Chapter 302: The Golden Road

Li Dayong spent half a day touring Jingcheng with Pei Wenhui before escorting her back to the female dormitory at Jingda.

After Pei Wenhui left, the lingering joy slowly faded, and a faint unease surfaced in Li Dayong's heart.

Riding his bicycle home, Li Dayong turned back just as he reached Jingda's gate; seeing it was already nine p. ., he decided to check on Li Ye's dorm.

At Dorm 209, Li Ye hadn't returned yet, but Sun Jinxiang recognized Li Dayong.

"Li Ye usually doesn't get back until half past nine! If you're in a hurry to find him, try walking along the lake—you might run into him."

"The lake?"

"Yeah, he's got a habit of strolling by Weiminghu at night."

Li Dayong was puzzled—he'd never known his older brother used to take evening walks.

But when he reached the lake and saw couples strolling hand in hand in the dark, he finally understood: this wasn't a stroll—it was dating.

Li Dayong decided to head back; after all, Wen Leyu was the most important thing—he couldn't interrupt their sweet moment.

But fate intervened: just a few steps after turning around, he ran straight into Li Ye and Wen Leyu, holding hands and strolling toward him.

"Dayong, were you looking for me?"

"Oh, I just dropped off Xiao Hui and figured I'd take a walk by the lake—your school's lake is famous, you know."

"That sounds a bit odd," Li Ye chuckled. "Why didn't you bring Xiao Hui along? What's the point of walking alone?"

Li Dayong grinned but said nothing.

Wen Leyu glanced at Li Dayong and said to Li Ye, "You two go ahead and talk—I'll head back first."

"Alright, remember to sleep early tonight! No more late-night novels—you're already losing your eyesight."

"I know, I know! You're so nagging."

After Wen Leyu left, Li Ye motioned for Li Dayong to walk back with him and asked, "So, what's this about? Why did you come looking for me?"

"Ah, today I went with Xiao Hui to see that sewing machine—Xiao Yue took us there."

As they walked, Li Dayong recounted everything that had happened at the Third Machinery Factory in Nancheng, emphasizing Pei Wenhui's behavior.

When he finished, Li Dayong spoke with quiet melancholy: "Brother, why are all of you so smart?"

"What do you mean 'all of us'?" Li Ye laughed. "Both my sister and my grandfather say you're far smarter than me."

"That was before," Li Dayong said with a bitter smile. "But since I repeated my final year, you've changed completely. Only after coming to Jingcheng did I realize how stupid I really am."

Li Ye stopped walking, grabbed Li Dayong's arm, studied him for a moment, then asked with a smile: "Are you feeling insecure around Pei Wenhui?"

Li Dayong:

Li Ye pressed on: "Are you confused—wondering why Pei Wenhui would even like you, Li Dayong?"

Li Dayong:

Though the brothers shared everything—even Li Ye had once advised him on what kind of girl to pursue—just these two questions made Li Dayong's face burn.

Bragging and idle chatter were one thing; genuine concern was another.

No matter how cocky some so-called ladies' men sounded, when faced with the girl they truly liked, they were just ordinary men.

Li Ye patted his brother's shoulder and said Qingsong ly: "Talk to Xiao Hui more about her childhood—you'll realize she's just like us, raised in hardship, maybe even harder than us."

"She's told me that," Li Dayong said. "She said her father died young, and her mother worked as a helper at a roadside stall with her and her brother."

"Sometimes when troublemakers came, her brother would fight them, and she'd have to help from behind—just like in the movies."

Li Ye nodded. "Right. But look at Pei Wencong—skinny as a stick. Could he even win a fight?"

Li Dayong looked embarrassed. "Brother, don't say that—he's a patriotic entrepreneur. You're insulting him."

"Don't you get it?" Li Ye scoffed. "I mean, Pei Wenhui grew up without security. Just like back home—if there's no strong man in the house, people will walk all over you."

"That's it?"

Li Dayong scratched his head, still unconvinced.

Li Ye said: "It's not just that. But listen—I'll tell you this: in some Hong Kong girls' eyes, you're very an."

"Very an?"

Li Dayong didn't understand. "What does that mean, Brother?"

「」

How do you explain this? Should I say you look like Ma Dongxi, the plainclothes superhero—someone who just radiates safety?

Li Dayong was actually taller than Ma Dongxi—1. 9 meters, nearly 200 jin, with little fat, the kind of guy even pickpockets on the bus dared not touch.

"Don't ask what it means. Just know this: you're not inferior to her."

Li Ye encouraged him: "The reason you think Xiao Hui is smarter than you today is only because her experiences differ from ours."

"Pei Wenhui grew up helping her mother run the roadside stall. Later, Pei Wencong started a publishing house—she absorbed business thinking by osmosis, so handling commerce comes naturally to her."

