The streets of Yanjing were packed with people.
Everyone was wearing cotton-padded jackets and trousers, holding lit incense sticks, and setting off firecrackers and fireworks.
The sound of firecrackers kept ringing in my ears, and purple, red, and green fireworks bloomed and disappeared overhead.
Looking at the people walking around him, Li Xiangdong felt a strong sense of satisfaction welling up inside him.
This, I suppose, is happiness!
After they got back, they didn't go to sleep right away. Instead, they got together to play cards, set off firecrackers, and had fun until 4 a.m. on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
I dozed off for a while, still fully clothed, and then it was time to get up and eat dumplings.
As soon as Li Xiangdong opened his eyes, a sweet juice flowed into his throat.
Li Yan said with a smile, "Happy Lunar New Year's Day!"
Li Xiangdong took the half of the bright yellow pants from her hand and stuffed it into his mouth.
The cool, sweet juice instantly woke him up. He reached under his pillow and pulled out a thick red envelope. "Happy Chinese New Year! Wishing you prosperity!"
Li Yan accepted the red envelope with satisfaction and then bowed to her second brother.
This has been a long-standing tradition in the Li family.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, people eat oranges as soon as they open their eyes, say auspicious words, and wish for good fortune and smooth sailing.
Li Yan was the youngest child, and she was clever. She pulled Li Jiabao along to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
Everyone was overjoyed to see the two chubby, beautiful children, like a golden boy and a jade girl, come to wish them a Happy New Year, and they were very generous with their gifts.
Among them, Liu Junbo gave the most, as he was the new brother-in-law and was trying to please his brother-in-law and sister-in-law.
Li Xiangdong called Chen Zaohua and others who hadn't returned home for the Spring Festival to wish them a Happy New Year.
Zhou Hongsong, Chen Zaohua, Li Guoqing, and Guo Yuxi all sounded to be in good spirits on the other end of the phone.
Chen Zaohua and Li Xiangdong exchanged a few brief words before Li Guoqing and Guo Yuxi snatched the phone away.
The two first expressed their regret at not being able to spend the Spring Festival at home, and asked the second brother how his parents at home were doing.
When they learned that Li Xiangdong had not spent the New Year in Lijiapo either, and that Guo Daming's mother, Li Wanshi, and Li Qingshan had passed away one after another, the two fell silent.
Li Xiangdong didn't want to bring up these things on the first day of the Lunar New Year, so he picked out happy topics to talk about with the two of them.
Sure enough, Guo Yuxi quickly cheered up, "Second brother, the sauerkraut and pork belly, sweet and sour pork, and braised goose in an iron pot here are all so delicious! I wish you could spend the New Year with us here!"
After chatting for a while, the group handed the phone to Zhou Hongsong.
"Fifth Brother, thank you for your hard work!"
Zhou Hongsong on the other end of the phone sounded a little stuffy, probably because he had a cold.
"What's the trouble! We're all family, don't be so polite with me! By the way, how's Hongmei's health?"
His biggest worry while he was away was still his younger sister.
Li Xiangdong called Zhou Hongmei over and spoke to her for a few minutes.
Hearing Zhou Hongmei's bright and resonant voice, Zhou Hongsong felt relieved.
"Xiang Dong, there's something that might require you to come over."
Zhou Hongsong changed the subject and started talking to Li Xiangdong about serious business.
Li Xiangdong frowned. "What's wrong?"
Zhou Hongsong lowered his voice, "We did as you said, and we didn't dare to show all the clivias when we got to Changchun. We sold them in batches. But we were still targeted. Last night, someone came to me and said they wanted to buy up all the clivias we had."
"Then you should sell it to him, as long as the price is right. You can make the decision."
Li Xiangdong didn't take it seriously. He wanted to sell everything quickly so he could go home early and make it in time for the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
"No, it's not just what we have!"
Zhou Hongsong paused for a moment and said, "That person said that their boss wants to buy out all the clivia we have. To put it bluntly, that means they'll give us a sum of money, and we can't sell clivia in Changchun for the next two years!"
Li Xiangdong chuckled, "The boss behind the scenes is getting restless, afraid we'll cause trouble like we did in Zhejiang!"
Zhou Hongsong said, "That's what they meant. What they implied to me was that they would talk to us properly first, and if they couldn't reach an agreement, they would have to use other means."
This is like me trying to reason with you first. If you don't understand the reasoning, I'll use my martial arts skills to make you understand!
Li Xiangdong really wanted to meet this behind-the-scenes bigwig.
He is now 100% certain that the people making clivia and the people making five-needle pine bonsai are the same group of people, the same boss.
Li Xiangdong hung up the phone and briefly explained the situation to Liu Junbo and the others.
Li Zhen was very worried about Li Xiangdong's safety. "Forget it, we're not short of money now! Let them sell all the clivia and come back."
Zhou Hongmei shared this opinion; she only had one older brother, and if anything happened to him, the Zhou family line would end.
Liu Junbo frowned and pondered for a moment, then pulled Li Xiangdong outside to a secluded spot and solemnly asked, "Have you been in contact with the Party Secretary recently?"
Liu Junbo was used to calling Liu Donglai "Secretary" instead of his current title, "Minister of Commerce."
Li Xiangdong shook his head. Apart from sending Liu Donglai some high-quality local specialties recently, there had been no other contact.
"I feel something's not right. The five-needle pine bonsai you mentioned last time and the clivia this time, how come they're both the same kind of thing?"
Li Xiangdong said nonchalantly, "This is also a very simple financial scam. Brother-in-law, have you heard of the tulip mania?"
"What? What bubbles?"
"The tulip bubble refers to the earliest case of a bubble economy in human history. At that time, under the manipulation of speculators, tulips in the Netherlands first skyrocketed in price, leading to a shortage of supply, and then their price plummeted, resulting in a price collapse. The tulip bubble was the world's first economic crisis caused by commodity speculation, and it has had a profound impact on the development of the world economy."
Li Xiangdong explained to Liu Junbo.
"In fact, the five-needle pine bonsai in eastern Zhejiang and the clivia in Changchun are just small-scale bubble economies. The only difference between them and the tulip mania is that tulips swept across the Netherlands, while these two only occurred in some parts of my country."
Liu Junbo's expression grew increasingly serious. "So, you're saying someone is deliberately speculating in our country, then embezzling funds from the nation and its people, maliciously impacting the overall national economy?"
Li Xiangdong was speechless.
He was about to say it wasn't that serious, but then he thought about how we were in the early stages of reform, with everything in the country waiting to be rebuilt and the new economy booming. If we really allowed a bubble economy to happen in every province and city in our country, then the wealth created by our country and people would be easily emptied by others!
Li Xiangdong broke out in a cold sweat instantly!
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