Chapter 96: Hard Confrontation

Only after seeing Henry faint did Catherine calmly step forward and call for someone to carry Henry out.

"Ms. Liu Yue, Mr. Shen Mo, please follow me."

This time Catherine led the way.

Taking the Chairman's private elevator, they went all the way to the top floor.

The bodyguards were led into another room.

Shen Mo and Liu Yue arrived at Old Xifo's office.

At first glance, Shen Mo felt Old Xifo was not an easy person to get along with.

Though his hair was white, it was also kept impeccably neat.

His face showed nothing but sternness and calculation.

The key thing was he hadn't gotten fat; under his suit and shirt, the outline of muscle could still be faintly seen.

Shen Mo had no doubt this was an old man who could step onto a wrestling ring the moment he took off his suit.

Liu Yue spoke first: "Hello, Mr. Xifo, I am Liu Yue, the General Manager of the Qin Foundation."

"We sent you an email before."

Xifo didn't speak, his gaze fixed on Liu Yue the whole time.

【Holy shit, this old bastard can't have taken a fancy to my wife too.】

【Wonder if I can still get out after beating him up.】

Liu Yue wanted to laugh, but had to hold it in.

Old Xifo seemed to sense something, glanced at Shen Mo: "You want to hit me?"

Liu Yue's pupils contracted sharply.

Shen Mo's pupils contracted sharply as well.

【What the hell.】

Old Xifo gave a disdainful smile, pointed to the chairs beside them, told the two to sit, then said to Catherine: "Have Linda come up in an hour, I want to have a chat with these two youngsters."

Liu Yue and Shen Mo kept polite smiles on their faces.

Old Xifo took out cigars and offered them to the two.

They declined tactfully.

Old Xifo lit one himself, and said softly to Liu Yue: "You look a lot like that old woman."

"The moment you walked in, I almost thought it was her in her youth."

Liu Yue did not speak.

"When I was young I went to the battlefield, took part in that unjust war, and got beaten badly by you people."

"It was also at that time I met the old woman; she saved the life of a young man who was me back then."

"That's how we had our later cooperation."

Old Xifo's eyes were full of reminiscence.

"That was the most brutal memory of my eight years in the military."

"Went to war at eighteen, promoted to Second Lieutenant at twenty-two; the unit I was in swept across the world, an elite legion of our country that had been unbeatable for a hundred and sixty years."

"So, before that battle came, I was very proud."

"In that battle, my army lost, and I was taken prisoner."

"After that I also withdrew from the war and went home to focus on business."

"I thought I was going to die, but the old woman dug me out from a pile of corpses."

"So later I did business with the old woman, sold her shares in Xifo Company, and established long-term weapons trade channels."

"I even helped her gather information on weapons experts."

"But the old woman is a woman who keeps pressing for more; she's been threatening me, taking money and resources from me."

"Have to say, she's detestable."

"So, do you understand what I mean?"

Old Xifo put down his cigar, poured himself another glass of wine, and fixed Liu Yue and Shen Mo with an eagle-like stare.

Shen Mo's muscles tensed, ready to stand up at any moment, and before Liu Yue could speak, he bared his teeth in a grin: "Old man, I heard my grandma tell stories about my real grandpa and my great-grandpa."

"Father and son both went to war, and both were participants in that battle you mentioned."

"The blood of the victors runs in me, so beating your grandson is only natural."

"Do you understand what I mean?" In that instant, the atmosphere Old Xifo had built completely shattered.

My husband is really badass.

Liu Yue sighed inwardly.

On the surface, Liu Yue said with a light smile: "Old man—no, Mr. Xifo, I understand what you mean. You've already repaid the life-saving grace the old lady gave you back then."

"So you want to take back Xifo Company's shares held by the Qin Foundation, and cut ties with us."

"After all, in recent years the money you've been able to make from Qin—no, should say from Dong Da, has been less and less."

"Right?"

Old Xifo lit his cigar again, and did not speak.

"But very soon you'll owe us another life."

Liu Yue's next words put a crack in Old Xifo's stern face.

What bullshit are you spouting, you little girl.

Liu Yue said calmly: "Mr. Xifo, as far as I know, the major old families of Europe, and the big capitalists of your country, basically all have investments over there."

"Large factories have been built, and my mom lives over there."

"There are those who hold concurrent posts at universities over there."

"There are also those who shift their main business to branch companies and move part of their personal assets over."

"Most of them set up investment companies and make large-scale investments over there."

"Don't you need any of that?"

Old Xifo's expression turned awkward. He believed the truth in Liu Yue's words, because he too had secretly invested in some entertainment companies.

After all, he knew perfectly well the situation on his own turf.

But Old Xifo hadn't expected Liu Yue to spell it out so bluntly.

Liu Yue continued calmly, "Mr. Xi Fo, are you certain you want to sever ties with the Qin family?"

"Cooperating with the Qin family is the most advantageous option for you."

"Of course, personally, I believe this is the Qin family saving your life."

"Just like many years ago."

"Isn't that right?"

After a long silence, Old Xifo said with a smile, "You and that old woman are indeed cut from the same cloth."

"Even the way you talk is so domineering."

In that instant, Old Xifo's imposing aura fell away, leaving only weariness.

He was an ancient aristocrat of this nation.

Although his family ran entertainment companies, generation after generation they had also produced soldiers and politicians, and their investments spanned every trade and industry.

Therefore, he loved this nation deeply.

But love has its limits.

He simply couldn't bear watching this nation recklessly courting its own doom.

Every time he walked down the street, seeing men in women's clothes, seeing youths behaving bizarrely, seeing some old soldiers wandering the streets, Old Xifo wanted to ask: how on earth did this country end up like this?

Even back when they had lost the war and been forced to withdraw from that battlefield, this nation was still the beacon of civilization of the world.

He could still wear a black trench coat, comb back his golden hair, smoke a cigar, hold his head high and do business with the old woman, looking down on her country in every word, boasting of his own.

Especially, he could point at some Dong Da people on the street who had come to this beautiful nation to find work and seek a living, and mock the old woman with a smile: "So what if you have history? We are the world's beacon now."

No matter how tough the old woman was, she had no way to refute him on that point.

But now, that was no longer possible.

The wheel of fortune turns; the old woman's great-granddaughter could come over and say, I'm saving your life.

The key was, it was also a fact.

Old Xifo was very displeased, yet helpless.

Who could blame him, with this nation now so broken and twisted.

After all, a country whose streets are full of beggars truly cannot be called powerful.

One could only say it was barely holding on.

(End of this chapter)