He Yang's words made Li Mu feel ashamed.

“Noted, Dr. He. I’m very sorry about this. Please don't worry. I will talk to Lin Wan about this. No matter the price I have to pay, I will not let my family affairs have a negative impact on the company's business development!”

He Yang gestured for him to sit down and softened his tone a little.

“You don't have to be too upset or too stressed about it. We can give up on Shanyang Group. No big deal. Dongyang Group has gone through numerous challenges. Don’t worry. This one little challenge will not bring us down!”

He Xiaoyu hurriedly agreed, “Li Mu, remember. Don't ever beg her humbly. It’s really no big deal if we don’t collaborate with Shanyang Group. We’re not afraid even if it means withdrawing from the mobile internet business!”

Li Mu shook his head with a bitter smile. He knew that He Xiaoyu and He Yang were trying to make him feel better. Quitting the mobile internet business was easier said than done.

The company’s mobile internet business was one of its three main businesses. The company had set up three business units purely for this department, and had a combined workforce of nearly 10,000 staff.

If they quit this area of expertise, the company’s power and capability would be greatly compromised. The resettlement of nearly 10,000 people would also be a major headache.

Moreover, IT technology was always advancing. Nowadays, every industry was inextricably linked to the mobile internet. Hence it was definitely easier said than done.

If the company suffered a major loss because of his family affairs, could his faults be covered up by a mere apology?

This was by no means exaggeration. Shanyang Group was a local company. And if they decided to take down all of Dongyang Group's products, this demonstration effect would cause a chain reaction. It would be a major blow to Dongyang Group when that happened.

Nothing much came out of this meeting. Now the node of the problem lay in Lin Wan. And the right remedy could only be given after Li Mu and Lin Wan communicated seriously. Otherwise, it was nothing more than an empty talk!

After the meeting, Li Mu left the president's office in a hurry. He Xiaoyu chased after him and comforted him gently, “Don't be too concerned about it. Don't worry. My father was not mad at you. It's just inappropriate for him to take your side in front of outsiders. Don’t be too pressured by it.”

Li Mu shook his head while walking and said, “You don't need to comfort me. I’m not that petty. By the way, does Dr. He have any countermeasures? What is he going to do next?”

“There are no countermeasures for the time being. My father is going to pay a visit to the company’s big leaders in person tomorrow. Hopefully they’ll be lenient and not take things too far.”

Li Mu stood still and thought for a while before saying, “That's a good one. I reckon Lin Wan's decision was pretty unexpected. Hence maybe the leaders themselves weren’t aware of this matter. Letting Dr. He contact the higher authorities might be a good thing.”

“Yeah, my father thinks so too. Li Mu, I want to go along with my father to the company. Do you think it's okay?”

“Sure. Go ahead. We'll talk on the phone if anything comes up.”

“Sure. It's a deal then. By the way, how are you going to respond to Shen Xingyue’s request?”

“I haven't thought about it yet. Let's wait until we communicate with Lin Wan before we decide. It's still too early to talk about this now. Let's not rush things and put the collaboration aside for now.”

“Okay. You should go now. Remember not to fight with her or beg her humbly. Reason with her properly and ask for her conditions to let us go.”

Li Mu nodded. He said goodbye to Xiaoyu and hurried back home. Lin Wan had not yet returned and Mrs. Hong was busy in the kitchen alone.

Back in his room, Li Mu lay on his bed with his eyes closed in contemplation as he considered how to start the topic with Lin Wan. How should he deal with the subsequent challenges if she refused to give in?

After lying down for a while, Mrs. Hong leaned against the doorframe and said, “Sigh, young master. The only thing in your head when you reach home is to lie down? You didn’t even think of going to the kitchen to help me. Are you treating me as your nanny?”

Li Mu hurriedly got up and followed Mrs. Hong to the kitchen.

“What do you need me to do?”

“Take all the food out. It's just the two of us for dinner tonight. Lin Wan has a business dinner to attend. So we don’t need to wait for her!”

“She's pregnant yet she's still going to a business dinner?”

“She didn't elaborate and I didn’t ask. I think someone from the associate organization is paying them a visit. So she’s there to have a meal with them. She’ll return a little later.”

Li Mu didn't say anything else and helped Mrs. Hong to place the food onto the dining table. The two of them sat down to eat. But Li Mu couldn’t bring himself to eat much due to what was troubling him.

“What's wrong?” Mrs. Hong asked out of concern.

Li Mu shook his head and replied with a forced smile, “Nothing. I ate a bit too much at lunch and I'm a bit too full now.”

“Did you drink?”

“Yeah. A friend came over and we had a drink together. It wasn’t much, just a light drink!”

“Drink less if you can. You haven't fully recovered from your injuries yet and it's better to rest more at this stage.”

Li Mu obliged and after a moment's hesitation, he asked, “Mrs. Hong, what's wrong with Lin Wan?”

“What do you mean what’s wrong?”

