[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981":3,"chapter-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-240":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","That Year, the Flowers Bloomed in 1981",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2294658,4489,"Chapter 240","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-240",240,"\u003Cp>\"Li Ye, you have a telegram.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thanks! I'll go get it right away.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye went to collect the telegram and found two: one from Dong Yuejin, the other from his grandfather Li Zhong back home—both urged him to call them back as soon as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye didn’t dare delay; he queued for ten minutes at the Beijing University Post and Telegraph Office and first called Li Zhong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grandpa, you sent me a telegram in a hurry—what’s the emergency?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There’s something,\" Li Zhong said gravely. \"Today your Uncle Liu called me and said there’s a literary discussion in Shanghai during May Day. Would you like to go and broaden your horizons, so you won’t keep getting harassed by ignorant people?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Broaden my horizons?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye understood: Liu Zhengqing wasn’t inviting him to broaden his horizons—he was inviting him to show up and protect his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Don’t think the Seven-Inch Blade is some backwater kid from a small county—he’s got backing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye smiled and asked Li Zhong: \"Grandpa, what exactly did Uncle Liu say to you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What else could he say?\" Li Zhong snapped. \"You’re going after those people—why didn’t you warn him first? If he’d been prepared, how could he have let those two off so lightly?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lightly?\" Li Ye exclaimed. \"This is light? I bet they’re already thinking about kneeling and begging for mercy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What’s that?\" Li Zhong scoffed. \"Spittle can kill too. Don’t be soft. If you don’t kill the snake, it’ll bite you back. And Uncle Liu said: make it one strike that leaves everyone with a memory—so no one dares tangle with you again. That’s the way.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Good heavens—someone who crawled out of a pile of corpses really is different. Li Zhong, fierce and stern as ever, and Liu Zhengqing, that refined scholar—both equally ruthless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye thought a moment and said: \"I might not have time for May Day. How about this: during summer break, I’ll fund it—Grandpa, you gather a few old comrades and take them to Shanghai for a reunion, and thank them properly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thank them? Why thank them? Just get the old comrades together in Shanghai. Done.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zhong paused, then immediately agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, six or seven of the old Sixth Company had survived—he’d been missing them terribly these days!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hanging up with Li Zhong, Li Ye called Blue Sea Publishing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Big Brother Dong, you need something?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Li Ye, it’s not me who needs you—it’s someone else who does! Hahaha~\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment Dong Yuejin spoke, Li Ye heard thick glee in his voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye replied calmly: \"What do you mean?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Yuejin chuckled: \"A few days ago, Chai Kenan and Wan Zhiyue called me, furious, ready to settle accounts with you. I shut them down right away. But guess what?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This morning, they showed up at my office and asked to meet you somewhere for a proper talk. What do you think they want to talk about? Hahaha~\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye smiled faintly: \"So you agreed?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’d never agree to that,\" Dong Yuejin said. \"I wasn’t there when those two dragged you down. Later, I confronted them—they stuck their necks out, claimed it was just normal literary discussion. Now they want to back down? Do you think I’d let them?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Yuejin paused, then asked: \"Li Ye, are you really going to forgive them? If so—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye was genuinely surprised: \"Forgive them? I never blamed them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye said in surprise, “What forgive or not? I never blamed them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye added: \"Their situation? That’s just normal literary discussion. What does it have to do with me, a minor author?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye was telling the truth—by now, it truly had nothing to do with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Chai Kenan and Wan Zhiyue’s works were truly good, maybe gold really wouldn’t fear fire—but now, so many people want to step on them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Yuejin fell silent for a long while, then let out two stifled chuckles and said: \"Right, right—absolutely not your business. Brother, don’t you go taking this onto yourself!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah, yeah, thanks for your concern, Big Brother Dong. I’ll be careful. I’ll hang up now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wait, wait—there’s one more thing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Yuejin hurriedly said as Li Ye moved to hang up: \"The editorial board decided yesterday: starting now, we’ll allocate you a thousand U.S. dollars in foreign exchange quota per quarter for reprint fees from Hong Kong.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Yuejin, hearing Li Ye was about to hang up, hurriedly said, “The society decided at yesterday’s meeting to allocate you a foreign exchange quota of one thousand U.S. dollars per quarter for reprint fees from Hong Kong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time Li Ye was genuinely surprised. Pei Wencong paid Blue Sea ten thousand U.S. dollars per quarter in reprint fees—maybe three thousand made it to the publisher. Even that three thousand was eyed by countless hands; previously, it was always converted into yuan for Li Ye. Now they were giving him a thousand? That was a real bloodletting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Yuejin grinned proudly: \"How’s that, brother? Old brother pulled it off, right? The meeting was a brawl—but we fought it through for you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thanks so much, Big Brother Dong,\" Li Ye said without hesitation. \"Here’s what you do: keep a few hundred dollars each quarter. I don’t like attending events—use it to maintain relationships on my behalf.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Li Ye, what are you saying? No need at all—our relationship doesn’t need that!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thanks a lot, Brother Dong,” Li Ye said without hesitation. “Here’s what you do—keep a few hundred U.S. dollars each quarter. I don’t like attending events, so you handle maintaining relationships on my behalf.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hey hey hey, you’re—alright, alright.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hanging up, Dong Yuejin sat stunned for a long while, then shook his head and laughed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Talent, works, backing—and you’re so open-handed. Why did you guys pick him to step on? Is popular not good enough? Looking down on people? Ridiculous.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Li Ye, Chai Kenan and Wan Zhiyue’s affair was trivial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his view, no matter how big this drama got, it paled next to laying a few more bricks in economic development, or earning tens of thousands more at the Canton Fair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boosting productivity, earning overseas money to feed back into the mainland—this was Li Ye’s unquestionable main job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By mid-April, the long-prepared Pengcheng Factory No. 7 finally debuted at the Canton Fair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the first three days of the opening, Hao Jian called Jin Peng daily and sent telegrams to Li Ye, detailing every \"victory\" back in Beijing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[April 15: Two deals closed, total $70,000.