C27 (1/2)
Even though the border was small, it was still a person who held the town's economic lifeline. It was obvious that Old Master Yi's achievements in the business field, not to mention that he was not originally from Fringe City, but because he was old and hated the endless deceit in the shopping mall, he brought along a family of old and young people to live in this place.
Therefore, one day, when he suddenly called Yi Qiannan into his study room to take care of Li City's business, Yi Qiannan was stunned for a long while, unable to comprehend what had happened.
His expression was solemn, and as he spoke, he could not help but recall the mysterious story he heard about a wealthy businessman being exterminated overnight and turning his entire family into a fiendish mansion. He felt goosebumps all over his body, but was silently hit on the back by his father, ”Little bastard!”
Yi Qiannan pursed his lips in dissatisfaction before he finished speaking. When he came in contact with the old man's cold gaze, he immediately shut his mouth in fear.
Yi Qiannan knew in his heart that if his father wasn't willing to say anything, he wouldn't be able to say it no matter how much longer he grew. With no more hesitation, he changed the topic and said sloppily: ”If I were to really make a name for myself in Li City, how would you reward me?”
”Arrogant!” Old Master Yi reprimanded, ”I haven't even started and am already thinking about rewards. What can I accomplish!?”
”I don't care, you have to promise me anyway!”
As for what he wanted to promise, Yi Qiannan just chuckled and imitated his father — he wouldn't say if he beat him to death.
In short, Yi Qiannan packed his things and left for Li City the next day. Who would have thought that he would end up in the biggest flower pavilion in the Li City. After building it for a few days, he searched his pockets and found that his father had given him almost all of his money, so he unhurriedly invited his old friends out one by one according to his father's wishes. He did not even bother to exchange pleasantries, and went straight to the point of borrowing money.
Some of these people had truly missed their old friendship and heard about this person's recent actions. Their actions towards giving money were quite straightforward, and they couldn't help but stand on the elder's side and scold him.
It was just a dispute and he wouldn't lose a piece of meat. Yi Qiannan listened to him respectfully without retorting at all. Even if he heard it, he wouldn't hold a grudge. There were also others who had lost their friendship after a long day of living for a long time, and now that they had stepped in, they were just trying to make fun of the old people. Yi Qiannan was also very polite to this kind of people, but the next morning he sent someone to return the money he had given yesterday and even gave them a lot more as a form of friendship with his father.
When the news reached the old mansion, Old Man Yi was in the middle of looking through his account book. When he heard the servant's reply, the corner of his lips curled up, as if he was laughing and scolding a ”little rascal”.
However, since he had just arrived in the Li City and was stealing business under the noses of others, he had to first probe it out. After testing it out, he naturally calmed down, but he did not follow the Old Master's instructions to expand the bank. Instead, he took some silver from the manager of the bank, turned around, and placed it in a restaurant that was closed due to poor management.
This restaurant was originally an ordinary restaurant, but Yi Qiannan was in no hurry to welcome him. He spent a great deal of effort to repair it inside and out, and when it reopened half a month later, it had already changed completely.
At a glance, one could tell that this restaurant was not a place for ordinary people to come to. However, even if everyone was well aware that very few people would openly say such words, Yi Qiannan did not follow the usual route and found a gold inlaid signboard to hang on top of the signboard.
Yi Qiannan clapped his hands, raised his head and looked at the four words he had personally mentioned, nodding his head in satisfaction. Then, he turned around and cupped his hands in gratitude to the few elders who had helped him — he had gotten to know quite a few court officials back when he was hanging out with them at the Apricot Mansion. Although they did not have very deep ties, he looked good and his mouth was very chatty, so most of them were willing to give him face. However, the situation in the imperial court was unclear, and the relationship between them was even more complicated. Since Lord Liu had come to celebrate, naturally, even Lord Ma who was on good terms with him could not be left behind. He wanted to win over some officials to flatter them, which resulted in half of the officials in the imperial court to show up in his restaurant on the day of the opening.
Later on, this matter was spread to the palace as an anecdote. Chen Jinyan picked up a flower and inserted it into his concubine's hair, as he indifferently said, ”As expected, its name is correct. It's a powerful building.”
He had only casually mentioned it, but somehow it had spread to the people. The title of ”Aristocratic House” had naturally spread throughout the country, so much so that in less than half a month, it had become a symbol of one's status whether one could enter the building or not.
Yi Qiannan instantly became famous.
The people outside the circle wanted to enter, but with this false reputation, the people inside wanted to take advantage of it. Since Qiannan was the de facto owner of the building, and he had a good background, he naturally became the main target of these two groups of people.
It was under these circumstances that he met Lin Ting.
Lin Ting got first place in October's country test. This book was not surprising, what was strange was that he was personally led here by the Minister of the Left.
”Minister Zuo?”
Luo Yi could not help but frown. A shadow flashed through her mind, and she blurted out a question: ”Is your surname Xu?”
”Probably …” I think I heard someone calling him Xu Xiang. ”
”You two know each other?” Yi Qiannan was also very surprised. As he spoke, he finally moved his gaze away from Tang Yuan.
He did not know any prime ministers, but he heard from an official who had good relations with him that this person was the prime minister of the imperial court, and that he was an official that the three generations of the imperial court could not afford to offend.
Yi Qiannan nodded. When he looked up and saw the old man, who was about the same age as his old man, but with much better spirit, smiling and waving at the person who invited him to join them, saying that he was too old to play with the things that these youngsters loved to play with. This time, he had barged in just to introduce them to a plastic object. With that, he smiled and called the young man behind him over: ”Lin Ting, come over and greet all the Masters.”
As fellow officials of the imperial court, they had naturally heard of the young man who was most likely going to work with them in the future. Seeing that the young man was personally led by the Minister of the Left, their hearts were clear as day, and they passionately introduced themselves one by one. When it was Yi Qiannan's turn, for some reason, Lin Ting looked at him in surprise for a long while.
Luo Yi looked around guiltily — she had talked bad about Yi Qiannan in front of Lin Ting many times in the past.
She could only curse, but the reason for it was because she refused to say a single word. Lin Ting couldn't do anything about her, he could only follow along, and occasionally seeing her so angry that she had to casually say something in agreement, because suddenly meeting someone with the same surname couldn't help but feel guilty, as though she had scolded this person in front of him.
He paused for two seconds, and before he could say anything, Xu Shilian suddenly spoke out: ”The boss of the powerful building, is the only son of the Yi family in Fringe City.”