[{"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-824":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},2295242,4489,"Chapter 824: Saving Someone? Who","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-824",824,"\u003Cp>He’s already dead. We need to save someone else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye’s shout shocked everyone into silence, and the crowd surged toward the rooftop like a thunderclap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Save someone else? Who?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who else but Gu Jianqi?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elevator’s too slow—take the stairs!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye, go up first and check if Old Gu is up there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time everyone reacted, Li Ye had already climbed two flights of stairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was anxious too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, Li Ye had maintained a “don’t interfere, don’t meddle” attitude toward Gu Jianqi and Secretary Guo’s behavior—let them chase wealth; it wasn’t his business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when Li Ye saw Secretary Guo free-falling out the window, he questioned whether he’d been too indifferent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye wasn’t guilty over Secretary Guo’s death—after all, whether the man lived or died meant nothing to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Secretary Guo’s death would affect Liu Muhan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Secretary Guo might’ve been a secretary, but his rank wasn’t low—he died in a foreign land, and the higher-ups would investigate thoroughly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that point, even minor flaws would be magnified endlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why did Secretary Guo get the chance to go to the rooftop and jump? Why wasn’t anyone following him when he left your sight?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You say he jumped because he lost money in stocks? How did he even get access to stocks? How could your project’s management of the inspection team be this lax?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So if Liu Muhan, the key figure behind this project’s introduction, doesn’t take the blame, who will?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Muhan’s parents had a life-or-death bond with Li Ye’s grandfather, and Liu Muhan now gets along well with Wen Leyu—if Li Ye’s “indifference” causes Liu Muhan’s career to collapse, Li Ye wouldn’t know how to explain it to his family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, Li Ye made his decision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Gu Jianqi must take the blame.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We’ll say Gu Jianqi, being of higher rank, acted on his own initiative—Liu Muhan couldn’t stop him. After all, he’s the root of the problem; shifting responsibility onto him makes sense to Li Ye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if Gu Jianqi also jumped off the rooftop, it’s all over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man may be on the sidelines now, but his rank is higher than Ma Zhao’s—he must be held accountable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So this time, Li Ye sprinted with every ounce of strength he had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyone who’s climbed stairs knows: running one flight is more effective than running fifty meters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye sprinted up more than twenty floors, and by the time he reached the rooftop, he was gasping for breath, muttering, “Damn.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because stretching before him were dozens of people, several already standing at the edge, eyes vacant, mumbling to themselves, one foot already stepping into the Devil’s exclusive economic zone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rest wept hesitantly, as if saying, “You go first—I’ll think about joining you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Gu Jianqi wasn’t near the edge—he was eerily quiet, his cigarette burned down to his fingers, yet he felt no pain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Good. As long as you’re afraid to die.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye’s mind calmed. He sat down where he could act quickly, waiting for Ma Zhao and the others to arrive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A piercing scream caught Li Ye’s attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He saw a man flip over the railing, standing on the very edge, mouth wide open as he screamed desperately, as if trying to rally himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his hands clung tightly to the railing—no matter how he screamed, he wouldn’t let go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Classic case of saying one thing, doing another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Ye saw another man quietly take off his shoes, slip a folded note inside, then calmly flip over the railing and leap into the wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye was stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So when a man’s spirit is utterly broken, he won’t even waste the energy to scream—he writes his farewell note and only seeks swift death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mia, I love you. Tell the kids… I love them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A string of tearful English words reached Li Ye’s ears, and he recognized Ludwig from the Lighthouse Tech team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He held a phone, tears streaking his face, walking step by step to the rooftop’s edge, unwilling to sever contact with his family until his final moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet in the end, Ludwig stood at the edge—even as the woman on the other end screamed and begged, it didn’t stop his foot from stepping forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost simultaneously, Li Ye’s figure lunged like a cheetah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So when Ludwig felt his body go weightless, a hand seized his wrist with iron grip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ludwig looked up dazedly and saw Li Ye’s face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he said bitterly, “Thank you—but let me go.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye held on tight and asked bluntly, “Homaichi?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ludwig blinked, confused by Li Ye’s meaning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye repeated: “How much do you owe?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ludwig opened his mouth, sobbing: “Three hundred fifty thousand dollars.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Only three hundred fifty thousand?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Ye didn’t immediately agree—he quickly said, “We need an automotive engineer. But you know mainland China’s a developing country—we can’t pay you a high salary. Give me a monthly figure. I’ll see if I can afford it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly, stars lit up in Ludwig’s eyes. He blushed and said, “Eight thousand dollars. Eight thousand a month—I’ll do anything for you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then go ahead and die.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye shook his hand, ready to toss Ludwig off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Negotiating business—you must haggle. Even though Li Ye could repay the three hundred fifty thousand in seconds, Ludwig was a German-American—he needed to earn it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Ludwig, who had just been desperate to die, no longer wanted to die. Those who’ve faced death understand life’s value best.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ludwig clutched Li Ye’s wrist and arm tightly: “Three thousand five—three thousand five dollars. No lower. If it’s less, I can’t pay the interest—I’ve got two kids to feed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Are you using your life as leverage to negotiate salary?】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye smiled and yanked Ludwig up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Four thousand. But don’t play games. Here’s your phone—call your family. Tell them this son of a bitch doesn’t want to die anymore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, thank you, thank you for saving me—and my family.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ludwig snatched Li Ye’s phone and dialed his wife across the ocean, sobbing like a child as he confessed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just moments ago, he truly believed he’d never see his family again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, he felt overwhelming guilt for his irresponsible act.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Li Ye, what are you doing over there?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, I’m saving someone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye turned and saw Ma Zhao and Lu Zhizhang, gasping like dogs, and couldn’t help smiling with relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Zhao stared blankly: “You ran all the way up just to save him?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ye laughed: “Saving someone? Who’s it matter who?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What matters most in the 21st century?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Talent!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Ludwig isn’t a Hua person, he’s far more worth saving than Gu Jianqi.\u003C\u002Fp>",1109,"2026-06-20T05:05:02.628Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","1713fca4b03f54f4af69bf2857da5280e82fbb0d3f4aae7fd35cc520df5e5719","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-825","that-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-chapter-823",884,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthat-year-the-flowers-bloomed-in-1981-cover.jpg"]