau, Li Yi headed straight to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy the wheat starch needed to make liangpi.

In addition, since supplies of condiments like vinegar and soy sauce were running low these past few days, Li Yi planned to buy some more.

As for the case, Li Yi was confident that Wang Anguo and his team could handle it on their own.

After all, he had laid out the situation so clearly; if they still couldn’t crack it, they’d truly be letting down the uniform they wore.

In reality, this case wasn’t particularly difficult; the key lay in the fact that the culprit had established an alibi for himself from the very beginning.

According to the report Li Yi had read, the person who stole the gold was Hao Guanchang, the office director at the headquarters of Factory 812.

Hao Guanchang was considered a mid-to-high-level executive at Plant 812 and had originally had a promising future. Unfortunately, among the hardworking staff, Hao Guanchang was the exception.

Because his daily work involved handling large quantities of gold, his greed easily corrupted him, and he began to harbor ill intentions.

At first, Hao Guanchang didn’t dare to make any major moves; he simply quietly instructed his wife, Zhou Suzhen—who also worked at Plant 812—to take a little scrap gold home each day when no one was looking.

Zhou Suzhen, who was also money-hungry, obeyed her husband’s every word and brought home small nuggets of gold every day.

Since the amounts were so small each time, they did not attract anyone’s attention.

But Hao Guanchang, who was gradually becoming dissatisfied, hesitated for a long time before deciding to pull off a major heist.

His plan was to do it just once, ensuring a life of luxury and comfort for the rest of his days, with no worries about food, drink, or clothing.

Together with his wife, he devised a meticulous theft plan.

Every day, taking advantage of his position, Hao Guanchang would openly visit the factory to scout the area, identifying the location of the gold warehouse and the patrol routes.

One evening a few days ago, with everything prepared, Hao Guanchang arrived at Factory 812, where he worked, carrying the tools he had prepared in advance.

He was always a bit shrewd and knew he couldn’t act directly; otherwise, if anything went wrong, he would be the first to be suspected.

In those days, to save on water bills, employees at the mint would shower at the factory before going home, and Hao Guanchang was no exception.

He walked into the shower room with a straight face, greeted the people he knew, and created the illusion that he was taking a shower.

In reality, after just a quick rinse, Hao Guanchang had already slipped out of the shower room while everyone was distracted.

Following a route he had planned in advance, he quietly approached the warehouse where the gold was stored. It was already late at night, and Hao, keeping his movements concealed, managed to sneak into the gold warehouse without incident.

The gold was stored in boxes. He selected four boxes containing individual gold bars that were not sealed with lead seals.

He then skillfully cut through the wire wrapping the boxes, quickly pried open the wooden panels, and retrieved the gold.

He picked up two bars of gold, wrapped them loosely with a rope, and hung them around his neck—all within just two minutes.

And this guy had particularly good luck—it had just started raining outside.

He naturally put on a raincoat to conceal the rope marks, left Factory 812, and rushed home.

His anxiously waiting wife hurried to meet him and hid the gold at the bottom of the coal basket in their home.

Meanwhile, Hao Guanchang took off his wet clothes, changed into dry ones, and rushed to the factory’s dance hall not far from home, where he stood among the crowd, swaying to the music.

Furthermore, to establish an alibi, he deliberately sought out acquaintances to greet them, even offering cigarettes to the factory director and deputy director and lighting them for them, ensuring everyone noticed him.

The next day, factory staff discovered a broken-into box with the gold missing and immediately called the police.

Upon receiving the report, the police rushed to the scene. After a thorough investigation, they concluded that this was an inside job, and the culprit was an employee of the factory.

They immediately conducted a thorough interrogation of all personnel, and as one of the leaders of Factory 812, Hao Guanchang was a key suspect.

Facing police questioning, he calmly stated that he had merely arrived at the factory around 6:00 p.m. to take a shower. Afterward, he went to the dance hall to dance and did not return home until after 10:00 p.m.

