Chapter 333 - 331: A Life-saving Phone Call

Chapter 333: Chapter 331: A Life-saving Phone Call

"I know. Dad, don’t worry. I won’t let my pride get in the way of asking Uncle Shao for advice." Mu Guoliang forced a smile and nodded in agreement with his old father’s words.

"United, brothers are strong enough to break metal."

Mr. Mu’s gaze fell upon his younger son, Mu Zhe, then turned back to Mu Guoliang. "You two brothers must never forget this. This saying is always true. Only by working together and supporting each other can you take our Mu Family to new heights. Never let petty profits cause you to fight amongst yourselves. Doing so would not only severely weaken you, but outsiders would just laugh at you behind your backs. Furthermore, if brothers are willing to turn on each other for personal gain, no one truly discerning will think highly of you."

"Dad, don’t worry, we won’t." Mu Zhe’s eyes reddened. "From now on, I’ll follow my big brother’s lead and help him continue to bring glory to our Mu Family."

"That’s right, Dad. Don’t you know us by now? My little brother and I have always been on good terms. We’ll definitely support each other just as you said. We’ll never stoop to fighting amongst ourselves like that," Mu Guoliang also promised.

"Good, good! Ha, ha... With that, I can rest easy... *Cough, cough cough*..." Mr. Mu was overjoyed to hear his sons’ promises and began to laugh, but it turned into a violent coughing fit halfway through. Seeing this, Tong Qingye quickly rushed over to pat his back, her face etched with deep worry as she cried, "You just worry too much! If you worried a little less, you wouldn’t be... at an age that isn’t even that old..." She wiped at her tears, but they only flowed faster.

Mu Guoliang and Mu Zhe stood by, watching as Mr. Mu’s coughing grew more and more violent. Their eyes filled with anxiety and sorrow, but they were powerless to help.

Just then, a KNOCK, KNOCK came from the door. Everyone’s eyes instinctively turned toward the sound. At a time like this, other family members wouldn’t normally come and knock unless it was something important.

The two brothers exchanged a glance. Finally, Mu Zhe walked over and gently opened the door. He saw the family’s maid, Xiao Lin, standing outside. "What is it?" he asked.

Xiao Lin had also heard the coughing from inside the room. She lowered her gaze. "Third Young Master, there’s a phone call for you. The person on the line said his name is Zhang Wei Qiang and that it’s urgent."

"Okay, I understand." Mu Zhe nodded. He glanced back into the room and heard his father’s coughing gradually subside. Only then did he let out a small sigh of relief. "Mom, Dad, Big Brother, I’m going to take a call." With that, he walked out, closing the door behind him.

Inside the room, everyone had heard what Xiao Lin said. Tong Qingye couldn’t help but frown and complain, "What time is it? What could possibly be so important that he has to call right now? Is it something else they need from our family? And Mu Zhe... Even though he saved you back then, didn’t you repay him by teaching him our family’s martial arts? Not to mention all the other things you’ve done your best to arrange for him. Even his success in business now is mostly because our family is backing him, isn’t it?"

"That’s enough," Mr. Mu, who had just managed to stop coughing, chided with a frown upon hearing his wife’s words. "Wei Qiang is a good kid. His background isn’t great, but there’s a reason Mu Zhe is so close to him. The boys are grown now; they have their own minds. Don’t they even have the right to make a few close friends?" He continued, "Stop judging everything by your standards. Do you really think friendships built on mutual benefit are that reliable? Just you watch. If our Mu Family ever truly declines, those ’friends’ will be the first to turn into wolves, pouncing on us to tear at our flesh and gnaw on our bones. The ones who will actually help are the friendships forged in hardship."

"Mom, Dad has a point. Besides saving Dad, this Zhang Wei Qiang is also the one who saved the Shao family’s old master and your grandson. If it weren’t for him, Second Sister would be in a terrible state right now."

Mu Guoliang took a step forward and secretly tugged on his mother’s clothes. Tong Qingye glanced at the old man, who was breathing heavily. Although she disagreed in her heart, she could only mutter, "Fine, fine, I won’t say any more. Don’t get worked up." Then she resentfully shut her mouth. Her displeasure was plain for anyone to see.

’Tong Qingye inwardly scoffed at her eldest son’s words. Did he think she didn’t know? She’d heard that although the car fell off the cliff, it had been safely snagged on the cliff face. If no one had moved, it would have been a close call but ultimately harmless, even if that boy from the Zhang family hadn’t ’saved’ them. But no, everyone overlooked that detail and praised him to the high heavens.’

’Seeing Tong Qingye like this, Mr. Mu sighed inwardly again. His wife was fine in other aspects, and her heart wasn’t truly bad, but her competitiveness and vanity were just too strong. Thankfully, both of his sons had good characters and didn’t take after her. At this thought, he felt a mix of relief and worry. He wasn’t worried about his sons, but about some of his grandchildren, who were already showing signs of being influenced by her and developing the same snobbish tendencies.’

’Alas, there was nothing to be done about it.’

He shook his head. "You... what can I even say to you? It’s often the people you look down on who end up being the ones who can help you... Sigh!"

Mr. Mu stopped there. He had said similar things countless times, but he’d never seen his wife truly take them to heart. ’She’ll probably be like this for the rest of her life,’ he thought, shaking his head.

「Downstairs in the living room.」

Mu Zhe stood holding the phone receiver, his expression growing more and more solemn. "...Hundred Herbs Rejuvenating Ointment? Okay, okay, I understand. I’ll go ask about it right now and find it so my dad can try it."

Hanging up the phone, he first went to find Xiao Lin. "Among the gifts people sent when we came back from the hospital, was there a jade-colored jar about this big?" he asked anxiously, making a circle with his hands roughly the size of a teacup.

"There was one," Xiao Lin said, nodding after thinking back carefully.

"Where is it? That’s a special medicine! Didn’t they say so when they gave it to us? Why wasn’t it taken out and mixed with water for the old master to drink?" Mu Zhe’s tone was severe.

’When Zhang Dazhuang had taken out the "Hundred Herbs Rejuvenating Ointment," he happened to not be there. Otherwise, he would have insisted on letting his father try it. He knew Zhang Wei Qiang wasn’t one to exaggerate, and his father was likely the same type of person. As long as there was even a sliver of hope, he would never give up so easily.’

"The thing... At the time, Aunt Tong said it was an unlicensed product of unknown origin with no labels and told me to get rid of it. But it’s been so busy these past few days, I haven’t had a chance to clean up the unwanted things and throw them out, so it should still be in the storage room." Xiao Lin was so startled by Mu Zhe’s unprecedented severity that she almost burst into tears.

"...It’s good that it wasn’t thrown away. It’s in the storage room, right? Let’s go. I’ll go with you to find it." Hearing that it was his own mother who had ordered it to be disposed of, Mu Zhe was so angry and anxious he was on the verge of exploding. But when he heard the item was still there, he finally let out a huge sigh of relief. Unable to wait another moment, he grabbed Xiao Lin and headed straight for the storage room.