Chapter 320 New Year’s Eve, or Gossip Night?

"It's from Hong Kong Island, looking for Mr. Li. Which Mr. Li do you think it is?"

“.”

Li Ye chewed the peanuts in his mouth slowly and asked doubtfully, "Grandpa Mr. Li, aren't you Mr. Li?"

Li Ye had no intention of exposing all of his assets.

A man's secret savings! You can show off a little bit of it, because you have to spend money. If you keep a pile of dollars and pretend to be poor, wouldn't that make you a puritan?

But private money is private money, and you must never give it all away. Otherwise, when you are only in your early twenties and the adults in your family want to make decisions for you, how can you refuse?

What does hundreds of millions of US dollars mean now? How much is the country's foreign exchange reserves?

However, Li Zhongfa looked at the calm Li Ye and said with a half-smile: "But I don't know her! She is a woman, and her name is Fan Ling."

“.”

Everyone in the main room of the Li family was stunned, and then they all looked at Li Ye strangely.

At this moment, Li Ye, facing the gazes of the crowd, seemed to have awakened the ability to read minds and could hear the gossip in their hearts.

Wu Juying: "A woman, another woman. My dear grandson, what are you doing?"

Li Juan and Li Ying: "Brother actually hooked up with a girl in Hong Kong Island"

Han Chunmei: "This boy is good-looking, but that's not always a good thing!"

Li Yue: "Hahahaha~ I am dying of laughter."

Li Ye stood up helplessly and answered the phone.

"Hello, I'm Li Ye, who are you?"

Fan Xiuling's happy voice came from the other end of the phone: "Congratulations on your prosperity, Mr. Li, it's me, Fan Xiuling.

We are all having New Year's Eve dinner at Acong's house today. Just now everyone said they would come to wish you a happy new year at midnight, but they couldn't get through after trying many times, but I got through in one try."

Li Ye patiently listened to Fan Xiuling's New Year's greetings, and then smiled and said, "You got it right the first time, so your fortune must be the best this year!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you Mr. Li for your kind words, may we all have a prosperous New Year."

Fan Xiuling on the other end of the phone was obviously excited, and her voice was trembling with excitement. I don't know if it was due to distortion caused by the long-distance call.

Fan Xiuling seemed to want to say a few more words, but the person on the other end of the phone changed to Luo Runbo, who also said a few blessings such as congratulations on your prosperity, and finally Pei Wencong.

"Mr. Li, everyone is rushing to wish you a happy new year and a happy family reunion."

"Okay, thank you, thank you. But Lao Pei, when we wish New Year's greetings here, we should greet our elders first."

Pei Wencong was stunned for a moment, then immediately said, "Yes, yes, yes, yes. I respect Mr. Li very much. Is he here?"

"Wait a moment."

Li Ye covered the receiver with his hand and said to his grandfather Li Zhongfa: "Grandpa, Mr. Pei from Hong Kong Island wants to wish you a happy new year."

Li Zhongfa reached out to answer the phone and asked Li Ye in a low voice, "Is that Pei Wencong?"

Li Ye nodded and said, "Yes, in Hong Kong, people usually say "Congratulations on your prosperity" and "Business is booming" and so on. Try not to say "Happy New Year."

"ah?"

Li Zhong was stunned for a moment, but he didn't have time to think about it and reached out to take the receiver.

Many old-fashioned Hong Kong people never say "Happy New Year" when greeting each other, and they don't use "I wish you a happy new year" when writing letters.

Because "happy" and "fast fall" are words that are easily confused in Cantonese, many superstitious Hong Kong people are quite averse to this word.

"Mr. Pei? It's been a long time since we last met in Beijing. I've been wanting to contact you, but I didn't expect you to call me first. I should be the one wishing you a happy new year first."

"You can't say that," Pei Wencong immediately said sincerely, "In our flower-growing nation, the elders are respected. If you wish me a happy new year first, it will be against tradition."

“.”

Li Ye listened to his grandfather Li Zhongfa happily chatting with Pei Wencong on the phone, and he felt that the wrinkles on his face seemed to slowly smooth out.