Thanks to his careful planning, the employees in the bathhouse all testified on his behalf, and his acquaintances at the dance hall confirmed that Hao Guanchang had indeed been there dancing.

Having so easily cleared himself of suspicion, the police did not investigate his whereabouts further.

The meticulous Hao Guanchang had his wife dispose of the leather shoes he had worn on the day of the crime, while he himself took the sledgehammer and discarded it in an abandoned school in a remote area.

The investigation subsequently reached a dead end, and the police were never able to catch the killer.

Afterward, Hao Guanchang became even more proactive at work and enthusiastically helped his colleagues. Everyone trusted him implicitly, and thanks to his flawless disguise, no one ever suspected him of being the gold thief.

In reality, if the case had been thoroughly investigated, Hao Guanchang’s alibi would not have held up to scrutiny.

However, Wang Anguo and the others had been blinded from the start, assuming that someone in his high-ranking position would not risk everything for a mere amount of gold.

Now that Li Yi has pointed out the key to solving the case, they’re sure to unmask this cunning criminal!

The next day!

Once again, Li Yi woke up before dawn. He removed his hand from his wife’s body, feeling a tinge of reluctance, and reluctantly got dressed.

He went to the main room next door to wake up his third sister, and then Li Yi began another busy day.

However, with Li Na helping out, things were a bit easier than before.

By 8:00 a.m., the liangpi and mountain produce were loaded onto the carts, and the siblings set off for the county seat, driving two mule-drawn carts.

Once they reached the county seat, Li Yi went to the state-run restaurant to deliver the goods, while Li Na continued to set up her stall at the textile factory.

After successfully delivering the mushrooms and mountain produce, Li Yi immediately headed home. Instead of going to the supply and marketing cooperative to restock, he rode his black horse straight to the county bureau.

As for the case involving Xu Hong and the others, there was a general solution in sight.

Just as Secretary Feng and his parents had surmised, aside from that bastard Xu Hong, the other five male educated youths didn’t harbor much malicious intent.

They had simply grown jealous because Li Yi wouldn’t buy their mushrooms. Incited by Xu Hong, they’d wanted to teach Li Yi a lesson—but their malicious intent wasn’t particularly strong.

If they were all sent to prison, it would indeed be a bit excessive.

But expecting Li Yi to forgive them so easily was out of the question.

So Li Yi planned to give them a bit more of a hard time, then write them a letter of leniency to spare them from a prison sentence, and let the matter be settled.

He figured that after this lesson, they should have learned their lesson.

Of course, that doesn’t include Xu Hong.

This guy had betrayed him time and time again, and his methods were getting increasingly despicable and shameless. Someone like that deserved to be locked up for life.

However, to see if this was feasible, Li Yi would have to consult Wang Anguo!

And that was precisely the reason for his visit to the county police bureau!

Most of the staff at the county bureau recognized Li Yi and knew he was on good terms with Captain Wang, so the black horse-drawn carriage entered the bureau’s courtyard with ease.

Li Yi tied up Black Horse and then headed straight for Wang Anguo’s office.

As soon as he reached the door, Li Yi saw that Wang Anguo’s office was wide open, with numerous uniformed police officers coming and going—it was extremely busy.

Li Yi immediately furrowed his brow, wondering to himself if today might not be the best time to visit.

Just as Li Yi was hesitating whether to go in, he suddenly felt someone tap him on the back.

Turning around, he saw that it was Li Gang, that dimwit, who had somehow slipped up behind him.

“Brother Li Yi, it really is you!” Li Gang said, sounding both surprised and pleased.

“You guys are pretty busy here, aren’t you?”

Li Gang was about to speak, but suddenly seemed to think of something. He could only sigh and say, “Ah, disciplinary matters—I can’t talk about it!”

“Got it!”

“By the way, are you here to see Captain Wang?” Li Gang glanced at Wang Anguo inside and asked.

“Yeah, but seeing how busy you all are, I’d better not go in and disturb you!” Li Yi said.

“We are a bit busy, but we still have time to meet!”

