Liu Zhiru was about to open the door when Li Chonglou grabbed her arm.
He leaned towards the door and peered through the peephole, seeing only Jiang Hongwei outside.
He formed a plan.
He gave Jiang Yuxin a look and mouthed, "Go inside. Don't come out."
After Jiang Yuxin complied and closed the door, he opened the main door and blocked Jiang Hongwei. "I said, if the Old Master doesn't come, Yuxin won't go back."
"What nonsense is that? I'm Yuxin's second uncle, representing the Old Master to invite her. I've already shown ample respect, what more do you want?" Jiang Hongwei glared, feigning anger, but without any authority.
"It's not about what I want, but what the Old Master wants." Li Chonglou remained unyielding.
Unable to force his way in, Jiang Hongwei glared furiously. "Don't push your luck. The Old Master is sick in bed, and you, a junior, not only didn't go to see him but also troubled him to travel such a long distance. Do you understand etiquette and shame?"
He had exhausted all his tactics.
He incited family members to condemn Jiang Yuxin and Liu Zhiru, but even turning off their phones had no effect.
With no other options, if the Old Master really couldn't hold on and came in person, from then on, the Jiang family would only have Jiang Yuxin.
The others would be mere decorations.
Even he would have to obey Jiang Yuxin, with no chance of a comeback.
"You're talking to me about etiquette and shame? You're not worthy." Li Chonglou remained unfazed, seeing through Jiang Hongwei's bluff. His tone was firm, "The time left for the Lü Group is running out. I hope you can continue to be so resolute."
"Let me in, I want to see Yuxin!" Jiang Hongwei knew he couldn't get anywhere with Li Chonglou and pinned his hopes on Jiang Yuxin.
He intended to use his persuasive tongue to sway his seemingly tough but soft-hearted niece.
"Yuxin is out on an errand. You can find her yourself if you wish." Li Chonglou then glanced at Liu Zhiru, who could no longer contain herself.
His mother-in-law was about to speak her mind.
Once she said her piece, all previous efforts would be in vain.
He absolutely could not afford any mistakes at this juncture.
The first element of a mental battle was confidence.
"Boom!"
The door slammed shut again.
This time, Jiang Hongwei's nose bled profusely, and he collapsed to the ground, wailing, "Li Chonglou, you little beast, you just wait. I'm not done with you."
Hearing the curses from outside, Liu Zhiru felt a burning anxiety.
She didn't know whether to call out or not.
There was truly no room for maneuver now.
Li Chonglou had handled things so ruthlessly; wouldn't the mother and daughter be the ones to suffer in the end?
This son-in-law was clearly dragging them into a dead end.
"Crack!"
Jiang Yuxin peeked out. Hearing Jiang Hongwei's receding footsteps, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Just wait. If I'm not mistaken, this is the last time," Li Chonglou said with confidence.
"Ring ring ring..."
As soon as he finished speaking, his phone rang.
It was his own phone.
The caller ID was the Old Master.
"Quick, answer it!" Liu Zhiru's eyes were sharp, and she urged him on.
She had turned on her phone after waking up. Why wasn't the Old Master calling her but Li Chonglou?
Li Chonglou didn't answer immediately. He calmly poured a glass of water. It wasn't until the eighth ring that he pressed the answer button and put it on speakerphone.
"Li Chonglou, this is Jiang Weiguo," a hoarse and heavy voice came from the phone.
"Greetings, Old Master."
"Have you had enough fun? If you've had enough, tell Yuxin to come back to work. I've already reprimanded Jiang Hongwei. Families shouldn't be so estranged." Jiang Weiguo's demeanor was lofty, unchanged from how he usually admonished his juniors.
Having been the family head for decades, his authority was deeply ingrained.
Even the Jiang family members trembled at the sound of his voice.
But Li Chonglou was not a Jiang family member.
And he didn't want this kind of attitude.
"Old Master, this is not how one asks for a favor, and Yuxin may not necessarily listen to me," Li Chonglou said calmly. "I heard you're ill, so please take good care of yourself. We'll visit you in a few days, Yuxin and I."
With that, he hung up the phone with a click.
This scene left Liu Zhiru and Jiang Yuxin with their mouths agape, wide enough to swallow an egg.
What was Li Chonglou doing?
He had hung up on the Old Master, something they wouldn't have dared to imagine.
So arrogant!
At that moment, Liu Zhiru's scalp tingled, and cold sweat broke out all over her body.
She had always thought Li Chonglou had no great abilities apart from schemes and tricks, which was why she still looked down on him even after the incident with Jiang Tao.
But now, the aura and methods he displayed when facing the Old Master made her suddenly realize the truth.
This son-in-law was not as simple as he seemed, and he was now dealing with the Old Master.
If he were to deal with her, what would happen?
"Chonglou, you..." Jiang Yuxin was dumbfounded.
Li Chonglou knew what she wanted to say and replied before she could finish, "Don't worry, everything is under control."
"He will call again."
As expected, three minutes later, the phone rang again. This time, it was Jiang Yuxin's.
"Grandpa," Jiang Yuxin was not Li Chonglou and couldn't be as defiant with the Old Master.
"Yuxin, it's my fault, I was blinded and deceived by your second uncle," the Old Master's voice choked with tears on the other end of the line, "For the sake of the Jiang family, for your parents, you cannot stand by and do nothing."
