"Who can tell me why my second and third brothers haven’t arrived yet?" Mrs. Xiao looked around the room and asked coldly.
In the whole hall, there were more than fifty relatives from Xiao Manxue’s direct and collateral lines, but they looked at each other in confusion and no one stood up to speak.
"Li Xinyi..." Suddenly, someone called out Mrs. Xiao’s name from outside the door. A drunk staggered in, his face flushed and reeking of alcohol, clearly having consumed a substantial amount. He slurred, "Li... Li Xinyi, what do you mean... what do you mean by holding a meeting at noon, denying people a peaceful lunch!"
"Second brother... second brother, don’t cause trouble," another person rushed in and grabbed the drunk, trying to persuade him to stop.
But a drunk’s strength is surprisingly huge when they are in a frenzy. The drunk pushed the man away and continued to gesticulate wildly, uttering nonsense without coherence.
Seated in the farthest corner, Lin Tian smiled meaningfully. He had recognized the two men as soon as they entered the hall; they were Miss.’s second and third uncles. Lin Tian’s smile stemmed from discovering something interesting—the "second brother" had drunk a lot, but he was not actually drunk and was only pretending to be.
His act was quite convincing. He even paused for a moment when he saw me. If he were truly drunk, he wouldn’t have that kind of expression. Lin Tian decided not to expose him yet, curious to see what they were up to. Perhaps the two had heard something and knew that today’s meeting was about them, so they collaborated to create a drunken disturbance.
The other family members remained silent, but their looks toward the drunken "second brother" were filled with disgust. Wherever you are, a drunk is always a nuisance. Moreover, everyone had sacrificed their lunch break for this meeting, just because of one person’s delay.
"Third brother, why did second brother drink so much? I had already notified everyone about the meeting before eleven o’clock. Didn’t he know?" Mrs. Xiao’s face was full of anger. She was already upset by being called out by her name, and now, the sham drunkenness disrupting the meeting was clearly a disregard for her notice.
The "third brother" showed a troubled expression and hesitated for a long while before saying, "Sister-in-law, the second brother has his own difficulties. Recently, the jewelry department under the group was restructured. This was supposed to be a good thing, but after the restructuring, second brother’s responsibilities as the head were sidelined, and instead, a bunch of outsiders were brought in. That’s why second brother is upset and turned to drinking to drown his sorrows. Please don’t blame him; he is just worried about the jewelry department."
Haha, these two, they tried force last time and now they are playing the sympathy card. Hearing this, Lin Tian guessed the "benevolent intention" behind their act. Moreover, his words were very suggestive: one implying that the group would rather employ outsiders than use their own people who have worked hard, which is unreasonable and indirectly criticizes Xiao Manxue for her haphazard employment.
The other implication was that the "second brother" was worried about the jewelry department, hinting that the restructuring might not be well executed and its future is uncertain—ultimately blaming Xiao Manxue for ineffective changes which could ruin the jewelry department.
Such artful speaking, never mentioning Xiao Manxue but implicating her in every word, and highlighting his own worried and diligent image.
Though the meeting hadn’t officially started on the surface, the two sides had already begun clashing, with the "second brother" and "third brother" making the first move. As an observer, Lin Tian saw it all very clearly.
Mrs. Xiao and her daughter also perceived the underlying meaning in his words and frowned, surprised at their play.
When "third brother" saw that Mrs. Xiao did not respond, his face became even more sorrowful. He sighed and said, "Ever since our elder brother was here, the second brother has been in charge of the jewelry department. He has been utterly devoted and single-mindedly managed the operations. Although there were minor issues recently, after so many years of dedication, though there might not be merit, there is certainly hard work. Now, suddenly reduced to an idle man, he is distressed."
Wow, to speak of massive jade fraud as a minor issue, just how thick is their skin? I thought I had thick skin, but it turns out you have none whatsoever.
Mrs. Xiao, Miss, please do not fall for their scheme. If we keep arguing wildly , we won’t finish even by tomorrow, and the meeting won’t be necessary. Just get straight to the point and present the evidence. Tell the truth, strike them at their vital point, and see what they can do then.
"Second Brother, Third Brother, it’s pointless to talk more. I summoned you today for one purpose only, to announce the matter concerning both of you—the jade forgery incident, which involved collusion between you and the Bai Family. You are the main conspirators!" Mrs. Xiao wasn’t foolish and didn’t bother to argue with them. She simply made the announcement.
Well done, Mrs. Xiao! Truly worthy of being the helmswoman of Xiao Group, Lin Tian praised silently, then lounged back in his seat, realizing he didn’t need to step in, as they seemed to have everything under control. He glanced at another corner, where Xiao Manxuan seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief too.
"Manxue, bring over the computer." Mrs. Xiao ignored whatever he was about to say and simply looked past him.
Her actions indeed subdued everyone there. "Third Brother" gaped, his intended words stuck in his throat. He glanced at "Second Brother," who was still in a drunken rage, and Second Brother, as if by telepathy, jerked violently and staggered toward Mrs. Xiao, babbling nonsense.
"Li... Li Xinyi, you... you think I’m too drunk to understand, that you can take me down, wishful thinking... I’m not afraid of you, not afraid..." He staggered to the front, gesticulating wildly.
"Sister-in-law, maybe we should wait until Second Brother sobers up to continue the meeting," suggested someone cautiously from the clan.
"Give him some sober-up tea. What sort of example does this set in a family meeting!" Mrs. Xiao immediately dismissed the suggestion.
The tea was ready, and the servant quickly brewed and brought it over. However, with a careless sweep of his hand, he sent the tray and tea cups flying outward, crashing them to pieces, with tea splashing all over the floor.
"I don’t want tea, I want alcohol, get away." He pulled a servant aside, then reached to push Mrs. Xiao away. Whether intentional or not, his hand moved toward Mrs. Xiao’s chest, terrifying her. She couldn’t move backward as she was blocked by a chair.
The old rascal, pretending to be mad and trying to take advantage, Lin Tian strode forward in two quick steps, grabbed him by the collar from behind, and with a loud thud, threw the "drunken man" to the ground.
Goddammit, who do you think you are to touch Mrs. Xiao’s chest? If anyone should, it’d be me! Uh, no, that’s not right—no one should touch her! Lin Tian broke into a sweat, nearly letting his thoughts slip. What a sin.
"Who are you? Why are you pulling me!" Despite recognizing the man before him as Lin Tian, who had hit him before, the drunkard still had to pretend.
Many people in the hall didn’t recognize Lin Tian, as only a few stewards had been present at the last meeting, and many were puzzled about where this man suddenly appeared from.
Lin Tian responded with a disdainful sneer, snorting, "I’m Lin Tian."
"Lin Tian? He is Lin Tian!"
"He is the uncrowned king of the Zhonghai City Gambling Stone Festival, the winner of the sky-high priced jade, Lin Tian!"
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om