Chapter 411 410: Gifting a Villa

"With your brother here to guide you, you'll improve very quickly."

It was only then that Yuan Kun noticed Xiao Hongling beside them, and he was completely stunned.

'She's gorgeous. It's hard to believe a girl like her actually exists in this world.'

She was just sitting there next to Mu Lin. Even though she noticed him staring, she didn't get angry or pay him any mind.

'This has to be Brother Lin's girl. Nice one...'

'She's exactly the kind of woman Mu Lin deserves.'

Thinking this, Yuan Kun quickly shut his mouth.

Yuan Zhen was deeply grateful to Mu Lin. He gave a respectful bow and then hurried off to practice.

Yuan Kun went to join him, but having just started, his technique was clumsy and awkward. He was still severely lacking in experience.

He would probably need Yuan Zhen's help for a while before he could even get the hang of the basics.

This would make things much more efficient.

Mu Lin turned his head to look at Xiao Hongling. "Miss Xiao, what do you think we should do?"

Xiao Hongling smiled. "I think you're worrying for nothing. Why don't we just get a suite? We can each have our own small room. That way, you can protect me, and we'll both have our private space."

Mu Lin thought for a moment. "That makes sense. Miss Hong Ling is right."

Off to the side, Yuan Zhen suddenly pulled on Yuan Kun's arm and whispered a few words in his ear. Yuan Kun immediately hurried over.

"Brother Lin, are you guys looking for a place?"

Mu Lin was taken aback. 'How is Yuan Kun so perceptive?' But after a moment's thought, he realized the perceptive one wasn't Yuan Kun, but Yuan Zhen.

He was an Inner Strength master now; the acuity of his five senses had reached an extremely high level.

He must have overheard the conversation between him and Xiao Hongling.

"Yes. I have to provide close protection for Miss Hong Ling, so we need a separate space that also guarantees our privacy... More importantly, our situation could easily be misunderstood, so we need to find our own place."

Yuan Kun automatically ignored Mu Lin's explanation. "Brother Lin, what kind of house are you looking for? A furnished townhouse or a large villa? I have a few properties; I can get you whatever you'd like."

Mu Lin thought for a moment. "In that case, just rent one to me. The standard is a three-month deposit and one month's rent, right? I won't be staying that long. Let's just do two months' rent. I'll make sure you don't lose money on it."

Yuan Kun quickly waved his hands. "How could I possibly take your money! I haven't even properly thanked you for helping my brother achieve his breakthrough! You know?"

Mu Lin smiled. "I guess that's true."

Yuan Kun said, "I have a large villa by the river. It's very spacious and bright, and it's just been renovated. We just need to get some furniture and you can move right in. What do you think? It's yours. Consider it a thank you gift for helping my brother with his breakthrough."

Mu Lin wanted to say more, but Yuan Kun didn't give him a chance to speak.

"Alright, thanks. Just give me the keys. I'll stay here during my time in Lanyang, and I'll give it back to you later."

"How could I do that? It would be much better if you just kept it."

Mu Lin said, "It won't be long before I have to go back to the mountains anyway. No matter how big or nice a villa you give me, it'll just end up collecting dust. What's the point? If you really see me as a brother, you'll just take it back and live in it yourself when I'm gone. We're brothers, there's no need for all this formality, understand?"

Yuan Kun didn't understand why Mu Lin had to return to the mountains, but seeing Mu Lin put it that way, he knew Mu Lin had his own principles and that he shouldn't insist.

"Alright, I'll listen to you! Shall we go take a look at the villa's layout first, then go buy furniture?"

Mu Lin agreed. As long as they stopped arguing about gifting the villa, anything was fine.

Arriving at the riverside villa, Mu Lin scanned it. Even with his rudimentary knowledge of feng shui, he could tell it was a pretty good place.

"Brother Lin, take a look. What kind of furniture do you like?"

Mu Lin said, "Let's just buy some simple furniture, enough to live with. God knows if some moronic thugs will come to attack Miss Hong Ling. If they come even once, the furniture will definitely be smashed to bits. It'd be too wasteful."

Xiao Hongling, however, said, "If we're going to live here, let's live well. A little money for furniture is nothing. Since you're not picky, why don't you let me decide?"

Mu Lin said it didn't matter to him.

Yuan Kun chimed in, "Sister-in-law knows best. If you're buying furniture, I recommend He Family Home Textiles. Whether it's furniture or four-piece bedding sets, they're top-notch. He Zheng's family built a huge business with it."

