Chapter 322 321: The Shareholders

He had nothing to say. He turned his gaze to the few people staring back at him with cold expressions.

'Who are they? What's going on?'

"Are they the shareholders?"

Mu Lin asked, pointing ahead.

Zhu Qiyu nodded hastily. "Yes, the two of them are the largest shareholders after me. They joined forces to kick me out!"

"And you just let them kick you out?"

"They threatened to expose the chairman's identity. I had no choice..."

Zhu Qiyu said, looking utterly dejected.

"Oh, so that's how it is," Mu Lin nodded faintly. "Then I understand why you conceded. This isn't your fault. It's theirs for being so vile."

'The Zhou Family's identity must not be exposed. They are active in political circles. If the public found out they secretly held so many assets, it would be extremely dangerous.'

'An angry mob could tear a person to shreds.'

'But setting that aside, the people who cooked up this scheme are truly disgusting.'

Mu Lin strode forward, heading straight for Mi Xintian.

Zhu Qiyu's heart was pounding. 'What is Mu Lin planning to do? Could there be any other explanation?'

'This is terrifying...'

"Mr. Mu, please calm down..." Zhu Qiyu reached out, trying to grab Mu Lin.

But Mu Lin replied calmly, "President Zhu, don't stop me. Since the chairman asked me to come and help, I have to anticipate every possibility."

"I will naturally clear away all obstacles for you."

Zhu Qiyu was so scared his limbs felt weak. 'What on earth is Mu Lin going to do? No matter how you look at it, this can't be appropriate, right?'

Xu Haofeng took two steps forward, trying to block Mu Lin's path, but Mu Lin didn't even glance at him. He simply threw a punch right at Xu Haofeng's face, and Xu Haofeng crumpled backward.

The big man fell like a leaf in the wind, hitting the ground hard and not moving again.

Mi Xintian raised a hand and pointed at Mu Lin.

"Mr. Mu, isn't this inappropriate?"

Mu Lin said nonchalantly, "Just pretend you didn't see anything. All responsibility lies with me, understand?"

Zhu Qiyu opened his mouth, then paused. "Understood..." What else could he say? He had thought Mu Lin would have some clever, subtle plan, but instead, he came in swinging. His method was far more savage than he could have imagined.

But Mu Lin had been invited by Zhou Qianfan. What could Zhu Qiyu possibly say?

He could only stare dumbfounded.

Mu Lin then pulled out his phone and said, "Come in!"

Immediately, several men flooded in like a tide.

They were all big, burly guys.

Mu Lin sized them up. 'What's with Guo Lei's taste in recruiting underlings?'

'All that flab... they probably can't even use a tenth of their strength.'

'Oh well, useless muscle is still muscle. They're more than enough to bully some weak, ordinary people.'

Mu Lin beckoned the leader of the group over.

The leader hurried over and said earnestly, "Hello, sir!"

Mu Lin glanced at him. The man was built like a bear, but a closer look suggested a relatively steady temperament.

'No wonder Guo Lei chose him to lead this group.'

"Go tie them up!"

"Yes, sir!"

Guo Lei's men were quick. In no time, the two men were trussed up like giant human dumplings.

"This..." Zhu Qiyu was still completely baffled, but out of respect for Mu Lin, he didn't say a word.

Mu Lin smiled faintly, walked up to Mi Xintian, and said coolly,

"Tell the truth now, and you still have a chance. Otherwise, don't blame me for digging the information out of your mouth."

Mi Xintian was furious. He snarled at Zhu Qiyu, "You've actually stooped to associating with these thugs! It's not that I look down on you, but you are a massive disappointment!"

Zhu Qiyu's expression shifted repeatedly. He didn't know how to respond.

'Is this what I wanted? I had no choice!'

Guo Lei's men, however, were the first to get upset. They rushed forward and laid into Mi Xintian with a flurry of punches and kicks.

"Who are you calling thugs?"

"We're a lot better than you bloodsuckers!"

Zhu Qiyu kept looking at Mu Lin, thinking, 'Surely Mu Lin is about to step in now?'

But he didn't. Mu Lin watched the scene unfold with the same detached calm, only raising a hand to stop them when the man was beaten half to death.

