CHAPTER 1808: CHAPTER 1869: WE DON’T BLAME YOU

On the construction site with hundreds of people, distributing salaries until midnight finally concluded the matter. To make amends, Zhou Yangqing announced that the workers would have a day off tomorrow, with pay. This day off was meant for them to relax, and the workers were indeed quite happy.

However, although the money was distributed, Zhou Yangqing dared not relax, as more important matters awaited him.

Because Li Xianjin indeed lost the money at the Macau casino, this happened more than two months ago. The money lost was gone and couldn’t be recovered, so Zhou Yangqing had to cover the financial gap with his own money.

He wasn’t doing it for his brother-in-law, whose life or death no longer concerned him, nor for Li Xiaohua. This sibling duo nearly ruined him; no matter how much he liked Li Xiaohua, he wouldn’t have any dealings with her again.

That ten million yuan was as if he bought himself some peace. Zhou Yangqing seemed to have aged overnight; his chubby face now showed many wrinkles. Although he could afford ten million, the long-term consequences were something he couldn’t bear.

Although Li Yifei hadn’t said how he would deal with him, it was certain that Zhou Yangqing couldn’t stay in the manager’s position.

At around fifty years old, a man is at the peak of his career. At this age, no matter one’s experience or knowledge, they are at their zenith. Yet, at this time, Zhou Yangqing was about to be laid off...

This situation could only be blamed on himself. If he hadn’t misguidedly used that incompetent Li Xianjin, such a significant error wouldn’t have occurred.

Even if something had happened, had it not been for Li Xiaohua and Li Xianjin antagonizing Li Yifei by sheer bad luck, the issue wouldn’t have been as severe, at least not to the point of facing life-and-death decisions.

Sitting by the roadside, Zhou Yangqing’s body was weak, and he was tormented at heart. Wang Zu glanced at him, walked over, and said, "Manager Zhou, just a word of advice: take care of your people in the future, or the consequences next time won’t be like this."

Indeed, offending Li Yifei meant going against the entire Li family. In such a scenario, what did a Zhou Yangqing, who cooperated with the Li family, amount to? Without Li Yifei needing to act, those security guards whose lives were transformed by the Li family would handle Zhou Yangqing.

Nonetheless, it was a kind reminder, and Zhou Yangqing slowly nodded.

The laborers who received their salaries were naturally overjoyed. Even though they stayed up until midnight yesterday, they still got up early today, had breakfast, and prepared to deposit their money or buy some items. Anyway, it was a rare day off, otherwise, they would still have to work even if it rained.

Some people saw Zhou Yangqing, saw the once-proud manager sitting there looking so miserable, and, out of kindness, someone walked over, took out a couple of buns from his pocket, placed them in front of Zhou Yangqing, and said, "General Manager Zhou, right? You had a hard night; have a couple of buns to tide you over. You still have to work today, squeeze in some time to rest."

The buns were still warm, as this worker had just picked them up from the canteen and planned to eat them on the road, but seeing their General Manager Zhou who distributed the wages sitting there, they brought them over.

Zhou Yangqing looked up, his face full of fatigue, looked at this burly man, forced a smile, and said, "Thank you, but you should eat them. I’m not hungry!"

"How can you not be hungry? You stayed up all night. Come on, eat them, don’t be picky. These buns, we only get them twice a month, and they are really good, full of fatty meat, very tasty!"

After saying this, the guy waved his hand and walked away.

Zhou Yangqing looked at the buns, and his eyes suddenly became warm. He wanted to ask that guy whether they blamed him. After all, it was his mistake that caused the delay in the distribution of wages for several months.

Perhaps hearing his inner question, the guy who delivered the buns turned back, walked over again, and said, "General Manager Zhou, if you need to eat, eat and drink if you need to. You’re at a mature age. The matter was done by Li Xianjin. Although he’s your brother-in-law, he’s not your brother. We blame him, not you. Don’t blame yourself too much. When we worked for Handing Group before, we’ve never experienced delayed wages. Everyone’s actually willing to work for Handing; the benefits are good."

Suddenly, Zhou Yangqing wanted to cry. He just felt so wronged. Just because he liked a woman, did he end up losing his job?

The guy still left, with tens of thousands of yuan in his pocket, ready to send it home so that his family wouldn’t have to worry about living costs for the next few months.

Wang Zu also left. After the salaries were distributed, his task was half complete, but he still took away Hei Gou and Li Xianjin. These people were tarnishing the Li family name, something the Li family couldn’t tolerate, especially when given a little power, they even resorted to guns, which was an egregious affront.

The outcome of this situation needed to be reported to Li Yifei, but how to deal with it, Li Yifei had not instructed, and Wang Zu and others already had plans.

Since then, a legend spread more widely at some Handing Group construction sites that The Patriarch of the Li family, Li Yifei, would sometimes disguise as an ordinary person, delve among the crowd, and visit the sites to inspect. When he encountered injustice, he would step in to resolve it.

As the tale spread, it became almost mythical, much like the stories of Emperor Kangxi who liked to travel incognito. This was something Li Yifei hadn’t anticipated. A casual incident resolution inadvertently enhanced the Li family’s reputation, and among the laborers, Li Yifei was highly respected.

Especially those workers who dined and drank heartily with Li Yifei, they would rave to anyone willing to listen about how approachable Li Yifei was, how good his drinking skills were, how generous he was, and most importantly, how his martial skills were extraordinary, hundreds of times more impressive than any martial arts master.

These were things Li Yifei didn’t know. After drinking last night, he didn’t end up driving home. He left his car by the roadside and took a cab back.

The women of the Li family were surprised to see Li Yifei stumble home groggily, and quickly helped him to bed.

The women didn’t know what happened that afternoon, only assuming Li Yifei was in a bad mood and went out for a while. However, this bad mood was enough to concern everyone, especially Song Lianyao who hurried back home overnight. Upon learning that Li Yifei had drunk too much alone and came back home late, she was too worried to sleep all night, and in the early morning, she went to Li Yifei’s room to wait for him to wake up to apologize.

Another woman also knew that Li Yifei was in a bad mood, and that was Na Yi. She heard it from Xiaowu, who was more attuned to emotional changes. After returning, she told Na Yi, but Na Yi didn’t know who to talk to about it, so early in the morning, she too came over and waited at the door with Song Lianyao.