My Most Beautiful Fiancée

Regardless, this was a huge piece of good news for the Li Family. He planned to let Li Xue know, but she had gone downstairs to the special projects department.

He recalled that Li Xue had specifically told Chen Xi to ”take care of” Mu Lin, so he decided he might as well go down and see the situation for himself.

He took his private elevator down to the special projects department.

Chen Xi was in the middle of sycophantically telling Li Xue something.

”Daughter,” Li Yinhe called out.

”Dad, what are you doing here?” Li Xue said in surprise. After all, her father had always considered it beneath him to come here.

”I just got a call from your grandfather. Pang Dahai is dead.

”Dead!” Li Xue’s face was a mask of disbelief.

This was Master Pang of Anhua City they were talking about!

Chen Xi and the others also found it incredible. ”Uncle Li, is that Master Pang really dead? Like, completely and utterly dead?”

Li Yinhe gave Chen Xi an odd look, but was in a good enough mood to reply, ”Yes, completely and utterly dead.”

”How unexpected. Who killed him?” Li Xue struggled to process this shocking news.

This was a major figure who could shake all of Anhua City with a stomp of his foot. How could he be gone just like that? ’Good riddance, though!’

”We haven’t received any details yet, but we’ll know more once the news develops.”

After speaking, he scanned the lackadaisical members of the special projects team and asked, ”Where’s Mu Lin?”

Li Xue said, ”Chen Xi said he had something to do and took temporary leave to go out.”

”Hmph. What business could he have? Did he even file a leave request?” Li Yinhe said coolly.

Chen Xi wanted to say yes, but it was an easy lie to expose, so he had to answer honestly, ”No.”

”He just started this job, and he’s already doing this? This is unacceptable. Count it as an unauthorized absence. Dock five days of his pay.”

Chen Xi’s eyes darted back and forth. Like a true opportunist, he started grumbling, ”Exactly! Who does he think he is? He has no respect for the Chairman. We can’t let him get away with this. He needs to be taught a lesson.”

”Xi, from now on, find any opportunity you can to dock his pay. If there’s no opportunity, create one. Understand?” Li Xue ordered Chen Xi.

Chen Xi nodded hurriedly. ”Sister Xiaoxue, you can rest assured. I’ll do everything I can to dock every last cent of that brat’s salary.”

Li Xue nodded, very satisfied.

Li Yinhe and Li Xue then left the special projects department, planning to go upstairs and discuss their plans now that Pang Dahai was dead.

As it turned out, they ran right into Mu Lin, who was just returning from outside.

”Hello, Chairman Li. Hello, President Li.” Mu Lin paused for a moment. ’What are these two big shots, who should be holding down the fort upstairs, doing here?’

Li Yinhe glanced at him, ignored him, and started to walk past.

Li Xue, however, stopped and put a hand on her slender hip. She looked at him coldly and said, ”Leaving for personal reasons during work hours will cost you twenty thousand from your salary. Even if you’re just here to coast and collect a paycheck, you could at least pretend to do some work.”

With that, Li Xue flicked her sleek hair, turned, and walked away indifferently.

Mu Lin gave Chen Xi a puzzled look. ”What did I do to get on Her Highness’s bad side this time?”

With Li Xue and Li Yinhe gone, Chen Xi and his cronies became as sycophantic toward Mu Lin as they possibly could.

”Do you guys know about the bid this time from Dingli Group?” Mu Lin asked.

Chen Xi froze for a second, then immediately said, ”Brother Lin, you don’t know? The entire Li Group has been preparing for a solid six months to win this bid.”

”What are the chances of winning?” Mu Lin asked.

”I don’t know the specifics, but I heard my grandfather say that this time... it’s a long shot. The project seems to have been decided internally already. Whoever has the more powerful backer gets the contract.”

”If the Li Group doesn’t win this bid, will the company go bankrupt?”

Mu Lin recalled Pang Dahai’s godson, Guo Lei, mentioning this, which was why he thought to ask Chen Xi.

”Don’t worry, Brother Lin,” Chen Xi said. ”The Li Group isn’t some small company that can go under that easily. It has a solid foundation. So what if we miss out on one big project? We can just get other smaller ones. It’s all the same.”

”What if the other projects get snatched away too?” Mu Lin pressed.

”Well...” Chen Xi stroked a non-existent beard on his chin. ”That’s probably impossible.”

