CHAPTER 1821: CHAPTER 1882: INTERNAL FAMILY MEETING

Li Yifei left the hotel with Song Lianyao’s parents and Song Lianyao, carrying the luggage, placing the suitcase in the trunk. He invited the elders to get in the car and then inquired about his father-in-law’s injuries in detail. The old man kept shaking his head, saying it was nothing, but Li Yifei and Song Lianyao were still not quite at ease. They took the elderly to General Hospital for a check-up and found a slight fracture in the bone, indicating how forceful Wang Lizhen’s collision really was.

The elders were getting on in years, and healing from bone injuries can take a hundred days. Even though the fracture was slight, it needed to be treated seriously. Li Yifei ditched the idea of taking the elders for dinner directly and instead drove home, arranging for the elders to stay in the family’s hospital section. After the doctors checked and treated them, Li Yifei went to the kitchen for some food, personally wheeling a cart into the hospital room and setting out the dishes one by one.

Including Song Lianyao, the four of them had a late lunch together.

With such incidents, the elderly were worried about causing trouble for Li Yifei and affecting their daughter’s position in the Li family. Li Yifei, unable to directly say it was fine, expressed through actions; personally delivering food to the hospital was one way to show his attitude.

The elders felt somewhat relieved. After the meal, someone sent over lots of fruit; Li Yifei was peeling fruit while chatting with the elders.

The topic drifted to Song Lianyao’s cousin, Liuu Ming’s issue, which truly incited hatred, and the elders felt grieved talking about it. Li Yifei comforted them, saying, "Dad, Mom, he is himself, and family is family. When someone does wrong, they need to face consequences; there can be no excuse to let it pass. But it won’t affect others, even Liuu Ming’s parents; it won’t matter. If they fall on hard times, perhaps you can help them a little, and you really don’t need to worry about this issue."

The elders repeatedly nodded, and Song Lianyao’s mother said, "It truly has troubled you, Yifei. We really think those kids should be withdrawn. Riches easily swell one’s pride..."

"No need, really don’t worry about it, Mom. There are things I can only say to you but not let them know. As long as it’s not such an intolerable offense, even if we lose money or face other problems, I wouldn’t be so angry. After all, no parent would want their girl harmed, for other mistakes, there can be tolerance and discussion."

"Mom, Dad, don’t say anymore. Yifei has his plans. Now that you’ve come over, stay a few more days at home and help me cheer up the kids." Song Lianyao urged from the side.

Mentioning the kids made the elders’ eyes light up; they had been here half a day and hadn’t seen the children yet. So, the topic shifted, and they asked Song Lianyao to bring the kids in for a look.

Song Lianyao went to fetch the kids, filling the hospital room with laughter. Even when the kids peed on Song Lianyao’s father’s chest, the old man claimed it was no big deal, saying it’s his dear grandson’s urine, and is enriching. Song Lianyao’s mother followed, saying the kid noticed grandpa was hurt and wanted to help.

Li Yifei grinned without interrupting the elders.

After spending half an hour more in the hospital room, Li Yifei received a message from Xu Yingying, asking him to come over, saying there was something to discuss. So, Li Yifei excused himself and headed to Xu Yingying’s home. Upon entering, he saw several women were present.

"Honey, is everything okay yesterday?" Xu Yingying directly asked, and Li Yifei didn’t hide anything, recounting yesterday’s events, including the final resolutions.

Xu Yingying and the others already knew about it today, and Li Yifei proceeded to tell them about the recent incident, dismissing it briefly as it was just a minor issue.

Xu Yingying then commented, "Hubby, there have been several such small incidents involving our family in the past two months. Fortunately, none were severe. I didn’t expect Liuu Ming’s issue to be this excessive."

"Indeed, strict punishment is needed, even if he is a relative," Li Yifei said.

"This perpetual cycle isn’t a solution. We need to come up with some measures; otherwise, they won’t learn." The speaker was Ye Yunzhu, having just returned from work, and came over after hearing about the incident to propose suggestions.

Lin Qiong pursed her lips. Her family was alright, but she couldn’t idly contribute irrelevant comments, so only remarked, "I think severe punishment is necessary, but with warnings beforehand, making money together is fine, but there should be certain ground rules. If it’s something intolerable, then each will be punished severely, and for two, both will be disciplined—there won’t be leniency because of family ties."

"Lin Qiong, this method isn’t optimal, and we haven’t checked yet. Once we do, it’ll be more chaotic. Currently, not just the family members, but the company managers are also getting smug, forgetting their roots," Xu Yingying frowned and said, "Today at work, Zhou Yangqing was waiting outside my office early, submitting his resignation. I didn’t know what happened then, so I asked him to reconsider. Later, I learned of the situation, and I was utterly pissed. I’ve known Zhou Yangqing for a while now; when I negotiated for stakes in Handing Group, he seemed at his peak—very competent, with ideas, drive, and energy. Yet, barely over a year later, he turned out like this, hiring relatives and messing up company accounts. I can’t fathom what he was thinking; with the Li family’s collaboration, he could have achieved remarkable things within a few years..."

At this point, Xu Yingying couldn’t help but feel a deep regret. Lin Qiong chimed in, "Men either suddenly deteriorate due to emotions, with no lack of funds, maybe from emotional setbacks or falling into love... I think the former is quite likely."

Li Yifei chuckled, saying, "Almost correct. From what I know, Zhou Yangqing divorced his first wife. A year ago, his daughter had a car accident requiring a blood transfusion. Zhou Yangqing thought of donating his own blood, but the doctor’s test revealed a blood type mismatch; Zhou Yangqing was baffled. Then, after a DNA test, he found out the daughter wasn’t his. The matter escalated, with his colleagues all becoming aware. Turns out Zhou Yangqing’s wife was unfaithful back then; she got pregnant from another man, while Zhou Yangqing thought he was the father and quickly married the woman, raising the child for twenty years only to find out she wasn’t his girl. Such a matter is unbearable for any man."

"In that case, he’s rather unfortunate," the women said with some sympathy.

"What misfortune, it must be quite an oblivious man to discover after so many years." Li Yifei didn’t quite concur, though he had no doubts about his own children being someone else’s.