Chapter 164: Yimin’s Getting Promoted to Team Lead!

“How about these two lines?”

Li Youde gave a thumbs-up. “Yimin, I really respect you.”

“I’ve realized you used to hold back. You were totally playing dumb while hiding your true talents,” Luo Dapeng couldn’t help but say.

Back when they were in school, Zhou Yimin had always done well, to the point that even if you added up both Li Youde and Luo Dapeng’s grades, they still couldn’t match Zhou Yimin’s alone.

But now, it was getting absurd!

After graduating high school and starting work, it was like he got some kind of cheat code. He was good at everything. He’d invented things, cooked well, and now he was even making music.

Zhou Yimin raised his glass and drank with them again. “Playing dumb to outsmart people? Nah. Some things are just about mastering the basics. Don’t make it sound harder than it is. Once you get it, it’s really not a big deal.”

Luo Dapeng and Li Youde were speechless.

That… sounded a bit too show-offy, didn’t it?

He made it sound so easy and effortless, but for them, it was seriously difficult.

They decided not to talk about it anymore and just focused on drinking and eating. Talking about talents was too depressing.

The three of them drank until nearly eleven.

Luo Dapeng went to sleep in the front courtyard house instead of going to Zhou Yimin’s place to accompany Zhou Daqiu. On his way out, he even took away the two empty liquor bottles.

Li Youde went back home to find that his parents were still awake.

“You’ve been drinking?” Old Li asked.

Li Youde nodded. “Had a few with Yimin and Dapeng. Yimin got his hands on two bottles of foreign liquor.”

Father Li suddenly felt a bit envious of his son. At his age, he still hadn’t tasted foreign liquor! This rascal was living it up more than he ever did, even smoked better cigarettes than him.

Sometimes, you really had to admit—making the right choice was more important than working hard.

His son had chosen to stick with Zhou Yimin. Even though he didn’t have a formal job, he was living a pretty good life. Their whole family had benefitted from it, and their living standards had improved significantly.

Before, they barely had enough coarse grains to eat and were always hungry. Now, they had fine grains at least once a day and could count on having meat once a week. The most obvious change was in Li Youde’s two younger sisters—they had both filled out noticeably.

And Li Youde’s mother no longer had to worry about buying her medicine. Their son was earning more than his father, and even if he only gave half to the household, it made a huge difference.

“Yimin’s a capable guy. You should stick close to him.” With a childhood friend like that, Father Li was genuinely happy for his son.

Li Youde’s mother added, “Your dad and I were just talking—we want to find you a girl…”

Before she could even finish, Li Youde interrupted, “Mom, don’t rush it.”

His mother glared at him. “How can I not rush? Auntie Liang from the courtyard next door talked to me today. She has a niece about your age. Here’s a photo—take a look.”

She handed him the photo.

Photos in those days were pretty raw. No filters, no retouching, no beauty effects. What you saw was what you got.

Li Youde took it with a helpless sigh, glanced at it—and froze. It looked really familiar. He looked again, eyes wide.

“Isn’t that Ye Caixia?”

“You know her?” his mom asked, startled.

“Yeah, we were classmates. Yimin knows her too.”

His mom quickly followed up, “What’s she like? And what about her family?”

Auntie Liang had played matchmaker, but hadn’t said much about the girl’s background.

Since she was his classmate, though, that made things a lot easier—they could get the full picture.

Li Youde thought for a bit and replied, “She’s pretty decent. Quiet type in school. But she’s got a lot of siblings—five younger sisters and one younger brother.”

To be honest, he had a pretty good impression of Ye Caixia. Getting into a relationship with her didn’t sound too bad.

But his mom was stunned.

Five younger sisters and a younger brother? That meant her family must be struggling. No wonder she was so eager to get married despite being young and holding an urban household registration.

There was definitely a reason behind it!

For once, his mother was silent. She didn’t dare push her son to marry someone like that so easily.

Even if the girl wasn’t the kind who would sacrifice everything for her family, when her natal family was in trouble, how could she pretend not to see it? You had to do something, right?

And their family had only just started doing okay.

His father, seeing that his son didn’t seem opposed to Ye Caixia and might even be a little hopeful, added, “If you’re going to keep following Yimin, you’ll be just fine. As for picking a daughter-in-law, we don’t need someone with great conditions. The most important thing is that the family has good values, and we’re not dealing with some weirdo in-laws.”

That was his bottom line.

If the entire family was a mess, it would be too exhausting. He wouldn’t want his son to go through that.

A mother knows her son best.

Seeing his expression, his mother realized what was going on too.

She softened a bit. “I’ll ask around tomorrow and find out what kind of people her family are.”

Character and personality did matter.

There was a cook on their street who’d married a beautiful woman—or rather, he’d practically become her live-in son-in-law. He went to live with the woman’s entire family to take care of them.

The woman had a blind mother, two younger sisters, and two younger brothers.

That poor cook worked his fingers to the bone supporting that whole clan, raising the in-laws along with his own kids.

And in the end? They were all ungrateful.

His wife looked down on him, cheated with her childhood sweetheart, and the blind mother helped cover it up. The siblings joined outsiders in bullying him.

In the end, everything blew up.

The cook’s wife and her old flame were paraded through the streets.

The incident had caused such a stir that everyone in the neighborhood became extra cautious when it came to choosing daughters-in-law.

You really couldn’t take in someone who constantly funneled money back to her parents’ house.

Father Li then added, “In a few years, I’ll retire and hand my job over to you.”

His son’s current work was profitable, but he didn’t think it was a long-term solution.

Li Youde shook his head. “Don’t worry about me, Dad. Yimin said if I ever need to switch out, he’ll arrange something for me. Most likely, I’ll be a procurement officer.”

At those words, both his parents were stunned.

They knew Zhou Yimin was impressive—but arranging a job for someone else?

“Yimin can get you a job? And as a procurement officer?” his mom said in disbelief.

Li Youde grinned. “Yimin’s getting promoted to team lead. In a few years, he might be a section chief—or even higher. Who knows? By then, it’ll be nothing for him to assign someone a job.”

His parents stared wide-eyed.

They hadn’t known Zhou Yimin was up for a promotion.

Seeing his wife look over, Father Li shook his head. “I didn’t hear anything about it, but if Yimin said it, it’s probably a sure thing.”

He was full of admiration. Amazing!

How long had it been since he started working?

Barely a month.

And already, he’d jumped up three or four levels, received multiple commendations and rewards. Now he was going to be a team leader.

Don’t underestimate a team leader—they manage over a dozen people!

Father Li thought about all the contributions Zhou Yimin had made to the steel factory recently, and it all made sense. Becoming a team lead… felt perfectly natural.

(End of Chapter)