Chapter Ninety: Panic Sets In
The family had barely finished their excited welcome when the old patriarch, leaning on his cane, rose from his wheelchair with unusual urgency.
At first, Lin Shuqi only felt awkward under his expectant gaze and could do no more than help him back into the chair.
He did not think much of it and kept asking questions.
Once she had settled him properly, Lin Shuqi steeled herself and said, “Grandpa... I’m sorry. It failed. The deal did not go through.”
“What the hell? What happened?” The Lin family’s eyes went wide; some of them had already begun to tremble.
“That’s impossible. Wasn’t this just a simple exchange of loan contracts? How could it fail?”
“Didn’t Xia Yurong come?”
“You need to tell the truth, Shuqi. This is no joke. If our family doesn’t get the follow-up loan, we’ll really go bankrupt.”
“Damn it, we should have changed the person earlier. Who was it that suggested the switch in the first place?”
The old patriarch, upon hearing the word failed, immediately began to shake all over, his face going pale.
Fortunately, Lin Shuqi had been quick-witted enough to help him into the wheelchair before telling him. Otherwise, he might have collapsed on the spot.
“Dad, Dad, are you all right?” Lin Jiarong hurried over.
“Second Uncle, what nonsense are you spouting? Does Grandpa look all right to you?” Lin Shufeng snapped angrily at him before hurrying ahead to the old man’s side.
“Grandpa, you have to take care of yourself. The Lin family cannot do without you. There may still be a way out of this.”
The old man coughed violently for what felt like ages, then wheezed a few breaths before glaring at Lin Shuqi. “You... you little wretch! You have ruined our family this time!”
“How did you promise us this would go?”
“We clearly sent Shu Yu to handle the signing. Why did you come out to make trouble?”
“Speak! Tell me everything exactly as it happened. If you hide even a single detail, all of you will be thrown out of the Lin family!”
He was so enraged he nearly vomited blood, roaring without restraint, not even sparing his own son.
If this loan failed, the consequences would be disastrous.
Although the first hundred million had already arrived, if the remaining two hundred million did not come through, the Lin family would still face the brink of collapse.
Everything had been going smoothly. The loan had already been negotiated, and no one had expected such a disaster at the very last moment.
This time, the old man was truly panicked.
Lin Shuqi glanced at her parents; they had already rehearsed their story before coming.
“Nobody!”
The old man grabbed the cane in his hand and hurled it at her.
Whether because she had been prepared for it or simply because she was quick, Lin Shuqi actually dodged it.
The old man cursed, “And now you still dare to shirk responsibility? If it’s not your fault, then whose fault is it, mine?”
“Speak. This is your last chance. If you dare make excuses again, you can get out of the Lin family!”
Just as Lin Shuqi was about to speak, he warned her again, “It really is your last chance, Shuqi. You’d better treasure it.”
Pressed like this over and over, Lin Shuqi finally broke down.
“Grandpa, Morgan Bank is simply going too far.”
“Today, the one who came at all was not Xia Yurong, but one of her little secretaries.”
“That secretary had her nose in the air and looked down on our Lin family. She insisted that only Lin Shuyu could sign the contract!”
“She was clearly humiliating us, clearly making things difficult on purpose!”
The Lin family all froze when they heard this.
“That can’t be. Why would they insist that Shu Yu be the one to sign?”
“Is this just another excuse? We hardly dare believe anything Shuqi says now.”
“She wouldn’t make this up to cover herself, would she? Unless she really didn’t take the old man’s warning to heart and doesn’t fear being expelled.”
“I still don’t understand. A signature is a signature, whoever gives it. Why would it be impossible for Shuqi?”
“Could it be the secretary’s problem?”
“No way. A secretary to Xia Yurong is not an ordinary person, and this must have been Xia Yurong’s instruction, which is why the secretary was so firm.”
The family went on and on, their voices overlapping. The old man had intended to tap his cane to quiet them, but since he had already thrown it, he could only shout, “All of you, shut the hell up!”
“Shuqi, let me ask you this: is it possible the secretary simply couldn’t make the decision on her own?”
Lin Shuqi hesitated. “This... I can’t be sure.”
Her second aunt, who had not dared speak until now, finally stepped forward. “Old Master, let me say something fair.”
“That Long Xiaopei is nothing but a mere secretary. Of course she wouldn’t dare decide on her own. If Xia Yurong had come today, the contract would certainly have been signed.”
The old man pondered for a moment. “And if Xia Yurong was as determined as her secretary?”
“Impossible!” the second aunt hurriedly said. “Xia Yurong is one of the most powerful figures in Fengzhou. In her eyes, Lin Shuyu is nothing more than a tool. There’s no reason for her to waste time on such a nobody and make another trip.”
“That does sound a bit reasonable,” several members of the Lin family said at once.
“Maybe we really were careless. No one expected Xia Yurong not to come today and send a secretary instead.”
“Perhaps we really misunderstood Shuqi.”
“Sigh. We should call Morgan Bank again and explain. I’m sure they value this loan agreement as much as we do.”
“That secretary is useless, too. Since something went wrong, why didn’t she call to ask?”
Like a bolt from the blue, the old man, hearing the family’s discussion, suddenly said, “That’s right. Why didn’t the secretary immediately call Xia Yurong when something went wrong?”
“This is not something she alone could decide.”
Lin Shuqi looked baffled. “Grandpa, what do you mean? I don’t understand.”
Lin Shufeng sneered from the side. “If you don’t even understand that, how dare you fight for the signing?”
“What Grandpa means is that the secretary dared to leave without calling Xia Yurong, which means she must have known this contract had to be signed by Shu Yu.”
“Otherwise, she would at least have called and lingered a while longer.”
“No way!” the family exclaimed.
“Then isn’t this a disaster?”
“Damn it, today I even called and told Shu Yu to come to work. She listened for only a couple of sentences before hanging up on me.”
“We’re finished. Could Shu Yu be holding a grudge against us now?”
“Don’t drag me into this. If anyone should be blamed, it’s Jiarong’s family. It was their idea.”
The family began shifting blame onto one another, while the old man massaged his temples in frustration and called Lin Jiahao, who was in a meeting at the Happy More Group.
Two hours later, Lin Jiahua, who was at work, received a call.
Seeing that it was Lin Jiahao, his expression darkened, but he still answered.