Mu Lin felt it was a bit foolish to ask a spoiled heir like Chen Xi for his opinion. Chen Xi clearly didn’t understand any of this.

”Brother Lin, what’s there to worry about? Even if the sky were falling, the company’s executives would be there to hold it up! We shouldn’t be worrying our heads over things that are out of our pay grade.”

Chen Xi suddenly grew excited. ”Brother Lin, did you hear? Pang Dahai is dead! Master Pang! He was a huge figure here in Anhua City, known throughout the criminal, legitimate, and gray worlds. And just a little while ago, poof, he’s gone!”

A sharp, imperceptible glint flashed in Mu Lin’s eyes. He smiled and said, ”It’s just one person dying. What’s there to be so happy about?”

Chen Xi was practically bouncing with excitement. ”Brother Lin, you don’t get it. With Master Pang dead, his position is now up for grabs. That spot is a juicy prize in many people’s eyes.”

”The only reason Yuelong Group was able to grow so quickly in Anhua City was because Master Pang and his people were in the background, doing a lot of dirty work for Wu Long.”

”Besides, if someone from our Li Group took over Master Pang’s position, wouldn’t everything become much easier for us?”

After saying that, he sounded a bit wistful. ”But that’s just wishful thinking. After all, the decision-makers in our company have always looked down on people like Master Pang.”

Mu Lin smiled. ’Elder Li really isn’t the type to get involved in such dirty business.’

When it was time to leave work, Mu Lin ended up heading home with Li Yinhe and his daughter.

The Li father-daughter duo clearly had no intention of speaking with Mu Lin.

As soon as they returned to the villa, Elder Li enthusiastically asked Mu Lin to play a game of chess with him.

But Li Yinhe suddenly cut in, ”Dad, I have some important company matters to discuss with you. You can play chess with him later.”

Elder Li paused for a moment, then nodded slightly. ”Alright, let’s go to your study to talk first.”

”Xiaolin, why don’t you rest downstairs for a bit? I’ll be back after I’m done talking with my son.”

”Okay,” Mu Lin replied.

After they went upstairs, Mu Lin was about to see if Mrs. Li needed any help, but his phone rang. It was Elder Zhao.

”Mu Lin, the day after tomorrow at the East Suburb Agate Manor, someone is hosting a grand birthday banquet for Elder Lin. Are you free? If you are, you should come along.”

Mu Lin wasn’t very interested, but since Zhao Yang himself had asked, he felt it would be rude to refuse.

It was obvious that the invitation was actually from the Lin Family father and son, but they were afraid he might be unwilling to come, so they had asked Elder Zhao to invite him on their behalf.

”I’m free anyway, and seeing a bit of the world isn’t a bad idea. I’ll go with you then.” He had gotten to know Elder Zhao over this period, and his impression of the man was quite good. It was a favor Mu Lin was willing to grant.

”That’s great. Since you’ve agreed, Ling’Er and I will come pick you up when the time comes.”

”No need to go to all that trouble. I’ll just go to the Holy Medicine Hall to meet you.”

”Alright, that works too.” Elder Zhao was delighted, having completed the task the Lin Family had given him.

After hanging up, Mu Lin stopped thinking about the birthday banquet. He stood up, went straight to the kitchen, and asked, ”Mom, is there anything I can help with?”

Although the Li Family had its own private cook, Mrs. Li was very interested in cooking and often prepared meals for the family herself.

”Oh, no, no need. You’ve had a long day at work, Xiaolin. Go and get some rest. I can manage just fine.”

Mu Lin didn’t insist.

...

In Li Yinhe’s study, Elder Li’s brows were tightly furrowed in frustration. ”It will be very, very difficult to get the Lin Family to help us,” he said.

”Dad, the day after tomorrow is Elder Lin’s 80th birthday. Some big shot is throwing a huge banquet for him at Agate Manor. A lot of important people will definitely be there. We have to seize this opportunity.”

Elder Li let out a deep sigh. ”I’ll make a call and see.”

Immediately, Elder Li dialed one of his old friends.

”Brother Zhuang, it’s Li Hao.”

”Ah, it’s Younger Brother Li! It’s been too long since we last spoke, my friend. How has your health been lately?”

”Just a pile of old bones, same as always. Can’t compare to you, Brother Zhuang.”

”You’ve always been a smooth talker.” The voice on the other end chuckled. ”Younger Brother Li, did you call because you’ve run into some trouble? After all, you saved my life. I could never forget a debt like that.”