Chapter 110

"Is this brat Yu Li? I've known for a long time that this brat is always a bad boy. What's so good about Yu Li? He's like a wild child. How can a girl be like that?"

Yan Bugui indeed had a lot of complaints about Li and got angry as soon as she was mentioned.

Li Jiandong waited until he had finished venting before saying:
"Old Yan, I have a different opinion from you. Yu Li is actually a very sensible and capable child. If she and Jie Cheng can take care of the household affairs, their life will definitely be more prosperous in the future. The most important thing is that Jie Cheng has liked her for four years. As a father, are you really willing to break them up?"

"Ugh."

Yan Bugui sighed deeply, he didn't know what to do.

Yan Jiecheng is his son, and a very ambitious one at that. He became the deputy captain of the steel rolling mill's fleet at a young age. You have to know that the principal of their elementary school is only at the section level, and his son is now a deputy section leader, almost on par with the principal of his own school.

From this point of view, Yan Bugui still believes in his son's abilities.

But with such good conditions, he could find any good girl. Why did he have to find that tomboy Yu Li?
"Old Li, is there no other way? I really don't like Yu Li. Xie Cheng has always been soft-hearted. He's going to suffer a lot after marrying that tomboy."

Yan Bugui still wanted to fight for it, after all, this was his son's lifelong event.

Not to mention that her current job was given to her by Li Jiandong. Yu Li herself is also very grateful to Li Jiandong for keeping her. Later, it was Li Jiandong who helped them find a job to work in when they got a salary increase.

Yu Li has been without parents since childhood and has never felt much love from her parents, so what Li Jiandong did for her and the kindergarten teachers was particularly heartwarming to her.

Once a teacher, always a father. To become a disciple is like to acknowledge a father.

Li Jiandong said with a smile.

And Li Jiandong was right. Sooner or later, his son would have to separate from the family when he grew up. As long as he liked the wife, it would be fine. What did it matter if he liked her or not? Anyway, they were not living together. At most, they would see each other less often in the future.

Yan Bugui's words were tantamount to agreeing to the marriage.

Even if you have graduated, there is no exception.

Yan Bugui was actually not that pedantic. He had thought about what Li Jiandong said a long time ago. Yan Jiecheng thought that no one else knew about his secret affair with Yu Li, but there is no wall that is completely airtight.

Although Yu Li is very strong, she is still very well-behaved in front of Li Jiandong.

Jia Dongxu couldn't be sure either. After all, telegrams were one-way. If the other party didn't reply, no one would know whether they had seen it.

There are also several women in the yard. Although they are not good at cooking or cutting vegetables, they can still help with washing and picking vegetables.

The yard became bustling early in the morning. Since the tickets were used, there have been fewer gatherings in the yard than before. There have only been a few gatherings during the Chinese New Year, so everyone is looking forward to today's dinner.

Hearing Jia Dongxu's reply, Li Jiandong couldn't help but frown.

Li Jiandong shook his head and said:
"Old Yan, think about it this way. Jie Cheng and Yu Li have been secretly together for so long, how could he not know Yu Li's temper? Since he can accept it, maybe she likes it. Besides, it's your son who is getting married, not you, so why do you have to like her?"

Another reason is that the three-year disaster period is coming soon.

If you encounter any problems, he can also help with suggestions.

Now that Yan Bugui had a step, he came down quickly.

Li Jiandong also wanted to take advantage of this celebration to ask about the progress of the project on his side.

Sha Zhu was supposed to be on duty today, but he took a day off to help He Daqing cook.

When the master is alive, you have to visit him during the holidays; when he passes away, you have to mourn for him like your own son.

One is to help Liu Guangqi accumulate experience, so that he can grow quickly and reach the maximum level of water conservancy skills as soon as possible.

Yan Bugui's eyes widened when he heard this: "Does this mean that my family is a cheap person? And I just like being bullied?"

"That's pretty much it."

The men, young and old, did some physical work, moving the tables and chairs out and putting them away, and then played a few games of poker before dinner.

The weekend is here.

Liu Guangqi has been gone for two years. Except for the Chinese New Year holiday, he would come back to visit, and we hardly saw each other at other times.