Before Li Yi could react, he grabbed his arm and pulled him straight into Wang Anguo’s office.

Wang Anguo was hunched over his desk, carefully sifting through clues related to a case, completely oblivious to the two men behind him.

It wasn’t until Li Gang and Li Yi walked up beside him that he sensed their presence and turned around.

Upon seeing Li Yi, Wang Anguo was taken aback at first, then asked, “When did you get here?”

Li Yi smiled and replied, “Just now!”

Li Gang added, “Brother Li Yi, I saw you were busy and was just about to leave when I ran into you!”

“Looks like you’ve got something on your mind, kid?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Nothing much—I just wanted to ask how the case involving those educated youth is progressing.”

Li Gang replied, “I’m aware of that. It’s already in the prosecution phase. If all goes as expected, the trial will begin next month!”

“Could it be sent back for a retrial?” Li Yi asked, his words coming as a surprise.

“A retrial?”

“Why?”

Li Yi glanced at the others in the office but said nothing; this wasn’t the kind of thing to be discussed in public.

Li Gang and Wang Anguo realized this as well and immediately said, “Let’s go to Li Gang’s office to talk!”

Shortly after, Wang Anguo, Li Gang, and Li Yi went to the office next door.

As soon as they entered, Wang Anguo asked in a low voice, “The case was already closed. Why retry it?”

Li Yi immediately recounted how Yang Yongjun and his wife had come to his home to plead with him, and briefly shared his thoughts with Wang Anguo.

After hearing the situation, Wang Anguo frowned and said, “A retrial isn’t out of the question, but there are two issues right now. First, a retrial requires new evidence or evidence that was previously overlooked.”

“Second, even if there really is new evidence, our county bureau doesn’t have the resources to retry this case!”

“What do you mean?” Li Yi frowned.

“You saw it yourself just now—our entire criminal investigation team is swamped. Plus, the county has ordered us to crack this case within a week. Three days have already passed, and we still have no leads. We’ll just have to put the educated youth case on hold for now,” Wang Anguo said.

“What case has you all so tied up?” Li Yi asked curiously.

Wang Anguo thought for a moment and said, “This actually involves some state secrets. According to confidentiality protocols, I shouldn’t be telling you this, but since you’re now considered an informant for our criminal investigation team, there’s no harm in sharing it with you!”

“A few days ago, a major theft occurred at the county’s Plant 812. Gold worth tens of thousands of yuan mysteriously vanished right under the security guards’ noses. This incident has not only alarmed the county but has even reached the city authorities. The county has ordered us to solve the case as soon as possible.”

Factory 812? Stolen gold?

Hearing Wang Anguo’s words, Li Yi immediately recalled a report he had read on dxmbang in his previous life.

The report stated that one day in April 1990, staff at the People’s Bank of China branch on Zhongshan Road in the provincial capital were all hard at work.

Since the government had recently raised the price of gold significantly, many people had been coming in to exchange their gold.

The teller in charge of gold exchanges had just finished another transaction. Before she could even take a brief break, an elderly woman approached the counter.

The elderly woman appeared to be around 50 years old. She looked nervous, her eyes darting about as she kept glancing around the room, unable to sit still at the counter.

When it was her turn, the elderly woman carefully unwrapped a package that had been wrapped layer upon layer, and took out a substantial piece of gold.

Upon receiving the gold, the teller immediately sensed something was amiss.

The gold before her weighed a full three catties—a weight rarely found in private collections.

Although she had dealt with a few people who had brought large quantities of gold to sell, the purity of that gold was nowhere near that of the piece before her.

She also keenly observed that this was industrial gold bearing distinct cutting marks.

By all accounts, this was a piece of gold that would never appear in the home of an ordinary person.

She discreetly sized up the elderly woman at the counter—her hair was gray, her clothes were plain and showed signs of mending—which only heightened her suspicions.

The teller couldn’t help but wonder, secretly speculating on the origin of this gold—it likely came from dubious sources.