"But think about what we did as kids?"

Li Dayong paused, then whispered: "We used to fight all the time, didn't we, Brother?"

Li Ye fell silent for a moment, then said: "What I mean is, if you keep learning patiently and endure hardship, you won't be worse than Pei Wenhui."

"Besides, the Pei family's rise to where they are now came from countless struggles—they're fundamentally the same kind of people as us. They don't look down on you or me."

"Think back to your time in Hong Kong—did Pei Wencong ever try to stop you from seeing Pei Wenhui?"

"No, he didn't."

Li Dayong remembered how warmly the Pei family had treated him during his stay in Hong Kong.

But Li Dayong didn't know one thing Li Ye hadn't said.

Hong Kong girls might like an men—but they don't ignore everything else.

When Li Ye brought Li Dayong to Hong Kong, he made it clear Li Dayong was his "brother." Without Li Ye's endorsement, Pei Wencong might have kept them apart from the start.

After all, Pei Wencong only rose after following Li Ye—would Li Ye's brother be a pauper?

"Enough thinking. Go home now!"

Li Ye shoved Li Dayong onto his bicycle and said: "This Saturday, invite Pei Wenhui to our group dinner. Your doubts will vanish soon."

Li Dayong hesitated: "Will she even want to join our gathering?"

Li Ye replied: "Then ask her!"

………………

Since leaving the Second Grain Store and moving north to Jingcheng, the eight-member group had each formed new social circles, breaking their once inseparable daily routine.

At every Saturday gathering at Zaojunmiao, someone was always absent—sometimes six or seven showed up, sometimes only three or five; once, only Li Ye and Wen Leyu came.

Luckily, Jin Peng, Lao Song, and others always showed up to cover the shortfall—otherwise, they'd have been stuck with a basket of meat and vegetables and had to feed it all to Bapulofu.

Still, the Zaojunmiao dinners played a vital role in keeping the eight-member group connected. Even with frequent absences, their closeness never faded.

So when they heard Li Dayong was bringing a "new female classmate" to dinner, no one missed it—they all came, like gawking at a bride, eager to see Pei Wenhui, the "Hong Kong international student."

Han Xia sidled up to Hu Man and whispered: "How come you're here today? I haven't seen you in three straight gatherings."

Hu Man glanced at Han Xia and replied: "I didn't want to come—I just feared you'd spread rumors about me."

Han Xia smirked. "Regret it?"

Hu Man smiled lightly and shook her head. "To be honest, I really hope Li Dayong pulls himself together. If he keeps acting like last semester, I wouldn't dare show up at gatherings."

Back then, Li Dayong had constantly shown up at Hu Man's school; she'd had to ask Li Ye to turn him away. Later, after Lin Qiuyan's incident, Li Dayong grew increasingly gaunt, and Hu Man stopped coming to Zaojunmiao. Today, she felt a sense of release.

Han Xia pursed her lips, then shouted to the students in the courtyard: "Everyone, behave seriously! She's a foreign guest—don't make any inappropriate jokes!"

Fu Yingjie, lighting the stove, said: "Oh, stop it—you're the one who loves joking the most. Don't go lecturing others."

Han Xia's eyebrows shot up. She placed her hands on her hips and snapped: "Fu Yingjie, are you looking for a beating? Got big ideas since coming to Jingcheng?"

"No no no! I can't beat you two—please spare me! Don't really hit me! Lao Yan, grab your wife!"

"Hahaha~"

Both Han Xia and Yan Jinbu had entered Jingcheng Huagongxue Academy. After over a year together, they were clearly on the verge of confessing their feelings.

In those days, university students were still very reserved in romance; only a rare few wrote love poems. Many timid students never took that step for years—on campus, unspoken crushes far outnumbered actual relationships.

But Han Xia and Yan Jinbu were hometown friends, classmates, and far from home in the same school—naturally, their closeness blossomed.

Still, when Fu Yingjie blurted it out in front of everyone, Han Xia chased him around laughing and scolding, while the quiet Yan Jinbu angrily spread his arms to block Fu Yingjie's frantic escape—classic "helping your wife abuse him."

"Here they come! Line up!"

Jiang Xiaoyan, posted as lookout at the gate, ran back shouting. Everyone fell silent. Fu Yingjie quickly straightened his clothes and smoothed his hair.

Li Ye and Li Dayong rode their bicycles into the Sihe Academy at Zaojunmiao.

Pei Wenhui stepped off the rear seat and stared, startled, at the five students lined up in two rows—like a welcoming parade.

Li Ye couldn't help laughing. "What are you all doing? We're all friends—don't be so stiff. Let me introduce you: this is Pei Wenhui, our international student. Dayong, introduce her to our classmates."

