"Thank you very much for your help, Elder Zhou. Please, come to the living room for a meal," Xiao Manxue said. After all, as the president of Xiao Group, she had experienced a lot and was not just a naive little girl. She adjusted her emotions quickly.
"Haha, Miss Xiao, there’s no need for a meal. I just enjoy chatting with Xiao Tian when I’m free. I think your Xiao Family has more important matters to attend to. Don’t worry about this old man," Elder Zhou replied with a laugh, declining Xiao Manxue’s hospitality.
Seeing that Elder Zhou indeed had no intention of staying, Lin Tian, who knew his temperament well and knew he wasn’t one for formalities, said, "Miss, let me drive Elder Zhou back. He must be tired after the long day and needs some rest."
Xiao Manxue looked at her with gratitude and nodded in agreement. She indeed had no mind to cater to so many things at the moment.
Elder Zhou did not object to Lin Tian driving him. On the way to Bamboo Sea Villa Area, he did not mention the issue with the Xiao Family at all. It was only when Lin Tian was saying goodbye that he said, "Xiao Tian, try to stay out of the Xiao Family’s matters as much as you can. The games of business mergers are crueler than you imagine."
He said this purely out of concern for Lin Tian, who could only respond with a wry smile and nod. Being just a bodyguard, even if he wanted to get involved, Miss wouldn’t trust him.
When Lin Tian returned to Xiao Mansion, he sensed that something was amiss because there were more than a dozen cars parked outside. He stopped a young maid and asked, "Beautiful sister, did someone visit the Xiao Family? Why are there so many cars outside?"
The girl, whom he addressed as beautiful sister, blushed and whispered, "It seems Miss has invited some people from the Xiao Family to discuss something important."
"Miss has other family members? Doesn’t Mr. Xiao only have one son? I haven’t heard of any others," Lin Tian, having stayed at Xiao Mansion for several days now, had never seen any relatives visit.
"According to the old servants of the Xiao Family, they are from the branch line of Grandpa Xiao’s brother; they are distant relatives. Miss is kind-hearted and has given them some responsibilities within the family business to take care of the family’s people," the young girl seemed to know a lot and elaborated on the Xiao Family matters to Lin Tian.
The Grandpa Xiao mentioned by the servant was Xiao Manxue’s great-grandfather, which meant that the people who came today were from the branch line of her great-granduncle.
Over the past few generations, Xiao Family lineage had been passed down to a single heir until Xiao Manxue’s grandfather started the family business and became wealthy, further expanded by her father’s efforts. That meant the current Xiao Group had no real connection to those great-uncles or their descendants.
Lin Tian couldn’t understand why Xiao Manxue was so confused to let family relatives manage the business. It’s taboo in family businesses to have relatives in management, as they might push out external talents for their own interests and not be treated equally when making mistakes.
Such management would lead to a chaotic enterprise. Ah, it’s other people’s affairs; why bother so much. Lin Tian thanked the maid and walked toward the villa.
However, when he reached the villa, he found the front door closed. Did they need to be this secretive? He was too lazy to deal with them. Unable to return to his room, Lin Tian thought about going to the nearby pavilion to read, but suddenly a loud voice came from the living room.
"Sister-in-law, this is merely a woman’s perspective. Our brother’s efforts are going to fail because of you."
Wow, which bastard dared to speak to Mrs. Xiao like that? These Xiao relatives were really overestimating themselves. To put it harshly, if not for the pity of Mrs. Xiao and Miss, they wouldn’t have gotten a single penny from Xiao Group.
Through the walls, Lin Tian saw about fifteen people sitting around the long table in the living room. The two at the head were Mrs. Xiao and her daughter; Lin Tian did not recognize any other people, curiously missing Manxue.
At that moment, a middle-aged man stood up, his face showing both worry and anger. However, Lin Tian saw something off in his gaze; the anger might be genuine, but the worry was definitely fake.
"Second Brother, mind your words. I invited you here to discuss solutions, not for you to critique my daughter and me. As the head of the jewelry department, if all you can do is blame others, then you’re not fit for your role!" Mrs. Xiao, having been in charge of the Xiao Group for a long time, spoke with an air of authority.
Since Mrs. Xiao addressed him as Second Brother, he must be the second in rank, younger than Mrs. Xiao’s deceased husband. Lin Tian could guess from his gaze that he resented the Xiao family’s business falling into the hands of a woman, especially an outsider. He intended to use his relation with the late Mr. Xiao to challenge Mrs. Xiao and her daughter.
Unfortunately, he miscalculated. Mrs. Xiao certainly handled it well, Lin Tian silently praised. With such people, one cannot yield but must be assertive to command respect.
"So, Sister-in-law, are you planning to downsize the jewelry department? My opinion is to disagree. Can’t we take out loans?" said the middle-aged man, softening his tone significantly. It was clear that this man was the type who bullied the weak but feared the strong.
If he truly had the Xiao family’s best interests at heart, he would have continued to argue his case. His quick shift to a softer stance revealed his selfish motives, and Lin Tian shook his head in disapproval.
At that moment, Xiao Manxue spoke up, "I’ve already informed the bank, and they said their quota for loans this quarter is already maxed out. It’s not possible to get a loan for now."
"That’s too much of a coincidence!"
"Yes, isn’t someone messing with us?"
A dozen people started discussing when Lin Tian noticed the middle-aged man stealthily signaling to another person, who then stood up and said, "Sister-in-law, we could borrow from the Bai Family or sell off some shares to raise enough funds to get through this tough time."
"Third Brother, you might not be aware, but the biggest suspect in the raw jade issue this time is the Bai Family. How could we trust them," Mrs. Xiao objected.
"Sister-in-law, the issue might also be with the traders in Myanmar. This time, the raw jade we purchased wasn’t through the official Myanmar Yangon Public Auction, so it’s not surprising that problems occurred," the Third Brother continued to analyze.
If Lin Tian hadn’t met Xu Shan, he too wouldn’t have known the culprit. Even now, knowing it was the Bai Family, Lin Tian had no evidence to prove it.
"Right, Sister-in-law, and besides, Mr. Bai’s pursuit of Miss Xiao is well known. How could they possibly do such a thing?" Someone even brought up Xiao Manxue’s situation to make their point.
"All Miss has to do is speak to Mr. Bai, and resolving this issue wouldn’t be difficult. Don’t you think?"
This statement was met with a chorus of agreement, while Xiao Manxue was visibly furious.
Damn, the men of the Xiao family are all incompetents, better off as eunuchs, Lin Tian spat angrily. To ask one’s own family woman to compromise herself for help, akin to ancient Emperors sending their daughters away in marriage to protect themselves, was a disgrace!
"Who dares ask Sister to beg that hypocrite, I’ll let Little Hua bite him to death!" A spoiled, cute voice suddenly came from upstairs, followed by the "thump, thump, thump" of hurrying down the stairs, and in a moment, the spoiled little girl appeared before everyone.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