So, while she reassured the elderly woman, she quickly reported the matter to her superiors.

The bank’s management also sensed something was amiss and immediately called the police.

Eventually, police officers arrived on the scene in a hurry, surrounding the elderly woman and ultimately solving a decade-old gold theft case.

In his previous life, since this case had mentioned his hometown, Li Yi couldn’t help but take a closer look—and to his surprise, he happened to arrive just as the incident was unfolding.

Recalling the origins and details of this case, the corners of Li Yi’s mouth couldn’t help but turn up slightly.

Although the sudden appearance of Yang Yongjun and his wife had dampened the Li family’s spirits, everyone soon tacitly agreed to drop the subject.

Although Li Shankui and his wife wanted to advise their son that it was better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester,

But they had no idea what their son was thinking, and since he had always been a maverick from a young age, he simply wouldn’t listen to them.

On top of that, since their daughter-in-law now seemed to be siding with their son, they certainly couldn’t say anything—otherwise, they’d end up criticizing her as well.

So, the elderly couple wisely kept their mouths shut.

After clearing the table, the family gathered together for the happiest part of their day—counting their money!

Li Na took out her olive-green shoulder bag, emptied all the money and grain coupons inside, and the whole family scrambled to start counting.

It didn’t take long to finish counting: a total of 94 yuan and 60 fen, plus 84 jin and 6 liang of grain coupons.

Li Na then said happily, “After deducting 10 yuan for a fixed emergency fund and 13 yuan and 50 fen for the cost of ingredients, the net profit is 71 yuan and 10 fen!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Third Sister, you haven’t accounted for the cost of all the seasonings and side dishes yet—that’s a significant expense too!”

“Oh, right. Let’s just put three yuan a day for those!”

Li Na then divided the remaining 68 yuan into two equal portions of 34 yuan each, giving one to Li Yi and keeping the other for herself.

Seeing that Third Sister had earned 34 yuan in a single day—equivalent to a month’s salary for a second-level worker—Li Lan was green with envy.

“Second Sister, don’t envy Third Sister—our mountain produce business is the real money-maker!” Li Yi said.

“Xiao Yi, how much can we make from this mountain produce business?” Second Sister asked eagerly.

“Take a guess.”

“How could it be less than a few thousand yuan?”

“Haha, aim high!” Li Yi said with a laugh.

“Is it over ten thousand?”

“Go even higher!”

“Xiao Yi, don’t scare me. Could it be tens of thousands?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “A conservative estimate of 100,000 yuan!”

“Ten… ten thousand yuan?”

It wasn’t just Li Lan who looked stunned; everyone else in the house had their eyes wide open, their faces filled with disbelief.

In an era where the average annual income was less than 500 yuan and anyone with 10,000 yuan was considered a rarity, 100,000 yuan was an astronomical figure, far beyond the comprehension of most people.

What they didn’t know, however, was that Li Yi’s 100,000 yuan was merely a conservative estimate.

That 100,000 yuan was based on Li Yi harvesting mushrooms by himself. Now that his second brother-in-law had returned to the village to help him, the stockpile would certainly be much larger than if he’d been working alone.

Still, 100,000 yuan was staggering enough on its own. Li Yi had deliberately given a relatively conservative figure so as not to alarm his family.

“Xiao Yi, if you make 100,000 yuan, how much will you give your sister?”

Li Lan didn’t mince words; she asked straight out.

“I’m giving my brother-in-law five cents profit per pound. As for you, once I ship the goods, I’ll give you five thousand yuan in one lump sum!” Li Yi said.

“Five… five thousand? That’s way too much!”

To be honest, she wouldn’t hesitate to ask for a few hundred or a thousand, but she certainly wouldn’t dare accept five thousand—that’s practically half a ten-thousand-yuan household.

Besides, she knew that even if her brother agreed, his wife might not, and her parents might not approve either.

After all, a daughter who’s married off is like water that’s been poured out!

Sure enough, upon hearing their son wanted to give his daughter five thousand yuan, Li Shankui and his wife immediately frowned.

