Mount Xiang was a town in Ningbo. It took Qin Sheng an hour and a half to get there from the downtown area of Ningbo by driving. However, compared with the downtown area, which was noisy, the seaside of Mount Xiang was comparatively quiet. Unlike those cities standing close to the sea in the downtown area, which had been overdeveloped, the seaside of Mount Xiang was more natural.
The most well-known delicacy brand in Mount Xiang was Mount Xiang Seafood, whose signs were hung everywhere in the downtown area of Ningbo. The seafood delicacies in Mount Xiang had different flavors from those of other cities. Whether it was on the weekend or during a holiday, the citizens from the downtown area of Ningbo and the surrounding cities would hang around in Mount Xiang along with their family members.
Qin Sheng stayed in the villa housing estate of Rose Garden, White Sand Bay, which was by the seaside in Mount Xiang. It was a villa where the Qu Family members would enjoy their days off in Mount Xiang. However, the number of times the Qu Family members had visited this villa could be counted. After all, as the business of the Qu Family grew bigger and bigger, Qu Fan and his father became busier and busier.
At dusk, as the light of the setting sun shed on the beach, Qin Sheng and Lin Su walked side by side on the beach inside the housing estate of White Sand Bay. There was nobody else on the beach other than them. As they walked, a series of footprints were imprinted on the beach. Nan Gong and Chang Baji stood far away from them and looked around warily, but did not follow behind them closely.
As the spring returned to the good earth, the temperature went up. It was pretty hot in the south. Consequently, though it was dusk, as the sea breeze blew over their faces, Qin Sheng and Lin Su did not feel chilly at all. After Lin Su connected with Qin Sheng and got along with him for two days, she was how she used to be in the end. She did not feel as exhausted and anxious as she had when she had been confined by the Lin Family.
Qin Sheng had called his sister a moment ago, who had told him that a series of operations would be conducted against the Lin Family tomorrow morning. For the Qin Family, who had fought numerous times in the capital market, the operation against the Lin Family this time was nothing but a small trial. Compared with those tycoons in the capital market, the Lin Family was simply not worth mentioning. After all, the Qin Family had snatched gains from other powerful enemies’ hands numerous times, who were all long-standing capital big shots.
Qin Sheng said casually, “Honey, my sister told me over the phone that we should try our best to go back to Shanghai within three days. Something happened in our family. We should not delay any longer in Ningbo.” Though he said so, he was quite confused in secret, wondering what had happened since his sister had sounded so preoccupied with some troubles over the phone. Based on what Wu Han had told him on WeChat, it seemed that the situation was not that easy at all.
The sea breeze blew over Lin Su’s long hair, making it dance along with the wind. Lin Su had no choice but to tie her hair up. As the saying goes, a woman who tidies up her hair unconsciously looks the most attractive.
Lin Su asked confusedly, “What happened?”
Qin Sheng shook his head and forced a smile as he said, “I don’t know either. However, she said she needed your help with some things. After all, you were engaged in the financial industry previously.”
Lin Su asked somewhat worriedly, “Then what about my family? I want to go back home to inform my grandmother. If I leave Ningbo without notifying her in advance, I am afraid she will be heartbroken.” The health condition of her grandmother was getting worse and worse. Lin Su only cared about her grandmother.
Qin Sheng replied with interest, “It will be over tomorrow.”
After the setting sun was gone, a bright moon rose above the sea. Qin Sheng threw his arms around Lin Su’s shoulders, wandered along the beach with her, and did not pay attention to the passing of time at all. Ages had passed since they had gotten along with each other so quietly and comfortably. They remembered when they had been in Xiamen previously, they had taken walks on the beach every morning and night, which was a quite beautiful thing.
However many hardships there are along life’s journey, for a couple of lovers, the most romantic thing is to accompany each other through the aging process while standing by each other’s side until they both are grey-haired and numerous descendants flock all over the hall of the family house.
In the evening, Qu Fan recommended to them a restaurant whose brand was Mount Xiang Seafood. After Qin Sheng finished dinner there along with Lin Su and others, they went back to the villa, talked with each other for a while in the living room, and went to rest.
The members of the Lin Family went through an upsetting day, fearing that Qin Sheng’s sudden attack would catch them off guard. At the same time, they were inquiring about some inside stories related to Lin Songhao’s issue, hoping that they could find some traces.
