Chapter 136: Building a Good Relationship

"He has two eyes and a nose, he's just a man of flesh and blood. Why can't I go after him?"

"Our Fangfang is young, vibrant, and beautiful as a flower. Why isn't she a good match for him?"

Zhou Qianfan pursed his lips. 'I've already told you, Mu Lin values his family above all else. If you personally try to push another woman on him, he probably won't accept it.'

'When the time comes and things go south, you'll be on your own!'

In any case, Zhou Qianfan had no desire to offer the Liu Family this kind of advice.

Mu Lin turned and walked back to the hospital room door.

Li Xue had been waiting for a long time. When she didn't see Mu Lin return, she got angry.

She thought he had just wandered off somewhere.

"I went to help clear things up about Elder Zhang," Mu Lin said with a smile. "There are no major issues now. No one will dare to bother Elder Zhang anymore."

Li Yinhe returned, carrying a bag of hot dumplings.

"Guess what? The hospital has a new director!" he said excitedly.

Staying by the bedside in the hospital was boring as hell; any little bit of news was enough to get one excited.

Li Xue followed his lead and asked, "Who's the new one?"

"Elder Zhang, the one who treated Elder Li and Mom!"

Huh? Li Xue was stunned. 'There's actually such a strange thing in the world.'

'He took advantage of the situation, and not only did he get away with it, he even got promoted to director.'

'Are you kidding me?'

But it was what it was.

Li Xue couldn't help but glance at Mu Lin. 'Does this have something to do with him?'

"Anyway, I'm going to bring these dumplings to Mom!"

Before long, Elder Zhang arrived in front of the hospital room with a long entourage of people.

Lined up, the group was long enough to fill the entire hallway.

Li Yinhe hurried to greet them. "Elder Zhang, thank you for coming all this way. And congratulations on your appointment as director!"

Elder Zhang waved his hand. "It's nothing, just serving patients in a new role. These are all experts in their respective fields. I've brought them here to hold a consultation for Elder Li."

Mu Lin glanced over. These were the same doctors who had been calling for Elder Zhang's head, demanding he be stripped of his white coat and fired.

Now, they'd been disciplined by Elder Zhang and were as docile as obedient elementary school students.

It showed that Elder Zhang wasn't just skilled at treating patients; he had plenty of political savvy, too. He just usually couldn't be bothered to play their games.

Li Yinhe respectfully welcomed them inside.

Li Xue glanced at Mu Lin. "Did you do this?"

Mu Lin said, "How could I have such ability?"

The consultation went on for a long time. The various doctors gave their opinions.

To sum it up in one sentence: bed rest, and wait for a miracle.

It was infuriating.

Li Xue watched the doctors' retreating figures and pursed her lips. "How interesting of them. Even I could have figured that much out, yet they made a special trip just for this."

"You don't understand. If they hadn't made this trip, a lot of doctors would be unemployed," Mu Lin said slowly.

"Why is that?" Li Xue asked.

"Because I wouldn't let them come to work!"

"Get out of here. You don't have that kind of power."

Mu Lin shrugged. 'I'm telling you the truth, but if you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do.'

There was still no end in sight for Elder Li's long-term coma. Mrs. Li, Lin Jiajia, was discharged from the hospital and took over for Mu Lin and the others in caring for Elder Li.

Zhang Chunlei directly approved the use of her previous hospital room as a place for her to rest temporarily.

This special treatment left Mrs. Li feeling overwhelmed by the favor, but after much persuasion from Li Xue, she finally accepted it.

Meanwhile, Li Xue returned to the company. After being away for so many days, she was genuinely worried that her subordinates would cause trouble.

Mu Lin called Guo Lei. "How is Wu Long?"

Guo Lei replied, "The itching is unbearable for him every day. He's scratching with all his might, so hard he's broken the skin."

Mu Lin chuckled. "He's already so weak he can't even feel the pain. Have you asked him again about transferring the Yuelong Group shares?"

"I bring it up once a day. He'll say anything, but he just won't agree."

"Then let's just keep dragging it out. Taking them after he's dead is also an option."

Before lunch, Mu Lin received a call. He looked down and was surprised to see it was from Zhou Qianfan.

That was a rare occurrence indeed.

"Uncle Zhou, what's up?"

"Can't I call you just to chat? You heartless brat. But actually, there is something I need to discuss with you."

"Please, go ahead!" In any case, Mu Lin didn't believe the Zhou Family would harm him.

As long as that potential enemy was still out there, Mu Lin was the greatest guarantee of Elder Zhou's life, and they would never abandon him.

