Chapter 160

So, in order to avoid being caught, he simply disguised himself as a beggar and hid himself.

These days you need a letter of introduction everywhere, except when you are a beggar. After all, beggars don't need to stay in hotels, they can just find a place under a bridge to stay.

However, being a beggar is not that easy. There is no fixed home to shelter from the wind and rain, and no place to cook.

Of course, Yi Zhonghai had made a lot of money collecting scrap before, so he would not starve to death in a short period of time.

He could even continue to collect scrap while being a beggar, but it would be difficult for him to find a place to live.

In order to avoid being hunted down by Li Jiandong and others, Yi Zhonghai directly left Nanluoguxiang Street.

Li Jiandong and others would certainly not look for him for that long. In fact, Hu Haodang had given up after failing to find him for a week. Anyway, the monk can escape but the temple cannot. As long as Yi Zhonghai does not return to the tavern dormitory building or to Yard No. 40, it does not matter where he hides.
Li Jiandong didn't care about him for a single day. Although the wind was strong outside, the steel mill was very calm.

The workers are working in an orderly manner, and their benefits and treatment are not lacking. It is a very rare stable place in the North City.
But, apart from the steel mill, other places are not so peaceful.

For example, in the Department of Energy, Director Yang got into trouble.

That day, Li Jiandong returned home and Jia Dongxu came to find him.

"Master, Director Yang has been taken away by the management committee. The leader intends to let me take over Director Yang's job. What do you think I should do?"

Getting promoted is certainly a good thing, and Jia Dongxu certainly wants to be promoted.

But the key point is that Director Yang was his and Li Jiandong's former leader, and he treated them well when they were looking for a steel mill.
More importantly, Director Yang is Yang Xue's father, and Yang Xue is her junior sister. When something happens to his junior sister's father, Jia Dongxu, as the eldest senior brother, certainly cannot ignore it.

However, he couldn't do anything even if he wanted to because he didn't have enough strength, so he could only come to Li Jiandong.

Upon hearing the news, Li Jiandong also frowned. He didn't expect that Li Huaide had fallen into poverty, but Director Yang still couldn't escape this crisis.

It seems that this should be the work of Leader Ye. After all, Director Yang is different from himself. He is Leader Bi's man through and through. He and Leader Ye are hostile to each other. He has never helped Leader Ye, let alone saved his daughter.

On the contrary, Jia Dongxu was his apprentice. It was reasonable for Leader Ye to remove Yang Chengzhang and replace him with Jia Dongxu.

"I see. Where is Director Yang now?"

Li Jiandong asked Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu said, "Director Yang was just taken away today. It is said that the street management committee wants to arrange for him to sweep the streets, and his house has been reclaimed. Now, he lives in a large compound on Qianmen Street, where all the people with problems live."

Huai Ming nodded.

"You go back first. Just do whatever the leaders arrange. Don't feel any psychological pressure. Leave Director Yang to me. I'll go see him later."

Jia Dongxu heaved a sigh of relief after hearing what Li Jiandong said.
"Okay, Master, I'll go back first. I have some things to do at work. I won't bother you anymore."

After Jia Dongxu left, Li Jiandong finished his work at the steel mill today and drove back early.

His second courtyard was on Qianmen Street, not far from the slum where Director Yang was sent down.

After returning home, Li Jiandong loaded some food and daily necessities into the car and drove to the courtyard where Director Yang lived.

This courtyard is very small, about the same size as my second courtyard, but there are more than 20 families living in it, each with only one small house, and some even live in makeshift small shabby houses.
Seeing a car parked outside, the residents in the courtyard all came out of their houses.

Many of them used to ride in cars, but now they can only squeeze into this dilapidated little courtyard with others.

"What are you looking at? What does this have to do with you? Is the work assigned to you too easy? Go back to your room and behave yourself."

In a house at the very outside of the compound, near the gate, there was a person in charge of guarding them.

