69 Chapter Sixty-Eight
◎It's your time! ◎
However, Zhang Zongxie seemed possessed, honking the horn frantically. Even Li Lianfeng, who was standing nearby, couldn't stand it anymore and frowned, saying, "Mr. Zhang, this is disturbing the peace in the middle of the night. Be careful that people upstairs don't throw their foot bath water down. The locals here are quite fierce, so don't say I didn't warn you."
Before they could even get a good look, the scene across from them, who were passionately kissing, abruptly changed. The woman suddenly slapped Yu Jinyang across the face, then covered her face and sobbed. Li Lianfeng quickly rolled down the car window, and Li Yingqiao's voice drifted in intermittently, "...Fine, we're breaking up. Don't come looking for me. Anyway, this crappy tourist attraction can't be saved. I'm going back to Beijing!"
Zhang Zongxie suddenly pushed open the door and got out of the car. Li Lianfeng had no choice but to follow. But when he heard Li Yingqiao say that she was going back to Beijing, he was definitely the first to applaud and cheer.
"Fine, you go back." Yu Jinyang coldly watched as two familiar faces appeared under the blinding headlights. His gaze lingered on Zhang Zongxie, who was dressed in a suit, for a moment. He said in a cold tone, his words ambiguous, "You go back with him."
Li Yingqiao turned around and glanced back, then immediately raised her voice: "Yu Jinyang, what are you saying?"
"Don't you know what I'm saying?" he sneered, turning his gaze back to Zhang Zongxie. "What's wrong with you? Coming here in the middle of the night to disturb the peace?"
Zhang Zongxie retorted, not to be outdone: "You two are blocking my way, and I'm not even allowed to honk my horn?" He then walked towards Li Yingqiao, standing behind her with a defiant look but a concerned tone: "How are you? Are you alright? I'll take you home?"
Yu Jinyang looked genuinely annoyed at this moment. "Li Yingqiao, fine, you can play with him, I'm leaving."
"Go ahead and leave. Don't come back."
"You said it."
"I said it."
"In that case, Joe, give me a chance, let's start over." Someone seized the opportunity to chime in.
"What did he call you? Joe?" Someone nodded angrily. "Fine, fine, you have an English name but didn't tell me."
"Michael, don't make things worse."
"Are you two reciting menus here? Are you the only two in the world with English names?"
It was complete chaos. One sentence after another, each one a sharp retort, yet the three of them managed to keep a straight face, the only thing that fell to the ground was Li Lianfeng's chin.
This is a shocking revelation! Holy crap, this is an absolutely shocking revelation—a love triangle?
But the three of them acted as if nothing had happened, treating him like family at all, their expressions nonchalant. Zhang Zongxie even said not to worry about him, that he was one of their own, which made Li Lianfeng's eyebrows twitch, but he felt a strange warmth in his heart.
He repeatedly patted his chest and assured Zhang Zongxie that they were indeed on the same side, and he would swallow every word that slipped out.
After managing to swindle Li Lianfeng away, Zhang Zongxie drove back to the scenic area, slammed the door shut, and got out. The two men sat on the bluestone steps of the dock. Li Yingqiao was currently examining Yu Jinyang's face closely, looking at it from left to right, gently breathing on his face, and touching it tenderly, asking, "Does it hurt? I didn't really touch it, did I?"
Yu Jinyang stretched out one leg, propped his elbow on the steps behind him, glanced at her indifferently, and leaned against the step, saying relentlessly, "I bumped into it, it hurt so much, I'm dead."
"..."
Before Li Yingqiao could speak, General Manager Zhang walked straight down two steps away from them, tossed the file bag he had taken from the car to Li Yingqiao, and slowly rolled up his shirt sleeves while unbuttoning them: "This is the central bank's credit record. Li Boqing owes the bank a lot of money. His wooden toy group has been relying on the bank for continuous funding, but the bank knows he's at his limit and is no longer willing to provide him with any liquidity support. So he's very anxious to sell Xiaohua City to raise cash. However, if we acquire it directly now, he can not only pay off his debts but also continue to enjoy the dividend rights of Xiaohua City for the next five years."
Li Yingqiao had thought of this before, so she was initially reluctant to let Convey's capital get involved. If she really revitalized Xiaohua City, she would feel like she was aiding and abetting evil. But she didn't think Zhang Zongxie was that kind-hearted. She looked up at him and asked, "You want to acquire it at a low price?"
"Do you want Li Boqing to make money off you while he's still alive? Or do you want Li Lianfeng to still be collecting your dividends when he's half-buried?"
