30 Chapter Twenty-Nine

◎Yu Jinyang, you're really a difficult person to deal with.◎

Yu Jinyang didn't take the cigarette offered to him. He just leaned against the car door and watched Li Yingqiao go in before turning to Li Lianfeng and saying in a calm and distant tone, "Let's talk here. I don't smoke."

"No way?"

"Brother, I really don't smoke."

He called me "brother," but his tone sounded inexplicably impatient.

Li Lianfeng noticed his coldness and his expression changed accordingly. He awkwardly put the cigarette back in his hand and couldn't help but think to himself, "I knew this kid wasn't that simple. He never came no matter how I called him. I thought he had changed his ways today."

"You and Li Yingqiao have a good relationship?" Li Lianfeng lit a cigarette, put the lighter back in his pocket, and asked curiously.

"So-so," Yu Jinyang said succinctly, leaning against the car door. He seemed to be slowly stretching his neck to refresh himself, but was actually cleverly avoiding the smoke exhaled by the other person. His tone remained indifferent. "It's been a long time since we've been in touch."

Li Lianfeng silently took two more puffs of his cigarette and said, "I thought that given the irreconcilable relationship between your father and her uncle, you two would also never see each other again."

As Yu Jinyang looked up, he spotted a familiar head peeking out from beside the air conditioner unit on the second floor of the restaurant, near the Chinese-style lattice window. Li Yingqiao, caught off guard, made a face at him.

Meow, look at me, look at me. She even mouthed the words, as lively as ever.

He chuckled, and Li Lianfeng, who was standing next to him, also turned around to look, but didn't see even a fly.

Yu Jinyang took a long time to look away, and said indifferently, "We played together quite well when we were young, but we haven't been in touch much these past few years."

Li Lianfeng pondered the meaning behind those words and made a judgment in his heart. So he got straight to the point and said, "Then I won't beat around the bush with you. Whether it's because of your childhood friendship with Li Yingqiao or some other reason, since you've decided to come, you might hear some unpleasant things when you go in. Don't mind them. Just treat them as farting. My old man is getting old and his mind is confused. He wants to get involved in everything. Don't worry, I'll try my best to help you maintain the situation and not make things difficult for you."

"Thanks, bro." Yu Jinyang smiled.

Li Lianfeng prided himself on his extensive experience with people and his mastery of interpersonal relationships. However, he couldn't see through the man before him. Yu Jinyang appeared gentle and easygoing, seemingly devoted to you, constantly calling you "brother." If you actually considered yourself his brother, you'd be falling into his trap.

Yu Jinyang is a very discreet person. He can bend his back and straighten it at the same time. If he's happy, he might even be willing to put on a show with you. If he's unhappy, you can't force him to do anything. It all depends on whether he's willing to humble himself.

The incident last year, where someone from Li Wusheng's toy factory hit Yu Renjie, has caused a major rift between the two families over the past six months, making even meetings between Li Shuli and Tang Xiang quite awkward. However, since seven or eight out of ten households in this town share the surname Li, Li Wusheng only benefited from this. Li Boqing, at heart a conservative with his roots in this arid land, considered himself to have some influence and wanted to take sides, hoping Yu Renjie would give him face and ask for some compensation, hoping to avoid escalating the situation.

However, things were not as simple as Li Boqing thought. After Yu Renjie's incident, their family was turned upside down. Tang Xiang also had a daughter who was not yet three years old to take care of, and she also had to deal with the mountain of work piling up at the company.

Yu Renjie himself suffered even more. His legs ached so much that he couldn't sleep all night. During that time, he could even count the cracks in the ceiling. The sweat on his body was like water in a sponge, it just wouldn't stop. No matter how much he wiped it off, it would soak back in and leave a human-shaped pattern. There wasn't time to change the sheets, and the person on the sheets had become so thin that he was unrecognizable.

Despite this, they all decided to keep the news from Yu Jinyang, who was abroad, and didn't tell him about their family's situation. It wasn't until one phone call, when Tiantong (the girl) tearfully called out for her brother, "Dad, it hurts," that Yu Jinyang learned of the terrible thing that had happened at home—

At that time, he was the Americas Strategic Development Manager at the Chicago branch of a well-known international mechanical watch group, responsible for optimizing the supply chain in the North American market. If all went according to plan, he expected to return to China within two years, as the group was then establishing a high-end mechanical watch customization center in Shanghai, and he was leading the entire project. Senior management at headquarters recognized his Chinese background and his strategic vision for the Chinese market.

