NOVPUB"I understand," Lin Tian remarked upon hearing the words, his face showing no signs of disappointment. He was calm and natural, without even a hint of fluctuation, because he never had much hope to begin with.
Every family was complicated, let alone a prominent family like the Wang Family, and for Wang Jing to become a Family Head and a high-ranking official of the state, he had to be far from simple.
"Heh, as long as you understand," Wang Jing commented with a smile upon seeing Lin Tian’s composed expression, but inwardly he was somewhat puzzled, thinking he might have misjudged the young man.
Likewise, Wang Jing’s face did not betray any awkwardness from having refused Lin Tian. He continued, "You and Xiao Yuan are friends. You are welcome to come here and play more often."
"I will," Lin Tian nodded. "Since that’s the case, I have some matters to attend to, so I won’t disturb you any longer."
"Alright," Wang Jing nodded, making no attempt to detain Lin Tian as he prepared to leave.
Realizing that the Wang Family was unable to choose cooperation, Lin Tian saw no point in staying any longer. Staying would only expose his location. He believed that the Li Family must have already learned about his crippling of Li Yuan, and they surely knew he had come to the Wang Family with Wang Yuan.
"Big Brother, where are you going?" Wang Yuan entered with tea at this moment, but upon seeing Lin Tian about to leave, he immediately asked.
"I have some things to take care of, so I’ll leave first. I’ll come to see you again when I have the chance," Lin Tian responded with a smile, feeling quite fond of Wang Yuan.
This guy, despite being from the Wang Family, wasn’t petty at all and had a straightforward personality, without putting on any airs.
"Ah... I’ve just brewed the tea leaves, why are you leaving so soon? Why not sit for a while longer?" Wang Yuan said with an unhappy face upon hearing Lin Tian’s decision.
"No, maybe next time," Lin Tian declined and then headed towards the exit.
Wang Yuan looked like he wanted to insist, but the old man Wang Jing spoke up, "Xiao Yuan, if Lin Tian has matters to attend to, let him go. Don’t delay him. There will be plenty of opportunities to see each other in the future."
"Oh..." Seeing even his own grandfather speaking, Wang Yuan stopped and walked back.
"Grandfather... What’s going on? Wasn’t everything fine just a moment ago? Why is my Brother leaving so suddenly?" Wang Yuan sensed something more complex than what he had assumed and asked.
"Hmph... What do you understand?" Wang Jing looked at his grandson, asking such a naive question, and let out a cold snort. "Although Lin Tian is close to you and even taught the Ouyang Family and Li Family brats a lesson, that’s one thing. To think about cooperating with our Wang Family is an entirely different matter."
"But..."
"But what?" Wang Jing cut off Wang Yuan before he could argue further. "Are you trying to say that because you like him, you feel bad about rejecting him? When will your brain start considering the interests of the family? Is the Li Family something we can confront just because we say so? Although Capital City places our Wang Family on par with the Li Family, do you really think we can compete with them?"
"Well, we shouldn’t be afraid of them either," Wang Yuan expressed his dissatisfaction clearly upon hearing his grandfather’s frank words.
"Yes, we’re certainly not afraid of them, but is it worth it to start a war with the Li Family just because of Lin Tian? What would we gain from it?" the Family Head questioned.
"..." Wang Yuan suddenly didn’t know how to respond. 𝚗o𝚟pub.𝚌𝚘𝚖
"Alright, stop thinking too much. Although we won’t cooperate with Lin Tian, he is your friend. If he really falls into a dangerous situation, I will help," Wang Jing looked at his grandson and made the promise, understanding his grandson’s nature and what he was thinking.
"That’s great, that’s great..." Wang Yuan revealed a smile upon hearing his grandfather’s promise, laughing somewhat foolishly.
...
At the Ouyang Household.
After leaving the Fighting Ring, Ouyang Qingtian hurried back to his home to report to his own Family Head.
In the study, Ouyang Dugu sank into silence after listening to Ouyang Qingtian’s report. It took a while before he spoke again. "Qingtian, are you sure what you’ve told me is true?"
"Of course, Grandfather... I was standing right beside them and heard Lin Tian say it himself, and Li Yuan didn’t deny it. There’s absolutely no mistake," Ouyang Qingtian assured with confidence.
"Well, that does make things interesting," Ouyang Dugu said with a trace of amusement on his face. "You mentioned that Lin Tian and that young lad of the Wangs, Wang Yuan, are close?"
"Yes, they were together, and Wang Yuan seemed rather respectful towards Lin Tian," Ouyang Qingtian nodded.
"Then that old man Wang Jing must also be aware of this matter," Ouyang Dugu smiled. "You’ve done well. You can go now."
"Yes, Grandfather," Ouyang Qingtian replied before leaving the study, letting out a huge sigh of relief. He was always incredibly nervous around his grandfather; for some reason, every time he saw him, he felt as if he were standing on the edge of a cliff.
Upon exiting the study, he took a deep breath, and then headed outside.
Back in the study, Ouyang Dugu fell into silence again, only to sigh softly after several minutes. "It seems Capital City is not going to be peaceful for long."
Meanwhile, in stark contrast to the calmness of the Wang and Ouyang families, the Li Family was in an uproar.
In a private hospital under the Li Family’s control, Li Xiangshang was in an unusually furious rage as he looked at his son, with both arms and legs in casts, fire seemingly ready to spit from his eyes.
"What exactly happened? Li Yuan just went out, how could he have become crippled?" he roared at the subordinates around him.
The subordinates jumped at his roar, each one tensing, terrified of drawing his wrath and suffering undue misfortune.
"You tell me, what happened?" With no one speaking up, Li Xiangshang pointed at the man closest to him.
"I, I don’t know the specifics," the man stammered, clearly trembling as he spoke.
"Then tell me what you do know," Li Xiangshang’s voice was very hoarse, his anger evident as if he were a wounded lion ready to lash out violently at any provocation.
"I, we received a call from the underground Fighting Ring that the young master was injured. When we got there, we found him like this. Apparently, Li Yuan was beaten into this state by someone named Lin Tian," the man relayed everything he knew.
"Lin Tian, again Lin Tian…" Hearing that it was Lin Tian who had done this to Li Yuan, Li Xiangshang bellowed out. "I will not let you get away with this."