This is a young man, probably a member of the Qianmen Management Committee patrol team. He has a big round hat on his head and looks nonchalant.

A dragon in shallow water is bullied by shrimps, a tiger in plain water is bullied by dogs.
When did big shots like Director Yang meet young people like this? At that time, they were too lazy to even look at them, but now they were scolded by him, and they didn't even dare to resist.

One by one, they lowered their heads obediently and returned to their rooms.

A hint of pride appeared on the young man's face, and there was no respect in his eyes when he looked at Li Jiandong.

After all, among the people he is in charge of now, many of them were more powerful than Li Jiandong before?
Now, aren't they all behaving themselves?
"Hey, who are you looking for?"

The young man stepped forward and asked Li Jiandong,

Li Jiandong did not say anything, but took out two packs of cigarettes from his pocket and stuffed them into the young man's hand.

This scene was unexpected to the young man.

He had met many important people before, but they all looked down on him. It was the first time that someone was so polite as Li Jiandong and even gave him cigarettes.

Originally, he looked down on Li Jiandong, but now he was much more enthusiastic. He bent down and took the two packs of cigarettes, and the smile on his face became sincere.

Li Jiandong then began to speak,
"Little brother, I'm Li Jiandong, the director of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill. The old director of our factory was transferred to your place. Anyway, the old director was good to me before. I want to come and see him. Do you think it's convenient?"

The young man laughed and said,
"So you are Director Li. Even our Qianmen Street knows your name. They all say that you, Director Li, are a kind person, born into a working class family, and are especially kind to the workers. Today, I see that hearing about you is worse than meeting you in person."

"We have a rule here. Those who have made mistakes are not allowed to meet outsiders, but... for your sake, Director Li, I will make the decision today and let you meet him once."

Li Jiandong cupped his hands and said,
"Thank you so much. Don't worry, I'm just here to see him. I won't cause you any trouble. How about you get in my car for a while? I can go in myself?"

The young man had never ridden in a car before, so he happily agreed.

"I'm not afraid of you making fun of me, Director Li. I've lived for 18 years and have never made a car. So I won't be polite. Director Li, please go in!"

Li Jiandong nodded to the young man, then walked into the compound.

I have to say that this yard is too cramped. The place that was originally supposed to be a yard is now covered with temporary small houses, leaving only an aisle about one meter wide in the middle.

Li Jiandong walked in and went straight to the backyard, knocking on the door of a room.

After a while, the door opened and Director Yang's wife stood inside. When she saw that it was Li Jiandong, her eyes immediately became moist.
"Li Jiandong, why is it you?"

“Sister-in-law, you have suffered, where is my old leader?”

At this time, Director Yang also heard the sound and shouted excitedly in the room, "Is it Jiandong? Why is he here too?"

Director Yang's voice was full of nervousness. He thought Li Jiandong was captured just like him.

Although he and Li Jiandong are not related, Li Jiandong is his daughter's master after all. Now he and his wife have been locked up in this courtyard, and outsiders cannot contact them at all. What if his daughter comes back?
With Li Jiandong outside, my daughter can still look for Li Jiandong when she comes back. But if he is also arrested, wouldn’t my daughter also be implicated when she comes back?

"Jiandong, why are you here too? Didn't you treat Ye Haolong's daughter's illness? How could she watch someone bring you in?"

Director Yang limped to the door.

There were bruises all over his face, and it looked like he had suffered a lot before being arrested.

Seeing Director Yang in this state, Li Jiandong felt bad. He used to be such a glorious person, but now he has fallen into such a state.

"Old leader..."

Li Jiandong could only utter three words, his voice choked with sobs and he was unable to speak.

Director Yang looked at Li Jiandong and found that Li Jiandong was dressed neatly and did not look like someone who had been arrested. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Jiandong, you weren't arrested, were you? How did you find your way here? Isn't there anyone watching outside? We are both guilty now. If you come to see me rashly, I will easily implicate you."

