Chapter 69: Ambitions in the Toilet

Li Xian's swift actions, which got the factory up and running in such a short time after being idle for over half a year, left many of the old-timers astonished. However, when they heard he wanted to produce toilet paper, their reactions were no different from the factory workers'. In summary, they thought Li Xian was talking nonsense!

A high-end toilet paper? What's the point?

To the mockery of others, Li Xian turned a deaf ear, pretending not to hear. He knew best about his own business and was confident that the new paper factory venture would succeed.

Clearly, apart from himself, the only other person who had faith in Li Xian's business was Li Daoyun, who was indifferent to everything else.

Within the forestry bureau, many crises that were previously nonexistent or only budding had started to emerge and grow rapidly due to his factory dealings.

Recently, Li Jie had been feeling unsettled.

Ever since Li Xian took on the factory with a debt of over four hundred thousand yuan, many in the forestry bureau had changed their attitude toward her family.

While Li Xian's renovation team was busy, some people in the bureau were envious. They couldn't stand to see others doing better, and with Li Xian earning money and building a new house, gossip and rumors had never ceased. But in recent days, this situation had reached its peak.

People would occasionally whisper and point fingers at her, and Li Jie would catch words like "family ruin" and "finished" floating around.

This was deeply distressing for her.

She couldn't understand why, when her second brother made money from renovations, it didn't affect these people's livelihoods, yet now, despite being in debt, they had no right to speak ill of them!

Their eager anticipation of her family's downfall made her feel sick to her stomach.

When facing such people, she chose to ignore them, turning her head and walking away.

But there were some she couldn't avoid.

At the end of the workday, as Li Jie was locking up the broadcasting room and preparing to go home, she was approached by Guo Guixiang, Gao Ming's mother.

Seeing her future mother-in-law, Li Jie quickly went up to greet her. However, Guo Guixiang's attitude made her heart sink.

Guo Guixiang's face was stiff as she addressed Li Jie, "Xiao Jie, I need to talk to you about something."

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Li Jie nervously gripped her coat, glanced around at the colleagues heading home, and quickly pulled out the key to the broadcasting room. "Auntie, let's talk inside."

"No need, just a few words, standing here is fine." Guo Guixiang lifted her eyes, "Our Gao Ming has a great future ahead. If nothing unexpected happens, the next step could be entering the scene."

Li Jie didn't understand why she brought this up but forced herself to reply, "Auntie, I know."

Guo Guixiang nodded, "The fact that Gao Ming and you got together was not approved by us. It's your business, and marriage is free now, so I shouldn't interfere. But given your family's current situation, you must know what's going on. Your second brother is in debt with a failing factory, over four hundred thousand yuan. If it fails, how will your family repay it? If Gao Ming were to be with you, it would be a big pit…"

Hearing this, Li Jie felt as if a bomb had exploded in her head, and all her blood seemed to rush to her face!

The external sounds became distant, replaced by the pounding of her own heart and the rushing of blood. Her nose felt sore, and her face was icy.

Watching Guo Guixiang's moving mouth and the colleagues around her pointing and whispering, she wished she could turn invisible and disappear from this world!

"Auntie, have Gao Ming come and tell me this himself."

After a long pause, Li Jie took a deep breath and choked out the words.

"It's because Gao Ming can't speak up that I came. You need to be clear…"

Upon hearing this, Li Jie's body swayed, "Fine, Auntie, don't say any more. I understand. From now on, I won't cling to Gao Ming. Even if I can't marry, I will stay here in the forestry bureau and never bother your family again! Is that okay with you?"

By the end, Li Jie was shouting hoarsely.

Guo Guixiang was taken aback. No one had dared speak to her like that before, as her husband was a high-ranking official in the forestry bureau. But she was glad to see this result and, suppressing her anger, nodded.

"Then that's fine."

As Guo Guixiang left and the onlookers continued their whispers, Li Jie broke down. "Damn you all! You don't need to worry about my family's affairs! Get lost!"

After shouting out these words she had long wanted to say, she opened the broadcasting room door, went inside, and threw herself on the temporary rest bed, crying loudly.

Beside the bed, a bottle of fly poison had fallen to the floor.

---

The previous day's work, fueled by two meals of pork and vermicelli, had led to the completion of equipment maintenance in the factory.

Li Xian arrived at the factory early, using the methods he remembered to conduct a trial run with Dequan and the others for the entire morning.

As expected, the paper produced was dismal.

The thickness of the paper was too great. Although it looked denser than current market toilet paper, it was still very rough. Li Xian knew that this was likely due to an issue in one of the production steps and was confident that his approach was correct.

While he and Xu Dequan were investigating which step was problematic, they heard someone calling his name at the factory entrance.

Looking over, he saw Wu Shengli, drenched in sweat and looking anxious.

"Wu, what's going on?"

Wu Shengli glanced around and said in a low voice, "Hurry to the bureau hospital. Your sister is in trouble! She's drunk some medicine!"

---

When Li Xian hurriedly arrived at the bureau hospital on his motorcycle, he found Li You and Zou Ni, who had eyes as red as peaches from crying, waiting in the corridor.

"How's Xiao Jie?!"

As he quickly walked over, he called out loudly.

Seeing him arrive, Li You stomped his foot in frustration and turned his head away. Li Xian had no choice but to pull Zou Ni and ask again.

But Zou Ni was already crying so hard she could barely speak.

As Li Xian turned in circles with anxiety,

"Second Brother… I'm fine, just had a stomach upset…"

The weak voice came from the toilet.

Li Xian was taken aback and, regardless of whether it was the men's or women's restroom, he rushed in. When he found out that his sister had only swallowed a bit of fly poison and abandoned it when the taste was bad, he sighed in relief, both crying and laughing.

However, knowing how Gao Ming's family behaved, he was enraged.

"I'm going to find that bastard Gao Ming and settle scores with him!"

Seeing Li Xian's intent to confront Gao Ming, Li Jie quickly stopped him, saying she didn't want to have any further relations with Gao Ming's family.

Hearing Li Jie's plea, Li Xian sighed.

"If she doesn't want him, then we don't want him either! Xiao Jie, wait for it. Since they're worried your second brother will drag you down, I'll prepare a grand dowry for you from the entire forestry bureau. Whoever marries you will have to treat you like a goddess!" He reassured her, fearing she might do something rash.

"Okay…" From the toilet came a sound of effort, as if giving birth.

"Second Brother, I… I've decided! I won't go back to the forestry bureau… I'll stay here with you! I want to learn English, I want to go abroad, and show Gao Ming that even without him, I can live well!" she declared.

With a splash, Amidst the foul smell from the toilet, Li Jie envisioned her future.