After all, Li Jiandong's identity is there. He is not only the deputy director of the steel rolling mill, but also the master of her boyfriend. Masters these days are no joke. The word "father" in "master" alone explains it all.

"Yes, Master, I sent it directly to the Miyun Subdistrict Office. They should pass the message to Guangqi, right?"

"Hey, Master, isn't that Guangqi? He's back."

After all, Li Jiandong's water conservancy level has reached level 2, and he only needs more than experience points to reach the full level. Basically, all problems related to water conservancy can no longer stump him.

If the Miyun hydropower project can be completed earlier, it will not only solve most of the electricity needs of the northern city, but the water stored in the dam may also reduce some of the impact of the drought.

"I didn't say that. Maybe Yu Li is also good-tempered to the person she likes."

Li Jiandong stood at the gate of the compound and asked Jia Dongxu:

If I force my son to separate from her, it would be like forcing him to choose between me and Yu Li. Not only would it be a big problem for my son, but what if he chose Yu Li?
Wouldn’t it be like giving away the son I have raised for so many years to someone else?
"Old Li, you can't just come and persuade me. You have to persuade your good disciple too. And Yu Li must come and apologize to me. Otherwise, you won't be able to be disrespectful to me in the future."

There are many conditions for the occurrence of the three-year disaster, the most important of which is the natural drought across the country. Now that half of this year has passed, we can already feel that the rainfall is much less than in previous years.

Li Jiandong laughed and said:
"Don't worry, Old Yan. We are all elders. I will definitely side with you. You can go back first. I will talk to Jie Cheng and Yu Li and bring them to apologize to you in person."

So when she heard that Li Jiandong wanted Yan Jiecheng to take her to apologize to Yan Bugui, Yu Li agreed without thinking.

"Dongxu, has the telegram to Guangqi been delivered?"

After Li Jiandong sent him away, he went to find Yan Jiecheng and told him about the matter. When he learned of Yan Bugui's intention, Yan Jiecheng took Li Jiandong to meet Yu Li on the spot.

Yan Bugui had long guessed that the two of them were together, and even warned Yan Jiecheng to stay away from Yu Li, but Yan Jiecheng didn't listen to him and there was nothing Yan Bugui could do. He couldn't just go to someone's house and scold him, right?
That would be just like a shrew. Yan Bugui claims to be a cultured person, how could he do such a shameful thing?

Liu Guangqi studied in university for four years and graduated two years ago. Then, with the encouragement of Li Jiandong, he used many connections to put the Miyun hydropower project on the agenda.

Jia Dongxu suddenly shouted excitedly. Li Jiandong looked in the direction of his finger and saw that Liu Guangqi was walking towards him from the bus stop.

"Master, senior brother."

Liu Guangqi waved to Li Jiandong and Jia Dongxu from a distance.

He is 23 years old this year and has become much more mature than he was four years ago. He is accompanied by a girl, Zhou Rong, who came to North City with him after graduation.

"Uncle, Brother Jia."

After walking up to them, Zhou Rong also greeted Li Jiandong and Jia Dongxu.

Li Jiandong nodded to her and called the two of them, "Come on, Guangqi, let's go in first. I just want to ask you about Miyun Water Conservancy."

"What a coincidence, Master. I was just about to tell you this."

Liu Guangqi also said.

The Miyun Water Conservancy Project is much larger than the Nanhong Hydropower Station Project. The water flow in the two places alone differs by at least a hundred times, and the construction difficulty also differs by several times.

Liu Guangqi is now a level 6 water conservancy engineer and has the ability to design the Nanhong Hydropower Station independently, but in the Miyun Water Conservancy Project, he is just one of more than engineers.

However, although his engineer level is not the highest among these forty people, his age and experience are also relatively the smallest among them.

But because Li Jiandong was there to give him advice, Liu Guangqi still played a big role in the team.

The two chatted in the room for more than an hour, with Liu Guangqi basically asking questions and Li Jiandong answering them. After answering all of Liu Guangqi's questions, Li Jiandong also had some guesses about the progress of the Miyun project.