Li Dayong, calm and composed, said: "This is Han Xia. This is Hu Man. This is Jiang Xiaoyan."

Pei Wenhui followed behind Li Dayong, greeting each one with a sweet smile that radiated warmth.

"It's my first time joining the gathering—I didn't know what you'd like, so I brought some newly released cassette tapes. Don't Xianqi them."

She brought no expensive gifts, fearing she'd seem superior. At the time, cassette tapes were students' favorite items—and cheap.

"Oh! There's Xu Wenqiang! And his girlfriend Feng Chengcheng!"

"You're all mistaken! Xu Wenqiang's girlfriend isn't Feng Chengcheng—it's Zheng Yuling."

"Then who's Deng Lijun's boyfriend?"

"There was gossip between Deng Lijun and Chen Gangsheng, but they broke up for reasons unknown."

Hong Kong celebrity gossip proved far more enticing than the tapes. Within minutes, Pei Wenhui had drawn all the girls into a buzzing circle of chatter.

When it came time to cook, Pei Wenhui—soft-spoken, sweet-voiced, and slender—moved with surprising speed and skill, chopping, stir-frying, everything perfectly, rivaling Jiang Xiaoyan.

Everyone was astonished—and their Haogan surged.

Being graceful in public and capable in the kitchen didn't just make men happy—it earned admiration and affection from friends too.

Li Ye nudged Li Dayong and nodded toward the girl. "Got it?"

Li Dayong blinked. "What did you say, brother?"

Li Ye said, "How does this classmate Pei Wenhui's background compare to Lin Qiuyan's?"

Li Dayong fell silent for several seconds, then shook his head with a bitter smile.

Lin Qiuyan's father was a factory director; Pei Wenhui's older brother was a billionaire who'd taken part in the National Day parade as a patriotic overseas compatriot—no need to compare, you knew who was higher up.

Li Ye asked again: "Between the two of them, who has broader experience?"

Li Dayong shook his head again, saying nothing.

Back then, Lin Qiuyan always bragged to Li Dayong about how things were overseas—how her cousin lived abroad, how she'd been there, how she'd done this and that.

But Pei Wenhui was actually from overseas herself, and she drove luxury cars and lived in mansions—after her BMW got stuck in a ditch, she immediately switched to a Ferrari.

Yet back then, Lin Qiuyan refused to associate with Li Dayong's classmates—even if she didn't exactly look down on them, she was clearly resistant.

After all, everyone here was a country bumpkin with muddy boots.

But look at Pei Wenhui now—dressed in all her finery, yet where's the slightest trace of a Hong Kong heiress's arrogance?

Li Ye patted Li Dayong's arm again. "How many times has Pei Wenhui come looking for you since arriving in Jingcheng?"

Li Dayong said, "Four times. I told her there are pickpockets on Beijing's buses—just wait for me at Jingda. But sometimes she still comes to find me."

Li Ye chuckled. "Now you get it? This is exactly the kind of girl I told you about— you like her, she likes you, and neither feels like they're settling."

Only then did Li Dayong remember—he'd asked Li Ye the same question back at Zaojunmiao, wondering what kind of girl he should pursue, and Li Ye had explained it all to him.

Now, with Pei Wenhui before him, everything seemed to fit—except that he hadn't actively pursued her.

Even her shoes were size 36.

"Brother, you really don't lie."

"Hey, don't go saying that," Li Ye laughed. "Whether I lie or not depends on who I'm talking to."

In mid-November, Li Dayong excitedly told Li Ye that the new sewing machine, after more than half a month of intense effort, had finally met the basic requirements.

But this time, Pei Wenhui didn't go alone to oversee the inspection—Hao Jian arrived in Jingcheng with several experienced technicians from Pengcheng.

Whether the equipment worked well? Only the workers could say.

Li Ye hated those expert inspections—full of technical jargon and cost demands, only to end up useless in the hands of frontline workers, who were then told to "persevere and overcome."

Jin Peng drove them himself, taking Li Ye and Hao Jian toward the Third Machinery Factory in Nancheng. On the way, Hao Jian proudly boasted to Li Ye.

"Boss, I actually wanted to come to Jingcheng earlier, but this autumn's Canton Fair orders were just too many—"

"Just the Hong Kong Fenghua Company placed an order for seven million. Other overseas clients added another six or seven million. I spent half a month just sorting it all out."

Hao Jian couldn't help but feel proud. After this year's spring Canton Fair, he'd only saved $150, 00. By summer, it had jumped to $1. million—he'd been over the moon.

Now, just a few months later, his foreign exchange earnings had surpassed $10 million. He'd never dreamed of such growth.

These days, Hao Jian wasn't just busy with factory production—he was constantly attending meetings and banquets. Now, as factory director, he was already considered a "young talent" in Pengcheng.