In the morning, before dawn came, Lin Su urged Qin Sheng to get up and watch the sunrise along with her. In Lin Su’s opinion, there were many beautiful things in the world that could be attained without any gold or cash. If you raised your head, you would see them hanging in the sky.
After Qin Sheng’s group finished breakfast, they were prepared to go back to downtown. Although it was past nine o’clock at this moment, the catastrophe just befell the Lin Family. After 9 a.m., both Lin Changting and Lin Changhe received so many calls that it seemed like their mobiles were almost blown up. Various kinds of issues took place consecutively. The atmosphere of the Lin Family hit rock bottom in an instant.
Lin Ze, who was as anxious as an ant on a hotpot, said, “Second Uncle, what should we do? The whole company is in a mess. You should figure out a way quickly. Otherwise, the Lin Family will go bankrupt.”
The look on Lin Changhe’s face was ghastly pale. Smoke lingered around the study. He thought, “The reason why he conducted a series of tricks is to tear down the whole Lin Family. Everything that has been planned by God is here.”
Lin Changting, who was utterly dejected, said, “Changhe, these tricks should have been done by him.” Although they had speculated about numerous tricks that Qin Sheng would play, it did not occur to them that Qin Sheng would act so swiftly and fiercely, who simply did not give them any chance to fight back at all.
Many shareholders of two listed companies that were under the charge of the Lin Family rose up in revolt all of a sudden and requested to conduct a general meeting for all the shareholders to reshuffle the board of directors. According to them, the reason they had done so was that the sales performance last year was too poor. At the same time, after both the Shanghai stock market and Shenzhen stock market opened this morning, the stocks of these two listed companies were hit by funds all of a sudden. Following that, the supervision department in the government issued a memorandum and criticized them by name because of some violations they had conducted, asking them to explain. The stock price almost reached the line of close position now, which they had mortgaged. Consequently, they had no choice but to request both the Shanghai stock market and Shenzhen stock market to suspend their trading temporarily. However, since the current capital market was no longer as foul and chaotic as it used to be, if nothing important happened, they could only hang on for three more days.
Lin Changhe forced a smile and said, “In my opinion, he is the only one who can do this. Both the internal and external supervisions are on us now, which is somewhat horrifying. The background of the power behind him is unfathomable.”
Lin Ze asked confusedly, “Second Uncle, who are you referring to? Who is going against our family?” It seemed that all of the issues had broken out all of a sudden this morning. Lin Ze wondered who could be that powerful.
Lin Changhe forced a smile as he replied, “You didn’t figure out Lin Songhao’s issue, did you? Do you know the reason why Lin Songhao was taken down overnight? That’s because Lin Songhao had intended to kill him the night before, which resulted in his current situation. He is nobody else but Qin Sheng, your sister’s boyfriend, who had made a great scene in our family house last noon.”
Lin Ze exclaimed, “What?” He did not believe what his Second Uncle had said at all.
Lin Changting let out a long sigh and said, “Even we dare not believe it, let alone you. However, he is the only one who can do this. Qin Sheng is no longer what he used to be when he visited our family house in the past.”
At this moment, Lin Changting’s mobile rang all of a sudden. As Lin Changting saw that it was a call from the general manager of the corporation, he felt instantly that something had gone wrong and bad news was coming. As expected, after he answered the call and heard the manager out, his mobile fell to the ground directly. The look in his eyes was dim instantly. Lin Changting sat rigidly where he was, looking absent-minded.
Lin Ze ran over in a hurry and asked, “Dad, what’s wrong with you? What happened now?”
At that moment, Lin Changhe was not afraid anymore. Anyway, the situation could not be too much worse. Any bad news would be nothing else but another heavy blow. Consequently, he said directly, “Brother, feel free to tell us what the news is. Nothing is insurmountable. All we need to do is to deal with the issue together.”
It was not until Lin Changting heard what Lin Changhe had said that he revealed the answer. “Three banks that have provided our family with long-term loan services just announced all of a sudden that we should pay back the loans within a specified period. Our family is somewhat doomed this time.”
Lin Ze said, “Do three banks intend to collect the loans at the same time?” He was so startled that cold sweat ran all over his body. Of course, Lin Ze knew the meaning of what Lin Changting said. It meant that if they could not find available funds as soon as possible, the Lin Family would be completely doomed.
