Chapter 58: Li Guobin

After finishing lunch, Ye Fan moved the wooden box to the room where the clothes were stored and began carrying them stack by stack.

There were over a dozen boxes of clothes in total, and it took Ye Fan more than an hour to finish moving them all.

On the other side, Yang Haiyan and Li Yaoyao neatly arranged the clothes, waiting for the display racks to arrive so they could finally open for business.

When Ye Fan crossed back through the box to Li Yaoyao's side, it was already past two o'clock in the afternoon.

"I'll take you to get your ID card!"

Leaving Yang Haiyan and the two children at the shop, Li Yaoyao took Ye Fan and headed out.

"How do we even get an ID card?"

Along the way, Ye Fan felt a bit worried. After all, ID cards in later generations were linked nationwide, and suddenly generating a person out of thin air would make it impossible to issue one.

Li Yaoyao thought for a moment and said, "How about giving you the status of a returning overseas Chinese?"

"A returning overseas Chinese?"

Ye Fan's eyes lit up, and he felt that Li Yaoyao's idea was quite good.

On one hand, since he came from a later era, many of his living habits were out of step with this decade, so using the explanation of a returning overseas Chinese couldn't be more perfect!

On the other hand, with the identity of a returning overseas Chinese, many things would become much easier to handle!

***

Inside the Jiangchen Municipal Government building in Binjiang Province, Secretary Yu was burying his head in writing documents when someone nearby asked, "Does Mayor Li have any appointments this afternoon? Why didn't you go out with him?"

Secretary Yu raised his head, revealing a fair and clean face, and smiled as he said, "Today, Mayor Li specifically carved out some time in his office to wait for someone!"

"Oh? Who is so important that even the mayor has to wait for them?"

"Who else could it be? The mayor's beloved daughter, of course!"

"Ah!" The person who asked wore a look of sudden realization. Everyone knew that Mayor Li had only this one precious daughter and doted on her immensely. Word had it that she recently went to the countryside to join the production teams, and it seemed she was finally coming home for the end of the year.

Just as the two were talking, someone knocked on the office door: "Secretary Yu, a female comrade surnamed Li is here to see the mayor!"

"Oh, coming!"

Secretary Yu hurriedly stood up and walked toward the door.

It was Ye Fan's first time stepping into a government courtyard from the 1980s. As the capital of a province, this government courtyard did not look grand at all; one could even say it was a bit shabby.

He followed Li Yaoyao, looking around curiously, finding everything novel. Before long, he saw a tall, thin young man walk out.

"You must be Li Yaoyao, right?"

The young man greeted Li Yaoyao warmly and then looked at Ye Fan, asking, "And this is..."

"His name is Ye Fan, a returning overseas Chinese. I've brought him to meet my father!"

"Ah! Hello, hello!"

Secretary Yu extended his hand and introduced himself, saying, "My name is Yu Qiming, and I am Mayor Li's secretary. Pleased to meet you!"

"Hello!"

Ye Fan also smiled and greeted Secretary Yu, and the two of them followed him upstairs.

On the fifth floor of the government building, Secretary Yu knocked on the mayor's door.

"Mayor Li, your daughter is here!"

"Come in!"

An authoritative voice came from inside. Secretary Yu opened the door, gestured for Li Yaoyao and Ye Fan to enter, and remained outside, gently closing the door behind them.

"Dad!"

Seeing her father, Li Yaoyao ran forward happily and gave him a big hug.

Mayor Li also patted his daughter's shoulder with a smile, then pointed to the sofa and said, "Have a seat! I still have a few things to finish, wait a moment!"

Li Yaoyao led Ye Fan over to sit down. Shortly after, Secretary Yu entered carrying two cups of tea and then quietly withdrew.

Ye Fan felt the solemn working atmosphere in the room and looked toward Mayor Li at the desk.

Mayor Li was of medium build, with a square face, slightly graying hair, black-rimmed glasses, and wore a Zhongshan suit—the typical cadre look of this era.

Along the way, Li Yaoyao had already told him everything: her father was named Li Guobin, the mayor of Jiangchen City, 45 years old this year, usually busy with work, and very strict about discipline. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't let her come to the government courtyard.

However, since she had brought an overseas Chinese today, it counted as official business.

Just as Ye Fan was thinking, he saw Li Guobin raise his head and look at him with curiosity: "This must be Mr. Ye Fan, right?"

"Hello, Mayor Li!"

Ye Fan stood up somewhat cautiously. The man before him was not only the top official of a provincial capital city, but in the future, he might also become his own father-in-law. He had to perform well and leave the old gentleman with a good first impression!

