Chapter Twenty-One: The Kinship Ties

  Tang Yi sat at his desk, carefully examining the planning map of Xin Cheng District. He nodded slightly, impressed by the advanced concept and meticulous attention to detail of the design institute's doctoral team. For example, the leisure plaza planned for Xin Cheng District had already been designed with two sets of electrical circuits, anticipating the need for separate power supplies in case of a blackout, which was common in county towns. Tang Yi's eyes narrowed as he realized that the plaza area would be the future city center of Yangshan.

  The overall plan has been basically determined, and several banks and insurance companies in the county have also promised to build new branches in the new city area. The standard is not less than 10 floors. The specific location is still being determined, but judging from the progress of the plan, construction can start as soon as spring arrives.

  Tang Yi put down the drawings, got up to make a cup of tea, and just sat down on the long sofa to take a break. The door was knocked, and Tao Secretary smiled and walked in. Tang Yi hurriedly offered him a seat and asked with a smile: "Would you like some tea? I'll make you a cup."

  Secretary Tao shook his head: "Your tea is too expensive, I'm afraid of getting addicted." He said with a laugh, it's clear that he was in a good mood.

  "Director Tang, I'm looking for you to discuss the construction of Guangming Square. Although the overall construction has been handed over to the Provincial Construction Company, in order to promote the economic development of Yanshan, I think some small projects should still be delegated to local construction companies in Yanshan. We can't distrust them just because they're smaller!"

  Tang Yi frowned, Lao Tao was also an outsider secretary, it's impossible that he would be won over by a contractor just two or three months after arriving, right?

  Director Tao smiled and said: "If some small projects can't be handed over to the people of Yanshan, I'm afraid someone will scold their mother. Secretary Yao has found me several times already, discussing this time's new city district construction, there are a lot of opinions and reactions, you see..."

  Tang Yi sneered to himself, daring to think of provoking him to go against Old Yao again. Old Yao must be thinking of getting a few projects for his nephew, and now that Tao Wan had refused, he would shift all the blame onto his own head.

  "Secretary Tao, I agree with this matter in principle. It's better to discuss it at the Standing Committee meeting." Tang Yi smiled and spoke up, leaving Secretary Tao stunned. Ever since Tang Yi had pulled out over $10 million in loans from Daxing Electronics, his prestige had been greatly enhanced. Recently, he had also performed exceptionally calmly at meetings, with a majestic demeanor, and his ideas about the new city district often left the Standing Committee members impressed. It seemed that Secretary Tang indeed had some insight. Seeing Tang Yi's growing prestige, Secretary Tao felt anxious and decided to stir up trouble, thinking that Tang Yi would go argue with Secretary Yao, trying to persuade him, and estimated that the two would definitely end up quarreling. But unexpectedly, Tang Yi didn't take the bait and instead pushed it off to the Standing Committee meeting.

  "Alright, let's do it that way." Secretary Tao smiled and bid farewell, casting a meaningful glance at Tang Yi before leaving.

  Tang Yi smiled and thought to himself, it's not easy to be a pioneer.

  The phone rang, and Tang Yi's heart warmed up. Was it Qijie? Qijie was in Hainan, but the two of them would talk on the phone every night, and recently she had even started calling during the day to chat. Without Qijie saying a word, just seeing her good mood made Tang Yi know that her mother was treating her well, and she didn't know what method she used to comfort her so that she no longer felt sad like when she first left.

  The phone was answered with a somewhat gloomy male voice: "Xiao Yi, it's Tang Wandong."

  Tang Yi smiled and called out "Second Uncle". Tang Wan Dong smiled: "Hearing you call me Second Uncle, I feel a bit relieved. How is it? Haven't you been holding a grudge against me?"

  Tang Yi smiled: "Second Uncle is for the sake of the Tang family, I understand, how can he bear a grudge against you? However, Second Uncle, I have the right to pursue love, and you may not be able to control me for the rest of my life."

  Tang Wandong burst out laughing, and was somewhat surprised by Tang Yi's reaction. He had thought that according to Tang Yi's previous temperament, he would sulk and ignore him, but unexpectedly, after only a year of being away from home, he had matured so much, giving Tang Wandong a feeling of having underestimated him.

  "You little brat, I don't think it'll take a lifetime, in a few years you'll be shitting on my head!" Tang Wandong cursed with a smile, then said: "Xiao Yi, your second uncle is telling you the truth, young people, talking about romance is nothing, and no one really wants to stop you. But your marriage, it's not up to you to decide, especially since you've been performing exceptionally well lately, the big shots in Beijing have taken notice of you, and there are two proposals for marriage. The old man has high expectations for you, can he let you fool around outside?"

  Tang Yi smiled and didn't say anything.

  "Second Uncle knows you're proud, but the girl I'm telling you about this time is a rare gem, unmatched in heaven and earth. Her family background doesn't even need to be mentioned - she's from a powerful military committee family, with countless families lining up to form alliances. But her old man said it himself: love is free, and besides, he can't control that girl either. It's all thanks to our old grandfather's face that they accepted your photo for the girl to take a look. And wouldn't you know it, the girl agreed to meet with you. Tell me, kid, do you have some kind of romantic luck?"

  Tang Wandong burst out laughing, while Tang Yi was stunned, never expecting that his own marriage would still become a political alliance for the Tang family. What about Qi Jie then?

  Tang Wanjun seemed to know the reason for Tang Yi's silence, and solemnly said: "Xiao Yi, I'm telling you, this marriage is a big deal, don't have any misgivings."

  Tang Yi still didn't speak, Tang Wanda sighed: "Little Yi, I was young too, I know how you feel now. But looking at you, you're still a bit tender." He smiled and said: "You don't think about it, getting married is just a name, who loves whom isn't up to others, it's all up to yourself! It depends on whether you have the ability to keep your loved one! Whether you have the ability to please both sides without any flaws!"

  Tang Yi let out a sigh in his heart, he knew that in some older generation families, they didn't really pay attention to issues of personal conduct. Several high-ranking founding generals had multiple women, and there were even tyrannical generals like General Huang, who was under Vice Commander Lin's command. He was extremely brave in battle, one of the top fierce generals of the Republic, but after entering the city, his behavior was no different from that of a bandit, bullying men and seducing women, harming countless young girls. It wasn't until later, when Commander Lin's troops rebelled and failed, that General Huang's misdeeds were exposed, becoming another important basis for criticizing him.

  But the problem is that you don't care, it doesn't mean Qijie doesn't care, it doesn't mean I don't care. Tang Yi let out a sigh and didn't speak.

  At this time, Tang Wanda smiled and said: "I'll tell you about that girl. Although I haven't seen her, I've long heard of her reputation. It's said that she has a beauty that can make flowers close their petals and fish sink to the bottom of the river. In the capital, countless young masters have sworn to marry no one but her. I'm telling you, be proactive and you must win her over."

  "This girl has a legendary color, it is said that she was discovered by a nun since childhood, followed the master to travel around the world at the age of five, learned a set of kung fu skills, and won the first place in the Yanjing Military Region's hand-to-hand combat competition last year. How about that? Isn't she awesome?"

  Tang Yi frowned, another savage girlfriend type, and then lost her smile. Who cares what type she is? He just needs to think of a way to make her dislike him.

  "I've told you everything, Xiao Yu, now it's up to you to handle it." Tang Wandong hung up the phone with a serious reminder to Tang Yi.

  He hung up the phone, Tang Yi shook his head and sat down on the sofa, slowly savoring the already cold tea.