Even though Director Yang is already in prison, he still cares about Li Jiandong's safety.

Of course, he was mainly concerned about his daughter, fearing that she would have nowhere to go after returning.

Li Jiandong sniffed and said:
"Old leader, don't worry. I had already taken care of everything before I came here. I never thought things would turn out like this."

Li Jiandong didn't finish his words. If he had known this day would happen, he would have asked Director Yang and Lou Bancheng to leave North City and go to Hong Kong together.

But this kind of hindsight is useless. After all, no one knew that Director Yang would be arrested. Even Li Jiandong didn't think that anything would happen to Director Yang. Even if he reminded Director Yang, he might not be able to make up his mind.

I invited Li Jiandong back home and the two of us talked a lot.

Yang Chang revealed all the grievances in his heart to Li Jiandong. Although he knew that Li Jiandong might not be able to help him, at least he felt relieved after speaking it out.

"Jiandong, the big boss must be having a hard time, if you have time, you can go visit him more often.

Don't worry about me, this little hardship is nothing to me. And you should also pay more attention to Xiaoxue, and help reply to the letter she wrote to us."

What Director Yang cares most about is his daughter.

Li Jiandong nodded solemnly, "Don't worry, old leader. I will pay more attention to the big leader and Xiaoxue for you."

"Okay, that's good."

With Li Jiandong's promise, Director Yang felt at ease.

Seeing that it was getting late, Li Jiandong said goodbye and left.

Before leaving, Li Jiandong asked Xu Zhengyang to deliver the things he brought to Director Yang's home.

The young man guarding the door pretended not to see anything when he saw it and turned his head away.

Li Jiandong asked him to get in the car just now, not just to let him experience the feeling of driving a sedan.

When he got off the car, his trouser pockets were bulging.
It is said that the king of hell is easy to deal with, but the devil is difficult to deal with.

If people like the young man were not properly managed, anything they sent to Director Yang would be snatched away by him.

It is impossible that Li Jiandong, a man as capable as he is, failed to think of this.

Let’s take care of him first, so that Director Yang can live more comfortably here in the future.

After leaving Director Yang, Li Jiandong went to Leader Bi's house.

The leader of Bi Da has been suspended from his post, but his cadre rank and house are still retained.

Today's top leaders have fallen into poverty. They stay at home all day doing nothing but planting flowers and tending grass. Apart from that, they can do nothing else.
Whenever I went home to rest, there was a constant stream of guests visiting me.

Now that he has been suspended, his former customers have kept their distance from him and never come back again.

When the leader saw Li Jiandong's car approaching from a distance, he felt a little strange for a moment, until the car stopped beside him and Li Jiandong got out, the leader suddenly came to his senses.

"Li Jiandong? Why are you here?"

The leaders of Bida were surprised that Li Jiandong came to see him.
The current situation is very unfavorable to him, and Li Jiandong has a good relationship with Leader Ye. Logically, he should hold on to Leader Ye's thigh tightly at this time. Why did he come to him?
What if Leader Ye is dissatisfied with him because of this? Wouldn't that be shooting himself in the foot?
"Boss, I'm here to see you."

Li Jiandong walked forward carrying his things, and looking at the big leader in front of him, he couldn't help feeling a little sad.

Not long ago, Li Jiandong had met the big leader. At that time, the big leader Bi was still high-spirited, full of vigor and energy.

How long has it been?

In less than a month, the leader had completely turned into an old man, even looking like he was in his 70s, with all his hair turning white.
Although Bi Da’s freedom was not restricted and he even retained his cadre rank and house, the mere fact that he was suspended from his post was a huge blow.

"You brat! Don't you know what time it is? If others knew that you came to see me, it would be bad for you."

The big boss sighed and said that he admired Li Jiandong from the bottom of his heart.

Since his son is away from home all year round, Mr. Bi sometimes even treats Li Jiandong as his own child. Otherwise, if someone else was so close to Mr. Ye, he might have kicked that person away long ago.