But what was supposed to be a done deal turned out to be unexpected. Fernando, who used to call him every day to complain about the smell of tap water in China and want to go back to Chicago, suddenly announced in a video conference with headquarters not long ago that he planned to marry a Chinese woman, that he wanted to stay in China, and that he wanted to apply for an extension of his term as China Regional Strategy Manager.

Fernando refused to leave China, and Yu Jinyang knew that he would hardly have any other opportunities. Just then, he received a tearful phone call from the ice cream cone, so a week later, at the end of last year, he decided to resign from his position at headquarters.

After returning, Li Boqing tried to call him whenever he had the chance, hoping to persuade him to change his mind, but Yu Jinyang deflected his calls with ease. It was still uncertain whether Li Wusheng was involved in the matter, but even if he wasn't, his father's leg was injured like this, so how could they be expected to settle things with just the shop?

He knew, of course, what kind of situation he would face today. When Li Yingqiao made this request, he almost instinctively wanted to turn cold; he had completely forgotten that she also shared the surname Li. But then he couldn't help but think that they had known each other since they were four or five years old, and he knew Li Yingqiao very well. She wouldn't blindly act as a matchmaker for Li Wusheng.

They hadn't seen each other for years, and he didn't know if she had changed. But if he didn't come, Li Boqing and Li Lianfeng, this grandfather and grandson duo, were always good at playing the good cop and the bad cop. Li Yingqiao couldn't outmaneuver them. If she were led by the nose, they might not even be able to remain proper friends in the future.

So he agreed, and Li Boqing, considering his presence, wouldn't say anything too outrageous.

As Li Lianfeng said, Li Boqing had been involved in this matter a lot in the past six months. He was doing it from his perspective of the big picture. Fengtan's economy was in a bad state. There were too many monks and not enough porridge. Overseas orders were also declining sharply. Several large enterprises had gone bankrupt. Small workshops were barely making ends meet. Even Yu Renjie had changed careers.

These days, it's no longer the era where anyone could make a fortune by opening a factory agency. So, especially in times like these, we need to unite and overcome this challenge together.

As expected, as soon as Yu Jinyang and Li Lianfeng went upstairs, they heard Li Boqing singing some clichéd tunes at the door, which were nothing more than telling them to broaden their horizons and not let personal grudges delay the development of Fengtan Enterprise.

Li Boqing put down his chopsticks, gestured for someone to open another bottle of red wine, and said, “These days, good timber takes nearly a hundred years from planting to maturity, especially non-renewable resources. Even the camphor wood that Fengtan is famous for is protected by forestry authorities; you can’t just cut it down without a permit. The current situation is that large factories aren’t setting a good example, and small factories are popping up one after another, so the relevant departments will definitely be stricter in their inspections. The discharge of production waste and dust pollution are all problems. However, I see that some factories are now transforming into those bioparticles, which seems to be doing quite well, and they’ve even received provincial support, haven’t they?”

The middle-aged man next to him replied, "Yes, it's biomass pellets. Jin Yang helped come up with this idea. We can process the wood chips and waste produced by the wood toy factory into biomass pellets to provide fuel for technology. You know what, we got a patent for this a while ago. It's true that young people are quick-witted and resourceful; otherwise, there would be even more factories that have closed down in town."

Li Boqing sighed, "That kid's mind isn't on this, it's such a pity. Such a bright brain, yet he doesn't think about doing anything for his hometown, instead choosing to do some design work himself. His ideological awareness is still lacking—"

Li Lianfeng glanced quickly at Yu Jinyang, coughed, and stepped aside to let him go in first: "Please be understanding. The old man is getting old, and his mental level has regressed to that of a seven or eight-year-old child. Don't take it to heart."

Their minds were indeed alike, but their appearances were quite different. Li Boqing sat at the head of the table, like an old radish that had been firmly planted for decades, impossible for anyone to uproot. His roots, through years of decay, had spread deeper and deeper into the soil. Yu Renjie said he was just like an old radish rotting in the soil.

As soon as the two entered, Li Boqing, without caring whether Yu Jinyang had heard what they had just said, immediately adopted the air of an elder and started teasing him, making those same lowbrow jokes, "Jinyang, you little rascal, I have to say something to you. You usually refuse to come when I ask you to, but as soon as Li Yingqiao comes, you eagerly follow along. I know you two are childhood sweethearts, but you don't need to keep such a close eye on each other, do you?"

A knowing chuckle rippled through the group at the table, their eyes darting back and forth between the two men in an ambiguous manner, like a pack of wildcats that had caught a whiff of blood, their eyes gleaming with a green light.