The two chatted for two minutes before Li Zhongfa's face changed again. He covered the receiver tightly with his hand and looked at Li Ye in confusion.

"Xiao Ye, Mr. Pei's sister wants to talk to you."

"Just talk!"

Li Ye was too lazy to argue with them. He reached out and grabbed the phone and said, "Xiao Hui! Are you going to be polite to me too?"

"Mr. Li, I'm not being polite to you. I just want to ask for good luck on the first day of the new year. Hehehe."

"Ask for good luck! Okay, okay, what do you want to hear? Congratulations on getting rich and having a family reunion? Or do you wish you and Dayong a long and happy marriage?"

"Hehehe, thank you Mr. Li. If it is convenient, please give New Year's greetings to Dayong and his family on my behalf."

Because of Li Dayong, Pei Wenhui is actually more casual with Li Ye than with Pei Wencong, and they can occasionally make some harmless jokes.

But Li Ye's words "Xiao Hui" and "Happiness for a Hundred Years" once again made the men and women of the Li family, like the German Shepherd, prick up their ears.

[Is this the end? Two women came to Xiaoye on the phone for five minutes? Is this a romantic relationship?]

Seeing Li Zhongfa's puzzled look, sister Li Yue couldn't help herself any longer. She covered her mouth and swayed on the stool to hold back her laughter.

Li Zhongfa gave Li Yue a sharp look, and the latter whispered obediently: "Grandpa, that's Pei Wenhui, she and Li Dayong are a couple,

Don't let your imagination run wild. Just look at how much our Xiao Ye likes the Wen family girl. Other girls don't stand a chance at all."

“.”

Grandma Wu Juying rushed to ask, "A couple with Li Dayong? Who? Mr. Pei's sister from Hong Kong Island?"

Li Yue nodded and said, "Yes! I often see her in Beijing. I know her very well."

Even his father, Li Kaijian, a grown man, couldn't help but ask, "Is Li Dayong dating the billionaire's sister?"

"Yeah~, what's so strange about this?"

“.”

This year's New Year's Eve was destined to be a night of gossip. After midnight, no one in the Li family was interested in the Spring Festival Gala program. They all discussed Li Dayong's fateful marriage.

When everyone was tired and went back to their rooms to take a nap, Li Zhongfa called Li Kaijian over.

"Starting tomorrow, do not agree to any favors that would place your children or nephews in the instant noodle factory.

I have tried to distance myself from all the invitations I have accepted in the past. I absolutely cannot place an incompetent person in the instant noodle factory."

"Hiss~"

Li Kaijian took a breath and said in doubt: "Dad, what happened? I heard you were on the phone with Hong Kong Island just now, and the conversation was going well, wasn't it? Why did something unexpected happen over there?"

"Hmph~, we just had a good conversation, I just..."

Li Zhongfa suddenly glared at Li Kaijian and said, "Why are you asking so many questions? Just do whatever you are told to do. If you can't refuse a favor, just push it to me."

Li Kaijian was suddenly rebuked by his father, and he did not dare to refute, so he had to agree: "I understand, Dad, I will resign from all the favors to those families in the next few days."

"It's not like we're going to fire everyone. We'll definitely hire those who are capable, and we'll definitely reject those who are not. Do you understand?"

“.”

Li Kaijian left with a lot of hesitation. He had accepted some favors these days and it would be hurtful to refuse them now. After all, the salary in the joint venture was really not low and it was too tempting!

After everyone left, Li Zhongfa looked at Li Ye's window and sneered, "You little bastard, are you still trying to fool me? You have a big share, right?"

At this moment, grandma Wu Juying came over and asked, "What's wrong? Who offended you?"

"No."

Li Zhongfa refused outright, "I'm saying that our grandson is really not bad!"

. . . . . . .

The sound of firecrackers on New Year's Day gradually subsided at three in the morning, but started again at five in the morning.

"Brother, brother, get up and kowtow to daddy~"

"What time is it now? It's still early, right?"

