Middle-aged tycoon: Twins come knocking on his door when he goes home for Chinese New Year

For the entire afternoon, Li Ze sat in the rest area of ​​his own flower shop, holding a teacup in his hand, but his eyes kept drifting towards Prince Xuan across the street.

Ever since that lunch, the store manager named Wang Cong has been restless, as if he had a nail in his butt.

Not long after, he hurriedly left the Crown Prince's residence, probably because he couldn't stand the oppressive aura of Li Ze as the Empress.

Or perhaps they were afraid of embarrassment; in any case, they ran faster than rabbits.

With the eyesore gone, Li Ze felt much more at ease watching Zhang Ruoran bustling around in the hall, though he also felt a pang of heartache.

This woman is just too strong-willed. Even though her business is doing so well, she is unwilling to hire more people and insists on doing everything herself.

After watching for a while, it was almost 5 p.m.

Li Ze raised his hand and looked at his watch.

The restaurant is so busy today. According to the rules of the catering industry, if we want to leave work, we have to stay until at least 9 pm, or even 10 pm.

Instead of sitting here waiting for hours, I might as well take this opportunity to go back to my hometown and finalize the house arrangements.

"Oldest brother, prepare the car."

Li Ze stood up and straightened his clothes: "Let's go to Li Family Village."

"Okay, boss." The boss replied and turned to make the arrangements.

……

The car sped along and soon returned to Lijia Village.

As soon as Li Ze drove the car to the open space near the old house, he saw that the place, which was originally empty, was now filled with all kinds of construction equipment.

Excavators, cement mixers, and piles of red bricks and cement like small mountains.

Although it's the Lunar New Year and the workers are on holiday, and work hasn't officially started yet, the setup is already in place.

It seems that Third Brother Li Yuanping is really taking this seriously and hasn't been careless at all.

Li Ze nodded in satisfaction and went directly to his third brother's house.

The third brother's family was having dinner when they saw Li Ze arrive. They were incredibly welcoming, quickly adding another set of chopsticks and bowl and pulling Li Ze to sit down.

Li Ze didn't stand on ceremony. After sitting down, he took the design drawings handed to him by his third brother and looked at them.

The drawings are very detailed, depicting a Chinese-style courtyard with corridors, rockeries, gardens, and a dedicated ancestral hall. The layout is reasonable, both grand and practical.

"How about it, Zezi? Do you think this plan is okay?" Third Brother asked, rubbing his hands together with an expectant look.

Li Ze put down the blueprints and said with a smile:

"Okay, great! Third Brother, you're the professional, let's do it this way."

"As for the money..."

Li Ze took out his phone and immediately operated it:

"I just had someone transfer the 230 million to your card. Please check. If it's not enough, just let me know. Don't try to save me money; the quality has to be top-notch."

Third Brother's phone rang with a "ding".

He picked it up and looked at it; the string of zeros made his eyes squint into slits with laughter.

"Don't worry, Zezi! If I mess things up after taking your money, I might as well quit this village!"

After the matter was settled, the third brother and sister-in-law insisted that Li Ze stay for dinner.

Li Ze didn't refuse and had a couple of drinks with his third brother over some simple home-cooked dishes.

After finishing his meal, Li Ze said goodbye and left to get back to his car.

When I passed by my older brother Li Guoqing's house, I happened to see him squatting at the door smoking a pipe.

"Hey, Zezi? When did you get back?"

When the older brother saw Li Ze, he quickly stood up and tapped his pipe against the sole of his shoe.

"Have you eaten? If not, come in and have a bite."

Li Ze smiled and waved his hand:

"I just ate at my third brother's house. Brother, I saw your light was on, did someone come over?"

The eldest brother sighed and pointed into the room:

"Qiangzi is back. That kid was busy working outside for a year, and he only managed to get back today, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year."

Qiangzi, whose real name is Li Qiang, is the eldest brother's son, and also Li Ze's nephew.

Li Ze had previously asked his older brother why Qiangzi hadn't come back for the New Year.

Now that he's back, we should see him.

Li Ze followed his older brother into the house.

A man in his thirties, with dark skin and a weathered face, was sitting at the table inside the room, engrossed in eating his meal.

