The conference room was dead silent.
The first thought in everyone’s mind was that this guy had probably lost it.
Normally, some of the lackeys would have started spouting off—people like Wang Chunmin.
But the current situation was anything but normal.
The key was the file on the table.
Huang Youwei opened the file, and his expression instantly changed. The sycophants who had been ready to attack also noticed something was wrong.
Liu Jinting sensed it too and leaned over to take a look.
BOOM!
The complete contract information, along with the property deeds—it all proved Lin Jiang was telling the truth!
As senior executives, they knew Berkeley Mall had been acquired by a company called "Ignore Risk."
And the various details inside showed that the boss of this company, Ignore Risk, was none other than Lin Jiang!
"President Lin!"
Huang Youwei was the first to stand up, looking flustered and nervous as he proactively extended his hand.
Lin Jiang nodded and gave it a brief shake.
"Forgive me for not welcoming you properly, truly."
"It’s fine."
Huang Youwei was quick-witted, pulling out his own chair for Lin Jiang.
Lin Jiang took the seat without missing a beat.
Sitting beside him, Liu Jinting was on pins and needles, her anxiety plain to see. The situation had completely thrown her off balance.
"Let’s pause today’s meeting for now. I need to have a private chat with President Liu."
Huang Youwei instantly understood. Standing behind Lin Jiang, he gestured with his head to the other mid-level managers.
Everyone took the hint, packed up their pens and notebooks, and silently filed out of the conference room.
CLICK—
Huang Youwei was the last to leave, gently closing the door behind him.
Now, only Lin Jiang and Liu Jinting remained in the conference room. The atmosphere was suffocating.
"President Liu, we meet again," Lin Jiang said with a grin, crossing his legs.
Liu Jinting swallowed hard. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t nervous.
Before this, her family background had given her enough capital to hold her head high in front of Lin Jiang.
But in this moment, that pride had been ruthlessly shattered.
He had spent 1.28 billion to buy Berkeley Mall. This was a social circle so far above hers that she couldn’t even glimpse it, let alone compare herself to it.
"I never imagined you’d be hiding your identity."
Liu Jinting wilted, her voice trembling as she spoke.
"You don’t have to fire me. I’ll quit Berkeley."
Lin Jiang propped his head up with one hand. "Just a moment ago, you were saying you’d make me pay the price. Now you’re quitting voluntarily? Why aren’t you confronting me head-on anymore?"
"President Lin, you’ve already won. There’s no point in humiliating me like this."
"No, no, no. This isn’t humiliation. It’s just a reckoning."
As he spoke, Lin Jiang took out his phone and played an audio clip—his conversation with Liu Hongquan from the day before.
She automatically tuned out the unimportant parts.
But two sentences were particularly fatal.
"You make it sound so noble, but don’t you just want to use me to transfer public assets into your own hands? Why make it so complicated?"
"It’s not wrong to see it that way. The choice is yours."
Liu Jinting’s face turned deathly pale. You could even see her lips trembling.
The first sentence was Lin Jiang setting a trap for him, and he took the bait!
’That idiot!’
Now the matter of transferring public assets was confirmed!
"Let’s continue. There’s a second part."
Lin Jiang played the second audio clip.
Liu Jinting listened carefully. It was the conversation she had just had with him.
"You’re cunning! You could have revealed your identity directly, but instead, you chose to trap me with my own words! To make me admit our relationship!"
"It’s more fun to play things out slowly," Lin Jiang said with a smile.
"Now that your relationship is confirmed, how do you think I should handle this?"
"You can sue. There was no substantial transaction between us. Even if you sue, nothing much will happen. I can bear the consequences."
"You can bear them, but that idiot Liu Hongquan might not be able to," Lin Jiang said.
"You know full well how his fraud case was settled. If both cases are investigated together, how many years do you think he’ll be locked up?"
Panic!
Liu Jinting’s chest heaved erratically.
It had taken a great deal of effort to resolve the fraud incident. If these two matters were investigated together, the outcome would be anyone’s guess.