The hydropower station probably won’t be completed this year, but it should be completed next spring. Although it’s a little slow, it’s better to have it than nothing.

"Master, it's time to eat."

Jia Dongxu said outside the door. "Okay, we'll be right there."

Li Jiandong stood up and said to Liu Guangqi, "Guangqi, you should try to make the most of your time on the hydropower station. If you have any questions, don't wait until you come back to ask me. You can write to me and mail the questions back to me. I will also answer them by letter. If that doesn't work, you can send a telegram. It only takes me two days to go there."

"You have seen the weather this year. There has been so little rainfall that the people's crops have suffered. If the reservoir is built, at least we won't have to worry about running out of water for irrigation of the grain fields in the east and north of the city."

Liu Guangqi nodded:
"Master, I understand. We discussed this while we were working. The water level in Miyun Reservoir is very low this year. If we can complete the main structure of the dam before the end of the year, we can store water for the winter and have water available in the spring of next year."

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid it's too late."

"Forget it, let's do our best and leave the rest to fate. Let's eat first."

Li Jiandong opened the door and walked out. Liu Haizhong was standing by his side. When he saw Liu Guangqi, he punched him on the shoulder and said, "You kid, you didn't even say hello to your father when you came back. You had to ask your father to come find you."

Liu Guangqi felt a little embarrassed, scratching his head and said, "I just came back and my master called me back to the house. I didn't have a chance to see you."

"Yes, Lao Liu, this is not Guangqi's fault. I was the one who asked him about the hydropower station."

"Since it's your master who's looking for you, forget it. Come over and have dinner."

Although Liu Haizhong was teaching his son a lesson, he was actually very proud of him.

The children of Lao Jia and Lao Yan have now become deputy directors of the department. He also doesn't want his son to fall behind others. Although Liu Guangqi's achievements are not obvious now, it will be different once the reservoir is built.

Today's meal is very rich, with chicken, duck, fish and meat.

The residents hadn't eaten such delicious food for a long time, and they were all very anxious. However, no one dared to pick up their chopsticks before Li Jiandong sat down.

In fact, with Li Jiandong's income, he cannot afford to treat the whole hospital to such a meal. Even if he has system rewards that he cannot use up, such extravagance will easily lead to reports.

It's okay to secretly use the things given by the system, but it would be difficult to explain the source if you use them so ostentatiously. Therefore, Li Jiandong seldom uses the receipts rewarded by the system. With his previous salary as the director of the Political Value Department, he could only get two or three kilograms of meat tickets a month.

The reason why Li Jiandong could treat the entire hospital to such good food was because he sold the prescription for treating choriocarcinoma.

This is the world's first case of cancer cure, breaking the myth that cancer is incurable. Although there is no patent in the country and the prescription itself is not valuable, he was rewarded with a special talent allowance because he brought glory to the country in the world.

It is a small notebook. Every month you can use it to get a certain amount of meat, eggs, rice, noodles, etc. for free, without spending any money or tickets.

Li Jiandong has had this little book for two years. He usually uses the book for eating and drinking, and can save his own money and tickets. Of course, this is only what he says to outsiders. In fact, Li Jiandong uses up all the money in the book every month, and he has no tickets left.

But if he consumes it so slowly, no one will know, so no one will suspect him if he says he has saved up dozens of kilograms of meat.

"Everyone, don't wait any longer. Come eat and drink. Don't be polite."

Li Jiandong walked to his seat and loudly announced the start of the meal. After he sat down and picked up his chopsticks, everyone else started to move.

They started picking up food quickly and stuffing it into their mouths.

"Delicious, so delicious."

"Uncle He's cooking is really amazing, and such a big piece of meat is so delicious."

Everyone at the other tables was busy, except for Li Jiandong's table, which was relatively calm.

Director Zheng was also invited to celebrate with Li Jiandong today. He was the first to raise the first glass of wine: "Jiandong, congratulations on your advancement. Fortunately, you didn't come to our street, otherwise you would be at most a deputy director now. I didn't expect that in just a few years you have become a deputy factory director. This glass of wine is to congratulate you on your promotion, and I also wish you can continue to be promoted."