Of course, she didn't want that, which is why that scene just now happened. Li Yingqiao suddenly remembered that she should still keep public and private matters separate and said to him, "Thank you for what I just said."
If Yu Renjie were to witness this, at most it would only cause a minor incident in Xiaohua City; it would never harm the two of them. But it just so happens to be Li Lianfeng. Who knows where or how this grandfather and grandson will cause such a commotion? This unpredictable sense of loss of control is the most terrifying thing.
The only thing he hadn't expected was Zhang Zongxie's cooperation. This man, when faced with self-interest, was a mixed bag; he'd dragged himself into this mess, binding himself to the two of them. Li Lianfeng was somewhat wary and certainly wouldn't dare expose this mess for the time being. As the saying goes, "a stranger's teachings are easier to learn," and although he'd been transferred to the countryside, as long as he treated Zhang Zongxie like an emperor, letting a little money slip through his fingers, he'd surely return in glory. But he never imagined that this "emperor" truly treated him like a eunuch.
"So, you didn't transfer him?" Li Yingqiao asked.
“He has deep roots here and knows a lot of inside information. With him around, things are easier for me in Fengtan. It’s not the right time to take him down,” Zhang Zongxie said, sitting down on the two steps below. “Ask Wang Wenxiang. If she hadn’t alerted him, I wouldn’t have been dragged here tonight to look at some house.”
"What house?"
Zhang Zongxie scoffed, "He's gone mad from being in love. What other house does he own in Xiaohua City? Of course, it's the dormitory you live in. He can't fill his financial hole, and Wang Wenxiang threatened him to give the account books to his old man. He got desperate and wanted to transfer this house to me at a high price. Does he think I'm some kind of diamond-hard old man?"
Li Yingqiao sprang to her feet with a "whoosh." Seeing this, Yu Jinyang reached out and hooked her phone, his fingertips lightly scratching her palm, signaling her not to rush and to sit down first. Li Yingqiao instinctively tightened her grip on his fingers, feeling reassured.
He was still cursing under his breath: "Zhang Zongxie! You better not have gone in, or I might really strangle you."
Zhang Zongxie had anticipated her reaction. Just now, Li Lianfeng had asked him to come upstairs, but after thinking about it, he said he'd rather not; if Li Yingqiao found out, she'd chop him up. Li Lianfeng, cornered, retorted, "That crazy woman Wang Wenxiang! I even volunteered for a transfer, giving up that lucrative position in the cultural and tourism sector. She still insisted on forcing me to fill the holes in the accounts before she'd let it go. That woman is truly ruthless. In bed, she's all sweet talk, but as soon as her own interests are involved, she immediately turns on me and blocks all my paths. If the accounts fall into my grandfather's hands, he'll tear me apart. Do you think I care about one more or one more person chopping me up?"
Zhang Zongxie asked him at the time, "Do you know her room key code?"
"That's easy, just find a locksmith to change the lock."
Zhang Zongxie refused, even though he could probably guess her room key. He had Lilith transfer some money to Li Lianfeng and said, "Make up for what you can first. You'd better not touch her things. I'll be coming to collect this apartment in a while. Who lives downstairs?"
"The manager of the administrative department, I suppose."
"Make him move out, and find him another house within the scenic area."
Li Yingqiao also planned to find an opportunity to move out, lest Zhang Zongxie actually buy the house and it fall into his hands again. She had suffered a loss in Beijing before. The dormitory that the company arranged for her was also found by Zhang Zongxie. Li Yingqiao was simply unable to guard against him. He even knew the door code.
However, the gua sha clinic was too far from her workplace, so Yu Jinyang asked her if she wanted to move to his place. He was actually quite reluctant to ask, but Li Yingqiao readily agreed, "Okay."
Yu Jinyang couldn't help but laugh out loud, "...Just wait and see if I say yes, huh?"
"Then Zhang Zongxie can move in, and I'll live upstairs and downstairs with him. Don't be jealous."
"He's not called Michael anymore."
Don't you have an English name?
"Who will choose a foreign name?" that's what he said at the time.
As the two walked back, they happened to pass by her family's former grocery store on Chuanming Street. Holding hands, their fingers intertwined, Li Yingqiao suddenly burst into laughter, leaning forward and backward, and fell straight onto his shoulder.
Yu Jinyang was still secretly jealous, but he didn't show it on his face. He could only say, "Li Yingqiao, what's wrong with you?"
