Chapter 342 341: A Stable Situation

Mu Lin had no idea what kind of psychological turmoil Chu Chaoxiong had just experienced, nor did he know how Chu Chaoxiong truly understood their relationship.

None of this had anything to do with him.

His thoughts now were much more relaxed.

After today, there would surely be no more threats to the Li Group and the Zhou Family within Anhua City.

This new power structure was very stable, allowing countless arrangements to be made based on it.

Even after Mu Lin returned to his mountain, the Li Family would be protected for at least a generation.

A generation was long enough to repay the debt of gratitude to his master. Any longer would be pointless.

As the sayings go, "wealth doesn't last three generations," and "children will make their own way in life."

If the Li Family's descendants were to rely on this protection to cause trouble, that wasn't a situation Mu Lin wanted to see.

'This is pretty good.'

In the world of high society, they had the Zhou Family's protection. In the business world, they had Chu Chaoxiong, Anhua's wealthiest man. And on the path of the Martial Dao, they had the Liu Family to ensure their safety.

Even if the Di Yang Li Clan was unconvinced and wanted to test the Anhua Li Family, they would discover that the Anhua Li Family was no longer the pushover it once was.

Mu Lin was in a great mood. His steps were light as he returned to the Li Villa. After showering, he walked straight into Li Xue's room.

After a while, it wasn't so awkward anymore. 'Since Li Xue insisted, I might as well just sleep here.'

Li Xue was annoyed the moment she saw Mu Lin. "What are you doing here? You should go live your life with Tao Xinxin!"

Mu Lin said, "What life would I live with her? I tried to recruit her to the Li Group, wasn't that for the good of the company..."

"I've been so wronged!"

Li Xue glanced at Mu Lin, utterly speechless.

'Mu Lin's gotten a lot better with words. Where did he learn to be so glib?'

'He even dares to talk back now? Who gave him the nerve?'

「The next day.」

Mu Lin arrived at the company early and was killing time by reading documents in his office.

Chen Xi suddenly shouted, "This is bad, something big has happened! This will change the entire power structure in Anhua!"

Zhou Yu was speechless. 'Can't Chen Xi stop being so dramatic all the time? A couple of times it was amusing, like he was putting on a show. But now that it's happening over and over, it's just getting old.'

"Brother Xi, you're not the team leader anymore, but that doesn't mean you should let your true colors show! Acting all jumpy like this, you could go hawk newspapers under an overpass."

Sun Lele added, "Coming from Brother Xi, the smallest thing is a world-ending catastrophe. It's no fun."

Chen Xi looked mortified by their comments, but Mu Lin came to his rescue.

"Chen Xi, what's the matter? Why so urgent?"

Chen Xi said, "Real big news! According to my classmate, Zongguang Group is going to change its name!"

"Zongguang Group?" Zhou Yu and Sun Lele exchanged a look. "Is that it? Never heard of them. Some small fry, I guess."

This made Chen Xi furious. "I told you to learn more about the business world but you didn't listen! Now look, you don't even recognize the company of Anhua's former richest man, Wang Zuguang!"

When Zhou Yu and Sun Lele heard that name, they suddenly understood.

"Oh, so it's him!"

Zongguang Group operated on a different level and didn't have much crossover with real estate, so usually only the names of its smaller subsidiary construction companies were seen.

So Zhou Yu and Sun Lele were truly unfamiliar with the name, and certainly wouldn't have connected it with Anhua's richest man.

Zhou Yu said urgently, "How is that possible? Isn't Zongguang Group controlled by Wang Zuguang? He holds over fifty percent of the shares."

"Changing the name is like starting from scratch. Would he be happy about that?"

Chen Xi waved a hand. "We small-timers shouldn't worry about such things. The big shots will figure it out."

Sun Lele craned her neck. "Brother Xi, you call us ignorant, but when it's time to actually think about something, you suddenly don't want to. So what was the point of making such a big fuss? Why don't you think carefully about what's really going on?"

Chen Xi was rendered speechless and scurried over to Mu Lin for refuge. "Brother Mu, look at them! All that long hair and they still don't know a thing! Now they're ganging up on me!"

Mu Lin, however, said calmly, "Zongguang Group is about to bear the Chu name, isn't it?"

