Chapter 831: He Has Background, But Even More Ability

Director Huang declined Old Liu’s dinner invitation and left with Cai Minying.

In the car, he asked: “Minying, what’s going on with your junior brother? Why did the two of you seem so mysterious?”

Cai Minying said solemnly: “Director Huang, do you remember the letter I wrote last summer? That was actually his prediction.”

Cai Minying was proud and arrogant, with her own boundaries and dignity—she would never pass off Li Ye’s prediction as her own.

“.”

Director Huang exclaimed in surprise: “There are people this powerful? Then why didn’t you recommend him to us? He’s wasting his talent in that car factory.”

Director Huang had followed Cai Minying’s advice to short the Japanese stock market, made a fortune, and gained major face—so his hunger for financial talent was intense.

But Cai Minying smiled bitterly: “He’s just an oddball. Back in school, he had the chance to study abroad but refused. After graduation, he could’ve been assigned anywhere—he chose the smallest car factory.”

Director Huang chuckled: “Then he’s never seen the outside world. Tell him—if he comes here for two years, he can afford his own house when he returns.”

“Two years?”

Cai Minying laughed: “When he was in school, Li Ye bought a house near campus. Now he lives in a big courtyard with dozens of rooms on the west side of Haizi, and he owns several sihe courtyards he’s lent to his senior and junior classmates!”

“Damn, what’s his background? Did we offend someone today?”

Cai Minying gazed out the window, softly saying: “He does have background—but we all think he’s even more capable.”

“Please fasten your seatbelts—we’re about to land.”

The plane landed smoothly at Beijing International Airport; Li Ye and the others had finally returned from Japan.

Although Guo Huai’s incident caused many delays in this project’s introduction, the final outcome was excellent.

Factory One not only got what was expected but also acquired an unexpected bus chassis—Li Ye’s trip was well worth it.

But for some people, it was utterly disastrous.

After leaving the airport, Li Ye and Liu Muhan got into Wen Leyu’s car, and the young wife immediately gave him the latest news.

“We’ve cleared up Gu Jianqi’s case—he colluded with a subordinate enterprise to illegally divert technical upgrade funds. This will implicate countless people.”

Liu Muhan asked puzzled: “Did Gu Jianqi fully confess? He always claimed it was Guo Huai’s doing—he was only secondarily responsible.”

Wen Leyu said: “We originally planned to let Guo Huai take the fall, but somehow he chose leniency through confession—the money’s been recovered.”

Liu Muhan gasped: “The money’s been recovered? How? Wasn’t it all lost?”

Wen Leyu glanced at Li Ye, then said: “Reportedly, they used illegal methods to transfer money overseas, so someone on the mainland covered the losses.”

“Illegal methods? Someone covered the losses? This actually happened?”

Liu Muhan asked three questions in a row, utterly baffled.

But Li Ye knew exactly what had happened.

Gu Jianqi had given the money to Du Ye, who exchanged it and sent it to Japan.

Now that the scandal had blown up, Du Ye—the unlucky fool—was being made to fill the hole.

Gu Jianqi probably resisted until the very end before giving in, because once he repaid the money, it meant admitting guilt—he could no longer claim ignorance or blame it all on Secretary Guo.

Why he confessed, however, was something outsiders could never find out.

Perhaps he had committed even greater crimes he hadn’t admitted—choosing the lesser of two evils.

How Guo Huai jumped out of a toilet on the twenty-first floor may forever remain a mystery.

After dropping Liu Muhan off, Wen Leyu said to Li Ye: “What’s the deal with He Xue and Du Xing? When I heard about this, I thought it had something to do with us!”

“This has nothing to do with us.”

After Guo Huai’s incident, Old Song called Li Ye, expecting that Du Ye might end up in trouble.

Both Li Ye and Old Song agreed: “This time, let them learn a lesson—don’t go chasing money from anyone.”

Du Ye had once worked under Old Song; after Old Song left, he thought no one could rein him in, and his money-grabbing schemes grew wilder.

Fine, you exchange currency—that’s helping people in a pinch. But how could you touch public funds like this?

This is like stocks on the mainland—retail investors lose money, scream to heaven and earth, but can only swallow their teeth and accept their bad luck.

But when certain people lose money, they try to weasel out. So if you run an underground money shop, you must consider whether your client has the power to cheat you.

After arriving home, Li Ye had planned to rest two days and bond with the kids—but the next day, Lu Zhizhang summoned him to the factory.

“While we were away, the headquarters kept sending people to the finance office demanding another advance of half-year profits. Zhang Zui and the others refused these unreasonable requests, and were publicly reprimanded and stripped of their section chief positions.”

Li Ye frowned: “What about Lai Jiayi? When we left, she wasn’t part of Factory One anymore?”

Lu Zhizhang said: “Zhang Zui went to see Lai Jiayi, but she said she didn’t handle financial matters.”

Li Ye said coldly: “Then she shouldn’t handle anything at all. Does she really think we need her union?”

Lu Zhizhang said: “I agree. This morning she tried to discuss housing allocation with me—I told her outright: housing allocation doesn’t concern your union.”

Li Ye thought for a moment: “I remember Lai Jiayi lives in her husband’s unit housing—so we won’t consider her needs this time.”

Lu Zhizhang grumbled: “Fine, I’ll handle it—you just watch.”

Lai Jiayi’s roots were at headquarters, so this time, though it seemed neutral, it had already exhausted Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang’s patience.

If you eat from Factory One’s bowl, you must defend Factory One’s interests—or do you really think Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang can’t sideline someone?

“Li Ye, we need to think carefully. I checked—headquarters’ financial situation is grim. This time they’re taking half-year profits in advance; next time they might take a full year’s. I can’t imagine how they’re spending this money.”

After headquarters implemented the new procurement system, Factory One had already advanced them three months of profit dividends—yet only days later, they wanted half a year’s again.

Li Ye sneered: “Don’t worry—starting next month, there won’t be much profit left to give them. Since we’re taking loans, we’ll need to repay in installments.”

Lu Zhizhang smiled knowingly. Li Ye had already secured five million U.S. dollars in loans for the micro-truck project, and now was bringing in the bus project—more loans were inevitable. That made things easy.

If I’m barely covering my debts, how can I give you any profit?

When someone gets rich, the best trick is to claim they’re in debt—otherwise, relatives will accuse you of being heartless for not helping everyone.