“You’re thinking about splitting the money before the goods are even sold. Have you made a few bucks and gotten all full of yourself again?” Li Shankui said in a stern voice.

Li Yi smiled but didn’t argue. In the past, he hadn’t known what it meant to be filial; he’d always thought he was right and would talk back to his father.

Only after experiencing the trials of his past life did Li Yi come to understand that one must endure regret to truly cherish family bonds.

And there is nothing more tragic in life than wanting to care for one’s parents only to find they are no longer there. Having been given a second chance at life, he had gained a new, deeper understanding of the word “filial piety.”

Filial piety, filial piety—filial comes first, piety follows!

Seeing her father’s displeasure, Li Lan quickly changed the subject: “Xiao Yi, how much did you make today?”

Li Yi smiled and pulled out all of his day’s earnings from his shoulder bag. Adding the payment from the state-run restaurant for the cold noodles, the total came to 686 yuan.

Including the dividend he received from his third older sister, Li Yi’s total income for the day reached 720 yuan.

Li Yi then took out the ledger for today’s mushroom harvest, calculated all the expenses, and concluded that dxmbang had made a net profit of 50 yuan today.

He then handed 700 yuan to Tang Xue, telling her to keep it to continue collecting mushrooms tomorrow.

Only then did the family finish settling the accounts for the day!

…….

Since the new house wasn’t fully aired out yet, and for the sake of the adults as well as the safety of the baby in Tang Xue’s womb, Li Yi and Tang Xue had to move back into the old house starting today.

To take care of his son and daughter-in-law, Li Shankui tidied up the small room on the west side and set it up for the young couple to live in.

Li Lan, Li Na, and their eldest nephew, Zhang Ning, would be staying in the main house with the elderly couple.

Late at night, when all was quiet, Tang Xue lay tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

“What’s wrong? Is something on your mind?”

Hearing Li Yi’s question, Tang Xue hesitated slightly, then gave a soft “Mm-hmm.”

“Is there something on your mind? Can you tell me about it?”

“If I do the math, it’s been about a month and a half since I received the letter from home. I’m a little worried that if they don’t see me coming back, they might come looking for me here!” Tang Xue said with some concern.

“Haha, so what if they come? As long as you don’t want to, do you really think they can force us apart?” Li Yi said with a smile.

“You don’t know my dad and my mom—they…”

Thinking of her parents’ heart-wrenching concerns, Tang Xue didn’t know what to say.

Li Yi gently stroked Tang Xue’s soft, jet-black hair, then said calmly, “I don’t care what they think. Right now, you, Tang Xue, are my wife, Li Yi’s wife. No one is going to take you away from me!”

Then Li Yi added, “You can’t even leave on your own!”

Though his words were domineering, they made Tang Xue’s heart flutter with sweetness.

“Mm-hmm, no one can tear us apart!”

Li Yi then said, “Honey, we can’t just keep putting off dealing with your parents. Why don’t we go back to Qin Province for a visit?”

“No… I don’t want to!”

“Running away won’t solve anything. Some things you just have to face eventually!”

As he spoke, Li Yi thought to himself: Some truths simply must be uncovered!

When the time comes, I’ll settle every grievance and avenge every wrong!

“Well… let’s wait a bit longer. We’ve finally had a few peaceful days; I don’t want them to disrupt our lives!” Tang Xue said.

“That’s fine, but I still think we should go back and see what their stance is. Even if we’re going to cut all ties, we need to settle things face-to-face!” Li Yi said.

“We’ll see.”

Hearing Tang Xue’s resigned sigh, Li Yi couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

The longer he spent with Tang Xue, the more Li Yi felt certain there must have been more to her suicide in his previous life.

In his previous life, he had learned of Tang Xue’s suicide from a letter written by Zhang Xinyao. According to her, Tang Xue had taken her own life after suddenly discovering she was pregnant. Somehow, the news had spread like wildfire throughout the neighborhood, and everyone had accused her of being promiscuous and a “slut.”