He walked up and said, "That's enough."

Guo Lei's men obediently lowered their heads and immediately backed away.

Mu Lin looked Mi Xintian up and down, quite satisfied.

'Not too light, not too heavy. Just enough to leave him breathing, but far from comfortable.'

Mu Lin was very pleased with his timing.

He said to Mi Xintian and Xu Haofeng, "Gentlemen, I'll ask one more time. Have you ever done anything to embezzle company assets? If you confess now, you might still have a chance. If you continue this pointless resistance, even that last chance will disappear. I can't play games with you all day. It's boring."

"Never! How could I touch the company's money? That would be completely unethical!"

Mu Lin's smile widened. "So you're saying you're both honest men, right? Fine. Then you surely have nothing to fear from a Soul-Searching Technique, do you?"

"A what technique?!"

Before Mi Xintian and Xu Haofeng could even ask, Mu Lin's hand flashed past their temples.

And just like that, he had a few strands of their hair in his hand.

'What is...?' Zhu Qiyu watched in amazement. He couldn't understand Mu Lin's methods at all. 'What is he doing!'

'What's his goal?'

Then he saw Mu Lin take out a piece of talisman paper and wrap the hairs around it.

Then he asked, "Which of you has stolen money from the company?"

Zhu Qiyu cringed so hard he felt ill. 'Only a complete idiot would admit to that, right?'

"I used company money to cover my debts!" Mi Xintian blurted out.

Zhu Qiyu's jaw dropped in astonishment. 'How? They actually said it themselves.'

Mu Lin turned to Xu Haofeng. "What about you? He stole from the company. Why wouldn't you have?"

Xu Haofeng said coldly, "Who needs to steal from the company? I make more than enough from my main business to live very well!"

Mu Lin said, "You must be doing very well indeed!"

Then Xu Haofeng said, "But I like to fool around with women. The company paid for my hot spring trips with Xiaomimi."

Zhu Qiyu didn't think much of that. How much could you spend on women? That was directly related to a man's... stamina.

'Even if he went wild, it wouldn't cost that much. Nothing to worry about.'

"Sometimes I'd get a girl pregnant, and I'd use company money to have them give birth and then pay for child support."

'This...'

Mu Lin felt a wave of irritation. 'What the hell is this guy?'

'Hasn't he gone too far?'

'A child is a true money pit. A bottomless one. And the company paid for all of it.'

'If you don't ask, you'd never know.'

Zhu Qiyu couldn't figure out how Mu Lin had made them confess so honestly, but he leaned in and asked a question of his own:

"How did you do it? With that much money, it shouldn't have been possible to hide!"

"I had a trader intentionally lose money on a deal, and then I buried the expenses in that loss."

'He's really telling all!' Zhu Qiyu was stunned; he found the way Xu Haofeng explained his method for hiding the accounts almost more shocking than the confession.

"You... how could you... how could you..."

Zhu Qiyu pointed at the two men, furious.

The two men suddenly snapped out of it. They looked at Zhu Qiyu, then at Mu Lin, a bizarre expression on their faces.

'Why? How on earth was this possible?!'

They had no idea, and a sense of dread washed over them.

Zhu Qiyu clasped his hands behind his back and said coldly, "You've done well. The company's losses are certainly thanks in part to you!"

"And you had the nerve to demand I leave the company. I think not only will you be leaving the company, you'll be going to jail!"

The two of them had some vague memories, a feeling that they might have said something. Now, they realized those hazy memories were real.

'We actually confessed to all those sordid secrets! Are you kidding me? What's the point of anything now?'

"Alright, alright, that's enough. It's all trivial stuff anyway," Mu Lin said, pulling Zhu Qiyu back.

"More importantly, why did you want to drive Zhu Qiyu out of the company? Tell me the truth."

"I'll talk! I'll talk! A few days ago, an old Taoist priest named Niu Daoist came to me. He said he knew Liangyu Investment was in trouble, and the only way to save it was to kick Zhu Qiyu out!"

Mi Xintian shouted frantically.

"He also said, the chairman of Liangyu Investment is... is... is..."