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[April 16: Successfully partnered with Saisi Company, deal value $300,000.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[April 17: Deal value $90,000.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye stared at the pitiful numbers on the telegram and told Jin Peng to pass on one message to Hao Jian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[From now on, if a deal doesn’t hit $500,000, don’t bother me—I’m studying hard and improving every day.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A set that sold for dozens of yuan domestically cost just a few dollars overseas—and each order was only a few thousand pieces. How much profit could that possibly be?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That $300,000 deal? Even that was just Hong Kong’s own company giving support. And you still think you need to report this to me, your big boss?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye didn’t know how Hao Jian would react to this message, but Jin Peng’s face turned utterly bewildered upon hearing it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five hundred thousand U.S. dollars? Holy cow—that’s U.S. dollars, not yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Li Ye thought he could have a few quiet days, Jin Peng rushed over in a panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Little Ye, our clothes are being counterfeited.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Counterfeited? So what? Didn’t we expect this? Fakes can’t be real.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No—it’s happening right here at the Canton Fair. They’re stealing our business, sabotaging two deals already. It’s too much!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Still no need to panic.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye smiled calmly, utterly unruffled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fenghua Clothing had been on the market for over a month—counterfeiting was inevitable. And under the lure of foreign exchange earnings, anything could happen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye followed Jin Peng onto his Beijing 130 and headed for the Pengcheng Factory No. 7 office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a year, this 130 had trained seven or eight drivers—and worn out terribly, rattling and clanging as it drove.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye rolled up the window and teased: \"Hey, Peng Ge, you keep saying our new car’s coming soon—when’s it actually arriving? This one’s about to fall apart.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ah, Little Ye, how can you care about cars now? We’ve worked so hard—and now someone’s stolen our thunder! Who knows how many cars we’ve lost!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye rolled up the car window hard and teased, “Hey, Peng, you keep saying our new car’s coming soon, coming soon—when’s it actually arriving? This car’s nearly falling apart from all your messing with it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye leaned back in the rear seat, calm and composed, eyes closed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian and Jin Peng still had objective blind spots—but Li Ye hadn’t told them all his plans, or they’d think their boss was useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every now and then, letting Hao Jian and Jin Peng panic made his own irreplaceable value clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian and Jin Peng still had objective blind spots in their judgment, but Li Ye hadn’t told them all his plans ahead of time—otherwise they’d think their boss was useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yangcheng, Canton Fair, Liuhua Exhibition Hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian paced outside the management office, waiting for staff to resolve his issue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after several requests, he only got replies like: \"Under review, please wait patiently. Don’t engage in unfair competition. Don’t damage international image.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfair competition? Who’s really engaging in unfair competition?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>International image? I’ve been to Hong Kong—foreigners haven’t bullied us, so why must I care about international image here at home?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian was furious, yet helpless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wen Guohua had helped Hao Jian secure a spot at the Canton Fair—he’d been thrilled, thinking Pengcheng Factory No. 7 had finally entered the ranks of \"major factories.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once inside the hall, he deeply understood the meaning of \"Naylang self-importance.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Factories with tens of thousands of employees, names known far and wide, got only a 10–20 square meter booth, packed shoulder to shoulder like vendors at a Qingshui County market.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pengcheng Factory No. 7 got an eight-square-meter booth purely through connections.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But thanks to months of preparation, Hao Jian had done his homework—and on day one, he made everyone around him green with envy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pengcheng Factory No. 7 had hired several professional fashion models to shoot ads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the hall forbade runway walks, Hao Jian had the models stroll through the exhibition hall wearing Fenghua clothing, handing out flyers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The glossy flyers were printed by Pei Wencong in Hong Kong—costly even after accounting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Pingping, Kong Moli, and others were initially shy, hesitant, and awkward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after just half a day, they attracted two groups of overseas buyers—and closed deals worth $50,000 and $20,000, making nearby booths seethe with envy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pei Wencong immediately paid the two girls several hundred yuan as \"commission\"—making the others insanely jealous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All they did was hand out flyers. No need to speak foreign languages—the flyers clearly listed prices and booth numbers. Just smile and hand them over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On days two and three, Ning Pingping and the others kept scoring—but trouble followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On day four, Pengcheng Factory No. 7’s fashion models were barred from entering the hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, Fenghua Clothing appeared on other booths—under a different name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the fourth day, several fashion models from Pengcheng Factory Seven could no longer enter the exhibition hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, Pengcheng Factory Seven’s clothing was given a new name and appeared openly on the exhibition stands of other units.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Jian hurried to the management office to protest, then sought out Guo Donglun to find a way to get things done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But which unit that had made it to this place didn’t have connections?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, no enterprise came to the exhibition on its own—each was led by relevant departments from various regions, and pulling out any one of them would scare you with its rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who could Hao Jian possibly reason with?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2002,"2026-06-20T05:05:01.382Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e141a2177fc9e19c481db7a2f854c17415b6863f58a96e7b78d66db736b9257a","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-241","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-239",884,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthat-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-cover.jpg"]