Chapter 3357: Just Asking Casually? Yeah, Right—Who'd Believe That!

But he was simply afraid that the Wang family still had figures like Wang Hu among them—people stubbornly set in their ways, who didn't understand what true survival really meant, nor Mr. Wang's painstaking efforts, and would even assume Mr. Wang was trying to deceive them with words and direct others to seize power.

After all, Wang Canghai was the core of the core; if such a core collapsed, then the Wang family's existence would lose all meaning. That was what they thought.

But in reality, this way of thinking was laughable in the extreme. It was just that Mr. Wang couldn't expose it, and even if he did, these people wouldn't believe him—because fools are always fools, and no one can change that.

On the other hand, Zhang Lin, hearing Mr. Wang say this, gave a faint smile and didn't pick up the thread. Instead, he continued to ask, "What do you think about the matter concerning Wang Hu?"

This time Mr. Wang was truly stunned. He never in his wildest dreams imagined that at such a critical juncture, Zhang Lin would still bring up the matter of Wang Hu.

In his view, the situation with the second archaeological team was already a foregone conclusion, so thinking about those messy affairs no longer held much meaning.

And now that it was brought up again, Mr. Wang knew Zhang Lin must have some hidden meaning. But what frustrated him was precisely this—what on earth was that so-called hidden meaning?

For a moment, Mr. Wang couldn't figure it out. Just as Zhang Lin had said, Mr. Wang actually considered himself not the utterly stupid type—relatively speaking, he was fairly clever.

This involved a matter of comparison. If Zhang Lin and Wang Canghai were placed here, then he would certainly be the most foolish one. But compared with his own subordinates—whether Wang Cen or Leng Feng—he felt he had the edge over them.

This wasn't Mr. Wang exaggerating his own ability; reality was laid out plainly, beyond any argument. He was simply old, with some of his thinking having stagnated, but that didn't mean he had stopped thinking altogether.

But it was precisely this Mr. Wang who now couldn't discern what Zhang Lin actually meant. This made him somewhat fearful, unsure what fate would befall him if he failed to answer Zhang Lin's question—and that was what worried Mr. Wang most.

Then his breathing couldn't help but quicken. Zhang Lin, hearing Mr. Wang's rapid breathing on the other end of the phone, knew the other man was definitely overthinking it.

Then Zhang Lin subconsciously shook his head and said, "No need to be so nervous. I was just asking casually—answer however you like, or just say whatever comes to mind."

Mr. Wang didn't let out a sigh of relief at those words, because he understood Zhang Lin well. A casual question didn't mean he could answer casually. Even if Zhang Lin really said so, he wouldn't be foolish enough to take it at face value—at most, it was just a polite gesture.

If he really responded carelessly, then in the end he would surely incur Zhang Lin's wrath. Even if such consequences didn't exist today, sooner or later they would become reality. Mr. Wang's awareness of this was clearer than anyone's. Given that, he still had to answer these matters with great caution.

So the next moment, Mr. Wang took a deep breath and said, "Wang Hu usually kept a low profile within the Wang family, but his ability to carry out orders was very thorough. I never expected him to harbor such fanaticism toward Wang Canghai—that was my oversight."

Mr. Wang truly had no other choice. Since Zhang Lin pressed him on these matters, he simply delivered a work summary and felt he had already reached his limit—even a killing only goes so far.

Regarding the matter of Wang Hu, it was certainly his fault. He had already done a self-criticism before; now he would summarize it once more.

Since Zhang Lin wanted to give him a chance, he shouldn't keep clinging to this matter relentlessly—that would only make his mental state collapse further.

Although Mr. Wang had now thoroughly realized that with his way of doing things, his overall style, and the things under his control, there was simply no chance to threaten Zhang Lin.

But in the final analysis, Mr. Wang wanted to seize one chance. These chances hadn't disappeared now—only the way of grasping them had changed. Therefore, Mr. Wang would still cling to them stubbornly.

Then he would try to seek out the possibility of survival. But if Zhang Lin truly kept his promise one hundred percent, then Mr. Wang had even less reason to worry at present.

Because according to what Zhang Lin had promised, he could put his heart entirely at ease. From then on, Zhang Lin would intervene in all matters of the Wang family—in other words, the official side was merely going through the motions.

The true target of Mr. Wang's surrender, the leader of the Wang family, was Zhang Lin. The reason he cared so much about this was that Mr. Wang was convinced only Zhang Lin truly understood what kind of existence the Wang family actually was. The official side, though appearing to understand, was in reality completely in the dark—they understood nothing.

On this premise, he made this choice—not because he felt these things were a matter of course, or that he could simply submit meekly and go with the flow, silently bearing whatever happened.

Mr. Wang had been clear from the very start: even if it brought Zhang Lin's wrath, he had to fight for some vested interests for himself and the Wang family. Only when these vested interests were truly held in his own hands could the fundamental problem be solved. Without them, talking about those things was all nonsense.

Given that, Mr. Wang would certainly go all in—following his own ideas to make these choices, rather than acting on advice from others and then making corresponding choices. The pros and cons between the two were something Mr. Wang distinguished with particular clarity.

Looking at the present, at least Zhang Lin's attitude let him know he had indeed succeeded—at least he had secured certain interests, especially for the Wang family itself.

On this premise, he felt he hadn't struggled in vain. But these weren't what Zhang Lin cared about. His offhand, half-hearted questioning was actually an indirect test of Mr. Wang, and the question he had just asked was never his true intent—the key was the next question.

So how Mr. Wang answered that previous question actually didn't matter much to Zhang Lin. Whether he shirked responsibility, engaged in self-reflection, or proffered a birch branch to beg forgiveness, Zhang Lin could simply smile faintly and brush the matter aside.

This wasn't because Zhang Lin was particularly thick-skinned or felt the matter was meaningless—it was simply that he had deeper intentions, and Mr. Wang hadn't yet caught on.

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