Chapter 148: Li Tianxiang of the Li Family

Liu Qizhou saw that Mu Lin and Lao Wang seemed quite familiar with each other and grew curious.

"Manager Wang, you know Divine Doctor Mu?"

Manager Wang laughed heartily. "Last time, Chairman Qiao of Shengding Group and Mr. Mu came for a meal. We all had a great time chatting."

"Qiao Canhua? When did he come to Anhua?"

'This is the chairman of the real estate company that dominates Nanjiang Province. Even I, Liu Qizhou, have to look up to him.'

"Chairman Qiao brought his wife to Anhua for treatment. It was Mr. Mu who cured Madam Qiao."

"Oh, so that's the connection..." Liu Qizhou realized. 'This whole time, my mind has been completely consumed by my daughter's illness. I've let a lot of things slide, and now it looks like that might be a problem.'

"This way, please!" Lao Wang said with a smile, leading them on.

As they walked, Lao Wang said, "It's like the Ziwei Star itself has descended upon our hotel today. Besides you, Patriarch Liu, another distinguished guest has arrived. Perhaps someone Elder Liu is acquainted with!"

"Is that so? Which old friend of mine?"

"The Li Family from Di Yang City. Do you know them?"

Liu Yiming frowned and shook his head.

Liu Qizhou frowned. "Who is it?"

Lao Wang replied, "Their third young master."

Liu Yiming seemed tempted for a moment but ultimately shook his head. "Someone of that stature... I'm afraid I've never had the chance to associate with people that high up. They probably wouldn't be interested in a family of brutes like ours, anyway."

Liu Qizhou, however, read more into it. "What's he doing in Anhua? Why would he leave Di Yang to come to a small place like this?"

With a child's frankness, Liu Yifang said, "Dad, didn't Chairman Qiao come here for medical treatment? What if the Li Family's third young master is also here for that?"

"Then why would he be in the mood to eat out?"

Liu Qizhou's single sentence shot down Liu Yifang's naive idea.

Liu Yiming said, "People like him are usually elusive, like a dragon that shows its head but never its tail. They normally have their subordinates handle things. For him to come in person, this must be about something big."

Mu Lin, on the other hand, couldn't care less about these matters. 'All this coming and going, what does it have to do with me? I'll be heading back to the mountains soon anyway.'

A short while later, they arrived at their private room and took their seats.

「In another magnificent private room in the hotel.」

A young man with a cold, indifferent gaze had his foot planted on the back of a kneeling servant.

"Where did Wu Long go? He's been out of touch for this long, and now that I'm in Anhua, he doesn't even come to see me?"

This was the man Lao Wang had mentioned—the third young master of the Li Family, Li Tianxiang.

Standing by the door, a subordinate with a reverent expression spoke humbly.

"According to our investigation, Wu Long has fallen gravely ill and is in the hospital."

"He can crawl here if he has to, but he will come see me!" Li Tianxiang roared.

"But his room is guarded. He's unable to break out, much less get his hands on a phone."

Li Tianxiang's eyes filled with contempt. "God knows why I was so blind back then, backing such a worthless piece of trash. Anyone else would have probably taken down the Li Group for me by now, don't you think?"

The middle-aged subordinate didn't dare to respond. 'To be honest,' he thought, 'Wu Long has done a remarkable job. He nearly crushed the Li Group to the point of suffocation. It's just that the Li Group has had a recent string of good luck, and the tables seem to be turning.'

'But saying that out loud would only earn him a tongue-lashing from Li Tianxiang, who might even strip him of his position.'

Li Tianxiang continued, "How can he not get out? Does he not have any men?"

"You may not be aware, Third Young Master, but the one holding him is his own former subordinate, Guo Lei."

Li Tianxiang slammed a fist on his thigh. "He let a subordinate turn against him? Why?"

"My investigation led me to a project team leader at the Li Group named Mu Lin. He used some unknown means to win Guo Lei over. Then, Guo Lei helped him place Wu Long under 'house arrest' at the hospital."

Li Tianxiang let out a long sigh. "Well, I'll be damned. An ant swallowing an elephant. A single man managed to take down Wu Long."

"Since he's with the Li Group, this was probably orchestrated by the Anhua Li Family, right?"

"That old man, Li Hao... he still hasn't given up his ambitions! Does he really think there's still a place for him in the ancestral hall?"

"It's laughable. I was willing to let them eke out their pathetic existence. Wouldn't it have been fine to just work under the Yuelong Group? But no, they actually planned to usurp the host's role."

The reason Li Tianxiang had come to Anhua in person was precisely because of the Li Group.

Yuelong Group was, in name, Wu Long's company, but in reality, it was built from the ground up by the Di Yang Li Family.

