Chapter 320

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Li Ye chewed his peanuts slowly, then asked with a frown, "Aren't you, Grandpa, Mr. Li yourself?"

Li Ye had no intention of revealing all his family's secrets.

A man's secret stash—you can let a little slip, because you need to spend it; if you hoard a pile of dollars just to pretend you're poor, aren't you turning into a Puritan?

But a secret stash is a secret stash—you absolutely can't reveal it all. Otherwise, at just twenty-something, your elders will start making decisions for you. How will you refuse?

What does a hundred million U. . dollars even mean right now? How much is the country's foreign exchange reserve?

But Li Zhongfa, watching Li Ye's calm expression, smirked slightly: "But I don't know this person. She's a woman—said her name was Fan something Ling."

"."

Everyone in the main house of the Li family froze, then all turned strange glances toward Li Ye.

At that moment, facing their stares, Li Ye felt as if he'd awakened telepathy—he could hear their inner gossip buzzing.

Wu Juying: "A woman? Another woman? Sweet grandson, what are you up to?"

Li Juan, Li Ying: "Brother's got a girl in Hong Kong too?"

Han Chunmei: "This boy's good-looking—it's not all good!"

Li Yue: "Hahahaha~ I'm dying laughing."

Li Ye sighed and stood up to take the phone.

"Hello, this is Li Ye. Who's calling?"

The other end immediately rang with Fan Xiuling's cheerful voice: "Happy New Year, Mr. Li! It's Fan Xiuling! We're all at Ah Cong's for New Year's Eve dinner, and just now everyone said we should call you before midnight to wish you well—but they kept getting through to no one. I called once and got you straight away!"

Li Ye listened patiently through Fan Xiuling's New Year greetings, then smiled: "You got through on the first try? Then your fortune this year must be the strongest!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. Li, for your auspicious words! May everyone have a prosperous New Year!"

Fan Xiuling on the other end grew noticeably excited, her voice trembling with emotion—whether from long-distance distortion or pure joy, it was hard to tell.

Fan Xiuling seemed ready to say more, but the line switched to Luo Runbo, who offered a few generic New Year blessings, then finally to Pei Wencong.

"Mr. Li, everyone's rushing to wish you a happy New Year, may your family be whole and your days smooth."

"Alright, thank you, thank you—but Old Pei, here we always pay respects to elders first."

Pei Wencong paused, then quickly replied: "Yes yes yes yes! I hold great respect for Mr. Li Senior. Is he available?"

Pei Wencong blinked, then quickly said: "Yes, yes, yes, yes—I deeply respect Old Master Li. May I ask if he's here?"

Li Ye cupped the receiver with his hand and said to Grandpa Li Zhongfa: "Grandpa, Mr. Pei from Hong Kong wants to wish you a Happy New Year."

As Li Zhongfa reached for the receiver, he whispered to Li Ye: "Is it Pei Wencong?"

Li Ye nodded: "Yes. In Hong Kong, people say 'Happy Prosperity' and 'Business Flourishing'—avoid saying 'Happy New Year.'"

Li Ye nodded and said: "Right, in Hong Kong people say 'Congratulations and prosper' or 'Business thrives,' and you should avoid saying 'Happy New Year.'"

Li Zhongfa blinked, but didn't have time to ponder—he took the receiver.

Many old-school Hong Kongers never say "Happy New Year," and even in letters avoid "wishing you happiness,"

because in Cantonese, "happy" and "quick fall" sound nearly identical—so many superstitious Hong Kongers avoid the word entirely.

"Mr. Pei? Oh my, since we parted in Beijing, it's been so long! I've been meaning to reach out, never expected you'd call first—actually, I should've called you first."

"You can't say that," Pei Wencong replied earnestly. "In our culture, we honor the elderly. If you wish me first, that breaks tradition."

"You can't say that," Pei Wencong immediately said earnestly: "In our flower nation, we honor the elderly. If you were to greet me first for the New Year, it would violate tradition."

Li Ye listened as Grandpa Li Zhongfa chatted happily with Pei Wencong on the phone, noticing how the wrinkles on his face slowly smoothed out.