"Grandpa sincerely apologizes to you. Please come back, the Jiang family needs you."
In an instant, Jiang Yuxin's eyes turned red, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. "Grandpa, I have problems too. Don't worry, I'll be back right away and talk to Lü Shi again."
Li Chonglou watched with a sigh, thinking that the older the ginger, the spicier it is.
The Old Master was too shameless. Unable to defeat him, he resorted to emotional tactics, using tears to tug at Jiang Yuxin's soft spot.
He had intended to make the Old Master come to him and apologize with humility.
He hadn't expected that even when pushed to this extent, his plan would still fail.
Jiang Yuxin had been disliked by the Old Master since she was young. People are like that; they can be more presumptuous with those who are closer to them.
Conversely, with those who are more distant, a little kindness can immediately move them.
This one phone call had completely disarmed Jiang Yuxin.
He couldn't say anything more.
After all, the Old Master had bowed his head, albeit by at least eighty percent, but Jiang Yuxin and Liu Zhiru didn't understand the nuances.
However, the initiative had now returned.
Once Jiang Yuxin's cooperation with Lü Shi deepened, it would not be easy for the Old Master to strategize a change of personnel.
And he, after this ordeal, should be able to silence Liu Zhiru.
"This... it's done?" Liu Zhiru looked incredulous, glancing from Li Chonglou to Jiang Yuxin, who was weeping profusely.
Jiang Yuxin hung up the phone and nodded.
Her gaze toward Li Chonglou now carried a hint of admiration.
If not for him, she would probably have been kicked out of the game.
Although she didn't know how Li Chonglou managed it, from this moment on, her impression of him had completely changed.
"Alright, stop crying. There's a lot of work waiting for you," Li Chonglou naturally wiped the tears from her eyes, showing a doting expression.
Their skin touched, and Jiang Yuxin's body trembled.
But she didn't pull away.
For some reason, at this moment, Li Chonglou's dominance didn't make her feel any aversion.
Instead, it evoked a sense of dependence.
She liked this feeling of being strongly cared for, perhaps due to her parents not being around when she was young.
"Mom, I need to go back to the hospital. After I arrange things for Mom, I'll move back in." After wiping Jiang Yuxin's tears, Li Chonglou greeted Liu Zhiru and strode away.
Liu Zhiru's heart was filled with a mixed bag of emotions, unsure how to respond.
Leaving the residential complex and getting into a taxi.
Li Chonglou closed his eyes, contemplating the future.
The Jiang family had been preliminarily dealt with, and his mother-in-law's attitude toward him had also changed.
As for Jiang Yuxin, after this incident, she would undoubtedly be more gentle and considerate.
It was also time for him to show his masculine demeanor.
All along, his mother-in-law had been dissatisfied with living in Yuyuan Garden. It was precisely because of his marriage to Jiang Yuxin that they were driven out of the Jiang family villa.
Liu Zhiru's greatest wish was to live in a villa again.
Vanity was always a woman's nature.
And on his mother's side, if she were sent back to the countryside after being discharged from the hospital without anyone to care for her, he wouldn't be at ease.
Buying another house and living alone wouldn't be much better.
People say children are for old age support. His mother only had him as a son, and he had married into the Jiang family.
To take care of both sides, there was only one way.
That was to buy a villa!
With Qin Zhou's current housing prices, the most expensive one in Huashan Villa was 25,000 per square meter.
600 square meters would be 15 million.
This amount was like a drop in the ocean for him in his past life.
But now, it was quite a lot.
His career hadn't progressed yet, and Wu Hao's startup would not generate any income in the early stages; it would only incur expenses.
A pawnshop earning 10,000 a month would require 1,000 months to accumulate, which was unrealistic.
Lü Yunxu's side had just started to show progress. He would collaborate with her live-streaming platform in the future, so it wasn't convenient to seek other income streams now.
This matter was urgent and had to be handled.
It seemed he had to find another way.
"Wang Dehai, didn't you invite me to dinner tomorrow? I have something to discuss with you today." Li Chonglou called Wang Dehai.
There was some noise on the other end of the phone. Wang Dehai raised his voice and said, "Brother Chonglou, you're most welcome! I'm at a gathering right now, and I've already asked my driver to pick you up from the hospital!"
"Alright." Li Chonglou frowned.
He had intended to invite Wang Dehai for a private discussion on how to make money quickly.
Since he was at a gathering, he might as well go and see.
Perhaps he would encounter some good fortune.
Shortly after returning to the hospital, Wang Dehai's subordinate, a heavily tattooed man, came to pick him up.
"Brother Li, today Wang Zong is gathering with his old friends from the streets. Since you have something to discuss, Wang Zong specifically asked me to apologize in advance. Please don't be offended later," the tattooed man said apologetically while driving.
"You're overthinking it," Li Chonglou replied indifferently, his eyelids drooping.
What kind of scene had he not seen? He had interacted with people from all walks of life.
Wang Dehai used to be a hoodlum, so the gathering would likely be a bit crude.
There was nothing to be offended about.
He was going to discuss business, not play. As long as the business was handled well, nothing else mattered.
Half an hour later.
Pushing open the door to a bar and seeing the chaotic scene inside, the usually calm and composed Li Chonglou involuntarily opened his mouth wide.