Chapter Ten The sky is high and the sea is wide, it's the prime of a young man's life.

  Ye Haodong smiled faintly: "I want to let you know, I don't need to take the high road, and yet I can still make you listen to me. Do you think what I said is right or not?"

  He Kui nodded hastily, Ye Haodong used a combination of kindness and intimidation to secretly take the child away and return him unharmed, also sending He Kui 200,000 yuan in cash. He Kui is now thoroughly convinced, even if Ye Haodong didn't have such a powerful background, He Kui wouldn't dare to oppose him.

  He Kuixian said: "Hao Dongge, just give me an order if you have something."

  Ye Haodong shook his head: "Don't ever call me that, at your age I should be calling you 'Old Master', but if I really called you that, you'd definitely be too embarrassed to respond, so I won't call you 'Old Master' and you shouldn't call me 'Brother Haodong' either."

  He Kui nodded in agreement.

  Yeh Hao-dong said: "Whatever I tell you, don't mention it again. I really have something to ask for your help, I want a chance to reduce my sentence, can you pay attention to it for me?"

  He Kui scratched his head, finding it difficult: "This year our prison has already given the honor of a model prisoner to Zhang Tianpeng, this is very hard to handle."

  Ye Haodong: "Isn't there a better way?"

  He Kui thought for a while: "Unless you can make meritorious achievements or have outstanding contributions, but you just confessed to being involved in the drug trafficking case a few days ago, and the case has been transferred to the court. You didn't let Jiang lead report your meritorious achievements, so I think it's unlikely that your sentence will be increased or reduced."

  Ye Haodong curled his lip and cursed, "Damn it, at the time I thought I couldn't step on my former brother's shoulders to elevate myself, and I missed an opportunity for nothing." He asked again, "How many years can Zhang Tianpeng reduce this time?"

  He Kui lowered his voice and said, "After the provincial people's congress was held this year, his uncle Wen Zhenbang has been elected as the governor and deputy secretary of the provincial party committee. Many people have been moved from top to bottom. The word 'deputy' in front of Vice Governor Song has also been removed this year. It seems that the wind will soon blow here, and even if the governor doesn't say anything, the people below will try their best to guess his intention and do things. I estimate that it can be reduced by at least five to eight years."

  Ye Haodong: "Isn't it said that there are policies for sentence reduction? Is his score enough to reduce so much?"

  "He Qi smiled: 'Are you fooling me or teasing me? With people like you, what's the difference between being together or not?'"

  Ye Haodong scratched his head awkwardly, remained silent for a while, and finally gritted his teeth to ask: "Then do you have any way to let me leave this place?"

  He Qiu's face turned pale and he waved his hands repeatedly: "Please spare me, or else let your brother outside wipe out my entire family."

  Ye Haodong's eyes widened: "You think I can't do it?"

  He was so frightened that he didn't dare make a sound.

  Ye Haodong's expression eased, and he said, "It's not about helping you escape from prison, but rather finding a way for me to leave this place, such as being released on medical grounds or something like that."

  He Qiu shook his head: "It's hard to do, just your physical condition is enough to be hospitalized outside, once the superiors investigate, everything will be exposed. Unless you're willing to swallow soap and nails, if you're willing to suffer that humiliation, I'll arrange this matter for you."

  Ye Haodong was furious and scolded, "You old thing, do you really think I'm some kind of Buddhist monk who only eats vegetarian food and recites scriptures? You say this can't be done and that can't be done. Now it's your turn to speak up, what method do you have to get me out of here first before Zhang Tianpeng?"

  He Qiu thought for a long time and finally said hesitantly: "Unless it's... Ah, this method is only attempted by those serious offenders who have no hope of commutation, you can't agree to it under any circumstances."

  Ye Haodong's eyes lit up and he cursed: "What method is quick to say, I'm not some high-ranking official, you try saying how difficult it is?"

  He Kui smiled wryly and said, "The higher-ups often give us a few quotas to send those extremely evil and unrepentant prisoners to serve their sentences in the western frontier. Our northern prison has many such people, so every year we have this quota. Although it's tough going to the western frontier, there is one advantage - the chance of reduced sentence is slightly higher. I don't know if you're willing to go, but let me tell you first, the hardship over there isn't something ordinary people can bear."

  Ye Haodong burst out laughing and asked back, "Do I look like an ordinary person to you? Alright, it's settled then. The old master of the Western Regions will go and fix things, and this year he'll be able to ascend, right?"

  He Kui nodded: "At the latest by August next year, generally before the cotton is harvested, the prisoners from various provinces will be escorted over."

  After deciding to send himself to the western border, Ye Haodong had not been idle and wrote letters to Nong Juntian to inform him of his recent situation. However, for some reason, every letter was like a stone sinking into the ocean, without any response. On the other hand, the management team sent by Nong Juntian had expanded several times, from one person to six people, all of whom were elites in the industry.

