Chapter 1706: Chapter 1706

Li Yifei walked over with large strides, extending his hand in advance. The two women behind him quickened their pace and came to stand in front of Old Master Ye. Li Yifei wore a respectful expression and smiled as he spoke first, "Hello, grandpa."

Old Master Ye’s face immediately broke into a broad smile, his eyes filled with satisfaction. With the word ’grandpa,’ the distance between them shortened instantly. Moreover, this was a show of attitude; Li Yifei was making his stance clear.

The two girls behind him also followed suit with greetings. Ye Yunzhu calling him ’grandpa’ was only natural, and when Xu Yingying followed, Old Master Ye was even happier. After all, Xu Yingying was at least Li Yifei’s nominally legal wife, representing an attitude from the Li family.

This was quite the delightful surprise. At least according to Old Master Ye’s previous judgment, if Li Yifei came today and politely addressed him as the old clan chief or something similar, it would still be considered normal, even if he had the connection with Ye Yunzhu.

Great, very good, haha. Old Master Ye released Li Yifei’s hand with a heart brimming with joy. Beside him were not only members of the Ye family but also a few family friends who had arrived early. These people, witnessing the attitude between Li Yifei and the Ye family, were even more astonished, realizing that the relationship between the two families was so good, completely unlike the rumors that said they fell out over Ye Yunzhu.

After the pleasantries, Old Master Ye began introducing the people from these families to Li Yifei. Families like the Wang family, even if they wanted to foster a good relationship with the Li family, wouldn’t come this early. Therefore, the ones present were smaller families, each with assets over a hundred million, involved in business with the Ye family or acting as downstream collaboration enterprises. These families had assets that were fair; they could develop independently, but it would be better to grow by holding onto a bigger entity.

Li Yifei also very politely greeted, shook hands, and engaged in simple exchanges with these family members. Behind him, Ye Yunzhu and Xu Yingying were chatting with the women of the Ye family.

Among them was Chu Xiaoyao’s good friend, Little Yue, who was holding Ye Yunzhu’s hand, constantly asking why Chu Xiaoyao hadn’t come, how she was doing recently, and joking that Chu Xiaoyao must have gotten so fat due to her love for eating and dislike of exercise, saying she must be as plump as a pig by now.

Ye Yunzhu smiled as she answered Little Yue’s questions, to which Little Yue would drag out an "Oh," or pout in skepticism, retorting with disbelief, "How could that girl not be fat? I don’t believe it."

Standing beside Xu Yingying was Ye Yunzhu’s mother and her aunt. Initially, regarding Li Yifei and Ye Yunzhu being together, these two had a unified stance: they disagreed. The reason was simple—a guy who appeared out of nowhere and wanted to marry their prized daughter? What a joke. Moreover, they thought only with Lin Sihao from the Lin family could Ye Yunzhu find happiness, the best outcome, allowing the Ye family to get closer to the Lin family.

But now? The two women were infinitely grateful that they had no say back then and didn’t get that matter settled. Ye Zhenlong and Ye Zhenyang, the two brothers, also strongly opposed at that time, even forcing Li Yifei to commit to getting Ye Yunzhu promoted from Township Chief to Deputy County Head within a month. Of course, Li Yifei fulfilled his promise, achieving it with a phone call, temporarily easing the tension.

And now, how many years had it been? Ye Yunzhu had been promoted from Deputy Township Chief to Vice Mayor. Although the rank was still at the division level instead of Deputy Bureau, it was a remarkable achievement. Even in Old Master Ye’s generation, few had advanced so rapidly. Given Ye Yunzhu’s age, reaching the Vice Mayor position in her thirties was rare throughout the province in the last decade or two.

Of course, this had a bit to do with her being a woman. Most provincial and municipal leadership teams needed one or two female leaders, so Ye Yunzhu progressed partly due to this advantage, but mostly because of her ability, skills, and the backing she had.

In short, she was tied to the Li family rather than relying on the Ye family. Hence, with Ye Yunzhu, Li Yifei, and Xu Yingying coming to the Ye family today, it felt like times had changed.

The women of the Ye family now dared not speak carelessly to Li Yifei or address Xu Yingying, the nominal head of the Li family. Nor could they say anything to their current support, Ye Yunzhu. Even Ye Yunzhu’s mother, when looking at her daughter, wasn’t sure what to say. Naturally, as parents, few would seek to harm their children; from their perspective, their initial opposition wasn’t entirely wrong. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍

Thus, Li Yifei and his companions entered the Ye family’s villa hall. Upon Old Master Ye’s signal, those who weren’t part of the conversation quietly withdrew, making the room seem less crowded. Those who remained were the more important members of the Ye family.

Members like Ye Yunzhu’s parents were, naturally, there. Ye Zhenlong stayed as well, and Little Yue wouldn’t leave no matter what. She sat beside her cousin, while Li Yifei sat with Old Master Ye, along with several people from other families.

Li Yifei kept smiling throughout. He started by expressing his position, addressing them as grandpa and recognizing their statuses, positioning himself appropriately, neither arrogant nor eager to retaliate for past grievances with the Ye family, determined not to reciprocate unkindness with unkindness.

Yes, at least by doing so, Ye Yunzhu was very pleased—her smiles were genuine.

Old Master Ye, after sitting down, still held Li Yifei’s hand, nodding continuously with admiration. Li Yifei’s attitude was impeccable, and he had purposefully arrived early in the morning, meaning they would have lunch at the Ye family—a meal with special significance. Old Master Ye had already signaled for lunch to be prepared for their guests.

Old Master Ye suddenly frowned, looking toward Ye Yunzhu with slight dissatisfaction, as he asked, "Yunzhu, why didn’t you bring my precious great-granddaughter? I haven’t seen her in so long!"

Being directly opposite Old Master Ye, Ye Yunzhu smiled widely, saying, "Grandpa, Li Yixiang has class today and needs to rehearse a program with other kids. The little one thought her absence would disrupt her friends’ rehearsal, so she refused to come with us."

Old Master Ye’s frown gradually relaxed as he listened, clapping his hands with laughter and pointing around, saying, "See that? My clever great-granddaughter, with such a sense of responsibility and collective honor at such a young age. Won’t she be something special in the future? Excellent, excellent."

Those around nodded in agreement, taking the opportunity to praise Li Yixiang, eagerly inquiring about her age, and were even more effusive in their compliments upon learning how young she was.