"Sit, sit, sit! No need to be nervous. I heard from Li Yaoyao that you are a returning overseas Chinese." Taking the opportunity of drinking tea, Li Guobin sized up the young man before him.

He saw that Ye Fan had short hair, a rosy complexion that indicated he had lived a life of luxury without ever experiencing hunger, wore a trendy Western-style suit, and had a pair of leather shoes polished to a meticulous shine.

He certainly looked the part of a returnee from abroad!

Li Guobin asked, "What brings you two here today? Is Mr. Ye planning to invest and build a factory here in Jiangchen City?"

Ye Fan had already prepared his narrative, so he replied, "I do have that idea. I've previously discussed it with Li Yaoyao, and we plan to start by opening a clothing store, gradually expand the scale, and eventually invest in building a factory in the future."

"Oh! I know about this!"

Li Guobin said with a chuckle, "I was wondering why Yaoyao suddenly wanted to start an individual business. So that's how it is."

He looked at Li Yaoyao and said with a hint of reproach, "Such a big matter, and you didn't even explain it clearly to me!"

Li Yaoyao blushed. At the beginning, she just wanted to open a shop casually and never imagined she would one day have to bring Ye Fan to meet her father!

She simply seized the opportunity to turn the tables and said, "Dad, Ye Fan and I need to go to the Special Economic Zone to source some inventory, and we need to get two travel permits!"

"Go to the Special Economic Zone?" Hearing this, Li Guobin frowned. A young man and a young woman going to Shenzhen together—just thinking about it, he knew there was an issue!

He sized up Ye Fan and Li Yaoyao once more. No one knew a child better than a parent; he already vaguely sensed that Li Yaoyao seemed quite dependent on Ye Fan!

"I need to think about this matter!" Li Guobin stopped pursuing that topic, looked at Ye Fan, and asked, "Ye Fan, where is your hometown?"

Ye Fan had anticipated this question as well and answered calmly, "My hometown is Longcheng. My grandfather's generation went abroad, first going to Southeast Asia and later to the United States. My parents were born in China, and I was born in the United States."

"Oh! Is that so... I heard that you and Yaoyao were pen pals? How did you two get to know each other?"

"How we got to know each other..." Ye Fan felt a pang of panic inside. He hadn't discussed this question with Li Yaoyao beforehand, and now his cover was about to be blown!

Fortunately, Li Yaoyao was quick-witted. Her face flushed red as she acted spoiled and complained, "Oh, Dad! We met during college! At that time, Ye Fan came to our school as an exchange student! Why are you asking in such detail?"

"Haha, alright!" Seeing that his daughter was unhappy, Li Guobin waved his hand to indicate he wouldn't ask anymore and turned back to the matter of the travel permits.

"I don't oppose the two of you going to Shenzhen, but the road there isn't entirely peaceful. How about this, I'll have my guard, Xiao Zhang, go with you. With her there, I can rest easier!"

Li Yaoyao was stunned for a moment. She glanced at Ye Fan and, seeing that he didn't object to having someone tag along, asked, "Dad, who is this Xiao Zhang you're talking about?"

Li Guobin caught all of their reactions and became even more certain that Li Yaoyao must be dating Ye Fan. Although he felt rather unhappy about it inside, he didn't show it and continued, "Xiao Zhang's name is Zhang Tieilan. After being demobilized from the army, she was assigned to the government and works in the security department. She used to be a reconnaissance soldier in the women's special forces and is very skilled in martial arts. With her following you two, I can be at ease!"

"Oh!" Li Yaoyao pouted. Having a third wheel tag along was not something she wanted at all.

Fortunately, Ye Fan quickly smiled and expressed his gratitude: "Thank you for your concern, Uncle Li! Having an expert along will give me much greater peace of mind!"

Jiangchen City was located south of the Yangtze River, but the winters were just as cold.

Ye Fan tightened his small suit jacket and followed Li Yaoyao out of the government building.

He had deliberately worn this suit today precisely to reinforce his identity as a returning overseas Chinese, but it certainly wasn't very resistant to the freezing cold!

"How annoying! My father must be worried that I'm getting too close to you, which is why he found someone to spy on us!"

Li Yaoyao's fair and tender face was frozen red. She turned to look at Ye Fan and asked, "Don't you think so?"

"Your dad is just concerned about you! A young woman going off to Shenzhen alone with me—which father could possibly feel at ease?"

Ye Fan said with a grin, "An extra person means an extra bit of strength. Actually, having a bodyguard isn't a bad thing either! As long as we can get those travel permits issued, everything else will be easy to manage!"

Since Li Guobin had agreed to help them process the travel permits, Ye Fan calculated the time—there were only 28 days left until the deadline of the contract signed between Chen Shuting and the Lin family, and he had to hurry!