Chapter 1914: 1914: We're All Adults Here

Chapter 1914: Chapter 1914: We’re All Adults Here

“Grandfather, I don’t understand what you mean,” Luo Ziling put down the chess piece in his hand, looking puzzled at Ling Mingrui, “Did I do something wrong? I’ve always been striving for Huaxia’s interests.”

“Have you considered the consequences of involving the diplomatic department?” Ling Mingrui held a chess piece in his hand, speaking coldly, “You should know the influence of the Ishihara Family in Japan, right? And also be aware of the political status of the Xu Family in South Korea. Ishihara Tarou and Xu Chongzhi are the heads of the Ishihara and Xu Families, respectively. These two families have always cooperated extensively with Huaxia, and their influence on Huaxia’s upper echelons is significant.”

“Ishihara Tarou and Xu Chongzhi have already admitted defeat. They are willing to compensate us for the losses caused by their mistakes, for the harm they inflicted on us.” Luo Ziling said earnestly, “I think they won’t, and wouldn’t dare, to cause more trouble. There won’t be any further consequences.”

This statement left Ling Mingrui stunned, not understanding the situation of the day and unable to grasp the meaning of Luo Ziling’s words.

“Today, my mother and I met with Ishihara Tarou and Xu Chongzhi,” Luo Ziling had to explain further, “They admitted their mistakes to us and are willing to continue having their grandchildren study under me. Their unfriendly actions caused us losses, and they are willing to make amends. Cooperation will continue, and they are even willing to reduce their share of the profits.”

This statement shocked Ling Mingrui; he had not expected things to turn out like this.

Luo Ziling probably wouldn’t lie; details could be confirmed with Ling Ruonan shortly.

Ling Mingrui didn’t believe Ling Ruonan would conspire with Luo Ziling to lie about this matter, so he trusted what Luo Ziling said.

“Did you force them?” He asked lightly, then urged Luo Ziling to start playing chess.

Luo Ziling played first with black, and after placing a piece, he nodded, “They were rogues, and we were more rogue; ultimately, they admitted defeat.”

“No residual effects?” Ling Mingrui also placed a chess piece.

“There certainly are residual effects, but I’ll keep compensating them. If Ishihara Tarou and Xu Chongzhi understand the situation, they’ll cooperate with us,” Luo Ziling said, revealing a mysterious smile.

“Don’t create trouble,” Ling Mingrui thought seriously for a moment, but ultimately didn’t comment further. He just reminded Luo Ziling and then shifted to another topic.

“How are they behaving around you?”

“Not great, aside from Ling Haijun being a bit obedient, the other three are all double-faced.” Luo Ziling knew he couldn’t hide these things from Ling Mingrui, so he roughly explained the situation, including his actions to punish them.

Then added, “Actually, I just want to restrain them for a while. Let them be more modest, then officially have them follow me in working after some time. Besides cousin Haining, the other three don’t have formal jobs, so I think letting them follow me for a while before they find formal employment would educate them, making it easier for them to succeed in the future.”

“Remember, having them follow you is just a punitive measure,” Ling Mingrui reminded Luo Ziling, “It’s also a performance; it depends on how well you perform. If you mess up, everyone suffers; if you perform well, the benefits are greater. Don’t you want to create your own influential family? Then work well and don’t mess it up. Remember, don’t let anything go wrong.”

Luo Ziling hadn’t expected Ling Mingrui to say this, so he didn’t react at once.

After thinking it over, he said, “Grandfather, does that mean I can’t punish them?”

“That’s not what I mean; rather, as long as you let everyone know you deserve support and resources from the Ling Family, and can mobilize Ling Family members, that’s enough.” When saying this, Ling Mingrui’s gaze was slightly sharp.

He explicitly reminded Luo Ziling because he worried that Luo Ziling might go too far, truly tormenting those descendants of the Ling Family to the point of severe harm or even incapacity, which would become a major issue.

Therefore, today he directly pointed out the issues, letting Luo Ziling understand the real intention behind his agreement to this matter.

From recent performance, Luo Ziling indeed showed potential to overly manipulate several Ling Family descendants; Ling Mingrui feared that in a state of anger or embarrassment, Luo Ziling might take extreme measures. This would turn into a joke, resulting in significant losses for the Ling Family.

After thinking it over, Luo Ziling finally understood Ling Mingrui’s intention, unable to help but chuckle bitterly, “Turns out, I’m just a monkey.”

In a circus, monkeys are made fun of by people; at that moment, Luo Ziling truly felt this way.

“It’s not quite like that,” Ling Mingrui shook his head, “Men, during the path of establishing themselves, often find themselves in situations of helplessness.”

Luo Ziling remained silent, focusing on the chess game.

However, Ling Mingrui didn’t intend to stop there, but spoke earnestly, “In the coming years, you’ll encounter more events, possibly significant setbacks; it depends on whether you can withstand them. No one succeeds easily; life is about filtering out the best. If you want success, you can’t be eliminated. So, in any situation, you have to endure. Until you have the ability to control others’ destinies, you have to adapt to being manipulated, and strive for more benefits for yourself in your passivity, at least ensuring you aren’t eliminated or harmed.”

“Thank you for the guidance, Grandfather,” Luo Ziling somewhat grasped Ling Mingrui’s intention.

His grandfather was playing an elaborate chess game.

It seems that even Ling Ruonan doesn’t know what Ling Mingrui is planning.

Perhaps Ling Jinhua doesn’t know clearly either, or doesn’t fully understand Ling Mingrui’s intentions.

But one thing Luo Ziling is sure of is that Ling Mingrui and Ling Jinhua have different attitudes towards many things.

At least, regarding how they treat him, their attitudes are not precisely the same.

Nonetheless, Luo Ziling intends to stick to his ideas. While several Ling Family descendants are by his side, he plans to thoroughly push them, ensuring they fear him and don’t easily provoke him.

Everyone is an adult; being an adult means having the awareness of an adult.

Just like Ling Mingrui mentioned earlier, there are winners and losers in the filtering process, and losers must be eliminated.

Ling Family descendants are inferior to him; then they should be eliminated, and things that originally belonged to them should be given to him.

With these thoughts in mind, Luo Ziling applied full force in the chess game, not yielding to Ling Mingrui at all. His chess skills are originally not inferior to Ling Mingrui’s, coupled with an aggressive stance, forcing Ling Mingrui to resign in the middle during the first game.

Maintaining an aggressive attitude in the second game, Ling Mingrui fell behind early on, again having to resign in the middle.

During the second game, Ling Ruonan came in to watch.

She knows chess because of Ling Mingrui, but isn’t very proficient.

But she could see the momentum in Luo Ziling’s gameplay.

Luo Ziling’s posture surprised Ling Ruonan.

Of course, it also surprised Ling Mingrui.

After losing two games consecutively, he looked at Luo Ziling oddly, ultimately smiling bitterly, “It seems I still underestimated your arrogance and stubbornness. Often, you don’t heed advice until you hit a wall.”

Saying this, he turned to Ling Ruonan, “In the future, as his mother, you need to look after him more to prevent things from getting out of control.”