"The Liu Family is very interested in you. They keep asking me to build a bridge between you two. I need to ask what your impression of them is…"

Mu Lin looked up and thought for a moment. "Liu Yiming is an old fox, but his heart isn't bad. The Liu Family has probably been able to maintain a low profile because he keeps them in line. Liu Qizhou has a domineering temper and tends to act rashly, but he values loyalty. He's someone worth befriending."

"What about the young miss of the Liu Family?"

"Liu Yifang? I really don't know. She's been sick for years, and her true personality is hidden beneath her illness; it hasn't had a chance to show itself. So I think we'll have to wait and see."

Zhou Qianfan thought, 'This kid Mu Lin is a sharp judge of character. Back before she got sick, Liu Yifang was a cute and lively girl, though a bit spoiled and willful.'

'But after she got sick, she gradually became sensible and understanding.'

'Whether the illness changed her, I don't know. And whether she'll revert to her old self after she's cured, I don't know either.'

Zhou Qianfan determined that Mu Lin probably didn't have any ill feelings toward the Liu Family, which meant there was a foundation for the next topic of conversation.

"Since your impression of them is pretty good, I think you'll most likely agree with my suggestion."

"Tell me first."

"How about letting the Liu Family protect the Li Family for you? The Liu Family is a martial arts lineage, and many of their experts don't have a place to display their skills. Right now, the Yang Family is still eyeing them like a tiger, and we don't know when they might launch another attack like before. If you're not there, the consequences might be more than you can accept."

Mu Lin nodded as he thought. If something happened to the members of the Li Family, he would probably lose his mind and do something completely unpredictable.

"You're right, Uncle Zhou," Mu Lin pondered for a moment. "Are you suggesting that I have the Liu Family protect my family?"

"To be precise, it's not what I want, but what the Liu Family wants…"

"They are very eager to get closer to you. Your medical skills and your martial prowess are both incredibly valuable to a major family."

"If you're open to the idea, give Patriarch Liu a call."

"Of course, you have to give them some face. You should be the one to bring it up. Otherwise, they might feel like they're losing face. They're a major family, after all, right?"

Mu Lin thought about it for a moment and felt there was nothing wrong with that reasoning.

"Thank you, Uncle Zhou. I'll do it right away."

After hanging up, Mu Lin immediately dialed the number Zhou Qianfan had given him.

"Hello, may I ask who is calling…?"

Mu Lin said, "Patriarch Liu, it's Mu Lin. We met at the hospital, do you remember?"

The moment Patriarch Liu heard it was Mu Lin, he shot to his feet, stopping everything he was doing.

"Yes, yes, I remember! I could forget my own name before I forget my young friend Mu Lin!"

The atmosphere was incredibly enthusiastic.

"Well, I have a small matter that I was hoping Patriarch Liu could help with."

Patriarch Liu's face lit up. 'Patriarch Zhou is a true friend!' "Please, speak!"

"The Li Family has run into some trouble recently. They were attacked by outsiders, which is why Elder Li was assaulted and fell into a coma."

"I've been thinking about it for a long time," Mu Lin said. "I can't be by their side at all times, and it would be terrible if they were attacked again. I personally couldn't bear such a consequence."

"I've heard that the Liu Family is full of experts. I would like to ask you, sir, to send some people to protect my family!"

Liu Qizhou's eyes lit up. In the Liu Family, even the cats could fight; picking out a few trained members to handle the job would be easy.

With this, the Liu Family had essentially entered into a cooperative relationship with Mu Lin. From now on, their interests would be intertwined, and they would advance and retreat as one.

This meant the plan to send Liu Yifang to get close to Mu Lin could be temporarily shelved.

Liu Qizhou thought to himself that he only had one daughter and wasn't ready to marry her off so soon.

"Oh, right. There's one more thing that's even more important."

Liu Qizhou was delighted. 'He's making another request! This shows he trusts our Liu Family!'

"Please speak, my young friend Mu Lin!" Liu Qizhou replied hurriedly.

"Keep an eye on the Yang Family for me. Where Patriarch Yang goes, who he meets, what time he goes to bed—I want all of it compiled and reported to me."

Liu Qizhou wondered, 'What kind of grudge is this? Does it really need to be this serious?'

But since Mu Lin was the one who requested it, he had to do his utmost to satisfy him.

"Done. I'll arrange for a few experts skilled in stealth to start surveillance right away."

Mu Lin was very satisfied and said sincerely:

"Thank you, Patriarch Liu. I have to go eat now, so that's all!"

"Yes, yes, talk to you later!" Liu Qizhou quickly hung up the phone, a warm feeling spreading through his heart.

'Oh, yes!'