Li Lianfeng glanced at Yu Jinyang with some unease.

“If Secretary Li is so unwelcoming to me, I’ll leave. It’s fine if you like to make fun of me, but there’s no need to bring up Li Yingqiao. We haven’t been in touch for six years,” Yu Jinyang said as he sat down next to Li Yingqiao, glancing at her discreetly. “I only added her on WeChat yesterday.”

These words made Li Boqing's face turn pale. This kid was very vigilant, and if he continued, it would make him, the elder, seem indecent and aggressive.

Normally, young people wouldn't dare to contradict him like that. If they were really interested, they would either go along with his words and try to climb the social ladder, or they would just laugh it off and pretend they didn't hear it. Yu Jinyang's way of speaking, so high-sounding and watertight, annoyed him, so he didn't respond and decided to ignore him. He cursed inwardly, "Ignorant, just like his father."

Li Boqing urged Li Yingqiao to eat more, but Li Yingqiao ignored him and went off to have a few bottles of wine opened while he chatted with the people around him about his grand plans.

Li Yingqiao didn't give anyone a glance, not even a tremor of her eyelashes. She just kept her head down, peeling and eating shrimp intently, completely different from the way she made faces at him before she came in. He had no idea what she had heard.

Thinking this, Yu Jinyang quietly placed the Coke he had gotten downstairs next to her.

Li Yingqiao then turned to look at him.

"I can't call a designated driver here if I drink this," he said.

"Grape juice." Li Yingqiao swirled the glass.

Yu Jinyang nodded and began to unpack the wet wipes without saying anything more.

Li Yingqiao took a sip of grape juice from her wine glass, but her gaze lingered on him absentmindedly. She toasted him across the distance, taking a small sip as if she were really drinking, and even exaggeratedly smacked her lips, making a glass of diluted grape juice seem like a fine elixir.

Yu Jinyang then smiled and said, "Boring."

Li Yingqiao smiled, then put down her cup and turned to look at Li Boqing. She had just realized why Li Boqing had gone to such lengths to invite her to this meal.

From the moment she sat down, Li Boqing subtly probed her relationship with Yu Jinyang, implying that he wanted her to play the thankless role of "Haitian Soy Sauce" and see if she could mediate between her uncle and Uncle Yu. He probably received a bribe from Li Wusheng.

Li Yingqiao had always respected him since she was a child. In Fengtan, Li Boqing was a legendary figure. However, after listening to him ramble on and on about his story this time, she lost interest and didn't continue the conversation. She just silently peeled the crab.

Li Boqing, having made a fool of himself, devised another plan: at the dinner party, in front of a group of elders from the Fengtan wood toy circle, he deliberately said some nonsensical things, making fun of her and Yu Jinyang. Everyone present was shrewd; they all understood the underlying meaning in his words—he was probably trying to put pressure on them by bringing up their relationship. He started by saying things that seemed plausible but ultimately didn't stop at those sensitive and secretive topics about male-female relationships, hoping to embarrass her and Yu Jinyang. Perhaps Uncle Yu would consider their feelings and choose to compromise.

I don't know what the old fox is really planning, but in any case, this little old man is really wicked now.

No wonder Yu Jinyang hesitated for a few seconds when he first heard about this.

"Ugh—Yu Jinyang, you're really making me uncomfortable," Li Yingqiao thought, a tightness in her chest.

At that moment, her chest felt like it was stuffed with a damp wad of cotton; it wasn't heavy, but rather a dull, throbbing tightness. This old fox had almost put her on the hot seat with just a few words, nearly making her feel like she was caught in the middle. So she tilted her head back and drank all the wine in one gulp, then whispered in Yu Jinyang's ear, "Hehe, meow, it was actually wine, I was just kidding."

Yu Jinyang was peeling shrimp when he heard this. He instinctively reached out to take her wine glass to smell it, but she quickly and firmly covered it with her hand.

Yu Jinyang's gaze fell on her tightly clenched knuckles. Li Yingqiao's thumb was unconsciously rubbing the rim of her wine glass, but her eyes were elsewhere—

Beyond the nearly devoured scraps on the table, she stared intently at the man opposite her, Li Boqing, who was drinking heavily, smoking a cigar, and now boasting about his past achievements, basking in the flattery of the crowd, and calling himself the "local emperor" of Fengtan.

Yu Jinyang was surprised that after so many years, his prediction about her was still so accurate.

[Author's Note]

See you Friday and Saturday.

Two hundred red envelopes, thank you everyone.