However, it seemed that more bad news was on the way. Lin Changhe’s phone rang again. Lin Changhe picked up the call calmly and said, “Tell me what it is.”
After Lin Changhe heard the person over the phone out, he said evenly, “I know. All you need to do is to wait for my call.”
After Lin Changhe finished his words, he hung up the call and let out a sigh as he said to Lin Changting and Lin Ze, “All the people outside know what has happened to our family. Both the project contractor and supplier are urging us to get the debts paid off. They besieged the building where our headquarters lie. In my opinion, the connection from the government’s side will call us soon. A series of cumulative events will take place.”
After Lin Ze heard the news, he fell on the ground directly. Several pieces of news consecutively hit him so hard that he had completely lost confidence. He wondered who could save the Lin Family at this time. Could it be that the Lin Family, which had hundreds of years of history, would be wiped out in one day?
Lin Changting did not give a damn about it anymore. Since the current issues were sufficient to knock the Lin Family down, it would make no difference at all if there were several more pieces of bad news. The result would be still the same.
Lin Changhe gritted his teeth and said, “Brother, if the government interferes in our issue, we will be doomed once and for all. Consequently, let’s make a decision as soon as possible.”
Lin Changting asked confusedly, “What kind of decision?”
Lin Changhe said straightforwardly, “Sue for peace.” Currently, there was only one way to save the Lin Family. Though it seemed that there were many crises ahead, as long as Qin Sheng was willing to let go of the Lin Family, those crises would be automatically solved then.
Lin Changting stood up all of a sudden and said agitatedly, “Are you asking me to lower my head in front of Qin Sheng and admit my mistake?”
Lin Changhe replied helplessly, “Brother, in your opinion, except for this way, do we have another way out?” He knew that his brother would be unwilling to admit his mistake in front of Qin Sheng. Even so, what else could they do?
Lin Changting refused without hesitation. “No way. Even if the Lin Family will go bankrupt, never will I apologize to Qin Sheng and admit my mistake.” If he did apologize to Qin Sheng and admit his mistake, where should both his and the Lin Family’s dignity lie?
At this time, Lin Ze, who came to his senses, stopped Lin Changting in a hurry as he said, “Dad, at times like this, you can’t be hesitant anymore. Is your dignity more important than that of our family?”
Lin Ze knew clearly that once the Lin Family collapsed, he would lose everything he had previously had. As for what he would look like at that time, it was self-evident. As for the kind of men like him, who did not have any guts, they always acted on the wishes of others. Even though he had looked down upon Qin Sheng previously and Qin Sheng had beaten him the day before yesterday, as long as Qin Sheng was willing to let go of his family, he would take whatever action without hesitation, even if he were asked to kneel and greet Qin Sheng as his grandfather.
Lin Changting cursed at Lin Ze in rage as he said, “Get out! Even though you are shameless, I cherish my long-standing dignity very much.”
Lin Changhe was somewhat at a loss. Since his brother represented the Lin Family, the conflict between the Lin Family and Qin Sheng was equal to one between his brother and Qin Sheng. As long as his brother was willing to admit his mistake, Lin Changhe believed that Qin Sheng would not put the Lin Family in a difficult position. After all, Lin Su was the daughter of the Lin Family.
Fortunately, the only good news was that they had not made a unilateral decision to leak Qin Sheng’s news to the members of the Yan Family. Moreover, they had reminded Lin Ze that he should not act recklessly. If he or Lin Ze had not done as advised, they would not have had to figure out ways to sue for peace. All they needed to do now was to wait for death.
Since Lin Changting had acted so determinedly, Lin Changhe had no choice but to say relievedly, “Brother, since you said so, then let’s wait for death together.”
The atmosphere was at a standstill. Lin Changting sat in the chair. The look on his face was expressionless. He, who did not say anything at all, looked like a walking dead.
Lin Changting asked himself in secret whether he was willing to apologize to Qin Sheng and admit his mistake.
As time was ticking away, the members of the Lin Family felt like they were waiting for a countdown.
At this moment, the housekeeper ran inside and told them that many people had shown up outside all of a sudden and had besieged the Lin Family house, saying they were here to collect debts. Following that, Lin Changting got a call from a primary leader of the municipal government, who inquired about what had happened to the Lin Family today.
Several minutes later, Lin Changting could not stand it in the end. He stumbled on the chair and said to Lin Changhe weakly, “I lost. Changhe, please give him a call.”