“Well, I can't say for sure. It just feels awkward that we're in a relationship where we say we're a family, but we're actually divorced. But if we say we’re not a family, it doesn’t sound right either.”

Li Mu was being sincere and genuine. After getting along with Mrs. Hong for some time now, he felt that she resembled more and more like a caring elder sister. It definitely didn't match her words and actions that gave off indifferent vibes.

Although the saying ‘someone’s bark is worse than their bite’ wasn’t the best way to describe Mrs. Hong, but the statement ‘cold hands, warm heart’ certainly applied to her.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Mrs. Hong asked him back.

“Is that a good thing?” Li Mu laughed bitterly, “A family that doesn’t resemble a family but a partnership instead. What's good about being neither fish nor fowl?”

“Lin Wan is trying to give the both of you some time to think things out. During this time, the both of you can think long and hard about whether you’d be able to let go of each other. And if the two of you can't let go of each other, how do you plan to run your marriage in the future? It's a sensible thing to do. So I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“Because I’m not getting the respect I deserve!” Li Mu responded frankly.

His words annoyed Mrs. Hong. She couldn’t help but think that Li Mu was being a little too pretentious. How was he not getting the respect he deserved? He was served good food and was treated like a prince by her every day. What more did he want?

Mrs. Hong stayed quiet and stared at Li Mu. She knew that Li Mu must still have something to say. Hence she wanted to take the opportunity and listen to what was really on his mind.

“Mrs. Hong, do you think I’m taking all of this for granted?”

“Pretty much. You’re being quite ungrateful!”

Li Mu chuckled and mocked at himself, “I'm afraid everyone else will think I don't know any better. But to me, my life is a mess and I'm suffering so bad!”

“Don’t you want a life like this?” Undeterred, Mrs. Hong asked.

“I don’t want to. And I don’t like it either. She still hasn't corrected her flaws and does things in a self-centered way. She didn’t even ask me if this is the life I want. Who is she to decide for me? And who is she to set a time for us to calm down without letting me know in advance? Why should I be at her beck and call?”

Mrs. Hong was deep in thoughts and didn't answer what he said.

“Mrs. Hong, you are an understanding person. You should know that respect is one of the bases of mutual interaction. I am an adult and I have a life I want to live. Why should I go along with her arrangements? Just because she’s the infamous Miss Lin from the Lin Family? And because you are all killers who’d kill in a blink of an eye?”

Mrs. Hong slammed the table and shouted at Li Mu, “How dare you! What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

Li Mu slammed the table too and said furiously, “Is that what you think too? Do you think I'm talking nonsense? Do you think I shouldn't have my own life arrangements and that I should follow suit to what your beloved Miss Lin says for the rest of my life?”

The two of them glared at each other for what seemed like forever. Mrs. Hong couldn’t help but burst out in laughter and rolled her eyes at Li Mu. Getting up, she brought a bottle of red wine and two wine glasses. She then proceeded to fill them up before placing a glass of wine in front of Li Mu.

“Come. Have some wine with me!”

“Why do they call you Mrs. Hong?” Li Mu asked an irrelevant question.

“I married into the Lin Family at seventeen and my husband died when I was eighteen. The Lin family respected me and took pity on me. So they all voluntarily called me Mrs. Hong.”

“I'll call you Miss Hong from now on. Mrs. Hong makes you sound old!”

Mrs. Hong giggled and waved her hand, “It's okay. They always say the elderly is wiser. When you call me Mrs. Hong, I have a higher status than you, which I like!”

“Oh, alright then. I'll stick back with the name Mrs. Hong!”

“Never mind. Now that you've said it, you can call me Miss Hong from now on. In fact, you're the only person who can call me that. It’s special permission just for you.”

Mrs. Hong giggled profusely after saying that. Li Mu laughed along with her. Now, this was what a family should feel like.

“Miss Hong, is it normal for people from the South Seas to get married at such a young age?”

Mrs. Hong smile slowly froze as she lifted her glass and took a sip, “Of course not. Although we aren’t as strict as it is here for the legal age to marry, most people marry at about the same age as everyone else here.”

“Then why did you marry at such a young age?”

“Why did I get married at such a young age?” Mrs. Hong swirled her wine glass gently with her eyes fixed on the swirling red wine, “Child marriage. He was already seriously ill at the time. And this happened because the family was trying to give him some positivity and luck and to also proceed with the arranged marriage.”

“Didn’t you refuse?”

Mrs. Hong glanced at him and shook her head, “I was brought up to absolutely obey what my family arranged for me. I didn't know how to object at that time, nor did I want to. To this day, I don't think there was anything wrong with the family arrangement!”

“Don’t you think it’s a mistake to allow a young lady to marry a man that is severely ill and leave her to be alone miserably at a woman’s best age?”

Li Mu looked at Mrs. Hong with sympathy and disdain in his eyes. He sympathized with her for what had happened to her yet scoffed at her pedantry and lack of contention.

“You're wrong!” Mrs. Hong said firmly, “You’re absolutely wrong!”