Without warning, Liu Jinting stood up, walked over to Lin Jiang, and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
"President Lin, I beg you to give my brother a chance. I apologize to you on his behalf."
Lin Jiang watched her with great interest. "Your apology doesn’t seem very sincere."
THUD!
To Lin Jiang’s surprise, Liu Jinting dropped directly to her knees.
"President Lin, I apologize for my brother and to you. I hope you’ll be merciful and let him off the hook."
’She’s so damn practiced at this,’ Lin Jiang thought.
[Leader has been slain: Reward Pure Yang Physique, 50 EXP]
As soon as the notification appeared, Lin Jiang felt a distinct change in his body.
An unbearable heat rushed through him as his blood surged through his veins.
’Looks like I’ll have to find someone for some after-sales service tonight,’ he thought.
After about ten seconds, the unbearable heat slowly subsided.
"President Lin, I know what you want. I’ll satisfy you, but I hope you’ll let my brother off the hook."
Lin Jiang: ???
’What the hell do I want?’
Before Lin Jiang could speak, Liu Jinting shuffled forward on her knees and reached out her hand.
’So soft tactics didn’t work, and now you’re trying to play hardball, huh!’
"Get back!"
Lin Jiang instinctively recoiled, putting more than a meter of distance between them.
Thankfully, Huang Youwei’s chair had wheels. A moment slower and she would have grabbed him.
Liu Jinting looked at Lin Jiang with confusion, which sent a shiver down his spine.
Jiang Xiaoqi had made a similar move once, and it had been absolutely irresistible. But coming from Liu Jinting, it was just not the same.
"President Lin, you’ve been silent. Didn’t you mean for this to happen?"
Liu Jinting had thought Lin Jiang’s silence was a hint in that direction, but now she wasn’t so sure.
’I was busy receiving my damn reward! What the hell does that have to do with this?’
"We’re all adults here. I won’t tell anyone about what happens today. I only ask that President Lin lets my brother go. I will make sure you’re satisfied."
As she spoke, Liu Jinting took off her jacket.
"Calm the hell down!"
"This is all for my brother. I’m sorry, President Lin. Please understand."
’I’m begging *you* to let *me* go!’
"Put your damn clothes back on! You may have no shame, but I still have a reputation to maintain!"
"I have no other choice. My parents died early, and I was the one who raised him," Liu Jinting said.
"He’s a bit of an idiot, but as his older sister, I can’t just abandon him. As long as President Lin doesn’t press charges, I’ll do anything."
"Fine, fine, fine! I won’t press charges! Just put your damn clothes on!"
With that, Lin Jiang bolted out the door. He needed to cool off.
Outside, Huang Youwei was stunned. Seeing that Lin Jiang didn’t plan on stopping, he didn’t dare go up and ask what happened.
"Dismiss the meeting for now. We’ll talk later."
After dismissing the other managers, Huang Youwei entered the conference room.
"President Liu..."
He swallowed the rest of his words before they could even come out.
He saw Liu Jinting putting her jacket back on.
’Holy shit!’
’What the hell just happened in the conference room?’
Huang Youwei didn’t dare to imagine.
’But it hasn’t even been five minutes from start to finish. At President Lin’s age, that should be impossible!’
Riding the elevator down to the first floor, Lin Jiang was still shaken.
He never would have thought things would end this way.
’No wonder she’s so practiced at this. Turns out she’s got a whole routine for playing hardball.’
’So fucking ridiculous!’
"Brother Jiang."
As soon as he entered the shop, Yan Ming came over.
"What’s up?"
Yan Ming tilted his head, and Lin Jiang followed his gaze.
He saw Liu Hongquan, wrapped up like a mummy, with his legs crossed, scrolling through short videos.
"How long has this son of a bitch been here?"
"For a while now. He’s a manager at the mall, so I didn’t dare to kick him out."
"Alright, go back to what you were doing."
After saying that, Lin Jiang walked toward Liu Hongquan.