Li Ye smiled. "Then you'd better keep pushing. Next year will be even busier. Old Pei has already bought two trading companies just to ship goods overseas—orders will likely double."

"Even if they multiply eightfold, fine," Hao Jian said grandly. "Boss, don't hide it—I've got phones ringing nonstop in my office. Outsourcing units are chasing me for Fenghua orders. They'll take any volume."

"But I still try to keep production in our own factory. That's why we now have over twenty-five thousand employees."

"Even if you have eighty thousand workers, you still have to give me product first! You can't just sell everything overseas and ignore our mainland compatriots!"

Jin Peng, driving, laughed and scolded: "I've got people chasing me too—every day they beg for Fenghua brand. Some even threaten me: if you don't give us Fenghua, we won't buy your regular clothes anymore."

"Threaten you? Who dares threaten you? Are they rebelling?"

Hao Jian exuded authority. "Didn't Li Ye give us this advice two years ago? If someone won't obey, we back a loyal distributor to compete with them."

"We've got tens of millions sitting idle in our accounts. We'll sell at a loss just to crush them."

When the team first started, Hao Jian and Jin Peng were frontline salesmen—they'd personally developed distribution channels, so they knew all the tricks of the distributors.

Jin Peng said, "I could handle them myself, no need for you. But business isn't just about tactics—you've got to give them benefits. From now on, you need to allocate more Fenghua brand to me."

Hao Jian said, "Alright, alright, next month we'll free up some production. Just hold on a bit longer!"

Li Ye sat in the back of the Crown car, watching his two top men showing off to each other—it was kind of amusing.

After two years of training and the rapid growth of Pengcheng's Seventh Factory, these two had gained some leader-like confidence—but also some arrogance.

I'll need to find a chance to knock some sense into them. Don't let them think they're so great they can ignore everyone else.

Once the dual-track market system kicks in next year, countless big players will jump into business. In a few years, the seller's market will turn into a buyer's market.

Right now, as long as you have goods, you won't have trouble selling them. But in a few years? It won't be so easy.

Li Ye and Hao Jian's Crown car soon reached Nancheng, but not far from the Third Machinery Factory, they spotted Li Yue's Volga parked by the roadside. Li Dayong, Pei Wenhui, and several others stood there with gloomy faces.

Jin Peng pulled over. The three got out and asked, "What's wrong, Dayong? Why are you waiting here?"

Li Dayong walked over to Li Ye and whispered, "My teacher's classmate is the deputy workshop director at the Third Machinery Factory. He used factory equipment and materials to prototype the new machine."

"But someone snitched. The factory punished him and locked the equipment in storage. Now we don't know what to do."

Hao Jian blinked, then frowned. "What kind of nonsense is this? We came all this way, and we can't even see the product?"

Hearing Hao Jian's complaint, Cao Zhisheng, Tang Mingtai, and the others by the roadside also felt frustrated. For over half a month, they'd pushed themselves to the limit.

They'd planned to complete the prototype, collect their research fee, and hand it over to the factory for mass production. But now, just when the buyer finally arrived, this happened.

Li Ye walked over and whispered a few words to Pei Wenhui.

Pei Wenhui smiled and approached Cao Zhisheng, pointing at Hao Jian, who looked like a big boss. "Hello, teachers. That gentleman is the factory director of Pengcheng's Seventh Factory. Could you please arrange for him to see our product today?"

Cao Zhisheng opened his mouth but couldn't speak. Tang Mingtai said instead, "Comrade Pei, the factory is indeed inconvenient today. Could you wait a few more days?"

Pei Wenhui smiled. "Waiting a few days is fine. But may I ask—have you fully mastered the production technology for the new sewing machine?"

Tang Mingtai said, "Yes. And I can tell you plainly—we held back one key step. Even though the factory's prototype runs, without us, they can't produce it."

Pei Wenhui nodded, opened her handbag, and began counting out cash.

"I'll pay you the research fee first. Then you'll take us to see the machine. If it meets standards, we can discuss technology transfer fees."

"..."

"Technology transfer fees?"

Cao Zhisheng, Tang Mingtai, and the others froze, staring at each other in shock.

Was this girl saying they could get paid three times?

But when Pei Wenhui handed the money to Cao Zhisheng, disbelief turned to certainty.

"I'll take you to see the factory director now—but don't say anything. Don't let him drive a hard bargain."

"Driving a hard bargain doesn't matter," Pei Wenhui said. "As long as you control the technology, we can choose another factory. But you must guarantee you can produce it smoothly."

"No problem. I know a small factory that can make it—just farther north, thirty kilometers away."

Tang Mingtai suddenly felt his mind open—before him stretched a golden road, shining brightly.

Today's mistake—two chapters merged into one, missed the posting time. Ah~