Work Prophet

Yang Zhengde was born in 1945, now seventy-eight years old, originally a boiler worker at a glass factory, later followed his uncle to Shenzhen to seek his fortune, and made his first pot of gold by speculating in the corn trade.

This money gave Yang Zhengde a taste of success, afterward he managed to obtain a personal business license, but the business he engaged in had nothing to do with the main type of business on the license; essentially, he would sell anything that would make a profit.

There was a saying in society at that time, "Out of a billion people, nine hundred million are in speculative trade, and the remaining hundred million are still looking for opportunities."

It referred to the period after the dual-track system was implemented, where due to the huge disparity between planned and market prices, many people made money by transferring resources from within the system to outside the system.

Yang Zhengde was one of them, who quickly became a millionaire and drove a Santana, returning to his hometown in great splendor.

However, this prosperity was short-lived, as he was soon arrested for speculative offenses, and all the money he had made was confiscated. Yang Zhengde's wife couldn't cope with the shock and fell ill.

As a result, she developed chronic health issues due to the lack of money for her treatment, marking Yang Zhengde's first encounter with failure in life. After getting out of jail, he returned to his hometown and took over the glass factory he used to work at, becoming the factory manager.

Before Yang Zhengde took over, the glass factory had been losing money for years and had an overstock of produced glass. It only took him one year to help the glass factory turn a profit, and after three years, the profit reached tens of millions, which put Yang Zhengde back at the peak of his life.

Yet, misfortune soon befell Yang Zhengde again. The success of the glass factory attracted envy, and not only did he lose the position of factory manager, but he was also imprisoned again on fabricated charges of corruption and bribery.

His wife could not withstand another blow, the old illness resurfaced, and she soon passed away. After his release, Yang Zhengde also left his hometown and returned to Shenzhen, where he started a new glass factory.

Not only did its sales quickly surpass the old factory, but he also started international trade, eventually becoming today's "Glass Tycoon."

In fact, Li Yu had also heard of the name Yang Zhengde, for, as the latter said, he had been donating to charity for many years, and there was plenty of news about it.

Even if only half of it was true, he had donated several billion in cash, obviously not just for show or for tax deductions.

After Yang Zhengde finished talking about his plan to invest six billion in constructing a modern school in the northwest, the car was almost at the airport.

Yang Zhengde said, "I've been talking about myself non-stop, Mr. Li might be tired of listening."

Li Yu shook his head. "Not at all, Boss Yang's story is fascinating."

Without beating around the bush, Yang Zhengde got straight to the point, "So, do I meet the standards for Mr. Li to help me with reincarnation? I can pay Mr. Li two million in advance, and another three million upon success."

Just as Li Yu was about to speak, his pocket vibrated, so he said, "One moment, Boss Yang."

After saying that, Li Yu took out his phone. Before getting into the car, he had sent a message to Zhang Hai and others to pause their current tasks and start collecting information about the donors of the medical building at the G city People's Hospital.

About twenty minutes later, Hao Xiaoxiao was the first to finish the assignment and sent the document.

Then came Ma Yuhan, and this last one was from Zhang Hai.

Li Yu briefly scanned the reports submitted by the three and then closed his phone, his expression unchanged as he spoke.

"Boss Yang, you're a smart man; you shouldn't make such a mistake."

"What do you mean?"

"How could something like helping people reincarnate be real? I simply make a living off these street tricks; I never expected to disturb the great Buddha."

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhengde looked somewhat disappointed, "The rumors about you are indeed incredible, but it was a very trustworthy friend who told me about them. Alas, he probably meant well, knowing that my days are numbered, so he suggested I take a chance."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," said Li Yu as he saw the terminal building of the airport ahead and picked up his briefcase again.

The car finally stopped in front of the departure hall. Li Yu pushed open the half door of the car and seemed to remember something,

"Oh right, thank you for giving me a ride to the airport." After he finished speaking, he extended his hand, but Yang Zhengde did not shake hands with him.

He simply said, "It's a shame to see someone your age take the wrong path. You might enjoy brief glory, but it's doomed not to last long. I hope you'll take this to heart and not pay an irrevocable price like I did in my youth."

Li Yu didn't mind, he withdrew his hand and replied, "Lesson learned." With that, he got out of the A8.

Yang Zhengde watched Li Yu's figure disappear into Gate 11, his brow slightly furrowed.

The middle-aged man in the passenger seat said, "Mr. Yang, it's a pity, he's just a con artist."

Yang Zhengde responded, "It's too early to say."

"Hmm, but didn't he admit it himself?"

"If he really was a con artist, why wouldn't he take the five million I willingly offered?"

"Maybe he's just cautious? Defrauding five million could lead to a long sentence. Didn't he say himself that he just wanted to scrape by and not get involved with any real power players?" said the middle-aged man.

Yang Zhengde shook his head, "I don't misjudge people. He got in my car, learned my identity, and could still talk to me calmly. A guy like that obviously has extensive experience, and not just the worldly kind; he couldn't possibly be just scraping by with street smarts, like he claimed."

"Moreover, you checked, didn't you? The people he signed contracts with in the past didn't pay him a dime."

"Maybe he's playing the long game?"

"It doesn't seem likely," Mr. Yang said, "The third party behind him is also quite strange. The company looks big, and they have contracts with many large corporations, but when I ask around, it seems like nobody really knows about it."

After a moment of thought, the middle-aged man said, "What about next time that kid comes to G city? I can have Chief Wang invite him to the police station for a 'tea'?"

"Under what charge? He hasn't broken the law."

"Disturbing public order."

"That's not appropriate," Yang Zhengde shook his head, "If he's legitimate, we should try not to offend him. If he's a fraud, capturing him won't mean much."

"At least it would let out some steam, right? It would make up for our wasted trip, and he wouldn't even know. It's just a routine inquiry," the middle-aged man said, unconvinced.

"In life, as in business, we should aim to make more friends and fewer enemies; harmony is most precious."

Yang Zhengde closed his eyes in the back seat, "Don't touch him. Let's think of another way. I can wait."

By this time, Li Yu had passed through security and entered the waiting area. He first went to a convenience store, bought a bottle of overpriced mineral water for eight yuan, took a few sips after twisting off the cap, and then opened the document Hao Xiaoxiao had sent him.

It contained a news piece from last year, an interview with Yang Zhengde, in which he explained why he'd rather donate all his money than increase the wages of his factory workers and improve their working conditions.

Li Yu glanced at the document for a moment and shut it, preferring to scroll through TikTok instead.