And what had Wu Long contributed? Nothing but his face and a few of his own supposedly clever schemes.

Li Tianxiang had repeatedly urged him to stop with the misplaced mercy and just swallow them whole in one go.

But who knew he would be so reckless?

As a result, just when the Li Group's luck turned, the genius investor Zhu Qiyu took an interest in them and gave them a crucial infusion of cash.

Suddenly, the Li Group was no longer short on funds. Suddenly, the Li Group landed a major project.

Suddenly, the Yuelong Group was floundering.

One wrong move led to a cascade of failures, infuriating Li Tianxiang, who had been waiting back in Di Yang to harvest the fruits of their labor.

If things continued like this, the Yuelong Group, which the Li Family had painstakingly built, would inevitably collapse, and the Li Group could very well swallow up the market territory it left behind.

Because of this, Li Tianxiang, who was in charge of the matter, decided to make the trip himself, thus gracing the mortal world with his presence.

"First, find a way to get Wu Long out of there," Li Tianxiang ordered.

The middle-aged man turned and left immediately. He wasn't too familiar with the local situation, so he would have to play it by ear.

They had to get Wu Long out first. Only then could he, the "local snake," be of any use. It would be a waste to let him rot away in a hospital room.

Li Tianxiang narrowed his eyes. A thought seemed to strike him, and he suddenly began to laugh.

He picked up his phone and pulled up a photo Wu Long had sent him earlier.

"What a knockout. If she weren't one of the Li Family, she'd be mine tonight..."

He dialed Li Xue's number. BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... A strange smile played on Li Tianxiang's lips.

Li Xue and her father were on their way to the hospital to see her grandfather. The old man had yet to wake up, but the family still had to be there to keep him company.

The doctors said hearing his family's voices might help him wake up. They had to at least try!

Her phone rang. The number was from Di Yang City.

Li Xue furrowed her brow. "Probably a spam call."

She hung up.

On the other end, Li Tianxiang was so enraged he shot to his feet and kicked his chair over.

"Damn it, she's not answering my call?"

Li Tianxiang dialed again.

"Dad, this person is so weird. I already hung up, but they're calling me again,"

Li Xue said.

Li Yinhe replied, "Well, we're in business. It couldn't hurt to listen. It might be someone looking to have us handle a construction project."

The Li Group's reputation for quality in subcontracting projects was already quite renowned.

Li Xue thought for a moment and answered the call.

"Hello, this is Li Xue. May I ask who's calling?"

"Little schoolmate, care to guess who this is?" Li Tianxiang said, forcing his anger down.

The moment Li Xue heard the voice, a shiver ran through her entire body.

'What's wrong?' Li Yinhe wondered, growing very concerned.

"Li Tianxiang! Why are you calling me?"

"Heh heh, when I call, you should answer immediately. And yet you dared to hang up on me? You've gotten bold, haven't you!"

After a stream of curses, Li Tianxiang added, "I'm your older cousin. We're family. How can you treat me like this?"

Li Xue held the phone away from her ear, only bringing it back once the shouting subsided.

Li Yinhe was already unsettled just hearing the name Li Tianxiang. Seeing Li Xue's reaction, he grew even more confused.

'What on earth happened?!'

But she was still on the call. He would have to wait until it was over to ask.

"Whatever. It's not like you've ever respected me anyway, and I can't be bothered to beg for it. That would be pathetic," Li Tianxiang said coldly. "Bring Li Yinhe, Li Hao, and that Mu Lin with you. Come to Huangshang Huang. We can have a nice, long chat and catch up on old times."

The color drained from Li Xue's face, her expression turning grim.

"My time is precious. You have one hour, at most. If you're not here, I'll use my own methods to make the Li Group vanish from the face of the earth."

The line went dead.

"Dad..." Li Xue looked at Li Yinhe.

Li Yinhe clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. CRACK.

'His father fled from Di Yang City over sixty years ago. They cut all ties with the Di Yang branch of the Li Family long ago. On what grounds do they still want to hunt them down and exterminate them?'

"What are the people from the main branch trying to do?"

Li Xue, her face pale, said, "Li Tianxiang is at Huangshang Huang. He said if we're not there within the hour, he'll make the Li Group disappear..."

Li Yinhe sighed. He knew the people from that branch of the Li Family were more than capable of carrying out such a threat.

"You can't fight an opponent stronger than you are. What can we do? We have the Li Family's blood in our veins..." Li Yinhe heaved a long sigh. "Let's go. If this can bring things to a final resolution, then so be it."

He then told the driver to turn the car around and head for the Huangshanghuang Grand Hotel.