"Furthermore, Elder Lin has a few words to say. We ask all our guests for a moment of silence."
The banquet hall, which had been filled with a low murmur, fell completely silent in an instant.
Lin Tian walked onto the stage and took the microphone. "I imagine many of you know one of the reasons why this old man, Lin, came to Anhua City. I was not supposed to make it past the great hurdle of my eightieth year. But, fortunately, I met a young man. It was he who snatched me from the hands of King Yama. The younger generation is truly impressive."
"This entire banquet today is only possible thanks to him."
"So now, I want to thank him properly in front of everyone, and I want you all to see who he is."
After speaking, he slowly turned to look at the aisle to his left. In an instant, all the spotlights focused on Mu Lin.
Mu Lin gave a faint, helpless smile and could only walk slowly to the stage.
Meanwhile, in the crowd, Li Xue and her father stared blankly, watching the young man on stage in utter disbelief.
'This person... is actually Mu Lin!'
Watching Mu Lin walk calmly onto the stage under the spotlights, Li Yinhe and Li Xue were completely thunderstruck. 'This is unbelievable!'
Elder Li's eyes went wide. He too stared in disbelief at Mu Lin standing next to Lin Tian.
A titan like Lin Tian was someone that even he couldn't meet just because he wanted to.
Let alone stand beside him on stage.
The many influential figures in the audience watched Mu Lin with curiosity. 'Anyone who Elder Lin values this much must be extraordinary.'
Mu Lin felt exasperated. He really wasn't used to being gawked at like this. 'My old master used to say that a wise man should act the fool to get the upper hand.'
'If it weren't for Lin Tian helping the Li Group secure that project from the Dingli Group, I absolutely wouldn't have come up here.'
"Mu Lin, care to say a few words?" Lin Tian said with a smile.
Mu Lin shook his head, his expression clearly unenthusiastic.
Lin Tian was a shrewd man; how could he not notice? He immediately smiled and said, "Since Mu Lin has nothing to say, this old man will say a little more."
After a few more pleasantries, Lin Tian instructed the staff to bring out all the food for the guests to enjoy.
The guests, who had been waiting for Lin Tian to say more, shook their heads in disappointment. They had assumed the young man was highly regarded by Elder Lin, but it seemed he was nothing special after all. 'He probably only got on stage because of Divine Doctor Zhao.'
'So, this kid must be either Elder Zhao's student or his grandson-in-law.'
'After all, Elder Zhao's granddaughter is here as well.'
'Elder Zhao is probably just trying to pave the way for this young man.'
Mu Lin was the first to leave the stage. He found Divine Doctor Zhao and said in a low voice, "Elder Zhao, regarding Elder Lin's situation, I hope you can keep it under wraps as much as possible. Just say that you were the one who saved him, and that I had very little to do with it."
"Besides, I won't be in Anhua City for long. Half a year at the shortest, a year at the longest, and then I have to go back to my shabby little home. My master values peace and quiet. If people find out and a whole crowd comes looking for me for treatment, my master will definitely kick me out."
Zhao Yang was stunned. 'Mu Lin's master must be a true reclusive expert.'
"Can you really only stay for that long? Aren't you already married to Elder Li's granddaughter?" Elder Zhao asked, confused.
"Not at all." Mu Lin shook his head. 'I can't tell him the truth about that.'
'What!'
Elder Zhao's heart leaped, and he couldn't suppress a surge of excitement. 'Back then, Elder Li had told me they were planning to get their marriage certificate!'
'I thought my granddaughter had lost her chance, but it turns out she hasn't!'
'Does that mean Elder Li went back on his word?'
'This is wonderful!'
"Alright, then. You can rest assured, I'll handle things with Elder Lin," Zhao Yang said with a serious expression, trying hard to calm his wildly beating heart.
Mu Lin smiled. "Then I'll have to trouble you, Grandmaster Zhao."
Just then, Mu Lin's phone rang.
He glanced at the screen. It was the little punk girl, Zhou Yu.
"Hello," Mu Lin answered.
On the other end of the line, Zhou Yu's voice was choked with sobs. "Brother Lin, you have to come quick! Please, save Brother Xi! Brother Xi, he... he's dying!"
"SOB SOB SOB..."
'Chen Xi, what kind of trouble has that kid gotten himself into now?'