She grabbed his hand and pointed to the shop that had long since lost its sign and was now dusty and still unrented, saying, "When I was little, I worked here. Once, your dad came to buy cigarettes, and I asked him out of curiosity, 'Uncle, is April Fool's Day really here?' I asked him several times, but he ignored me. Finally, when he was leaving, he got annoyed by my questions and yelled at me fiercely, 'Fool my ass! Who celebrates foreign holidays?' You two are quite a match."
Yu Jinyang was hearing about this for the first time. He looked down at her and finally laughed: "No wonder you hated him so much when you were little."
“No,” she shook their hands, rocking them back and forth vigorously, “I don’t hate him that much. Your dad used to be really handsome. I’m always very tolerant of handsome men.”
"No wonder he beat me so hard when we were kids, he was taking out all his resentment towards handsome guys on me." He glanced at her, his resentment palpable.
Li Yingqiao looked up and smiled, resting her head comfortably on his shoulder. These peaceful and happy days were truly precious to her: "Meow, the more I think about it, the more I appreciate you."
"...Okay, okay, you're starting to flatter the landlord. It's a pity the landlord doesn't have an English name."
"..."
The landlord was being sarcastic and uncooperative for a whole month, and even changed his WeChat name to: NO ENGLISH NAME!
Li Yingqiao has been so busy this month that she can't even breathe. When she has a spare moment, she opens Yu Jinyang's WeChat and smiles for ages. Occasionally, she can't help but send him a kissing emoji, and he immediately responds with a cat emoji of a bristling Napoleon with fur on its face—"Attention! Please do not harass the landlord who doesn't have an English name."
However, Xiaohua City did indeed benefit from misfortune this month. Although the music festival didn't happen, they unexpectedly landed a program that might be even more popular and attract more visitors. You Xiaofan arrived as promised, still with his arrogant demeanor. After pointing and gesturing at Yu Jinyang and his group, he condescended to say that it wasn't impossible. Then he chatted with Yu Jinyang alone for an afternoon under the old camphor tree downstairs in the scenic area's office building, where dappled shadows swayed on the bluestone slabs.
In the blink of an eye, You Xiaofan led dozens of people to set up camp in Xiaohua City and prepare to set up the scenery.
Just as the steel and concrete were being erected and the landscaping was being built, Zhang Zongxie's due diligence was finally completed, and the shops on Chuanming Street began a new round of hammering and banging.
Life in Xiaohuacheng is visibly improving. The old ladies are more agile and are going downstairs for walks more often. Their backs don't ache anymore, and their legs don't hurt anymore. It's good that Xiaohuacheng is doing well. Xiaohuacheng is finally doing well!
"What? It's because Qiaoqiao and her friends are so successful. They've made it big outside but they still come back to help us out," the old folks in Xiaohuacheng said. "Qiaoqiao was a little hero here when she was a kid. There was even a nursery rhyme about her: 'Our idol is called Xiaofang, with two long braids. Human traffickers run away when they see her!' She even caught a human trafficker!"
In the evening, as the elderly women returned home from their walks, they all took out their phones to call their children who were away from home.
"Nannan/Zihao, are you coming back to see Grandma for National Day? Xiaohuacheng is doing so well now! We're a smart community demonstration site now. Yes, Qiaoqiao and the others are back. They're really something. That little pastry chef opened some kind of weird restaurant on the street, and he takes on all sorts of jobs. He's tall and strong now, and nobody in Xiaohuacheng dares to mess with him. Anyway, next time your dad beats you up, I can hire the little pastry chef to beat him up!"
"There's a street dance competition in a couple of days. They're building the stage now. My son is going to participate in it at the beginning of the festival. It's called breakdancing. Just now, a bunch of old ladies were watching him roll around on the ground. Isn't it strange? This kid was so well-behaved when he was little, but now he's such a troublemaker."
"Qiaoqiao, she's so busy! She's like a little butterfly now, wearing such pretty floral clothes every day, fluttering from one end of the street to the other. Every time I pass by, she asks me what Grandma is doing. I say I'm sunbathing, and she tells me not to be idle, to get up and let her sunbathe for a while... I slap her on the forehead with my fan, how dare you tease an old lady."
"And there's Xiao Miaojia, isn't she your favorite? She has a boyfriend, not as handsome as you, and they're doing stage design for the festival's boss son together, anyway, there are lots of creative ideas."
***
The landlord, who didn't have an English name, had started speaking only to his tenants in English. Yu Jinyang leaned back in his chair, casually hooking another chair over with his foot, and lazily raised his eyebrows at the steaming table of six dishes and a soup, indicating:
"Hey, lady, it's your chow time!"
[Author's Note]
Continue on Monday.
Three hundred red envelopes. Happy reading.
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