They chatted for a full two minutes before Li Zhongfa's expression changed again—he clamped his hand over the receiver and stared at Li Ye in confusion.

"Xiao Ye, Mr. Pei's sister wants to speak to you."

"So let her speak!"

Li Ye was too tired to play along—he snatched the phone and said: "Xiao Hui! You're being formal with me now?"

"Mr. Li, I'm not being formal—I just want to get a lucky start to the New Year, hehehe."

"A lucky start? Fine, fine. What do you want to hear? 'Happy Prosperity, Family Reunion'? Or 'May you and Dayong grow old together, happily ever after'?"

"Hehehe, thank you, Mr. Li—if it's convenient, could you just pass on my New Year wishes to Dayong and his family?"

Because of Li Dayong, Pei Wenhui was actually more casual with Li Ye than with Pei Wencong, occasionally even teasing him lightly.

But Li Ye's use of "Xiao Hui," and "happily ever after," made every man and woman in the Li household snap their ears up like German Shepherds.

【Is this ever going to end? Five minutes on the phone, two women calling Xiao Ye? Is he cursed with romantic luck?】

Seeing Grandpa Li Zhongfa's puzzled look, Sister Li Yue could no longer hold back—she covered her mouth and rocked on her stool, stifling laughter.

Li Zhongfa shot her a sharp glance; she lowered her voice obediently: "Grandpa, that's Pei Wenhui—she's with Li Dayong.

Don't go imagining things. Xiao Ye's feelings for the Pei girl are obvious—no other girl stands a chance."

Don't go imagining things—just look at how much our little Ye dotes on that Wen girl. No other girl stands a chance.

Grandma Wu Juying blurted out: "With Li Dayong? Who? Mr. Pei's sister from Hong Kong?"

Li Yue nodded: "Yes! I see her often in Beijing—we're close."

Father Li Kaichian, a grown man, couldn't help asking: "So Li Dayong's dating the daughter of a billionaire?"

"Yeah~ So what? What's so surprising?"

"Yeah~ what's so strange about that?"

This year's New Year's Eve was destined to be a gossip night—after midnight, no one in the Li family cared about the Spring Festival Gala. All they talked about was Li Dayong's far-flung romance.

When everyone finally grew tired and went off to nap, Li Zhongfa called Li Kaichian over.

"Starting tomorrow, refuse every favor asking you to place relatives in the instant noodle factory.

Also, find a way to back out of any previous promises. Absolutely no incompetent people allowed in that factory."

Also, try to disentangle yourself from all previous promises—absolutely no incompetent fools must be placed in the instant noodle factory.

Li Kaichian sucked in a breath, startled: "Dad, what happened? You sounded fine on the phone with Hong Kong—did something go wrong?"

"Hmph~ That's exactly why—because it went so well."

Li Zhongfa suddenly glared at Li Kaichian: "Why ask so many questions? Just do as you're told. If you can't dodge a favor, push it to me."

Li Kaichian, caught off guard by his father's rebuke, dared not argue—he nodded: "I understand, Dad. I'll decline those favors this week."

"Not all of them. Capable people? Recruit them. Incompetents? Absolutely not. Understood?"

"It's not about firing everyone—those with ability must be recruited, and the useless must be firmly rejected. Understood?"

Li Kaichian walked off, troubled—he'd already promised favors to several people; now refusing them would hurt feelings, after all, the joint venture factory's wages were high—too tempting.

When everyone had left, Li Zhongfa stared at Li Ye's window and sneered: "Little rascal, playing dumb with me? You've got a big share, haven't you?"

Grandma Wu Juying walked over: "What's wrong? Who upset you?"

At that moment, Grandma Wu Juying walked over and asked: "What's wrong? Who upset you?"

Li Zhongfa snapped: "I'm saying this grandson of ours? He's not bad at all!"

Li Zhong flatly refused: "I'm saying our grandson is truly impressive!"

The firecrackers of New Year's Day finally quieted around 3 a. ., but by 5 a. . they began again, sporadically.