Chen Xi was even more shocked. He had gone through so much trouble to get this huge scoop, yet Mu Lin already knew. Not only that, he even knew the behind-the-scenes details with perfect clarity.

'What more is there to say?'

"Brother Lin, you're incredible..." Chen Xi stared at Mu Lin in shock. "Did you divine this or something?"

Mu Lin couldn't be bothered to explain, and he certainly wasn't going to reveal that he was the one who had ordered Zongguang Group to change its allegiance.

All of Anhua was swept up in a storm.

At 10 a.m., the press conference officially began. Wang Zuguang announced his retirement, stating he would no longer be involved in any of Zongguang Group's affairs and that Chu Chaoxiong would take over as chairman.

An observant financial reporter discovered that all of Wang Zuguang's stock had been given to Chu Chaoxiong.

This was outrageous. Why? At the reception, Chu Chaoxiong's secretary slipped him a red envelope and told him not to spread the word.

Everyone was shocked. Many partners who had worked with Zongguang Group for over thirty years didn't know about this.

When they heard the news, they were utterly floored.

A new name, a new boss—everything was starting from scratch. The question wasn't whether previous partnerships could be maintained. The biggest question was whether *you* could actually maintain those relationships!

If any changes occurred, the livelihoods of thousands of people in their factories would be at stake.

Mu Lin sat in his office, calmly scrolling through his phone, watching the blueprint he had laid out rapidly become a reality.

'Hahaha, this is really great.'

Chu Chaoxiong had now completely kicked Wang Zuguang to the curb, becoming the new richest man in Anhua.

At the Zhou residence, Zhou Qianfan was having breakfast with his father when an old friend called, urging him to turn on the TV. He quickly switched to the local financial news channel.

Seeing the news, he was completely stunned.

'Damn, I can't believe he pulled this off.'

Zhou Qianfan was so shocked he couldn't move. "Dad, this is Mu Lin's handiwork, right? Just yesterday he called me to ask about Wang Zuguang... and today this happens..."

Zhou Qishan watched the broadcast intently. "Mu Lin wasn't even there. That kid... he's directing everything from behind the curtain!"

"We can't compare, we just can't!" Zhou Qishan said, shaking his head.

"Dad, how do you think he did it? This is too fast. Chu Chaoxiong must be his man, but when did he win him over? I've never even heard of them interacting."

Zhou Qishan said, "At this point, how he did it is no longer important. What's important is Mu Lin. Our Zhou Family is in the first-class cabin of his great ship. We have to ride the waves with him so we don't get thrown overboard."

"We must maintain a good relationship with Mu Lin. The entire future of our Zhou Family rests on his shoulders!"

Zhou Qianfan didn't need his father's reminder; he already understood Mu Lin's importance all too well.

At the Li Group, Li Xue was delivering a document to Li Yinhe but found him watching a broadcast on his computer.

"Dad, what's this..."

Li Yinhe shook his head. "The winds have changed in Anhua! The richest man is someone new. I don't know what the future holds."

Li Xue said, "I don't know either..." To be honest, she was still completely stunned.

"Regardless, since there's a new richest man, he's bound to have his own inner circle. We have to do everything we can to secure a place in it. In the past, the Li Group was too weak and had no say. Now that the Li Group is Anhua's number one construction company, it's time to seek greater opportunities for growth!"

Li Xue asked, "Dad, do you mean we should pay a visit to Chu Chaoxiong?"

Li Yinhe replied, "Of course. Otherwise, if he turns out to be the petty type who'll make life difficult for anyone who doesn't pay their respects, our Li Group can't afford to suffer the consequences."

He still had fresh memories of when Wu Long had them in his crosshairs. Now that he saw a new powerful figure to latch onto, he was quick to seize the opportunity.

In the special team's office, Mu Lin's phone suddenly vibrated. He glanced at it; it was Xue Xi.

'It's Xue Yang's sister,' Mu Lin thought. 'I'd better be polite.' He stepped out to take the call.

"Hello, Miss Xue."

Xue Xi said, "Brother Mu, are you free? I was hoping you could do me a favor this afternoon!"

Mu Lin said, "Okay."

This left Xue Xi speechless. "You're not even going to ask what it is?"