Even if they didn't deliberately target him, at least they wouldn't keep promoting him like they did to Li Jiandong.

Li Jiandong smiled and said:
"Big leader, if it's a blessing, it's not a disaster. If it's a disaster, it's inevitable. I just came from Director Yang's place. His life is indeed a bit hard, but overall he can still make do. I said hello to the person guarding him, and he said he might take better care of him in the future."

The leader nodded.

"Yes, you do have a conscience. In fact, I also wanted to go see him these two days, but I was afraid that Ye Haolong would take advantage of the situation. I feel relieved if you take care of him."

At this time, Mrs. Bi also came out of the house.

As he walked, he said, "Lao Bi, who are you talking to over there?"

The big boss laughed and said, "You will know if you come out and take a look."

Mrs. Bi had already walked out at this time. She was stunned for a moment when she saw that it was Li Jiandong, but she quickly reacted and stretched out her hand to greet him.
"Oh, it's Jiandong. How did you get here? Lao Bi, you are such a fool. Didn't you see that Jiandong was holding something? Couldn't you just take it?"

Has the leader ever done such a thing before?

When someone comes to deliver something to him, his subordinates will naturally receive it for him.

At this moment, the leader finally reacted after hearing his wife's reminder.

However, the things had already been taken away by Mrs. Bi, so there was nothing left for him to take even if he wanted to.

"Come on, Jiandong, don't stand outside, let's go inside and talk."

Mrs. Bi took Li Jiandong's hand enthusiastically and led him into the house.

The big boss also smiled and said, "Look at my brain. I've been at home for a few days and it's become a little degraded. Jiandong, let's go inside and I'll make you some good tea."

"What's so good about that broken tea? Jiandong, please sit down first. I will cook for you today and make you something delicious. You can't leave without eating."

The big boss and his wife were talking to each other, both of them seemed very happy.
It is easy to add icing on the cake, but it is difficult to send charcoal in the snow.

Since the leader was parked in the car, Li Huamin was the first one to visit them.

The boss and his wife already had a good impression of Li Jiandong, and now they regard him as their closest person.

Had dinner at the big leader’s house.

After Li Jiandong left, he returned to the courtyard.

Since the wind started, Liu Haizhong has also become awesome,
After all, he is a deputy director of the management committee, which is equivalent to the level of deputy factory director.

You know, except for the steel rolling mill, the directors of the management committees of other units can suppress the factory directors.

Therefore, Liu Haizhong vaguely regarded himself as the third most important person in the steel rolling mill. Except for Li Jiandong and Hu Haodang, Liu Haizhong would look up and look down at everyone he met.

Hearing the knock on the door, Liu Haizhong said to the second aunt in a boastful tone:

"Old woman, go see who's knocking on the door. If it's some jerk, just tell them to get lost."

Second Aunt is now enjoying a good life. Her husband is capable, and she, as his wife, also benefits from it.

Now, when he is strolling on the streets outside, he often encounters people who take the initiative to come up to him and say hello, with such humble attitudes that they almost kneel down to him.

After hearing what Liu Haizhong said, the second aunt walked to the door with ease.

Open the door.

When he saw the person behind the door, Second Aunt's expression immediately became humble.

"Hey, Director Li, why are you here?"

After the second aunt finished speaking, she turned to Liu Haizhong in the room and said, "Old Liu, it's Director Li. Director Li is here."

I heard that Li Jiandong was coming.

Liu Haizhong jumped up from the stool and walked forward, shouting, "You old woman, Director Li is here, why don't you invite him in? Why are you blocking the door?"

As he spoke, he had already walked to the door, pushed the second aunt aside, and said to Li Jiandong with a lowered eyebrow:
"Director Li, how come you have time to come here today? Come in and sit down."

Liu Haizhong opened the door and Li Jiandong walked in.

(End of this chapter)