Chapter 42: That's a Person, Not a Dog

That large dog was quite sizable. It trembled with every movement, as if it had been horribly abused.

Reminded of her own company's plight, Li Xue actually felt a pang of sympathy for the dog and couldn't tear her eyes away.

But it wasn't a dog. It was Yang Jian, on his knees.

The figure in front of him was Mu Lin.

Yang Jian didn't dare to get ahead of Mu Lin, so he stayed right behind him.

For every step Mu Lin took, he crawled one forward.

'Mu Lin felt a bit numb himself. But with Yang Jian being this subservient, what more could he do?'

And so, the man and the "dog" slowly made their way toward the office building.

"President Li, what are you looking at?" Lu Yi decided to poke fun at Li Xue again. 'It won't be long before she's swept out the door,' he thought. 'It'll be hard to get another chance to mess with her then.'

He also walked to the doorway to look outside.

He was instantly stunned.

Mu Lin was walking in front, and trailing beside him was Yang Jian, crawling slowly on his hands and knees.

Li Yinhe was also shocked. "Mu Lin, what is going on here!"

Mu Lin shrugged. "How would I know? Maybe it's some kind of special hobby rich people have."

At this, Yang Jian scrambled forward, lunging toward Li Xue. "President Li! President Li, I'm not human! I'm just a dog who can't say anything decent! I was blinded by lust and spouted all that nonsense! I was wrong! I was wrong!"

Li Xue's lip trembled. She truly couldn't bear to see this, but the Yang Jian she'd heard on the phone had been too disgusting, too detestable. She couldn't bring herself to forgive him.

But that wasn't all that confused her.

Why had Yang Jian's attitude changed so drastically? Why was he so terrified of Mu Lin?

Question after question swirled in her mind, but she could find no answers.

"President Li! President Li!"

When Yang Jian saw that Li Xue wasn't responding, he pleaded desperately.

But Li Xue simply turned and walked away, retreating behind her father.

Li Yinhe stepped forward. "Boss Yang, there's no need for this. Please, get up. We can talk then."

Many employees had come out to watch the spectacle. It was a huge blow to Yang Jian's pride. If word of this got out, his reputation as the "Pig King" of Anhua City would be ruined.

Yang Jian stubbornly refused to get up. Mu Lin said, "Boss Yang, Chairman Li himself has spoken. Aren't you going to stand?"

Yang Jian convulsed. He struggled with his limbs, trying to climb to his feet, but his hands and feet slipped, and he fell heavily to the ground.

He had already pushed his injured body to its limit just by crawling here.

Lu Yi's brow twitched violently. 'Yang Jian is a ticking time bomb,' he thought. 'If he points the finger at me and says it was my idea, my career at the Li Group will be over.'

Mu Lin sighed, helped Yang Jian up, and then placed a hand on his injured area. He rubbed the spot, helping to clear the blockages and disperse the clotted blood.

Yang Jian felt much better.

Li Yinhe said, "Boss Yang, the seven million has been received. Our accounts are now settled. Let's let bygones be bygones."

'But Chen Xi wasn't satisfied. That bastard Yang Jian conspired with Xiaowang and made me suffer so much. How can we just let this go so easily?'

"Wait a minute, Chairman Li, I have a question," Chen Xi said, raising his hand. Before Li Yinhe could agree, he asked Yang Jian directly, "Did someone order you not to pay the money?"

Yang Jian's mouth twitched and his expression turned sour. He was physically and mentally exhausted; any semblance of composure he once had was shattered, and his every thought was written on his face.

He didn't say a word, but his silence was an admission: there was a conspirator pulling the strings.

The faces of everyone present changed.

"Who was it?" Chen Xi pressed, wanting to capitalize on his advantage. "I have someone in mind... your childhood friend..."

"Chen Xi! That's enough!" Chen Quan snapped.

Lu Yi's mouth twitched. Even though Yang Jian hadn't named anyone, he was afraid everyone present already understood.

They were just keeping quiet to maintain unity within the company.

'Dammit, what the hell is wrong with Yang Jian? Did he really need to kneel so disgracefully? Did Mu Lin beat him brain-dead?'

Elder Li and Chen Quan exchanged a look, and in that instant, they understood each other perfectly.

These were troubled times; there was no room for infighting. Getting to the bottom of this would have to wait.

"Since we've cleared the air, could you perhaps ask your friend to retract his order and lift the blockade on our Li Group's construction materials?"

Yang Jian's face soured. "My brother has the final say on this. If he's not willing, nothing I say will matter."

'Is he for real? Isn't Xiaowang just doing this for him? If he just says he's not angry anymore, wouldn't his friend stop the blockade?'

After all, Xiaowang must be losing a ton of money on a blockade like this.

Xiaowang had strode quickly toward the office building. When he saw Yang Jian still crawling on the ground, he was absolutely furious. How could his brother, Yang Jian, act so subserviently? Blood rushed to his head. Without a word, he rushed forward and burst into the building with wide strides.

"Brother! Get up!" Xiaowang rushed over and forcefully pulled Yang Jian to his feet. "How can you grovel like this?"

Yang Jian said, "I made a mistake, so of course I have to apologize to President Li. This is the punishment I deserve!"

'Xiaowang rolled his eyes. What a load of crap. Why make such a big deal out of it?'

'We're all in Anhua City, we're all the same flesh and blood. What makes Li Xue so high and mighty?'

"You're being way too sensitive. It was just a few jokes, does it really have to escalate to 'punishment'?" Xiaowang thought. 'It's over. My brother's finally lost his mind.'

Seeing that Xiaowang was present, Li Yinhe spoke politely. "President Wang, I know you cut off our construction material supply to stand up for Yang Jian. Could I ask you to be magnanimous and spare us?"

Xiaowang was not pleased. "You beat my brother to this state, and you're asking me to be magnanimous? Do you take me for a sucker?"

Yang Jian raised a hand, struggling to grab Xiaowang's shoulder. "Brother, stop. Just help me get home. And before you make a huge mistake, send them their goods. I'm sure Elder Li and Chairman Li are magnanimous people. They won't hold this against you."

Hearing his brother say this, Xiaowang hesitated. Yang Jian then added, "Just do it for my sake. Let it go, all right?"

Xiaowang gritted his teeth. "Since you're putting it like that... I'll let them off for today. But once I find out the truth, if the Li Family really did something unforgivable, I'll be back to demand justice!"

Having delivered his threat, Xiaowang simply picked up Yang Jian, headed for the door, and got into their car.

"Brother, I saved your hide today. You owe me a drink for this, you know?" Xiaowang said to Yang Jian.

Yang Jian shot him a look. "I'm the one who saved *your* life! Do you have any idea what earth-shattering secret Master Guo told me? If we hadn't backed down, we'd be dead."

'How is that possible? How did things escalate to a life-or-death situation?'

"What's going on? What did Master Guo tell you?"

"I'm not telling you! Just don't mess with the Li Group. Their connections are beyond anything you or I can imagine."

Xiaowang snorted. "Guo Lei is just a hired thug at the end of the day. What does he know? There's no proof for anything he says. You shouldn't believe him so easily."

"Who says there's no proof? Master Guo himself is the proof! Think about it, how did he rise to power? Don't you find something strange about it? Could he have climbed the ranks so smoothly if someone powerful hadn't chosen him?"

At that, a long silence fell over the car. Xiaowang realized he was actually convinced.

After a long moment, Yang Jian finally said, "You need to remember this favor I did you. Don't think for a second I'm trying to screw you over. That bastard Lu Yi is courting death, and we don't need to go down with him."