Hearing the noise, Li Qiang looked up, saw Li Ze, paused for a moment, then quickly put down his chopsticks and stood up, calling out somewhat awkwardly:

"Fourth Uncle".

Li Ze walked over and patted him on the shoulder:

"Sit down, sit down, don't be shy. It's been so many years, you've gotten quite a bit stronger."

Li Qiang smiled sheepishly, sat down and continued eating, but he was clearly a little reserved.

Li Ze pulled up a stool, sat down, and asked:

"I heard from your dad that you were working on a construction project out there? How come you're only coming back for the New Year now?"

Mentioning this, Li Qiang's smile faded, and he sighed:

"Sigh, don't even mention it, Fourth Uncle."

"The economic climate has been bad these past two years, making construction projects difficult."

"We worked on that construction site in another city for a whole year, and the boss kept delaying paying our wages."

"We workers had no choice but to stay there and wait until Lunar New Year's Eve before the boss finally gave us a little bit of living expenses."

"I only managed to buy a ticket and rush back after I finished dealing with things over there. The New Year is already over."

Li Ze frowned upon hearing this:

"Is that so? Getting paid for work is a matter of course, so what's withholding wages?"

"Your life must be really tough."

The older brother, smoking a cigarette, said helplessly:

"Who can argue with that? But these days, people like us with no connections or education are lucky to even have a job, let alone dare to be picky."

"That's how it is for those in the construction industry, sometimes they don't even have a meal."

Li Ze shook his head and said seriously:

"Brother, you can't say that."

"The project is one thing, but basic guarantees are necessary, right? We've put in the work, so we deserve a reward."

"I've lived in America for so many years. If the unions there knew that their bosses dared to delay paying wages, they could sue them until they were broke. There, the bosses treat their workers like royalty, afraid that the workers might quit."

Li Qiang listened with envy, and said with a wry smile:

"Fourth Uncle, that's overseas, how can our place compare?"

"I don't ask for anything. I'd be grateful if my boss could pay me on time and not deduct any money from my paycheck."

Seeing his nephew's helpless and humble appearance, Li Ze felt quite uncomfortable.

This is his own nephew, the chubby-faced little boy who used to follow him around when he was a child.

Now that they've been bullied like this, since he, as their uncle, has the ability, he can't just ignore it.

Li Ze looked at Li Qiang and said directly:

"Qiangzi, since it's so difficult over there, let's just quit."

"Pack your things, and come find me in Han City after the fifteenth."

Li Qiang was stunned for a moment:

"Go to Han City? What do you need me for?"

Li Ze smiled:

"I own a security company in Seoul, and I happen to need a reliable person to manage it for me."

"You'll be my supervisor. You won't have to do any heavy work; just keep an eye on people and arrange their duties."

"The salary will definitely be better than what you get on a construction site."

"We'll offer you an annual salary of 500,000, with all five social insurances and one housing fund, plus meals and accommodation."

"What?!"

Li Qiang and his older brother exclaimed in surprise at the same time, their eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"Five...five hundred thousand?!"

Li Qiang was so startled that he dropped his chopsticks.

"Fourth Uncle, you're not kidding, are you? I'm just a construction worker, I'm not worth that much money!"

The older brother quickly waved his hand as well:

"No, no, Zezi, this is too much! You're giving us money to spend, this isn't right!"

Li Ze stood up, pressed his elder brother's hand, and said with a serious expression:

"Brother, Qiangzi, listen to me."

"This money isn't given away for free; it's for work."

"My company is busy, and I only feel at ease leaving things to my own people. I watched Qiangzi grow up; he's honest and hardworking, so I trust him with my responsibilities."

"Besides, we're family, and family doesn't need to speak like that."

"If I have meat to eat, why would I let my nephew starve? What kind of person would I be?"

After some polite refusals and arguing, the father and son were moved to tears, and they held Li Ze's hand, thanking him profusely.

Li Ze quickly helped them up and took out a business card from his pocket, handing it to Li Qiang:

"Alright, that's settled then."

"Here is the company's contact information and address. After the Lantern Festival, just pack your things and head over to report for duty. Everything has been arranged."

After explaining everything, Li Ze checked the time. It was getting late, and he still had to rush back to Han City to pick up Ruoran from get off work.

So he said goodbye to his elder brother, got into the car, and headed to Han City overnight.