Xiao Hongling felt a little uncomfortable hearing the term "sister-in-law," but she didn't correct Yuan Kun. "I've heard of the famous He Family Home Textiles even back in Di Yang. It's a great brand. I think that's a good idea."

Mu Lin didn't mind either way, so he stepped back and let Xiao Hongling take charge.

Once they arrived at the store, Xiao Hongling got busy picking things out, with Yuan Kun advising from the side.

Suddenly, Yuan Kun received a phone call. His expression changed drastically, and he was thrown into a panic.

Mu Lin found it strange. "Yuan Kun, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Yuan Kun's face was grim. "Brother Lin, my family's in trouble! Our company is being targeted! Suppliers suddenly cut us off, and now customers are saying our renovation materials are low-quality and want to sue us for compensation."

Mu Lin was a little surprised. Yuan Kun's family was in the renovation business; how could they run into this kind of trouble?

'Isn't that one of the most harmless industries there is?'

Immediately after, Yuan Kun received calls from several of his buddies. After a few questions, he found out their companies were being targeted too.

This was definitely not a coincidence. Someone was deliberately targeting them.

Why?

Mu Lin immediately called Yun Cheng. Yun Cheng helped investigate right away, and in a short while, he reported back that it was a scheme by the Baiju Group.

In an instant, Mu Lin understood who his opponent was: Gong Jintang.

'To be able to create such a mess, Gong Jintang really is something else.'

"It's time to teach Lanyang First Group a lesson."

Mu Lin then asked Yuan Kun what industries his other friends' families were in.

Clothing and building materials.

Mu Lin thought about it for a moment. 'I actually have people in those fields.'

'And they're way more powerful.'

Mu Lin immediately gave Chen Xiaoyou's contact information to Ge Xingqiu.

Ge Xingqiu was having trouble processing it. Chen Xiaoyou's name was legendary in the industry, and Mu Lin was just casually telling him to go find the man himself.

"Mr. Mu, is this... really okay?"

Mu Lin said, "Why wouldn't it be? I've already contacted him. Just go over there like you're visiting family. Uncle Chen won't give you a hard time."

Then there was Lu Lei. Her family was in the clothing business and was facing a massive number of returns. The backed-up inventory had completely filled their warehouses.

"Lu Lei, let me ask you, what's the quality of your family's clothes like? Would they be out of place in a major department store?"

Lu Lei was slightly stunned. After a moment's thought, she said, "Our clothes have always been supplied directly to major department stores as a high-end brand. I don't understand why the customers are insisting on returning them."

Mu Lin said, "In Songyang, there's a company called Yinchuan Group. The chairman is named Song Chuan. He also has a clothing sales business and is looking to source from your group. What do you think, are you interested?"

Lu Lei was so shocked she almost cried out, quickly covering her mouth. "Yes! Yes! I'm more than willing!"

'We were just worrying about how to get rid of all this stock. Finding a stable channel to offload it would be amazing.'

'It's incredible. Mu Lin's connections are just unbelievable.'

Ge Xingqiu immediately explained the situation to his father and then ran to the company.

Ge Xingqiu's father was Ge Jianguo. He was currently fuming in his office. The floor was covered in shards of a broken vase, a testament to his fury.

Right now, many clients had stopped working with him. Some had brought their goods right to the warehouse doors demanding refunds, while others had torn up their contracts, declaring they would never work with him again.

Even worse, some had turned around and accused them of having quality issues, demanding ten times the payment in compensation.

He was at his wit's end, and miserable.

"Dad!" Ge Xingqiu pushed open the office door. Seeing his father's terrible expression, he said hurriedly:

"We have a buyer for our building materials!"

Ge Jianguo glanced at Ge Xingqiu. "Cut the crap. You're still in school, where could you possibly find a buyer? We don't have one or two tons of stock piled up, we have tens of thousands of tons!"

Ge Xingqiu said, "How could this be fake? Chairman Chen, Chen Xiaoyou, has already expressed interest! He's just waiting for our reply!"

Ge Jianguo froze for a moment. "Wait, who did you say?"

"The Building Materials King of Songyang, Chen Xiaoyou! That's him! His company's volume is huge, they can take tens of thousands of tons, all of it!"

Ge Jianguo nearly pissed his pants in shock. 'How is that possible?'