  Ye Haodong's New Green Group finally burst out with its due prospects and potential after this Lunar New Year, growing at a surprisingly rapid speed.

  The copper paper's entry into the foreign market was very smooth with the help of Nongjia and Hu Jianping, and the goods that had been stockpiled in the factory were sold out quickly. The new green material recycling company, which was jointly established by New Green Material Recycling and New Green Pulp Factory, brought cheap raw materials to the paper mill, making its cost advantage over other factories very obvious. The No. 4 furnace of Xinghua Steel Rolling Mill, which was newly built before the Spring Festival, has finally been put into production. The fully automatic molding workshop production line is working at full capacity every day, but it can only barely meet more than half of the orders. The factory's orders have already been scheduled until next year. In addition, several new factories producing steel for construction have been opened around Xinghua Factory, and their business is also booming, which has a direct relationship with the country's policy of opening up the real estate market.

  In May 1996, in the city of Shenyang, inside the Yiyixuan Garden of the Nong family residence. Nong Junting was lying on a chair with her huge belly, reading a letter from Ye Haodong, while Old Master Nong Yifu smiled at her. Nong Junting looked lovely and cute with her furrowed brow and pouted lips.

  "Niu Yifu: 'Xiao Ting, your grandfather is 97 years old this year. In this family, the time I can protect you and your mother from being bullied is getting shorter and shorter. You two will eventually have to rely on that young man. What's scary about Xijiang? What's scary is that when he grows up, he won't have much ability, and at that time, your little property will be swallowed up without even leaving a bone behind? This young man has decided to go to Xijiang for reeducation through labor, I think this decision is very good. He wants to come out early, so he's not afraid of suffering a bit. His letter to you wasn't asking for help, but telling you not to worry about him, which shows that the little guy also has some ambition. It won't hurt young people to suffer a bit more. Like your brothers, who are only thinking about the family business passed down from their ancestors, what great things can they achieve? Do you want your man to be someone you rely on in the future, or do you want him to become a superficial glory attached to our family? Let him fight for his own sky. Your biggest task now is to give birth to this child smoothly, and when that time comes, I will acknowledge him as a child of the Niu family.'"

  Nong Junting bit her lip: "But even if he wants to temper himself to get a reduced sentence, there's no need to go all the way to Xizang. Where else can't you get a reduced sentence? Why do you have to go so far and to such a harsh place, where it'll be impossible to help him later?"

  Nong Yifu smiled: "Little thing, do you understand that little man of yours?"

  Nong Junting nodded and then shook her head, saying: "It's hard to say, originally it was just for fun."

  Nong Yifu: "He doesn't like your excessive help, he's living with the intention of experiencing all kinds of hardships in life and finally achieving success. Your appearance has disrupted his life and made him feel uncomfortable."

  Nong Junting asked: "Cheng Zheng Guo? Isn't that just becoming an immortal, like you, sir?"

  "Hahahaha! Me? I'm not a god, I'm an old demon. When I die, I'll go to hell, there's no place for me in heaven."

  Nong Junting's eyes shone with light: "Grandfather, are you saying that he will be able to do far more than I imagined in the future, and I shouldn't interfere too much with his decisions?"

  "He is a soaring eagle, don't try to tie him down, or you'll end up with nothing. Minimize interference in major directions and help him in ways he can't think of or do, using subtle and imperceptible methods to influence him, until he can't leave your side for a moment."

  Zhang Tianpeng's commutation order has come down, and it turns out that his sentence has been reduced by eight years all at once. This means that his current sentence is now shorter than Ye Haodong's. After receiving the court's notice, this guy found Ye Haodong with a smug expression.

  In the seventeenth ward, Ye Haodong lay on his bed, ignoring Zhang Tianpeng who had just walked in. Staring at the ceiling, he was lost in thought, having finally received a letter from his sister, which seemed to show that she still understood him. Thinking about how he had bluntly rejected someone's good intentions, Ye Haodong felt a pang of guilt in his heart. His mind was filled with thoughts: one moment thinking about the future development of Xinglu Group, another thinking about how his mother had surprisingly not cried when she learned about his decision to go to Xinjiang, but instead encouraged him; and then thinking about the situation on the other side of Western China that Zhu Saner, who had served a three-year sentence in the west, had told him about. At this moment, Ye Haodong's thoughts seemed to have flown to the Shiweizi Labor Reform Farm, drifting aimlessly in the endless cotton fields that seemed to stretch on forever.

  "What's the total? When are you planning on handing over the new supplies?"

  For Zhang Tianpeng, Ye Haodong is a person who returns with an appreciative attitude. He is a master who dares to take action and make trouble without losing his moral integrity.