Mu Lin pinched the bridge of his nose. "Where?"
"Nut Bar, 57 Huangyang Road."
"I'm on my way now. Don't panic."
After hanging up, Mu Lin said to Zhao Yang, "Elder Zhao, a small emergency has come up. I need to head over right away. Could you please let Elder Lin know for me?"
Elder Zhao nodded. "Mm, don't worry. Leave Elder Lin to me. Here are the car keys. You can drive there."
Mu Lin shook his head. 'A car? I won't need one.'
'From the sound of Zhou Yu's voice, Chen Xi must be in serious trouble.'
After Mu Lin left, Zhao Yang was about to go find Lin Jin, but just as he was about to leave, someone called out to him from behind.
"Elder Zhao, please wait."
Zhao Yang paused and turned around.
'Isn't this Elder Li's family?'
Elder Li hurried over, arriving in front of Zhao Yang out of breath, and quickly asked in a hushed tone, "Where's Mu Lin?"
Zhao Yang's mind raced. "He had something to take care of, so he left early," he said.
Li Xue asked, "Did you bring Mu Lin here?"
Hearing this, Zhao Yang's mind started turning. 'From the looks of it, Li Hao's family doesn't seem to know it was Mu Lin who helped the Li Group.'
'Should I tell them?'
Instantly, Elder Zhao made up his mind. 'Absolutely not!'
'I still want Mu Lin as my future son-in-law. Since he and Li Xue aren't married yet, I can't let the Li Family snatch him back.'
"Oh, it's just that Mu Lin gave me a hand last time when we were treating Elder Li. So, I introduced him to Elder Lin."
'So that's how it was...'
Li Yinhe and Li Xue both breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Xue immediately calmed down. 'Thank goodness. I really thought Mu Lin had some deep connection to Lin Tian.'
'I was really overthinking it.'
'How could a country bumpkin like him possibly have ties to a major figure like Lin Tian?'
Li Hao was also a little disappointed. He had thought that the Li Group had managed to secure the project from the Dingli Group thanks to Mu Lin.
"I have a few other things to attend to, let's chat next time." Zhao Yang didn't dare say more; the more you say, the more mistakes you make. He quickly found an excuse to leave.
"Take care, Elder Zhao."
Elder Li sighed and said, "For a moment there, I actually thought it was Xiaolin who helped us win the bid for the Dingli Group project."
"Dad, how could you even think that? It's obviously impossible. Mu Lin only knows Elder Lin because Divine Doctor Zhao pulled the strings. No matter how highly you think of Mu Lin, you have to be realistic. Look at who Elder Lin is, and then look at who Mu Lin is!"
"Exactly," Li Xue chimed in, dabbing her mouth. "In fact, the only reason Mu Lin could even come to this birthday banquet tonight is because he was riding your coattails, Grandpa."
"If he hadn't happened to know a little bit about medicine and helped Elder Zhao treat you, would Elder Zhao have introduced him to Elder Lin?"
Li Xue didn't know why, but when she recalled the image of Mu Lin and Lin Tian standing on stage together, an inexplicable feeling of satisfaction washed over her.
She refused to admit it!
"Alright, that's enough. When the banquet is over, I'll personally ask Mr. Zhou and get to the bottom of this."
Elder Li, very displeased with the two of them disparaging Mu Lin, rebuked them sternly.
The father and daughter obediently fell silent.
Meanwhile, Mu Lin had arrived at the Nut Bar.
Normally, you could hear the thumping music from the club even at the entrance, but now, the doorway was unnervingly silent.
Mu Lin pushed the door open and stepped inside. The lights within were flashing erratically.
FLICK! FLICK! FLICK!
Suddenly, all the main lights switched on.
"Well, well, look what we have here. Another one looking to die."
A frivolous, effeminate voice spoke up.
Mu Lin turned to look at the speaker.
The man was brazenly and arrogantly sitting his ass down on the blood-soaked body of Chen Xi.
On a sofa, a man watched Mu Lin with a mocking expression.
He was flanked by several burly thugs. On another side stood a few men in suits, feigning an air of civility.
'They're probably the bar's management.'
Chen Xi was pinned down, covered in blood and clearly in bad shape. Zhou Yu, her makeup completely ruined by tears, was being forced to kneel beside him.