Consequently, unable to bear the psychological pressure, Tang Xue ultimately chose to take her own life.

That explanation seemed plausible enough at the time, but now it left Li Yi deeply skeptical.

Although Tang Xue appeared delicate, she was actually incredibly strong-willed deep down.

This was evident from the way she had lashed out at Yang Yongjun’s wife earlier that day. She wasn’t the type to be so emotionally fragile that she’d jump into a river at the first sign of trouble—absolutely not!

Especially given that it was her own choice that night—Tang Xue must have had a premonition about the child’s arrival. She wouldn’t have collapsed just because it caught her off guard, and she certainly wouldn’t have taken her own life over it.

On the other hand, Li Yi hadn’t realized until now that the Tang family was actually planning to marry Tang Xue off to an elderly widower—all to secure a good job for her younger sister.

To sacrifice one daughter’s happiness for the sake of another—such parents were far more than just biased.

On top of that, Li Yi had met Tang Xue’s family in his previous life, and in his view, Tang Xue was completely out of place among her brother, sister, and parents.

Suddenly, a bold suspicion crossed Li Yi’s mind!

However, he didn’t voice this thought aloud; after all, it was too far-fetched. He’d wait until he had evidence before saying anything.

Li Yi’s reaction left everyone present stunned, including the Li family members.

They had anticipated that Li Yi might refuse the Yang family’s request, but they never imagined he would reject it so decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

Yang Yongjun and his wife turned deathly pale. They watched Li Yi’s retreating figure as he went inside, their faces etched with despair.

Although Yang Yi wasn’t their only son, he was still their child.

If he were actually sentenced, his life would truly be ruined!

Most importantly, before coming here, they had specifically visited the county bureau and used their connections to inquire—it was confirmed that Yang Yi and the others had indeed been manipulated.

Apart from Xu Hong, who was truly malicious and intent on harming others, the other five educated youths had originally intended only to teach the victim a lesson; they had no intention of poisoning him.

Therefore, if they could secure the victim’s forgiveness, the court would most likely impose a lighter sentence—or even exempt him from punishment.

And that is precisely why Yang Yongjun and his wife traveled hundreds of kilometers to Nianzishan Village, begging Li Yi to forgive Yang Yi.

Yang Yongjun glanced at Feng Kai with a look of embarrassment and said, “Secretary Feng, what do you think about this…”

Feng Kai frowned and said, “Wait here for a moment. I’ll go inside and see what Yi wants.”

With that, Feng Kai walked straight into the inner room.

Inside, Li Yi sat impassively on the edge of the kang; Feng Kai couldn’t tell what mood he was in at all.

“Yi, tell your uncle—what exactly are you thinking?”

Li Yi replied calmly, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth—it’s only natural!”

“Are you really planning to send them all to the DXMBang prison?” Feng Kai asked, frowning.

“Hmph. They should’ve been prepared for this when they poisoned people!”

“But… but they were deceived by Xu Hong—that’s why they did such a thing!”

But Li Yi shook his head and said, “Uncle Feng, they’re all adults. If they can’t even tell the difference between truth and lies, they deserve whatever misfortune befalls them!”

“Xiao Yi, they’re certainly at fault, but I truly believe those kids are different from Xu Hong!”

“They’re all cut from the same cloth—there’s no difference!” Li Yi said.

“Xiao Yi, is there really no room for discussion?” Feng Kai asked again.

Just as Li Yi was about to speak, Tang Xue walked in from outside and said to Feng Kai, “Uncle, I’ll talk to him!”

Feng Kai nodded, then turned and walked out!

Tang Xue closed the door behind her and said, “I…”

“Xiao Xue, are you trying to plead their case?” Li Yi frowned.

Tang Xue shook her head and said, “No. They did what they did—even if they’re sentenced, they deserve it. It’s their own fault!”

“Then what are you doing?”