"Brother! Brother! Get up and go kowtow with Dad!"

"What time is it? Still early!"

"Not early—we already kowtowed to Grandma and returned from paying respects to Old Huai. Mom made dumplings for you—if you don't get up, they'll turn to paste."

Li Ye groggily rose, dressed, and prepared to accompany his father on New Year's visits.

In Dongshan, the tradition was to kowtow to elders on New Year's morning—even distant relatives had to be honored.

So the saying "A man's knees hold gold" meant nothing here—fail to kowtow dozens of times by morning, and your family's lineage is seen as weak.

Only those of Li Zhongfa and Wu Juying's generation could sit calmly at home, accepting kowtows from younger generations,

then casually ask them, "How are you? Did you have a good year?"—a sign of elder care.

For the past two years, everyone's talk centered on Li Ye—his studies, his income, and his rumored girlfriend.

But this year, the wind shifted suddenly.

"Hey, we already said it—Li Ye's thing? All nonsense. They were just classmates. He's back in Beijing now—kids' stuff doesn't count. But Li Dayong? Now he's something else!"

"Hey, didn't we already talk about Xiao Ye's thing? That's all nonsense now—they're just classmates, and besides, she's back in Jingcheng. Kids' stuff means nothing, but Li Dayong? Now he's something else."

"Dayong's dating a rich girl—the billionaire's sister!"

"WOWWWWWWW!!!"

In 1984, a foreign billionaire was far more impressive than any Ko or Wen Qingsheng—just look at "The Herdsman": Zhu Shimao's father was a billionaire.

In an era when the country's foreign reserves were only two or three billion, a billionaire's sister wasn't just a rich beauty—she was a princess, a duchess!

Li Dayong, a common boy, had won the favor of a princess—this was pure wish-fulfillment fiction, decades ahead of its time! Even today's webnovels couldn't top it.

So when Li Ye finally returned to the Li courtyard after hours of kowtowing, a group of women surrounded Li Dayong, chattering like they were about to devour a bear.

"Dayong! How did you hook up with that Hong Kong miss? Tell Auntie! I'll teach your clueless brother!"

"Dayong! How did you get close to that Hong Kong girl? Tell Auntie—then I'll go teach your clueless brother."

"Come on, don't lie—your mom said the watch she gave you is imported! Honestly—is it from the billionaire?"

"Hey, you're not being honest—your mom said the watch she's wearing is imported. Come on, be truthful—was it given by a billionaire?"

Pei Wenhui had indeed sent Li Dayong a ladies' watch to give to his mother as a gift.

"See? See? He's blushing! With such a big build, what's there to be shy about?"

One sentence jolted Li Dayong.

A single sentence jolted Li Dayong.

His bear-like body hunched slightly, his large head hung shyly low, and he smiled dumbly without saying a word—whatever, do as you please!

I'm shy—can you bite me?

Only after the group of women had trudged away, bored and uninterested, did Li Dayong approach with a pained expression: "Bro, why'd you leave me hanging over the fire? I haven't even told Mom yet."

Li Ye glanced at Li Dayong and said coolly: "First, I didn't spread this rumor. Second, how long did you think you could hide it? Do you think it's just our classmates who don't know, or that Jin Peng doesn't know?"

Just as Li Dayong was about to protest, Li Ye added: "Let me tell you—soon Xiao Hui will come to Dongshan with her brother. If you've got the guts, go ahead and pretend you don't know her."

Watching Li Dayong and Li Ye whispering over there, Li Kaibian whispered to Li Zhongfa: "Dad, isn't this going to hurt Dayong? Maybe they haven't even gotten that far yet!"

"What? Can't Dayong hook up with a Hong Kong heiress without credit going to Xiao Ye? You can't just take the good and dodge the blame."

Li Zhongfa grumbled: "Big trees attract wind. We can't keep making Xiao Ye the target. This is redirecting the fire—no, this is called diverting the heat."

Dad, I went to school and served in the army—aren't those two phrases the same thing?

(End of Chapter)