Seeing Liu Hongquan putting on such airs, Lin Jiang felt a little sorry for Liu Jinting.
In this whole affair, she hadn’t actually done anything heinous. She was just trying to help Liu Hongquan.
She was even willing to play hardball to save him.
She might not be a good leader, but she was definitely a good sister.
"Well, well, Boss Lin is back. How’s the consideration coming along? Are you going to cooperate with me or not?"
"This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s find somewhere private."
"Sure, we can talk anywhere. I’ll definitely give you that much face."
"Follow me."
As he spoke, Lin Jiang gave Yan Ming a look. The latter understood immediately and followed them out.
「Behind the mall, inside the Fenglin International District.」
Seeing that no one was around, Liu Hongquan spoke up.
"No one’s here, so let’s speak frankly," Liu Hongquan said, lighting a cigarette.
"We’ll talk about cooperation later. What’s with the sunglasses and mask?"
"You were the one who had me beaten up. What are you pretending for?" Liu Hongquan said.
"I won’t hold it against you. As long as we cooperate, we can let bygones be bygones."
"Take off your mask and sunglasses first. Let me see how badly you were beaten."
"If you want to pay my medical bills, I wouldn’t mind."
At this point, with no one else around, Liu Hongquan didn’t mind showing weakness in front of Lin Jiang.
He took off his sunglasses and mask, revealing a bruised left eye that looked rather comical.
"Your right eye looks a little asymmetrical now."
"What do you mean?"
"Xiaoming, give Manager Liu a touch-up."
"You got it."
POW!
Without a second thought, Yan Ming stepped forward and threw a punch.
Bruising his right eye as well.
"You bastard! You dare to have people beat me up!"
"Still dare to curse? Get him."
"I love this kind of work."
Yan Ming raised his fists again and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks.
"Lin Jiang, don’t go too far! Tell him to stop!" Liu Hongquan howled, clutching his head. "If you hit me again, I’ll... I’ll!"
"You’ll what? Call the police?"
"I’ll go find President Liu!"
’Your sister already knelt for you, and you’re still acting tough here,’ Lin Jiang thought.
"Brother Jiang, this bastard is really tough. My hand is starting to hurt," Yan Ming said.
"Lin Jiang! You’re a bully!"
Liu Hongquan curled up, holding his phone. "I’m calling my sister right now! My sister won’t let you get away with this!"
"Brother Jiang, who’s his sister?"
"The vice president of the mall, Liu Jinting."
"Huh? Isn’t that asking for trouble? Will our noodle shop still be able to operate?"
"Not only can the noodle shop be handled, so can his sister."
While the two were talking, Liu Hongquan finished his call.
"You two just wait! Once my sister gets here, you’re going to get what’s coming to you!"
"I’ll be damn well waiting," Lin Jiang said, looking down on him. "Goddammit, just looking at you pisses me off."
After cursing, Lin Jiang was about to go give him another kick. He felt that Liu Hongquan was even more punchable than Evil Huang from *Past Events of the Northeast*.
"Wait!"
Just as Lin Jiang’s foot was about to land, he heard Liu Jinting’s voice.
"President Liu! He assaulted me! I have proof now!"
Seeing Liu Jinting, Liu Hongquan’s confidence returned in a flash.
"Did President Lin do this?"
"President Lin?" Liu Hongquan froze for a second, but he couldn’t be bothered with the details. He pointed at Lin Jiang. "He had someone beat me up!"
"Apologize to President Lin!"
WHT?
"I have to apologize to him? I’m the one who got beaten up!"
"I told you to apologize!" Liu Jinting said, her face cold.
In Liu Jinting’s view, the fact that Lin Jiang had someone beat up her brother meant that his anger had subsided.
Otherwise, he would have just called the police and had him sent to jail.
"I’m sorry."
"Your bones are so hard, you hurt my employee’s hand. Dammit, pay his medical bills."
Thank you to reader [浼者] for the book coin donation, thank you, thank you

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