“From what I know of you, you probably don’t want to sentence them all…”

Before she could finish, Li Yi cut her off: “You’re wrong there. I have absolutely no intention of going easy on them!”

However, Tang Xue shook her head and said, “You know deep down that what really angers you is Xu Hong, not Yang Yi or Liang Jianjun. Although they made mistakes too, it was merely a momentary outburst of resentment and a lapse in judgment; they didn’t have any real ill will!”

“They’ve been locked up for so long now, and their families have even come to plead with you. Why are you still being so unyielding?”

Li Yi looked at Tang Xue, then smiled and said, “You’re still too young. You tend not to cherish what comes too easily!”

“Are you worried about them?”

“Yes. Even children know that mistakes deserve punishment, let alone adults who’ve committed crimes.”

Li Yi continued, “This matter isn’t exactly major, but it’s not minor either. Regardless of whether they were deceived or whether they truly intended to mix poison into our mountain produce, the mere fact that they conspired to harm me is a grave mistake!”

“If I forgive them too easily this time, they might think the consequences of their mistake aren’t that severe, and who knows what trouble they might get into in the future!”

Tang Xue nodded and said, “You have a point, but are you really willing to just stand by and watch them get sentenced?”

“It won’t come to a prison sentence, but giving them a lesson is certainly in order!” Li Yi said.

“What do you plan to do?”

Li Yi replied immediately, “I’ll go talk to Captain Wang and have him reopen the case!”

“Re-examine? Why? Isn’t that just causing trouble for them?” Tang Xue frowned.

“Heh, it won’t require them to do anything. We’ll just resubmit some evidence and go through the process again!”

“What’s the point?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “By going through the process again, their trial will be postponed, and they’ll have to stay in detention for a while longer.”

Tang Xue immediately understood and said, “So you mean to keep them locked up a little longer, then pardon them at the next hearing? That way, they’ll have been punished without actually having to serve a prison sentence!”

“Yes. The role of the law is not only to eliminate evil and promote good, but also to heal and save people. This time, we’re doing both—eliminating evil and healing the sick!” Li Yi said.

Tang Xue knew that the one Li Yi intended to eliminate was naturally Xu Hong, while those he intended to rehabilitate were Yang Yi, Liang Jianjun, Zhou Guangya, and the others.

“Alright, whatever decision you make, I support you!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Mm-hmm!”

“So, how do you plan to handle Yang Yi’s parents?”

“Send them back. Their son has turned out to be such a troublemaker—as parents, they bear an inescapable responsibility!” Li Yi said.

“Mm-hmm!”

Then, Tang Xue opened the door again and stepped outside.

At that moment, Feng Kai and Yang Yongjun and his wife all fixed their gaze on Tang Xue, eager to know Li Yi’s final stance.

“Comrade Tang, what about Yi?”

“Uncle, please take Auntie and Uncle back home first. We’ll think this over and get back to you later!” Tang Xue said.

Yang Yi’s mother hurriedly interjected, “But how long will you need to think about it? Young Yi’s trial is coming up soon…”

Tang Xue frowned and said, “Auntie, what do you mean by that? Are you saying we have to give you a satisfactory answer today?”

Seeing that Tang Xue was getting angry, Yang Yongjun hurriedly said, “Miss, please don’t get upset. My wife is just worried, that’s all.”

“Being anxious doesn’t give you the right to speak like that. Besides, it’s the court that’s going to judge Yang Yi. If you want to plead your case, you should be pleading with the judges—what are you doing here at our house?”

Tang Xue continued, “You think Yang Yi and the others are innocent, but what about us? Are we supposed to believe we’d poison someone just out of jealousy? How could their intentions be so malicious?”

Yang Yi’s mother was about to say something else when she saw Tang Xue glance at Secretary Feng. Tang Xue then spoke up loudly, “Uncle Feng, we have things to attend to at home, so we won’t be able to entertain you any longer!”

Hearing Tang Xue’s bold words, not only was Feng Kai stunned, but the rest of the Li family stood there speechless as well.

Was this really the Tang Xue they knew?