"Thank you Director Zheng, we are happy together."

Li Jiandong picked up the wine glass and drank it all with Director Zheng.

Four years have passed, and Director Zheng has become increasingly haggard. He is already 57 years old this year and will retire in three years. He has recently been interested in training a successor, but it is not easy to find a satisfactory one.

If Li Jiandong was in the street office, he wouldn't have to be the second choice.

"Come on, Lao Li, I'll toast you too. Let's not say those polite words, let's drink this one."

He Daqing was the second to toast, and he drank it first as a gesture of respect.

Then the third one is Liu Haizhong, and then Yan Bugui.

Li Jiandong could see that these old guys were trying hard to get him drunk, but unfortunately, except for He Daqing who could drink a decent amount, the others could only drink the equivalent of a bottle of wine together.

Li Jiandong doesn't dare to say how much he drinks now, but there is nothing wrong with drinking three or four bottles of white wine.

So He Daqing and his friends were in trouble. By the time they realized something was wrong, they were already dazed. Yan Bugui, who had the lowest alcohol tolerance, had even passed out. He suffered a huge loss before he had even taken a few bites of the food.

By the time the party was over, everyone at the table except Li Jiandong and Director Zheng ran under the table.

"Mrs. Yan, come here and pack up these dishes to take back. Otherwise, when Old Yan wakes up, he will definitely cry."

When Li Jiandong said this, the women around him all laughed.

Yan Bugui loves to take advantage of others the most. Today, he got drunk after only taking a few bites of such delicious food. When he wakes up, he will cry bitterly if he finds that he didn't take such a big advantage.

"You said my husband, he usually only drinks one glass of wine, but he also learns to drink with others. I think he should eat less to learn his lesson."

The three aunts talk big, but they are not slow at all when it comes to action.

These women had already prepared basins before coming to eat, just to clean up the scene after eating. At this moment, the three aunts put the basins on the table and poured three servings of meat and vegetables into them.

The woman next to her was anxious:

"Chunmei, please don't take it all. Leave some for us."

The third aunt continued to pick up the fourth dish, poured it into the basin with swift movements and said, "There are so many around here, wouldn't it be the same if you go to clean up other tables?"

"How can they be the same? There's not much left at other tables, but the uncle and his table barely touched anything."

When the women saw that the third aunt was so greedy, they didn't care that Li Jiandong was still beside them, and rushed forward to grab the leftovers.

Li Jiandong quickly stepped back two steps, arranged for several young men to carry He Daqing, Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui and others back to the yard, and he also walked back.

Qin Huairu didn't drink or eat quickly, nor did she wait there to grab the leftovers, so she came back early with her children.

When he saw Li Jiandong coming in, he stood up and asked:
"Brother Jiandong, you must have drunk a lot. I'll pour you some water."

Li Jiandong stretched out his arms to hug her and kissed her on the forehead: "No need, you didn't drink much. You are an important person in our family now. If you need anything, just let me do it."

Qin Huairu is six months pregnant and her belly is starting to swell. When Li Jiandong is at home every day, he rushes to do whatever work is available. When he is not at home, the women in the courtyard also rush to help Qin Huairu.

Especially Ye Xiaoning, he and Qin Huairu are now good sisters. Although there is a big age gap between them, they have a very good relationship. He always rushes to help her with any work for fear of tiring her and the children.

"By the way, why didn't I see Ye Xiaoning today?"

Thinking of Ye Xiaoning, Li Jiandong couldn't help but ask.

"She went to divorce Li Huaide yesterday, and it seems that she went back to Luogou Hutong to move some things today. Although she had been living in our courtyard before, she still had a lot of things there."

Qin Huairu's words surprised Li Jiandong.

"Will Li Huaide agree to a divorce?"

Divorce is not a matter for one person. Even if Ye Xiaoning wants to divorce, she can't do so unless she finds something to hold against Li Huaide.

What's more, Ye Xiaoning's attitude before didn't seem like she wanted a divorce. She just didn't want to live with Li Huaide. She was the type who wanted to let go but couldn't.

So Li Jiandong did not expect the two to divorce suddenly.

(End of this chapter)