"It's getting late. We've all come back from paying respects to Grandpa Huai with grandma. Mom made dumplings for you. If you don't get up, you'll get lumps."

Li Ye had no choice but to get up in a daze, put on his clothes and prepare to follow his father to visit neighbors and wish a happy new year.

The tradition in Dongshan is to kowtow to the elders on the morning of the first day of the new year. Even if the elders are distant relatives, one still has to kowtow to them today.

Therefore, the saying “A man’s knees are as precious as gold” does not make sense in this era. If you don’t kowtow dozens of times in the morning, it means that your family is not prosperous.

Only when one reaches the same generation and status as Li Zhongfa and Wu Juying can one sit at home as stable as a rock and accept the kneeling worship of the younger generations with peace of mind.

Then they would chat with the younger generation in a serious manner, for example, "How are you doing? Is this year bad or not?" to show the elders' care for the younger generation.

In the past two years, the topic that everyone discussed was basically related to Li Ye, including but not limited to his academic performance, income, and that legendary partner.

But this year, the wind suddenly changed.

"Hey, didn't we talk about Xiao Ye's matter a long time ago? That's all nonsense. He and she are just classmates. Besides, they have returned to Beijing. You can't be sure about children's affairs. But Li Dayong is amazing."

"What happened to Dayong?"

"Dayong is dating a rich girl, a billionaire's sister"

"Fuck!!!!!!"

As of 1984, there were many billionaires overseas who were much more impressive than Mr. Ke and Wen Qingsheng. If you don’t believe me, just watch “The Shepherd”; Zhu Shimao’s biological father was a billionaire.

In an era when the country's foreign exchange reserves are only 20 to 30 billion, the daughter of a billionaire is not just a beautiful, rich woman, but a princess or a princess!

Li Dayong, a commoner, actually won the favor of the princess. Isn't this a cool story that was ahead of its time? At some point decades later, this is the level of the story.

So when Li Ye kowtowed all morning and returned to the Li family yard, a group of old women surrounded Li Dayong and chattered as if they wanted to eat the bear.

"Dayong! How did you get so close to that Hong Kong Island girl? Tell your auntie quickly, and I'll teach your stupid brother a lesson later."

"I don't have any, it's all just rumors."

"Hey, you're still not telling the truth. Your mother said that the watch she wears is imported. Tell me the truth, is it a gift from a billionaire?"

"I"

Pei Wenhui actually gave Li Dayong a ladies' watch and asked him to take it home to honor Li Dayong's mother.

"Look, look, he's shy. Why would such a big guy be shy?"

This sentence reminded Li Dayong.

The bear-like body is slightly hunched, the big head droops shyly, and he smiles foolishly without saying a word. Whatever happens, do as you please!

I'm shy, can you bite me?

After the group of old ladies left in boredom, Li Dayong came over with a bitter face and said, "Brother, why are you roasting me over the fire? I haven't told my mother yet."

Li Ye glanced at Li Dayong and said calmly, "First of all, I didn't spread this rumor. Also, how long do you think you can keep it a secret? Is it that our classmates don't know, or is it that Jin Peng doesn't know?"

Li Dayong was about to explain himself when Li Ye said, "Let me tell you, Xiaohui will come to Dongshan with her brother in a few days. If you have the guts, just pretend you don't know her."

“.”

Seeing Li Dayong and Li Ye mumbling over there, Li Kaijian asked Li Zhongfa in a low voice: "Dad, will this be bad for Dayong? He may not have reached that stage yet!"

"Why, isn't it Xiao Ye's contribution that Dayong was able to hook up with the rich girl from Hong Kong Island? You can't just take advantage of the good things without taking any responsibilities, right?"

Li Zhongfa said unhappily, "A tall tree attracts the wind. We can't always let Xiaoye be the only one in the spotlight. This is called diverting trouble. No, this is called diverting firepower."

Li Kaijian: “.”

Dad, I also went to school and served in the army. Don’t these two words mean the same thing?

(End of this chapter)